Robotic vacuums vs. stick vacuums: Purchasing recommendation from somebody who has each

Desk of Contents

Figuring out whether or not you should purchase a stick vacuum or a robotic vacuum requires greater than a surface-level comparability of suction energy or battery life. It entails a chilly, exhausting look within the mirror and a few introspection: How usually would you realistically do the cleansing your self?

Elements like the scale of your house and whether or not you could have pets do matter, after all. However the stick vacuum vs. robotic vacuum dialog actually comes right down to how choosy you’re about cleanliness and whether or not or not you care sufficient to make sure the vacuuming job is completed completely by doing it manually. I’ve each sorts of vacuums in my condo, and have examined dozens of fashions of every selection over the previous few years. I am breaking down the professionals and cons of every under.

The case for a robotic vacuum

The iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Roborock Saros 10.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

“The only way my house is going to get vacuumed every day is if a robot does it.” I’ve heard that sentiment from a couple of individual once they ask me for a vacuum suggestion. If that resonates, it is best to undoubtedly select a robotic vacuum.

It is also a lot simpler to discover a robotic vacuum that mops than a stick vacuum that mops. Is the scrubbing as thorough as what you might be able to do with a handbook mop? No, however automated mopping is extra sanitary than forgetting to mop your flooring for months on finish. My favourite robotic vacuum of 2025, the Roborock Saros 10R, is definitely actually good at mopping in corners, too.

Robotic vacuums are sometimes much less work to keep up as properly. It is extra frequent than not for robotic vacuums to auto-empty these days. Self-emptying robotic vacuums take care of their very own dustbins for a number of weeks (up to some months) at a time. Many mopping robotic vacuums can even refill their very own water tanks and wash and dry their very own mopping pads after every use. Mother and father or of us with busy schedules would most likely admire the flexibility to set a robotic vac to scrub earlier than they even get residence, even when the clear is not 100% as meticulous as a human wielding a cordless vacuum.

The Roborock Saros 10R.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Roborock Saros 10’s water tanks.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Some robotic vacuums take automation additional with options like small impediment avoidance and livestream pet cameras. These take the hands-off-ness of all of it up a notch — you are much less prone to come residence to a robotic vacuum caught on a sucked-up sock, or can test in in your pets if you’re not residence. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand that you would be paying much more to maintain your robotic vacuum out of bother than you’d should you had been merely the one at residence cleansing. Essentially the most superior robotic vacuums are typically far more costly than essentially the most superior stick vacuums, costing between a number of hundred to even $1,000 or extra for full automation.

The case for a stick vacuum

The Shark PowerDetect.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Dyson V12 Detect Slim (in handheld mode).
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Nobody can argue with the truth that people are simply smarter cleaners than robotic vacuums. We are able to visualize the spots that must be cleaned extra scrupulously than a robotic vacuum can, and sneak stick vacuums into tight spots that even the neatest robotic vacuums cannot determine. There’s numerous furnishings that is too low clearance for even the slimmest robotic vacuums. The two.85-inch Roborock Saros 10R that I like cannot clear underneath my dresser or nightstand, however my Dyson V12 Detect Slim can.

Bodily talking, there are additionally a ton of spots the place robotic vacuums fairly actually can’t clear, like furnishings, staircases, ceiling corners, or automobile seats. When you have pets that hang around on (and shed on) your sofa or mattress, a stick vacuum that converts right into a handheld is essential.

The Dyson laser reveals precisely the place you could clear.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

A robotic vacuum could not match underneath my dresser.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Suction power-wise, it is true that upright stick vacuums are typically extra highly effective than robotic vacuums. I imply, there may very well be an occasion the place a extremely high-end robotic vacuum with 22,000 Pa suction is extra highly effective than an inexpensive stick vacuum. However on the whole, should you’re evaluating fashions at related worth factors, the cordless stick vacuum might be going to have higher suction. Some Dysons, particularly, additionally improve cleansing thoroughness with a laser that illuminates microscopic mud or hair that you just would not have seen in any other case. My mind chemistry was altered after I first skilled the laser on my Dyson V12 Detect Slim, and I’ve by no means been in a position to return.

A number of years in the past, should you actually needed a vacuum that might empty itself, you would be fairly firmly in robotic vacuum territory. However now there are a ton of self-emptying cordless stick vacuums — I can not cease recommending the $549.99 Shark PowerDetect to individuals. Every time I grasp it again up after cleansing, it mechanically sucks the contents of its mud bin into the dock it prices on. Meaning I begin each new cleansing session with an empty mud bin, and may actually see how a lot cat hair is coming off of the rug in a single particular room. Dyson is the one important cordless vacuum model that does not make a self-emptying vacuum but.

Relying on the storage scenario in your house, a stick vacuum is likely to be awkward to maintain out of sight. For instance, should you stay in an condo with restricted closet area, storing a stick vacuum may very well be a ache. You’d both should drill holes to hold it on the wall, shove it underneath a sofa, or let it lean within the nook full time.

The case for getting each

However the reply I actually wish to give right here might be essentially the most annoying one: As a substitute of selecting between a robotic vacuum or a stick vacuum, simply get each.

That feels like a extremely costly, actually further answer on its face. However it would not should be. As an instance your price range was between $500 and $600 — a quite common worth level for lots of mid-range vacuums of the robotic and stick selection. As a substitute of going all in on one sort of vacuum, you could possibly be strategic and purchase a $300 model of every (I’ve examined a ton of good, low cost robotic vacuums, and Shark has a number of stable, inexpensive cordless vacuums). That means, you are securing hands-free gentle repairs on a day-to-day foundation, however have the choice to do a extra detailed handbook cleansing when you could have time.

(Splitting the fee will not precisely work should you’re not attempting to spend greater than, say, $200. In that case, discuss with my arguments above.)

I additionally suppose there’s an actual future for vacuums that are each. The inexpensive Eufy E20 3-in-1 is a robotic vacuum that turns right into a stick vacuum (a reasonably highly effective one at that), and that is precisely why it is my choose for the most underrated vacuum of 2025 to date. I am satisfied that sensible versatility like that’s shortly going to show extra beneficial to the common individual than tremendous high-tech vacuum ideas just like the $2,599 Roborock robotic vacuum with a robotic arm… that misses half the time.