While most will offer similar guidance, the measurements required can vary, and some designs may prefer a greater clearance. Generally speaking though, your robot vacuum should be placed against a flat and straight wall on a level surface, with around 3 ft of clearance on each side, and at least 4 ft in front. This is so that it has adequate space to start cleaning and dock on re-entry, without any furniture getting in the way. If you do not empty the bin or check for tangled hairs regularly, it will affect the performance of the robot vacuum.
As we mentioned earlier, Siri Shortcuts does not provide the ability to create Automations. When the robot docks in the base after a cleaning run, the auto-empty function initiates automatically. The process produces a lot of noise for about 15 to 30 seconds—about the volume of an old-school standing vacuum—as it sucks the debris from the robot’s bin into the dust bag. When the bag is full, you usually get an alert in the robot’s companion app. Needless to say, these models offer a far superior user experience than traditional robot vacuums that require a significant amount of manual labor.
The Roomba 694, on the other hand, was easy for us to strip down and then reassemble with just a screwdriver. The dust- and crumb-pickup stress tests are meant only to give us an idea of each bot’s cleaning power—they don’t tell the whole story. The Shark produced a pretty accurate floorplan of my two-bedroom apartment, and I was happy to see a “re-explore” option that shark dustbuster I could use if the map wasn’t up to my standards. That way, you can send the Shark to only the bedroom for more direct cleaning jobs, select “no-go” zones and more. Whole home deep-cleaning on carpets and hard floors without ever lifting a finger. Welcome to deep-cleaning power with a vacuum that returns to the base, recharges, and can pick up where it left off.
Others, such as the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI, come with a standard docking station but require you to purchase the auto-empty base separately. All-in-one models are generally easier to set up, but buying the components separately gives you the flexibility to use the robot with the auto-empty dock or its standard docking station. That said, the Roborock app isn’t nearly as polished as those from iRobot, Shark and others. The main page shows your home’s map along with the battery level, cleaning time, cleaning area in feet, and buttons that let you quickly start a cleaning job and empty the dustbin. You’re also able to select specific rooms or zones to clean, but the rest of the control options live in the menu accessible by the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the app.
Features can include height adjustments for easy transition from dense carpet cleaning to hardwood floors with the flip of a switch. The biggest difference from our top picks is that the Roomba 600 series doesn’t have smart mapping and navigates semi-randomly rather than following an orderly, predictable path. This was the norm for robot vacuums until a few years ago, and a lot of people were happy with that approach. But as of 2022, smart robots are much more common and affordable—and much better at cleaning large spaces consistently and efficiently. Even so, the semi-random bots still have a place in the world, and we’ve concluded that the Roomba 600 series is a great option if you want a simple, sturdy bot for a fair price. Like many robot vacuums at this price, the Roomba i4 EVO can thoroughly clean big spaces by following a (mostly) logical, orderly path throughout a home.
Last October, ITC Administrative Law Judge MaryJoan McNamara released her preliminary findings. They came back as less a knockout for either company than a split decision. McNamara found that SharkNinja was shark robotic vacuums in violation of parts of two of the four patents at issue in iRobot’s complaint. But the judge’s finding was what’s known as an initial determination, meaning parts of it are under review by the full ITC.