4 best robot vacuums and mops of 2024: Tested and approved

Overview

Narwal Freo robot vacuum mopping hardwood and tile floor in doorway with rug in background

Best self-sufficient mopping

Narwal Freo X Ultra

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$1,399.99 Amazon

The very best Roomba

Roomba Combo j9+

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$1,399 iRobot

Shark robot vacuum cleaning tile floor by bathtub

Best spot cleaning

Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1

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$449.40 Shark

Next-best mopping Roomba

Roomba Combo j7+

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$999.99 iRobot

After careful hands-on testing, we feature our favorite gear and gadgets as Mashable Selects products in our dedicated shopping guides.

UPDATE: Apr. 13, 2024, 5:00 a.m. EDT Roborock, Ecovacs, Eufy, and Samsung debuted new mopping robot vacuums at CES 2024. We're in the process of getting our hands on them for testing and will update our top picks in this story accordingly.

Despite the enthusiasm of actors in Swiffer commercials, few people are smiling at the workout that is manually mopping their floors.

If you experience similar dread when faced with vacuuming, the best robot vacuum and mop combos will cross those two chores off of your list (three, if you count digging your old mop out of the closet as a chore in itself).

Are robot vacuum and mop combos worth it?

Since 2020-ish, most robot vacuum companies have added at least one hybrid model to their lineup, with prices ranging from $100 to well over $1,000. Price is one thing, but whether a hybrid's mopping pad does more than push water (or your spilt wine) around is another. It's not uncommon to stumble across a robot vacuum listing with fine print along these lines: “Not meant to be used for stubborn, sticky, or set-in stains.” That's a nuanced statement, because aren't these kinds of floor stains the exact reason why you'd invest in a 2-in-1 robot vacuum in the first place?

Fortunately, the past year or so has seen serious strides in the automated mopping department. Brands like iRobot, Roborock, Shark, and Narwal are moving far past the bare minimum — the technical presence of mopping gear — with features that actually make autonomous mopping effective, like pressurized and/or spinning mopping pads (rather than lackadaisical, stationary ones) and water tanks that allow cleaning solution to be mixed in (rather than cleaning with just water).

This shift is particularly exemplified in the fleet of new hybrid models released at CES 2024, where two clear themes for the future of 2-in-1 robot vacuums were unofficially set: The best robot hybrids will not only make dry floors gleam but will also automatically wash and dry mopping pads, as well as the refill the botvac's water tank through a separate tank in the dock.

Below, we’ve narrowed down the best robot mop combos on the market in the first half of 2024, including rundowns of the standout features that have proven their value during testing on our own personal floors. Regardless of your budget, you're just a few clicks away from retiring that wasteful Swiffer for good — without sacrificing going barefoot in peace at home.

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Our Pick

Narwal Freo X Ultra

Best self-sufficient mopping

$1,399.99 Amazon

Who it's for:

The Narwal Freo X Ultra is ideal if you prioritize a true hands-off cleaning experience over staying within a certain budget. Between self-washing and drying mopping pads, a self-filling water tank, a two-month dustbin capacity, and enough stamina to cover 2,000 square feet without needing to charge, this ultra-premium takes its time and can be trusted to thoroughly tend to large floor plans.

Narwal's futuristic aesthetic is also worth nothing. Your decision on which self-emptying hybrid to get could very well come down to whether or not you want a giant, shiny egg sitting in your living room.

Why we picked this:

It seems like Narwal thought of everything when revamping the original Narwal Freo that stole the hearts of TikTok. As one of the first vacs that debuted at CES 2024 to become available for purchase, the Narwal Freo X sets high standards with genius case-by-case mopping features that tailor the task to the status of the floor it's cleaning. AI-powered waste water sensors force the Freo X Ultra to keep mopping until the floor is spotless, working in tandem with obstacle avoidance technology to avoid small items like pet toys or charging cords.

