The biggest selling point of the Roomba j7 series is its upgraded AI-driven computer vision which helps it detect and move around objects. This includes pet poop – a robot vacuum’s arch nemesis – and iRobot even promises that it will replace your j7 machine if it runs into pet poop within the first year of ownership. The Roomba 890 has the same run time as the Shark ION 750 and 720 models (60 minutes). It features a centrally located “Clean” button on the face of the vacuum with a handle, and dust bin release latch.
To keep up with the ever-changing vacuum market, they also now manufacture robot vacuums. While Roomba primarily focuses on robot vacuums, Shark makes a much wider range of vacuuming types, producing upright, stick, canister, and handheld models as well. One downside of this type of hybrid vacuum is that it needs to go back to its base every 20 minutes to refill and wash its mop. This process is quite loud and takes two or three minutes to complete as the little brush in the base runs back and forth across the mop and scrubs it. This extends the time it will take to completely clean your home (although you can tweak the timing in the app). While most mapping robots allow you to create virtual keep-out zones — areas the robot shouldn’t venture into — this Roomba uses its AI smarts to suggest trouble spots, making creating keep-out zones a one-tap job.
In iRobot’s October 2019 filing in federal court in Boston, it accused SharkNinja of infringing on its patents as well as engaging in false advertising (allegations SharkNinja denied). By shark canister vacuum the end of 2021 it had recorded net sales of more than $3.7 billion. By the end of its first month on the market, 150 articles in the national press had been written about the Roomba.
On several cleaning runs, it got wedged in the same spot underneath the edge of the couch and needed help getting out. It got stuck in that spot every time it traveled to the area, and we had to move furniture around to eliminate the issue. The vacuum also frequently got tangled in power cords, though it was always able to extract itself after a few minutes without intervention. The Eufy RoboVac was the only model we tested that doesn’t offer any smart features. Instead, it comes with a remote control that you can use to control its operation and select different cleaning modes. In addition to automatic cleaning, the robot offers spot and edge cleaning, and you can set it to run automatically on a schedule, all from the remote, making it a solid option for those who aren’t smartphone-savvy.
In future testing, we plan to assess whether those models offer any real improvements on the mopping process. We’ll also be interested to see how they do at obstacle recognition compared with their predecessors. We’ve decided to make this a significant factor in our recommendations. We scout reviews for hints about longevity, and we favor bots with easy-to-find replacement parts such as filters and brushes but also batteries, wheels, and transmissions. We also fully disassemble some popular bots to get a sense for the build quality and how straightforward they might be to repair.
It picked up nearly all of Fido’s fur in our lab tests — making it the best robot vacuum for pet hair — and was also good in our at-home tests, too. It was about average in terms of noise compared to the other robot vacuums on test, with 64.1dB. The size of the dustbin in a Shark robotic vacuum matters, especially if you have a large home or pets with lots of dander. If you were to choose a model with a smaller dustbin, you’d need to empty it more often to keep the suction power at maximum efficiency.
For navigation, it uses infrared light to detect dirt and obstacles as it cleans. Another expensive option, but by far the most user-friendly Roomba yet. It adds 2-in-1 mopping functionality with a mop that lifts / lowers automatically, obstacle avoidance, and all the same features Roomba previously shark dustbuster included. On top of that it still has fantastic performance removing 96.4% of all debris. While you’ll need to fill the water tank yourself, the auto-empty base will take care of the debris. Plus, you get obstacle avoidance to improve navigation, especially on more cluttered floors.
Then there’s the expense to consider — self-emptying bases naturally add a hefty sum to the price tag. The first phase of our analysis starts with testing each robot vacuum to see how effective it is at picking up 20 grams of kitty litter, 20 grams of Cheerios, and two grams of dog hair on hardwood and a medium-pile carpet. We also time how long it takes each to complete each test, as well as how loud the vacuum is as it goes about its business. While we factor in the average cleaning time to our overall rating, we give it less importance than cleaning effectiveness, as most people will schedule a robot vacuum to go about its rounds after they leave their house. Here’s the table on which robot vacuums are best at picking up dirt and pet hair. Note that while all of the robot vacuums were tested by picking up the same material on the same surfaces, those with an asterisk were tested in a 15 x 15-foot square, whereas the other models were tested in a 5 x 5-foot square.
We found it sucked up fine dust and larger debris on hard floors on the lowest power setting but required the highest suction setting to remove the most visible traces of flour from medium pile carpets. Despite their many joys, the best robot shark pet hair vacuum vacuums can be quite pricey – although prices are definitely coming down. So to ensure you get the most cleaning bang for your bucks, we’ve tested eight of the leading models in our own homes to really put them through their paces.