The Best Robot Vacuum For Carpet
There's a robot that can be found for every carpet type, whether it's high-pile or low-pile. These intelligent appliances can navigate your home automatically, pick up debris and clean under furniture.
Many of them have advanced features, such as mapping, which allows them to navigate around your home and keep track of furniture place. They can also boost suction power to clear dirtier areas.
iRobot Roomba 694
The Roomba 694 by iRobot is a robot vacuum for entry-level use that is able to work on bare floors and low-pile carpet. It has a good suction and is able to clean all kinds of debris, but it has trouble with bigger debris like rice or sand. It also does a good job at cleaning pet hair however it isn't immune to tangling like top Roomba models like the I6 or j7.
The Roomba is simple to use. It has a trio of buttons on its top cover: 'Clean' starts an entire cleaning cycle and 'Dock' places it back in its charging station, and 'Spot Clean' initiates a targeted clean. You can control it via an app on your smartphone that lets you to schedule cycles, stop/start them, and alter settings. You can also connect the device to smart home devices such as Alexa or Google Assistant to control it by voice commands.
This vacuum cleaner is slower than some other models, but it can reach most corners and crevices. It has a large dustbin that is ideal for reducing the frequency with which you must empty it. It is compatible with digital mapping and virtual barriers, which allows you to make the robot avoid certain areas, or even stop cleaning completely to stop it from becoming stuck.
It's not the best in its price, but it's still superior to other models. The Roborock E4 has a better cleaning efficiency than the Roomba 694, and it is able to clean both carpets with low pile as well as bare. It also has a longer-lasting battery and a better path. It also feels better-made and has fewer parts that need regular maintenance, costs less to own over the course of its life and charges more quickly than the 694.
It's also worth looking at other models that are more expensive in the iRobot line, such as the 981 or the v7. The 981 and v7 are more expensive, but they provide significant improvements in cleaning performance both on low and bare pile floors. They also have a bigger dirt compartment, charge faster, move more easily and are easier to pair up with smart home devices.
Shark RV1001AE IQ
This budget self-emptying robot vacuum cleaner does a great job on carpets with low piles and hard floors. Its combination brush reaches corners and edges and it automatically increases suction when it senses carpet. It also does an excellent job of cleaning dirt off carpets in the middle of the pile. The IQ has a small footprint and has a self-emptying feature. However, if you want to change floor levels on the map or set no-go zones you'll have manually reset it to do so, which is a bit of trouble.
The IQ app comes with advanced mapping and automated features, but it lacks no-go zones. These are available only on iRobot robots. The smart-pathing technology allows for greater maneuverability and the high-pile mode of its carpet cleaning mode is effective but it could get caught on the tassels of the rug.
During our tests, we discovered that the IQ handled pet hair well. It was able to get rid of the majority of hair on bare floors, and a fair amount on medium-pile rug. It was less effective on shag carpet, where it struggled to get at dirt and dust buried in the fibers. It did a decent job of maneuvering around chair legs, tight spaces, and the bottom of an wooden IKEA step stool. It was a bit slower on flooring that was not fully covered but it was able to recover speed and was more efficient than the other robots we have evaluated.
The IQ is a better option over the iRobot Roomba 694 for most applications. It has a larger dustbin, lasts longer on a charge and is more capable of moving itself around obstacles. It also has a mopping attachment that can deal with sticky debris. The iRobot, however, is better built and has less components that require maintenance or replacement, incurs less cost per year, and can create virtual no-go zones with its companion application. It can even restart a cleaning session from where it left off if it runs out of battery before having completed the task. The iRobot can also be controlled via voice commands, which is an advantage for many users.
Eufy 11S
The eufy RoboVac 11S robot vacuum isn't one of the most feature-rich models, but it provides powerful cleaning power at an affordable price. The RoboVac 11S is made for those who are budget conscious and don't require a complicated mapping system, or even an app, to control it. This robot can last for over an hour. It includes the remote control, cleaning tool, and AC power adapter.
The 11S is slim, sleek, and features a tempered-glass upper deck that resembles polished aluminum. It's a nice change from the industrial and utilitarian designs of Roomba, Samsung and Neato.
In our tests, the eufy11S was extremely effective at removing larger debris and fine dust on hard flooring. However, it was unable to give medium and high pile carpets an effective deep clean. The device is capable to bump into furniture and people along its route. However, it is able detect obstacles using sensors. It ceases and emits a loud ring when it encounters an obstruction. Then, you can manually steer the device around the obstacle and restart it.
The BoostIQ mode is another fantastic feature of the eufy11S. It lets you set up the robot to automatically adjust suction strength based upon the floor type and the amount of mess. It's also simple to use the remote to direct the 11S to where you'd like it to go.
If you don't have many furniture in the area you want to vacuum, Single Room Mode is an excellent option. The eufy will take 30 minutes cleaning the area that it's assigned to.
You can also choose Edge Cleaning that restricts the amount of time spent in each location to 20 minutes for optimal battery life. This feature allows the eufy to move in a spiraling pattern by cleaning edges and corners.
Miele Complete C1
The Miele Complete C1 canister robot is a fantastic mid-range vacuum cleaner that performs well on carpet. Its performance on bare floors is also exceptional. It can remove rice and other fine debris with ease. The suction power doesn't diminish as the dirt bin gets full. Its design that is allergy-friendly and sealed with air traps allergens and keeps your family healthy. It has an onboard HEPA and self-emptying bin so you don't need any additional filters or vacuum bags.
It's not as powerful as more expensive models, but it's great for tackling dirt and deep cleaning. It has two cameras on the front that deliver a live feed to your smartphone. It also has one of the most advanced obstacle avoidance systems. It has a huge bin, an extended runtime and the ability to clean up quickly and without bumps.
Contrary to other robots unlike most other robots, Complete C1 can switch between two powerheads, a standard one and a turbo head website to suit different types of floors. The turbo head is ideal for low-pile and high-pile carpeting and the standard powerhead works well on unfinished floors and light rugs. It also features an automated height adjustment system, that allows it to adapt to various kinds of flooring without manual adjustments.
The model comes with a SBD 285-3 Classic Combination Floorhead that can handle both hard floors as well as carpeting with a medium pile. The powerhead is also easy to maneuver and can get into difficult spots. It comes with five different surface adjustments and a switch that stops the brushroll to prevent hairs from getting tangled.
The Classic C1 also has a self-cleaning brush roll, an UtraClean mode that goes around the same area three times to ensure the best possible clean, and a self-emptying dustbin that can be emptied with the press of a button. The noise level is slightly higher than other models however, its powerful 1,200-watt motor as well as sturdy build make it worth the extra expense.
If you're willing to spend more then the Miele Complete C3 is an excellent all-around canister robot vacuum that is more effective on carpet than the Classic C1. It is better suited for any type of flooring and is built more securely and comes with a HEPA filter.