The best robot vacuums for pet hair are difficult to come by. While many robot vacuums perform admirably when it comes to picking up the usual suspects, such as dust and crumbs, most machines struggle when it comes to pet hair. This is due to the fact that pet hair clings and clumps not only to your carpet but also to the brush bar. So you could end up constantly removing hair from the system if you put any old robot vacuum up against the dreaded fur.
That’s not to say there aren’t robot vacuums that can handle this problem; they’re just a few and far between. Fortunately, we’ve tested a wide range of robot vacuums to see which can compete with man’s best friend. The good news is that none of these models are prohibitively expensive. We have the solution for you, whether you want good value or a robot vacuum that can also mop. These are the best pet hair robot vacuums.
What are the best robot vacuums for pet hair?
The iLife V3s Pro is the best robot vacuum for pet hair overall, based on our lab results and overall performance. Its design and functionality are simple, but it collected 99.5% of pet hair on tests, which is a near-perfect result. It’s also very reasonably priced at $120 for such a strong performance. While it doesn’t have a lot of features, you can schedule cleaning sessions with the remote control to keep up with any shedding.
We recommend the iRobot Roomba s9+ if you want something with more features. This robot vacuum is packed with the latest robot vacuum technology, including app connectivity, area-specific cleaning, and no-go zones. It also works well for removing pet hair, collecting 98% of it in our tests. Its Clean Base, from which it can charge and self-empty into a bag, distinguishes it. When compared to traditional robot vacuums, the bag only needs to be replaced every other month, saving you a significant amount of time. However, at $939, it is not a cheap option.
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iRobot Roomba s9+
If you’re going to spend a lot of money on a robot vacuum, make sure it can pick up all of them. Fortunately, the iRobot Roomba s9performance +’s matches its high price tag, especially when it comes to pet hair. It collected 98% of pet hair on average across the carpet and hardwood floors, placing it second only to the iLife V3S Pro.
The Roomba s9+ is distinguished by its self-emptying Clean Base, which automatically empties the onboard dustbin when it is full or when a job is completed. This automatic emptying does more than just save you time; it also prevents the hair and dander picked up by the machine from reentering your home when it’s time to empty the bin. When it’s time to remove the full bag, a disposal bag inside the base neatly closes up. It’s preferable to empty the robot’s dustbin into your kitchen garbage can.
The Roomba s9only +’s trick is to keep pet hair and dust from recirculating in your home. This Wi-Fi-enabled robot vacuum can be directed by the iRobot Home app to clean specific areas of your home, such as the area around the kitchen table while avoiding others. Don’t require such fine granularity? Every night at 8:30, instruct the S9+ to clean the entire kitchen. Do you want to come home to a clean house? Geofencing can be used to activate the S9+: When you leave the house to walk the dog, the vacuum begins to clean. Come home and choose whether to have the vac finish the job or return to the base, making it an excellent feature for households with dogs who are afraid of vacuums.
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iLife V3s Pro
Who would have guessed that one of the best cheap robot vacuums on the market is also one of the best at removing pet hair? The low-cost iLife V3s Pro is light on frills but heavy on keeping your floors free of fur. In fact, it collected 100% of pet fur from hardwood floors and 99% of pet fur from carpets — an almost perfect score. This bump-and-clean robot distinguishes itself by using a 3-inch suction opening instead of a brush roll to ingest debris. This not only helps with picking up dog hair, but it also makes maintenance easier because you won’t have to waste time removing hair from a brush roll.
The iLife V3s Pro works best on bare surfaces like hardwood floors and tile, but it also works well on thinner rugs. The V3s Pro’s random cleaning pattern means it may miss a few spots or, as we discovered in our review, become fixated on a specific area. Fortunately, the included remote control has arrow buttons to guide the V3s Pro back to the dirt. If you’re willing to supervise the iLife V3s Pro, this incredible value will serve your floors well. As a result, it was named one of the best vacuum cleaners.
