The iRobot Roomba j7+ stands out for its intelligent mess recognition. It learns from each object it encounters and offers excellent obstacle avoidance. Plus, it’s guaranteed to avoid pet waste. There’s a handy cleaning base as well.

This combo vac-and-mop performs very well on both hard floor and carpet, and it's nice and easy to use thanks to a very well-designed app. It also takes care of emptying itself, meaning less intervention is required from you.

like traditional pleated HEPA filters and likely will trap some small particles, but they could miss the tiny, microscopic ones that can't escape a true HEPA filter. Vacuums with HEPA filters are generally more expensive.

Although this does mean it will likely require more clearance space and will protrude further out from the wall as well. Make sure you have a space in mind for your robot vacuum’s dock before you make a purchase, otherwise you might have to move some furniture around.

The top-rated robot vacuums excel at cleaning bare floors and picking up pet hair. Some also come with advanced features like ​​WiFi connectivity and smart mapping technology.

On top of this, the Wyze app is easy to navigate and intuitive to use. It also comes with useful features, such as a location-based trigger. For instance, we could make sure the robot wouldn't run when we walked the dog, but would when we was a sufficient distance away.

You want a robot vacuum as a maintenance cleaner in between cleaning sessions with a full-size vacuum. Robot models fit easily under most beds and furniture to clean the spots you likely skip.

We test fine dirt pickup by sprinkling a mix of flour and cookie crumbs on the floor, and large debris pickup using oats.

For even cheaper options, head to TechRadar's best budget robot vacuum guide. If you're in the UK, our favorite budget model is the outstanding Xiaomi X20+.

Intuitive app, but robot doesn't always do as its told, and there's an issue with separating open plan spaces.

We look at how well the vacuums remove large and small debris, like gritty sand and dried orzo pasta, from hard flooring, how well they clean along edges and how much suction they draw through the tools.

Vacuum cleaners can be pricey, so it's best to do some research on high-quality models and consider what will work best for you, your home and your floor types. I've tested dozens of vacuums while working in the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab, so I know which brands and models are best for each individual.

The pay-off of the small base station is that it can't self empty, so you'll need to take a trip to the trash every time the small onboard bin gets full. It'll be fine for smaller homes or light cleaning, but might be Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners annoying if you're regularly dealing with lots of dirt or pet hair.

✔️ Cleaning modes: Consider a vacuum with various cleaning modes if you like the option to fully customize your cleaning experience or you're looking for one product that can clean multiple floor types.