Top robot vacuums compared

About Top robot vacuums compared

Robot vacuums vary more on paper than most appliances, so this ranking lines up 51 brands on what buyers actually argue about: what a machine costs when you first buy it, what the range reaches at the flagship end, what the robot does while it works, and who answers when it jams. Prices are quoted in the currency each brand sells in, pounds for the UK names, euros for the German and French names, and dollars for AIRROBO, so compare like with like. The main trade-off runs between raw suction and the parts you live with afterwards. Suction in this category peaks at 40,000 Pa, with a median of 11,500 Pa, yet suction alone says little about navigation. Lidar appears on 94.7% of the models here and a self-empty dock on 95.6%, which is why support, warranty and spare parts settle the lower places. Read the entry price and the flagship price as separate figures, and check the market list before ordering.

How we picked

Score weights are published so you can see what counts. Cost carries 40%, offer carries 40% and trust carries 20%, so entry and flagship pricing, and what a range includes, count for far more than brand reputation. Cost compares each brand's entry figure against a category spread running €29.04 to €1,311.06. Offer weighs navigation, mopping, dock behaviour, runtime and bin size. Trust reads warranty length, support channels, spare parts availability and the markets a brand serves. Figures come from manufacturer product, specification, support and warranty pages, and from the range data recorded for this category. Prices stay in the currency each brand publishes, so pounds, euros and dollars are left unconverted. Partner brands sit first when a ranking has them, and scores decide the order after that. Anything a specification page does not support, such as a navigation method or a channel list, is left out rather than guessed, and a brand is credited only with features its own page states.

Our top picks

1. L6. Lefant: best for Lefant

   Lefant offers self-charging robot vacuum cleaners.

2. 7. Ewbank: best for Lowest price entry

   Ewbank sits in this ranking on price alone, holding the lowest price entry label with £26.99 at the bottom of its range and a robot flagship of £219.99. The specification is fuller than the price suggests: lidar navigation, a self-empty dock and a pad mop, a bin of 400 ml, and runtime of 150 minutes. Ewbank keeps a spare parts shop, and support runs on help centre, email and phone, wider than the brand ranked next. Philips offers structured-light obstacle avoidance and a longer runtime of 180 minutes, but opens at £99.99 and reaches £799.99, and its support runs on help centre only. Ewbank backs its range with 2 years of warranty and suction of 5,000 Pa.

   • Reference models: RV1AUTO, AIRSTORM 2-in-1 Cordless, MOTION Pet Upright
   • Entry price: £26.99
   • Flagship price: £219.99

   Pros

   • Entry price of £26.99 sits at the front of the brands compared, so the cheapest Ewbank machine is the lowest starting point on the table.
   • The self-emptying robot brings a self-empty dock and lidar to a machine priced in the lower part of the ranking, with 150 minutes of runtime per run.
   • One maker covers robot vacuum, stick and upright, where Philips covers robot vacuum and wet dry, so you can buy a robot and a cordless from the same brand.
   • A 2 year warranty, a spare parts shop and support on help centre, email and phone make upkeep and repairs straightforward.

   Cons

   • Suction tops out at 5,000 Pa, below the site median of 15,000 Pa and short of the front of the ranking.
   • Support runs on help centre, email and phone, so live chat is not one of the listed routes.
   • Cover of 2 years is modest for a machine sold with a self-empty dock.

3. P8. Philips

   Philips sits high in this ranking by pairing lidar with structured-light obstacle avoidance, the combination most buyers in this category ask for. Runtime of 180 minutes and a bin of 260 ml cover a typical home, mopping uses a pad, and the dock empties itself. Suction of 5,000 Pa is respectable but sits below the category middle, and Hoover, the brand ranked next, fits a larger 800 ml bin with stronger suction. Price is the real split: Philips runs from £99.99 at entry to £799.99 at the flagship, while Hoover starts lower at £64.99 and ends at £319.99. Two points count against Philips. Support runs on help centre only, and the reference models on display are coffee machines rather than vacuums.

   • Reference models: Philips LatteGo 5400, Philips Baristina Latte, Philips Cafe Aromis
   • Entry price: £99.99
   • Flagship price: £799.99

   Pros

   • Grinder built in, so beans go in and coffee comes out of the same machine with no separate grinder on the counter
   • A spare parts shop is listed and 96.2% of ranked brands run one, so consumables stay easy to reorder
   • Warranty runs 2 years, so a daily driver is covered well past its first year
   • Milk is handled by an auto-frother, auto frother, and that format appears in 41% of the ranked coffee machine brands
   • Machine types list bean to cup and espresso, the pairing most buyers moving off a filter machine want

   Cons

   • Support is limited to a help centre, so anyone hoping for a phone line or a direct email will not find one listed.
   • The spread from a £99.99 entry point to a £799.99 flagship price is wide, and the top figure belongs to the premium end of the range rather than to an everyday machine.
   • Drip and pod formats are not among its bean to cup and espresso, so buyers who brew a pot at a time or use capsules have no listed Philips machine.
   • The range is listed for GB only, so buyers outside that market have no listed models or prices to weigh.

