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The 10 minutes it takes to manually vacuum a 700-square-foot apartment probably isn't enough to send someone over the edge as far as chores are concerned. While the time-saving factor may be a moot point here, it doesn't completely diminish the appeal of using a robot vacuum in a crowded home.
It's actually totally plausible that spaces with less square footage get dirty faster because virtually every spot is a high-traffic spot. With that logic, a robot vacuum is absolutely worth it in a small space.
However, it is crucial to not automatically assume that less floor to cover means that the cheapest vacuum you can find will suffice. Cramped furniture arrangements and quick changes between floor types actually call for a vac on the more competent end navigation-wise, or you'll risk arriving home to a bot that got stuck in kitchen chair legs during the first five minutes of cleaning. Before getting into specific robovac recommendations, let's assess the features that would make this a smart purchase.
Do robot vacuums work in small apartments?
While some large, heavy-duty robot vacuums would probably be overkill in a tight space, there are several compact, quiet robot vacuums on the market that make a lot of sense in a small space.
One way to downsize the space a robot vac takes up is to forego the self-empty dock. While forgoing it automatic emptying o save yourself inches on the floor may not be ideal, it'll be a little less damning in a small space, as the vacuum isn't sucking up as much dirt on each cleaning run as it would in a big house. However, finding a super compact auto-empty dock nowadays isn't hard, and many robot vacuums offer the option to buy one separately later.
If your small apartment has hard floors, a robot vacuum and mop combo is a genius way to downsize chores supplies. This'll save you not only the time it takes to mop manually but also the breath it takes to curse your Swiffer for hogging your scarce closet space. Multiple floor types also make smart mapping and zone labeling a crucial feature, despite the fact that your home may not have many specific rooms to select on a map in the first place.
Not sure which robot vacuum would be worth it in your small space? I've hands-on tested the top contenders in my own apartments over the years and have handpicked the four best robot vacuums for apartments, studios, and other one-story homes in 2024. (While each vacuum's retail price is listed by default, I've also noted the most common sale price in "The Good" sections. And yes, robot vacuum deals can be found throughout the year — not just during a shopping holiday like Black Friday.)
Robot vacuums that require you to tidy up the floor before they can safely complete a cleaning run miss the point automatic cleaning completely. In a small space, where the chance of rogue clutter being on the floor is high, a robot vacuum with reliable small obstacle avoidance will be game-changing.
Why we picked this:
I think iRobot's small obstacle avoidance is the best on the market, and the Roomba j7 is the most affordable way to bring that home in standalone form if you don't have a free corner to house a self-empty dock. (If you stumble across it on sale at Amazon, you'll likely be able to snag it for 50% off.) The j7 successfully avoided every charging cord, slipper, and laundry pile in my home — a helping hand I appreciate every time I decide on a last-minute clean and don't have time to run around and grab stuff off the floor.
The j7's broader navigation in terms of maneuvering around furniture and accurately mapping rooms (or non-walled areas like the entryway) are similarly reliable. Its cleaning prowess is enough for light daily upkeep, but if one of your main cleaning concerns has to do with the thick mound of pet hair that's taking over your small space, you may want to check out the more powerful models in my list of robot vacuums that are specifically great for carpet.
Budget shoppers sticking to a strict cap of $200 still don't have to settle for a botvac that's perpetually disoriented. (That's how much the non self-emptying version of the Shark Matrix RV2300 is usually on sale for at Walmart.) The LiDAR-equipped Shark Matrix RV2300 maps incredibly accurately for the price and, in my experience, is an extremely reliable spot cleaner in terms of navigating to the selected area on the map as well as the vacuuming itself.
Because this ultra-compact version doesn't self-empty (that one is usually on sale for $299), the ideal buyer won't mind manually emptying as long as navigation is seamless.
Why we picked this:
The standalone version of the base tier Shark Matrix goes further than most robot vacuums in the under-$200-on-sale price range. Like the similarly-priced Eufy L60, the Shark Matrix RV2300 packs essential features like LiDAR-guided smart mapping used to send the robovac to specific spots or rooms, which I really do find to be a crucial feature even if you're only dealing with a few rooms. (Smart mapping is such a normalized feature nowadays that it's harder to find a vac without it than with it, anyway.)
Compared to, say, the cheapest-of-cheap Roombas in the sub-$200 price range, the Shark RV2300 goes further with Matrix cleaning: a back-and-forth crosshatch technique that give the vacuum more opportunities to grab debris it may have missed on the first pass. This seriously upped the reliability of this vacuum in my eyes — and even though it wasn't the suction needed to dig cat hair out of my living room or bedroom rugs, it was more than enough to keep visible food crumbs out of the kitchen and kitty litter off the bathroom floor on a daily basis.
