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Nov 03, 2024

Best robot vacuum cleaners 2024 UK – tried and tested

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. We put them to work around the GHI to find the best you can buy A robot vacuum cleaner may not sound like a household

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

We put them to work around the GHI to find the best you can buy

A robot vacuum cleaner may not sound like a household staple, but while it won’t replace your stick vacuum in terms of power and ability, having one can drastically reduce your workload around the house. And we're all for that.

They’ve developed over the years too, now boasting greater pick-up power, larger dust canisters and, in some cases, self-emptying capabilities. All the models on our list also work with Google Home or Alexa and are app-controlled, so you can set your vacuum to work even when you’re not at home.

We've rigorously tested all the leading models on the market in our dedicated floor cleaning room. These are the best robot vacuums for 2024, according to the Good Housekeeping Institute:

These small-scale vacuums are ideal for cleaning up spilt food and keeping on top of dust in between more thorough cleans. They navigate around your home using sensors to avoid bumping into furniture, or by detecting (provided) magnetic strips that mark no-go areas. Some even map out where they’ve been, so no spot is neglected.

Dirt sensors help the robots detect which areas of your floor to pay more attention to, while the iRobot J7+ and S9+ take pictures of areas they couldn’t tackle, sending them to the app so you can address them when you next clean.

Some models come with docking stations that double as a disposal unit too, automatically emptying their canisters when they return to the station. This will dramatically reduce how often you’ll need to clear it – the iRobots, for example, claim the container can house up to 60 days' worth of dust before it needs disposing of.

Auto-emptying is a quick process but can be noisy, so we’d suggest not running them at night or during an important meeting if you're working from home. For those without this feature, be aware that due to their size, the dust canister will need to be emptied more frequently than a regular vacuum cleaner.

They aren’t the cheapest, but they can bring extra convenience to your cleaning routine, and our GHI experts were impressed with their capabilities. They save time and effort compared to regular vacuum cleaners and are ideal for a mid-week clean.

If you frequently use handheld vacuums to tackle small areas of debris on your carpet or kitchen floor, then they’ll take the pressure off your back too.

Unfortunately not. Due to their design, robot vacuums cannot move up and down stairs but they are ideal for cleaning individual rooms, flats and single-storey homes. Stair cleaning will be need to be left to your regular vacuum.

Don’t worry about them taking a tumble though, as built-in sensors prevent this from happening.

In short, yes. While not the case for every robot we tested, we found some models that were able to reach into nooks and crannies and manoeuvre around furniture with ease – a task that many regular vacuums also struggle with.

One of our expert homes testers setting a robot vacuum to work on a crumb-covered carpet in our floor cleaning space.

We wanted our tests to determine whether robot vacuums can compete with regular models.

At the GHI, we tried them on both hard floors and carpets, assessing their performance by measuring how much of our specially formulated dust was picked up after a number of sweeps.

We consider pet hair, too. Using the real thing, our expert grinds it into the carpet to create a worst-case scenario before putting each vacuum to work.

We also test their performance when picking up small residue, such as crumbs, and let each robot vacuum loose in a room full of obstacles, assessing how well it copes when manoeuvring under an armchair or behind a footstool, and how its coverage matches up to a regular vacuum cleaner. We time how long it takes and look at how well it picks up from corners, edges and crevices.

Lastly, we test associated apps and try out voice control, to make sure it will integrate perfectly into your home.

Scroll on to find your new cleaning companion.

Score: 95/100

Standing out from the crowd for its bright blue finish, Dyson’s latest robot vacuum also grabbed attention for its podium-topping performance. Testers found it simple to set up – especially when using the Dyson app or consulting its dedicated YouTube tutorials. Mapping, setting no-go zones and scheduling cleans are simple, and while you’ll have to empty the dust bin yourself (note, alerts for this flashed up on our tester’s phone as a ‘fault’ although nothing was wrong), it self-charges at its neat and compact docking station.

