Best robot vacuum cleaners of 2022 reviewed

Genuinely labour-saving home appliances like the robot vacuum cleaner are invented once in a blue moon. These remarkable robots navigate around the floor, vacuum cleaning as they go. Some of them also have a mop mode, providing a 2-in-1 shortcut to spotlessness.

Almost all robot vacuums have two core components: the robot itself, which will be a circular or roughly-circular bot with an in-built vacuum and dust tank; and a slender charger called a base unit, which can be placed up against a wall. The robot vac docks back to the base unit once it has finished cleaning, so it can charge its on-board battery ready for the next bout.

An important point of difference among robot vacuums is their method of navigating around obstacles. Many robot vacuums have one or more bumpers around their circumference. When the robot bumps gently into an obstacle, the bumper detects the impact and changes the direction of travel. Some robot vacuums remember these collisions so they can avoid the problem areas in future. Higher-end vacuums sometimes use cameras to enhance their collision avoidance, meaning they can avoid bumping into obstacles pretty much entirely.

All the robot vacuums featured in this article can be operated either manually, or using an app. Manual operation tends to be the simpler approach, while robot vac apps can support more advanced features such as floor mapping, no-go zones and remote operation.

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Roborock S6

The Roborock S6 is an outstanding robot vacuum, available at an impressive mid-market price.

In our testing, the S6 proved to have excellent cleaning capabilities. It left a rug that had previously been covered in cat hair looking good as new, and it also succeeded in sucking up sawdust and other detritus left over from a DIY job. This is painting a really horrible picture of our reviewer’s home.

We found the robot vacuum could avoid and surmount obstacles particularly well, from uneven floors to thick rugs.

Available in a rarely-seen white colour, it’s a distinctive looker too. The mechanism for flipping the lid open to access the dust compartment is one of many design features we considered impressively slick.

Buy now £345.99, Amazon

iRobot Roomba s9+

In the world of domestic robots, iRobot reigns supreme - with a kingly price tag to match. It’s not just a status buy though, the Roomba s9+ is packed with features that will leave you slack-jawed with wonder. As well as offering a thorough clean across hard floors, thick rugs and carpet, it’s biggest draw is that it empties itself in the clean base, trapping dirt, hair and bacteria into a closed system. You’ll still need to clear this out into your main bin, but it won’t be as often.

It can be voice controlled through Google or Alexa and the simple-to-use app allows you to create no-go zones or set the robot to clean certain rooms only.

It is quite a noisy little thing which could be annoying when you’re trying to unwind in front of the telly but not an issue if its cleaning while you’re at work.

Buy now £1499.00, Amazon

Miele RX3 Scout Home Robot Vacuum Cleaner

The quality and design of the Scout RX3s components seem to be a level higher than most of the competition. Each piece feels resilient and beautifully finished with rose gold details. Every accessory from the remote control to the side brushes is pleasingly designed.

Perhaps the most noteworthy example of the Scout RV3’s smart design is the slight angling of the two side brushes, which seems to give them an advantage when it comes to winkling dust and detritus out of nooks and crannies. This is an important feature, as the robot is not the most powerful in terms of hoovering performance. It sweeps brilliantly and vacuums fairly well for 120min straight if required. It’s also Alexa-compatible and, if you’re having a slow day at work, you can monitor how it’s doing through a Home Vision feed on your smartphone via an app.

We were really impressed with the Scout RX3’s collision avoidance tech. In our testing, the cameras and infrared sensors on the robot did a great job of detecting obstacles like furniture before the Scout RX3 touched them (a few stray chair legs were the exceptions).

Further to their practical use, the eye-like cameras give the robot a friendly appearance, which may lead some users to start thinking of it as a pet with an unusual penchant for cleaning.

Comes with a two year guarantee.

Buy now £779.00, John Lewis

Dyson 360 Heurist

We were instantly struck by the beautiful finishing of the Dyson 360 Heurist. The brightly coloured ‘Nickel Blue’ body is reminiscent of the metal used in later iterations of the iPod.

