Top 8 Robot Vacuums for Home Use at Every Budget

1. iRobot Roomba i7+

This high-tech rubber-brushed Roomba zeroes in on every last pet hair over multiple floors

The best robot vacuum in Australia is the iRobot Roomba i7+, this robot is one of the latest and greatest from iRobot with all the features we’ve come to love in the higher-end Roombas, but with a laser focus on attacking the dog-hair nightmare under the couch.

Using smart mapping, this clever little guy can learn its own way around your home, and create an algorithm to plot the most efficient course across all your surfaces.
This vacuum can even scan its surroundings, creating visual landmarks to keep track of where it hasn’t been yet. Mapping is kept separately for multiple floors, so no matter what storey you set your cleaner up on, it’s going to know where it is and choose the best course for where it’s put.

Maps are also broken down into rooms, which you can name on the iRobot HOME App. There’s something very empowering about saying “Roomba, clean the kitchen” through your smart home system and sending your obedient little robot off to work!

The app controls the schedule for rooms of your choice, great if you want to more regularly hit the high-traffic areas, or focus on that sunny spot where your cats sleep in sunbeams, shedding their winter coats. The app can also mark out “keep out” zones, so don’t worry about knocking over the food and water bowls.

But here’s what makes the Roomba i7+ the best robot vacuum for pet hair: the advanced 3-Stage Cleaning design using a dual rubber brush system flexes alternatingly across each other to pick up every skerrick of pet hair without ever getting tangled in cleaning bristles or caught in machine arms.

The vacuum itself is extremely powerful, ten times more powerful than their previous highly popular series, but this seems to rely on a fairly empty chamber. Users have often complained that the robot will request emptying without being even half full, and flying pet hair is likely what’s hitting those fullness sensors.

Even better, with the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal, Roomba i7+ is responsible of the cleaning process from start to finish. It empties the bin into a disposable bag that holds 30 bins of dirt, dust and hair, all automatically to save your time!

Also keep in mind a superpowered vacuum like this is going to be a little on the large and noisy side too, but we pet owners are used to a little noise and movement in the house. This is a vacuum to join the family.

2. Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8+

The best robot vacuum and mop combo in Australia to clean a large house

This impressively intelligent robot cleaner will put the deepclean on your floors no matter what the surface. Vinyl, hardwood, carpets, rugs, the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8+ will map it out and choose the appropriate vacuum or mopping cleaning tool for the job.

This top-tier option proves its worth through the tremendous effort put into house navigation, where the software technology behind this machine has a chance to really shine.

Using TrueMapping laser and TrueDetect3D object avoidance technology, this robotic vacuum cleaner builds a map of your room as it navigates itself around your house, then utilises an algorithm to decide on the most efficient track to clean every part of the room, without missing a spot.

This mapping can be made on up to three different cleaning sections, so you can program the robot to clean more regularly in the areas of your house with the most foot traffic and over multiple storeys.

The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8+ is one of the best robot vacuums for thick carpets, as this cleaner also uses sensors to detect them, to avoid accidentally mopping where it’s not welcome. The same sensors are used to detect cues in the room, allowing the robot to recognise what room it’s in, wherever you put it. Mopping is efficient, effective, and it’s simple to remove and snap in the attachment.

Despite the suction power and intelligent scanning, the 5200mAh battery allows this cleaner to run for a whopping 180 minutes, easily making this robot vacuum by far the best robot vacuum and mop combo for battery life.

3. Xiaomi Roborock S6

The powerful, quiet, and easy-to-clean machine that vacuums while it mops

This machine is a great buy in most areas, but due to intuitive design and ease of use, the Roborock makes this list as the easier choice for the time-poor, the elderly, and the less mobile.

One thing that often doesn’t get much airtime for these products, is the cleanability of the design. The Roborock dustbin easily comes out for rinsing, the filters swap over so you always have a clean one, and the water tank installs straight on top. It’s obvious some real thought has been put into making this machine easy to use and clean.

The bristles are very soft on your floors but extremely densely packed, and for this it is a great choice of a robot cleaner for hardwood floors, tiles and hard floors. These work together with some smart rubber climbers to cross over lips and door sills up to 2cm high, a little higher than any other robot on this list.

Using lasers, the machine can scan your room, creating an algorithm to produce a floor plan that will take an efficient snakelike route through rooms separated into sections on the Xiaomi Mi Home app, with customisable virtual barriers to avoid pet bowls and fish tank stands.

Like our other top-tier super-suckers, this machine’s power is around 2000 pascals on Max Mode, but the design has included sound-suppressing materials to not only keep the noise level down, but also sound softer than that typically unpleasant harsh vacuum sound.

On hard floors, the mop attachment snaps on satisfyingly to allow water to flow smoothly across entire mop sheets for an even wipe without streaking. The mop function is good enough that a daily cycle will be able to replace your own mopping, but that’s because the mop pads are disposable, and will incur an ongoing cost.

