How to pick out a robot vacuum: Find the one that fits your needs and budget

Speaker 1: It might seem like the robots are invading, but they're actually just here to clean up after you call it a win for humanity, I guess, unless you're really kind of into chore duty, but in case you're not, here are the best robot vacuums for you. Speaker 1: Robot vacuums have been around down for a while and they've been getting better at just about every aspect of their job from navigation to emptying their own dust bins to the cleaning [00:00:30] itself. They're even somewhat less expensive. Don't get me wrong. If you're looking for stimulation, you can still get a really nice sticker shock from the higher end models, but you can find competent options for a reasonable price. The deal with all of them is pretty much what you'd expect. Big round autonomous discs that can patrol your floors and give your cat a creative form of inter room transit. Now, there is a big difference in features between high end models [00:01:00] and the bargained bin competition. So let's dive in, I'll start by talking about whether robot vacuums as a whole might be a good fit for you. Then I'll talk about our favorite options at the low, medium and high end of the spectrum and talk about what you can expect at each price range. Speaker 1: So you know where to start looking. So our robot vacuums, right for you. Yeah, probably. I mean, do you like spending your time doing things other than chores in all seriousness? Yeah. There's [00:01:30] still kind of luxury items. Even our favorite mid-range models are $600 and more, but there are budget friendly options. We like for under 200 bucks, other than price let's talk cons hole. They still don't match upright vacuums in terms of sheer performance. If you're a neat freak and you like feeling like your carpets are getting a deep clean, there isn't a robot vacuum. That's gonna cut it. Even the really expensive ones look for full size upright models. Instead con [00:02:00] number two, they can't navigate stairs. If you're home has multiple levels, you'll either need to help your robot vacuum out by lugging it up and down. You can buy multiple bots or you can put it on the floor that needs the most cleaning and resign yourself to do the rest on your own. Speaker 1: A stick vac is a lot better. If you want to quickly touch up multiple levels. If you have mostly hard surfaces in your home, a robot vacuum won't be as effective as a mop and elbow grease elbow grease sold separately, but they also have a [00:02:30] lot of pros. They really can do the majority of floor cleaning for you and mid-range models and up are good at navigation now. So it doesn't take forever anymore. They can clean low and mid pile carpets. They can even clean hardwood. They aren't the single best tool for any floor type, but they can handle every flooring pretty well with next to no effort on your part. And some of the higher end models can even empty their own dust bins. Some will macro floors let you select off limit areas. Some are [00:03:00] even smart enough to avoid crappy situations on their own, such as accidentally smearing excrement all over the place. If you're not particular about cleaning a robot vacuum can do the whole chore for you. And even if you are at the very least, it'll greatly space out the amount of time between when you need to break out the mop and bucket with all of that in mind, let's talk through our favorite options at various price points. So you have an idea of what to look for to get the most bang for your buck Speaker 1: [00:03:30] For 100 to $200, you can actually find a pretty decent, cleaner, and not much else don't expect smarts or navigational promise. The anchor UFI robo vac 25 C is our top budget pick U's low cost. VA is only $135 and it frequently goes on sale for even less. It's a great buy if you're not ready to fully commit to the idea, but you want to dip your toes in and you wanna model that's competent to give [00:04:00] a decent show. Competent is actually the perfect word to describe the 25 C maybe fine. Let's go with fine. Actually it keeps up just fine with some higher end options and a lot of tests. It did well at picking up small particles on low pile carpet, mid pile carpet, and hardwood. It was even solid with pet hair on hard wood and low pile. It was not great at pet hair on mid pile though. Speaker 1: So you might need to pay more for AUR your machine. If you have medium piled carpet and say [00:04:30] a dog that sheds a lot, really though, the thing you lose with this model is any kind of navigation. Like a lot of cheaper options. The 25 C went to the Mr. Magoo school of navigation. It pretty much just goes in a straight line until it hits something. And then it turns and goes again. And it just keeps doing that over and over until eventually it gets tired and goes back to its charging station. It's called bump navigation and it is not efficient at all. It's coverage of our closed [00:05:00] testing room was fine. It eventually got over every surface, but it took a whopping 91 minutes compared to some that were able to do the test in 16, as you'd expect the robo back also doesn't have any nice extras like smarts or a dust bin that empties on its own or a mop accessory. You gotta pay up for those, but if you want a robot that BOS around your home in hapless, semi adorable fashion, while also cleaning up [00:05:30] while it moves, it's honestly a good option at a stellar price. Speaker 1: Once you start getting up into the six to $700 range, you should start being able to robot vacuums that perform as well as premium options. And at that price, you can start looking for features like app controls. The main thing to look for though, in addition to performance is navigation up that efficiency, the robo rock S seven is our pick for best mid-range [00:06:00] model. And honestly, if you don't need a ton of extra bells and whistles, this is probably the best pick for you overall. As long as you're willing to pay mid-range bucks, it's $650, which admittedly isn't cheap, but it's cleaning performance keeps up with models that cost over a grant. It did great at pulling small particles from all of our testing services. Some higher end models did do better with pet hair, but the robo rock was competent better yet. Part of what you're [00:06:30] paying for here, in addition to a little more cleaning power is an actual navigation system. Speaker 1: The robo rock covered our test room thoroughly in just 16 minutes, beating out higher end models. Don't solve for bump navigation at this price, lots of robot vacuums have a variety of sensors built in including lasers to help gauge the presence of objects and the distance between landmarks in a room. Some Roomba models even use images of this ceiling to help [00:07:00] navigate in a sensible pattern. And again, bump navigation 91 minutes and a nonsensical pattern that looks like this navigation with lasers, 16 minutes and a more satisfying systematic approach to cleaning the room. You're replacing Mr. McGoo at the steering wheel with a seasoned za driver. It's a nice upgrade. It comes on the robo rock as seven, and this is the best model for most plus, in addition to the basics, it includes a water reservoir and mop attachment elbow [00:07:30] grease still sold separately, but it's really versatile. Speaker 1: You're here cuz you like bells and whistles, don't you all right? Let's get you some bells and whistles. And for over a thousand dollars, you're in the upper echelon and you should really expect all of the bells and whistles, smarts, navigation and fancy extras galore. For example, if money is no object, allow me to introduce you to the iRobot Roomba S nine plus it's $1,100. [00:08:00] So for about a hundred dollars more, you can get two of our favorite mid-range options and cover multiple floors. So why pay up for this high end Roomba? You guessed it, bells and whistles. Now it can clean just fine. It's solid on small particles and a great performer with pet hair. It's is fine. It completed our test in 25 minutes, not the fastest, but still efficient. It's a good vacuum first and foremost. But the features, the coolest [00:08:30] thing you get is this base station. Speaker 1: It empties the dust bin of the vac for you. Eventually you have to empty the base station, the dirt doesn't just disappear. Maybe they're working on that feature for next time. But the bay station allows to empty itself for up to 60 days now cleaning the dirt traps of the other robot vacuums. After every run, isn't usually an arduous process, but the little bit of convenience can add up over time. Plus it's just cool. And the base station used to cost more. You [00:09:00] had to pay $1,300 for the whole thing. Now the base station's included and it's only 1100, just, just $1,100, just that. But if you had your heart set on shelling out, even more money, don't worry. iRobot has you covered there too. Speaker 1: You can get the iRobot Brava jet M six for $500. It's a mopping robot that works fine on its own. Or you can have a chat with the Roomba S nine [00:09:30] plus. So it runs a mop pattern. Once the Roomba finishes vacuuming. Now, do you need to spend $500 in addition to the $1,100 for some incalculable grand total? No, definitely not. Again. Robo rock 650 bucks mop attachment, but the Roomba certainly packs in the tech. It's also smart. You can control it with Google assistant or Amazon's assistant it maps your floors as you work and you can see those [00:10:00] maps in the app and label each room. It can remember maps from multiple floors. If you want to cart it up and down, you can control it with the app. It can remember where it left off. If it needs to head back for a charge, you can indicate keep out zones in the app. Speaker 1: If you have an area with lots of cords, for instance. So it is expensive, but some of the features are quite useful and it is our top pick. If money is no issue, okay, you've been patient let's shoot the. Two [00:10:30] new robot vacuums have software built in that can help detect and avoid pet waste. So you don't have a, a smearing problem on your hands or on the floor. If your dog has an accident under the right circumstances, this feature is obviously a game changer. The models in question, the Samsung jet bought AI plus, and here's iRobot again with the room, but J seven plus, and believe it or not, we'd developed a whole test to see how good these [00:11:00] bots are at staying away from all kinds of shapes and colors and sizes of fake poop. The testing was gross, but we got good info out of it. Speaker 1: Namely that the jet bot AI plus doesn't do a great job of actually avoiding poop. Here it is, is running into it and pushing it across the floor. If that was actual fecal matter, you can expect a nice even spread across your supposedly clean floors. The J seven plus on the other hand, expertly [00:11:30] avoided the poop while navigating the rest of the enclosed test pen. It's not quite as good as the S nine plus at other cleaning tasks. So the S nine plus is the better high end pick for most, but this one is $850 and its main feature could be a huge boon to the right households. All right. So you have a lot to think about if you wanna buy a robot vacuum, generally speaking, you do get more cleaning power for more money, but at a mid range point, your return on investment will start [00:12:00] to level off on that front. Speaker 1: The same with navigation, low end models will just Bo around your floor, but having one with actual sensors and a plan makes a big difference in terms of efficiency pay up and you get app controls, floor mapping, voice activation, self emptying, dirt bins, compatible MOS, and poop avoidance. The feature you need is out there. If you're willing to pay for it, if you don't need a ton of features, the mid-range is the best place to look. We've actually tested all kinds of [00:12:30] robot vacuums in our lab. Check out our process for robot vacuum testing here and see the link below for more details on how they fared fear. Not if you're wondering why I didn't mention models from needto shark, Electrolux and more we've tested them. Some are solid, some not so much. Check out the link if you've seen enough and are ready to make a purchase. I've provided links to retailers for our top three below as well. And comment below to let me know which one you'd pick or if you have other favorite options at those price [00:13:00] ranges. Thanks for watching. Please hit that thumbs up button. If you enjoy the video and subscribe to C's YouTube channel for much more, it's a aggressive poop, gotta call a plumber. Speaker 2: You.