The 5 Best Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums of 2024

How easy are robot vacuums to use?

Setting up and using a robot vacuum involves a bit of a learning curve, both for you and the vac. The vac needs to learn your home’s layout, which may take a few runs, then you need to learn how to customize the map, set schedules, and otherwise navigate the app to understand and take advantage of a vac’s varying features and options.

But once you and the vac are respectively educated, a self-emptying robot vac will prove far easier to use and maintain, and take up a lot less storage space, than any other kind of vacuum.

Is the suction on robot vacuums as powerful as other types of manual vacuums?

In our experience, no. But robot vacs can be scheduled to run as often as you like—once a week, once a day, even several times a day —without you lifting a finger.

Whatever the robot vac may miss during one run it’ll likely pick up on subsequent runs. Plus, in our experience, robot vacuums clog far less frequently their more powerful manual counterparts.

Can robot vacuums clean any type of floor surface?

Robot vacuums can detect the type of surface it’s cleaning and automatically adjust its vacuuming mode accordingly. However, obviously a robot vacuum can only essentially sweep a bare floor; you’ll need a robot vac with wet mopping capabilities, or a separate robot mop, to actually wash and keep your bare floors spic and span.

Are robot vacuums reliable?

Robot vacs sometimes stall during their runs, either because they’ve encountered an identifiable object, playful pet or child, get trapped under a piece of furniture, or some other unpredictable reason.

All you need to do is pick up and clear the rollers or corner brush of any built-up dirt or hair or clog, and physically place the vac back in its charging base to reorient itself. It then resumes its cleaning session or recharge.