To determine which vacuum would hold the "Best Overall" title, it had to meet three main criteria: multisurface capability, strong suction and good navigation. Ultimately, the Roborock prevailed in all of these categories. In comparison to other models on the market, the Roborock Q5 offers the most features for your money. A user-friendly, approachable app allows for floor plan customizations like setting up no-go zones, invisible walls and cleaning schedules for the whole house or individual rooms. LiDAR navigation results in extremely accurate mapping and therefore a much deeper, more precise clean. Our tester appreciated that the map was visible in 3D and that she could easily add or subtract furniture from the map as well as note if the room had hard flooring or carpet. With a run time of 180 minutes, the vacuum adequately avoids obstacles and maneuvers around furniture with ease. We were impressed with the vacuum's suction abilities, as it successfully picked up crumbs, dirt and human hair, as well as its ability to auto-adjust its suction power to accommodate the surface it's on. However, our tester did find some debris left by the vacuum on the edges of her rugs and floor transitions. As for pet hair, let's just say it's no longer an issue for our dog-owning tester. The Roborock snagged pet hair buried in carpets, tumbleweeds floating on hardwoods and stray bits of food next to the dog bowl. The 470-milliliter (0.47 L) dustbin is one of the smallest of all the vacuums we tested, and our editor found herself emptying it two to four times per job. Overall, we had very few complaints about the Roborock Q5's performance and features. It's noisier than the eufy 11S Max but on par with the noise level of our other top picks.

Consistently top-rated, the iRobot Roomba 694 is a great midrange robot vacuum for households big and small. Multisurface brushes allow the machine to pick up debris from both hard flooring and carpets, and cleaning sessions can be started and scheduled in the easy-to-use app or with voice controls. Although it's bulkier than other models we tried, its size works in its favor to easily cross thresholds and pick up larger debris. It effortlessly climbs onto rugs from hardwood, auto-adjusting brush height to effectively clean each surface. But size comes at a cost, as we noticed this vacuum was much louder than comparable models. After 90 minutes, the vacuum returns to the base to charge before having to be manually restarted again. The Roomba 694 also struggled with sucking up smaller particles like salt and sand. It did, however, excel at picking up pet hair, human hair and dust from within our tester's carpet. Advanced sensors on the robot vacuum keep it from falling down stairs as well as help it maneuver under and around furniture and wall edges. Our tester noted how the robot was able to successfully go under most of her furniture (size and height permitting), and it managed the random corners, edges and fireplaces of her home well. In conclusion, this robot vacuum may miss some smaller debris and need a few passes to get rid of every morsel of dirt, but its performance is on par with other top models on the market and is a great option for hands-free vacuuming between deep-cleaning sessions with an upright vacuum.

Boasting many of the same functionalities as higher-priced robot vacuums we tested, the AIRROBO P20 rings in at just under $200 (and sometimes under $125 when it's on sale) — which is great for a basic robot vacuum. While the robot doesn't have any fancy mapping features or no-go zones, it does pair with an easy-to-use app and an included remote control. Our tester appreciated that the app has a link to a copy of the user manual (in case the paper copy gets misplaced or thrown away), a status display for the life of the filter, side brushes and main brush, and the ability to completely control the robot (mode, suction power, etc.) from the app. And when it comes to performance, the vacuum passes with flying colors. It ran for two hours and 10 minutes — in an efficient zigzag pattern — before going back to the base to charge, and the 600-milliliter (0.6 L) dustbin only needed to be emptied after the job was complete. The strong suction power was able to easily pick up crumbs, hair, debris and even little pebble rocks from our tester's hardwood, tile and thin rugs, although it did struggle to cross the threshold from her hallway into the bathroom. Other notable features of the P20 include anti-collision sensors, drop-sensing technology to avoid stairs, an ultra-quiet function and four cleaning modes. While the robot vacuum does a great job at picking up hair, our tester noticed that the hair wrapped around the brush roll pretty quickly and needed to be pulled or cut off — something to consider in a household with pets that shed a lot. While it may not be the best option for pet owners, it's a great introductory choice for those who want a robot vacuum with scheduling options and a long runtime.

