I tested cordless robot vacuums – the winner even has a mop function and can be sent to specific rooms using an app

WHILE I don’t want robots to take over the world, getting them to help out with the cleaning is another matter entirely. We spend more than an hour a week vacuuming our homes, but with robot cleaners becoming more affordable, could buying one save valuable time?. With two boisterous boys aged eight and five, there are days when my cordless vacuum gets two outings to suck up crumbs from under the sofa and mud that’s been tracked over the carpet.

So, as the robots set to the task of making my three-bed terrace floors spotless, I took the chance to put my feet up. Afterwards, I checked the work of the machines and awarded marks out of five. THIS hybrid version gave my floors a really thorough clean and it got right into the edges. On my landing, it even brushed between the wooden gap on every balustrade, a spot where the gathering dust irks me every time I climb up the stairs.

This machine felt quieter than the others too, despite having up to 4000Pa (pascals, the unit used to measure suction). It was a bit annoying that the water tank and dust trap were attached to each other though – but it’s not the only model with that issue. The makers recommend you wet the mop pad before use, but that made it tricky to slide it over the holder. But it did do a good job on my kitchen floor.

This particular model did struggle with a few door thresholds and the voice was erratic – on more than one occasion, it spent 30 minutes declaring that it was shutting down. The G50 Hybrid has up to 120 minutes of run time and it certainly held the charge well, but my app wouldn’t record the clean history. Rating: 3.5/5. I CERTAINLY didn’t get off to the best start with this bot. I struggled to get it lined up properly with the charging pins and only got 40 minutes of use out of its first outing, not the potential 150 minutes that was promised.

Water also came running out when I tried to apply more force to one end to get the charger connected. However, it won me round with its mapping technology, which is very effective and fast, with the device building a plan of the floor in minutes before getting to work, which it then stored for next time. Using this later on to send the D10 to specific rooms and cordon off areas was a real timesaver, like when I just wanted the kitchen floor mopped.

You need to remove the mop pad if you want to avoid items such as damp rugs, but I really liked the automatic suction increase on carpeted spaces, with up to 4000Pa. Rating: 4/5. Well Polished conducted a survey and the results are in!. Most Hated Household Chores. Most Liked Household Chores. Men VS Women: Who Puts the Work In?. Men spend 7 hours 54 minutes a week cleaning. Women spend 12 hours 15 minutes a week cleaning.

THE app instruction booklet gave me high hopes – it meant that I understood this vacuum’s functions from the off. But after half an hour exploring my ground floor with it, there were still visible crumbs. It was good at getting into corners to brush them out, but failed to pick some up. This is no doubt because the top suction strength is 2000Pa, which is lower than some other models. While it maps your progress, so you can see the space covered, it isn’t stored to aid smarter future use.

The best approach is selecting “wall follow” to get the edges, then “smart” for the rest. You can also manually direct this cleaner from the app, set timers and give commands via Alexa. The mop isn’t exactly vigorous, but it does the job and I liked that the dust trap and water tank disconnect from each other. It has a generous 150 minutes of running time in “quiet” mode and you can expect a still decent 120 in “standard”.

Rating: 3/5. HERE, the charging station doubles as an emptying dock with a vacuum bag inside, which allows the robot to cleverly unload the dust trap when full. This ensures it doesn’t stop mid-clean and saves you a few trips to the bin. With a pet-free, three-bed home, this felt like an unnecessary extra (the £149 version would have sufficed), but I can see the value for larger, carpeted houses with dogs.

It also means that the water tank and pad access are at the back when it returns to charge, so you have to disconnect to remove them. You’ll also need to buy dust bags, which last around two months if you clean daily. It’s a pretty basic model and app, without any mapping, which meant a damp rug when I let it loose on the vacuum and mop setting. But it did quite a decent job cleaning my hallway tiles and the kitchen floor.

Rating: 2.5/5. IF YOU’RE a tech-phobe, this 4000Pa vacuum can be operated phone-free with an effective remote control. But the app is also very user-friendly and supports Alexa and Google Home. I liked that the 450ml water tank is separate to the dust box, which empties from the bottom and has a cleaning brush set into the lid. It also has two rotating side brushes instead of one, plus up to 120 minutes of running time.