Best Cheap Vacuums for 2025
We test all vacuums on both hardwood floors and carpet.
How we test sweeping robots
Our approach to evaluating robot vacuums is simple, but also laborious. We run two types of tests. First try to figure it out How well does the robot cover the floor? While it’s cleaning. We have built an industry standard testing room in accordance with national standards international electrotechnical commission Just for this purpose. The IEC is an international standards body that governs robot vacuum testing procedures for vacuum cleaner manufacturers, among other things.
Say hello to our robotic vacuum test chamber. The objects inside may look a little strange. They are designed to simulate furniture and obstacles that robots would encounter in the real world.
The objects in this room are designed to simulate typical obstacles that a robot vacuum cleaner encounters while cleaning. These obstructions include walls, table and chair legs, sofas and other furniture, plus exposed tile and hardwood floors, as well as carpeting. We install LED lights on the top of each vacuum cleaner. The light dimensions correspond to the measured nozzle width of each specific robot vacuum we tested.
As the robot moves across the room while cleaning, overhead cameras capture long-exposure images of the entire room in low light. The photo will then have light trails created by LEDs showing the exact area the robot traveled during the run (and where its nozzles are located). We can also see areas on the floor where the vacuum may have missed or gotten stuck. You can see the navigation results for all robot vacuum cleaners in our test group in the gallery below.
The second type of test reveals exactly how much physical debris a vacuum is able to pick up from the floor. To simulate small particle size dirt, we use a mixture of play sand and landscape sand. For larger grained soil, we use uncooked black rice grains. The robot then moved in a straight pattern across three types of flooring (low-pile carpet, medium-pile carpet, and bare hardwood flooring).
More of our robot vacuum test setup.
We also control the specific nozzle width of each vacuum. We made an adjustable tool to stain our test floors. It allows us to lay out a precise area of ​​soil to match the nozzle size of each robot. The quality of the soil is not chosen randomly either. We measure proportional quantities related to floor material, debris type, and the width of each vacuum cleaner nozzle.
We do three cleaning runs (at least) for each floor type. We also conducted cleaning tests with sand and rice. Each robot vacuum cleaner is tested at least 18 times. We weigh the robot’s bins before and after each run. From there we can calculate the percentage of debris picked up for each cleaning run and the average amount of dirt the machine managed to remove. Additionally, we conduct anecdotal (visual) pet hair Each robot was tested on all three floor types.
Our rice-based test with medium-sized particles didn’t show enough difference between each cleaner, suggesting they could all handle larger particles without issue. We make anecdotal judgments about fur removal among pet owners.
How we test cordless vacuum cleaners
We perform straight-line tests on all three floor types.
Putting cordless vacuum cleaners through their paces isn’t that complicated Test the sweeping robot Cleaner, but still requires a lot of time and careful effort to find the best cordless vacuum cleaner. We operate in every vacuum straight line Across three different surfaces (hardwood, low pile carpet, medium pile carpet). The length of the test area was the same (30.25 inches) on all three test beds.
We tested the vacuum’s ability to clean sand and rice.
Just like the robot test, the width of the test bed is proportional to the width of the vacuum cleaner nozzle. We measure this width ourselves. Following IEC guidelines, we also use nozzle width plus floor type to calculate soil density for each test. We use the same soil types here too; sand, rice and pet hair. We did three runs (at least) for each flooring type. We also tested the suction with sand and rice. Perform at least 18 tests per vacuum. We weigh our vacuum cleaner’s bin before and after each run.
From there we can calculate the percentage of dust and debris picked up in each run and the average amount of soil the vacuum was able to remove. Additionally, we conducted anecdotal (visual) pet hair testing on each vacuum for all three floor types to help us choose the best cordless vacuum.
