Guide · Vacuums
What robot vacuums are good at, and what they are not
They are not a replacement for a vacuum. They are a replacement for vacuuming often, which is a different product.
The most common disappointment with a robot vacuum comes from buying it as a replacement for a vacuum cleaner. It is not one, and the specifications make that clear if you read them as a comparison. A good cordless stick pulls two to three times the suction of a good robot, and it has a human attached to it who can see where the dirt is.
What a robot replaces is not vacuuming — it is the decision to vacuum. A floor cleaned lightly five times a week is cleaner than one cleaned thoroughly once, and the robot wins on frequency rather than on power. Understanding that reframes every specification on the box.
Navigation matters more than suction
Navigation matters more than suction, and it is the specification most worth paying for. Random-bounce navigation covers a room eventually and misses corners consistently. Lidar mapping covers it systematically, remembers the layout, and lets you exclude rooms. The gap between the two is far larger in daily use than the gap between 2,500 and 4,000 pascals of suction, and it is priced the other way round in most product lines.
Bin capacity decides how often you are involved. A 0.4 litre bin in a house with a shedding dog is a daily task, which defeats the purpose. Self-emptying docks solve this and add cost, noise at emptying time, and a consumable bag — read whether the bags are proprietary before you commit, because that is a recurring cost that never appears in the purchase price.
Where robots genuinely fail
Where robots genuinely fail is edges, corners, stairs and anything with a lip. Round bodies cannot reach into a ninety-degree corner, side brushes flick debris as often as they collect it, and no robot does stairs. If your home is mostly hard floor with open sightlines, a robot does eighty per cent of the work. If it is carpeted, split over floors, and full of furniture legs, that number drops fast.
The configuration that works for most households is a robot for frequency and a light cordless stick for the twenty per cent it cannot reach. That is two purchases, and it is worth knowing that going in rather than discovering it afterwards.