Are Robot Vacuum Cleaners Worth It?

The ownership of robot vacuum cleaners has been steadily growing since the first models were launched to market. There are now millions of units being sold worldwide and the trend is set to continue as they keep getting better with with each generation. If their growing popularity doesn't tell you enough, you might be wondering, "Are robot vacuum cleaners really worth it?"

Sure, in the beginning it would be fair to think of them as a gimmick and not as effective as a regular vacuum, but they've since seen huge advancements in technology and newer models have managed to iron out any problems and concerns that would arise. Let's look more closely at them!

Robot Vacuum vs. Traditional Vacuum

The main question that likely weighs on your mind is whether robot vacuum cleaners can replace the traditional vacuum in a home. There is no doubt that a good quality robot vacuum can be very effective at cleaning your floors and maintaining a tidy household (at floor level anyway). However, they can't reach areas like curtains, upholstery or corners; therefore, for those purposes, it will be handy to have a traditional vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, a handheld stick vacuum, or a portable mini vacuum for the occasional spot cleaning. Of course, if you can only choose one or the other, the traditional vacuum cleaner might be the best choice for keeping every inch of your home sparkling clean; otherwise, if you can afford to have both or you're happy to manually dust the cobwebs in the corner, we think it's worth having a robot vacuum cleaner. Why you ask?

1. It keeps your floor clean so you don't have to

Don’t you just love it when your home is spick and span and freshly vacuumed? It’s even better when you didn't have to do it and you didn’t have to rope your partner or kids into doing it either! That can be your everyday reality when you add a robot vacuum to your home because it’ll do it all on its own! With powerful suction power, modern robot vacuums are really quite effective at cleaning up your floors and leaving them spotless. It really is as simply as just letting the robot vacuum do its thing! Many robot vacuums will brush your carpet as it vacuums too, leaving behind a satisfying, uniform pattern that lets you know it's been at work. If you have hardwood or tiled floors, get yourself a 2-in-1 vacuum and it’ll even mop the floors for you.

2. They're intelligent and independent

Modern robot vacuums are smart, so they're not just fumbling around the house like an idiot. During the first couple of cleans, it will intelligently map out your home - using a laser navigation system - so that it can clean more efficiently on subsequent cleans. This also allows you to send it to specific rooms to clean with just a tap of a screen or voice command. It is even capable of mapping multiple floors so you can use it on every level of your home, and identifying where it is if you pick it up and move it. They're also capable of identifying when they're near a 'cliff' (i.e. stairs) and will back away rather than throwing themselves off it.

Early robot vacuums often got caught on furniture legs, under shelves, and especially on power cords. This meant you were often cleaning up just so your robot vacuum cleaner could come in and 'finish' the job. You had to rearrange your floor plan just to suit your robot vacuum. Who's in charge here?! Finally, that may finally be changing. Modern robot vacuums, such as Roborock's S8 range is equipped with multiple cliff sensors that help it easily cross obstacles up to 2cm high, including common thresholds or other things such as cables and furniture. This helps it avoid getting trapped and lets it easily pass between rooms and over cables with ease.

3. They can vacuum anytime, every day

The fact that vacuuming requires little to no effort with a robot vacuum means that you can enjoy the benefits of it every day if you want! Simply press the start button on your robot vacuum and sit back and relax, as it makes it way around the house doing all the work for you. You can also start it via the phone app and if it has smart assistant support, you can even start it with a simple voice command. Additionally, you can schedule it to start cleaning at certain times of the days, such as while you're at work so you can arrive home to clean floors. Just want to clean a particular room or area? Most models will let you pinpoint a specific room, area, or space to clean too. 

4. They're quieter than ever

Some of the first robot vacuum cleaners around were extremely noisy, just like regular vacuum cleaners. Hearing a loud vacuuming noise while watching TV, reading a book or even sleeping can be quite a nuisance, but luckily, modern robot vacuums are quieter than ever. For example, the latest Roborock robot vacuums have advanced sound suppression for 50% quieter operations compared to previous models. The noises also sound a lot better; it turns the harshness of a typical vacuum noise into a softer sound that doesn’t intrude, even during late-night cleaning.

5. They're low maintenance

Wow, all of these perks! "What's the catch?" you might ask. Well, our final point is that they're low maintenance, so that doesn't really answer your question unless it is that there are none (okay, okay, not a part from obvious ones like the initial investment and getting hard to reach areas). The whole point of a robot vacuum is to make your life easier and it does! Older robot vacuums were needy little buggers; they would either fill up too fast, get caught on things, or just get lost.

Apart from emptying the dust box every few weeks and cleaning the brush when needed if you have a household of malting humans, there's really not much you have to do. As mentioned earlier, modern robot vacuums are highly intelligent and will do it all independently. They will even return to the docking station to charge up on their own when they're low on juice. Advanced robot vacuums such as the Xiaomi Mop 2 Ultra Plus will even empty itself when it's full!

So, are robot vacuums worth it?

If you LOVE vacuuming, then they're not worth it! Why pay for a robot to do something you enjoy? Heck, why not get paid for it yourself?! But if you'd rather spend your time doing other things and/or want to come home to freshly vacuumed floors all the time, then YES, they absolutely are. They will save you time, energy, and maybe even arguments over who was the last person to vacuum the house. And better yet, most of them will even mop the floors for you too so your house will be cleaner, more frequently, but with less effort. 

We have a great range of vacuum cleaners to suit a variety of budgets - check out our Top Robot Vacuum Cleaners or check out our full range of Robot Vacuums here!