Today’s robot vacuums promise to map your home, vacuum and mop your floors, avoid pet “accidents,” empty their own bins, do video surveillance, and clean specific rooms following elaborate schedules. Do any of these functions work?
Buy the winning iRobot Roomba j7+:
Buy the best buy Shark ION Robot Vacuum:
Read our full review:
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
49 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I know the actual review is old (article from Jan 2022) but I highly recommend bringing in Roborock and other popular brands, and include multiple tiers within the same brand.
This review is not completed without Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra
This lady has definitely stretched her complete nonsense gig to its limit. Today she jumped the shark.
My self empty shark is awesome. It learns and maps in the app and optimizes routes for efficiency after a few calibration “randomizing” runs. Can’t beat the performance for the price over rumbas. Easy to clean and maintain and after having mine for several years…only thing I’ve had to do is replace the battery for $15. It’s brilliant for the price.
We recently bought Yiko, a robot that vacuums AND MOPS – and empties it's own dustpan. It also returns to its base to WASH it's mop disks before returning to where she left off. We can speak to her or use the app. We can schedule vacuuming and/or mopping, call Yiko over to clean up a mess, tell Yiko to stop in the middle of the job and return to the base (worked well when I needed the room suddenly). At her most powerful, she runs quiet. Why don't you review this one? ECOVACS Deebot X1 Omni, aka Yiko, their name for the robot when you give voice commands.
I had the iRobot j9 the one that was recalled. I also have a plain Jane older iRobot. The WiFi on the expensive one still does not work. In a YouTube review it was said that they don’t work well with 5g so this is why they have problems. My older iRobot is a work horse it can vacuum for 2 hours, leaves my hard wood floors nice.
I won’t buy another WiFi one till I know it won’t have so many issues. But I am planning to buy the older non WiFi one for upstairs.
I am waiting at least a year for the roborock too see if the 1,000 plus is worth it. Need more reviews from people who have own them longer than a few months.
Yes I do loved the iRobot mapping feature but it kept loosing WiFi.
my issue with the Roomba j7 is those rubber rollers get very full of pet hair. I had to do a full breakdown and clean every other week with the roomba because of pet and human hair jamming up everything. I have not had this issue with the shark IQ at all. I think i clean it out every two months.
The one thing I'd be really interested to see next is a review of compression ice cream makers. I know there's the Breville Smart Scoop that was reviewed 6 years ago now as well as the Whynter one, but Cuisinart has the ICE-100, Waring has an WCIC25, and it looks like Whynter has even more options available now
They didn't review the highest rated robots for some reason – the roborock s7 and ecovacs x1 omni
For real? You didn't include neither Deebot nor Roborok? Just to make iRoomba win? I used to trust Test Kitchen to be independent 🙁
Lisa, we have used the Roomba from iRobot for several years. We recently had very plush carpeting installed. Now when we vacuum, there is a trail of debris all over the floor. I’m curious if the newer models had solved this issue. Did this scenario fall into your testing?
The Eufy 11s is well priced and works pretty well. Why didn't you review that one?
I have literally been waiting for one of these reviews. I'm getting one for Christmas for our home. Thank you test kitchen.
I have a Roborock s4 vac. Highly regarded, reliable and much more affordable then Roomba. I have owned it several years and am quite happy. It maps house and rarely gets stuck on cords or other stuff on floor. Check out vacuum wars on YouTube.
I have a eufy and its been awesome! I have 2 dogs and a cat. the majority of what it picks up is pet hair and dust/dirt. I run it twice a day (takes 35 min for small house). It disgusts/amazes me what it picks up.
Watch Vacuum Wars for scientific comprehensive reviews.
I want one but I'm scared it would get out if I leave the door open
Two vacuums enter, one leaves
Hi I really like this channel and the variety for ideas.
I would like to ask you why a big player like ecovacs was not included in this test I think the results will be a bit surprising.
thanks
Love ATK reviews, but no Roborock on the lineup? Someone dropped the ball.
The reviews I’ve seen consistently rank Roborock ahead of iRobot in every test.
Where are they in your rankings?
Hi can you please review Rockingham Forge knives. They are a UK brand. Thank you
Completely ignored noise level as a metric. In my experience iRobot Roombas are by far the loudest. Not to mention how they skipped all of the Chinese brands like Roborock, Ecovacs, and Eufy which do exceptionally well in objective reviews like Vacuum Wars. Sponsored much? Disappointing. ATK has been a miss more often than not these days.
