12 Tips for Choosing a Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Who is the best robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer?

Xiaomi

IClebo

Panda

iRobot

iBoto

Okami

Total voted: 0

Vote results

All robotic vacuum cleaners are divided into several categories - for dry, wet cleaning, polishers and multifunctional. The choice of one of these types depends entirely on your tasks. The simplest are designed for dry cleaning at home.According to the general principle of operation, they are similar to conventional vacuum cleaners - they draw into the container all the garbage that comes across on the way, but they do it automatically with small brushes. Dust settles on the filter. Robotic vacuum cleaners can handle daily cleaning of floors and short pile carpets.

Judging by the feedback from users, robotic vacuum cleaners do not replace manual mopping, but keep it relatively clean. These are models with a water container. As they move, they spray water in front of them, scrub the wet surface with brushes, and suck the dirty liquid into a container. Residual moisture is removed with silicone scrapers or vacuum. You can not use washing vacuum cleaners for all surfaces - you should not run them on budget types of laminate, untreated wood, parquet and long pile carpets. Combined models vacuum the floor or carry out wet cleaning, depending on the set mode.

Floor polishers are not as popular, but they keep pets clean. Use a damp microfiber cloth to clean smooth surfaces. There is no dust container in the floor polishers, it does not collect anything, it only wipes the floor covering with a damp cloth nozzle. Before him, it is better to run a standard robot, sweep or vacuum the floor. It's more like a washer. Next to floor polishers in the line of equipment for automatic cleaning are window cleaners. They stick firmly to the glass, wash it with dry or damp rags. It will help out if you live on the upper floors or the house has a lot of windows.

It is more difficult to choose a manufacturer here, since companies known to users - Samsung, Miele, Polaris, LG and others release robotic vacuum cleaners to keep up with others.Equipment can be of high quality, but not correspond to the technologies of manufacturers that produce only robotic vacuum cleaners. Although there are exceptions, Samsung and Philips models are very successful according to user reviews. But it is better to pay attention to the following companies.

Xiaomi. Let's start with Xiaomi, the favorite brand of thousands of customers. The catalog has everything - classic robotic vacuum cleaners, polishers, window cleaners. Value for money, integration with Alice, control from a smartphone, building a map of the area - good equipment at a tasty price.

iRobot. An American company that was the first to launch a novelty into mass production. They are one of the best - high-tech, with an abundance of functions. Their characteristic is the quality of cleaning, patency and reliability.

Xrobot. The company produces low-cost home cleaning assistants compared to IRobot. The quality and reliability is slightly lower. But there are all the necessary options and they do a solid four plus with cleaning. Feel free to consider this company if the apartment is small.

Neato. The company is from the USA. The Neato brand turned out to be a successful Botvas series. Models of this line are better oriented in the apartment, make the right route.

Panda. The company also produces functional models. They are better than others to cope with animal hair and long hair. At the same time, the price is lower than well-known brands.

IClebo. The best for multi-room apartments with corridors, turns, dead ends. Good navigation takes them out of all the tricky corners of the house. Among the shortcomings of the brand, users in the reviews call the lack of normal wet cleaning. There is only a polisher function.

iBoto. Good robotic vacuum cleaners with all the features you need. Simultaneous dry and wet cleaning, carpet cleaning, smartphone control, programming by day of the week.Prices are not outrageous.

In order for the model to cope with its functions, look at the design of its harvesting part. There are large brushes for collecting large debris and side brushes for cleaning difficult areas of the apartment. The efficiency of cleaning depends on the quality of the material of the brushes. Cheap fishing line brushes catch threads, long hair is a real problem to clean them later.

Expensive models in this respect win over budget ones. They have more efficient brushes and larger containers, and are easy to clean even from tangled hair. The long bristles of the side brushes clean difficult areas. The longer they are, the better.

It happens. You bought yourself a robotic vacuum cleaner, enjoy running it for the first cleaning, and then find it stupidly poking into sofas and beds. The height of the hull limits the free movement areas. The standard height is 8.5-10 cm. If the furniture is on low legs, look for thin models less than 8 cm. For example, Xiaomi Mijia Ultra-Thin is only 5.5 cm thick.

The shape of the body also affects the quality of cleaning. By default, it is made round. They look nice, but there are difficulties with raking dust out of the corners. If this is important for you, look at the square and D-shaped models. They drive right up to the corner and rake out every speck of dust from there.

Sensors of different types help the robot vacuum cleaner navigate the house. From them, he receives information about the direction of movement, objects on the floor, obstacles.There are several different types of sensors.