We also tested the iLife V5s pro model, but neither the overall cleaning performance nor the pet hair performance was as strong, coming in at 94.8% and 97.3%, respectively. This model also has mopping capabilities, which we found to be ineffective.
Neato D9
The Neato D9 performs admirably in our tests, scoring a respectable 92.79 overall. It picked up more than 87% of dog hair on both hardwood floors and carpet, putting it ahead of the Roomba j7+ and Roomba i3+. It’s also a relatively quiet and quick operator, which makes it even better. We also like how the dustbin is hidden in the center of the robot, making it easy and convenient to access.
Our only complaint is with the app’s performance. While it is simple to set up, we found it difficult to mark out zones in the floor plan and there is no way to distinguish between rooms. This essentially means that you can only clean one zone at a time or tackle the entire house, neither of which is ideal. This is the main reason why this robot is ranked lower on our list. If you don’t care about cleaning specific rooms, this is a great robot vacuum that will get the job done.
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Roborock S4 Max
It should come as no surprise that our best robot vacuum pick is also one of the best at cleaning up after pets. Aside from its ability to pick up pet hair, the Wi-Fi-connected Roborock S4 Max has a lot to offer. In our review, we discovered that it quickly generated accurate maps of the layout of our house, with the ability to store up to four maps. It can vacuum just one room, multiple rooms, or an entire level on the fly or on a schedule. Furthermore, the S4 Max can be programmed in the Roborock app to perform up to three cleaning passes in a single run.
When it detects carpeting, the Roborock S4 Max will increase suction to remove all the hair from Garfield’s favorite afternoon sun spot on the living room rug. In terms of cats, the S4 Max did well in our kitty litter lab tests as well. On carpet and hardwood, the vacuum picked up an average of 96.38% of the litter. Furthermore, if you find yourself trapped in a chair due to a cat on your lap, you can use Alexa or Google Assistant to command the S4 Max to clean.
Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid
Only the iLife VS3 Pro and Roborock S4 Max outperformed the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid in terms of pet hair removal, collecting 100% of fur from hardwood floors. Carpet performance was less impressive, but still impressive at 89.5%. It’s also the only pet hair-removing robot vacuum on our list that also doubles as a mop. In comparison, the mopping Roborock s7 has a slightly higher cleaning performance, but it isn’t as effective at collecting pet hair, with an average of 85.8% removed.
However, when we put it to the test, we discovered some flaws, most notably the mapping experience when dividing up rooms and the mopping function controls. However, if room-specific cleaning isn’t a concern, it’s worth considering. It has four levels of suction power and is extremely simple to set up and use.
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iRobot Roomba i7+
The iRobot Roomba i7+ was the first self-emptying robot vacuum. The base is loud enough to wake your cat from his mid-morning nap, but it is also powerful enough to suck out all of the dander and hair that has accumulated on your floors. Dust and debris are kept at bay by a disposable vacuum bag inside the Clean Base.
The Wi-Fi-enabled iRobot Roomba i7+ maps the levels of your home and supports area-specific cleaning and no-go zones. The iRobot Home app will even make cleaning recommendations based on the season, such as recommending more cleaning runs during the shedding season in the spring. The Roomba i7+, like its more expensive sibling, the Roomba s9+, supports geofenced vacuuming, which means the vacuum will start when it detects your phone has left the house. Nobody wants to miss their cat riding a Roomba, so you can continue the job if you return home before it’s finished.
Aside from the price, the gentle navigation of the Roomba i7+ distinguishes it from the Roomba s9+. In our Roomba i7+ review, we mentioned how the vacuum barely moved while cleaning around the dog food bowls in our kitchen. The Roomba s9+ was a little more aggressive, shifting the mat and bowls out of place.
However, the s9+ was better at picking up pet hair (98% vs 90.5% collected on average), indicating that each has advantages and disadvantages.
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