They can handle various floor types, from carpets to hardwood. Some even have self-emptying bins. With so many options available, finding the right one can be tricky. This guide will help you understand the key features and benefits. Make an informed decision to keep your home clean with ease.

Many of today's best robot vacuums are also able to mop floors. This can be useful if you have a mix of hard floors and carpet, but be aware that robovac mopping tends not to clean as well as good old manual mopping.

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.

And a capable robot vacuum could really be worth the investment if you're finding it tricky to stay on top on manual cleaning.

Who it's best for: This model is a great choice if your floors are mostly wood or laminate, thanks to its large parquet floor brush that safely and thoroughly cleans the cracks and crevices of hardwood floors.

A new robot vacuum can be a significant investment, so to ensure you end up with the right one for you, each model here has been tested either on-team, or by one of our regular, experienced freelance reviewers.

You’ll be using an upright vacuum to clean bare floors and low-pile rugs, we recommend selecting a model where you can adjust the height of the nozzle and switch off the rotating brush to avoid damaging flat and delicate surfaces or scattering debris.

Why we love it: It maps and remembers multiple rooms and floor plans and it beat all other robot Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners vacuums in our test at quickly and effectively spot-cleaning a small area. This robot vac is pricey but has high-end features like carpet detection to automatically ramp up suction when needed and dual rubber roller brushes that don’t clog with pet hair.

The Narwal Freo X Ultra is the best robot vacuum for carpet. It's a premium product, (and it's not available in the UK), but delivers the best carpet cleaning performance of any robovac we've tested. On test we found that not only did it suck up finer dust and dirt efficiently, it also scooped up larger debris – namely bits of cereal – just as well.

(If you want even more impressive mopping, check out the Eureka J20 at #seis, which has a roller mop that supplies continuous fresh water, and siphons off the dirty stuff as it cleans.)

Today's top-specced robovacs can generate upwards of 10,000Pa of suction. That's rare though, and you're generally looking at machines that sit in the four-figure price bracket to get that kind of power.

✅ You also need a manual vacuum: Most people with robovacs also have a manual vacuum. The Ecovacs takes the fuss of that out by providing you with one in the first place.

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 they are in general.

You need a compact tool to quickly clean up dry spills on bare floors and surfaces or to nab lint, pet hair and other debris on fabrics or carpeting. Some come with hoses and attachments; others can pick up wet spills too.