Roomba Combo Essential: two-minute review

The Roomba Combo Essential is a basic, budget robot vacuum that's designed to be effective, yet simple to use. iRobot bills it as a good choice for recent graduates, new homeowners, or anyone unfamiliar with the world of robot cleaners, while also being a worthy replacement for the Roomba 600 Series – an ultra-popular budget range that launched in 2012 and which is no longer available to buy. I put it the Combo Essential to the test, and while I've found that it can't begin to compete with the very best robot vacuums on the market, it compares pretty well to today's best cheap robovacs.

It arrives with a list price of just $274.99 / £269 / AU$499, but the current Black Friday deals mean it can be picked up for much less. Regardless, even for its listed price, the Roomba Combo feels well made and good quality, and for cleaning performance it's solid, too. The bot tackled light vacuum cleaning without issue, and when bumped up to Max suction mode it cleared both small and large debris tests pretty effectively. Even more impressive was the mopping facility – which proved more efficient than other, far pricier robovacs I've tested.

When it comes to customization options, you're limited: essentially, you can pick from three suction levels and three water levels; choose either a vacuum-only or combination vac-mop run; and opt for either a spot clean or a whole-home clean. More advanced alternatives will let you clean a room or area, and auto-adjust suction when moving from hard floor to carpet, for example. The lack of No-Go Zone option means you'll also need to manually block off any soft flooring areas when running a combination vac-mop run, or you better believe it will attempt to mop those carpets for you.

Mapping, too, is basic – I'd politely describe the general behavior as "erratic". You're also limited in what you can achieve remotely. You can pause or resume cleaning; but the app doesn't offer a return to dock option, for example, in the even the bot ends up doing something that it shouldn't during a cleaning run – and based on my experience, this could happen. This does mean that it's probably best to avoid setting the Roomba Combo off on a clean unsupervised, which is a little annoying since most folk are likely to prefer to have their robovac complete duties while they're out of the house, for minimal disruption.

Note, too, that there's no option to add an auto-empty dock, which will result in an irritating amount of manual emptying if you have pets or a large, high-traffic household. However, for small homes, emptying is perfectly manageable and the tiny, charge-only dock is actually a benefit. (Note: the newer, similar Roomba Combo 2 Essential does have an auto-empty dock).

Despite having had a somewhat frustrating time testing this spirited little robovac, I'd still actually recommend it to some people. If you have a small home and just want to do whole-home cleans once or twice a week, the Roomba Combo will perform just fine. The small dock won't get in your way, and if you're happy to manually empty it every couple of weeks, then it could be a major time- and effort-saver for very little outlay. That's the short version; read on for my full Roomba Combo Essential review.

Roomba Combo Essential review: price & availability

• List price: $274.99 / £269 / AU$499
• Launch date: April 2024
• Available: US / UK

The Roomba Combo Essential robot is widely available around the world. It comes with a list price of $274.99 in the US, £269 in the UK and AU$499 in Australia, but I've already seen it discounted heavily – at time of writing, the Black Friday robot vacuum sales are in full swing, bringing the price down closer to $150 / £150.

Even at the list price it's in the budget bracket, and performance is roughly what I'd expect at that price. You don't get the extensive features and hands-off dock functionality of pricier bots, but build quality is good, and there are some thoughtful design features. As a basic model it offers decent value for money, especially if you can snag a discount.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Roomba Combo Essential specs

Roomba Combo Essential review: design

• Combination vacuum and mop with a low-profile design
• Basic charge dock; no self-empty features
• Single bristle roller rather than iRobot's usual dual rubber rollers

The Combo Essential is a combination model, which it offers vacuuming and mopping capabilities. Many (pricier) robovacs have a raised central puck to house a camera; because the Combo Essential comes without, it has a relatively shallow profile, enabling it to clean under low furniture without issue.

There are three physical buttons on the bot itself: a Clean button (with power icon) to start, pause and resume cleaning tasks; a Home button to send the Roomba Combo back to its dock; and a Spot Clean button for tackling small, targeted mess. On other robovacs I've tested, these have been superfluous; but on the Roomba Combo Essential, I did find myself having to use them fairly regularly (more on that in the Performance section).

Flip the bot over, and you'll find a V-shaped bristle brush. It's described as "multi-surface", so presumably built for use on both hard floors and carpet. This is the only Roomba to not feature iRobot's patented dual rubber rollers. These rubbery rollers are excellent at pulling hair and debris from carpets, so I was interested to see how this alternative design compared. There's the usual triple-pronged edge brush, designed for tackling dirt at the edges of rooms.

Annoyingly, iRobot refuses to release its suction stats, arguing that other design elements also play a part in the overall effectiveness of a robovac's dirt pick-up. While that is true, a figure in Pa does provide an easy point of comparison when sussing out your various options.

What I do know the Roomba Combo offers the same "standard" cleaning offered by the majority of other Roombas (bar those right at the top of the range), and that it has 18x more suction power than the Roomba 600, which perhaps isn't surprising given that series launched in 2012. You can select from three different suction levels in the app.

Housed at the back of the robot is a removable section that includes both the dust cup with filter and the water reservoir. This is very well designed, with a brush/slicer tool clipped in, for clearing any stuck debris from the bin, and removing tangled hair from the brushroll. The inlet for the water reservoir is found beneath the rubber stopper bearing a water droplet icon.

The mop is a D-shaped microfiber pad. These are pretty common (even on far pricier models), although I tend to find dual, spinning mop pads do a better job of scrubbing. Some budget models simply drag a wet wipe across the floor, so the Roomba Combo's offering is at least a big step up from that approach. In fact, I was pretty impressed with this model's mopping capabilities, but I'll get into that in more detail below.

The mop pad is fed from the small onboard water tank, and there are three water level options, which you set manually. This robot can vacuum and mop simultaneously, thus taking care of your hard floor cleaning in a single pass, although I probably wouldn't recommend doing this.

Some more affordable Roombas, such as the Combo j5, require you to manually swap over the whole back plate when you want to change from vacuuming to mopping. Here, the tank stays in place; but if you want to send the bot on a vacuum-only run (or avoid damp carpets), you'll need to remove the mop pad. It clips on easily, on top of where the bin and water tank sit.

The dock is a minimalist unit that simply charges the bot. In fact, it's teeny-tiny compared to other robovacs I've come across. Most pricier Roombas have the option of adding a more advanced base (sold as "Plus / +" versions) – the simplest of these just empties the bot's small dust cup into a larger one in the dock, while the most advanced options can also refill the water tank and wash/dry the mop pads.

