best self-emptying robot vacuum for pet hair Self-Empting Robot Vacuums and Mops
The Eufy 11S is one of the most affordable self-emptying robot vacuums on the market. In our tests it was able clean up dry oats on hard floors as well as carpets with a low pile. Its dustbin is easy to empty and openmuch easier than other models in its price range.
It recharges at the base and then resumes cleaning when ready. However, its obstacle-avoidance technology gets tangled up in socks and cords and it’s not able to go below low thresholds.
1. iRobot Roomba 11S
The 11S is one of the cheapest self-emptying robots and a lot of people seem to love it. It is great at maneuvering under furniture and seems to be a smart option for those with hard floors or who wish to perform light daily cleaning. The suction is less powerful than our top picks, but it’s still effective. It also comes with a huge dirt bin and a battery that lasts for more than an hour. The app lets you schedule your daily cleaning chores, or select a specific room. You can also create a map of your home to allow the device to avoid areas you don’t wish it to visit.
The app is easy to use and has a clear layout. It doesn’t have any advanced features, but it’s simple enough to use and allows you to keep track of the progress of your robot. It also includes an excellent tutorial that will guide you through the basics.
Its cleaning patterns don’t always appear logical – sometimes it follows straight lines, and other times, it is able to find the edges of the room – however Bounce Navigation ensures your entire floor gets cleaned. It is not the best at climbing over obstacles. It had trouble getting under our pet food bowls as well as piano pedals, and got caught in our 2.25 inch shag carpet several times.
We think that there are better robot vacuums than the 11S. The iRobot Roomba 694 is better-built and is easier to maintain. It also has lower ongoing costs and charges faster. It also has a larger dustbin and performs better on all types of surfaces and is able to get over obstacles that are low (like electrical cords) more easily.
The RoboVac 11S is an excellent choice for everyday vacuuming. It is a close design to our top pick and is great in removing fine dust and larger debris from hard floors. It also does a good job on low-pile and medium-pile carpet. Similar to the Roomba from iRobot Roomba, it comes with a large dirt compartment and utilizes BoostIQ to automatically adjust suction power. It also has a remote control that’s easy to operate and allows you to program daily cleanings using the app. The battery can last for around an hour and the dustbin can be empty without taking it from the dock.
2. Roborock S7 maxV Ultra
The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is a great robot vacuum and mop, with a wide range of features for automation. The Roborock S7 MaxV is available in three versions of the basic S7 model, the S7 Plus model and the S7 Ultra. The latter model is the only one with an Empty Wash Fill Dock (or an alternative Auto-Empty Dock). These docks let the robot return to its base following cleaning and empty the debris into a dust bag or Best Robot Vacuum With Self Empty reservoir, drain its clogged water tank and clean its mopping pad.
Sensors on the S7 work in tandem to clean and avoid obstacles. It can detect flooring types and save a map of rooms and zones. It even detects dirt levels. It’s also capable of scheduling and running spot-cleaning sessions. It was able to perform well in our standard tests, but it didn’t exactly match the Roomba j7+ in the carpet deep clean test.
You can program the S7 with the companion app to run a cleaning routine in accordance with your schedule. You can specify a time day, week, or even a day and select from a variety of cleaning options, such as eco, automatic and deep clean. You can also select whether the robot will stop when its power runs out or in the event of an obstacle.
You can still make use of the S7 even if you don’t own a smartphone by connecting an charging dock to a remote control. The controls on the remote are a little confusing, but once you get the hang of them, they function well. The power button acts as the ‘Cleaning’ option, and the Spot Clean button instructs the robot vacuum mop self empty to clean an area around it. The “Spot Clean” button also activates the child lock.
Roborock’s mobile application has been upgraded to include a live-view function that allows you to see what the S7 does at home. You can enable it by pressing a certain sequence of buttons on your S7 and then you can create an unlock pattern within the mobile app that you can use whenever you want to know what the S7 is doing.
3. Shark IQ XL
Shark isn’t as well-known for its robot vacuums as iRobot and Roborock, but our experience with this model has proven it to be among the top self-emptying robot vacuums currently on the market. It is simple to set up, comes with an enormous bin that is easy to empty (albeit somewhat loudly) into a trash can when full and is easily programmed to do a complete home clean on a schedule or when needed.
The IQ XL is able to connect to your WiFi at home, allowing you to monitor its cleaning progress from the Shark app. The app lets you create cleaning schedules, get notifications via push about its current status, it can pause and resume cleaning or limit it to one room. It can also be controlled using voice commands using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The app will tell you which the current power mode is which is Eco Normal, Normal, or Maximum – however, we discovered that none of these modes produced any significant difference in the cleaning performance.
The IQ XL will automatically empty the bin at the end of each cleaning cycle into the base, which will self-empty. Its bin holds up to 60 days worth of trash It won’t require emptying more often than that unless you have lots of pets with long hair. If you need to empty it, you can simply detach the side container, hold it over your trash can and press a button.
The Shark IQ XL is a good vacuum cleaner. It does a great job of cleaning floors with no dust and can move well. However, the Shark IQ XL feels a slightly less sturdy than the Roomba 694. It’s effective at cleaning carpeted floors, but doesn’t match the iRobot Roomba i7 in terms of the performance of bare floors. The i7 is also built better and feels more durable. It is robust, has less demanding maintenance requirements, has lower recurring costs, charges faster, while offering similar battery performance and the most advanced automation features such as no-go zones and the ability to select specific rooms for a clean.
4. iRobot J7+
This robot vacuum and mop combo is a rare beast that can do both tasks well. iRobot Combo j7+ has all the smarts and features similar to its j7 counterpart including LiDAR maps and self-emptying. However, it also has additional features for mopping and vacuuming.
The new acoustic sensors help the j7+ recognize flooring types, meaning it can choose between vacuuming and mopping when it first enters a room. It also uses this info to prioritize cleaning rooms with carpets and rug flooring over rooms with hard floors.
The j7+ is quieter than the majority of robotic vacuums when it’s in use and is even quieter when it’s mopping. The highest reading we could get on our decibel meter was 64db, which is comparable to the noise of general office chatter.
You can easily create a cleaning schedule and change what happens when the dust canister gets full. The j7+ can also be controlled by voice assistants (Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.).) The app allows you to create and view maps within your home.
In our tests, we found that the j7+ performed admirably on both hard and carpeted floors, and it cleaned up most of the dirt we threw at it. It has some issues with pet hair and larger debris like sand, but it is able to remove these items with a little extra effort. It also has decent navigation capabilities, as well as a pair of cliff sensors that keep it from falling down a flight of stairs or getting stuck on furniture legs.
We did find a couple of small niggles with the j7+, mostly that it could snag cords and rugs, and that it doesn’t always turn off its mopping when it’s finished vacuuming. In all other respects, it’s an excellent product that ticks all the right boxes.
iRobot j7+ has also one of the best robot vacuum with Self Empty auto-emptying systems that we’ve ever tested. It spits out its 14oz / 0.4-liter dust canister into the base station where it will automatically empty itself for you to. This reduces the amount of trash you need to get rid of. You will only have to replace the bag at the dock once every 60 days, depending on how frequently you use the j7+.