Robot vacuums are designed to clean your house more often and with less effort than a traditional vacuum, so why get one that’s going to need a lot of attention? Robots like The Roborock S5 Max make it easy to go about your day and always have a clean house without having to worry about fixing up the robot when you get home.
Best Overall: Roborock S5 Max
The Roborock S5 Max is Roborock’s newest robot vacuum, and it brings some of the most advanced mopping and mapping functionality of any robot on the market. The new mopping attachment features two separate components: a washable mopping pad, and a huge 280-mililiter water tank. Having a large tank means you’ll rarely have to fill it up, making mopping easier and more carefree.
Super intelligent laser-guided navigation means you won’t have to turn lights on for it to work and don’t have to worry as much about tidying up the house before you run it. One of the biggest barriers to using a robot vacuum is the fact that many of them require a spotless house in order to work well, otherwise they get stuck or lost. That’s just plain annoying.
When you do have to clean the robot up a bit, Roborock’s designs make it simple to do what’s needed. The side-brush is made of a durable silicone and almost never needs attention Even when you have to clean hair and other strands out of the main brush underneath, each side unlocks and pops off to make removal as easy as sliding the hair off. Even the air filters, dustbin, and mopping pad are washable. You still have to empty out the bin, but overall, this is one easy, eco-friendly robot vacuum.
Pros:
- Less tidying up needed to run
- Large water tank
- Washable mopping pad, air filter, and dustbin
- Silicone side brush lasts a long time
- Main brush is easy to clean
Cons:
- No self-emptying option
Best Overall
Roborock S5 Max
- $599 at Amazon
Cleans everything
The Roborock S5 Max is Roborock’s most advanced robot vacuum yet, featuring a powerful mopping attachment that can be controlled right from the app.
Best Value: Roborock S4
Roborock offers a host of vacuums at different prices, but the best value comes from the Roborock S4. A perfect mix of price and performance, the Roborock S4 does exactly what it needs to do without all the fuss. This one is simple to maintain for several reasons. First, it’s not a complicated machine. It’s just a robot vacuum with no mopping attachment and no complicated setup.
Second, Roborock’s advanced navigation means you’ll spend less time tidying up and more time enjoying a clean house. Lots of robot vacuums require that you maintain a spotless home to work best, adding a level of regular clean-up effort you probably didn’t expect.
Lastly, just like the Roborock S5 Max and Roborock S6, the Roborock S4 features a durable silicone side brush that will almost never need any attention or maintenance, and a main brush that’s easy to slide hair right off of via the unlocking sides. Oh, and don’t forget the washable filter and dustbin, which make it easy to keep the vacuum running in tip-top shape with just a quick rinse.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Advanced navigation
- Washable filter and dustbin
- Silicone side brush requires almost no maintenance
- Main brush is easy to clean
Cons:
- No mop
- Can’t self-empty
Best Value
Roborock S4
- $389 from Amazon
Just a vacuum, please
When you just want a robot vacuum without any add-ons or extra steps, the Roborock S4 is the best value choice out there.
Best for Pet Hair: iRobot Roomba s9+
You’ll pay a pretty penny for it, but the iRobot Roomba s9+ is, without a doubt, the best robot vacuum for homes with excess pet hair. While all robot vacuums have limited storage space for storing debris they’ve sucked up, the Roomba s9+ will keep you from having to constantly empty the bin just to keep it cleaning.
That’s because the s9+, in particular, ships with a special charging base that can automatically empty the dustbin in the vacuum for you, and it stores up to 30 bins full of hair and dust before needing to be emptied. For pet owners, that’s a lot of regular maintenance and hassle you can avoid by having the vacuum empty its bin for you.
The roomba s9 is also built in a D-shape that’s better for corner cleaning, and includes a set of dual silicone roller brushes underneath. These roller brushes are specially designed to avoid getting pet hair tangled in them, and even when pet hair does wind its way into the corners, is easily removed by popping the brushes out and sliding the hair off.
Pros:
- Dual silicone rollers are built to handle pet hair
- Self-emptying functionality
- Base stores up to 30 bins of debris
- D-shape gets hair out of every corner
Cons:
- No mop
- Camera navigation has limitations
- Quite expensive
Best for Pet Hair
iRobot Roomba s9+
- $1,395 at Amazon
Premium all around
The iRobot Roomba s9+ can empty its own bin and be set on a schedule, making this a hassle-free, low-maintenance robot vacuum.
Best for Multiple Stories: ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950
Most robot vacuums aren’t built to handle more than one floor of a house, but if you’ve got an upstairs and a downstairs to clean, the ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950 is the vacuum you should consider buying. The ECOVACS Home app takes the floorplan maps built by the Ozmo 950 and allows you to customize the names for each floorplan, with the ability to switch between floors when you need to.
