As for the mopping feature, we were especially pleased with how well the programming transitioned between hard floors and carpets. Impressively, the water usage was just enough for floors to feel clean, but without leaving pools of water behind.

For $100 more, you can dispense with dealing with the water tanks entirely and buy the Refill & Drainage System model. This lets you plumb the charging base directly into your home’s water supply.

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One of the big benefits of a Roomba is that they're relatively slim in height, meaning they can venture places other bots can't. On test, we found this one was especially good at handling pet hair, with its grippy rubbery rollers.

Combined with its ability to swing slightly to get closer to baseboards, the Narwal does a very good job on hard floors. Its dual four-liter water tanks will keep you going longer than most other mopping bots as well, the majority of which feature smaller tanks.

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The Combo has a redesigned dock that’s very large — to accommodate two water tanks and a dust bag — but it doubles as a table.

What to Look for in a Robot Vacuum Manual Empty or Self-Emptying: Which is Best? Some robot vacuums have dust cups that you need to empty into a garbage can manually, and others have a self-emptying feature. The first type is easy to empty (just remove the dust cup, take it to a garbage can, and shake it out). You'll typically need to do this every few days, so it can get tedious. Robot vacuums with a self-emptying feature require a lot less work, because their charging stations have built-in dust bags that can take several weeks (or even months) to fill up. Picture this: at the end of the robot vacuum's cleaning cycle, it will dock itself and empty the recent collection into the larger tower chamber, and then it's ready to go for the next scheduled cleaning. When the bag is full, all you have to do is remove it from the charging station, throw it away, and replace it with a new one. In many ways, this is ideal, especially if you or someone in your household suffers from allergies, because there's less chance of dust getting into the air. The one downside to this convenience is that the emptying process is often much louder than the robot vacuum's normal noise level, so it might disrupt your household. This feature also tends come with newer and more technologically advanced models (which can often be pricier). Our best features pick is one great option that includes this feature. Smart Mapping Matters Back when they were new to the market, basic robot vacuums used a randomized cleaning method, changing direction based on an algorithm and if they bumped into anything.

However, it has a smaller bin to make way for a much bigger water reservoir for mopping (350ml). If you like the idea Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners of the Q5 Pro but want better mopping, this is a good option.

The Switchbot S20 Pro robot vacuum / mop hybrid, the successor to my previous pick for favorite mopping vacuum, the S10, is scheduled to launch in May or June. It features an extendable roller mop and side brush and 15,000Pa of suction power, more than twice that of the prior model.

✅ You want great vacuuming and mopping: This combination robovac's cleaning powers are excellent – it even managed to vacuum into the corners of rooms, which is generally an issue for robovacs.

It's not rare these days to see range-topping models run to four figures, but the rate of meaningful improvement has started to slow, and for many people, the features included in those models are far from essential.

I test robot vacuums constantly. At any time, there are seven or eight of these busy little bots roaming my floors. Alongside everyday use, I put them through a gauntlet of specific tests. This includes testing object detection and avoidance with phone chargers, socks, a pencil, and fake pet poop.

And a capable robot vacuum could really be worth the investment if you're finding it tricky to stay on top on manual cleaning.