Some brands will address this by tapering their brushrolls or breaking them in the middle, with the aim of quickly directing hair towards the bin inlet. Dreame even has an alternative brushroll attachment that has little blades to chop up hair so it can be more easily managed.

✔️ Bag or bagless: Both types clean well in our Cleaning Lab tests. Bagless models come with a dust cup and filter that needs frequent emptying and cleaning. The advantage is that you don’t have to stock up on bags or ever worry about running out of them. They can be messy to clean and empty, though, and may not be the best choice for those with dust allergies.

✅ You have pets: This bot tackled the hair in our reviewer's pet-filled home incredibly well – and better than any other robovac they'd tested .

We're constantly getting new samples in for testing, and as a member of ASTM International's F11 Vacuum Cleaner Committee, we meet twice yearly with engineers and technical representatives from all brands to help develop and shape the vacuum cleaner test standards we all use to assess performance, ease of use, durability and more.

James has tested robot vacuums of all sorts from the most basic models to the ones so feature-packed that they can be used as a security camera. He appreciates models that can suck up all sorts of debris, clean the edges of rooms, and allow easy room partitioning in-app.

Given robot vacuums are best at keeping on Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners top of mess rather than deep cleans, we don't see this as a big issue though. Plus, its mopping was excellent.

Lidar navigation powers some competent obstacle avoidance. During our tests, the RV30 could navigate without bumping mindlessly into furniture, building a detailed map of your floorplan as it goes, to help it clean more efficiently on future runs.

While we aren’t the biggest fan of Eufy’s app, it’s smart enough to map your home automatically, and you can customise how hard it mops, how deep it cleans and the level of suction power it exerts. It’s a really smart little vacuum that needs almost no human input to work.

That level of smarts means a high price tag, although our tester felt it was justified by the build quality and featureset. If you're looking for a truly autonomous cleaning solution, the Roborock Qrevo Curv will deliver.

The mop pads spin to scrub floors clean, and the robot seamlessly switches between bare floors and carpet without getting the carpet wet. The only hiccup is that it's pricey.

This robot vacuum and mop is a real overachiever – it self-empties, self-cleans and self-refills its water tank. Of course, you’ll need to look after the docking station maintenance, but that will be a lot less frequent than dealing with the vacuum itself.

Many of today's best robot vacuums are pretty pricey, but if you're on a tighter budget, check out the Narwal Freo X Plus. Where it really shines is its vacuuming performance. It packs 7,800Pa of suction, which is more in line with what I'd expect in a much pricier model than one on the cusp between budget and mid-range.

The app is easy to use and functions well. Our reviewer was also very impressed with the mapping – the X10 accurately mapped their apartment on its first exploratory outing – as well as the navigation and obstacle avoidance.

Carolyn Forté has tested and reviewed hundreds of vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, mops and other major (and minor) home appliances as executive director of the Home Care Lab. She oversees all testing done in the Cleaning Lab and recently tested all of the handheld, stick, upright and canister vacuums that were submitted for consideration in the most recent Cleaning and Organizing Awards.