As you’d expect with a Dyson vacuum, its cleaning power was also excellent. It works by doing an initial sweep, before returning to do a second deeper clean. It can adjust its suction to suit the floor type it’s tackling, and testers found it reliable on both carpet and hard flooring, noting that it didn’t spread any dust or debris around. It reached the edges of rooms well too but struggled in corners.

The vacuum will also notify you if there are areas you need to tackle yourself. One thing to factor into your scheduling is that when it’s on boost mode, it requires regular recharging, so although it’s a very quick vacuum, if you want it to tackle a bigger room, it's worth allowing enough time for a recharge. Overall, it’s a sleek addition to the robot vacuum market.

Score: 94/100

This isn’t the fanciest robot vacuum we tested, so if you want one that has voice control, a self-emptying system or programmed no-go zones, scroll on. However, for cleaning prowess, it couldn’t be beaten; it scored full marks for its quick and efficient dust pick-up on all surfaces and for excellent pet hair removal. Generally, its side brushes swept most debris towards it, moving just some lighter crumbs (like rice crispies) away.

It navigates around furniture and cables well but there isn’t an indicator for a full dust bag and at 0.5-litres, you may need to empty it fairly frequently. However, it’s easy to use and its battery lasts for up to 150 minutes.

Plus, it connects to Wi-Fi, and its app allows you to set different modes, as well as monitor and schedule cleans. Not to mention, its mop function impressed with the way it swiftly cleaned up small spillages. A great value cleaner.

Score: 94/100

What sets this robot vacuum apart from the rest of the iRobot range is its ‘Dirt Detective’ feature, which means it automatically cleans the dirtiest rooms first and learns your cleaning habits, so it can make personalised suggestions to improve your routine.

It picked up larger debris, such as biscuits crumbs and cereal, quickly and easily, scoring highly in our tests. Its pick-up of dust, pet hair and fine dirt in tricky areas such as around furniture legs, wasn’t quite as effortless, but it still performed well.

When used as a mop and tasked with tackling a large dollop of BBQ sauce, it only left behind small streaks. It also has a handy ‘Auto-Retract Mopping System’, which stops your carpets getting too wet. Other special features include SmartScrub technology and auto-fill and empty functionality – plus, it promises not to pick up any pet accidents (risking spreading it across your floors); it cleans around them instead.

Of course, a robot vacuum like this doesn’t come cheap. However, if you have the money to spend and you want a tech-savvy device, this has a lot of clever features.

Score: 93/100

This isn’t a one-trick robot – it mops and vacuums excellently. Testers liked its adaptive variable power, which automatically increases suction on dirtier carpets and vice versa. As a result, it picked up most dust, debris and pet hair across a range of flooring.

It mapped rooms well and avoided hazards impressively. Plus, it got close to skirting boards and into corners for a more thorough clean. You can control it via a straightforward app, including setting no-go zones. The dust canister doesn’t self-empty into the docking station like some (meaning you’ll have to do it manually), but the station automatically washes and dries the mop pads instead.

Note that the mop only lifts just over a centimetre off the ground, so if you have long pile carpets, you may not want to switch between mopping hard floors and vacuuming carpets in the same run, in case the gap isn't sufficient to avoid transferring any dirt – our carpet was sometimes wet on test. Schedule the programs at separate times, however, and this compact cleaner should prove a great addition to your home.

Score: 92/100

This iRobot model excelled on test, consistently cleaning carpets and hard floors well. Everything about it is intuitive, from set-up through to its informative app (where you can easily set no-go zones and check on the health of all its parts). Plus, it self-empties, so you won’t need to deal with the dust bin after every clean.

But what separates it from the J7+ below is its impressive mopping capabilities. Our testers found the mop head simple to attach and the tank easy to fill cleanly. When in action, it mopped up quick spills without using too much water and removed dirt and liquid well, leaving our flooring sparkling and dry.

It isn’t perfect; it sometimes struggled to manoeuvre around furniture, while some pet hair caught in the brushes (although less than most), and on hard floors the powerful brushes moved dust away as well as drawing it in. But that’s us being picky – this trusty robot vacuum is a great investment for easy everyday cleaning.

Score: 91/100

iRobot’s Roomba vacuums are iconic, so it’s hardly surprising its top-scoring models dominated our testing. This is the predecessor to the Combo J7+ above, which means it shares many features, only without the added mop capabilities.

Impressing with its pick-up on all tests, large crumbs, finer dirt and even pet hair posed no problems. It also consistently self-emptied its dust canister fully into the docking station. Plus, the app will notify you when it’s full, and with the capacity able to take up to 60 days' worth of dust, emptying it can sit at the bottom of your to-do list for a while.

It’s slower than a standard vacuum, taking 31 minutes on average to clean a whole room. But testers liked how it notifies you of areas it couldn’t reach — it sends pictures of obstacles through to the app, so you know to tackle them manually later. It also responded reliably to voice control, making it a good all-rounder.

Score: 91/100

Samsung has long had one of our top-scoring cordless vacuums, so we were excited to get our hands on its robot vacuum – and it didn’t disappoint. Earning perfect marks for its dust pick-up on short pile carpet and its crumb clearing on hard flooring, this is one excellent vacuum. In fact, it lifted over 90 per cent of the dirt in both tests, something we don’t often see with robot vacuums.

It lifted most pet hair, and cleaned room edges well, in part thanks to its effective spin brush and three driving modes that let you select when you want it to tackle them. Despite not having a spot clean function, it mopped our flooring in one sweep (although our testers found a second sweep was required to leave it fully refreshed). We’d also recommend programming your mopping and vacuuming separately as our expert noticed some transfer of dirt from the mop pads onto carpet when it did both in one outing.

As for its tech, well, it’s top of the range. Let’s start with the docking station where it recharges, empties the bin and refills the water tank. Plus, it uses steam to clean and sanitise the mop pads. It’s all compatible with the Samsung Smart Things app too, where you can set its routines, get maintenance alerts and even monitor your home via the robot’s built-in camera which testers found streamed clearly. You can control it via voice as well, and it mapped and detected obstacles well.

Score: 91/100

Robot vacuums and mops are some of the most advanced appliances we test here at the Good Housekeeping Institute, so we have high expectations, but even we’re still sometimes surprised by the innovations. And this design from Eufy definitely falls into that category. It’s the first one to have a dual water tank within the robot, which means it collects dirty water and cleans the mop as it goes.

It’s heavier as a result, but it wowed our testers who said it didn’t smear any ketchup beyond the already stained area when cleaning – something rarely seen in the lab. Its vacuuming was also methodical and effective, lifting an average of 83 per cent of dust and dirt across the different test room floors. Pet hair wasn’t much of a challenge for it and it navigated obstacles well, reaching nicely into awkward spaces, but it struggled at room edges, especially on carpet.

Testers liked its multi-tasking docking station that emptied, refilled and recharged the vacuum, giving a relatively hands-free user experience. They also praised its height for easier access – meaning if they wanted to access on-machine controls, they didn’t need to bend over or kneel down. The app was intuitive too.

Score: 91/100

The more this vacuum cleans your home, the more efficient it becomes, learning and mapping out the best way to manoeuvre as it goes. It will also make its way back to its docking station mid-clean, empty itself fully and get back to work.

On test, it performed well, reliably picking up dirt and crumbs from hard floors, and it was outstanding doing the same on carpet. It would suit pet owners, too.

As you’d expect from iRobot’s highest-end model, it’s not cheap, and it wasn’t any faster than either of the other machines we tested from the brand. It can only be controlled via the app, but we found it clear to use, allowing you to set no-go zones, create cleaning schedules and look over the battery life and cleaning history.

Like the J7+, above, it will notify you if it comes across any obstacles and we found the accompanying instructions detailed, with diagrams that cover device usage and troubleshooting, making it accessible even if it’s your first foray into this sort of home tech.

Score: 90/100

Often, we find that robot vacuums struggle to catch dust and debris at room edges and in corners – but not this one. Its circular brush was effective at moving debris into its path. It performed well when cleaning carpets and mopping hard flooring, too. Unfortunately, it struggled to lift all the pet hair testers had laid.

