Best Robotic Vacuums for $300 or Less

CR’s take: Talk about a bargain. The Eufy 11S earns a Good rating in our carpet cleaning test and an Excellent rating on bare floors. While it’s not the most efficient cleaner (testers noted that it sometimes scatters debris), it gets the job done, operates quietly, and has a cliff sensor to keep it from tumbling down stairs. This model isn’t WiFi-enabled, so you can’t control it remotely from a smartphone app, but that also means it can’t be hacked. Eufy robot vacuums as a whole receive Excellent ratings for reliability and owner satisfaction in our members survey.

CR’s take: The Eufy 30C is an extremely quiet vacuum, making it a great choice for those who might need to run a robotic vac while they’re at home. Although this is one of the cheaper models in our robotic vacuum ratings, it earns an Excellent score for cleaning bare floors. In addition, it’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can program the robot through the manufacturer’s app. But because Eufy discloses very little information about its data privacy policies, its robotic vacuums earn only a Fair rating in our privacy tests. And in terms of security, its robotic vacuums earn just a Good rating because the company hasn’t confirmed with CR that it has a security oversight panel, a vulnerability disclosure program, or security updates over time—three things other robotic vacuum companies do have.

CR’ take: The Eufy RoboVac G30 Edge isn’t great on carpet, but it boasts top marks for cleaning bare floors. This model is a champ at navigation, earning an Excellent rating in that test. It’s also great at cleaning along the edges of walls and corners, and runs rather quietly compared with competing bots. It’s WiFi enabled, meaning you can control it from your smartphone. And with a very slim profile height of under 3 inches, it’s low enough to get under our test furniture with some room to spare.

CR’s take: Another stellar Eufy vacuum at a relatively low price, the Robovac 11S Max earns Excellent ratings for navigation and cleaning bare floors. This vac is so quiet that our testers could barely tell it was running. Its spiral combo bristle/rubber blade brushroll can be easily removed to clean. But, this model doesn’t do as good of a job cleaning carpet, and it isn’t WiFi-enabled.

CR’s take: In CR’s tests, the budget-friendly iRobot Roomba e5 achieves an Excellent score for bare-floor cleaning performance thanks to its two counter-rotating rubber rollers. It has a side brush, which helps the bot clean edges well. With WiFi capability, this robovac can be controlled using a smartphone. The drawbacks: This model receives middling Good ratings for pet hair pickup, ease of use, and data privacy in CR’s tests.

CR’s take: The Walmart exclusive Shark IQ RV1000 shines in CR’s navigation test, where it receives an Excellent rating. It also excels at picking up pet hair and cleaning bare floors—though it’s less effective at cleaning carpet. Moreover, this model’s noise, data security, and ease of use scares are Very Good. However, it only earns a Fair performance score for cleaning the edges of walls and corners.