By Nick Gelling
Product Test Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakamātautau Hautaonga
Robot vacuum cleaners promise cleaner floors with less effort, but their performance varies dramatically. Some navigate your home intelligently and clean effectively, while others spend more time getting stuck than vacuuming.
Our expert testing reveals which models are worth your money. We assess cleaning performance on hard floors and carpets, navigation, obstacle avoidance, battery life and ease of use. We also combine our test results with reliability and satisfaction data to identify the robot vacuums most likely to keep performing well over the long term.
Our buying guide explains the key features to look for and how to choose the right model for your home. We've also covered five things to think about before buying a robot vacuum, common robot vacuum myths and misconceptions, and how to clean and maintain your robot vacuum so you can get the most from your purchase.
Read on for our top robot vacuum picks, whether you're after the best overall performer, a pet-hair specialist or the best-value robot vacuum.
Deals of the week
Sales season has started, but not every deal is a bargain. In the lead up to Labour Weekend and Black Friday, we’re tracking the sales on products we test to help you spot the bona fide bargains, based on both price and performance.
Deals are based on the lowest current advertised price of our tested products. Sale prices are subject to change and to retailers’ terms and conditions.
Biggest price drop of the week
A vacuum from an iconic brand is $500 off this week – the cheapest we’ve ever seen it.
Budget buy of the week
This little bot doesn’t earn our Recommended tick, but with about $300 off its regular price, it’s a good bargain.
Best robot vacs in New Zealand
Best robot vacuum overall
Best robot vacuum if you have pets
Best cheap robot vacuum
Which robot vac brands are best?
We asked thousands of Consumer members about their experience with products they've used to find out which brands are most reliable and satisfying to own. The results are available to members and Digital Pass holders.
How Consumer NZ tests robot vacuum cleaners
We test robot vacuum cleaners in our lab to see how well they handle the jobs people actually buy them for. Our testing measures cleaning performance on hard floors and carpets, how effectively they clean corners and edges, and how well they remove embedded pet hair.
For models with mopping functions, we test how effectively they remove common household stains, including coffee, red wine, mud, soy sauce and jam. We also assess how easy the mopping system is to fill, attach, maintain and clean.
We measure battery run time, too, recording how long each robot vacuum can clean before it runs out of charge.
These results are combined into an overall score to help identify the robot vacuums that clean thoroughly, are easy to live with and offer the best all-round performance.