Collision sensors. Along the edges, under the rubber bumper, collision sensors are hidden. As soon as the bumper touches a wall or an object, the sensor gives a signal that you need to go the other way. In the design, there is usually not one, but several sensors at once for the correct determination of the coordinates of the interference.

infrared. They are of two types - touch and fall. Sensors of the first type are located on the edge. They send infrared rays that hit the obstacle, bounce off it, and are received by the successor, so that the robot knows when to change the trajectory. The drop sensors work in the same way, but are located on the bottom. In the absence of signals, the robot stops, carefully turns around and goes in the other direction.

Ultrasonic. Determine the proximity of the object, set the speed of movement. Models with such sensors are the best for cleaning difficult places, as they can get close to the wall or furniture.

Surface Type Recognition. They detect if the floor is soft or hard ahead and automatically adjust the suction power. A necessary feature for a home with carpets.

Additional sensors. Sometimes pollution sensors are built in. They determine how much debris is on the floor and select the mode of operation. There are front wheel rotation sensors that are triggered by entanglement in wires or carpet fringe. Laser sensors for mapping terrain are more common in expensive robotic vacuum cleaners.

It is better to take models with a set of different sensors. They will do their job more efficiently and it will be easier to navigate the apartment.

From the description of the types of sensors, we will smoothly move on to the main thing - navigation, building a map of the room.There are two technical solutions here. We have already mentioned the first one - lidar or laser sensor. This is a turret at the top of the hull. The laser range finder rotates quickly, scans objects, calculates the distance to them. This data is used to build an accurate map of the apartment. The advantage of lidar is that it does not depend on light, it scans day and night.

Cons - it does not see mirror coatings well, it breaks more often. For example, it is difficult for him to recognize the chrome legs of furniture, and he perceives the mirrors on the cabinets as another room that he cannot get into, and even puts it on the map. The turret at the top increases the height of the case, it is rarely lower than 10 cm. A robot vacuum cleaner with lidar will not fit under low furniture. But in terms of the accuracy of building a map, he still has no equal.

The second way is the camera. It is a less accurate visual navigation system. The robot takes images, reads them from the camera, processes and builds a map of the apartment. Such vacuum cleaners are more reliable, cheaper, there are thin models. Some have a case height of no more than 7 cm. They easily drive under furniture with low legs. But such robotic vacuum cleaners can build a map only with sufficient lighting. In the dark they are blind, confused and confused. But this is when getting acquainted with the area, according to the already saved map, they are removed smartly.

Battery life depends on battery capacity. The longer it works without recharging, the better the quality of cleaning will be. Compared with a conventional vacuum cleaner, robots have less suction power, so it will take longer to collect dust. For example, it takes about two hours to clean an apartment of 50-60 m2. From customer reviews, we see that cheap Chinese models charge for a maximum of one hour. The battery is charged from 3 to 8 hours, it will not be possible to continue cleaning with a short break.

In order not to wait so long, immediately look at the type of battery. Li-Ion is what we need. Powerful rechargeable batteries charge quickly and have a higher capacity than standard NiMh batteries. They have a low self-discharge rate. If the robot cleaner has been idle for a long time, the charge will still be sufficient. But they are more expensive, withstand fewer charge-discharge cycles. These shortcomings fade before the quick readiness of equipment for work. For example, Xiaomi has models that charge in just 1.5 hours.

The package often includes a base station for recharging the battery. It connects to the network and is placed on the floor. If the charge level drops, the robot searches for the station by infrared signal and recharges. And in some models, it also unloads the collected dust into the garbage bin. This greatly simplifies maintenance. The equipment can work continuously all the time while you are not at home. This is the best solution of all - buy models with a base station for recharging.

The disadvantage of navigating robotic vacuum cleaners is that their trajectory is random, so cleaning is uneven.For example, one room the robot will vacuum all day, and the other will not even call. If you need to force the equipment to clean in a certain place, you can divide the area into zones. Some models come with small devices called "virtual wall". With a narrowly focused infrared beam, they expose an invisible wall. The robot receives a signal about an obstacle and changes the direction of movement.

By moving the virtual wall, you can ensure consistent cleaning of all rooms in the house. One or two are included as standard, but they are also sold separately. You can buy in addition to set clear boundaries. The virtual wall has another purpose. It restricts access to unwanted areas. For example, bowls of pet food or a fragile floor vase.

Steeper than a virtual wall is only a lighthouse or a navigation cube. It works in much the same way, but the robot has a connection with it. Put a beacon in the doorway, and the vacuum cleaner will definitely not leave the room until it removes all the debris. Then the lighthouse will give permission to exit to continue work in other parts of the apartment.