It has a relatively advanced (and big) docking station – this one empties the vacuum bin, refills the mop and washes the mop pads – but it’s not the best we’ve seen at auto-emptying. On test, it didn’t happen automatically when the vacuum was full, instead clearing it at set intervals.

It also struggled to lift everything, so our experts had to clear out remnants manually. This somewhat detracts from its practicality, but you shouldn't have to worry about capacity too often as the dock is designed to hold weeks' worth of dirt.

Otherwise, it’s a powerful, effective robot vacuum that should capture more lingering dust and debris than many.

Score: 88/100

As far as robot vacuums go, this is excellently priced. Plus, its small docking station means it should fit easily into most homes too. It collected crumbs and pet hair thoroughly, but didn’t capture all the dust laid on carpet, making it a better pick for top-up cleans than deep ones. Its mopping was excellent though, clearing smeared ketchup fully within two sweeps.

Unsurprisingly given its price, there were a few things to flag; testers noticed that the mop plates would collect dust and crumbs when vacuuming, so would recommend removing them for that task. You need to refill the water tank manually too (although the water level used when mopping is customisable) and there’s no indicator for when the dock waste bag needs emptying. Hoover advises doing this every 60 days.

Its tech was pretty good though; the robot moved in a coordinated way, there are anti-fall sensors, the app was straightforward to navigate, and it mapped our room quickly. It’s a simple yet effective buy.

Score: 87/100

This robot vacuum and mop is a real overachiever – it self-empties, self-cleans and self-refills its water tank. Of course, you’ll need to look after the docking station maintenance, but that will be a lot less frequent than dealing with the vacuum itself.

Testers found its app was user friendly and the accompanying instructions clear, while the robot moved well, especially around furniture (although it struggled to go underneath a draped bed).

It didn’t lift all the dust laid on carpet, but it picked up most from hard flooring. And its brushes did a great job of trapping dirt, which meant it was excellent at dealing with biscuit crumbs and Rice Crispies. Similarly, the mop was handy – removing the worst of our spillages, making it an ideal kitchen helper. Its charging time is quite lengthy, but as it plugs itself in, this isn’t too much of a bother.

Score: 85/100

This robot vacuum can be used almost straight out of the box, thanks to its manual controls. The Eufy app will unlock greater functionality, including setting no-go zones, but it’s not imperative for use. Voice control was simple to enable, too. The comprehensive instructions – complete with illustrated guides – also helped make set-up a doddle.

It was a solid cleaner, picking up smaller dirt and crumbs well and excelling with larger debris. Some dust got blown away on hard floors due to the speed of the brushes, but it cleaned a room quickly – in 17 minutes 51 seconds – and its sensor system stopped it from getting stuck, even when it bumped into obstacles.

Note: this model also doubles up as a robot mop, and while we didn’t score this feature, we found it handy for lifting light dirt as it distributed an even amount of water without leaving areas overly damp afterwards. We wouldn’t turn to it for heavy soils though.

Score: 84/100

We’ve been waiting for Shark to enter the robot vacuum market for a while, and we weren’t disappointed. This is its first model (with several more coming soon) and it put in a stand-out performance, cleaning an entire room and picking up almost all the mess our testers laid in less than 15 minutes.

It performed perfectly when tackling crumbs and was good with pet hair, but struggled to collect all the dust laid, sweeping some specks out of its path. Given robot vacuums are best at keeping on top of mess rather than deep cleans, we don't see this as a big issue though. Plus, its mopping was excellent.

It's easy to use, doing much of the heavy lifting itself; it maps your home and stores its route in the clear, accompanying app. It also recharges itself, detects and avoids stairs and self-empties. Some dirt lingered in the canister but if the occasional empty is all the work required of us, we won't complain!

Score: 84/100

This robot vacuum is a great crumb gobbler. Testers said it was brilliant at collecting biscuit and cereal debris, lifting over 95%. It tackled pet hair effortlessly too, but dust was a different story – while it lifted nearly every speck from laminate, on carpet, a lot was left behind. The mop function works well for cleaning the worst of a spill too, although you may want to follow up with a final wipe yourself, as there’s no spot clean function.