Amazingly, due to the placement of vacuum suction and the mop attachment, this machine is capable of vacuuming the floor just as it’s about to mop it, so your floors will be dust-free and shining in the one cycle. The cycle can easily last 150 minutes of battery time, a great length for that level of power, and the 480mL dustbox will also easily cover such a long cycle.

4. iRobot Roomba 692

Extra dirt detail for busy apartments and smaller homes

The stand-out feature of the iRobot Roomba 692 is the dirt-detecting technology that allows the robot vac to go over dirtier areas multiple times to keep the busier areas of your home clean.

A three-stage cleaning system uses tangle-free multi-surfaced brushes to pull in the embedded dirt with accelerated airflow, the edging brush gets deep into corners and borders, and the power suction mode can lift with five times the suction of the previous popular series.

The impressive lifting power of this three-stage cleaning system works in conjunction with the dirt detection technology to result in a very effective clean, shifting dirt trod in by little feet and paws.

This system is clever, because it loosens and lifts out dirt from your carpets before sucking it into the 0.6L dust box. The dual rubber brush system is tangle-free, so pet hair won’t be a problem, as long as you set it to clean daily.

A boosted Max Mode feature can double the cleaning performance if your home is really suffering from foot traffic. However, this feature is definitely going to result in faster battery drain, so it’s best to run this robot in smaller homes where the job will still get done within a single cycle.

This Roomba misses some of the extra-fancy home mapping and scanning technology found in its top-tier cousins, but is a more affordable series that doesn’t lose any of that cleaning technology or standard features we’ve come to expect in iRobot products like Wi-Fi integration and voice control.

5. Ecovacs Deebot N8

An excellent mid-tier mop-and-vacuum combo for all floors with multi-storey mapping

The Ecovacs Deebot N8 is one of the best value-for-money robot vacuum and mop. This machine is a great all-rounder for mixed flooring over multiple storeys, ensuring an effective clean at a reasonable price.

About cleaning performance, the strongest feature is its ability to detect changes in the flooring it runs over, increasing vacuum pressure over carpets, or retracting the mop head when it detects carpet.

Particularly noteworthy is the powerful pressure-retention system, which allows the robotic vacuum cleaner to spend more energy on moving around your home on a higher vacuum pressure.

The Deebot N8 features a function to choose between modes of intake. A floating brush inside the unit springs out to catch dust from even cracks as much as 2 mm deep for a superior clean, or if you find this gets stuck too easily, you can opt to keep the brush retracted to let your robot remove hair without tangles.

The unit will scan its surroundings and create maps for multiple floors, allowing you to customise cleaning routines and drop virtual boundaries where you’d like your robot friend to avoid.

Voice controls can be made through Alexa or Google Assistant, and the battery lasts a decent 100 minutes, more than enough to cover a decently large area.

6. ILIFE V8s

Great budget option with mopping function, ideal for hard floors

Ideal for hard floors, the iLife V8s is a fantastic robot vacuum cleaner for those on a budget and who will appreciate the added mopping function this model offers, which is a hard-to-come-by feature in robot vacuums at this end of the market.

Boasting excellent navigation, it gets around your space effortlessly. Even with no included barriers, iLife V8s won’t get stuck in any corners or fall down the stairs, thanks to its fourteen infrared sensors. Controlled via remote, you can select the cleaning style, stop, start, command to go home, or control the unit manually.

At less than 8cm high, it will fit under many low lying cabinets and couches and is best suited to hard floors such as tile, hardwood and laminate flooring, and low pile rugs and carpets. Because of it’s relatively low powered suction ability, it will struggle to provide sufficient agitation for effective cleaning of plusher carpet.

With a simple set up anyone can do with ease, setting up a cleaning schedule is a little more involved. It’s also not great at detecting the edges of different surfaces, and we found it had trouble differentiating between hard floors and low pile carpets.

The battery will last a solid 90 minutes on regular mode, which is good enough for smaller households, and is surprisingly quiet when running. When the battery is running low, it will handily search for its dock automatically to recharge.

iLife V8s is not Wi-Fi enabled which could be a deal breaker for those hoping to control it using voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant, or for those who like to check its progress remotely via smartphone.

With an advanced suction inlet, it copes well with pet hair and dust and makes sure it’s all deposited in the bin cleanly and in one go, leaving nothing behind. The generous 750mL dustbin is large enough to clean larger spaces without the need for frequent emptying.

7. Eufy RoboVac 11S

The ultimate mini pet hair and dust devourer for hard floors and short pile carpets

With a slim body, large capacity, and powerful suction through a complex triple-sweeping system, the Eufy RoboVac 11S is the best robot vacuum for pet hair of our most affordable options.

At only 72mm tall, this machine is great for getting into some particularly tight spots. Despite this, the dustbox is deceptively large, a 0.6L capacity receptacle that is quite unexpected for the small size.

Despite the slim physique and quiet operation, the vacuum packs a punch at 1300 pascals, very powerful for a robotic vacuum cleaner at this price point.

