An updated app made using the G30 Edge much easier than with previous Eufy robot vacuums. While the G30 Edge creates a map of your home, you can’t set up virtual no-go zones, or direct it to clean specific rooms. The second-best robot vacuum under $200 is iLife’s V5s Pro, which vacuumed nearly as well as the V3s Pro, picking up pet hair, Cheerios, and kitty litter with the same effectiveness. The main difference with the V5s Pro is that it has an added mopping feature. While this seems like a great idea — a vacuum and mopper in one — we found that the V5s Pro was pretty ineffective at mopping in our in-home tests, so this feature didn’t add that much value.
Samsung’s JetBot+ is a high-end, feature-rich machine that has LiDAR navigation and a self-emptying base. At 21 inches tall and 9 inches deep, the base is just so big and noticeable; we much prefer the smaller, less obtrusive base of the iRobot j7+. shark cordless The vacuum has a forward camera and obstacle detection, but our testing found it not to be as precise as the iRobot j7+. We sent them on a normal run of the house cleaning run as well as runs with handfuls of cat litter on the floor and carpeting.
Mediocre suction capability, random navigation and difficulty finding its base made this a nonstarter for us. While the vacuum has features such as voice control and in-app scheduling, it didn’t function half as well as the similarly priced Eufy 11S. But just because you’re not spending a lot of money on a smart unit doesn’t mean you’re not going to get a clean house. In our testing, we found there are some models that clean really well and can do almost as good a job as a higher-priced option. Luckily the Eufy has a recharge and resume feature, so if it runs low on battery, it makes its way back to the base to recharge itself and when ready resumes the cleaning job.
We don’t like the s9 because it’s one of the clumsiest navigators we’ve tested. It’s like the developers left in a bunch of code that makes it think it’s still round. We watched it stubbornly try to shove itself into spaces where it obviously couldn’t fit, roughing up some furniture in the process. This would be annoying in a $400 robot, but it’s especially frustrating in a robot that can sometimes cost more dyson robot vacuum than our favorite dishwasher. Hooman Shahidi, iRobot’s vice president of product development, told Wirecutter that it’s more difficult to get a D-shaped robot like the Roomba s9 to navigate smoothly. IRobot representatives have also told us that they’ve been fixing navigation problems via software update since the robot launched, but recent user reviews suggest the s9’s performance is still inconsistent.
The downside is that it doesn’t work quite as fast as some competing models. Spending the time during the initial setup, mapping your home and creating in-app “no-go zones” will save you the hassle of decluttering each time you run the vacuum. If you don’t want smart features like mapping, don’t need a self-emptying dustbin and don’t mind picking up before you start the vacuum, the Eufy 11S is the budget robot vacuum we recommend. It’s a basic and affordable vacuum with a slim profile, good suction and quiet operation, and should work well for anyone who wants to maintain their floors in between manual vacuuming. The Roomba 677 robot vacuum is a great way to begin cleaning your home smarter.
For a dependable, versatile, and affordable cleaner, we prefer a bagless upright, but we have recommendations for other types of vacuums as well. Wipe the sensors clean as needed, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines—usually with a microfiber cloth or cotton swab with a little water or rubbing alcohol. The Trifo Max worked fine in our tests, nothing impressive or obviously bad.
But if a vacuum you like doesn’t come with one, it doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker, models without the label may be just as good. While not really a feature I consider essential for operation, the G20 has a remote control option in the Eufy Home app, which means it can also double as a fun cat toy. Despite being a budget bot, it doesn’t partake in the classic bump and roll navigation, Instead, it uses gyroscopic navigation to divide the space into individual areas and clean each one methodically. It’s quite soothing to watch it go to work as it moves up and down in neat, rectangular boxes. You can read my full review of the Roomba j7 Plus here, where I put it head-to-head with Samsung’s Jet Bot AI Plus robot vac, which shares similar features.