Greatest Cyber Monday robot vacuum deals: Get a self-emptying Roomba for under $300

UPDATE: Nov. 28, 2022, 5:30 p.m. EST This story has been updated to reflect the current prices and availability for Cyber Monday’s robot vacuum deals.

Move over, pastel appliances and 4K TVs: Robot vacuums are a pillar of Cyber Monday, too. Deals this good mean that features like specific room mapping and automatic emptying aren’t reserved for upper-echelon Roomba budgets anymore.

Cyber Week is a great time to buy a new robot vacuum, including new all-time-low prices on flagship greatest-sellers like the Roomba j7+. Retailers like Walmart, Greatest Buy, and Target have been dropping Black Friday deals since mid-October, with many robot vacuum models listed with an official “Black Friday price” stamp — and Cyber Monday’s deals are just as good, if not better.

Any deal with a strikethrough is back to full price or sold out, but could reappear in the upcoming weeks. If that happens, we’ll bring it back. Any new deals (including those that have gotten cheaper since our last update) will be marked with a ✨.

Robot vacuums under $200

Why we like it

Our top pick for the cheapest reliable Roomba, the 692 learns your cleaning habits to offer personalized schedules and can start cleaning with just the sound of your voice. iRobot’s suite of sensors allows it to adapt to surface changes well and keep it from eating your low-hanging curtains. Plus, app integration lets you schedule cleanings while you’re away. If you don’t care about tons of bells and whistles, take advantage of Amazon’s discount on this budget Roomba.

• Adaptive navigation

• 90-minute battery life

• Voice integration

More robot vacuums under $200

Robot vacuums under $500

Why we like it

If you have a bumbling robot vac that causes more problems than it’s worth, treat yourself to a vac with demonstrated brain power. Samsung’s Jet Bot receives pretty outstanding reviews for its accurate laser mapping and — surprise — ability to actually find the room or zone you select. Though some energy is also dedicated to automatically adjusting suction to floor type and debris amount, the Jet Bot can clean for an hour and a half before recharging. The colossal 58% discount can still be found at Samsung after the same deal sold out at Amazon.

More robot vacuums under $500

Robot vacuums under $1,000

Why we like it

Even without the mopping functionality just announced for the Combo version of the j7+, the OG j7+ is still a super solid investment — especially when almost 30% off. It was the first Roomba to introduce Genius Technology and PrecisionVision Navigation to avoid small obstacles that were previously problem-causers, like phone chargers and pet waste.

More robot vacuums under $1,000

Robot vacuum and mop hybrids and dedicated robot mops

Why we like it:

If your home has lots of hardwood floors, tile, or laminate, consider opting for the Roborock Q7+ Max over the Q5+. It adds mopping to the menu, simultaneously scrubbing and deploying an intense 4,200 Pa in dry suction — except on carpet, where it knows to lift mopping pads and stop releasing water. At under $600, this is its new all-time-low price.

More hybrids and robot mops on sale

Are robot vacuums worth it?

The control of an upright vacuum comes with its own type of satisfaction. But if you’re not one to classify cleaning as cathartic, a robot vacuum could erase that agonizing task off of your chore list. (And did we mention the joy of always having just-cleaned floors?)

But whether robot vacuums are worth it or not comes with a caveat: It can’t be just any robot vacuum. A cheap robovac that doesn’t do the job right — scattering dust, bumping into walls, getting stuck on area rugs — will actually create more work for you.

What to consider when buying a robot vacuum

• Suction power: A vacuum is the one purchase that you hope sucks a lot. Suction power is typically measured in Pascals (Pa), with most current vacs ranging between 1,500 Pa and 3,000 Pa. Stronger sucking will be needed to pick up heavier pieces of debris (be sure to set a no-go zone around Legos) and to pull matted-down pet hair from rugs.

• Floor type: Carpeting and high pile rugs will probably require stronger suction than hard floors, as well as special features like an extra-wide or self-cleaning brush roll to prevent hair from wrapping and clogging. Folks in homes with multiple floor types might consider a bigger, sturdier robot vacuum that can hurl itself and its wheels over mats, rugs, and transition from carpet to hard floors.

• Automatic emptying: Because robot vacuums are typically under four inches tall, their onboard dust bins are also small — which means they frequently require emptying. (Dustbins fill up particularly quickly in homes with pets.) A self-emptying vacuum takes that job out of your hands, emptying itself into a larger dustbin in its charging dock. These larger bins can typically hold weeks of dirt without needing to be cleaned or dumped out.

• Home layout: Every robot vacuum is equipped with sensors and drop detection. But if your home has lots of rooms, turns, or close-together furniture, you’ll have fewer navigation issues with an advanced model that uses intelligent mapping to remember exactly how your home is laid out, including labeling of specific rooms, mental notes of staircases, and ability to deploy zone cleaning.

• Low-profile furniture: No one should have to be scared about what’s accumulated under their couch over the past year. A robot vacuum measuring three inches or less in height should be able to scoot under most low-hanging couches and beds.

• Battery life and square footage: One of the main complaints people have about their robot vacuum is that it craps out in the middle of the floor. Larger spaces require more time to clean, and it all depends on how annoyed you’ll be if it only finishes a few rooms at a time. Average run times for the models here range between 90 and 200 minutes, which translates to about 500 and 2,800 square feet covered on one charge.

• App control: WiFi-enabled robot vacuums can be synced with a smartphone app to control scheduling, manual start, and cleaning settings, as well as telling your vac to make its rounds when you’re not home. Low-end models that don’t connect to WiFi will usually come with a separate remote. If you’re used to asking Alexa or Google to turn off the lights or tell you the weather, a model with voice integration will blend in nicely.