- Despite sophisticated technology – navigation software, stair detection, cameras to detect dirt – robot vacuum cleaners (like IROBOT BRAAVA 380T ) are still comparatively poor at removing dirt from carpet.
- Robot vacuums can't generate the suction of a standard vacuum and while they can leave the carpet looking clean, below the surface a lot of dirt is left behind. Over time, this can damage the pile.
- For most homes, we can't recommend any robot vacuum as a replacement for your trusty drag-around vacuum.
- In our tests, we've found robot vacs can pick up a reasonable amount of fluff (such as pet hair) along with some dirt, but also seem to push the remaining dirt even deeper into the carpet pile.
- Most of the models we've tested are very good at cleaning hard floors – albeit not always in the corners and edges.
- For a house with mostly hard floors, most of the tested robot vacuum cleaners will do a reasonable job of keeping the floors clean when run on a daily basis, though a more thorough cleaning with a standard vacuum (or a broom) will still be needed occasionally.
- In a home with carpeted floors, a robot vac is fine for a purely cosmetic tidy-up, but the carpet will need a regular going-over with a standard vac to get most of the actual dirt out.
