For example, you can’t use Siri to set up Automations as you can with Alexa and Google Assistant—though to be fair, Automations on those two platforms are pretty limited, as well. Using Alexa, Rachel was able to create an automated Routine that would tell the Roomba i3 EVO to start vacuuming whenever Rachel and her smartphone left her house. However, as with most robot vacuums, you could also set a Schedule to accomplish these tasks. For every robot vacuum, we run at least two regular cleaning cycles across about 1,000 square feet, with lots of obstacles and thresholds.
On that note, there is still a place in the world for cheaper robots that rely on semi-random navigation. (We like to call it bump-and-run navigation.) If you need to clean only a few rooms at a time , one of these models can get the job done. Besides, most good robots at all prices are pretty good at avoiding bot-trapping obstacles. And bot owners tend to get in the habit of picking up the kinds of floor-bound clutter that can create a problem—toys, shoes, laundry, even certain lightweight floor mats—so that the robot can work effectively. We also tested the Kyvol Cybovac S31, along with its auto-emptying dock, and it was perfectly decent .
That’s fine, but it’s slightly less than what you get from the slightly more affordable Roborock Q5. The older Eufy RoboVac L70 is still available, as well, but its app is not capable of permanently remembering specific rooms in a home, which makes it substantially less convenient than most current laser-nav bots. We’ve tested a handful of its bissell crosswave cordless laser-nav bots over the past few years, including the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI (a higher-end but otherwise similar version of the N8 and N8 Pro). All of the Ecovacs models we’ve tested worked fine when they were new, but you can usually find a better bot for a lower price. Their major flaw lies in the Ecovacs app, which is glitchier than others.
We’ve also discovered that, as of late 2021, several other brands are selling near-copies of the Eufy bots. Under the Settings menu are even more customization options, such as turning the robot to Do Not Disturb mode or telling it to charge during certain hours. We spoke with sources in the floor-care manufacturing industry to help make sense of all the low-cost, off-brand options.
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. The Roomba i3 EVO is a better cleaner than most robot vacuums—at any price. We know this from assessing the visual results in our tests, but also from weighing the contents of the robot’s dustbin after vacuuming sessions and comparing that against the performance of other vacs. On many occasions, we also ran it immediately after other bots had done a cleaning session, and the i3 EVO would still come back with a lot of extra debris in its bin that the other bots must have left behind. Every bot we’ve tested—even the latest models with sophisticated navigation and smart-home integration—has gotten trapped or tangled at least occasionally.
In the product health area it would be useful to have reminders to clean the filter every so many hours as well as the reminder when to change it. Also when it comes to the map it would be useful to just delete parts of the map you want to remap or were just an error in the first place. Use Automations to connect to your smart devices and personalize your cleaning experience by scheduling your robot to clean when you leave the house. Models with an interface come with a Mini-DIN connector supporting a serial interface, which is electrically and physically incompatible with standard PC/Mac serial ports and cables. However, third-party adapters are available to access the Roomba’s computer via Bluetooth, USB, or RS-232 (PC/Mac serial). Roombas pre-October 2005 upgraded with the OSMO hacker device allow monitoring many sensors and modifying the unit’s behavior.
It has consistently been one of the lowest-priced models of its ilk (around $100 cheaper than the Roborock Q5). We tested one, and it worked a lot like all the other laser-nav models. The robot itself felt relatively flimsy, but we have no clue what to expect in terms of durability, and our analysis of owner reviews didn’t turn up any unusual complaints. The main reason we don’t recommend the Wyze bot is that the app can’t currently remember irobot vacuum cleaner maps for multiple floors of a home—it learns one level, whereas Roborock bots can remember up to four levels. According to the Wyze customer support forums, a beta version of the Wyze app supports multiple maps, and it’s supposed to be released widely at some point. If that doesn’t matter to you, or if you’re willing to believe that Wyze will actually release that multi-level update soon, the Wyze robot seems like a decent-enough option.