If the first robotic vacuum cleaners were worth their weight in gold, now there are inexpensive standard or washing models. There are many offers, but you should not look at the cheapest ones - their performance and quality will disappoint. With a budget of up to 10,000 rubles, you can already pick up a relatively good model of the brands Polaris, Midea, Redmond, Kitfort, Scarlett.But the low price for smart technology affects the quality of work - an inexpensive robot will not replace standard floor sweeping. Materials, electronics of modest quality, dust collectors are small, insufficient battery capacity, difficulty in orientation in space - this is only part of the shortcomings of cheap models. They are only suitable for regular cleaning of one small room.

In the middle class from 10,000 to 25,000 rubles, the choice is already greater. But these models are still considered inexpensive. Here there are offers from Xiaomi, IRobot, PANDA, iClebo. They already have a more thoughtful cleaning technology - many different sensors, a clear trajectory, quality, efficient brushes, an increased size of the dust container. There are good washing models. There are robot vacuum cleaners with a charging station, virtual walls. This is the golden mean if you do not have a large amount of money, but you want a reliable household helper.

From 30,000 rubles the most interesting begins. These are models with an automatic waste bin, increased power, not always necessary, but interesting features. They have a higher charging speed (10-20 minutes), a large dust collector, and are freely oriented in space. From 30,000 rubles, you can take Neato, iRobot, Okami, PANDA, Hobot, Roborock branded equipment.

To admire the clean floor, start from the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe apartment. A simple model with a power of about 30-40 watts can handle cleaning a small room with moderate daily pollution (if there are no children and pets). If the area of ​​​​the apartment is larger, there are polluting factors, look towards higher power - up to 70 watts.The robot will spend about 1.5-2 hours on a house with an area of ​​​​50-60 m2. The battery capacity should be enough for this.

The capacity of the dust container is also important. If there are animals (especially long-haired) or children at home, take an increased volume. For an apartment of 60-80 m2, not less than 0.3-0.4 liters. For large areas, it is worth considering the size of the dust collector up to 1 liter. Combined models, designed for wet and dry floor cleaning, clean cleaner.

Work is always noisy. The volume indicator sometimes reaches 60-70 dB - it is better to immediately pay attention to this parameter. Now there are quieter models with a maximum volume of no more than 45 dB.

Do not confuse power consumption with suction power. The first is measured in watts and has little effect on the quality of cleaning. Another indicator is more important to us - suction power. It is indicated in pascals. Do not take the word of the sellers, look for information on the packaging.

The minimum - 1000 Pa. Such a robot vacuum cleaner will cope with the daily cleaning of the apartment if there are no carpets and pets. Even small rugs will make it difficult to collect dust. Therefore, it is better to look at models with suction power. from 1500 Pa. They will already clean low pile carpets. For example, Xiaomi Mi Robot.

Models from 2000 Pa more powerful. They collect fine dust, animal hair, hair, crumbs. On carpets with short and medium pile they feel free, they are cleaned well. These robotic vacuum cleaners are already more expensive, but the cleaning quality is higher.

The most powerful models have suction power 3000-4000 Pa. These are expensive flagship robotic vacuum cleaners. Their power is comparable to standard design models.They ruthlessly draw dust even from the lower layers of carpets.

Washing robotic vacuum cleaners will save you from frequent mopping. They are good at this task. The only inconvenience is that the water periodically needs to be changed and added. The washing robot vacuum cleaner cleans sequentially - first it collects garbage, then it sprays water on the floor, rubs it and sucks it back. It leaves behind a washed and dried surface. For cleanliness, detergents are added to the water. Some replace them with low concentration vinegar.

Washing models do not work on all surfaces. Do not use them on laminate without a waterproof coating, parquet, branched wood, porous stone tiles. They are also not intended for long pile carpets. If you only need to occasionally replace hand mopping, consider models with a wet mopping mode that simply wipe the surface with a damp cloth.

Robotic vacuum cleaners are more complicated and are supplemented with interesting options. For example, air purification with filters, its aromatization, disinfection of the floor with ultraviolet light. Options can be useful, but in cheap vacuums, sometimes they just distract from poor quality. Therefore, auxiliary options are the last criterion in importance. Although some of them greatly simplify cleaning and improve its quality.

Scheduled cleaning. This option sets the activation time.The work schedule can be set a week ahead. For example, a robotic vacuum cleaner will clean while you are at work.

Self cleaning. The charging station is supplemented by cleaning the dust collector from the collected debris. The user will not need to clean up the garbage from the filled container several times a day - the robot will do it itself, without interrupting the cleaning.

Remote control. This is a secondary function, during cleaning it is usually not necessary to switch operating modes.

Smartphone control. A necessary option for busy people who strictly monitor the order at home. Installing the application on a smartphone expands the control of smart technology. You can track the movement of the robot vacuum cleaner in real time, control the quality of cleaning, start or stop work, change modes.