Each bot has its own strengths and weaknesses, but I prioritized two features to select a winner.
Each bot has its own strengths and weaknesses, but I prioritized two features to select a winner.
Navigation smarts and cleaning strength. You need a bot that can both clean as well as finish cleaning to say that it does a good job.
The iClebo Omega tends to get stuck on cables and under my sofa, while the Ecovacs Deebot R98’s map-building function is too buggy to give it a whole-hearted recommendation. The Samsung VR7000 Powerbot comes close with a thoughtful design and powerful suction, but it’s louder than either the LG or the iRobot.
The LG Hom-Bot Turbo+ is near to being our best performer. It has the smartest navigation engine, managing to avoid obstacles and ledges. However, the app needs work — I’d like to be able to schedule specific days for cleaning — and its suction power isn’t as strong as our winner. If you don’t have carpets but do have a lot of ledges though, you can consider the Hom-Bot Turbo+.
The iRobot Roomba 980 takes the Best Performance award for having a good navigation system as well as strong suction. It avoids obstacles almost as well as the Hom-Bot Turbo+, and was the only bot to safely navigate and clean my carpets without getting stuck.
The app also lets me schedule specific days for cleaning, so I can have it stay on its station during the weekends.
The only downsides to the Roomba 980 are its high price and how it drops down small ledges.