There are no alternative dock options here, so you'll have to take care of all that maintenance manually. For people like me who have a small home, that's a worthwhile compromise not to have a bulky dock cluttering up the space. However, if you have a large home with lots of people traffic, or pets, it's probably worth choosing an option that can be used with a self-empty dock, to save you the hassle of constant manual emptying.

One minor complaint is that I found the cable a little short (41in / 105cm long). That, together with the requirement that the dock sit on a hard floor and have half a meter of clear space either side and 1.2 meters in front (this is pretty normal for a robovac dock) meant I had to get an extension lead out. There is a cable tidy at the back of the dock to prevent the bot becoming tangled in any spare cable on its travels.

Setup was straightforward, simply involving removal from the packaging, snapping on the side brush and mop pad, plugging in the dock and charging. There are clear instructions in a booklet, plus a QR code to download the app, and a further one to link the bot to your app. This app then walks you through the final stages of getting ready to clean, before (in my case) launching a software update.

Since the Combo Essential works on a 2.4GHz network, the official advice is that you'll need to make sure both the bot and your phone are also on 2.4GHz Wi-Fi during setup. After that, you can switch back to 5GHz, if you have it. However, I thought I'd try setting up my bot without changing the settings on my Wi-Fi and it managed just fine.

This is a more basic model, so don't expect a long list of smart features. It's powered by iRobot OS, promises up to two hours of cleaning on a single charge. It can be controlled via the iRobot Home app or with your voice, provided you have an Alexa-, Siri-, or Google Assistant-enabled device.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Roomba Combo Essential review: performance

• Decent vacuuming, surprisingly good mopping
• Erratic behavior
• Requires more manual involvement than most

Having set up and charged the Roomba Combo Essential, I set it off on a whole-home vacuum of my one-bedroom flat. This did not go very smoothly. On the first run, the bot bumped its way around a bit before finally becoming stuck in a cycle cleaning back and forth in front of my fireplace (there were zero obstacles preventing it from leaving the area).

After around 25 minutes or so completing this same short route, I decided to send it back to dock to try again. There was no option to send it back to the dock via the app, so I had to press the button on the machine itself. On its way to the dock, it took a detour into my bathroom for the first time, and simply stopped there – again, for no apparent reason. A second attempt at a full-flat clean yielded slightly better results, but still far from perfect.

After the initial mapping process was as complete as I could hope for, I started with our standard vacuuming tests: a sprinkling of oats and (separately) blitzed up biscuit crumbs, sprinkled on the floor, to see how the robotic would cope with fine and chunky debris.

I started on carpet, using the Spot Clean function and the medium vacuuming setting. The Roomba Combo Essential flicked around a fair bit of debris, but sucked up most of the spillage on the first go. I then bumped up the settings to maximum suction, and ran the test again, after which there were only a few remnants remaining.

On hard floors the bot's performance was a little better. Still a fair bit of flicking mess around, but medium mode was enough to pull up most of the debris on the first pass.

In fact, the issue on hard floor wasn't so much with suction but navigation. On carpet, the Roomba Combo made its way out from where I had placed it in a neat outward spiral shape, thus gathering most of the debris on its travels. However, on my lino floor, for seemingly no reason, it decided to adopt an arc-based route. As a result, it was tricky to get it to even pass over the debris.

Since there's no auto-empty, you'll need to manually empty the onboard dustbin. This mechanism is straightforward, and feels well designed, with chunky clips to detach the bin. If you're cleaning a relatively small home (and don't have pets), this isn't too much hassle.

When you want to mop, you'll need to attach the mop plate onto the bot. This is simply a case of clicking it into place. iRobot suggests dampening the mop pad before attaching it, for best mopping results. You'll also need to fill up the onboard water tank before you launch any "combo" job. If you try to launch a vacuum-only task, it will helpfully inform you that the mop pad is attached.

iRobot suggests removing rugs before launching a combo run, and you'll also need to physically block off any areas where you don't want the bot to venture with its mop. I don't have a door between my (lino) kitchen and (carpeted) lounge, so I had to create a physical barrier before each combo run.

I had low expectations for the Roomba Combo Essential's mopping skills, but I was pleasantly surprised. Again, navigation was erratic, but I could see from the damp stripes on my floor that it was doing an efficient job – in fact, better than some far pricier robot vacuums I've tested.

My only real complaint was that it really tried hard to escape into my carpeted lounge – if you don't have doors you can close, you'll need to be prepared to put some sturdy barriers in place.

I also tested to see how well the Roomba Combo Essential coped with sticky mess (tomato ketchup) and liquid mess (apple juice). It sucked up the juice with no issues, and smeared the ketchup about a bit; but ultimately, after a couple of passes, the robot vacuum had cleared it.

Having said that, I wouldn't actually recommend using a robovac on spillages such as ketchup, because the condiment will get on the wheels and track around the house. Here, it ended up on the tracker wheel, which isn't removable and thus proved a pain to clean.

This robovac vacuums and mops at the same time, but I'd actually recommend running over surfaces in vacuum-only mode first. I did my combo run while there were still remnants of the vacuuming test on the floor, and it ended up in a disgusting gunk in the dust bin.

In general, it's worth stating that no robot vacuum will do as good a job of mopping as a manual mop option. They're really just for light cleaning, and for this, I found the Roomba Combo Essential more than adequate.

After each combo run, you're advised to empty the water tank of any unused water, while also rinsing the mop pad and leaving it to dry. Since there's no spare pad included, you'll need to make sure you have time to do this (spares are available to buy via iRobot, alongside other replacement parts). It's machine-washable for occasional deeper cleaning.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Roomba Combo Essential review: app

• Well designed, but limited options
• Can't do some basic things remotely
• Compatible with popular voice assistants

iRobot's companion app is well designed and intuitive. It offers only basic customization / control options: essentially, you can choose from three vacuum and three mopping modes, and you can choose to vacuum-only or combo vac-and-mop. Pricier models offer far more control over what they clean and how they do it.

After a task is complete, the app will provide a time summary of recently completed tasks and an outline of its journey. You'll need to figure out where the bot has and hasn't been from just a shape – there's no labelling of rooms here. That's expected at this price point, but I do struggle to understand why iRobot has opted an almost impossible to see yellow/green color for said maps.

There are limits to what you can achieve remotely. You can start and pause cleaning, but there's no return to dock button. As such, if you need to cut a job short for whatever reason, you'll need to find the bot and press the button on top. For spot cleans, you'll need to manually pick up the bot and take it to the bit that needs cleaning, then press the Spot Clean button.

You can't instruct the bot to clean just one room, and because no-go zones aren't an option, if you want to stop it from going somewhere, you'll need to physically restrain in (using doors).

There is a Clean While I’m Away automation option, where the bot will automatically start cleaning when you leave the house – although, personally, I wouldn't leave this bot to clean unsupervised. Finally, the app offers suggested schedules based on previous jobs.

• App score: 3 out of 5

Roomba Combo Essential review: alternatives

Within the "cheap Roomba" remit, there are a few options. If you want to see what you could get if you shelled out a little more, my Roomba range guide should help.

Roomba Vac Essential

In some countries, including North America, there's a vacuum-only model called the Roomba Vac Essential. This is very similar to the Combo Essential, but without any of the mopping capabilities. However, it isn't available direct from iRobot and can be hard to find elsewhere now, too.

Combo 2 Essential

In October 2024, iRobot added the Roomba Combo 2 Essential robot + AutoEmpty dock. The big difference compared to the original Essential is that it has an auto-empty dock, which will be a big benefit for those dealing with high levels of dirt or hair. It also apparently has "2x the cleaning power of the original Essential series". No specifics are given on this, but note that it's not "twice the suction power", so I'm thinking probably design tweaks. It also has an improved bumper design, and the ability to recharge and resume during cleaning missions. In short, a better choice for bigger homes and higher dirt levels.

Should you buy the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Romba Combo Essential

• I used it for a week as my regular vacuum
• I ran specific vacuuming and mopping tests
• I tested the app and any special features

For this Roomba Combo Essential review, I used this model as my main vacuum for a week. I ran the standard TechRadar suction and mopping tests, seeing how well it coped with fine debris (cookie crumbs), larger debris (oats), wet spillages (juice) and sticky spillages (dried tomato ketchup). I also noted how well it coped with my collarbone-length hair on its travels. I tested the spot clean function, mapping, and general usability.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

First reviewed November 2024

Dreame L40 Ultra: two-minute review

With its blend of impressive suction power, rotating mop pads, expert navigation and obstacle avoidance, self-cleaning ability and smorgasbord of AI and software features, the Dreame L40 Ultra is a solid hybrid vac-and-mop system for those looking to simplify their home cleaning regime. In fact, it's one of the best robot vacuums I've tested.

Equipped with advanced LiDAR navigation, the L40 Ultra efficiently and very quickly maps your rooms, cleans in precise patterns and is better than average when it comes to dodging obstacles. With its ample suction power (up to 11,000Pa – up there with the highest you'll find anywhere), the L40 Ultra handles dust, pet hair and small debris very efficiently, whether it's on hardwood, tile or low- to medium-pile carpet. It mops exceptionally well, too.

Personally, I would always recommend opting for a robot model with a self-emptying cleaning system, especially if you have pets. Well the L40 Ultra's dock not only automatically empties the robot's tiny onboard bin but it washes its mops, too, and then dries them using warm air. No, it's not the prettiest looking cleaning station in town but it is equipped with oversized water containers and a much larger dust bag than much of the competition. And that means you'll spend less time doing maintenance.

You can read more about the Dreame L40 Ultra below but, if you're in a rush, take it from me that this model is well worth the investment if you're looking for a competent, reliable and mostly fuss-free hybrid bot to perform the mundane tasks of keeping your floor spaces in tip-top condition on a daily basis.

Dreame L40 Ultra review: price & availability

• List price: $1,499.99 / £999
• Launched: October 2024

Available in white only, the Dreame L40 Ultra comes with a list price of $1,499.99 / £999 (although when it first launched it was cheaper, at $1,249.99 / £899). Even though that puts it in TechRadar's premium price bracket, I think it still represents strong value for money.

The L40 Ultra sits just below the company's flagship X40 Ultra, which costs around $350 (£250) more, mostly because it comes with an extra laser for improved obstacle avoidance.

In terms of other brands' offerings, it's very comparable feature-wise to the Qrevo Master ($1,200 / £949) from Roborock (another Xiaomi-linked company), which sports roughly the same level of suction power and very similar onboard tech, including an extendable side brush arm and rear mop for precise edging.

You can buy direct from Dreame, or head to a third party retailer like Amazon. Seasonal shopping events always include strong robot vacuum deals, and the Black Friday sales can be a particularly good time to shop.

• Value for money score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame L40 Ultra specs

Dreame L40 Ultra review: design

• Superb vacuuming and mopping features
• Full self-cleaning dock
• Large, jarring clean base

Backed by Chinese behemoth Xiaomi, Dreame is fast becoming a major player in the ever-expanding arena of robot vacuum cleaners and robot mops, and this high-end hybrid model comprising a 2-in-1 vacuum and mopping system is a sterling example of just how much attention to technical detail the company applies to its products, especially when it comes to features, navigation and onboard smarts. In fact, there are many similarities between the L40 Ultra and class-leader Roborock's premium Qrevo Curv and S8 MaxV Ultra models, only this one's for affordable to buy.

Before I get down to the nuts and bolts, I should address the elephant in the room – namely the size and design of the L40 Ultra's charging dock-cum-cleaning station. This white-only model's dock is 59cm in height, 41cm in depth and 34cm in width, and it's clad almost entirely in plastic that attracts pet hair and dust like a cowpat attracts flies. To break up the monotony of so much white, the L40 Ultra also comes with a blingy, rose gold-tinted dustbin cover that some users may actually like. I don't.

Moving on to the robovac itself. Let's start with the little side rotating brush that all robot vacs are equipped with to fling any debris that sits outside of their chassis into the path of the main brush roller. In the vast majority of models the brush is fixed in position and its bristles can only stretch an inch or so beyond the machine's bodywork, which makes cleaning right-angled corners near impossible.

Well, like some of the top end Roborock models, this one is equipped with an articulating side brush mount that pops out on an arm by a few inches so the spinning bristles can reach deep into corners. This is a game-changer because it means you might not need to reach for a hand vac to finish the job. Also, unlike any other model I've tested, this one's side brush doesn't engage when on carpet and that means its bristles will last longer and will be less likely to snag on a rug tassel or wrap itself in a wayward shoelace.

The same thing applies to the L40 Ultra's mopping system, which uses two magnetically attached circular spinning mops on the rear that do an impressive job of keeping hard floors dust- and stain-free. Like Roborock's flagship models, the L40 Ultra's right-hand mop automatically protrudes beyond the chassis by several inches when the device is cleaning around chair legs and along skirting boards. But more than that, this model's mops are automatically ejected and left behind in the base station whenever the bot is out on a vacuum-only run.

Yes, the L40 Ultra's mops will retract when on carpet by 10.5mm, but the thinking behind this particular system is that it's better for any carpet that the bot may need to cross en-route to a vacuum-only session to not have any mops fitted at all. And so it leaves them behind in the dock, just in case. After all, you ideally don't want any dirty wet mops possibly touching the fibers of your favorite deep-pile rug lest they leave some unsightly marks.

