What is the Best Vacuum Robot for 2018?

• High-End: Come with the most advanced features and accessories.
• Best Sellers: These robotic vacuum cleaners provide an excellent user experience, at a reasonable price.
• Best Budget: This category gathers the cheapest vacuum cleaner robots, that score the highest ratio of user satisfaction.

The Best High-End Vacuum Robots

We grouped in this category the most recent and innovative vacuum robots. They have all new advanced features that ensure best cleaning result, and provide the best user experience.

The 3 best high-end vacuum cleaner robots are:

1. Botvac D7 Connected by Neato Robotics ($750)

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Neato D7

The Botvac D7 Connected is the 2018 high-end vacuum cleaner robot by Neato robotics. It is Wifi enabled, and works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home. The smartphone app for iOS and Android allows to remotely control the D7. Besides, both Apple Watch and Android Wear smartwatches, allow access to the vacuum’s features right from your wrist. It is worth noting that beside being the finest robotic vacuum, the Botvac D7 is also the cheapest high-end robotic vacuum robot. You find more details about the D7 and how it compares to Roomba in a dedicated article.

2. Roomba 980 by iRobot ($800)

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Roomba 980

The 980 is the most advanced of the famous iRobot Roombas. Its Wifi connectivity allows for voice command through Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant. The iRobot app (iOS and Android) lets you clean, schedule, and customize cleaning preferences from your smartphone. You can find out more in the post dedicated to the comparison with the Neato Botvac D7 Connected. This explains why the Roomba 980 is also a very popular vacuum cleaner robot. Indeed, it ranks 3rd in the “Best Seller Robotic Vacuum Cleaners” category.

3. POWERbot R9350 by Samsung ($800)

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Samsung R9350

With a price tag of $800 bar, the finest robotic vacuum cleaner by Samsung is the second most expensive vacuum robot. However, Samsung made a good job to get closer to the robotic vacuums market leaders, namely iRobot and Neato Robotics. Indeed, the POWERbot R9350 has most of the features of its competitors, including Wifi and a smartphone app. It also supports voice command, but only via Amazon Alexa. Regarding navigation, Samsung emulates the systematic cleaning introduced by Neato. Thanks to an onboard camera sensor, the R9350 creates optimal cleaning path and avoids obstacles.

Star Wars fans should definitely pick the limited edition of the Samsung vacuum robot. This is actually a customized version of the POWERBot 7000 series. Beside the look, Samsung changed also the notifications sounds. Beeps are replaced with the voice of a Star Wars character, excerpts of the movie’s music and of course the heavy breathing of Darth Vader. Really cool! Check out the video below.

There exist two variants of Samsung’s Star Wars vacuum robots. A white version representing a Stormtrooper (~$500), and a black version representing obviously Darth Vader (~600)$. Each one has sound effects specific to the represented character. The price difference is also due to features unique to the Darth Vader model. It features Wi-Fi connectivity and accompanying Samsung mobile app that allows you to control your robot vacuum cleaner from a mobile device anywhere. Beside start/stop, the app allows to check the cleaning history or schedule cleaning times. So, even while you’re away, you remain deeply connected to Darth Vader.

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Darth Vader Vacuum RobotBuy from Amazon
Stormtrooper Vacuum Robot

Best Seller Vacuum Robots

Crowd wisdom is the guide for this category. It gathers the best of best seller robots. Beside being popular, those robots have most important features and accessories to ensure very good cleaning. Moreover, they are easy to operate and maintain, which contribute to high user satisfaction.

The 3 best seller vacuum cleaner robots are:

1. Roomba 690 by iRobot ($300)

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Roomba 690

The Roomba 690 is a simple to use affordable vacuum cleaner. It has a years-long track record for reliability and owner satisfaction. The prominent feature of the 690 is scheduling. This is very useful since vacuums are noisy, and the Roomba is no exception. It’s better to run it while you are away, for example during work hours. Once your home is cleaned or if the Roomba runs out of battery, it will find its way back to the charging dock. Still, you can launch the cleaning manually by pressing the clean button and clean your whole home or spot a particular area. The Roomba 690 comes with a Virtual Wall beacon that allows you restrict areas covered during a cleaning cycle. It acts as a wall, so the Roomba will bounce away and thus focus on a particular room, or avoid some region. Last, the 690, is Wifi enabled like all recent Roomba. You can control it via the iRobot Home smartphone app, as well as with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant. You can read more about the Roomba 690 in our post dedicated to Roomba

