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The best robot vacuum deals this week include every self-emptying mopping Roomba on sale

Posted on by miyuru
The best robot vacuum deals this week include every self-emptying mopping Roomba on sale

Gift yourself a shorter to-do list.

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Find the robot vac that’s right for your home — and your bank account.
Credit: Roborock

UPDATE: Mar. 8, 2024, 12:15 p.m. EST This story has been updated with latest pricing for robot vacuums on sale during the first weekend in March.

A quick look at the best robot vacuum deals this week:

Best self-emptying deal

Roborock Q5+

$399.99 at Amazon
(save $300 with Prime)

Only three things are certain in life: Death, taxes, and a few days each month when you need to vacuum but just don’t have time. Whether you detest the chore or hope to make your home upkeep a bit breezier, a robot vacuum is a lifesaver.

Robot vacuums under $200

Why we like it

For a solid cheap Shark option, skip the outdated Shark ION and opt for the Matrix instead. For less than $200, you’re securing LiDAR-powered smart home mapping and virtual boundaries, plus Matrix technology, which attacks debris from multiple angles in a crosshatch pattern to grab anything that was missed on the original pass. On top of the thorough spot cleaning, Shark claims that the Matrix packs 50% more suction power than the Roomba i3.

  • Spot cleans in a thorough grid pattern

  • 120-minute battery life

  • Schedule cleanings in the app

More robot vacuums on sale for under $200

Robot vacuum deals under $500

Why we like it

Sifting through all of the Roborock models on sale this week is admittedly overwhelming. But all you need to know about the 2022 Q5+ is that it’s Roborock’s cheapest self-emptier, now made even more affordable with a $200 coupon for Prime members on top of the $100 discount Amazon was already sporting. It skips mopping capabilities but still uses LiDAR to remember a map of your home and deploys pretty hearty suction for the price.

Mashable Deals

  • Customizable keep-out zones

  • 180-minute battery life

  • Self-emptying dock holds at least seven weeks’ worth of debris

More robot vacuums on sale for under $500

Robot vacuum and mop hybrids

Why we like it

The Roomba j5 series are the cheapest Roombas with obstacle avoidance tech that can steer clear of phone chargers, socks, and pet waste. This capability, which we first experienced when testing the Combo j7+, will be game-changing if your previous gripe with robot vacuums was that you had to clean up before they could clean. Compared to the j7 series, the j5’s cameras aren’t quite as precise, and still may require you to pick up things like socks or put a virtual barrier around pet bowls.

This is one of iRobot’s Swap and Mop models that requires you physically click the water tank on and off to enact mopping. Still, you’re essentially getting mopping capabilities for $50-ish extra, as the non-mopping Roomba j7+ is sitting at a close sale price of $448 compared to the Combo j5+’s $499.99 price tag.

  • 50% more suction power than 600 series Roombas

  • Customize cleaning and keep out zones in app

  • Self-emptying dock holds at least two months’ worth of debris

More hybrids and robot mops on sale

Frequently Asked Questions

The control of an upright vacuum comes with its own type of satisfaction. But if you’re not one to classify cleaning as cathartic, a robot vacuum could erase that huge, agonizing task from your chore list. (And did we mention the joy of having “first-day clean” floors all the time?)

But whether robot vacuums are worth it or not comes with a caveat: It can’t be just any robot vacuum. A cheap robot vac that doesn’t do the job right — scattering dust, bumping into walls, getting stuck on area rugs — might actually create more work for you.

Suction power is key: A vacuum is the one purchase that you hope sucks a lot. Suction power is typically measured in Pascals (Pa), with most current vacs ranging between 1,500 Pa and 3,000 Pa. Stronger sucking will be needed to pick up heavier pieces of debris (be sure to set a no-go zone around Legos) and to pull matted-down pet hair from rugs.

Know your floor type: Carpeting and high pile rugs will probably require stronger suction than hard floors, as well as special features like an extra-wide or self-cleaning brush roll to prevent hair from wrapping and clogging. Folks in homes with multiple floor types might consider a bigger, sturdier robot vacuum that can hurl itself and its wheels over mats, rugs, and transitions from carpet to hard floors.

Consider automatic emptying: Because robot vacuums are typically under four inches tall, their onboard dust bins are also small — which means they frequently require emptying. (Dustbins fill up particularly quickly in homes with pets.) A self-emptying vacuum takes that job out of your hands, emptying itself into a larger dustbin in its charging dock. These larger bins can typically hold weeks of dirt without needing to be cleaned or dumped out.

Think about your home’s layout: Every robot vacuum is equipped with sensors and drop detection. But if your home has lots of rooms, lots of turns, or lots of close-together furniture, you’ll have fewer navigation issues with an advanced model that uses intelligent mapping to remember exactly how your home is laid out, including labeling of specific rooms, mental notes of staircases, and ability to deploy zone cleaning.

Pay attention to low-profile furniture: No one should have to be scared about what’s accumulated under their couch over the past year. A robot vacuum measuring three inches or less in height should be able to scoot under most low-hanging couches and beds.

Assess battery life and square footage: One of the main complaints people have about their robot vacuum is that it craps out in the middle of the floor. Larger spaces require more time to clean, and it all depends on how annoyed you’ll be if it only finishes a few rooms at a time. Average run times for the list below range between 90 and 200 minutes, which translates to about 500 and 2,800 square feet covered on one charge.

Look for app control: WiFi-enabled robot vacuums can be synced with a smartphone app to control scheduling, manual start, and cleaning settings, as well as telling your vac to make its rounds when you’re not home. Low-end models that don’t connect to WiFi will usually come with a separate remote. If you’re used to asking Alexa or Google to turn off the lights or tell you the weather, a model with voice integration will blend in nicely.

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.

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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