Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner For Carpet

Many robot vacuums are effective in cleaning hard floors, but struggle with carpet. They can become stuck in thick carpets or get caught in cords.

Before choosing a robot carpet cleaner, it is important to consider your floor type, traffic patterns, and cleaning habits. Our top picks will assist you in finding the perfect match.

1. Powerful Suction

While nearly every robot vacuum cleaner can clear your hardwood or tile floors of crumbs, hair and dust blowing across them like tumbleweeds, you need more power to clean carpet. This is why many of the top vacuums in our tests have strong suction, and some boast up to 8,000 Pascals, or Pa. This means that the suction is strong enough to eliminate dirt and other debris from carpet fibers.

The most reliable robots have a large dustbin with an easy-to-empty mechanism and enough battery life to complete the task. You should check whether the model you're looking at can automatically empty its dustbin when it's full, too. This will ease your work as you won't need to empty the bin manually into the garbage bag.

Certain robots with strong suction can offer a maximum-cleaning mode to get rid of difficult to remove dirt. However, this feature generally eats through the battery much more quickly than a regular cleaning session So you'll want to reduce it to an absolute minimum.

Robots are being developed that combine vacuuming and mopping. These robots come with a water tank integrated into the chassis or a separate piece you can use as a dustbin to mop floors. Certain machines, such as the Roborock S7+, and the Eufy 11S Max that is less expensive, performed very well on both rugs and hard flooring during our tests. However they did not perform as well when in carpet mopping mode like our top choices.

2. Adaptive Navigation

While some robot vacuums are great on rugs, others are unable to navigate them. This is because of the difficulty in the combination of an efficient vacuum motor with small, moveable wheels and sensors on a compact machine.

There are a variety of ways to make a robot more adept at managing rugs. You can apply tape or roll up the tassels to keep them from getting stuck in the brushroll. Another option is to restrict the robot's access to an area with physical barriers or virtual walls (depending on the model).

The most affordable option we've found for handling rugs is the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max. It's a bargain, but it does not compromise on performance. It was able to pick up dry oats both from a medium pile carpet and a hard floor. It also managed to maneuver furniture that had low clearance. It comes with a number of useful features including a voice assistant remote control and a smart mapping.

It was not able to clean carpets with thicker piles as well as other bots, however it did a great job cleaning them. However, it isn't equipped with object avoidance and doesn't self-empty so you'll need to empty the trash bin periodically.

If you're able to afford some more, the best option in this category is the iRobot Roomba X10. This robovac is a master at recognizing objects and cleaning. It is able to easily pick up Cheerios and other cerealdel we tested navigates effortlessly, never falling off ledges or bumping into furniture, and it comes with ample suction for any floor type. It also has a large dust bin, a long runtime and a simple setting process. Our test subjects found it easy to modify settings and schedule cleaning sessions using the app. They also said that their floors were noticeable cleaner in the span of three months.

4. Smart Cleaning Schedules

The most effective carpet cleaner has strong suction, assisted by brush roll systems that dig into multiple pile heights to pinch hair and large chunks of dirt while simultaneously inhaling fine debris that a less powerful robot would be able to pass over. A majority of our top picks also have automatic suction adjustments depending on the floor type to improve cleaning. They all have self-emptying bins (or at least offer the option) to mitigate the frequency of trips to the trash can.

Some models that can mop and vacuum also have the dual mode feature that automatically raises the mops to give better performance on carpets. In our tests, hybrids didn't perform as effectively as mop-only vacuums or dedicated robotic cleaners. The exception is the more expensive Roborock S7, which has the dual-mode of mopping and vacuuming, and utilizes mapping technology to help it avoid obstacles like stairs.

Mapping technology is a fantastic asset for any robot vacuum, but it is especially beneficial for those who can also mop on both hard floors and carpets. This is because it allows them to create digital maps of the home and remember any obstacles, such as stairs or furniture.

This information is used to devise efficient cleaning routes, to ensure that the robot does not waste time cleaning areas which are already clean, or struggle to get past an obstacle. This information can help to avoid accidents like when a robot is caught in cords or becomes stuck on carpets.

Some robots with mapping capabilities allow you to establish zones of no-go, so that the robot knows not to enter certain areas, such as the pet's food bowl, or an expensive rug. Some models let you create specific rooms so that the robot can focus on a particular space or room within the home.

5. Easy to Clean

Whether you have kids tracking in dirt or furry pets, a 2-In-1 Robot Vacuum And Mop Combo With Wi-Fi And Alexa vacuum and mop can quickly clean up those pesky mess. The most efficient robots can remove pet hair, dander and other debris from floors that are hard and low-pile area rug. Some also offer automatic carpet recognition, which increases suction when they encounter carpets to help lift embedded dirt and debris.

Many top robots self-empty, which makes them a smart choice for households with limited storage space. Some robots have a dustbin which must be manually empty. It is important to check regularly your robot for tangled strands hair and a full bin. This can impact its performance. If your robot cleaner for carpet has an app, you can get maintenance instructions and replacement schedules directly from the manufacturer.

Certain models come with features like home mapping and object avoidance to prevent them from entering areas you'd rather not go. Shark's top choice, for example, will create an image of the floor during every cleaning session. It is then possible to edit it using carpeted and no-go areas, and label the rooms. It also has two laser sensors that detect objects when it moves, as well as safety technology that can recognize furniture leg, window blind cords, and other common obstacles.

It's not as powerful as our top-rated iRobot Roomba J7, but it's still an excellent robo-vacuum who have hard floors and carpeting. It's a great price and offers a solid performance when compared to other midrange robot vacuums that I've tested. Its navigation tools are simple to set up and use, though it doesn't come with a second camera sensor that can spot obstacles in real-time or a mopping device to dampen carpets as well.