Not sure a house robot is for you? We've also got the best stick vacuums, best upright vacuums and best handheld vacuums for all your cleaning needs.

There’s no mopping attachment, no cable avoidance and no self-emptying bin – all things the cheaper iRobot roomba combo j7+ offers – but it does have a few unique advantages. It can extend a little edge cleaner to tidy along skirting boards.

Why we love it: Not your typical handheld vac design, the Worx has a unique boxy shape, a removable battery that fits into other Worx tools and a top handle for easy toting. It's a great option for a car vacuum for those reasons.

The mopping function is basic enough. You need to manually swap in the attachment any time you want to mop, and it will happily try to mop your carpets and rugs given half the chance.

The Freo X Ultra's mopping capabilities are not quite as impressive as its vacuuming, but still good. On test, it cleared up spillages well, but the mop pads couldn't get close to the edges of rooms.

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.

The mopping is also so basic as to be not really worth bothering with; the robovac just drags a wet wipe across your floor. On test it also sometimes struggled to clear thresholds of over 2cm.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

More advanced robot vacuums have lasers on the front of the machine and some on the underside of the device too. These lasers detect where furniture, objects, and edges are in Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners your home, helping avoid bumps, and cliff detection prevents the machine from falling down the stairs. Read our article on how do robot vacuums work to find out more.

It's realistically far more often than I would drag a manual vac out of the cupboard, so my apartment is cleaner than usual, and my dust allergy symptoms have calmed down too.

Robot vacuum cleaners are more advanced and more affordable than ever. Once a novelty gadget, these household helpers are now an essential piece of kit for busy homes and pet owners, ensuring your floors stay dust and dirt-free without you having to lift a finger.

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.

And based on our tests of similar Bissell models with many of the same features, I think it makes a great basic, affordable vacuum for cleaning hard floors, carpets and other surfaces.

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.