Pet hair will be a nuisance of the past thanks to the ILIFE V3s Pro Robot Vacuum. Not only is this robot vacuum budget-friendly, but it also puts in the work to remove hair, crumbs, debris and more from hardwood, tile, laminate and low-pile carpets. The feature that sold us the most on this vacuum is the tangle-free pet-hair suction. Because the robot doesn't have a roller brush on the bottom (and instead has two spin brushes), it eliminates the tangled mess that often occurs when pet and human hair get wrapped around that roller. While testing, our editor let the pet hair accumulate in her home and found that the vacuum sucked up a full bin's worth of hair, litter and more, with no obvious hair left behind. In fact, she even says the areas under her couch and coffee table have never looked better. The ILIFE V3s Pro also features anti-bump and anti-fall sensors to avoid obstacles, furniture and stairs as well as a 90-100-minute run time. A downside of this vacuum, however, is the small dustbin capacity of 300 milliliters (0.3 L), so expect to have to empty it frequently throughout a session if it will be picking up a lot of hair and debris. Keep in mind that this model also doesn't have a companion app or Wi-Fi capabilities to control the vacuum (though it does come with a remote), and it bounces around the space it's in when vacuuming with no no-go zone feature. So while this robot vacuum may not be ideal for those who want all the bells and whistles, it's great for those who want a little extra help around the house without spending a fortune.

If you're looking for a truly hands-off vacuuming experience, then look no further than the iRobot Roomba j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum. It uses iRobot OS Technology and PrecisionVision Navigation to maneuver through rooms, recognizing and avoiding common objects like cords, pet waste, curtains, shoes and more. This model features a self-emptying base that empties itself into an enclosed bag in the base, only needing to be changed out every 60 days according to the manufacturer. Our tester noted that the vacuum picks up every bit of dust, debris and hair in its path including cereal, muffin crumbs and paper shreds in her home. The suction was so good, in fact, that it sucked up a toddler-sized sock, but our tester was able to easily remove it from the dustbin. While it works well on both hard floors and carpet, our tester noted that it performs better on hard flooring and actually left a few hairballs behind on her carpet when transitioning into the room. Our tester loved the app, too, from which you can start cleaning, see the robot's battery level, choose a specific room for it to clean, schedule cleanings and see what the robot is doing in real-time (cleaning, returning to base, emptying, charging, etc.). A few other highlights of the machine include a tangle-free brush roll for hair, spot-cleaning abilities, no-go zones, edge brushes to target baseboards and corners, and a low-profile design to go under most furniture. The noise level, however, wasn't as loud as a standard vacuum but loud enough to interrupt a virtual meeting or TV show. The biggest downside to this model will be, for most buyers, the price.

Tackle one more chore (the dreaded vacuuming) while the baby is sleeping with the eufy RoboVac 11S Max. This robot vacuum takes our "Most Quiet" spot because of its whisper-quiet operation — 55 decibels to be exact. Our tester even went as far as to say she could have it running 24/7 in her house and never hear it — which was a huge pro for her. We were also unexpectedly won over by the vacuum's low-profile design that was able to navigate under pretty much all the furniture in our tester's home and in those hard-to-reach spots. But, because of its smaller size, the 11S Max struggled to get over thresholds between rooms and left some debris behind when passing from hardwood to carpeted areas. As far as suction power goes, it picked up dust, crumbs and hair (both pet and human) with no problem thanks to BoostIQ, a feature that automatically increases suction power when extra strength is needed. However, it did have trouble sucking up spilled salt and needed extra passes to pick it all up. This model is ideal if you want a more introductory-level robot vacuum (or for those who are less tech-savvy) as it's not compatible with an app or Wi-Fi and is controlled by a remote or a button on the machine instead. All in all, though, the eufy 11S Max RoboVac met our basic needs from a robot vacuum. It's not the fanciest, but it's also not going to cause you more problems than it solves.

With a plethora of customization options and useful features, the Shark AI Ultra is a great pick if you want more control with less hovering while the machine is in action. This robot vacuum is extremely versatile, boasting strong suction, smart mapping of your home for room-to-room cleaning abilities, a self-emptying bagless base, LiDAR navigation, pet hair pickup, obstacle avoidance and more. And, thanks to Shark's Matrix Clean Navigation (that uses a matrix grid pattern to take multiple passes over dirt and debris), a smarter, more efficient cleaning pattern is established for a much deeper clean. Our tester noticed that the robot vacuum had zero issues transitioning from hardwood to tile to carpet and didn't leave any debris behind in the process of those transitions. She appreciated how the machine senses walls and obstacles before running into them and how it navigates around furniture legs seamlessly. Because the vacuum takes multiple passes over floors, she didn't notice any dirt, hair or debris left behind after it was finished running — even with a dog that sheds heavily. Instead of losing suction power when the dust bin gets full, the robot vacuum makes its way to the base, empties itself and resumes where it left off cleaning. Two cons but not dealbreakers of the AI Ultra are the noise level when emptying and its size. Our tester noted that the robot vacuum is incredibly loud when it's emptying into the base (so much so that it made her jump the first time) and that its larger size prevents it from going under some furniture in her home. However, its user-friendly app, 120-minute run time, anti-tangle brush roll and powerful suction abilities far outweigh any cons. Overall, if you want a vacuum with a long battery life, a self-emptying dustbin and control over your robot's path, then, for the price, the AI Ultra is a solid choice.