The Best Robot Vacuum For Carpet
No matter if you have a low or high-pile carpet there's a robotic vacuum for you. These smart appliances are able to navigate your home on their own and pick up dirt and clean under furniture.
Many have advanced features like mapping, which can help you navigate your home and remember furniture place. They can also boost suction power to tackle dirtier areas.
iRobot Roomba 694
The iRobot Roomba is a budget-friendly robot vacuum that works well on both plain flooring and floor carpets with a low pile. It has a good suction, but struggles with larger debris such as grains of rice or sand. It also does a decent job of cleaning pet hair but it's not impervious to tangling as premium Roomba models, such as the j7 or I6.
The Roomba is easy to operate. It has three buttons on the top cover. 'Clean,' which triggers a cleaning process and 'Dock', which puts it in its charging station, and 'Spot,' which activates the targeted cleaning. It can be controlled via an app on your smartphone that allows you to schedule or stop/start cycles, and also adjust settings. You can also pair the device with smart home devices such as Alexa or Google Assistant to control it through voice.
This vacuum cleaner is slower than some other models, but it can reach most corners and crevices. It has a huge dust bin which is ideal for reducing the frequency with the frequency you have to empty it. It's compatible with virtual barriers and digital mapping that let you restrict it to certain areas or to stop completely cleaning if you want to keep it from getting stuck on something.
While it's not the best model for its price however, it's superior to many other alternatives. The Roborock E4 is more advanced than the Roomba 694, with a much better cleaning efficiency on both bare and low-pile carpets. It also has an efficient cleaning route and has a longer battery life. It is also more comfortable to use and has fewer components that require regular maintenance, costs less to own over the course of its life, and charges faster than the 694.
It is also worth considering other models from the iRobot range, including the v7 and the 981. They're more expensive, but they offer significant improvements over the 694 in terms of cleaning efficiency on both low and bare floors. They also follow the most efficient cleaning method and come with a larger dirt compartment, are more efficient to charge, maneuver themselves more easily, and are much easier to pair with smart home devices.
Shark RV1001AE IQ
This self-emptying robot with a budget does an okay job on hard floors and carpets with low pile. Its combination brush gets into corners and edges and it automatically increases suction when it detects carpet. It also does an excellent job of cleaning dirt off carpets in the middle of the pile. The IQ's tiny footprint for docks and the self-emptying feature are great features. However, if you want to change floor levels on the map, or set no-go zones, you'll have manually reset it to do this, which can be a bit of trouble.
The IQ's app has some advanced mapping and automation features but it's missing no-go zones that are available on iRobot models. Its smart-pathing navigational system gives you greater maneuverability and its high-pile carpet mode cleans well, although it is prone to get caught up on rug tassels. Additionally, its iHome speaker lets you operate the robot by voice commands.
During our tests in our tests, the IQ was able to handle pet hair effectively, clearing huge amounts of debris from bare floors and moderate amounts from medium-pile carpet. It was less effective on shag carpet, where it struggled to reach dirt and dust embedded in the fibers. It was able to maneuver the legs of chairs, small spaces as well as the base of an IKEA wooden step stool. It was a bit slower on bare flooring but it was able to recover speed and was more efficient than the other robots we evaluated.
The IQ is a better choice than the iRobot Roomba 694 for most applications. It has a bigger dustbin, a longer battery life and is better at navigating obstacles. It has a mopping tool that can remove sticky mess. The iRobot however, is more sturdy and has less components that require replacement or maintenance and has lower recurring costs, can create virtual no-go zones using its companion app. It is able to continue cleaning from where it left off even if the battery is out before it finishes. The iRobot can also be controlled via voice, which is a huge plus for many users.
Eufy 11S
The RoboVac 11S robotic vacuum isn't among the most features-rich models, but it offers excellent cleaning power for affordable prices. This robot vacuum is designed for consumers with a tight budget who don't need a complex mapping system, or an application to control it. The robot is able to last for up to an hour. It includes the remote control, cleaning tool and AC power adapter.
The 11S is slim, sleek and has a tempered-glass upper deck that appears like brushed aluminum. It's a refreshing departure from the industrial and utilitarian designs of Roomba, Samsung and Neato.
In our tests, the eufy11S was extremely robot vacuum deals effective at removing larger debris and fine dust on hard flooring. However, it was unable to provide medium and high pile carpets an effective deep clean. It is also prone to smack into furniture and people in its path however, it's able detect these obstacles using sensors. If it encounters them it ceases to move and emits an alarm so that you can manually steer it through the obstacle before getting back to work.
The BoostIQ mode is another great feature of the Eufy11S. It allows you to configure the robot to automatically adjust suction strength based upon the floor type and the level of dirt. It's also easy to use the remote to direct the 11S where you'd like it to move.
If you don't have much furniture in the space where you want to vacuum Single Room Mode is an excellent option. The eufy will spend 30 minutes intensely cleaning the space it's assigned.
You can also choose Edge Cleaning that reduces the amount of time in each area to 20 minutes to ensure optimal battery life. By selecting this option the eufy moves in a spiral fashion taking care of edges and corners for an efficient clean.
Miele Complete C1
The Miele Complete C1 canister robot is a great mid-range vacuum cleaner that is a winner on carpet. Its performance is also excellent on floors that are not bare. It can pick up rice and other fine debris effortlessly. The suction power doesn't diminish when the dirt bin is full. Its design that is allergy-friendly and sealed with air traps allergens and keeps your family healthy. It uses an onboard HEPA filter and a self-emptying bin, so you don't have to buy additional filters or a separate vacuum bag.
It's not as powerful as more expensive models, but it's still great for tackling staining and deep cleaning. It comes with two cameras in front which provide a live feed to your smartphone. It also comes with one of the most advanced obstacle avoidance systems. It also comes with a huge dustbin, long runtime and a quick, bump-free clean-up.
Unlike most other robots, the Complete C1 can switch between two powerheads, a standard one and a turbo head for different flooring types. The turbo head is great for low-pile and high-pile carpeting, while the standard powerhead works well on floors that are unfinished and light carpets. It also has an automated height adjustment system, which allows it to easily adapt to different kinds of flooring, without manual adjustments.
This model is bundled with the SBD 285-3 Classic Combination Floorhead, which can be used on both hard floors and carpets of medium pile. The powerhead is also easy to move and can reach tough spots. It comes with five levels of surface adjustment as well as a brushroll off switch to avoid hairs getting caught in tangles.
The Classic C1 also has a self-cleaning brush roll and an UtraClean mode that cycles back and forth over the same area three times to ensure the most thorough cleaning and a self-emptying trash bin that can be empty at the press of the button. Its sound level is slightly higher than that of other models however its powerful 1,200-watt motor and robust construction make it worth the extra cost.
If you're willing to pay some extra money then the Miele Complete C3 canister robot vacuum is an excellent all-around robot vacuum. It performs better on carpets than the Classic C1. It is better suited for all kinds of floors, is more solidly constructed, and comes with an HEPA filter.