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8 Best Robot Vacuums (2023): Mops, Budget Vacs, Great Mapping

Posted on August 7, 2023

8 Best Robot Vacuums (2023): Mops, Budget Vacs, Great Mapping

  • Photograph: Roborock

    Best Overall

    Roborock Q5+

    After years of testing robot vacuums, there are all sorts of inconveniences I have grown to accept as part of owning and using one. They get stuck on string. Sometimes they fall off steps. But all those hassles fell away with Roborock's midrange Q5+ (9/10, WIRED Recommends). After years, it's still the most reliable cleaning partner in my house and the one I call on when other robot vacuums have failed.

    It mapped 850 square feet of my home on the first run for 110 minutes, with plenty of battery left to spare. It methodically ran around the rim of the room before vacuuming it in rows, navigated neatly around kitchen chairs, didn't fall off the step in front of the fireplace, and marked everything accurately on the map. It can save and customize up to four separate maps, which means I can simply pick it up and carry it upstairs or to the basement. Adding Siri voice commands is simple, and I can yell at it to start from over 50 feet away.

    I have one gripe, which is that the onboard bin is still pretty small. You can make up for this by increasing the emptying frequency and power in the app, or setting up different zones so it empties after each room. However, it did pick up tumbleweeds of dog hair and adroitly swiped croissant crumbs from under the kitchen counter that other vacuums had left behind. I can ignore it—which is the highest praise you can give to any vacuum, ever.

    $700 at Amazon
    $700 at Walmart
    $700 at Roborock

  • Photograph: Shark

    Best Vac-Mop Combo

    Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop

    I tested the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni and am currently testing the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra ($1,600), but honestly, Shark's AI Ultra 2-in-1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) gives you about 90 percent of the functionality for a fraction of the price, and with fewer cameras. It uses laser navigation to make an accurate map of your home within 20 minutes, which you can subdivide in the easy-to-use app to indicate vacuuming or mopping zones.

    When you swap out the Shark's vacuum bin for the mopping bin, you can see it wiggle as it scrubs the floor. If you spot-clean with UltraMop, you can see it wiggle even more. The scrubbing action, combined with Shark's proprietary cleaning solution (only use water if you don't want to buy the solution separately, cautions Shark), ensures that your hardwood floors are getting thoroughly cleaned. It never got the carpets wet, and, yes, the vacuum function worked well too. My only quibble is that washing the reusable mop pads by hand can get gross pretty quickly.

    $600 at Amazon
    $600 at Best Buy
    $700 at Target

  • Photograph: Eufy

    The Best Mop

    Eufy X9 Pro

    The Eufy X9 Pro (6/10, WIRED Review) is simply the best mopping vacuum I have tried. The X9 Pro has two mops on the bottom that each rotate at about 180 revolutions per minute. When you start a mopping session, it takes several minutes to wash the mop in the docking station, and you can choose the frequency with which the mop returns to the station to get rewashed. The mopping itself, and the mapping, is fast and accurate; even with a rewash frequency of every 10 minutes, it still only took 30 minutes to mop my kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom. My 6-year-old spilled a half-bottle of syrup and to my astonishment, when I mopped and walked over it, my feet didn't stick! The floor was clean! The docking station then dries the mops for you, so they don't get all gross.

    Unfortunately, this doesn't work so well as a vacuum. There's no self-emptying bin and the onboard bin has a relatively small capacity. It also doesn't work on medium- or long-pile carpets—that is, any carpet that isn't an industrial short-pile. But you can toggle the carpet cleaning settings in the app. If your house is mostly hardwood floors, this is a great pick.

    $900 at Amazon

  • Photograph: TP-Link

    Best Affordable Mop

    TP-Link Tapo RV10 Plus

    The TP-Link Tapo RV10 Plus (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is so much cheaper than many other vac-mop combos because, instead of using lasers or cameras to navigate, it has a gyroscope navigation system. It has no mapping function, but that just means it doesn't have a camera that can take pictures of your butt and send them to Amazon. The hardware is almost fool-proof—it comes in two pieces and the self-emptying bin attaches to the bag via a straight chute, with no curves or doors to trap debris.

    It does require boundary tape to prevent it from dragging a wet mop on the carpeted parts of your house, and if it misses a door, well, that room just isn't getting clean. But if you have an open floor plan and hardwood floors—as I did before a recent move—this is a solid pick that doesn't break the bank, especially since it's usually on sale.

    $400 at Amazon
    $400 at TP-Link

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