The Best Robot Vacuum For Carpet
If you have low or high-pile carpet, there's a robot vacuum for you. These smart appliances automatically navigate through your home, pick up debris and even clean under furniture.
Many of them have advanced features, such as mapping, which can help you navigate your home and recall furniture placement. They can also boost suction power to clean up areas.
iRobot Roomba 694
The Roomba 694 by iRobot is a robot vacuum for entry-level use that works well on carpets with a low pile or bare floor. It has good suction however it has trouble with larger debris such as sand or grains of rice. It does a good job cleaning pet hair but is not as resistant to tangling as premium Roomba models such as the j7 and I6.
The Roomba is easy to operate. It has three buttons on its top cover. "Clean," which triggers a cleaning process and 'Dock' that places it in its charging station and 'Spot,' which activates an individualized cleaning. It is controlled by an app for smartphones that allows you to schedule and stop/start cycles, and also adjust settings. You can also pair it with smart home devices such as Alexa or Google Assistant for voice-controlled operation.
This vacuum cleaner is slower than some other models, but it can get into the most crevices and corners. It comes with a large dust bin which is ideal for reducing the frequency which you must empty it. It's compatible with virtual barriers and digital mapping that let you make it impossible to clean certain areas or even stop cleaning completely if you want to keep it from getting stuck on something.
Although it's not the top model for its price however, it's superior to many other alternatives. The Roborock E4 has a better cleaning efficiency than the Roomba 694 and it is able to clean both carpets with low pile as well as bare. It also has a longer-lasting battery and a cleaner path. It is also more comfortable to use and has fewer components that require regular maintenance, costs less to maintain over its life and charges faster than the 694.
You may also want to consider other models within the iRobot range, such as the v7 and the 981. They're more expensive, but they offer significant improvements over the 694 in terms of cleaning performance on both bare and low-pile floors, use an efficient cleaning path, have a bigger dirt compartment, are quicker to charge, maneuver themselves more easily, and are easier to connect to smart home devices.
Shark RV1001AE IQ
This self-emptying robot that is budget-friendly does an okay job on hard floors as well as carpets with low pile. Its combination brush reaches the edges and corners and automatically increases suction as soon as it spots carpet. It also does an excellent job of cleaning dirt off carpets in the middle of the pile. The IQ has a tiny footprint and has a self-emptying feature. If you want to change the floor level or set no-go areas, you'll need to manually reset the map.
The IQ app offers some advanced mapping and automated functions, however it isn't equipped with no-go zones. They are only available on iRobot robots. The smart-pathing technology allows for greater maneuverability, and the high-pile mode of its carpet cleaning mode is efficient but it could get caught in rug tassels.
During our tests, we discovered that the IQ handled pet hair well. It was able to get rid of the majority of hair on floors that were not bare and a decent amount of rug with a medium pile. It was less effective on shag carpets, as it had a hard time reaching dirt and dust embedded within the fibers. It did a good job of navigating the legs of chairs and tight spaces as well as the bottom of an wooden IKEA step stool. It was a little slower on bare flooring but it was able to recover speed and was more efficient than the other robots we tested.
The IQ is a better choice than the iRobot Roomba 694 for most uses. It has a larger dustbin, a longer battery life and is better at navigating around obstacles. It also comes with mopping attachments that are able to tackle sticky mess. The iRobot, on the other hand feels better built and has fewer parts that require maintenance or replacement and incurs fewer ongoing costs, and can even create virtual no-go zones with its companion application. It can continue cleaning from where it left off even if its battery runs out before it's finished. The iRobot can also be controlled via voice, which can be a big plus for many users.
Eufy 11S
The RoboVac 11S by eufy isn't exactly the most feature-rich robot vacuum available but it does provide great cleaning power for a low price. It's a budget-friendly option for buyers who don't require a complex mapping system or app to control the device. The robot is able to last for up to an hour. It comes with a remote robot vacuum cleaner control, cleaning tool and AC power adapter.
The 11S is slim, sleek and has a tempered-glass upper deck that looks like brushed aluminum. It's a nice departure from the industrial and utilitarian designs of Roomba, Samsung and Neato.
In our tests, the eufy 11S was very effective in removing larger particles and fine dust on hard flooring. However, it struggled to give medium and high pile carpeting an effective deep clean. The device is prone of bumping into furniture and people in its course. However, it is able detect obstacles with sensors. It stops and emits a loud sound when it comes across an obstruction. Then, you can manually guide the device around it to restart it.
Another fantastic feature of the eufy 11S is its BoostIQ mode, which allows you to set the robot to automatically adjust its suction power to match the type of floor and the level of dirt. The remote control makes it simple to direct the 11S to the desired area.
If you don't have a lot of furniture in the area you'd like to vacuum Single Room Mode is an excellent alternative. The eufy will spend 30 minutes cleaning the area it is assigned to.
Edge Cleaning is another option that reduces the time that is spent on each area to 20 minutes. This will increase battery life. By selecting this option the eufy moves in a spiral pattern taking care of edges and corners for a thorough clean.
Miele Complete C1
The Miele Complete C1 is an excellent mid-range robot vacuum and a top performer on carpet. Its performance on bare floors is also impressive. It can remove small particles such as rice with ease and it doesn't suffer from suction efficiency even as its dirt bin gets full. Its air-sealed design and allergy-friendly design capture allergens, keeping your family healthy. It has an onboard HEPA filter and a self-emptying dustbin, which means you don't have to buy additional filters or a separate vacuum bag.
It's not as effective as other models, but is still ideal for deep cleaning and tackling the toughest stains. The two cameras on the front of the unit provide a live image feed on your smartphone, and it comes with one of the top obstacle avoidance systems we've ever seen. It also has a large dustbin, long runtime and a quick and smooth clean-up.
The Complete C1 is unlike most robots in that it is able to switch between a standard head and a turbo head for various types of flooring. The turbo head is great for low-pile and high-pile carpeting and the standard powerhead is great on unfinished floors and light carpets. It also comes with an automatic height adjustment system that allows it to adapt to various kinds of flooring without manual adjustments.
This model comes with an SBD 285-3 Classic Combination Floorhead that can handle hard floors as well as carpeting with a medium pile. The powerhead can also be easily moved and reach difficult spots. It comes with five different surface adjustments as well as a switch that stops the brushroll to prevent tangled hairs.
The Classic C1 has a self cleaning brush roll, a UtraClean Mode that will clean the same area up to three times and a self-emptying bin that can be emptied by pressing a button. Its sound level is a little higher than that of other models, but its powerful 1,200-watt motor as well as robust construction make it worth the extra expense.
If you're willing a bit more it's worth it. Miele Complete C3 is an excellent all-around canister robot vacuum that performs better on carpet than the Classic C1. It is better suited for all types of floors and is built more securely and comes with a HEPA filter.