Automatic vacuum cleaners can be quite loud, so you need to make sure that you are comfortable with the noise level before making a purchase. Check out the reviews to see what other people have had to say about the noise level.

The mopping is a cut above average, and the space-age looking curvy dock takes care of the mopping maintenance tasks including refilling the bot's onboard tank and washing and drying its mop pads. (You will need to supplement this with the occasional deeper clean, but that's unavoidable.)

Some others we think are very useful are automatic carpet recognition, setting up pelo-go zones through an app and recharge-and-resume capabilities. But, not everyone will need all of these, and deciding which ones are important to you is a big part of choosing a robot for your home.

I tried this high-tech golf bag with a speaker and solar panel — and it even has a game-improving trick

Of course, coughing up the heavy sum of cash can be daunting at first, but the efficiency, speed and basically zero effort, means you can spend more time doing the things you love instead of hoovering.

During our pet hair pickup tests, non-e of the faux fur caused clogs, and the brush bar’s near-full-width design allowed it to clean the same area in fewer passes.

Robot vacuums are great maintenance cleaners. If you hate cleaning your floors or just want to extend the length of time in between cleanings, consider investing in one.

Using the companion app, you can schedule cleanings for specific rooms, set boundaries to restrict the robot’s movement and track its cleaning route in real time.

Obstacle pickup tests are conducted across both rooms of our testing enclosure, with a mix of oatmeal, orzo, baking soda and sand scattered throughout. The robots are tasked with navigating under a couch and coffee table, crossing over an area rug, and passing through a doorway to collect debris.

This can help the robot vacuum cleaner detect probable stuck areas and adjust the cleaning path automatically. Anti-dropping sensors also prevent the robot vacuums from falling off the stairs.

The Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab has been testing vacuum cleaners for over cem years. Using standardized procedures developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission and ASTM International, we dedicated nearly 300 hours to evaluating 15 robot vacuums, collecting a total of 405 data points to score each model. Since then, we’ve tested even more units to keep our insights current.

If your manufacturer recommends it, you can also periodically rinse your robot's filter, allowing it to dry before re-installing it. Replace it when you notice your robot's suction isn't as good as it used to be or however often is recommended.

Before you start shopping for a new Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners robot vacuum, you should consider what you need from it and how much you’re happy to spend. Here are some of the most common features you can find in robot vacuums.

In our tests, it excelled at removing pet hair from carpets, with non-e of the hair tangling in the brush roll or clogging the dustbin — it was all automatically emptied into the dock’s spacious 3-liter dust bag.