Reviewing the best robot vacuums in the UK: our winners

But as so often is the case in life, not all that glitters is gold. Robot vacuum cleaners also have their weaknesses.

Let’s take a look at a few of these disadvantages below.

Low capacity of dust containers

The capacity of the mobile dust bin is usually quite small (400-500 ml). This means you’ll constantly have to empty the robot at regular intervals.

Premium suppliers such as iRobot, Ecovacs and Roborock are equipped with a self-emptying ability. This ensures that the mobile dust container is emptied automatically.

Small objects lying around

Small objects lying around (e.g. cables, socks, shoelaces, etc.) can cause the robot vacuum cleaner brush to become blocked.

Meaning you would have to rush to the rescue and free your little household helper any time it stumbled across your belongings on the floor.

So it’s best to put all these small objects away before the cleaning session begins.

That being said, manufacturers are also aware of this challenge.

Robot vacuum cleaners are gradually being developed with new technologies that independently detect and avoid flat obstacles.

Long-pile carpets

There isn’t a robot vacuum cleaner out there that doesn’t have problems with very high pile, shaggy carpets. The main brush gets caught in the long carpet fibres.

Therefore, we advise you to create a "no-go zone" around carpets like these. Then they will be left out of the cleaning session.

The cleaning results produced in our tests have been super impressive in these situations.

Self-emptying stations are another very popular feature.

And rightly so.

They save you a lot of effort and automate the cleaning process a great deal more.

How does an emptying base work?

As soon as the robotic hoover has finished cleaning, the charging dock / emptying base is activated.

The entire contents of the robot’s mobile dust container are vacuumed out once it enters the base.

The dirt is stored in a large dust bag (located in the emptying station).

Advantage of a self-emptying station

The most frequent maintenance task with a robot vacuum cleaner is (regularly) emptying it.

Thanks to auto-empty stations, this task is a thing of the past.

The only thing you still have to do: Empty the dust bag in the extraction station every 2-3 months (depending on how dirty your home is).

Another positive effect: contact with harmful household dust is completely avoided.

This makes self-emptying stations an absolute must-have for allergy-sufferers.

Find out more in our comprehensive review of the best robot vacuum cleaners with self-emptying bases.

You can find a compilation of the best models below. 👇

Allergy sufferers are all too familiar with watering eyes and runny noses. 🤧

Clean, freshly mopped floors contribute significantly to greater well-being in households with allergies.

And who is best suited to this task? That's right: a good robot vacuum-mop combo!

P. S.: You can find more information on the topic of robot hoovers for allergy sufferers in our detailed review.

But robo-vacs must meet some basic requirements to be considered suitable for allergy sufferers. The most important are: HEPA filter, mopping ability, timer function and self-emptying station.

Why these properties are so fundamentally important for allergy sufferers is explained below. 👇

HEPA filter

HEPA filters are a core feature of a robot vacuum cleaner for allergy sufferers.

They filter out the smallest pollutants (and allergens) from the air.

This means they don’t get inhaled, avoiding the onslaught of typical allergy symptoms.

Mopping ability

This is another feature that should not be missing in a robot vacuum cleaner for allergy sufferers.

Mopping removes any remaining dirt from your floors (e.g. dust, simple stains, etc.).

This way, your home will be even cleaner.

As we know, the formula for allergy sufferers is simple: more cleanliness = fewer allergy symptoms = better well-being. 👍

Timer function

The act of vacuuming itself can trigger severe allergy symptoms in sufferers.

This is mainly due to the fact that the dust (i.e. allergens) is stirred up during cleaning... and ultimately inhaled.

The result: Watery eyes. Runny nose. Discomfort.

This does not have to be the case.

Simply set your robot hoover to clean your home on fixed days and/or times.

Preferably in your absence.

This allows the whirled-up dust to have a chance to settle before you come home, meaning it’s not inhaled, and the allergy symptoms do not occur.

A self-emptying station

A "luxury feature" for most of us. But absolutely necessary for allergy sufferers.

The big advantage: the mobile dustbin is emptied automatically.

All you need to do is replace the large dust bag in the base station every 2-3 months.

This way, contact with harmful (allergenic) house dust is completely avoided.

Robotic hoovers cannot yet fly or climb stairs. 🚀

But you can still use the household helpers in multi-storey houses.

The most important feature here is: the robot vacuum cleaners must be able to create and save multiple maps (for multiple floors).

With this feature included, nothing stands in the way of using a robot vacuum in a multi-storey home.

You can find further information in our comprehensive guide on buying a robot vacuum cleaner for multiple floors.

Outside of cleaning performance, quick, systematic navigation is the most important feature of a robot vacuum cleaner.

Because if it wanders around your home for hours, bumping into all the furniture or even leaving out rooms, then the robot vacuum cleaner is nothing more than an expensive, useless "toy".

Therefore, our advice is to go for a robot hoover with an "efficient" navigation method.

This means: Avoid vacuum robots that rely on bounce or gyro navigation.

But which navigation systems are the most efficient?

Laser navigation

Currently, the best navigation method for robot vacuum cleaners is laser navigation.

The term Lidar navigation technology (Light detection and ranging) is often used to refer to this navigation method.

So it's no surprise that >90% of the best robot vacuum cleaners on the market rely on this technology.

The way it works is quite simple: a Laser Distance Sensor (LDS sensor) scans the surroundings, normally from the laser tower on top of the device.

This creates a detailed floor plan of your home. The robot vacuum cleaner will then always know where it is and where it wants to go.

Your floors will be cleaned in a quick, seamless, systematic manner. 👍

Which robot vacuum cleaner with laser navigation is the best?

Models from Roborock but also from Ecovacs have always really impressed us in our navigation testing.

For our 80 m² flat (approx. 40 m² cleaning area), cleaning takes around 40 minutes on average. These models didn’t leave out any rooms or areas. ✔

So we recommend these laser navigation models wholeheartedly:

Camera-based navigation

An alternative to laser navigation is navigation with the aid of a camera.

This method is rather rare.

And there is a reason for this: The system has some disadvantages.

For one thing, navigation is quite slow. On the other hand, good lighting conditions are required for optimal navigation.

Which is the best robot vacuum cleaner with a camera?

The robot pioneer from America, iRobot, relies on camera-based navigation.

We have tested the iRobot Roomba i7. Navigation worked quite well in practice. The iRobot Roomba i7 is also impressive in itself. You can read more about the device in our iRobot Roomba i7 review.

Automatic obstacle detection

Automatic obstacle detection is currently the "latest thing" on the robot vacuum cleaner market.

Flat objects (< 10 cm) are usually overlooked by robot vacuums. So the little household helpers often get caught on phone chargers or socks.

Robot hoovers with "object recognition" solve this problem by themselves. With the help of an additional camera or laser, the floor is scanned for objects lying around.

These objects can thus be spotted and avoided independently.

These kinds of robot vacuums make particular sense for larger households with pets/children or for less organised households.

These are the best models with obstacle detection: 👇

Robot vacuums vary wildly in terms of battery life, too.

Battery life, and thus how long your robot can clean for at once, differs depending on the model (and the selected suction power setting).

The charging time of the battery should also be taken into account.

Another important feature (especially for larger living spaces) is the "recharge and resume" function.

This function allows the robotic hoover to return to the docking station automatically to charge its battery (in case it runs out in the middle of a cleaning trip) and will then return to the exact spot where it stopped vacuuming before.

Even larger living areas can be cleaned without you needing to lift a finger with this feature.

Our test winners have runtimes of several hours. An area of between 100 - 200 m² can be tackled in this amount of time.