It can be difficult to clean up after a shedding pet. While you love your furry friends, their hair and dandruff can quickly accumulate and get stuck in fibers or under furniture and sometimes on the carpet. In this case, a robot vacuum can help reduce some of your cleaning burden by automating the process. It can travel around your house independently and collect pet hair, allowing you to spend more time with your cats or dogs. A robot vacuum can be useful if you’re in middle of seasonal shedding because it can be programmed to clean a room multiple times per day if necessary.
We tested a few more robot vacuum cleaners and have listed our top picks for the best robot vacuums for pets below. These recommendations are based on their ability to clean pet hair from various surfaces, as well as their design and price.
Best Robot Vacuums For Pet Hair
- iRobot Roomba s9+
- Roborock S8+
- Roborock Q5
- iRobot Roomba i7+
- Eufy X8 Pro Robot Vacuum
iRobot Roomba s9+
With a self-emptying base, the Roomba s9+ can clean itself for up to 60 days at a time, sealing debris in a bag — ideal for allergy sufferers. It has powerful pick-up that excels at cleaning pet hair messes, and the app allows for mapping, scheduling, and no-go zones.
Reasons to buy:
- Attractive, premium design
- Mapping was quick and easy
- Easy-to-use mapping controls in app
Reasons to avoid:
- Loud vacuum, loud dustbin
- Very expensive
- Have to buy replacement disposal bags
The s9+ is a pricey robot vacuum, but it will clean up all of your pet’s hair while avoiding poop. It picked up 99% of pet hair on average across carpet and hardwood floors, and it automatically empties its dustbin after each job, eliminating the need to deal with dander allergens. This best-in-class performance, combined with the self-emptying Clean Base, puts it ahead of the competition.
Roborock S8 Pro
Another best robot vacuum for pet hair is the Roborock S8 pro. This robot vacuum is near the top of Roborock’s lineup of robot vacuums and is loaded with features. These include its Reactive 3D hazard detection feature, which allows it to detect and avoid obstacles in real time using a front-facing optical sensor, eliminating the need to ensure your home is completely free of items such as slippers or socks on the ground before allowing it to run.
The vacuum does an excellent job of picking up pet hair on a variety of surfaces, and its twin rubber brushrolls outperform the single roller setup found in the older Roborock S7 MaxV. Both rollers are easily removable, allowing you to remove any tangled hair or dirt and debris that has become stuck. This vacuum also includes Roborock’s ultrasonic mopping system, which effectively removes any dirt or mud that your pet may track in from outside.
Roborock Q5+
If you’re looking for a robot vacuum at an affordable price then the Roborock Q5+ is an excellent option. The Q5 ‘+’ variant includes a self-emptying base station for a significantly lower price than the Roborock S8+.
However, it lacks the higher-end model’s ultrasonic mopping system and real-time hazard avoidance capabilities. Nonetheless, it manages to incorporate many of its more expensive stablemate’s automation features, such as multi-floor mapping and a ‘Smart Recognition’ feature that automatically determines which of its stored maps it is working with. You can also view and customize your home’s 3D representation after it has been mapped out, label specific rooms, and use the ‘Pin n Go’ function to send the vacuum wherever you want.
However, it does a poor job of sealing fine allergens such as pet dander, which can escape through gaps in the top cover. While it does an excellent job of cleaning pet hair on bare floors, it struggles slightly more than its more expensive stablemate when cleaning pet hair on carpeted surfaces. Its bristled roller is also much more tangle-prone than the S8’s easy-to-clean rubber rollers, making routine maintenance more difficult.
iRobot Roomba i7+
The Roomba i7+ is a gentle robot vacuum that carefully circles the dog food bowls in our kitchen. However, it is still effective at cleaning up pet hair, collecting more than 90% during testing. Additionally, it can detect when you leave the house and schedule itself accordingly.
The iRobot Roomba i7+ robot vacuum has a self-emptying base. This dock is loud enough to wake your pet from his mid-morning nap, but it’s also powerful enough to remove all of the dander and hair from your floors. A disposable vacuum bag inside the Clean Base keeps dust and debris at bay until it is time to empty it.
The Wi-Fi-enabled iRobot Roomba i7+ creates accurate maps of your home’s levels and allows you to clean specific areas and avoid certain zones. The iRobot Home app will even make cleaning recommendations based on the season, such as increasing cleaning runs during the spring shedding season. The Roomba i7+, like its more expensive sibling, the Roomba s9+, supports geofenced vacuuming, which means it will start when it detects your phone has left the house. No one wants to miss their cat riding a Roomba, so you can continue the job if you return home before it is finished. On a side note, if you want to see what your robot vacuum is up to while you are away, the Samsung JetBot AI+ provides livestream video.
Aside from the price, gentle navigation is one feature that distinguishes the Roomba i7+ from the Roomba s9+. During my tests, I noticed that the vacuum barely disturbed the dog food bowls in my kitchen as it cleaned around them. The Roomba s9+ was slightly more aggressive, pushing the mat and bowls out of their usual position.
However, the s9+ was more effective at picking up pet hair (98% vs 90.5% on average), indicating that each has advantages and disadvantages.
Eufy X8 Pro Robot Vacuum
The Eufy X8 Pro is a mid-range two-in-one machine that did an excellent job of cleaning my carpets and rugs. The Dual TurboCyclone Suction has four different settings, and when combined with the BoostIQ, the robot intelligently increases the suction when it encounters soft flooring. Pet hair was easily removed, leaving behind beautiful carpet lines in its path.
The X8 Pro features iPath Laser Navigation, which allows it to map your home and clean in efficient rows, but it lacks object detection. If you can live with picking up your floors before the X8 Pro starts, you’ll be pleased with its cleaning abilities.