How to Find the Best Budget Robot Vacuum
A bargain robot vacuum can provide a fantastic value. However, be aware that it could cost more than you anticipated in terms of maintenance: removing hair from brushes, clogging inlets, and emptying small dust bins can quickly make your dream of automated cleaning a chore.
For many, the best budget robot is the iRobot Combo. It provides the exact hands-off performance for a fraction of the price.
Suction Power
Certain models in this price range have sufficient suction to perform basic vacuuming, but others might require a bit of help from a handheld nozzle to get deep into cracks and crevices. If you live in a house with mostly hard floors, a budget robot vacuum is likely to do the trick. However, if your floors are an assortment of surfaces and you also have carpets, or have pets who shed, a more capable model will provide the best results for the price.
Some models with a budget price include mopping features and a water tank, increasing their capabilities. The Dyson R7050C comes with an enormous 770ml bin as well as excellent navigation scores, but is louder and does not have mopping capabilities. Eufy Roborock Q5 Pro is smaller and quieter and comes with an automatic dock. It has a water reservoir and a suction power of 5,500-pascals as well as an enormous bin that you can fill with cleaning products to make it more efficient. The Q5 Pro can be controlled via the smart app, which allows you to mop or vacuum a room or sequence of rooms or an entire space. You can also establish no-go zones and customise suction settings for each room.
The Shark ION is a good choice for those seeking something affordable, simple and reliable. It's not as advanced as other models, having a basic app and no-frills mapping capabilities, but has outstanding cleaning and navigation capabilities as well as cleaning. It's also one of only a few robots that can discern between carpets and hard flooring. The 300ml dustbin only emptied once every 30 days.
If you're looking for a more advanced model that can mop, vacuum and even create a map of your house to help you avoid obstacles take a look at the top models in this price range. The iRobot Roomba 650 and 750 are extremely powerful suction power, clever combs for pet hair and other fine dirt, and an in-app scheduling and voice control using your smart home assistant. The Samsung Cleanbot SV8000 is another option that offers excellent cleaning performance for the money.
Navigation Efficiency
A budget robot vacuum can be just as effective as an expensive model, provided that it can navigate your home and avoid obstacles. Our lab technicians used a tracking device in a multi-room test home to evaluate the robot's ability to navigate and find the rooms it required to clean within a certain time period, while keeping away from obstacles like furniture, power cords and rugs. We also analyze how fast a robot can travel over a variety of household terrain such as stairways and transitions between different types of floor.
The most affordable robot vacuums have efficient navigation systems that help them to tidy up a space without wasting time, running through obstacles, or getting stuck. Many models have mapping capabilities, which are crucial for a complete house cleaning. Even low-cost models with no mapping can cover a room efficiently. It's important to balance the cost of your device with the features that you need.
We also look at how easily a robot can overcome thresholds in the home, like the thresholds of a door sill and sofas. A good budget-friendly robot will be able to pass through these obstacles and some even come with settings that alter the suction power according to the type of floor. We also consider whether a budget robot is compatible with your smart home configuration and can be controlled remotely via an app or via voice control.
One excellent budget robot is the iLife V3s Pro, which comes with basic mapping capabilities and other advanced features in a very affordable package. It can be controlled via the iRobot app, and also has an auto-return feature that returns it to its original location when the battery has run out and then picks up where it was when it left.
The iLife V3s Pro doesn't have the advanced object avoidance that you find on many premium robots, but it has live cameras that stream an unreliable video feed to your smartphone so that you can watch it as it works. The cameras can also detect stairs and other obstacles and trigger an alert when the robot comes across them. The iLife is a different model, however, it uses random navigation instead of a method that is designed to avoid objects stuck to furniture legs. It may not be able to maneuver through a tight space or a leg of a chair as a robotic system with mapping capabilities.
Cleaning Performance
When you're searching for a robot vacuum, it's crucial to balance cost with performance. The cheapest models might not feature advanced features such as mapping, but you can find models that are very effective at cleaning your home. Be aware of the dimensions and capacity of the dust bin. It is essential to have enough space to accommodate all the trash a robot collects including pet dander, dirt and hair.
You'll want a robot capable of removing dirt and stains from carpets as well. We test all models on the ZDNET robot vacuum chart for their ability to lift dirt and hair off carpet. The most effective models have a specific brush that can dig into the carpet's fibers and pull out debris.
Budget models are good at cleaning small spills from plain floors or low-pile floor carpets, but they struggle to remove larger debris and pet hairs from carpets with higher pile. These models typically have less suction however, they can be effective in cleaning debris from tight places like corners and underneath furniture.
The iLife V3s Pro is the most affordable vacuuming model with high marks in our tests due to its ability to remove dirt and hair from carpets. It's also one of the quieter models we test and is simple to use. It features a suction opening that collects debris instead of pushing it through the brush bar. It is also able to adjust the power to match the surface. It has a sidebrush with three bristles that push hair and debris into the path of the robot. However, it is not as effective in sweeping up fine dust.
Look for a model with mop and vacuum functions, like the Combo j9 Plus. This robot can simultaneously mop and vacuum and you can also customize the settings for each room. It's more expensive compared to other low-cost robots in our list however it comes with the advantages of a forward-facing camera, which allows for more precise mapping and better obstacle avoidance for things like power cords and cat piss.
Maintenance
The convenience that robot vacuums offer is fantastic, but the technology comes at the cost of. Regular maintenance is essential for everything from emptying the dust bin to changing filters and cleaning their brush bar. They may also get caught in cords, or fall off the steps.
The best budget robot vacuums can ease these problems as they require little management by the user. The best models have navigation systems that stay clear of objects and keep themselves clear of dangers, including tangled electrical cords and dropped food items. They use sensors to map rooms, and create maps that tell them where they've cleaned.
Even the tiniest robotic vacuums can deliver a good clean If you give them a shot Don't be deterred by the price of more expensive models. Many of our top budget choices come from leading OEMs, like iRobot, Roborock and Dreame, so you'll be assured that they've been designed with the utmost care and built to last.
If you're willing to invest more, think about mopping machines. These can swish a wet cloth over floors to scrub them and remove stubborn stains and they can be utilized with a specially designed mop pad for tough jobs like dried coffee.
The TP-Link Tapo RV30 Plus is the best value mopping robot that we have reviewed in our roundup. It has a sleek minimalist design, and it also comes with all the features and performance of a top-rated robotvac. During our testing it proved that the RV30 was able to navigate without bumping into furniture and constructing detailed maps of its flooring that it could use on future runs. It's the only budget robot we've tested to have this feature, though iRobot's Roomba has similar capabilities in mapping and has an in-app setup that walks you through the process step by step.
No matter if you opt for the top-rated robot or a less expensive option, make sure you maintain your robot regularly. You should empty the dustbin and clean the filter after every cleaning session (refer to the owner's manual or the manufacturer's site for more information). You should also replace the battery as required, and check in on its Wi-Fi connectivity as well as app updates.