How we check out vacuum cleaners
As part of our small dwelling tools safety on TechRadar, we evaluation dozens of assorted vacuum cleaners yearly. Our first vacuum evaluation was printed in 2015, and as of October 2024, we’d printed 187 evaluations.
Along with providing you with all of the information it’s possible you’ll ever need about each specific individual product, these evaluations are what we use to put collectively our rankings of the simplest vacuum cleaners and the simplest robotic vacuums, alongside secondary guides akin to the simplest cordless vacuums or the simplest low price robotic vacuums.
A couple of of those vacuums are examined by members of our group, and for these we cannot do ourselves, we use a small pool of expert reviewers. As a method to make this testing truthful, and give you useful outcomes, now we’ve a strict reviewing protocol. That is exactly how we check out vacuums at TechRadar.
How we check out vacuum cleaners
Suction
These assessments measure how successfully the vacuum picks up particles of assorted varieties, on a number of forms of flooring. Gear required:
- Laborious floor
- Carpet or a carpet-like rug
- Masking tape
- Flour
- Cookie crumbs
- Oats
Sooner than working the suction assessments, vacuum the world the place it’s possible you’ll be testing so it’s as clear as potential. Then, using masking tape, mark out an area 1.2m by 1.2m.
Constructive particles check out
Create a mixture of cookie crumbs (blitzed in a meals processor) and flour. Sprinkle 20g of this mixture over the marked-out area. Vacuum on the underside setting, guaranteeing that you don’t go over any half larger than as quickly as. Assess how plenty of the optimistic mud the vacuum cleaner has picked up. If it hasn’t collected all of the particles, repeat on the subsequent setting, as required until all the mud is gone.
Repeat for laborious floor and carpet.
Big particles check out
Repeat as above, nonetheless with 30g of oats. Phrase if the vacuum pings throughout the oats, transferring them out of its suction path. Repeat for laborious floor and carpet.
As part of these assessments, take note of how shut you can maneuver the floorhead to the edges of the masked area, and if the vacuum will select up particles close to this border. Comment in your findings.
Hair assessments
Assess how successfully the vacuum can take away hair from every carpet and laborious flooring. Ideally, check out every prolonged (human) hair and temporary (pet) hair.
Does this hair develop to be caught throughout the brushroll, or is it whisked straight into the bin? If the earlier, how easy is it to remove?
If there are further attachments designed significantly for hair, put these to the check out and comment in your findings.
Battery
If the model on check out is cordlesswe want to check out how prolonged it lasts on one price. Value the vacuum to full vitality. Then run it continuously on its lowest vitality mode, timing how prolonged it lasts until the battery is completely flat. Repeat for each vitality chance. Report how prolonged it takes to utterly recharge the vacuum, from a flat battery.
Usability
These are a lot much less standardized assessments designed to comprehend a further full picture of the usability of a vacuum.
Use the vacuum as a foremost vacuum for just a few weeks, being sure to take a look at all the offered attachments along with any specific choices specific to that vacuum. Have in mind questions like:
- How cosy is the vacuum to utilize?
- Is it intuitive to put collectively, swap attachments and so forth?
- How easy is it to maneuver?
- Can the floorhead attain into tight spots?
- How easy is the bin to empty?
- Are the attachments useful?
How we check out robotic vacuum cleaners
Suction
The suction assessments are designed to judge the robotic’s vacuum cleaning effectivity. Gear needed:
- Laborious floor
- Carpet
- Oats
- Cookie crumbs
- Flour
Start by vacuuming every the laborious floor and the carpet it’s possible you’ll be using to verify it’s as clear as potential.
Constructive particles check out
Create a mixture of cookie crumbs (blitzed in a meals processor) and flour. Sprinkle 20g of this mixture on carpeted floor, defending roughly an area the size of a sq. meter.
Start the vacuum on the underside vitality setting. Assess how plenty of the optimistic mud the vacuum collects. If it hasn’t select up all of it, repeat on increasingly further extremely efficient settings.
Repeat this check out on laborious flooring.
Big particles check out
Repeat the check out above, on every laborious flooring and carpet, nonetheless using oats barely than the optimistic crumb mixture. Pay particular consideration as as to whether the design of the robotic vacuum causes oats to be pinged out of the suction path.
Hair check out
Assess how successfully the robotic vacuum pulls up hair from every carpeted floor and laborious flooring. Ideally, check out every prolonged (human) hair and temporary (pet) hair. Does this hair develop to be caught on the brushroll(s) or side brush, or is it directed straight into the onboard bin? If the earlier, how easy is it to remove?
Mopping
Nowadays, many robotic vacuums embrace mopping capabilities. In that case, run a sequence of assessments to measure how successfully these work. We have to see how environment friendly the robotic vacuum is with new, moist spills, along with sticky, stubborn stains on laborious flooring. Gear required:
- Laborious flooring
- Fruit juice
- Tomato ketchup
Spill a small amount of fruit juice onto the bottom and set the robotic vacuum to wash the world. How does it cope with it – does it push the liquid spherical or elevate it? Does it require a variety of passes to clear the juice from the bottom?
Subsequent, unfold a small amount of tomato ketchup on the bottom, and go away it dry. Set the robovac off on a cleaning cycle and see if the mop lifts it. Run on the standard setting first, and if the mess just isn’t cleaned, try a further intensive setting.
Object avoidance
These assessments are designed to judge how environment friendly the robotic vacuum is at determining and avoiding objects. Gear required:
- Shoe
- Value cable
- Sock (darkish or light to match your floor)
- Fake canine poop (optionally accessible further)
Place a sock, shoe, price cable and (optionally) fake canine poop on the bottom, with a great deal of room spherical each object. Set the robovac off on a transparent and monitor how successfully it avoids and/or identifies each object. Run this check out twice. Report your findings.
Furthermore, monitor how successfully the robovac provides with obstacles all through regularly cleans. Phrase if, as an example, it steadily turns into tangled in cables and should be rescued manually.
Usability and choices
To realize a standard overview of the usability and effectiveness of the robotic vacuum, use it as your foremost vacuum for two weeks. All through this time, check out any specific choices – voice administration, onboard cameras and lengthening side brushes, as an example – along with completely exploring the companion app.
All through this evaluation interval, ponder questions like:
- How easy is the robotic vacuum to rearrange and administration?
- How so much administration do you’ve got over settings?
- How appropriate is the product’s mapping of your home?
- How successfully does it deal with edges?
- Is any good home integration environment friendly?
- How noisy is it in use?
- What repairs is required, and is that this straightforward?
- Can the robovac reliably clear room thresholds?