Like most modern hybrid units, the L40 Ultra's dock not only charges the robot's ample 5,200mAh battery between cleaning sessions, it also sucks debris from the robot's tiny 300ml bin into a much larger 2.3-liter dust bag. This should happily last a month or two before needing to be disposed of, unless, like me, you have a menagerie of hairy pets.

Because this model also mops, it has two huge water tanks – 4.5 liters for the clean water and an equally voluminous 4 liters for the dirty stuff. I should also add that this model ships with a small 200ml bottle of Dreame-branded floor cleaning solution, which you pour into a separate reservoir next to the dust bag section. This solution is then added to the water that's pumped into the robot's small water tank before it heads out on a mopping run. Like all similarly styled premium hybrid robot vacuums, the L40 Ultra's mops are automatically cleaned in the station on its return and then dried using wafts of warm air.

The robot itself uses LiDAR, an RGB camera, sensors and AI to help it map and navigate around the home, and it's one of the very best systems this writer has so far come across. Its initial mapping run was not only fast but exceptionally accurate, too. In fact, it was the first bot to accurately divide my downstairs open-plan flooring into four separate rooms where others have either joined two rooms together or made the entire ground floor one large room. Incidentally, the same LiDAR, sensor and camera set up is also used to detect obstacles, and very good it is, too. You can read more about my obstacle testing in the Performance chapter below.

One of the biggest issues I have with robot vacs is the propensity of loose rugs I have in every room, and rugs are the robot vac's arch nemesis, especially if they're not fixed down with some of that sticky stuff IKEA sells to keep rugs from slipping on hard floor. Well I'm pleased to report that at no time has the L40 Ultra snagged itself on any rug tassels or ruffled up any rugs while traversing them. I put this down to some extra height at the front of the unit that allows it to ride over almost any rug, no matter how thin and slippery it is. Top marks in this regard.

For some reason, most robot manufacturers still insist on producing circular bots instead D- or square-shaped models. As a result, the main suction area on this model is positioned between its two side wheels with 9cm or non-suction space on either side of its single rubber roller. This is normal for most bots and invariably why they are equipped with a side brush to fling wayward matter into the path of the suction roller. And speaking of suction, this model produces 11,000Pa of power, which is above average and more than enough oomph for hard floors and all but the deepest of carpet pile.

Unlike Roborock and a few other manufacturers that equip their bots with two rubber brush rollers that run in tandem, this model has just one 17cm roller. Nevertheless, I haven't seen any significant reduction in dust collection as a result of having just one. As an added bonus, this model also ships with what Dreame calls a TriCut Brush, specifically designed for cutting loose hair so it doesn't bundle together and block the main suction tube in the cleaning base when it's drawing debris from the robot's bin. It's worth fitting this replacement roller if you have cats or dogs of the shedding variety.

You get ultrasonic automatic carpet detection and five levels of vacuuming power with this model – Quiet, Standard, Turbo, Max and Max+ – and a sliding scale of mop wetness depending on how dirty your hard floor is and whether it's tile, vinyl or delicate wood. I always set vacuum power to either Turbo, Max or Max+ for full efficiency and, because I have engineered wooden floors, somewhere in the middle of the moistness chart when mopping.

Robot vacs of this nature are usually really easy to set up and this one is no different. Simply remove the dock and robot from the box, place the dock somewhere with good access to all your rooms and fill up the fresh water tank (the dust bag is pre-fitted). Next download the Dreame app (iOS and Google), tap the plus sign, select the L40 Ultra and follow the on-screen instructions. A voice assistant will chip in with odd vocal announcements during both setup and day-to-day use, and it goes without saying that this model will also respond to your own voice commands if that is your wont.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame L40 Ultra review: performance

• Excellent vacuum skills
• Decent mopping, too
• Impressive self-cleaning dock

The model Dreame L40 Ultra is an excellent navigator and a stalwart performer when traversing loose rugs. But how well does the L40 Ultra actually clean? Well, if the contents of the dock's dust bag are anything to go by, I'd say it's a winner, especially at collecting the wayward dog and cat hair that my home seems to be engulfed in.

In fact, I can often hear that reassuring whoomph sound as another cardigan's worth of hair is being sucked out of the bot's bin and into the dock's larger-than-average dust bag. What's more, this bin-emptying sequence isn't too loud either. This, alongside the TriCut Brush feature, means I'd rate the L40 Ultra amongst the best robot vacuums for pet hair.

I have no issues to report regarding this model's efficiency at collecting dust and debris whether it's on my hard wooden flooring, the especially hairy carpeted rug sitting in front of my dogs' bed or the entire floorspace of our village hall. It just heads out, cleans the edges first before embarking on systematic parallel lines for the rest of the room and then returning to its dock like clockwork. You can even adjust the frequency with which it returns to its dock to empty the bin.

I've been especially impressed with how well the L40 Ultra has tackled our large village hall. After mapping the 110 square meter area in about seven minutes, it then proceeded to start cleaning the edges and under any tables and chairs before sweeping the main floorspace in perfect parallel lines and what's more, in the direction in which the floorboards were laid. Granted it seemed to skirt around three small areas for some bizarre reason but I still call it a great success.

To date, the L40 Ultra has held enough juice to vacuum the hall's entire floorspace in one fell swoop, while in Turbo mode. That's a remarkable statistic. It took 95 minutes to complete what I consider a huge task for any robot vac with an amazing 54% of battery power still remaining.

The same level of efficiency applies to its mopping system, which is better than any static pad-based moppers out there. No, it won't replace a mop and bucket (or one of the best wet-dry vacuums) for rapid stain removal, mostly because it's too much hassle commanding a robot to mop a specific area that's only a few inches square.

By the time you've opened the app, selected a rough zonal area and waited for the bot to get there, you could have reached down with a damp paper towel and cleaned it up in a thrice. Nevertheless, I did perform such a test on a dried soy sauce stain and was impressed by how well the L40 Ultra dealt with it in three short passes. I put that down to those spinning mops and the downward pressure exerted on them.

Of course, the idea with robot mops is that, if scheduled, they will ensure that any hard floors are kept clean and tidy on a regular basis – and in this case right to the very edge – without any need for reaching for a wet mop, tea towel or paper toweling.