The clearing performance of the 360 Heurist is more akin to that of a regular vacuum cleaner than your typical robot vac. That extra power is a great thing in terms of cleaning performance, but it does mean the robot is a relatively noisy operator. It’s better suited to being shut in a room to do its excellent work, than to being let free to vac around you as you go about your day.

This robot is extremely good at dodging obstacles, using its 360° camera vision. We were impressed to note it avoided bumping into things like chair legs and tables legs, which most of the other robot vacs we tested would often nudge into. It’s worth noting that the 360 Heurist is taller than your average robot vacuum, so it might not fit through quite so many narrow gaps as other options do.

Also available at Dyson, Amazon and OnBuy.

Buy now £1199.99, Amazon

iRobot E5152 Roomba Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Launched in 2002, iRobot Roomba is an elder statesperson among robot vacuum brands. Based on our testing of the Roomba E5152, the company is comfortably keeping pace with more recent entrants into the market.

In our testing, the Roomba E5152’s cleaning performance proved to be very good, with powerful suction and thorough coverage of the test space, collection 99 per cent of mould, pollen, dust mite, dog, and cat allergens as it goes.

We were particularly impressed with the Roomba’s Dual Multi-Surface Rubber Brushes that adapt to the surface and the Dirt Detect sensors that work harder on the dirtier areas of your home. This interesting tech proved to be highly effective.

Special mention also goes to the E5154 and the hi-tech i7156 models.

Buy now £234.99, Amazon

AEG RX9 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Make light work of your chores by introducing the AEG RX9 to your home. It uses a camera and laser-based scanner to map out the room. It then remembers this information for automated cleaning in the future. It really has never been easier to sweep up your space.

The device has a dual brush with a wide and side iteration to target those hard-to-reach areas and has an impressive 0.7L container. The same goes for the battery life where it can go hard on a 76m2 space and then is charged up in only three hours.

But the best feature of all, is the small but mighty device’s ability to climb up to 2.4cm. This means that it can be sweeping up your kitchen and then head to the living room, negotiating the threshold between the two surfaces with ease.

Buy now £689.99, John Lewis

Ultenic D5S

The Ultenic D5S impressed us during testing. It took a range of floor surfaces in its stride, ranging from smooth to what might kindly be described as rustic. The robot did seem to get stuck on a particularly bumpy stone flag at one point, but it valiantly righted itself within just a few seconds.

The DS5 did a great job of following the profile of walls and furniture. It seems adept at covering all the ground in a room, using a variety of movement patterns. One minor downside is that the robot was not able to recognise some lighter objects (specifically, a cat toy and a cat bowl), and so it proceeded to shunt these unfortunate items across the floor.

All things considered, the D5S is a really effective operator, available at a reasonable price. Its abilities were proven beyond doubt when we came to empty its dust drawer and saw the impressive amount of detritus it had gathered up.

Buy now £223.85, Amazon

Neato Botvac Connected D7

Gentle and meticulous, the Neato Botvac Connected D7 is a delightful robot vacuum to have around the house. It moves quite slowly, and operates quietly, which we found refreshing after testing some of the more high-octane robot vacs on the market.

We were impressed to note the D7 could traverse uneven areas of floor which other robots couldn’t manage, including a fairly steep barrier between rooms.

The D7 seems to dwell for a relatively long period in small areas of the room before moving on, leaving each area well cleaned without requiring a second pass. As you’d hope, the D-shaped design of the robot seems to help it get the dust out of corners.

Buy now £599.20, Amazon

Verdict

This was a tough one to call. Each and every robot vacuum tested for this article struck us as an excellent appliance, capable of making it easier to keep a space tidy.

We had to choose one robot as our ES Best Top Pick, and after careful consideration, we’ve chosen the Roborock S6. Quiet yet powerful, polished yet affordable, this robot strikes the perfect balance between cleaning performance and pleasant user experience.