Robot Vacuums Vs Regular Vacuums | Are Robot Vacuums Better Than Normal Vacuums?

Vacuuming is a necessary chore, but vacuuming can be hard on the body. The repetitive motions of pushing and pulling the vacuum can cause pain in your back, shoulders, neck, hips, and knees. If you are tired of hurting yourself while you clean, we highly recommend considering a best robot vacuum. These machines will let you clean your house while preventing your body from suffering.

Both the vacuum cleaners whether regular or robotic have pros and cons; therefore, it is hard to decide which one is better. There is no doubt that a robot vacuum offers an automated cleaning experience as it does not need any manual intervention, but sometimes they do not perform as well as their regular counterparts.

So, the biggest question comes to your mind: Are they really better than normal vacuum cleaners? 

Key Takeaways

  • Robot vacuum cleaners are handy gadgets for busy people who love a clean home but don’t have time to do it themselves. 
  • Robot vacuums are also useful for those who hate cleaning by hand as they offer a lot of convenience and hands-free cleaning experience of dirt, debris, and pet hair from floors and carpets. 
  • For a quick and powerful cleaning, regular vacuum cleaners are the best choice over robotic vacuums.

Let’s have a look at some points that compare robot vacuums vs regular vacuums.

robot vacuums vs regular vacuums

1. Ease of Cleaning and Convenience

At this point, the robot vacuum cleaner always wins over the regular vacuum cleaners. The biggest benefit of a robot vacuum is that it functions automatically without any intervention from the user. It can be controlled via a smartphone app and connected to your home’s wi-fi to receive the control commands. 

The robot vacuums navigate themselves around all the accessible areas of your home and clean in a predetermined pattern. Even some smart and hi-tech models can store your home maps and can then be set to clean a particular area or spot.

Talking about the convenience, they are far better than regular vacuums. You just need to set the device only; the rest your robotic vacuum will handle. Just sit and relax, and it will do the hard work of cleaning for you, whether on the floors or carpets. 

Even they come with a smart feature of Schedule Cleaning allowing the robot vacuum cleaner to run on selected days or at a specific time each day when you are not at home, which means it can function without your physical presence. 

On the other hand, the regular vacuums also clean efficiently, but they require a lot of manual effort, and you need to be actively involved in the entire cleaning process. 

2. Accessibility

The robot vacuum cleaners are compact with only 3.5-4 inches in height and approx. 12-14 inches in diameter. This compact footprint allows the unit to easily glide and clean under furniture and other inaccessible areas. Among the cons of their service, they clean only floors and carpets and do not clean stairways, sofas, couches, mattresses, or upholsteries.

Now, when it comes to regular vacuums, it is somehow difficult to maneuver them under furniture and in tight areas. But they are more flexible in cleaning multiple surfaces, including floors, carpets, sofas, couches, mattresses and upholsteries, and even car interiors with ease. 

3. Portability

The robotic vacuum again wins in terms of portability. First, it has a compact footprint, which makes it portable. And second, since it works on in-built batteries, the unit can be used wirelessly without searching for the power outlets and dealing with messier cords.

On the other hand, regular vacuum versions like upright, canister, or cylinder are not easily portable as they are heavy (included swivel wheels add convenience to their portability). However, the portable versions of regular vacuum cleaners are handheld and stick that you can use on the go anywhere and anytime. Some are even cordless vacuums letting you use them anywhere without any need for the unit to be plugged in. 

4. Cleaning Versatility

In terms of cleaning versatility, the regular vacuum cleaners are always the winner over robot vacuums. Since regular vacuum cleaners include so many attachments and accessories, they can clean hardwood floors, carpets, sofas and couches, mattresses, upholstery, stairs, and even car interiors as well. 

There are best wet and dry vacuum cleaners too, to clean both dry and liquid messes with the same device. The different types of vacuums can also tackle the most stubborn dirt and grime, allergens, pet hair, and other mess with ease. One of the best things is that some regular vacuums also come with the blower function to blow out the embedded dirt from tricky spots that a robot vacuum lacks.

