The Dyson 360 vis nav stands out for its unique features and powerful cleaning performance despite some limitations and its high price. It’s on the heavy side but compensates with extremely strong suction, effectively picking up pet hair and embedded dirt. Instead of a conventional side brush, it uses an extending side duct to tackle edges and corners. It also has a large brush roll that spans the full size of the vacuum for effective cleaning, and though its dustbin is relatively small, it’s equipped with a convenient one-touch ejection system for easy emptying.

Additionally, battery life is important to consider and this will depend on your usage and settings. If you opt for a model which comes with a base, it can self-charge between runs.

So, ideally you will still want to run your regular vacuum every so often, while the robot vacuum helps keep dust down in the interim. By keeping on top of the light debris, you won’t need to use your full-sized vacuum so often.

Robot vacuum manufacturers we've spoken to have shared stories of consumers owning the same robot vac for nearly 10 years.

While no robot can handle stairs or pick up ground-in dirt and debris as well as a manual vacuum (yet!), the top performers in our tests do have impressive pickup scores on hard floors and low-pile carpets.

5500Pa Extreme Suction - Keeps the Mess Away. The great suction helps the robot vacuum reach deeper and easily capture dust and dirt from hardwood floors to tiles, and even carpets.

First, your robot vacuum can literally self-empty, so if the onboard dustbin is filled mid-route, it can empty itself and then continue cleaning uninterrupted. A self-emptying base saves you from the chore of emptying the dustbin so often as well, with most bases able to hold a minimum of 45 days of dust.

Instead of relying on reusable pads, it uses disposable ones stored in a drawer within its charging base. Dirty pads are dropped into a waste drawer when they’re finished, and you can customize how often the pads are changed using the app.

While the app is intuitive, and the mapping good, there is a major issue for anyone with an open plan living space. Namely, you can't separate it into different zones. It won't be a problem for everyone, but if you live in an open plan home, you'll probably want to opt for a different brand.

The brush roll is also easily detachable for quick maintenance and cleaning — and its "floating" design adjusts seamlessly to uneven surfaces.

 Automatic vacuum cleaners are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason. They make life so much easier! Not sure which one to buy?

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After cleaning is complete, the mops are dried with hot air in as little as 2 hours to help prevent odor

A robot that doesn't map will just bump around the objects in your home as it cleans and may miss spots or even entire rooms. You won’t be able to view the robot’s cleaning route, send the robot to clean a specific room or spot (more on that below) or set Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners up no-go zones.