Robot vacuum brands are losing the plot with the latest 'innovations'

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I recently tested the $2,599 Roborock robot vacuum with a robotic arm, which turned out to be mostly as gimmicky as it sounds. As the self-proclaimed Carrie Bradshaw of robot vacuum journalism, I couldn't help but wonder: Are we running out of ways to make the best robot vacuums better?

I don't think robot vacuum companies are totally running out of ways to innovate. But I do think they need to read the room, and center practicality in the average home rather than pushing half-baked high-tech fantasies.

Some household appliances are meant to be fun. Robot vacuums aren't one of them.

When testing a robot vacuum — an appliance whose sole purpose is to make home life easier — I'm constantly considering how many households could possibly need such and such a feature, relative to the cost of the vacuum. Though a robotic arm that picks up socks makes for a fun little video on Instagram, it wasn't all that realistic in practice.

The Saros Z70's whole "virtual claw machine" thing is more trouble than it's worth. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The thing is, I don't look at every single household appliance through that strict utilitarian lens.

For example, I think kitchen appliances have a little more wiggle room to be silly and goofy and extra. Does anyone really need a countertop soft serve ice cream maker or frozen drink maker? Probably not, but the Ninja Swirl and the Ninja Slushi still went viral for a reason: Cooking and eating are two universal activities that bring people together, and that justifies spending a few hundred dollars on a new way to make those things happen.

Robot vacuums aren't exactly curating a meaningful experience like that. Cleaning is something that people want to get out of the way so that they can spend time on the enjoyable things that matter — like making desserts with loved ones. If a certain robot vacuum has so much fancy stuff going on that it can't simply axe the chore from the to-do list, we've kind of lost the plot of automated cleaning.

Where can robot vacuum features go from here?

Evolutions like dust bins that self-empty and docks that automatically wash and dry the mopping pads were transformative to the robotic vacuum industry. But they're not new to anyone anymore — that level of automated maintenance has been around for long enough that it's almost expected now. There are small ways that brands can keep improving on it, like the "self-emptying" Roomba that omits a self-empty dock, instead compacting dust inside itself to save floor space. But in general, it feels like we're just about maxed out in the self-cleaning category for now.

It goes without saying that robot vacuum brands will always be aiming to make suction power stronger or mopping better. But past that, the quest is to find new ways for a robot vacuum to solve cleaning-related problems for people without innovating too close to the sun. Vaguely put, the ideal new robot vacuum features would feel approachable and functional to the average person — not feel so out there that the entire premise of the feature sounds like a joke.

To be fair, Roborock was on the right track with the arm — its purpose was ultimately to save kids or parents the time that it takes to tidy up a cluttered floor. Its actual problem was the fact that the arm was so limited in the things that it could potentially pick up, and even then, it couldn't very reliably do that. Though I've loved several other Roborock robot vacuums (without robotic limbs) that I've tested, their small obstacle avoidance isn't 100 percent perfect yet. Shouldn't we focus on that first?

Convertible robot vacuums are the sensible way to go next

There are plenty of more successful examples out there of how robot vacuums can solve more than one problem in one purchase.

Eufy is one brand that is particularly killing the game. A few of its 2025 botvacs are doing a cool 2-in-1 bit, combining multiple types of floor cleaning into one machine: The Eufy E28 comes with a portable carpet cleaner to tackle stains that obviously can't be vacuumed up, and the Eufy E20 is a robot vacuum that can quickly convert into a full-sized cordless stick vacuum or handheld vacuum. I haven't tried the E28 yet, but I was thoroughly impressed by the flexibility of the E20 in my apartment — so much so that I've dubbed it the most underrated vacuum of 2025 so far.

Sometimes it's a robot vacuum... Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Sometimes it's a cordless stick vacuum. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Stick vacuums and carpet cleaners are two items that most people are already familiar with, and two items that most people probably wish they had on hand. Eufy was genius to mash them together into a robot vacuum purchase, without making the process to switch between them super convoluted. The obvious next step seems to be a robot vacuum that cleans a carpet itself.

Though I'm roasting the arm, I still think Roborock is one of the smartest robot vacuum brands out there. I think I audibly cheered the first time I watched a Roborock vacuum swing a spinning mopping pad directly into a corner and along my kitchen counter. I had never seen such thorough corner mopping with a D-shaped mopping pad that just sits under the vacuum. That's the kind of straightforward innovation I'm talking about.

People really eat up that kind of visible cleaning performance. Take a transparent dust bin, for example: One of my favorite cordless vacuums self-empties each time I hang it up to charge, which means that I get to start each cleaning session with a clean slate. I can see exactly how thick of dust bunnies are being dredged up from a single room. It would be cool if some robot vacuum docks had a transparent window that showed progress like that, or if the app could provide intel on the weight of the debris picked up from a certain room.

It'd be cool to see proof of strong suction power like you can on a stick vacuum. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Dyson's laser would be helpful for robot vacuums, too. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Foolproof proof of a clean floor is a real selling point, you know? It's why the dust-highlighting laser on Dyson vacuums clicked so hard with shoppers, despite maybe sounding a little extra at first. Speaking of which, that'd be a wise addition to the next Dyson robot vacuum.

Shop our favorite robot vacuums

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Our top pick

Roborock Saros 10R

$999.99 at Amazon

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Best if you also want a stick vacuum

Eufy E20 3-in-1

$297.49 at Amazon

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Best Roomba

iRobot Roomba j7

$268.00 at Amazon

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Best budget robot vacuum

Shark Matrix RV2320S

$214.00 at Walmart

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