Our top 4 robot vacuums for carpet and rugs, tested

Who it's for:

With above-average suction power, small obstacle avoidance, self-washing and self-drying mopping pads, and a livestream pet camera, the S8 MaxV Ultra is an exhaustive floor care suite that would be an ideal sidekick in homes with multiple pets and multiple floor types.

Admittedly, the most expensive robot vacuum of CES 2024 will only be a serious contender to those with a disposable budget. But those down to pay for such a thorough hands-off experience probably won't have to upgrade for a while — this advanced menu of features will likely keep the S8 MaxV Ultra a front-runner for years to come.

Why we picked this:

Roborock's latest flagship model clocks 10,000 Pa in suction (a five-digit feat that most competitors have yet to achieve) that proved itself in testing conducted by senior shopping reporter Leah Stodart. It revived a bright rug pattern that was previously tinted gray due to a perpetual layer of cat hair and left little to no remnants behind when sent after artificial messes of loose soil, cookie crumbs, and even super fine corn starch on low and mid-pile rugs. This was all completed in Max+ mode, which Roborock says achieves 99.5% hair pickup. Four other lighter modes are also options.

During vacuuming, a laptop charger and sock were accurately detected and avoided. A large hunk of soil was identified as pet waste — though that was originally intended to be sucked up, it was giving turd. Speaking of advanced technology on board, the S8 MaxV Ultra is one of few robot vacs to sport a livestream pet camera onboard. Users can see what the vacuum sees while it's roaming and even send the S8 MaxV Ultra to look for their pet if it's hiding.

Though carpets are the focus of this list, shoppers should take the S8 MaxV Ultra's robust mopping system into account when trying to justify that price tag. Once water and detergent have been automatically dispensed from inside the dock, the mopping pad vibrates 4,000 times per minute to scrub at stains like paw prints or shoe marks. The bot will re-mop if necessary, then return to the dock to wash and dry its mopping pads.

Who it's for:

Shoppers looking to squeeze the longest feature menu out of a sub-$1,000 budget should look to Eufy's newest flagship model. With small obstacle avoidance and a fully self-sufficient mopping system, the X10 Pro Omni is way more autonomous than the similarly-priced Roomba Combo j7+ or Roborock Q8 Max+. The X10 Pro Omni has amazing battery life even when using its highest suction mode, making it ideal for tackling lots of square footage or multiple stories without needing to charge.

If your home is anything like senior shopping reporter Leah Stodart's — where a chaotic underbed storage situation and rogue extension cords make it tricky to run many robot vacuums when you're not home — you'll want to prioritize AI-powered small obstacle avoidance, like Eufy has given the X10 Pro Omni.

Why we picked this:

Eufy's CES 2024 contribution should be more expensive than it is. Not to be confused with the (less impressive, more expensive) Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni, the Eufy X10 Pro Omni is the brand's first self-emptying hybrid model that also self-refills the water tank and self-washes and dries the mopping pads, all within that same self-empty dock. That fully self-sufficient mopping system is a feature we've seen before, but one we've never really seen before below $1,000.

While its dual spinning mopping pads are exceptional scrubbers, Eufy's carpet cleaning deserves equal attention. On paper, 8,000 Pa of suction is beastly at any price point. During in-home testing, it successfully cleared a thick, purposefully-spilled heap of rice from a medium pile runner and soil from a flat weave rug. It only struggled on deep cleaning spilled flour, but a powdery spill shouldn't be a common occurrence.

Stodart came across one quirk that hinders Eufy's impressive suction power from cleaning to its full potential. Its obstacle avoidance camera was working so hard to not get stuck that it mistook a small fluffy bath mat for clothing and gave up on one section of the bathroom all together, leaving strewn kitty litter untouched. Unfortunately, Eufy's app doesn't let you dismiss a perceived obstacle as "incorrect," so the bath mat needed to be moved.

Who it's for:

Outdated Roomba owners looking to upgrade to something bigger and better will set themselves up for a smooth transition with the Roomba Combo j9+. All robot vacs in the iRobot ecosystem can transfer maps to each other in the app, so you can completely skip the days-long charade of your new robot vacuum learning and updating your home's layout.

Compared to other Roombas, the Combo j9+ is the most thorough with both vacuuming and mopping. Those teetering between this and a lower j Series Roomba will have to be down to spend $1,000 (even if it's on sale), prioritizing deep cleaning and the ability to freely switch between mopping and vacuuming modes even if you're not home.

Why we picked this:

As the number and letter mashup in the title suggests, the Combo j9+ finally combines the best features of the older high-end Roombas: the small obstacle detection and retractable mop of the Roomba Combo j7+ (which we tested and really liked), and even better suction power than the Roomba s9+, which was previously the most powerful Roomba. The Combo j9+ also beats the suction power of the aforementioned Combo j7+, which was noticeably worse at picking up chip crumbs and cat hair than the new Combo j9+ in our comparative tests in the same apartment.

Mopping-wise, the Combo j9+ attacks dried stains more persistently by scrubbing back and forth with force rather than staying stationary. The new dock is bigger than the previous docks from iRobot, but that's because it's holding a separate water tank that automatically refills the smaller tank on the vac itself for 30 days at a time. Any maintenance can be done without opening the wood lid on top of the dock, so you've basically got a new full-time side table.

Despite the steep price tag, iRobot omitted autonomous mopping pad washing and drying here, so you'd really need to value the chicness of this design to choose it over a hybrid with more features.

Who it's for:

Shark's most advanced robot vacuum is still one of the most modestly priced among its peers, making it a serious steal for shoppers drawing a hard line around the $400 or $500 mark. Though this model retails for $699.99, we frequently see it on sale for under $500.

If you typically take the "and one for good measure" approach when it comes to cleaning, you'll appreciate the extra effort the newest Shark vacuum puts in on dirty spots, even if it has already gone over them once. While the Shark Matrix 2-in-1 would be fine switching between fully hard-floored and fully carpeted rooms, it's probably best for homes without a heavy rug situation, as the bot requires you to manually point out rugs or carpets in the app and can't vacuum while the water tank is attached.

Why we picked this:

Shark has been a player in the robot vacuum game forever, but didn't have a model that particularly stood out — until the winter of 2022. The latest Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 (previously called the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1) surprisingly rocked our world with improvements over older Shark models, like a mop that actually scrubs and some of the most thorough spot cleaning we've seen on any robot vacuum. We also can't help but bring up the price point on both the standalone and self-emptying versions of the Matrix Plus 2-in-1, which go for as low as $299.99 or $399.99 on sale, respectively.

The new Matrix Clean system prompts the vac to take several passes to ensure that no spots are missed. During regular dry vacuuming, it delivers 30% better carpet cleaning (compared to the older RV Shark models) by digging deeper into carpet and cleaning in a crosshatch pattern to loosen and grab debris from multiple angles. When a corner is detected by "Matrix" also applies to the AI Ultra's mopping, which vibrates 100 times per minute to scrub stains.