Any robot vacuum can be placed on a second story and told to do a full cleanup, but ECOVACS multi-story functionality allows you to also add in per-room cleaning for up to 10 floorplans. That certainly means you’ll be worrying less about cleaning up the mess your kids made in their upstairs bedrooms and more about spending quality time with them instead.
ECOVACS also offers a way to swap out the main brush underneath for homes with primarily hard flooring installed, completely taking your mind off any maintenance that a roller brush might require. A large mopping water tank and washable pads only further the idea of low maintenance, as you’ll be thinking less about whether or not you need to attach the mop or fill up the tank.
Pros:
- Dual side-brushes mean excellent corner cleaning
- Multi-story support
- Large water tank
- Optional brushless operation
Cons:
- More expensive than some other robots
- No self-emptying functionality
Best for Multiple Stories
ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950
- $799 at Amazon
Upstairs? Downstairs? No problem.
With support for up to 10 different floorplans, the ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950 is the perfect choice here.
Best Quiet Vacuum: Roborock S6
Do you regularly find yourself needing to to a little floor cleaning while you’re home? How about vacuuming after dinner and not wanting to interrupt the movie or TV show you’re watching? The Roborock S6 is the quietest robot vacuum on this list and, simultaneously, features the most powerful suction motor you’ll find on a robot vacuum.
Just like the other Roborock vacuums featured here, the Roborock S6 sports advanced laser-guided navigation that’ll keep you from having to tidy up before it cleans your home. That super smart navigation is also super efficient and will finish up cleaning before you know it, all without missing even the most elusive nook or cranny in your home.
Roborock’s easy-to-maintain main roller brush, washable dustbin and filter, and durable side brush mean you’ll almost never even have to think about your robot vacuum. The smaller water tank when compared to the Roborock S5 Max means you’ll be filling it up more often, but the washable pad still makes mopping easy and sanitary every time.
Pros:
- Advanced navigation means less tidying up before it cleans
- Easy to maintain roller brush
- Durable silicone side brush
- Washable dustbin and filter
Cons:
- Smaller mop water tank
- No self-emptying option
Best Quiet Vacuum
Roborock S6
- $649 at Amazon
The strong, quiet type
The Roborock S6 offers both the most powerful suction and the most silent motor around.
Best on a Budget: Roborock E20
When it comes to inexpensive robot vacuums, most of them feel cheap. The Roborock E20 sells for under $300, a price category that usually equates to a pretty dumb robot that can’t see where it’s going and will aimlessly bump into things. However, the Roborock E20 features two types of navigation to keep it from getting lost: dual gyros, and an “electric eye.”
The real maintenance with these inexpensive vacuums can usually be lumped into two different categories: the vacuums get lost, and they just don’t do a good job of cleaning. The Roborock E20 is able to see the environment around it and map out a clear and logical path, removing that element of randomness that other robots in this price range have.
That logical path also means it cleans well and won’t force you to regularly pull out your traditional vacuum to clean up where the vacuum left off. Roborock also ships the E20 with a mopping attachment, so if you’ve got lots of hard floors that need regular mopping, the mop attachment is what you want.
Pros:
- The best budget robot vacuum on the market
- Super affordable
- More advanced navigation than others in price range
- Mopping accessory has a washable pad
Cons:
- Can’t self-empty
- Electric eye isn’t the most accurate
Best on a Budget
Roborock E20
- $299 from Amazon
Mopping and vacuuming on a dime
Roborock has you covered with the Roborock E20, an affordable, smart robot vacuum that knows where it’s going.
Bottom line
When considering which robot vacuum requires the least maintenance, it’s clear that maintenance means more than just fixing a broken robot. The Roborock S5 Max answers that call best for several reasons. It’s got the most advanced navigation of any robot vacuum on the list, with the ability to set per-room vacuuming and mopping modes that’ll clean each of your rooms perfectly, every time. It’s also not going to get lost in your house, and automatic charge and resume means you’ll be spending less time thinking about vacuuming than ever and more time enjoying a clean home.
A large water tank means you won’t need to fill the tank up each and every time you run the vacuum, making mopping feel like even less of a chore. With washable air filters and mopping pads, you won’t need to spend a bunch of extra money on these regular-use items after buying the vacuum.
Even the brushes are designed to be as hassle-free and maintenance-free as possible. The silicone side-brush will run hundreds of cleanings without needing attention, and if hair gets tangled around the main brush, the sides can unlock and pop off so all you’ve got to do is slide the hair off, with no cutting or annoying tangles to deal with. There’s even an included multi-tool for general maintenance under the hood, meaning you won’t have to go searching for a brush or pair of scissors when the inevitable maintenance cycle does come along.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Nick Sutrich Nick is a news writer and contributer to Android Central. He’s been writing about tech since 2011 and loves robot vacuums, home automation, virtual reality, and any kind of gadget that’s connected to the Internet. Find him on Twitter at @Gwanatu.