4. 9. Hoover

   Hoover holds the middle of this ranking with the roomiest bin listed at 800 ml, a body of 8.3 cm, and a warranty of 1 to 5 years, the longest term among the brands here. It also runs the broadest support setup, on email, chat and phone, and keeps a spare parts shop open. Runtime of 160 minutes and suction of 5,000 Pa are unremarkable beside the strongest machines, and obstacle avoidance reads none, so the robot meets what stands in its path. Prices split the range at £64.99 and £319.99. AIRROBO, ranked next, pulls harder at 10,000 Pa and lists a flagship of $299, but serves the US and Canada rather than the UK.

   • Reference models: HG4, HG2 Hydro TurboSlim, HG2 Hydro ProTurboSlim
   • Entry price: £64.99
   • Flagship price: £319.99

   Pros

   • Entry price of £64.99 places Hoover near the front of the field on price at entry, and the flagship adds lidar and a self-empty dock.
   • The range covers robot vacuum, stick and upright, so a single brand covers robot, stick, upright, wet-dry and handheld cleaning.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, and a spare parts shop plus 10 years of parts cover keeps machines in service.
   • Cooking runs alongside floor care, with energy class A and annual energy use of 40 kWh.
   • Warranty on vacuums runs 1 to 5 years.

   Cons

   • Suction of 5,000 Pa sits below a category median of 15,000 Pa, so deep carpet pile is not the strong suit.
   • Obstacle avoidance is listed as none, which leaves cables and clutter to be moved by hand.
   • Suction ranks 40 of 46 brands, and the flagship rank is 29 of 66.
   • The catalogue lists robot vacuum, stick and upright against a narrower focus from Philips, which covers robot vacuum and wet dry.

5. A10. AIRROBO

   AIRROBO earns a place in this ranking on suction and focus: at 10,000 Pa it pulls harder than any brand above it, robot vacuums are the only product type it lists, and lidar comes with a self-empty dock. The reference models, M2, Q20+, L60+, cover the range, and a spare parts shop is available for filters and brushes. Two details decide where it lands. Its markets are the US and Canada, so a UK or European buyer looks elsewhere, and its warranty of 1 year is the shortest term in this ranking, with support on phone and help centre. The flagship price of $299 also sits above Hoover's £319.99. Samsung, ranked next, trades differently: 2 years of cover and support on email, chat and phone.

   • Reference models: M2, Q20+, L60+
   • Flagship price: $299
   • Top suction (Pa): 10,000

   Pros

   • Flagship price $299 ranks 13 of 66 brands, so the top of the range stays affordable.
   • Lidar is fitted, which matches 94.7% of the robot vacuum brands listed.
   • The range pairs a self empty dock with 10,000 Pa of suction.
   • A spare parts shop is available, matching the 97.7% norm in this category.
   • Support runs on phone and help centre, so phone help is part of the package.

   Cons

   • Suction of 10,000 Pa places AIRROBO at 30 of 46, below the 11,500 Pa seen across the category.
   • Warranty lasts 1 year, which is short for a machine with a dock.
   • Markets are limited to US and CA, so buyers elsewhere face a harder buy.
   • Range covers robot vacuum only, while Ewbank and Daewoo Electricals also sell robot vacuum, stick and upright and robot vacuum, stick and upright.

What to look for

Entry price and the price of the flagship

The typical entry price for a robot vacuum in this category is €145.84, and brands in the middle of the range start at €97.73 and end at €255.45. Flagship models sit higher, typically €719. Treat these as two separate decisions, because one brand can price its cheapest robot and its dock-equipped top machine very differently.

Suction measured against the field

Category suction peaks at 40,000 Pa, with a median of 11,500 Pa and the middle of the range running from 6,375 Pa to 20,500 Pa. Place the brand's own figure against that spread, since a lower number tells you more about carpet performance than about hard floors.

Navigation you can rely on

Lidar fits 94.7% of the models here. Obstacle avoidance is camera-based on 63.6%, structured-light on 21.2% and absent on 15.2%. Lidar maps the room, while the avoidance method decides how the robot handles shoes, cables and pet bowls.

A dock that empties itself

Self-empty docks appear on 95.6% of the models in this category, so the feature is close to standard rather than a luxury. It matters most in homes with pets or hard floors, because it decides how often anyone empties a bin by hand.

Mopping style and mop lift

Pad mopping covers 46.5% of the category, roller mops 18.6% and spinning mops 25.6%. Where a robot can raise its mop off the floor, the median lift is 12 mm, which is what lets it climb onto carpet without dragging a wet pad across it.

Support, warranty and spares

A help centre is offered by 91.7% of the brands here and phone support by 43.8%, so read the channel list before buying. 97.7% of brands run a spare parts shop, and filter changes average every 36 months across the category, so running costs recur even without a subscription.

Frequently asked questions

Top robot vacuums compared by country

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV