Historically, robovacs aren't great at cleaning up to the edges of rooms, but today's best robot vacuums add spinning side brushes designed to flick debris into the robot's suction path.

✅ You have carpet in your home: We were very impressed with this model's suction powers, which is great news if you need something that can pull dust from carpet.

Not all robovacs can handle the extra challenge posed by lots of pet hair, but one that really impressed on this front was the Dreame L40 Ultra. This bot was put through its paces in a home filled with furry, four-legged friends, and really rose to the occasion.

Bagged vacuums are easier and neater to maintain and are great for allergy sufferers since all dust and allergens remain sealed in the dust bag. All you do is toss the bag when it’s about ⅔ full. You do need to keep a supply of replacement bags on hand.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ is a solid performer in CR’s tests, with smart-mapping technology and avoidance technology. In our assessments, it excels at cleaning bare floors but performs less well on carpet.

And if you suffer from allergies, these robot vacuums have high-efficiency filters to help eliminate allergens that are hanging in the air. Of course, the downside to having a robot vacuum clean up after your pets is that you'll also have to make sure you plan for more frequent maintenance.

I love the easy-to-use app that allows you to schedule cleanings and view the progress from a camera that is attached to the vacuum. This vacuum also came in second out of 10 vacuums for maneuverability.

It’s hard to find a robot vac that doesn’t have some form of mopping, but not all mops are created equal. I looked for mopping bots that could get up dried-on stains, like milk and ketchup, and scrub up small wet spills without messing themselves up.

The Roborock Qrevo Edge Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners adequately handles regular cleaning, but this robot vacuum stumbles in the one area it should shine

❌ You're on a budget: This is a premium robovac, and while we think the performance justifies the price, there are cheaper alternatives if it's out of your budget.

The iLife V3s Pro is the best robot vacuum you can get for less than $200. Despite its low price, the V3s Pro consistently outperformed other robot vacuums that cost three times as much. It picked up nearly all of Fido's fur in our lab tests — making it one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair — and it performed well in everyday home usage.

It has advanced mapping which our top pick overall lacks, so it can record and remember a blueprint of multiple floors of your house after just a few trips; you can then label individual rooms, and tell the s9+ to clean specific rooms on specific days.

Read more on this subject in our article exploring can a robot vacuum replace your existing vacuum cleaner?

The PowerDetect even offers more than the pricier competition with an ActiveLift leg. This helps it crawl over obstacles. It effortlessly popped the floor cleaning bot over my home's raised saddles and onto carpets in my living and dining room.