The Good
Often on sale for under $200
Tiny dock can wedge into very small free space
Compact self-emptying version available for $299 on sale
Super affordable and accurate LiDAR
Matrix Cleaning goes over extra soiled spots from multiple angles
If your budget isn't as limited as your square footage, the $799.99 (or under $700 on sale) Eufy X10 Pro Omni should be a strong contender if you have an even split of carpet and hard floors. While I would also recommend the X10 Pro Omni for large spaces due to its long battery life, it's the most compact yet packed self-cleaning dock she's used in her home.
Why we picked this:
Eufy's most premium robot vacuum cleaner clocks potent suction power for this price range, an effective double mopping pad system, small object avoidance, and a self-emptying dock that also washes and dries the mopping pads. You typically won't see a robot vacuum and mop combo that checks off all of those boxes for less than $1,000, so Eufy deserves some serious credit for squeezing it all in at such a digestible price point. If your cleaning closet is overflowing, ditching your mop for a hybrid model that can store all of its own mopping gear (unlike a hybrid robot vacuum that requires a separate water tank to be clicked on and off) could free up some storage space.
What's equally as impressive is that Eufy didn't cut corners on the performance of any of those features just to get them all on the list. It's one of the few hybrids armed with dual spinning mopping pads for more robust scrubbing than that of a single stationary pad, complete with an up-and-down mechanism that applies pressure during mopping and accurately lifts the pads completely above the surface when rugs or carpet are sensed. The 8,000 Pa suction power successfully aced multiple cleaning tests in my home, from spilled dry rice and light layers of cat fur on rugs to various types of crumbs on hard floors, including those pushed up against the kitchen cabinets.
In a small or crowded space, the X10 Pro Omni won't constantly get stuck. I had next to no issues when sending the X10 Pro Omni to specific rooms or zones for spot cleaning on the app, and Eufy's small obstacle avoidance was about 90% accurate when avoiding things like phone chargers and shoes. Bath mats were one thing the X10 Pro Omni was a little too cautious about, refusing to clean them because it thought they were towels (and the app doesn't let you dismiss incorrectly identified obstacles.) To combat this, I simply shook my bath mats out onto the bathroom floor and let the X10 Pro Omni tackle the bare floor.
If you're set on a robot vacuum that can mop, but don't necessarily need that mopping to be hardcore enough to justify the whole self-washing and drying mopping pad situation, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 is the best budget-friendly hybrid I can suggest.
Why we like it:
Compared to any of the low-end mopping Roombas, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 is simply a more meticulous cleaner. "Matrix" in the title refers to Shark's Matrix Clean feature, which sends the vac back and forth over the spot you've designated multiple times from multiple angles — a true "one (or two) for good measure" approach. In Matrix mode during regular vacuuming, these Shark models dish out 30% better carpet cleaning than the older RV Shark models. And in Matrix mode during mopping, the sonic mopping pad vibrates 100 times per minute to scrub at stains with more elbow grease than the most basic robotic moppers.
I think the extra passes during vacuuming are the reason this Shark was able to keep my bathroom floor (where a litter box lives) mostly kitty litter-free, even if corners were sometimes missed. Many robot vacuums I've tried tend to scatter debris like litter or crumbs around on the first pass and never return to sweep up those rogue pieces, so I simply enacted Matrix clean for every single cleaning job just to ensure thoroughness.
Getting the Matrix Plus 2-in-1 to get where it needs to go is also pretty painless for a vacuum in this price range. Its smart mapping proved to be quite accurate when navigating my three bedroom/three bathroom apartment, both when creating the map on its first cleaning run and also when making its way to the various very specific zones I dragged and dropped on a case-by-case basis.
As a senior shopping reporter, I have been testing popular robot vacuums for Mashable in the various apartments I've lived in since 2019. My hands-on analyses span from budget models under $200 that just cover the basics to $1,500 (or more) premium models that are the market’s most advanced in the way they clean, navigate my home, and take care of their own recurring maintenance.
So far in 2024, I’ve had hands-on experience with the Roborock Qrevo Master, Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Eufy X10 Pro Omni, Shark Matrix RV2300, Shark Detect Pro, Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1, Roomba Combo j9+, Roomba Combo j5+, Narwal Freo X Ultra, Dyson 360 Vis Nav and Yeedi M12 Pro+. I am also currently working with the Roomba Combo 10 Max + AutoWash Dock and Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with neverTouch Pro Base.