This means that the Freo X Ultra is likely to take multiple passes over the same spot, returning to the dock to rinse at least once. However, I had zero complaints about the time-consuming process because of how visibly meticulous the scrubbing was, powered by two forceful, spinning pads that have been doused in both water and cleaning solution.

Once the Freo X Ultra has met its own cleanliness standards, it heads home to thoroughly sanitize and dry those soggy mopping pads — a task that must be performed manually with the identically-priced Roomba Combo j9+.

The Good

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$1,399.99 Amazon

Roomba Combo j9+

The very best Roomba

$1,399 iRobot

Who it's for:

For those who are ready to test out Roomba's latest-and-greatest (only rolled out in September 2023), the Roomba Combo j9+ is a fab way to do so. If your floors are well-loved — in the sense that they have some pretty deep, dried stains on them or are your pet's favorite spot to roll around — you'll be wowed by this Roomba's scrubbing and suction power alike. Unlike previous Roombas, this one saves you even more time, by freeing you from manually refilling the water tank for 30 days at a time.

As an added bonus, if you're someone for whom the "aesthetic factor" ranks highly among robot vac criteria, rest assured that the Combo j9+ is sheer eye candy. I mean, its dock is literally topped with chic wood accents — allowing it to double as a side table. In the world of robovacs, this is quite rare.

Why we picked this:

As the number and letter mashup in the title suggests, the Combo j9+ finally combines the best features of the older high-end Roombas: the small obstacle detection and retractable mop of the Roomba Combo j7+ (which we also tested and really liked), and even better suction power than the Roomba s9+, which was previously the most powerful Roomba. The Combo j9+ also beats the suction power of the aforementioned Combo j7+, which was noticeably worse at picking up chip crumbs and cat hair than the new Combo j9+ in our comparative tests in the same apartment.

The mop on the Combo j9+ is also better than that of the all of the other hybrid Roombas, as well as many competing hybrids from other brands that drag a wet cloth across the floor with one or two passes. We could see iRobot's new SmartScrub working, successfully attacking dried stains on a hardwood floor by persistently scrubbing back and forth with force. The Combo j9+ can also accommodate both water and the cleaning solution of your choice in its water tank, which automatically refills the vacuum itself when the small onboard tank runs dry.

The Good

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Details

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$1,399 iRobot

Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1

Best spot cleaning

$449.40 Shark

Who it's for:

We suggest the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 if your main concern with a robot mop is whether it actually scrubs (with more than water, at that) but also that its advanced mopping capabilities can be secured for a few hundred dollars. We will say that the Matrix Plus 2-in-1 is best for homes without a heavy rug situation, as the bot requires you to manually point out rugs or carpets in the app and can't vacuum while the water tank is attached.

Why we picked this:

The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 (previously the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1) really surprised us, which is why it earned a spot among the very best robot vacuum and mop hybrids and as our favorite Shark robot vacuum. Both the standalone and self-emptying versions of the Matrix Plus 2-in-1 can be scored for less than that when they're on sale at Shark's website, which they almost always are — firmly in the budget category compared to bots from iRobot and Roborock.

Despite its budget status, the Shark AI Ultra proved to be a feature-packed robovac that aced Mashable's at-home cleaning tests. Activating Matrix cleaning mode while mopping triggers the mopping pad to vibrate 100 times per minute and goes over the desired scuffed or stained area multiple times. During dry vacuuming, Matrix mode also hits the designated area from multiple angles in a crosshatch pattern, upping the likelihood of picking up hair or debris that couldn't quite be grabbed on the first pass. And that's on thoroughness.

Read our full review of the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1.

The Good

The Bad

Details

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$449.40 Shark

Roomba Combo j7+

Next-best mopping Roomba

$999.99 iRobot

Who it's for:

If you've confirmed that you definitely want a Roomba that mops, the next question is how much you'll need to count on your 2-in-1 Roomba to clean on a whim when you're not home. Even on sale, $799 is a pretty hefty investment — but unless you have multiple pets that shed onto thick carpet and hard floors with heavy foot traffic, the Combo j7+ provides a nearly-identical hands off experience to the Combo j9+ for much less money.