For most of my review period, I generally let the L40 Ultra use its CleanGenius method which purportedly uses AI to identify particularly grubby areas for extended cleaning. I mainly set different vacuum-only and mop-only schedules, even though the bot will happily perform both methods of cleaning during the same time frame. And as I've mentioned above, if performing a dual vac-and-mop function, the L40 Ultra's mops are raised by a couple of centimeters whenever it's crossing a patch of carpet and, if vacuuming only, it will leave the mops in the charging dock.

Obstacle avoidance is a key element when it comes to robot vacs because the last thing you want is a jammed up robot sitting there doing nothing while you're out and about. I give this model almost full marks for obstacle avoidance, though I wouldn't trust it with avoiding dog mess or some items below about two-inches in height.

I noticed this when I laid out an obstacle course comprising a trainer with wayward laces, a neck buff, a woolen glove, a small dog toy and a phone cable. Amazingly, the L40 avoided the trainer and its two extended laces, the neck buff and the phone wire in three different tests. However, it pushed a small soft dog toy forward on two occasions and rode over the glove, thankfully without it jamming up the suction roller.

Hence, like most robot vacs, this model is not infallible when it comes to items less than about two-inches in height. And that means I wouldn't want to trust it with dog mess of any variety. Other than that common anomaly, I give this bot full marks for performance.

• Performance score: 5 out of 5

Dreame L40 Ultra review: app

• Easy to navigate
• Good customization options
• Could be improved here and there

While you can perform two very simple commands – clean and return to home – by tapping two buttons on the robot itself or by shouting ‘Hey Dreame, clean the kitchen' and the like, the vast majority of setting up and customization must be done via the Dreame app, which you can download to your phone for free from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

The Dream app is very reminiscent of that from Roborock and it's very well thought out and easy to navigate. However, there are some elements I'd like to see improved, especially zone cleaning – which doesn't save the command for later use – and the ability to set routines along with daily schedules. That's what I love about the Roborock app. It allows me to create a bunch of manually programmed routines and specific zone cleaning regimes and it saves them all for instant recall from the home page of the app.

On the plus side, the Dreame app lets you see the entire map of your floor plan in either 2D or 3D, and make adjustments like room merging, division and renaming, plus handy stuff like being able to add virtual walls and no-go zones. You can even select the direction of your wooden floors so the bot moves in the direction of the seams for more effective dust collection.

The app also allows you to drive the bot around the home remotely while viewing the scene from the front camera – a handy feature for checking on pets when you're away from home. In the pantheon of robot vacuum apps I'd say it's one of the better ones but still a little way off the wholesale customization possibilities provided by the likes of Roborock.

• App score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame L40 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dreame L40 Ultra

As per usual, I spent two weeks living with the Dream L40 Ultra and noted where possible any anomalies in its cleaning patterns. Thankfully there are none to report. I also performed a number of spot checks by programming it to clean a specific dog rug and a section of hard flooring with an ingrained stain. I also took into consideration its overall performance and whether or not it fitted comfortably within a home environment.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed November 2024

Proscenic Q8 Max: two-minute review

The Proscenic Q8 Max offers a lot for its budget-friendly price. There's mopping functionality built-in, and it comes with an effort-saving self-empty base to save you from having to constantly empty the onboard dust cup. At 4,200Pa, the suction is surprisingly high for a model in this price bracket, too. I put one to the test to see how it compares to the rest of the best robot vacuums on the market, and I was fairly impressed.

In my cleaning tests, I found it did a good job of sucking up everything from fine dust to larger debris on hard floors, and when amped up to maximum suction mode it also performed well on my carpet-like rugs, although I suspect it would struggle with thick carpet. The suction is powerful enough to pull up long hair, but I did find it easily became tangled in both the main roller and the side brush, and both needed regular de-hairing.

The mop function is great for tackling fresh spillages and keeping hard floors looking smart, but it's not powerful enough for dried-on dirt (although to be fair, even premium robot vacuums struggle with this). This feature is best for maintenance rather than deep cleaning.

You select the suction power and water flow for each room according to floor type, and with three options for each, you have decent control over your cleaning. The bot automatically amped up suction when it sensed it was on a rug, but (unfortunately) did not also shut off water at this point, so you'll need to set up no-go zones on the app to avoid damp carpets.

Using smart 360 LiDAR navigation, the Q8 Max creates detailed maps of your home, and it can store information for up to five levels. On test I found it did a decent job of navigating my apartment, and for the most part avoided obstacles, especially after it had done a few runs and got its bearings properly. The navigation isn't perfect, though. The companion app is easy to follow, allowing for easy scheduling, no-go zones, and room-specific cleaning preferences.

Overall, the Proscenic Q8 Max is a solid choice for anyone looking for a decent robot vacuum on a budget – it compares well to TechRadar's best cheap robot vacuum picks. On test, I was generally impressed with how much time it saved me in keeping the apartment clean, even if it didn't get every single nook and cranny spotless. That's the short version – read on for my full Proscenic Q8 Max robot vacuum review.

Proscenic Q8 Max review: price & availability

• List price: US$299
• Launch date: July 2024
• Available: US only

The Proscenic Q8 Max launched in July 2024 and at time of writing is available in the US only. It sits in the budget range for robot vacuums (TechRadar counts anything under $500 as budget for robovacs), and it's a standout option given its features. It can mop as well as vacuuming, and auto-empties dust into its dock – both features that are unusual at this price point.

For that very affordable price, you get a complete package, including a spare side brush, mop pad, and dust bag. When you consider the convenience of self-emptying alongside smart navigation, customizable cleaning options, and a solid performance, I think the Q8 Max is an excellent deal for the price. However, you'll naturally need to make some performance compromises for this price point (I'll get into that in detail in the Performance section).

• Value for money score: 5 out of 5

Proscenic Q8 Max specs

Proscenic Q8 Max review: design

• Combination vacuum and mop, and does both simultaneously
• Comes with a relatively compact, self-emptying base station
• Various spare parts included

The Proscenic Q8 Max's design is compact and modern. It's slim enough to slide under furniture and features a sleek, all-black look. The robot vacuum is 3.8 inches tall and 12.6 inches in diameter; the charging station is 8.5 by 6.67 by 10.5 inches.

This base station includes a larger dustbin into which the small onboard bin will automatically empty when docked. Unsurprisingly for this price, there's no automatic draining or refilling of the bot's water tank.

I was pleasantly surprised by the minimal plastic that was used to transport the Proscenic Q8 Max. Aside from a few plastic wrappings, most of the unboxing waste was cardboard, something to keep in mind if you value a more sustainable option.

Setup was an absolute breeze; I followed the Quickstart guide and had the robovac up and running in no time. The charging station does double duty, automatically emptying the dustbin into a disposable dust bag (which comes preinstalled). With extras like a spare HEPA filter, side brush, and mop pad included, you won't need to buy replacements right away.

