The Roomba is an iconic gadget. While it’s been the butt of jokes in many comedies, there’s a reason it’s still a mainstay in many houses around the world. With its consistently strong cleaning capabilities and navigational smarts to match, it’s a regular fixture on our list of the best automatic floor cleaners we’ve tested. But Roomba has now joined the ranks of other Amazon-owned brands like Ring and Eero. And while many are probably eagerly anticipating the potential for new, Alexa-friendly floor cleaners, others might be less thrilled at the prospect of autonomous, Amazon-branded robots that map your home and learn your routines.
The good news for those folks is that the robot vacuum category is as diverse as ever, with a number of brands producing interesting cleaners of note, many of which have performed quite well in our cleaning and navigation tests. The best of those Roomba alternatives we’ve tested (as pulled from our overall list of best robot vacuums) are listed below.
Best robot vacuum versatility
Roborock S7
Currently available for $650, the Roborock S7 won us over across hours of controlled tests, with laser-guided navigational smarts, strong cleaning scores with pet hair and sand, and on-board Wi-Fi for anyone who wants to control the cleaner with an app or sync the thing with a voice assistant (both Alexa and the Google Assistant are supported, along with Siri Shortcuts). Roborock gets points for versatility, too, as the S7 can double as a robotic mop thanks to the on-board water reservoir and mopping attachment.
As for cleaning power, the Roborock S7 was our top overall finisher among 18 robot vacuums for the percentage of sand vacuumed out of our low-pile test carpet, and it finished in a close second behind the Roomba S9 on plushier mid-pile carpet. It also cleaned our test floors about 36% faster than the Roomba S9 did, so it’s a good pick if you’re looking for something efficient, too.
Best robot vacuum on a budget
Eufy RoboVac 25C
Looking for a smart little floor cleaner that doesn’t cost quite so much? Eufy has you covered with a variety of models at this point, none of which will cost you nearly as much as their Roomba counterparts. One of our favorites is the Eufy RoboVac 25C, which held up surprisingly well in our cleaning tests despite a budget bin price tag. In fact, as of writing this, you can find it at Walmart for just $96 right now.
That’s a great deal for a robot vacuum that outperformed costlier, previous-gen flagships from names like iRobot and Neato in our test lab. It performed the best on hardwood floors, so if you’re living somewhere without a lot of thick carpets, then this is a steal.
Best for hardwood floors
Neato D10
Neato is one of iRobot’s top competitors, and its robot vacuums often give Roombas a run for their money as far as performance is concerned. That was the case with the Neato D10, which picked up more than twice as much sand from low-pile carpets as the Roomba S9 Plus did, while essentially tying it on hardwood floors, picking up an impressive 91% of sand in our tests.
Results like those landed Neato a spot on our best list as a solid mid-range pick, but the Roborock S7 ultimately replaced it as our favorite mid-range pick. The D10 is still an excellent app-enabled robot vacuum, though, and worth considering alongside the Roborock S7 at its asking price of $600. Better still, it’s currently marked down to $400, saving you $200
Source: www.cnet.com