For devices with microphones and cameras, I think you need to tell us what the manufacturers do with the information they collect. Amazon (iRobot) is in the advertisement business, so they will sooner or later find a way to monetize that information.
"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out." -Robert Collier
My Eufy is the best. It’s low profile and gets under all my furniture. I do not have any carpet or stairs. It comes with magnetic strips with brown on 1 side and beige on the other. So I can put the strip in front of wires or block it from some rooms.
I have the J7+ and my parents have a Roborock. I prefer my parents' Roborock, as sad as I am to say it. The LIDAR is just a better method of navigation.
I had a generation 1 Roomba many years ago, and bought a new model last year.
One thing Lisa didn't mention is reliability. Roombas are sturdy little beasts, and iRobot keeps parts in stock for many years — not just replaceable parts, everything. Roombas are intended to be serviced by a handy owner. [I can still buy parts for the Gen 1 I bought in 2003.]
The self-emptying dock is a must, IMO. I don't have pets or kids who make messes, but my flat generates a lot of dust.I only need to change the bag once every 8-9 months … this is longer than typical, but I expect most people will go well over a month between bags.
My Roomba model (i3+) also has more privacy than usual these days. No camera, only need the internet if you want to map your house or run it remotely. You don't have to do either.
Would love to see the robot mop review.
I have quite a few, mom keeps trying them and throwing them away, I snag it out of the trash when I visit. The cheap dumb ones do okay, her expensive one just goes back and forth over the same path, then takes a right turn at Albuquerque and gets lost.
I love my I Robot "Jetson". He has made my life just a little bit easier and I vacuum more now then I used to.
So I've had two sharks in the last 3 years. The first one eventually died because I have cats in my home. The second one lasted about 7 months.
I recently purchased an iRobot and cannot believe the difference in the two products. The iRobot does a great job of seeking out every part of my condo. I'm very impressed. I did not get the self-empting one. But I'm fine with that
These continue to be called vacuums. The ones I've had so far, are strictly floor sweepers. I'm grateful to have them since I have the kittens. Vacuuming everyday can be a nuisance. I look forward to the next generation of robot sweepers
I have resisted acquiring a robot vacuum, despite friends and relatives blathering on about their love of them. Once a week, having vacuumed twice with a full-size Dyson, I empty an entire canister full to the maximum line(we have three dogs). My gut says I'd spend every day emptying the robot vacuum's ridiculously small canister. Prove me wrong.
FINALLY, thank you for reviewing these!!
I'm not sure your review was fair or thorough. Why no Roborock robot vacuums? Did you test any of the new stuff out in the last 6 months? You should check out Vacuum Wars YouTube channel for some testing results.
Why is ATK reviewing vacuum cleaners?!? Stick to the kitchen guys
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
roborock or xiaomi ,chinese brand vacuume are really well too
Every robot vacuum review should also cover the notable privacy issues of vacuums that can take photos/record video of your home, your possessions, family members etc. and send the data to the manufacturer over an Internet connection so the company can sell the data to ad companies, data aggregators etc.
Seems extremely few reviewers even consider this issue even though most users probably wouldn't be too hyped about having a robot take video of your family and send it to who knows where.
Who actually wants Jeff Bezos et al mapping and photographing the interior of your home? It's so that Amazon can sell you more stuff as they can identify what they believe you need and target advertising. And so he can sell that information, which for him is actually more profitable than selling physical products.
Weird thing for ATK to review.
Can anyone please explain how is this a kitchen equipment item used in cooking? When was the last time anyone used a vacuum to help prepare a meal? ATK is really reaching. Posting anything just to post content. Lately they have really missed the mark on reviews. I see sponsorship here. I have friends who own this and regret their purchase. ATK stick to actual kitchen equipment not household appliances.
Disappointed that there are many top brands, particularly purchased on Amazon such as Ecovacs Deebot, Eufy and Roborock (currently Amazon's best selling robot vacuum) missing from this testing. Perhaps a review of one's purchased from amazon?
What's next on your review list? Toilet bowl cleaners? PLEASE remain America's Test Kitchen which revolves around the reason, the heart, of our kitchens. Putting good food on our tables.
Next ATK review: Motor oil
You know…because we use cars to get groceries.
I have heard that the Shark ION Robot Vacuum RV761 has been discontinued. So why is it recommended ???
Lisa always answers the questions I have about any appliance or equipment she reviews – the world needs more Lisa ! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Try the roborock s7 maxv ultra.
Surprised Roborock wasn't tested/considered.