The Combo j7+ is the cheapest Roomba that doesn't require you to be around to manually swap out the dry dust bin to mop like you do with the Combo i5 or even Combo j6. The Combo j7+ also has more meticulous obstacle avoidance smarts than cheaper Roomba Combo j5 or j6. If you're iffy on whether you need obstacle avoidance at all, we're all for it if you have the budget — in our experience, being able to trust the Combo j7+ to not eat a phone charger totally made up for its meh carpet cleaning.

Why we picked this:

The Combo j7+ was the very first true vacuum and mop hybrid from iRobot. Though it's since been upstaged by the 2023 Combo j9+, the 2022 Combo j7+ will always be pivotal for iRobot's legacy. If you can find it at its relatively-frequent sale price of $799, you'll be scoring one of the smartest robot vacuums on the market for a pretty digestible cost.

Our hands-on comparison between the Combo j9+ and Combo j7+ did show an obvious trailing in the Combo j7+'s scrubbing power but particularly its suction power, which wasn't ideal for large crumbs on carpet or rugs. However, the Combo j7+ is still the only other Roomba (than the Combo j9+) with a retractable mop that's onboard 24/7 and lifts the mop overtop of the vacuum itself when carpet is sensed. As a j Series Roomba, it's also armed with iRobot's signature PrecisionVision front-facing camera that lights the way to perceive small obstacles that other robot vacuums eat (and subsequently get stuck on).

Read our full review of the iRobot Roomba Combo j7+.

The Good

The Bad

Details

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$999.99 iRobot

Topics Robot Vacuums

How we tested

Mashable product reviewers (especially our vacuum specialist, Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stodart) have been testing popular robot vacuums in their homes since 2020. Our hands-on tests have included everything from $150 budget models that just cover just the basics to $1,500 premium models that are highly advanced in the way that they clean, navigate, and take care of their own recurring maintenance. Ranking 2-in-1 robot vacuums requires testing of all of the factors we consider for regular robot vacuums, plus a few additional bullet points specific to mopping.

For this list, we tested bots’ ability to vacuum and mop on hardwood, rug, and tile surfaces. When cleaning up dry waste, we scattered debris (read: Cocoa Pebbles, intentionally smashed potato chips) around the floor and along the edges of a wall to test suction and edge cleaning. When that process was complete, we then stained the floor with something more stubborn, like a small patch of syrup or dried drops of soy sauce. If these vacs would simply drive over the stain without mopping it up, what's the point of getting a hybrid vac versus a normal vac, after all?

We found that in order to effectively mop, the best hybrid models need to do more than drag a wet mop pad lightly across your floor. Ideally, the mopping pad will vibrate or wipe back and forth rather than being stationary, and it will scrub with downward pressure to mimic human elbow grease. Compatibility with a cleaning solution is always preferred over being restricted to mopping with just water.

However, to earn a spot in our guide to the best robot vacuum/mop hybrids, these cleaning machines had to do more than satisfactorily vacuum and mop. We also tested their navigation capabilities when it comes to furniture and walls and smart mapping accuracy, as well as considered whether they self-empty and detect and avoid small obstacles like charging cords or pet waste. Because what good is a robot mop if it can never reliably make its way to the spots that require mopping?

Frequently Asked Questions

At their core, robot vacuum mop combos are really just robot vacuums with an attached water reservoir and scrubbing pad. Thus, they work identically to regular robot vacuums on dry debris like crumbs and pet hair, but also dispense water or cleaning solution for mopping when on a hard floor.

The mopping mechanism can look a little different from there. Cheaper hybrid models require a person to manually attach a water tank or mopping pad to switch to mopping mode, while more advanced models always have mopping gear on board and are ready to start mopping whenever called upon. When the water tank is built in like that, these hybrid models are typically equipped with heightened floor type sensors and are smart enough to stay away from carpet or rugs while mopping while the hybrids that require manual swapping often need you to denote spots that they shouldn't mop through the app.

