Keeping floors spotless can feel like a never-ending task. The time spent cleaning up after everybody in the house can quickly add up, and before you know it, the mess has returned.
That's why it might be time to rethink your approach. As a professional vacuum tester, I can tell you the secret solution is not to have one great vacuum. Instead, you should be pairing one of the best robot vacuums with one of the best cordless vacuums.
This might seem like overkill, but hear me out. The robot will keep your floors spotless, while the small, light, cordless stick is on hand for any mess the robot can't handle. It's the perfect way to cut down on your chore time.
Why having two vacuums is better than one
Nobody wants to be vacuuming every day. What we actually want is clean floors every day, rather than the time spent on chores that could otherwise be spent living.
To cut down on how often you should be vacuuming, let a robot do it for you. It can run daily so that you can comfortably walk around barefoot without that constant layer of fine debris bothering you.
And for all the places the robot can't clean – stairs, furniture, mattresses, awkward corners – a cordless stick can take care of it quickly and conveniently without the hassle of plugging it into the wall or winding and unwinding the cord.
Immaculate floors, minimal effort
Your robot vacuum will handle the day-to-day maintenance, even when you're sleeping or out of the house. The best robot vacuums for pet hair can pick up after your furry friends, and many of our favorite models have a mop, too, for spotless and sparkling hard floors.
Then, whenever the robot misses something (which they often do), or you see some crumbs on the sofa, that's when you reach for the cordless vacuum. That's the beauty of such an agile cleaning tool, and the reason why they're the best lightweight vacuums you can buy.
You can grab it and clean it in a moment's notice. No cord, no lugging a hefty appliance out of storage. They're also the quietest vacuums, and as somebody with suspected ADHD, a cordless vacuum actually helps me clean.
This setup means you'll spend hardly any time cleaning. Part of why vacuuming is such a cumbersome task is owed to the build-up of dirt, but with a robot vacuum, this is completely avoided. You can reduce chore time by up to 90%, as we learned when reviewing the excellent eufy Omni S1 Pro.
You'll also enjoy the extra storage space, as it's much easier to hide your vacuum when storing a cordless stick than one of the best upright vacuums. And while the robot vacuum's cleaning station will take up floor space, these are often used as side tables, with the best example being the luxuriously stylish iRobot Roomba Combo j9+.
Making full use of recent technological advancements can genuinely improve your life. Your floors will be cleaner, you can finally get rid of your old vacuum that's taking up too much space, and you'll have more time to spend on the things you truly enjoy.
What to shop
We've tested 31 cordless vacuums and 18 robot vacuums, so we know which ones get the job done. And as the chief vacuum tester at Homes & Gardens, here are my recommendations to get the most for your money.
This is one of the only budget vacuums I would ever recommend. By itself, it's not powerful enough to be the only household vacuum, but when paired with a robot that routinely cleans your floors, this is perfect for cleaning up the rest. It also has a green laser that's almost identical to the one found in the best Dyson vacuums, that reveals invisible dust on the floors so you know where to focus your efforts, and when they're completely clean.
Read more in my full Ultenic U16 Flex review.
The eufy X10 Pro Omni is the most powerful robot vacuum at this price point, deep cleaning hard floors and carpets with its vacuum and mop. It also confidently navigates its way through varied home layouts. Its rollers can wrap with hair quite easily, but if you buy this replacement rubber roller for just $22 from eufy, it completely solves the issue.
Read more in our full eufy X10 Pro Omni review.
To save you buying separate cordless and robot vacuums, the new eufy 3-in-1 E20 has a handheld vacuum built into the robot, that you can quickly pull out whenever you need to manually clean. And with a full wand and floorhead, you can switch into a full-sized cordless vacuum in seconds. It's a great cleaner, but not quite as powerful in robot mode as the eufy X10 Pro Omni.
Read more in our full eufy 3-in-1 E20 review.
Happy to spend a little extra for the best-of-the-best? Pair the eufy Omni S1 Pro with the Dyson V15 Detect and you'll have the cleanest home you've ever seen.
Our expert tester, Head of Solved, Punteha van Terheyden found the Omni S1 Pro slashed her canister vacuum cleaning needs by a whopping 90%.