In fact, the only setup annoyance I experienced is that, because it's only compatible with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so to be able to connect this device, I had to temporarily change my 5GHz Wi-Fi to 2.4GHz so that the device could connect.

The Proscenic app allows you to map your home, divide rooms, and customize cleaning zones, which was especially useful for my quirky apartment layout. It uses LiDAR for navigation.

There are three suction powers and three water levels, and both need to be manually selected when you start a cleaning session. There is a little automation – for instance, the robot vacuum will increase suction when it detects a rug but won't also turn off mopping on soft floors (I'll get more into this in the Performance section).

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Proscenic Q8 Max review: performance

• Solid suction on hard floors; max mode will clear most debris
• Decent navigation and obstacle avoidance, especially after initial setup period
• Mopping fine for light spills, but tough stains need manual intervention

I tested the Proscenic Q8 Max over the course of a few weeks, putting it through its paces in my 21 meter-square, one-bedroom apartment. Let's start with vacuuming performance. There's a maximum suction of 4,200Pa, which is good for this price – I'd expect more like 3,000Pa for a budget model.

There are three suction levels to choose from, and you need to select these manually before setting the robot off on its cleaning task. I threw everything I could at the Q8 Max during testing, from fine dust to hair to larger debris like oats, and tried it on both its lowest and highest suction settings, on hard floors as well as carpet-life rugs.

On the lowest suction mode on hard floor, the robot struggled a bit with finer dust and left some debris scattered. However, it really stepped up on the highest suction power, cleaning up almost everything in sight. Rugs similarly proved a bit of a challenge on the low power mode, but switching to high power yielded much better results.

The side brush was very effective at attacking the debris around the edges of rooms. Of course, the actual robot has to fit into those corners, but as long as it does, the side brush was able to do its job well.

One bigger test for robot vacuums is how well they can deal with hair. I have shoulder-length hair and while I found this robot vacuum picked up strands very well, they did tend to get caught in both the side brush and main brush. For the vacuum to function at its highest potential, I had to regularly clean the brushes to remove the hair.

I appreciated the addition of the self-empty dock, which can hold several weeks' worth of dust, making this a nice, low-effort solution. Many budget robot vacuums just have a simple charge dock, so I appreciated this more advanced option.

One useful feature is that the Proscenic Q8 Max will automatically ramp up suction when it detects that it's moving from a hard floor to soft carpet or a rug. Less impressive is that it won't also switch off mopping when it senses carpet – something I unfortunately discovered after a mopping session that left my rug wet. To prevent this from happening, you can set up no-go zones on the app, which are areas that the Proscenic Q8 Max will not go over during a mopping session.

Rug mishaps aside, I was generally impressed with the Proscenic Q8 Max's mopping powers. It handled everyday spills, like water and even dried milk, very well. However, it didn't manage to clear more stubborn stains – though that's not uncommon for robot vacuums. The water tank and mop pad are easy to install and to clean, and I appreciated the ability to adjust water flow for different floor types via the app.

Some cheaper robovacs require you to manually swap over the backplate when moving from mopping to vacuuming, but that's not the case here: the Proscenic Q8 Max can mop and vacuum simultaneously.

Maintenance was easy too – emptying the dustbin was hands-free for weeks at a time, and cleaning the mop pad and side brush was straightforward. Removing the mopping pads and washing them regularly is key to making sure the moping sessions are leaving your floors as clean as possible. There are models that have docks that can clean your mop pads, but you'll have to pay a lot more for this function (most are at least $1k/£1k. And even then, you'll need to take care of the occasional deep clean of your mop pads.

My testing also included checking how well this robot vacuum navigated my apartment and avoided obstacles like furniture. I found the obstacle avoidance feature worked well after a few sessions, bumping into fewer objects the more I used it. Similarly, there were a couple of sessions where the robot vacuum seemed to be confused and kept going over areas that it already vacuumed/mopped but after a while it settled itself and was pretty consistent.

I also let the robot vacuum map my apartment, and while the initial mapping was slow, the app allowed me to customize and fine-tune the room layouts with ease.

In terms of noise levels, the Proscenic Q8 Max is relatively quiet, especially on its lower settings. During testing, it measured 57.5 decibels in low suction mode, 60.6 decibels on medium, and 66.6 decibels on high. Even at its loudest, it's not overly disruptive, making it a good choice for cleaning while you're home without too much noise pollution.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Proscenic Q8 Max review: app

• Easy-to-use interface with clear instructions
• Option to set cleaning schedules and room-specific preferences
• Requires 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for setup

During my review period, I used the Proscenic companion app extensively, and overall, I found it intuitive and straightforward. Setting up the robot vacuum and mapping out my apartment was quick, although it did require me to manually swap from my 5GHz Wi-Fi connection to a 2.4GHz one for setup. Once connected, I was able to create a map of my apartment, customize cleaning zones, set up no-go zones, and adjust the suction and water flow levels for specific rooms.

One of my favorite features is the ability to schedule cleaning sessions for different rooms or times of the day. You can also track where the robot has cleaned in real time, which is handy if you're out and about. Additionally, voice control via Alexa, Google Home, or Siri is a nice touch for starting a session hands-free. The app makes the Q8 Max feel even more powerful and personalized, allowing me to clean my home exactly the way I want.

The ability to map up to five levels and store them in the cloud makes this vacuum a great option for people with multiple floors. The app allows you to customize cleaning preferences for each level for added convenience.

• App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Proscenic Q8 Max?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Proscenic Q8 Max

I tested the Proscenic Q8 Max over the course of a few weeks, running it through its paces in my 21 meter-square, one-bedroom apartment. I ran tests to see how it handled both fine dust and larger debris (hello, oats), using both the lowest and highest suction settings. In terms of mopping, I tested it with everything from spilled water to dried milk to see how it would perform on everyday messes and stickier spills.

I let the robot vacuum map my apartment, and checked how well it navigated around obstacles like furniture and rugs. During my review period, I used the app extensively, scheduling cleanings, setting no-go zones, and adjusting suction levels and water flow for different rooms.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed xxx 2024

Roborock Qrevo Curv: two-minute review

I've tested and reviewed numerous robot vacuum cleaners over the years and Roborock is unquestionably my go-to brand for reliable, fuss-free vacuuming with smarts galore. The Beijing-based company's portfolio is chock full of sterling models that push the boundaries of design and function to the max. Where Roborock goes, others tend to follow.

