Now, in general, robot vacuums tend to do best with as few obstacles as possible, even with the advanced navigational systems that many machines have these days.

A new robot vacuum can be a significant investment, so to ensure you end up with the right one for you, each model here has been tested either on-team, or by one of our regular, experienced freelance reviewers.

We'll also look at how the robot tackles the issue of switching between vacuuming and mopping – will it reliably detect floor type, and pick up its mop pad when moving from hard floor onto carpet, for example?

One of the big benefits of a Roomba is that they're relatively slim in height, meaning they can venture places other bots can't. On test, we found this one was especially good at handling pet hair, with its grippy rubbery rollers.

When it spots something, it will slow down and do a more thorough cleaning. I also like Dreame’s option to vacuum first and then mop, which the Roborock doesn’t offer.

Right now, the best robot vacuum on the market is the Eufy X10 Pro Omni. On test, this combination robot vacuum and mop was almost perfect, acing our cleaning tests and delivering accurate navigation too.

The mopping is also a cut above average. On test, we found the rotating pads very effective – great news if you're regularly dealing with muddy pawprints. The does-it-all dock will take care of refilling the bot's water tank, dispensing cleaning fluid, Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners and cleaning and drying its mop pads, too, meaning minimal hands-on time from you.

Previously in this slot we had the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni, which offers hot water mopping that's great at tackling greasy spillages. There are some compromises you'll need to make with this model, but it's often on sale and significantly cheaper than this Eureka model.

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Its signature feature is its ability to automatically remove and reattach its mop pads, depending on whether it’s vacuuming or mopping.

When we first get the robot set up, we'll see how long it takes to create a map of the home, and how accurate that map is. For subsequent runs, we'll keep an eye on how the robot navigates the space; if takes a logical route through the house, if it repeats already-clean areas, and so on.

There are caveats, though. Robovacs can't deal with stairs, so their usefulness in multi-floor homes is far more limited. They're also not capable of proper deep cleans, so if you're dealing with lots of hair or dirt, they might not cut it.

For the record, the brand does promise "NeverTouch" in the name and the base offers Automóvel drying of the mop pads, but we did

And a capable robot vacuum could really be worth the investment if you're finding it tricky to stay on top on manual cleaning.