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.

Opertating this robovac is nice and straightforward too. We found the app easy to use, with useful customization options. And the bot itself mapped our reviewer's home quickly and accurately, then proved reliable at object avoidance on test, too.

I really like Roomba’s dock design, which, while large enough to accommodate two rather small water tanks, is the most stylish of all the multifunction docks.

Robot vacuums have a series of brushes on the underside of the machine that work together to collect dirt and dust that they come in contact with. The dirt is then sucked into the dust cup, which is fitted into the vacuum's body.

All of this makes the Combo 10 Max a great buy for pet parents who are in a daily battle with shedding and occasional muddy paw prints.

All AI is not created equal, however, and some are much better at this than others. The end result is that robot vacuums with AI detection are less likely to get stuck when cleaning, so you’re more likely to come home to a clean floor rather than a beached bot.

As well as these standardized tests, my reviewers integrate these robovacs into their daily cleaning setup, to get a feel for how effective and user-friendly Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners they are in general.

The market ranges from ultra-simple to extremely capable, with price tags to match, so it's important to pick the right one for your needs. I'm here to help with that.

All the robot vacuums in this ranking have been rigorously tested, either by one of the TechRadar Homes team or an experienced reviewer. Meet some of the expert reviewers who tested the robovacs that feature in this guide.

But there’s no hot water washing or hot air drying of the mop as there is on similar Dreame and Roborock models, so you’ll want to throw the pad in the washing machine every now and then.

❌ You don't need a mop: There's no vacuum-only version of this particular model, so if you don't need the mopping capabilities, look elsewhere in the list.

This isn't a cheap bot, and while I think the featureset and performance justify the price, it'll be out of budget for some. We have more affordable options in our roundup of the best robot vacuums for pet hair – although be aware that if you really want something up to the task, you will likely need to spend a bit more.

The S8 Max Ultra is a very solid all-rounder, and only lost its place in our ranking because Roborock came out with some even better models very shortly afterwards.