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Here are the robot vacuums we tested using our new testing methodology that didn’t earn a spot on our main best list. Some of them may still be worth buying for the right use case.
3i S10 Ultra: We haven’t reviewed many robot vacuums from 3i, but the company has some unique offerings including the S10 Ultra, which it claims is the world’s first water-recycling robot vacuum. What that means is that it is able to purify and distill wastewater extracted from the robot, as well as use water vapor and condensate from the air to refill the robot’s water tank with clean water. It is a great application that can help reduce the amount of water wasted when cleaning.
In terms of performance, the S10 Ultra is a robot vacuum capable of removing 93.45% of sand from hardwood floors, the third highest score on our list. However, carpets did not perform as well, at 37.68% for low pile and 17.68% for medium pile, resulting in an average of 49.6%. However, it has all the key features you’d expect from a high-end robot vacuum, including advanced lidar navigation, dirt and liquid detection, a self-cleaning rotating mop, and AI obstacle avoidance. Our lab technician, Schiller Breitenstein, noticed that the app wasn’t very easy to use and that she was having issues connecting to Wi-Fi. Obstacle avoidance was also a let down, with a complete failure of all six obstacles. The bulky and heavy base station weighs 50 pounds and takes up a lot of space. All of this keeps it off our best list.
Ecofax Depot X9 Pro Omni: Comes with premium features, including advanced navigation, all-in-one docking station, self-emptying, and self-washing mop. In terms of performance, it falls in the middle of the pack, with 88.32% for hardwood, 45.22% for low-pile carpet, and 20.87% for medium-pile carpet. This gives it an average of 51.47%, which places it in the top five in terms of performance. Navigation isn’t robust, with 76.42% room coverage in our heatmap and some key points missing. It also only avoided two out of six hurdles, making it difficult to recommend at $1,300, or even its discounted $700 price.
Switchbot S20: The Switchbot S20 comes in two models, one with a basic mopping and self-emptying station and the other with a water refill station that can be connected to a water connection similar to a dishwasher. Both will set you back $800, making them relatively affordable compared to other robots we’ve tested. We tested both models, although we were unable to complete a full lab test of the water delivery feature. In terms of performance, it’s the second-worst robot vacuum we’ve tested, scoring 21.90% on hardwood, 42.9% on low-pile carpet, and 10.72% on medium-pile carpet for an average of 25.17%. It does slightly better at navigation, covering 79.3% of the test room, putting it just behind the Mova V50, and it also excels at obstacle avoidance, managing to avoid five of six obstacles. Unfortunately, the poor performance prevents it from getting a recommendation.
Narwhal flow: The $1,500 Narwal Flow is similar to the cheaper SwitchBot S20, with two models including an automatic refill base station. Where they differ is in performance. Flow performs best, scoring 93.43% on hardwood, and 46.09% on low-pile carpet, but much worse on medium-pile at 8.12%. In navigation, it is in the middle of the pack with 77.11%. It’s very poor at obstacle avoidance, failing to avoid all obstacles tested, which combined with the carpet’s low mid-pile performance keeps it off our list.
Narwhal Freeo Pro: Fro Pro is a less expensive alternative to Flow, costing you $700 at full price. In terms of performance, this is unfortunately a huge disappointment, scoring the lowest average score of 20.17% across all floor types. They also perform poorly in individual grades with hardwood at 37.33%, low-pile carpet at 20.87%, and medium-pile carpet at 2.32%. In room coverage, it managed 73.8%, but there were some noticeable misses compared to other models. In avoiding objects, it performed better than in flow, avoiding two of the six obstacles.
The Narwal Flow comes in two models: one with an optional water refill and drain system (right) and one with a regular tank (left).
the Eureka J15 Ultra It’ll cost you around $999 at full price, which puts it less than the Dreame X50 Ultra and Mova V50 Ultra, and even less when it’s on sale but in terms of performance, it didn’t live up to our expectations. While it scored our highest score for picking up low-pile carpet at 60.58%, it only scored 1.74% in mid-pile, oddly giving it our lowest score for this category. It also scored just 60.58% hardwood, giving it an average of 40.97%, the third lowest score tested. Navigation was decent at 76.47% coverage in our test room, but object avoidance was a complete failure, with the J15 Ultra failing to avoid all six of our test objects.