You don’t want to wet your carpets, and some robot manufacturers are now solving this problem with robots that automatically detect carpets and lift the mopping pads to avoid causing damage.

For our straight-line pickup tests on hard flooring, we spread large and small debris within a marked area proportional to the width of each robot vacuum’s nozzle. Each robot vacuum is given 10 minutes to clean and the debris collected is weighed to determine how much was picked up.

The All-Rubber Brush floats on a multi-directional frame for effective cleaning and easily clears away pet hair with fewer hair tangles.

If non-e of the robot vacuums above take your fancy, here are some other models worth considering. These robovacs all scored highly on test, but just didn't quite make our main guide.

Although the RS20 Pro did a decent job at maintenance cleaning, has plenty of settings, and a great app, it fell short on several other things. It couldn't cope well with heavy-duty messes, particularly when tested on cat litter.

We noticed that it's better at picking up more granular materials like pet hair and kitty litter compared to Cheerios — this is usually the other way around. So it works better for collecting smaller debris.

【Slim Body & Quiet Clean】 Robot vacuum cleaner has a compact design with a height of only 2.89", plus 360 degree universal wheel, making it possible to effectively clean those hard-to-reach corners, like under the bed, sofa and cabinet. 60dB low noise in quiet mode will not disturb you, so you can do job rest assured.

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This small vacuum does it all. The powerful suction and brush combo of the Proscenic 850T guarantee a consistently great clean. You can attach a cloth to the underside for hardwood mopping too.

Many models can automatically detect carpet and increase the suction to better pick up embedded dirt and debris. This isn’t a make-or-break feature if your home only has hard flooring or if you plan to set your carpeted areas as no-go zones, but it is especially important for robots that also mop.

If you have a bit more cash to play with, the s9+ can also talk with the company's Braava jet m6 robot mop, with the two working as a team, vacuuming floors, followed by a mop. Ultimately, this robot vacuum comes at a Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners steep price, but it leaves little room for improvement.

Alistair is a London-based journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. He has tested numerous robovacs over the years for TechRadar, from brands like iRobot, Eufy and Roborock. His favourites match intelligent navigation with smart design.

The automatic vacuum cleaner robot is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing users to make the robot start and stop the clean by voice commands. Use a robot vacuum to save you time and energy!

✅ You have tall thresholds: The Curv is great at scaling tall steps, and on test it very rarely got stuck.