Clear instructions meant testers found it easy to set up and use, and they liked its app control, but struggled to get the voice tech working. Its docking station is available separately and performed well on test generally, even though the vacuum’s canister didn’t always fully empty into it. It’s also fairly large, and there’s minimal information on how often to empty the dust bag. We suggest keeping an eye on it regularly to begin with until you get into your own routine.

Score: 82/100

This has an advanced docking station at a relatively mid-range price; it cleans and removes mop pads, empties the dust bin, and tops up water and cleaning detergent levels. Our testers found it easy to set up, with mapping wrapping up in just two minutes thanks to the built-in camera, which scans the room with reduced movement.

You can view live footage (and recordings) via the straightforward app when it's out cleaning too, and it acts like some advanced baby monitors or pet cameras, patrolling and letting you speak to them. Testers found this feature reliable, with minimal lag.

Our experts also liked the drop pin function, which means you can precisely direct your vacuum to a spot for cleaning. And on that note, it mopped effectively and vacuumed well enough for light refreshes. It disabled the side brushes when on carpet, so it struggled on room edges, and it didn’t quite have the power to collect all the dust we laid. It did a decent job with pet hair and crumbs though.

Score: 81/100

Like its hybrid counterpart, this robot vacuum took just 17 minutes and 51 seconds to clean a whole room — so invest in this if you’re looking for one that doesn’t dawdle! Its speed meant it missed some spots, but its pick-up wasn’t impacted, proving reliable on fine and large dirt, and leaving the edges clear.

It's good with pet hair too, and while hair did tangle on the brushes, it was less noticeable than most other models we tried. Furniture proved trickier – it pushed at a chair for a full minute before dislodging it and continuing its clean – but it maps as it goes and responded well to the no-go zones we set up via the straightforward app. It doesn’t let you know when the bag is full, however, so keep a regular eye on this.

Generally, robot vacuums don’t have the power to replace your traditional vacuum when it comes to deeper cleans. But for keeping on top of spillages and daily grime, they’re a great help and will mean you have to vacuum a lot less – and who doesn’t want that?

The best one we’ve tried at the Good Housekeeping Institute is Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav. It impressed our testers with its standout cleaning power and intuitive yet reliable design.

It comes at a hefty price, however, so for something that’s still reliable but more budget-friendly, we’d suggest the Beko Robot Vacuum Cleaner VRR60314VW. It’s fairly basic (i.e. there aren’t many tech features, and it requires more manual involvement), but it cleaned well on test.

Lastly, it wouldn’t be a robot vacuum article if we didn’t point you in the direction of at least one iRobot – the brand that pioneered the appliance. Our top pick is its all-singing, all-dancing Combo j9+, which mops, self-empties, and refills in its aesthetically-pleasing docking station.

Vacuum cleaners are a staple test here at the GHI – and have been for as long as we’ve been testing (that’s 100 years!). This means we’ve seen them evolve over time, and know exactly what separates a good model from a great one. We were excited to add robot vacuums to our testing schedule when they started creeping onto the market in the 2010s, and now we regularly review the newest releases.

Looking after all this is our homes editor, Hannah Mendelsohn, who finds the must-try products and writes up our product reviews – including all our vacuum content. Blossom Boothroyd is our homes testing manager and takes care of the testing side of things. She helped develop our protocols and consistently evaluates what new features we need to review.

Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.

Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more.

Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.

Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s homes writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market. When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her cooking, running and exploring London’s foodie hotspots – or trying to make friends with every dog she passes. Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall and on X @megan_geall

Blossom is passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for GH readers. As head of the homes testing team, she has led reviews across multiple categories, from pizza ovens, and smart plugs to portable fans and hobs. She enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols to ensure we’re testing them against their claims. Her aim is to find the top-performing products on the market, to help take the hard work out of housework. Blossom’s most notable accomplishment in the lab has been toasting 528 slices of bread in her quest to find the best toasters money can buy. In her free time, she openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.

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