Take the Roborock Qrevo Curv I'm reviewing here. With its immensely powerful suction of 18,500Pa, twin circular mops and ability to ride over thresholds up to around 4cm in height, it's one of the very best robot vacuums I've ever tested. I'd argue it's actually a better option than even the S8 MaxV Ultra, which many consider to be Roborock's flagship model.

In the pantheon of robot vac cleaning stations, the Qrevo Curv's dock is a refreshing change from the ugly norm. With its white, dome-shaped casing and not overly large footprint, this is one model you might not feel the need to hide out of sight. It's a clever bit of kit, too, given that it not only charges the robot and empties its small onboard bin but also washes the robot's mops with hot water and then dries them using hot air.

If you're willing to splash the cash on a brand that's renowned for innovation, reliability, high performance and convenience, the Roborock Qrevo Curv robot vacuum is a darn good place to start.

Roborock Qrevo Curv review: price & availability

• List price: $1,599.99
• Launch date: October 2024
• Availability: US now, UK to follow

The Qrevo Curv was announced in September 2024, and went on sale in the US in October. Originally it could be purchased direct from Roborock for a $1,399.99, but by November it had gone up to $1,599.99. It's also available on Amazon US for the same price.

That's very much in the premium price bracket, and one of the most expensive robot vacuums on the market right now. While for many people, there will be a more basic model that will do a perfectly good job for a much lower price, I'd argue the Qrevo Curv actually isn't bad value for money considering the build quality and smarts included. I have my fingers crossed for a discount in the Black Friday robot vacuum sales.

The Roborock Qrevo Curv is yet to be officially launched in the UK but you can express your interest by visiting the global Roborock website. Expect to pay in the region of £1,400 for the privilege of having one of the most accomplished autonomous cleaning devices in bot-land.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Curv specs

Roborock Qrevo Curv review: design

• Innovative vacuuming and mopping features
• Curvy dock self-empties and cleans/dries mop pads
• 'AdaptiLift' technology to bump it over high thresholds

In the past, Roborock has adopted a less-is-more attitude, with just a handful of sterling models in its roster. However, in around the space of a year, the company's portfolio has increased tenfold to now include a swathe of new models under the Qrevo sub-brand (nine models and counting) of which the Curv is arguably the most stylish and innovative.

Let's start with the bot itself. At a smidge under 13.9 inches in diameter and around 4 inches in height if you count the LiDAR navigation turret, the Qrevo Curv will scurry under most furnishings with ease. However, because it uses laser-based LiDAR to navigate, it will likely treat any valances around sofas and armchairs as solid barriers.

It is therefore advisable to lift any valances when performing the robot's initial mapping run so it can venture beneath. Thereafter, the bot should – but not always – punch through the valence and sweep up all the fluff and dust that inevitably gathers under sofas, arm chairs and beds. (Here's more on how to prepare your home for a robot vacuum.)

LiDAR is far and away the fastest and most efficient form of navigation since it occurs in real time while you watch its progress on the accompanying Roborock app. For added navigational accuracy and obstacle avoidance, the Qrevo Curv is also equipped with an LED headlight and a front-mounted RGB camera that can detect and recognize around 60 objects (though not, I should warn, the majority of dog mess).

On the plus side, a LiDAR-based model like the Qrevo Curv moves around the home using a logical up-and-down pattern rather than cleaning the room in confusing zig-zag fashion like most camera-based navigation systems.

Incidentally, this bot's camera can also be used to make two-way voice calls so you can interact with your pet. I would recommend experimenting with this feature while at home, in case your pet freaks out when it hears your voice coming out of the robot's speaker. The camera will also take snaps of your pet while on its travels, though this is a bit gimmicky since the bot's camera doesn't have an especially high resolution.

One of the standout aspects of the Qrevo Curv is its excellent cleaning efficiency. With a whopping suction power of 18,500Pa (way above the norm of between 5,000 and 10,000Pa), it picks up everything from fine dust to larger debris with ease, making it suitable for carpets of any depth and all types of hard floors. It also features automatic suction control depending on whether it's on carpet or hard flooring.

Heading to the business end, the Qrevo Curv is fitted with a unique tangle-free brush system comprising two short spiral-shaped rubber paddles positioned side-by-side, with a small gap between them so loose pet hair can be forced in the direction of the main suction area. All robot vacs are fitted with a spinning side brush that flicks detritus along skirting boards and in corners into the path of the suction area.

However, the Qrevo Curv goes even further by having an arc-shaped FlexiArm side brush that pops out of the side by an inch or two whenever it detects the corner of a room. It works remarkably well, too.

By nature of their designs, many robot vacs struggle to climb over high thresholds between rooms, but Roborock has nailed this conundrum by dint of an AdaptiLift chassis that raises the entire bot by 10mm whenever it encounters a high threshold or similar barrier.

This means the Qrevo Curv can traverse even the tallest of room dividers with ease, and ride over other fixed obstacles up to around 4cm in height. You can see it in action above, filmed by TechRadar's Homes Editor when it was unveiled at IFA, but I also tested it out myself with books at home.

It truly is an off-piste machine that covers all bases when it comes to navigating an entire home. The raisable chassis also allows the Qrevo Curv to work effortlessly on the deepest pile since it doesn't get easily bogged down.

Like so many robots vacs these days, the Qrevo Curv can also mop floors. Normally I'm not a fan of mopping bots, mostly because they're not as thorough as an upright hard floor cleaner, let alone a mop and bucket. However, I will make an exception for this model, since its twin spinning toweling mops do a great job of giving any hard floor a very decent clean. Like the extendable spinning side brush, the Qrevo Curv's right-hand mop also extends outward to clean along skirting boards and around chair legs. Rather cleverly, the mops lift when vacuuming carpet, the brush lifts when mopping and both lift when heading back to base.

Let's take a close look at the Qrevo Curv's elegant cleaning station/charging bay. It's true to say that the majority of robot vacs' docks are not only pug-ugly to look at but they're pretty enormous in stature, too. While the Qrevo Curv's shiny domed cleaning station is indeed on the portly side (45 x 45 x 45cm), I consider it to be one of the better looking docks on the market. Mind, there's a very good reason this robot vac has such a large dock, since it needs quite a bit of internal space to accommodate its two substantial 2.4-litre water containers – one for clean water, the other for the dirty stuff removed during its mop cleaning regime.

The Curv's deep clean function uses 7C water to clean the mops for maximum grime removal, supposedly removing 99.9% of bacteria in the process. It will even rewash the mops if the base's cleaning sensor still detects some dirt. It then dries the mops using wafts of hot air at 45C. Incidentally, the base of the dock can be easily removed for periodical cleaning of fluff and any large detritus that's attached to the cleaning mechanism.

