The best robot vacuums for tile floors are bathroom-cleaning champs
Overview
Table of Contents
The room where you eat and the room where you bathe should arguably have the cleanest floors in the house. No one would blame you for preferring that they get more regular attention. No one would blame you for not wanting to be the one to do that daily cleaning, either.
Hiring a robot vacuum to take care of those floors is a game changer. While hard floors are generally the easiest job for a robot vacuum of any price compared to combing carpet, there are a few features that can really make that tile sparkle.
After testing out bots from iRobot, Shark, Roborock, and other top smart home brands, here are our picks for the best robot vacuums for tile floors in 2024:
Mashable's shopping team has tested dozens of robot vacuums, including the latest options from iRobot, Roborock, Shark, Yeedi, Ecovacs, and others. For shopping guides like this, we've put our favorite robot vacuum cleaners through extensive cleaning tests on multiple floor types: tile floors, hardwood and laminate, and carpets. Our tests showed that hybrid robot vacuums and mops are the most effective cleaners for tile, as they can make light stains and streaks disappear.
Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1
Best hybrid with room mapping under $500
The Good & The Bad
- Affordable for a LiDAR-equipped hybrid with advanced mopping
- Sonic scrubbing vibrates 1,000 times per minute
- Matrix Cleaning goes over extra soiled spots from multiple angles
- Includes a bottle of Shark's cleaning solution
- Requires manual rug verification run to avoid mopping rugs
- LiDAR still makes odd navigational choices
Why We Like It
Read our full review of the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1.
Why we picked this:
Shark wasn't a competitive player in the hybrid game until the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 hit the market in the winter of 2022. It's essentially Shark's smartest LiDAR vacuum outfitted with Shark's new Matrix system, which specializes in spot cleaning. During regular vacuuming, it delivers 30% better carpet cleaning (compared to the older RV Shark models) by digging deeper into carpet and taking multiple passes in a crosshatch pattern to loosen and grab debris from multiple angles. "Matrix" also applies to the AI Ultra's mopping, which vibrates 100 times per minute to scrub stains.
Who it's for:
We suggest the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 if your main concern with a robot mop is whether it actually scrubs (versus pulling a wet cloth around) and can be sent to specific rooms in a map on command. The AI Ultra 2-in-1 will be particularly appealing to anyone who doesn't want to spend more than $500. During shopping events like Black Friday, retailers will often mark down this popular hybrid to just $250.
The AI Ultra 2-in-1 is probably 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.
Details
iRobot Roomba Combo j9+
Best for mopping dried-on stains
The Good & The Bad
- New auto-empty dock also auto-fills mopping tank
- Scrubs with force
- Great obstacle and carpet perception during wet and dry cleaning
- Can clean with nearly any cleaning solution
- Strongest suction of any Roomba
- Dock doubles as a full-time side table
- Really expensive (but understandably so)
- Other similarly-priced robot vacs wash and dry their own mopping pads
Why we picked this:
iRobot further built on its legacy in Sept. 2023 when it debuted the all-new j9 series. The Roomba Combo j9+ finally combines the best features of the older high-end Roombas, like the obstacle-avoiding prowess of the j7+, the retractable mop of the Roomba Combo j7+, and the carpet-combing suction power of the Roomba s9+. For hard floors like tile specifically, iRobot's new SmartScrub technique forcefully pushes the mop back and forth to eat at stubborn dried stains like water marks or mystery kitchen residue. It's also one of the only hybrids that can mop with the cleaning solution of your choice.
The new dock is bigger because it's holding not only an auto-empty compartment for vacuuming, but a separate water tank that automatically refills the smaller tank on the vac itself for 30 days at a time. (This relieves the one major downfall of the older Combo j7+.) Potentially redeeming the size factor is the fact that it can double as a full-time side table: Maintenance like tank refilling can be done through a door on the front of the dock instead of the top, which features a modern wood design.
Who it's for:
Truthfully, the Roomba Combo j9+ will be overkill for a lot of households. However, if you wouldn't consider your tile or other hardwood barefoot ready if it were only mopped with water and zero elbow grease, you might be down to make the investment on a $1,399.99 robot vacuum. This will be particularly true in large homes with several tiled rooms that would take forever to manually mop yourself, or tiled spaces with several rugs and bath mats that a robot vacuum needs to be able to work around.