2. Botvac D80 by Neato Robotics ($399)

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Neato Botvac D80

The Neato Botvac D80 is the most popular vacuum robot by Neato for 2017. As with all Neato robots, the D80 has the unique D-shape that improves cleaning corners. It is nicely complemented with a side-brush, also available on the Roomba. The embedded laser, also a unique feature of Neato robots, allows the robotic vacuum to build a map of your place and localize itself. Thanks to the laser, the D80 performs a more natural systematic cleaning. As opposite to the Roomba 690 that moves randomly and bounces on furniture, the D80 moves methodically all around your place. This much closer to what one does with a manual vacuum. The large dirt bin and the nice screen for scheduling contribute to make the Neato robot vacuum, very compelling.

3. Roomba 980 by iRobot ($800)

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Roomba 980

The 980 is significantly more expensive than the two other winners of this category. This is because it is the most advanced Roomba on the market for 2017. A perfect combination of build quality and all the iRobot’s patented technology. The 980 also ranks 2nd in the “Best High-End Vacuum Robots” category. You can find out more about the Roomba 980 in our post dedicated to the comparison with the Neato Botvac Connected. This explains why the Roomba 980 is also a very popular vacuum cleaner robot.

Best Budget Vacuum Robots

This category is dedicated to best deals. Criteria used in this selection, are the price, cleaning performance and user experience are also on the menu. Top rated robots here ensure highest ratio of user satisfaction by the price. The cleaning quality and the ease of use are good enough given the price. On some aspects, they even rival with more expensive brands. The overall build quality and cleaning performance are however less good than the vacuum robots from the two above categories. For example, they perform poorly on dark colored or thick carpets. If your home contains a large number of rugs or thick carpets, we do not recommend these cheap vacuum robots.

The 3 best budget vacuum cleaner robots for 2018 are:

1. Ecovacs Deebot N79S Vacuum Robo ($200)

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Ecovacs N79S

The Ecovacs Deebot N79S is a cheap robot vacuum cleaner with an impressive battery given the price. It can operate up to 120 minute while operating in eco-mode. Once the cleaning is over, or if low on the battery the Deebot N79S goes back to its docking station.

Regarding cleaning performance, the Ecovacs Deebot does a quite good job cleaning hard surface floors. In the max cleaning mode, its suction power incerases by 50%, with good results on thin carpets. This is of course at the expense of the battery duration.

The companion smartphone app allows to customize, schedule and monitor cleaning sessions. It also allows receiving notifications on the status of your vacuum robot. Wifi is also used for voice control. The Ecovacs Deebot N79S works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home alike.

2. ILife V3s Pro Robotic Vacuum ($150)

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ILIFE V3s Pro

The ILife V3s Pro is a minimalistic vacuum robot that starts cleaning either on demand or based on a preprogrammed schedule. It can be controlled using the onboard buttons or with the provided remote control. When cleaning it roams randomly collecting dust and hair, bouncing on walls and furniture. And when the battery is low, the ILive V3s goes back to its charging station.

Let be clear, this vacuum robot is far behind the others. It does ok cleaning hard wood floor and tiles. But, it does not work so well on regular carpets. This is because its has only two rotating side brushes and a central suction pump. The better vacuum robots all have also a main brush beneath.

3. Pure Clean PUCRC95 Robot Vacuum ($150)

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Pure Clean PUCRC95

The Pure Clean PUCRC95 robot vacuum has similar characteristics to the ILife with two notable exceptions. The PUCRC95 comes with Hepa a filter, and it allows to attach a dry mop.

The Pure Clean has also the same limitations as ILife V3s Pro that leads to mediocre cleaning performance. It lacks at main brush beath. Its 2 side sweeper rotating brushes do catch dirt and debris on open floor or along walls or edges. But, the suction power is not enough to lift debris for example cereal bits, especially because the narrow suction opening.