For the most effective clean, look for models that can accommodate sanitizing cleaning fluid in addition to just plain water. Likewise, robot mops that incorporate a scrubbing motion (or, better yet, sonic vibration technology) will do a better job at eating away at stubborn grime.

The traditional mop and bucket is a logistical headache, but a 2-in-1 robot vacuum can be just as frustrating if they're not doing what you bought them to do. If you've decided you're down to pay to cross two chores off your list with one purchase, then the following factors are key in ensuring an experience that's actually worthwhile:

Floor-type sensors: A robot vacuum's ability to adjust suction based on floor type is important even just in the dry sweeping realm. But for robot mops, this is exactly the feature that will keep your carpets from getting soggy. Most hybrids automatically start to mop once their water tank is attached, but only the smarter ones know to pause the water flow and lift their wet cloth above the carpet. Bots that remember your rooms or follow virtual boundaries can also be programmed to avoid carpeted areas while mopping altogether.

Mopping with movement and force: The best robot vacuum and mops may not scrub with as much "oomph" as your own two hands, but they can tackle shoe prints or water marks better than those that just lightly put wet cloth to floor. While most 2-in-1 models can successfully wipe up a fresh juice or wine spill, a mopping mechanism like Roborock's sonic mopping or iRobot's SmartScrub technology actually exerts force in tandem with rapid back-and-forth movement to penetrate stubborn dried stains and render the most noticeable results on hard floors.

Smart mapping: A robot vacuum's navigation tech decides how accurately it can remember your home's layout (if at all). Currently, the golden standard for smart mapping is LiDAR: A laser that scans different points in your home to determine where walls are. On the other hand, there's also VSLAM technology — which instead uses cameras for mapping and navigation. The major downside of VSLAM is that it needs light to operate (meaning you won't be able to program your hybrid vac to work while you sleep, like you can with LiDAR navigation).

Once a robot vacuum has made its rounds and gotten its bearings, it creates a floor plan to reference for future cleanings. You'll be able to modify and label rooms as necessary in your robot vacuum's corresponding app, as well as send the botvac to specific rooms.

Virtual boundaries: Most times, the app also provides an option to set up virtual boundaries around smaller areas that you'd like the vacuum to avoid, like a pile of toys or your pet's precious water bowl. This feature is particularly necessary for rugs if your 2-in-1 can't sense floor type. Otherwise, there's nothing stopping your new hybrid from mopping on soft floors.

Dust bin size and self-emptying: If you’re living in a condo, apartment, or other small space, you probably won’t need a massive vacuum reservoir. If you’re hoping to cover an entire house, you’ll want to look for something that won’t have to be emptied out after every single cleaning session. A self-emptying vacuum will come in clutch here, as it automatically empties its debris into a dock and lets you off the hook for a month or two.

Battery life: A 90 to 100-minute battery life should be sufficient to cover an apartment in one charge, or if most of your cleaning will be done on a room-by-room basis. Battery life of 170 to over 200 minutes isn't hard to find and would be ideal for square footage above 1,500. Even the cheapest robot vacuums nowadays should recharge on their own and automatically resume cleaning, meaning you won't have to pick them up and escort them back to base.

2-in-1 robot vacuums (aka hybrids or combo models) aren't to be confused with dedicated robot mops like iRobot's Braava Jet, which is often sold in a bundle with a legit Roomba. Rather, true hybrids are robot vacuums with a water resovoir and mopping pad attached somewhere. Some mop more intensely than others, but the bottom line is the same: They vacuum identically to their non-mopping counterparts, but also dispense water to wipe hard floors.

Leah Stodart

Senior Shopping Reporter

Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.

Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].

Stacia Datskovska

Mashable Shopping Intern

Stacia Datskovska is an NYU journalism major (graduating this December). Her work has appeared in USA Today, Boston Globe, Teen Vogue, HuffPost, Bustle, and more. When she's not writing something or other, Stacia can be spotted crying over poetry, making a home-cooked meal, or walking on an NYC pier. For her more half-baked thoughts: @staciadats on Twitter.