The best robot vacuum and mop to buy right now

Robot vacuums that tin some mop and expanse your floors person improved importantly successful caller years. While they are still not arsenic effective arsenic bully ol’ manual labor, if you tally them regularly, they will thief support your floors cleaner pinch overmuch little effort connected your part.

The quality is that newer “combo” robot vacuum-and-mop models are designed to really scrub your floors. The first robot vacuums that could besides “mop” simply slapped a thin, level microfiber pad connected the bot that benignant of Swiffer-ed your floor. Basically, each this was bully for was getting up good ungraded that the vacuum near behind.

Today’s models travel pinch vibrating aliases oscillating mop pads aliases roller mops. Most person onboard h2o tanks to support the mops bedewed while successful use, and galore tin lavation and barren their mops successful their charging docks, which besides automatically quiet and refill their h2o tanks, meaning little activity for you.

While astir robot vacuums coming person immoderate benignant of mopping feature, this guideline focuses connected those that excel astatine mopping. If you’re much willing successful the champion vacuum, cheque retired my guideline to floor-sweeping bots.

The downside to these combo bots pinch superior mopping chops is that they thin to beryllium bigger and heavier and request much predominant involution than regular vacuum bots. Water equals gunk, and cleaning their elephantine multifunction docks, moreover the self-cleaning ones, tin beryllium an icky job. You besides person to quiet and refill their tanks astir erstwhile a week.

Mopping bots besides request to return to their docks much often than robot vacuums successful bid to refill their onboard h2o tanks. This intends they’ll return longer to cleanable your floors than a dedicated vacuuming model, but they are doing 2 jobs astatine once. Robot mops pinch roller mops will self-clean arsenic they work, negating this issue, but these models are besides the biggest and bulkiest, arsenic they transportation a larger h2o tank.

Combo bots tin mop and vacuum simultaneously, but for particularly soiled floors, it’s champion to person the action to vacuum first and past mop. A mop-only mode is besides good, arsenic you tin nonstop the bot to cleanable up a bedewed spill without it sucking up h2o — thing they’re not designed to do yet.

If you person a batch of hardwood aliases tile floors and perpetually struggle pinch muddy paw prints aliases the wide dirtiness of life pinch aggregate pets, people, and kids, a bully robot vacuum-and-mop combo will decidedly make your life easier.

Multifunction dock: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 20,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Brush style: Single, rubber / Mop style: Roller mop / Mop lift: Yes, 15mm, pinch a shield / Mop washing: Yes, pinch basking h2o and lukewarm aerial drying / Edge cleaning: Mop hold / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Matter

My top picks for the champion robot vacuum — the Matic and Roborock Saros 10 — are some fantabulous mopping bots arsenic good arsenic vacuums. But, if you are looking for a robot vacuum that excels astatine mopping, past Roborock’s caller Qrevo Curv 2 Flow is my apical recommendation.

Roborock’s first robot vacuum pinch a roller mop, the Curv 2 Flow’s features a caller “SpiraFlow” cleaning strategy that demolished each my mopping tests. Roborock whitethorn beryllium a spot precocious to the roller-mop game, but it brought the goods. The Flow is besides a terrific vacuum pinch 20,000Pa of suction, and you get each of this for $999 — astir apical bots successful this class costs good complete $1,000.

Roborock’s VibraRise strategy (a level mopping pad that vibrates to simulate scrubbing) has agelong been its signature wet-floor cleaning solution, and it’s 1 I deliberation useful very well. But it is slow. The caller roller mop connected the Flow gives you a overmuch faster heavy cleanable than the level pad method (which is connected the Saros 10).

At almost 11 inches, the mop is besides 1 of the longest I’ve tested, positive it extends outward to scope on baseboards and edges of furniture. It self-cleans arsenic it works, and a built-in scraper squeegees distant the soiled water. It uses an awesome 15 newtons (about 3.3 pounds) of downward unit that made speedy activity of my dried-on ketchup test.

The Flow did a awesome occupation of automatically detecting carpets and deploying its retracting mop cover, and it tin besides place some hardwood and tile, arsenic good arsenic set cleaning strategies. When it spotted my spilled OJ test, it automatically switched to mop-only mode to debar sucking the sticky juice into its bin.

Its azygous DuoDivide brushwood does a bully occupation connected carpet and hardwood floors, and the unsocial creation prevents hairsbreadth tangles by funneling hairsbreadth into the center, wherever it is sucked into the bin.

I’m a large instrumentality of the Qrevo Curv dock, which, arsenic the sanction implies, features a curved creation that looks much charismatic successful an open-plan abstraction than the boxy docks that travel pinch astir robot vacs. It’s compact yet still has capable room for ample h2o tanks and a disposable particulate bag. The dock besides features removable parts for easy cleaning, which is cardinal to keeping these docks from getting grungy.

The lidar-based navigation connected the Curv 2 Flow is very good, although, arsenic pinch each roller mop bots I’ve tested, it struggled to get into and retired of tighter spaces. This is because they’re heavier and bulkier than non-roller mop bots, arsenic they person to transportation a larger onboard h2o vessel and make room for that large mop. It was capable to assistance itself up somewhat to navigate my high-pile, large-tassel surviving room carpet, thing different roller-mop bots person struggled with.

Obstacle avoidance is connected par pinch that of a midrange vacuum. It has Roborock’s Reactive AI, which uses a camera and system ray to observe and debar up to 200 obstacles arsenic mini arsenic 3cm precocious and 5cm wide, according to the company. It did a bully occupation dodging socks, shoes, and pet toys, but it did get tripped up by the occasional cable. If you want top-notch detection, you’ll request to bump up to the Saros 10.

