The vacuum captures almost every particle on bare floors, keeping debris contained in its disposable bag. But it’s a little louder and tougher to handle than some others because of its 21-pound weight. Based on our member surveys, Kenmore vacuums as a brand receive middling scores for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction.

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.

For around $300, the Tapo RV30 Max Plus is a very capable robot vacuum and mop with some key features usually only found on vacuums that are more than twice its price.

✅ You want a hands-off dock: The dock will empty dust (into a larger than usual dock dustbin), refill water, dispense detergent and even wash and dry the mop pads, so there's minimal effort required from you.

That’s the big selling point here; this bot is basically hands-free. Fill the S8 MaxV Ultra’s clean water tank and empty its dirty water once a week and change out the dust bag every couple of months. The robot will take care of the rest.

Robot vacs are best suited to convenient, little-and-often cleans, so if you send yours out daily, it'll help you stay on top of your pet's hair and stop it from building up in the first place. You'll likely still want to supplement this with the occasional deep clean with a manual vacuum, though.

It’s also noticeably quieter than many models. It gets dinged a bit in our handling test, which evaluates how easy it is to push, pull, and carry the vacuum, but that’s on a par with other canister vacs we’ve tested. And its carpet cleaning is very good, but not the highest. Still, this model comes from the only vacuum brand we test that gets top scores from our members for both reliability and owner satisfaction.

Many of today's best robot vacuums are pretty pricey, but if you're on a tighter budget, check out the Narwal Freo X Plus. Where it really shines is its vacuuming performance. It packs 7,800Pa of suction, which is more in line with what I'd expect in a much pricier model than one on the cusp between budget and mid-range.

This unique feature functions like a built-in air freshener, bringing your aroma of choice to wherever it runs.  When in use, we found the T9+ to be quiet and subtle. Thanks to its TrueDetect 3D technology, it even steered around

To determine the best vacuums, we pick models with the highest Overall Score in each category. The Overall Score incorporates results from our rigorous lab tests as well as ratings for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction, which are based on survey data from our CR members.

While its mapping is very good, it can take a really long time (Roombas use vSLAM, not lidar), and it doesn’t seem to adapt to changes in my home as easily as other robots.

✅ You have carpet in your home: We were very impressed with this model's suction powers, which is great news if you need something that can pull dust from carpet.

The Narwal has some innovative features, including dirt sense — which analyzes the dirt level in the water and prompts it to remop — and an ability to adapt the pressure of its mop based on the type of floor, applying more pressure to tile and less to hardwood.

There are pelo other X10 models in the Eufy range, so you can't choose, for example, a version without mopping or with a more basic dock. There is a more advanced option: the Eufy Omni S1 Pro which adds improved Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners obstacle avoidance, automatic detergent dispensing, and swaps the spinning mop pads for a roller that's fed by a constant supply of fresh water. It's significantly more expensive, though.