4 Best Robotic Vacuum-Mop Combos, Lab-Tested and Reviewed
These models from Bissell, Dreame, Mova, and Samsung are the only ones to earn our recommendation
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It’s great to have a robot vacuum that can help you sweep up your floors, but as useful as they might be, they’re not designed to tackle wet messes such as spills or your dog’s muddy paw prints. A robotic vacuum-mop combo, however, is well-suited for these cleanup challenges.
Recently, we’ve seen a surge in the popularity of robotic units that combine vacuuming and mopping. These 2-in-1 products are a growing trend among cleaning devices in general, from stick vacuums that handle both wet and dry messes to all-in-one washer-dryer combinations, says Allie Chilicki, a CR market analyst.
Many new robotic vacuums now have a mop built into them, and depending on the manufacturer, are marketed as “2-in-1,” “hybrid,” or “combo” machines. While these robotic vacuum-mop combo units are supposedly more convenient and versatile in their cleaning functions than their robotic vacuum–only counterparts, many also come at a higher price, Chilicki says.
We test these robotic vacuum-mop combo units primarily on how well they vacuum up debris, mop up stains, navigate through spaces, and avoid obstacles. (We’ll dive into more details of how we test robot vacuums and mops at the end of this article.) What we’ve found is that the mopping abilities of these units vary greatly. Models with spinning mop heads that agitate stains tend to clean more effectively, according to Paolo Fu, the project leader for testing of robot vacuums and mops at CR.
We also noticed that current robotic vacuum-mop combos aren’t as effective at vacuuming carpets as the dedicated robot vacuums we’ve tested. Many combo units struggle to suck up debris from carpets, with only a few exceptions. If you don’t have many carpeted areas in your home, most of these hybrid units will do a solid job of vacuuming bare floors and picking up pet hair in addition to mopping.
Based on our test results, we currently recommend four robotic vacuum-mop combos, shown below in alphabetical order. They are ahead of the pack when it comes to mopping up wet messes, above par in vacuuming, and easy to use.
If you’re curious about how all the combo units we tested perform, consult our full ratings of robotic vacuum-mop combos. It should be noted that, as good as a robotic vacuum or a combo unit is at cleaning, these appliances are still designed primarily for routine cleaning and touching up your floors. For a deep-cleaning session, especially if you have carpets, you’ll need an upright or a canister vacuum. Check out our comprehensive vacuum ratings, including reviews of upright, canister, stick, robot, and handheld models from more than 20 brands.
For a budget-friendly pick, the Bissell FlexClean FurForce 4270L is a strong choice. Its vacuuming ability is one of the best among the models we’ve tested. It gets a stellar score on bare floors and does well at sucking up debris from carpets—an area where many robot vacuum and mop combos struggle. Its ability to mop up dried stains is similarly impressive, and it’s very good at navigating through a space and avoiding obstacles.
That said, it lacks some of the amenities found in the more expensive robot vacuum and mop combos we’ve seen. You have to manually wash the model’s mopping pads and refill the robot with cleaning formula. (The charging base that it comes with automatically empties its dustbin, though.)
The machine has a higher profile than some of the other robots, which means it might have a hard time clearing lower furniture. In our evaluation, it received a middling score for digital security and a mediocre score for digital privacy.
The Dreame L40 Ultra is top-notch at vacuuming up pet hair and debris from bare floors. It’s also a speedy cleaner. In our tests, it takes about an hour to vacuum and mop a 600-square-foot room, which is significantly less time than it takes most of the models we tested. It does a solid job of mopping up messes, though it’s only passable at vacuuming carpets.
The Dreame L40 Ultra’s base station automatically empties dirt from the dustbin, washes and dries the mopping pads, and refills the vacuum with water and cleaning solution. There’s a camera on the vacuum that allows you to monitor and interact with your pets when you’re not home. You can purchase a TriCut Brush separately, which automatically cuts and directs human and pet hair to the vacuum’s dust box, minimizing the risk of hair getting tangled in the brush roll.
Vacuuming is the Mova P10 Pro Ultra Gen2’s strong point, mopping less so. It has only a middling score for mopping up stains, but its ability to vacuum carpets is above par, and it’s even better at picking up debris from bare, uncarpeted floors. It does a respectable job cleaning pet hair and excels at vacuuming along the edges of a room, a place that some robot vacuums might miss.
It’s also a fairly inexpensive pick, costing almost $1,000 less than our Top Pick, the Samsung Jet Bot VR7MD96514G (listed below). The base automatically empties the vacuum dustbin, cleans and dries the mopping pads, and refills the mop reservoir with cleaning solution.
Yes, the Samsung Jet Bot VR7MD96514G is definitely on the pricier side, but it demonstrated that it can earn its keep. Its mopping ability is the best among the units we tested, and it’s excellent at removing dried stains. Both contribute to it being the highest-scoring robotic vacuum-mop combo in our ratings. It’s also impressive at vacuuming up debris from bare floors and picking up pet hair, though it’s only so-so on carpet and at capturing dirt along the edges of a room.
This model comes with a cleaning station that automatically empties the vacuum’s dustbin, refills its water tank, and cleans and dries its mopping pads. It uses lidar sensors to map and navigate through your home. In our tests, it’s decent at covering as much cleaning area as possible and avoiding getting entangled in obstacles.
How CR Tests Robotic Vacuum-Mop Combos
Cleaning efficacy is a significant factor in our testing of robot vacuum-mop combos. For our carpet tests, we assess how well these hybrid units pick up debris such as cereal, rice, peas, flour, and hair from medium-pile carpets. For bare-floor cleaning, we scatter sand across laminate flooring and measure how much the models can vacuum up. We also judge these robotic vacuum-mop combo units’ ability to vacuum up pet hair and clean along the edges and corners of a room. In the mopping tests, we evaluate how effectively they remove dried coffee stains from tile floors.
Other criteria we consider include the robots’ ability to successfully navigate the spaces of a home and avoid obstacles, such as power cords and carpet fringes. We also evaluate how easy robotic vacuum-mop combos are to use, judging how difficult it is to remove the vacuum’s dustbin, clean its filter, and empty its water reservoir, as well as whether the model has convenience features such as a charging station that automatically cleans and dries the mops. Given that all robotic vacuum-mop combos have WiFi connectivity, we also score the models on their digital privacy and security measures. And we consider how noisy each combo unit is when operating on its highest suction setting.
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