Editor’s note: Amazon Prime Day 2025 is officially underway. If you’re looking to make the most of the four-day shopping extravaganza, we’ve put together a guide to the best Prime Day deals you can get.
Today’s robot vacuums are becoming a bit like cars: with all the features, upgrades, and fancy trimmings available these days, it’s easy to forget that they can just be simple machines that get us from point A to point B. Yes, some bots blow hot air on their bums (mop pads), deftly navigate dog poop, and have arms to pick up your socks, but there are plenty of basic budget robot vacuums that just do a decent job of cleaning your floor autonomously — as long as you tidy up first.
Fancier models have obstacle recognition, and some even use AI-powered cameras to tell popcorn from poop and avoid the latter. If you want one of those, check out my best robot vacuum buying guide. But if you think you can manage the task of picking up after yourself (and your puppy), a budget bot will save you a lot of money and still do a good job cleaning your floor.
Featured in this article
What I’m looking for How I test robot vacuums Collapse To judge its vacuuming power, I run every robot vacuum through a series of tests on hardwood and carpet, including flour, kitty litter, oatmeal, and pet and human hair. I test obstacle avoidance using cables, shoes, socks, and bed skirts. I test mopping effectiveness on hardwood and tile floors using dried and moist messes. If the robot has an auto-empty dock, I test to see how well it empties the onboard bin as well as any other features of the dock. I run the robot vacs around three different levels in my home to see how they handle different surfaces, room transitions, and edge sensing. I evaluate how long they run before needing to recharge and test each app, focusing on its mapping functions to see how simple they are to use and how reliable they are. I also examine each robot’s build quality and parts availability, and I totally judge them based on how much my cat Boone likes to play with them. Price Collapse Yes, there are sub-$200 robots out there. No, I do not recommend you buy them. With so many new models coming out almost daily, it’s better to look for a sale on an older model from a well-known company than buy a no-name budget bot. You can pick up a brand new, two-year-old Roomba or Roborock with mapping and advanced navigation for half its original price. These gadgets should last for years, so it’s not like buying last season’s Prada slip-ons.That said, sales are hard to keep track of, so some of the prices listed here may seem high for a budget bot. If you see one that fits your needs, keep an eye on The Verge’s deals page for when they go on an even better sale. Cleaning prowess Collapse The cheaper the bot, the more important suction power is, as they tend to have fewer features that improve cleaning. Higher-end robots have things like better brushes, carpet boost mode, and dirt detection. At a minimum, look for 2,500Pa (if the manufacturer lists suction power; some don’t). I also much prefer rubber roller brushes or a rubber/bristle hybrid over just bristle brushes. Rubber rollers get up more dirt and get tangled less than bristles. A mop (or not) Collapse Bear in mind that most budget mopping bots don’t really mop — it’s more just using a damp cloth to pick up the fine dust the robot’s vacuum left behind, which is useful but not essential. Mop attachments with water reservoirs also take up space on a robot and mean a smaller bin. A big bin Collapse A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. Eight hundred milliliters is the largest I’ve seen, but anything over 450 ml is decent on a budget bot. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots and the prevalence of auto-empty docks, it’s hard to find robots with big bins. But if you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend extra for the dock, a big bin will mean less hands-on time with your vacuum. Or an auto-empty option Collapse If you can swing it, I strongly recommend an auto-empty dock, and there are finally some cheaper versions out there. While it’s a nice-to-have rather than a must-have, delegating the chore of emptying the bin to the robot does mean your floors will be cleaner since a vacuum with a full bin won’t suck up dirt. Many standalone robots now have an auto-empty dock option you can add later if you want to wait and see, but buying them together is generally cheaper. Navigation / mapping Collapse We are starting to see true budget bots use the vSLAM (visual simultaneous localization and mapping) or lidar-powered navigation or mapping found on higher-end robots, albeit lower-level versions. Some, use the bump and roll technique, with more now adding a gyroscope function that at least makes them go in a straight line.Choosing an older version of a high-end robot will get you the better navigation, but I’ve also included a few bump-and-roll bots with basic mapping capability, which makes the experience better all around. Non-mapping bots may miss entire sections of your home and, when they start again after charging, may go over the area they last cleaned. However, mapping is less important if you want a bot for a single room or small apartment. Good battery life / long runtime Collapse While most bots can recharge and resume (go back to their charging base and refuel before going back out again), a bot that can go for at least two hours on one charge will get the job done more quickly and be less annoying. I look for at least 120 minutes of runtime (180 is the best). A decent app Collapse A lot of budget bots have barely usable apps; this is another reason why buying a lower-cost option from a company with higher-end models gets you a better experience, as the app is usually more polished.A good basic app, though, should have the ability to set multiple schedules to send the robot out, an option for a do-not-disturb period (so it doesn’t start up again at 2AM because it finally recharged), and a way to link to voice assistants and smart home platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple’s Siri. Repairability Collapse Even at the budget end, you’ll be spending $200 to $300 on a robot vacuum, so repairability and the availability of replacement parts are a big bonus.
Best budget robot vacuum
Suction power: 5,300Pa / Dustbin capacity: 300ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Mopping option: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Runtime: 100 mins, 2,600mAh battery/ Brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
For around $300, the Tapo RV30 Max Plus is a very capable robot vacuum and mop with some key features usually only found on vacuums that are more than twice its price. These include room-specific cleaning, multiple suction and water levels, smart lidar-based navigation, and an auto-empty dock. With brands like Roomba and Roborock, you’re often paying double for the privilege of not having to empty the bot’s bin.
The Tapo RV30 Max Plus includes a compact auto-empty charging dock.
Thanks to lidar navigation, the RV30 did an excellent job of navigating my house, cleaning the perimeters of the rooms, and then using a mesh grid to clean inside the rooms. I did have to tidy up before it ran, though, as there’s no camera on board or AI-powered obstacle detection — so cables and socks will trip it up.
... continue reading