Multifunction dock: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 20,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Brush style: Dual rubber / Mop style: Dual spinning / Mop lift: Yes, 20mm, plus automatic removal / Mop washing: Yes / Edge cleaning: Mop hold / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Matter

If you person a batch of fluffy rugs aliases carpets arsenic good arsenic difficult floors, the Dreame X50 Ultra is the champion robot vacuum and mop for you. It’s not rather arsenic bully astatine mopping arsenic my apical pick, but it’s amended suited for high-pile carpet and rugs because it tin automatically driblet and reattach its spinning mopping pads during vacuuming. This intends it becomes a vacuum-only bot erstwhile tackling carpets, without the hindrance of carrying a ample roller mop aliases h2o tank. It’s besides much agile and amended astatine handling fluffy rugs and carpets.

The large upgrade connected the X50 compared to the X40 Ultra (a erstwhile pick) is the summation of a “motorized plaything arm” that functions for illustration a leg, which allows it to maneuver complete higher thresholds (up to 6cm). This caller system intends it tin get into much spaces — for illustration complete the precocious modulation from my chamber into my bath — and much easy tackle obstacles specified arsenic high-pile rugs.

It besides has higher suction powerfulness and a much-improved brushwood strategy that uses dual rubber rollers. It did an fantabulous occupation successful my oatmeal-on-carpet tests, sucking up each past flake.

The X50 maintains the X40’s fantabulous mopping capabilities, including the expertise to automatically widen its mop pads and plaything them to scope nether your cabinets and consoles, letting it get further than moreover the longest extendable roller mop. Its new, retractable lidar building besides helps it scope nether little furniture.

Obstacle discovery is powered by a camera and system light, and did okay successful testing, though it did suck up the occasional sock. The downside of Dreame vacuums is the app, which often crashes and tin return a while to load. When it works, however, it offers plentifulness of features and customization options to tailor your cleaning to your home.

Multifunction dock: Yes / Mop style: Roller mop / Mop washing: Yes, basking h2o and basking aerial drying / Mop lift: Yes, 12mm / Edge cleaning: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 22,000Pa / Vacuum brushwood style: Single, conical rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

Narwal has consistently had the champion mopping bots successful my testing, though astir person sacrificed vacuuming for mopping prowess. The Flow is 1 of the first bots from Narwal that does some really well, moreover if the mop is still the star.

The company’s first exemplary pinch a self-cleaning roller mop, the Flow’s flat, wide-track-style mop has much aboveground area than immoderate of the different bots I tested and passed each my mopping tests pinch flying colors. Wider than Roborock’s Curv 2 Flow mop and arsenic long, it tin besides widen to scope into corners and on baseboards. It did very good successful my mopping tests, moreover getting up the dried ketchup from tile grout.

I for illustration that the Flow tin admit various level materials (tile, hardwood, marble, etc.), cleanable successful the guidance of the flooring, and automatically set its unit and “mopping humidity” based connected the level type. It uses higher humidity connected tile floors than connected wood floors, which tin beryllium impacted by excessive moisture.

As mentioned, vacuuming is overmuch improved complete immoderate of Narwal’s erstwhile models, pinch 22,000Pa of suction powerfulness and an fantabulous cone-style anti-tangle brushwood rotation that seldom gets wrapped successful hair. Its obstacle discovery is great, too, and relies connected a dual-camera system to place and debar obstacles. It besides has a useful ungraded discovery characteristic that makes the bot spell backmost and distant complete a stain aliases soiled area to guarantee it’s cleaned.

However, navigation connected Narwal’s erstwhile robots has been spotty, and the caller tower-less lidar present hasn’t improved things. While it intends the bot is slimmer and tin get nether little furniture, it did get confused and stuck a fewer times during testing.

The Narwal besides doesn’t grip high-pile rugs well, arsenic there’s still only a 12mm mop assistance and nary mop cover, but you tin group it to skip carpets entirely.

My biggest problem pinch the Flow is 1 that plagued anterior models: the Narwal app. It’s not easy to navigate, gets hung up betwixt screens, and often disconnects from the robot.

I emotion that Narwal besides offers the option to usage a dock that connects to your plumbing, which eliminates the chore of emptying and refilling the robot’s h2o tanks.

Multifunction dock: No, auto-empty only / Mop style: Vibrating level pad / Mop washing: No / Mop lift: Yes, 8mm / Edge cleaning: No / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 10,000Pa / Brush style: Single bristle / rubber hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

Roborock’s Q10 S5 Plus is simply a fund robot pinch flagship features, including AI-powered obstacle avoidance, automatic carpet detection, and support for Roborock’s awesome app.

It uses Roborock’s fantabulous VibraRise vibrating mopping strategy that really scrubs your floors, and it tin assistance its mop up to 8mm to walk complete low-pile carpets. All this tin beryllium had for nether $400, astatine slightest erstwhile it’s connected sale.

There’s nary multifunction dock, truthful you request to manually capable its onboard h2o vessel (which is integrated pinch its bin), but it does travel pinch a compact auto-empty dock. If you tin grip emptying its ample onboard bin yourself, you tin ditch the dock and prime up the Q10 S5 for moreover less.

Its lidar-based mapping and navigation strategy did a bully job. Plus, utilizing the fantabulous Roborock app, you tin group circumstantial rooms to clean, create no-go zones, and customize cleaning methods — including really it mops — features fewer bots successful this value scope offer.

Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Update, January 30th: Adjusted pricing / readiness and added respective caller picks, including Roborock’s caller Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, the Dreame X50 Ultra, the Narwal Flow, and Roborock’s Q10 S5 Plus. Sheena Vasani besides contributed to this post.