On the other hand, robot vacuum cleaners are also best for cleaning the toughest dirt and grime, pet hair, and allergens with their sweeping brush and vacuuming brush. Plus, they come with HEPA filters to keep allergies at bay. Some models are also equipped with water reservoir tanks and mop cloth attachments that can do both vacuuming and mopping simultaneously. (Check for the best robot vacuum and mop combo).

5. Cleaning Time

Despite the fact that regular vacuums need a lot of manual intervention while cleaning, they are much faster than a robotic vacuum. 

It might take an hour or two for a robot vacuum to complete its full round if it’s assigned to go on its regular cleaning round. Also, since its dirt bin capacity is lower than the regular vacuums, they need frequent emptying in between the cleaning sessions adding more to cleaning time. Even in spot cleaning mode, it requires multiple passes that increases the cleaning time. 

On the other hand, a regular upright, canister, handheld, or stick vacuum can accomplish the same task much faster and more efficiently.

6. Suction Power

When it comes to suction power, regular vacuums typically have a stronger suction than robotic vacuums. The main reason behind this is that the robotic vacuums have smaller motors and batteries that don’t match the suction power of vacuum types like upright, canister, or stick. 

Still, we think, robot vacuums can save time and effort between occasional deep cleaning sessions, as they don’t require manually pulling a vacuum out of a closet and doing it.

7. Noise

Almost all the robot vacuums operate with very less or even no sound at all, offering you a peaceful cleaning session. On the other hand, regular vacuum cleaners are typically noisier in operation than robotic vacuum cleaners.

8. Price

For the price, robotic vacuums are more costly than the conventional types of vacuum cleaners. Though you can get a budget model with less features, it is definitely not worth it if you can get a high-power upright or stick vacuum at the same price; as both the versions are actually faster and more effective in cleaning.  

Some Smart Features of a Robotic Vacuum That Make It Best Over Regular Vacuums

1. Automated Cleaning

The robot vacuum can clean automatically without any manual intervention. You just need to program the device, and the rest it can handle itself. The best part is that you can control it via remote or mobile application; even schedule it for the cleaning job when you are not at home. 

2. Intelligent Navigation System

With an in-built navigation algorithm, robot vacuums can map your home interiors to clean in a predetermined pattern. They have various sensors to avoid obstacles and barriers on their way. Furthermore, you can set no-go zones and virtual wall barriers for areas you don’t want the device to access.

Pro-Tip: Make sure your robot vacuum doesn’t run over water, as the moisture may cause the internal components of the vacuum to damage and result in malfunction.

3. Smart Scheduling

The scheduling function in a robot vacuum allows the device to operate without your physical appearance. All you have to do is schedule the device for cleaning on any particular day or time when you’re not at home.

4. Self Charging Technology

It is the smartest feature of a robotic vacuum cleaner that allows the device to automatically return to its dock station when the battery is about to die. Once fully charged, it then continues the cleaning job where it left off. So, you don’t need to worry about manual recharging.

Pro-Tip: You should choose a charging area for it that is easily accessible and convenient so the unit can easily reach the dock when the battery is about to run out.

Are Robot Vacuums worth it?

Yes, robot vacuums are absolutely worth buying for your home for many reasons. Traditional robot vacuums lack some functionality and features, but the enhancement in technology has improved their performance, functionalities, and navigation system.

With much-improved brushes, the latest robotic vacuums can clean hardwood floors and plush carpets more effectively; they are even better at dealing with pet hair. They also have much-improved navigation systems and sensors to detect obstacles on their way while cleaning. 

The latest vacuums also have excellent battery life that can run for up to 90 minutes per charge, which we think is decent enough to clean your entire house in one go. Some low-end models even have only up to 20-30 minutes battery life that you may purchase for cleaning smaller homes or apartments. 

Another best feature is that some models can even empty their bins on their own and mop your floors too.

Best of all, you don’t need to lug them around; they do the automated cleaning of your home floors.

Read Next: Robot Vacuum Cleaners- All You Need to Know

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