My own personal three-bedroom apartment — not a lab — makes up the testing grounds for every robot vacuum, where a combination of hardwood floors, tile floors, and rugs of various piles are tackled. Over the course of at least four weeks, each robot vacuum is put through a series of standardized tests that flow into a scoring rubric that I’ve created to exemplify all factors of owning a robot vacuum and trusting it on a daily basis. That rubric is made up of four pillars:
Cleaning thoroughness: I’m pickier than average about what it takes for a floor to feel “clean,” and I’m trusting these robot vacuums in my own home — and pitting them against my trusty Dyson. To encapsulate the full spectrum of debris a robot vacuum might encounter, each robot vacuum and its suction power settings complete an obstacle course of standardized tests for multiple types of debris on both hard floors and rugs, an efficiency score being given to each. The robot vacuum and mop combos also complete three additional scrubbing tests on hardwood and tile. As for the actual “dirty” status of those floors being tackled, each robot vac is sent over both fresh messes (like crumbs, drinks, and sauces I spill purposefully) and more lived-in messes that build up over time (like dried or sticky splatters, shoe prints near the door, dust bunnies in corners, and matted-down cat hair on the rug).
Navigation: I consider a robot vacuum’s ability to maneuver to the right spot in the first place as a litmus test ahead of getting into any nitty gritty cleaning capabilities. In my testing, each vac’s navigational brainpower is analyzed by its smart mapping accuracy and ability to find specific rooms and zones for spot cleaning, as well as its ability to swerve safely around walls or between chair or table legs. Robot vacuums that can successfully detect phone chargers, pet waste, and laundry with small obstacle avoidance technology are given an extra star.
User-friendliness and politeness as a house guest: The ideal robot vacuum will be a relatively seamless addition to your household, and blend in nearly as easily as any other appliance used daily would. If a robot vacuum is loud, clunky, or generally a pain to use, you're not going to want it in your house at all — so things like noise level, battery life, size, aesthetic design, and the intuitiveness of using the app can make or break the experience.
Maintenance: Some robot vacuums are more automated than others when it comes to how they take care of themselves past the actual cleaning. If someone is already considering the robot vacuum route because of the hands-off cleaning experience, they might want that convenience to extend to dustbin emptying or mopping pad cleaning, too, which would get them off the hook from maintenance for days or weeks at a time.
Finally, I can't not consider the overall bang for your buck for each robot vacuum. Are its features on paper and actual cleaning competence worth the price tag, and how practical is that cost for the average household?
Frequently Asked Questions
The slimmest robot vacuums are under three inches tall, but the average height of a robot vacuum with a decent dust bin and brush roll system is between three and 3.5 inches. (Robot vacuums with a water tank and mopping pads will be taller.) Even if you don't pick one that short, almost every option on the market sits well below four inches. Be sure to measure the clearance under your lowest-hanging furniture, like the couch or the bed, to assure that your robovac can scoot under the entire way under.
No, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav isn't worth the cost, and would be particularly frustrating in a crowded living situation. Dyson claims that its first robot vacuum in almost a decade has twice the suction power of any robot vacuum on the market. While vacuuming was decent in testing done at senior shopping reporter Leah Stodart's home, she wasn't as blown away by the results as she expected — and was full-on disappointed by the 360 Vis Nav's edge cleaning, despite Dyson asserting that the 360 Vis Nav uses a special side duct to reach into corners and along walls better than competitors.The 360 Vis Nav's build isn't slim or chic, either — and with such a loud color scheme and chunky design, it wouldn't exactly blend in in a small space.
And without a self-emptying dock, mopping capabilities, or small obstacle sensors that detect cords or pet waste (an absolute must in this price range), the Dyson 360 Vis Nav isn't worth $1,199.99. There are more reliable options that have a much more robust list of features, whether you're down to spend over a grand or not.
Less square feet to cover in one cleaning session means battery life isn't the determining factor that it is when buying a botvac for a big house. But think of it this way: While minutes of runtime on one charge may not matter here, good battery life in a small house would allow your robot vacuum to deploy max suction power on its whole route instead of sacrificing power to conserve battery. This way, you're not deciding between sacrificing cleaning speed or cleaning performance.
Leah Stodart
Senior Shopping Reporter
Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.
The robot vacuum beat in particular has cemented itself as Leah's main ~thing~ across the past few years. Since 2019, her expertise has been perpetually bolstered by the meticulous eye she keeps on robot vacuum deals and new releases, but more importantly, her hands-on experience with more than 25 robot vacuums tested in her own home. (This number has probably gone up by the time you're reading this.) That at-home testing is standardized through Mashable's robot testing guide — a granular scoring rubric for assessing all aspects of owning and using a robot vacuum on the daily — that Leah created herself.
Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].
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