With three types of sweeping arms, there will be no trace of your furry friends’ coats. This explains the design decision of prioritising a large dustbox, because with this kind of power, two cats in the springtime could expect to fill the chamber daily.

The cleaning bristles and powerful suction make easy work of pet hair, but will get tangled in shaggy carpets or rug fringes, so we recommend this one for hard floors or short pile carpets only.

This non-smart RoboVac isn’t Wi-Fi compatible or able to map rooms, but this model does retain some tech features of its competitors such as drop detection, a programmable daily routine, and boosted power mode if your space is small enough to handle the extra battery drain.

You can expect a battery life of about 100 minutes on Standard Mode. When the battery is low, the vacuum will return to its charging pad, ensuring it’s always going to be charged when you want it.

No mapping usually means a set algorithm, but this cleaner moves quite randomly to avoid becoming trapped on the same route. So while you can be sure that it will touch every inch of your floor given enough time, you may find it takes several days to see a difference in pet hair at first.

8. Coredy R580-W

Effortlessly clean most household floors with user friendly scheduling and boundary capabilities

The Coredy R580-W is a wonderful all-rounder robot vacuum for most floor types and perfect for those who love an easy to use and reliable schedule feature. All wrapped up in a sleek and stylish design, it has a long run time and offers versatility for busy families.

First and foremost, it boasts a strong cleaning performance on most indoor floor surfaces up to and including medium pile carpets. It’s programmed with multiple cleaning preferences to best suit the mess at hand - auto mode for general day-to-day use, edge mode for along walls, spot mode for stubborn stains, and max mode for the most powerful clean ever. Its side brushes are uniquely placed at the ideal angle for effective cleaning along walls, skirting boards and hard-to-reach corners.

Easily set up a cleaning schedule for daily or weekly tasks so you can come home to a clean floor every day, and set the time that suits you best.

We love the clever virtual boundaries that allow you to assign Coredy R580-W to clean only the areas you want cleaned (or perhaps to keep it well away from guests or toddlers), and you can change these boundaries with upgraded boundary strips (are sold separately) and reprogram as needed.

Twelve upgraded sensors ensure there are no accidental collisions to protect your furniture and walls, as well as keeping the shiny surface of your robot looking brand new. And with large climbing wheels, it’ll have little trouble navigating thresholds and changing surfaces.

Easy to care for and maintain, you’ll appreciate the one touch dustbin empty and the 120 minute run time is more than sufficient for most homes.

So you’ve decided to make the leap and invest in a robot housemaid. How are you going to choose between all these great options?

The main thing to know is that one robot does not suit all households, and the best robot vacuum is the one that suits your home’s floors, family members, and pets.

After those have been considered, the main differences in price come down to how fancy the smart features are. If your home has a lot of hard floors, you might want one that mops, too.

Floors

The first thing to consider when choosing your new servant friend is what type of floors you want the machine to cover. Just about all machines work best on floorboards, then second-best on short pile carpets.

However, you might want to spend a little more on a machine for medium or long pile carpets, to benefit from the sensors and other tech that can adjust settings on the cleaner to avoid getting tangled.

The other consideration is surface area. Generally speaking, 60 minutes of battery should see out a full clean of a medium 3-bedroom house. All robot cleaners will be capable of that, but if you need the boosted Max Mode for busier areas, or to run the robot once for vacuum and then again for mopping, you’ll need to double the figure.

Pets and babies

For parents of fur babies, random pet hair covering the length of your home is probably the reason you decided to purchase a robot vacuum in the first place. For pet hair, you ideally want a machine with rubber brushes rather than bristles, to avoid tangles in barrels. It’s also a good idea to check the dust box capacity of the robot, because fur is fluffy and can take up more room in the container much faster.

For parents of human babies, you want a powerful cleaner to suck out all those toast crumbs your little one trod into the carpet to come give you a hug. The focus here is on high suction power and durable brushes designed to lift dirt while it vacuums.

Unfortunately, that really rules out cleaners that are effective on long pile carpets. Long pile carpets and rugs just don’t stay nice when you have a baby – but you probably already knew that, right?

Smart home integration

We are really living in the future now! Nearly all but the most basic robots now support voice controls through smart home assistance, and have Wi-Fi compatibility to allow your phone or tablet to act as a remote control, activity monitor, scheduler, and instruction manual. These features are nice, but can really mark up the price.

As with many smart home devices, these tend to run on 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only. All routers have a 2.4GHz band, but you might need some help with set up if you’ve only ever used your 5GHz band.

Mopping

If you’re looking for clean kitchen tiles as well as carpets, you may want to invest in a mop-and-vacuum combo robot. Of course, these are usually dearer. They also won’t push hard enough to remove any stains, more just remove the dirt and stickiness that accumulates with foot traffic.

Check if your mop attachment will work while it vacuums, or if you need to swap between vacuum and mop modes, which will require you to run the machine twice. Also check if your model will use a reusable mop sheet or disposables; a reusable mop sheet has to be washed every day to stay effective, and disposables attract an ongoing cost.