Robot vacs are divided into two main categories: those that come with a self-emptying dock – like the Qrevo Curv I'm reviewing here – and those that don't. If you have a lot of hairy pets in the home, I would avoid any robot vac that doesn't have a dust-emptying feature or you will have to empty the robot's tiny bin yourself and this will just make you angry.

By contrast, a model like the Qrevo Curv is fitted with a disposable dust bag that collects all rubbish and hair in the robot's bin after every cleaning session. The Qrevo Curv is fitted with a 2.7-litre dust bag which Roborock says should last for up to seven weeks of cleaning before it needs replacing. However, since I have five very hairy pets in the home, I've found myself changing the bag every three weeks or so.

Battery running time is rarely an issue with robot vacs since they will all head back to base for a topup, even mid-clean if necessary. The Qrevo Curv is equipped with a 5200mAh battery, providing up to 180 minutes of cleaning on a single charge, depending on the mode used. This long battery life makes it suitable for larger homes where it will automatically return to the dock to recharge if needed before resuming cleaning where it left off. At around 60dB in standard mode, the Qrevo Curv operates fairly quietly, especially when compared to other high-suction robot vacuums I've tested.

Finally, for those who fancy a fully-integrated floor cleaning system in their home, the Curv is also available with a plumbed-in ‘refill and drainage' feature that automatically fills it with clean water while emptying the dirty water tank.

• Design score: 5 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Curv review: performance

• Exceptional vacuum performance on all floor types
• Traverses rugs with ease
• Very decent mopping function

Let's start with the setup, which is a veritable breeze since there are just two parts – the robot and the dock. Although Roborock suggests placing the dock in a position with several inches of space either side, I just plonked it between a box and my Gtech AirRAM 3 upright vac and it's had no trouble at all when docking. Syncing to the Roborock app was also extremely simple and involved nothing more than scanning a QR code under the robot's top lid.

Roborock’s Reactive AI navigation system is generally very impressive and in my numerous tests over the past 10 days it has effortlessly avoided most obstacles above two inches in height, while automatically optimizing its cleaning route when anything was in its way. Like so many robot vacs, there’s only so much a camera and sensors can see and once a small item is beneath the camera or close to the front when the robot turns, it will very likely fail to spot it.

The Qrevo Curv is also not very good when it comes to spotting phone cables and will happily ride over them. However, at no point has any cable become snagged under any robot I’ve tested to date – invariably the cable is spat out the other side. And that’s the case with the Qrevo Curv.

Would I trust this robot to avoid a dog mess? Not on your Nelly. In this regard Roborock has some catching up to do to compete with iRobot, whose poo detection is usually very good but still not wholly reliable. The moral with any robot vac is to make sure there isn’t any clutter on the floors – as they all advise in their manuals. After all, you wouldn’t start manually vacuuming the floor with socks, cables and loose Lego bricks all over the shop.

Crucially – for me at least – the Qrevo Curv has behaved remarkably well on my loose rugs without too much ruffling of the edges. I put much of this down to the excellent and very innovative chassis-lifting system and the decent gap between the front of the unit and the floor. To date this bot has negotiated all my rugs with consummate ease, even the really thin, loose ones. And that hasn’t been the case with so many other models I’ve tested.

When it comes to vacuuming, I have no compunction in awarding this model a full five stars. It sucks like a limpet and I really do rate the excellence of the pop-out side brush, which captures stray matter much more easily than models with a fixed side brush. It passed the raw oats test with flying colors, collecting every solitary oat flake without flinging them all over the place. Really impressive.

I’ve always been gobsmacked by the way all the Roborocks I’ve tested over the years have handled pet hair – tons of the stuff. And though some models’ cleaning stations have very occasionally had a spot of bother sucking the most tangled clumps of hair out of the bot’s bin, I think Roborock has improved this area because I haven’t any issues to report with the base’s suction power.

In fact, you can set this model to two levels of emptying frequency: 'Balanced', which is suitable for a cleaner environment; and 'High', which empties the bin during a cleaning session – perfect for pet owners. Basically, after 10 minutes or so into a long task, it will trundle back to the station to have its bin emptied and then carry on where it left off.

If there’s one area I would say could be improved, it’s the smaller-than-average size of the cleaning station’s 2.7-litre dust bag and the weird way it sits in the dustbin chamber. This smaller size means more regular disposal of the bag for pet owners than the usual stated month. It's still a very strong contender if you're on the hunt for the best robot vacuum for pet hair, though.

Its mopping, too, is surprisingly good and much of this is to do with the unit being fitted with spinning mops instead of a rear-mounted pad like the Roborock S7 and S8 models. In my mop test the Qrevo Curv made a very decent fist of removing some dried soy sauce off the kitchen floor after a couple of passes. No, I don't think it's as thorough at mopping as an upright hard floor cleaner or bucket and mop, but for day-to-day use the mops have definitely made a difference to the kitchen floor's appearance, and that's good enough for me.

My final test involved me taking the Qrevo Curv upstairs for use on a very deep pile carpet I inherited from the previous owner and, most surprisingly, it sailed through the trial without ever bogging down. Must be that AdaptiLift feature again. Mind, it did leave a few wheel tracks in its wake but nothing too untoward.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Curv review: app

• Extremely comprehensive
• Easy to use once mastered
• Acres of customization

The Roborock app is extremely comprehensive and takes a good deal of time to navigate through its myriad of settings and preferences. Integration with the app is seamless, allowing users to set no-go zones, virtual walls, schedule cleaning times for both rooms and specific zones, monitor the unit's performance in real time and even add furniture icons to spice up the map. Alternatively, you can leave all the programming to Roborock's SmartPlan feature, which generates suggested cleaning modes while adjusting settings and preferences to suit your floor plan.

The app and bot are also compatible with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant, adding an extra layer of convenience. Oh, and you get a wide choice of languages and accents, too, so if you live in the UK you can select an English sounding voice which sounds a little like the voice of Alexa.

• App score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Roborock Qrevo Curv?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Roborock Qrevo Curv

My home is open plan with mostly wooden hard floor so it's a relatively easy household for any robot to navigate. Nevertheless, I've tested some models that have had a lot of trouble traversing the numerous rugs I have scattered around without ruffling them up into a bundle or becoming trapped. I have had no such issues with the Qrevo Curv. In fact, on a reliability scale of 1 to 10 this one gets a 10 for trustworthiness. It means I can be away from home and when I arrive back I don't have to spend half an hour looking for a stranded bot while readjusting all the rugs. The fact it sailed through all my vacuum and mopping tests without a hitch speaks volumes for the quality of the Qrevo Curv's design and the software that runs it.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners

First reviewed November 2024