Details
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Most self-sufficient mopping
The Good & The Bad
- Improved high-speed, pressurized mopping system
- Washes and dries its own mopping pads
- Empties its own dust bin and water tank
- New dual brush picks up 30% more pet hair than previous model
- Amazing battery life
- Dock takes up a lot of room
- Most expensive hybrid on the market
Why we picked this:
Roborock takes autonomous care of your hardwood floors past just the mopping itself. Its latest flagship hybrid, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, empties its own dust bin, refills its own water tank (swapping dirty water for clean when necessary), and not only washes, but also dries its own mop pads, correcting the biggest downfall of the older S7 MaxV Ultra. The dock, though still obnoxiously sized, has also undergone a chic redesign to better disguise the triad of water tanks. Boosted suction on carpet is also more intense: 6,000 Pa versus the older model's 5,100 Pa.
Who it's for:
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is ideal for those who want a true hands-off cleaning experience, including not having to touch soggy mopping pads. But as the priciest contender on anyone's list, the S8 Pro Ultra probably isn't a necessary upgrade for small spaces that won't use a ton of mopping water on one round, or anyone who already has the S7 MaxV Ultra.
Details
iRobot Roomba Combo j7+
Next-best mopping Roomba
The Good & The Bad
- Often on sale for under $800
- Precise obstacle and carpet perception during wet and dry cleaning
- Mop doesn't need to be manually attached or removed
- App notices mess patterns and offers cleaning adjustments
- Rubber brushrolls less likely to tangle long hair
- Have to create a zone for spot cleaning
- A bit expensive for lack of self-cleaning mopping pads
- Won't deep clean thick carpet
- Automatic emptying is painfully loud
Why We Like It
Read our full review of the Roomba Combo j7+.
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 — and because it's not the newest 2-in-1 anymore, it's also much cheaper. You can often find it at its new normal sale price of $799, meaning you're still scoring one of the smartest robot vacuums on the market for almost half the price of the $1,399.99 Combo j9+.
iRobot's j Series Combo vacuums have two major claims to fame: PrecisionVision cameras that detect small obstacles that other vacs can't see and a mop that lifts over the vacuum itself to avoid soaking carpet. Compared to the new Combo j9+, the j7+ has less powerful suction power, less forceful scrubbing, and doesn't automatically refill the water tank through its dock. Compared to the cheaper Roomba j6+ that doesn't mop, the j7+ can pinpoint hurdles like socks, towels, and pet bowls on top of cords and pet waste.
Who it's for:
If you've confirmed that you definitely want a Roomba that mops, the next question is whether you'd like to be able to send your Roomba to mop when you're not home. The Combo j7+ is the cheapest Roomba that has the retractable mop on board, meaning you don't need to be home to manually swap out the dry dust bin like you do with the Combo i5. 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.
Details
Yeedi Vac Max
Best cheap hybrid
The Good & The Bad
- Affordable smart mapping and virtual boundaries
- Very quiet on hard floors
- Avoids carpet when mopping
- Lots of customization in the app
- VSLAM mapping isn't as precise as LiDAR, especially at night
- Talks too much
- Sometimes gets lost on its way back to the dock
Why we picked this:
Even without the latest robot vacuum deals, it's not hard to find a cheap robot vacuum that also mops these days. Finding a cheap robot vacuum that mops and maps out your home is harder, however. The Yeedi Vac Max does both, and can perform those mopping duties while its vacuuming rather than requiring its human to be home and manually click on a mopping tank — an underrated convenience that something like the new, similarly-priced Roomba Combo i5 doesn't offer.
Who it's for:
The Yeedi Vac Max is a pretty sweet find for folks who definitely don't want to spend more than $200, but who don't want to have to choose between mopping and mapping to stay within their budget. It's not as autonomous as a model with small obstacle avoidance, laser-powered navigation, or automatic emptying, but patience and willingness to occasionally step in if it gets lost aren't much to ask when a budget model is this packed.
Note: If you are interested in an automatic emptying dock to accompany your Yeedi Vac Max, opt for the Yeedi Vac Station, which is usually on sale for under $300.
Details
Topics Robot Vacuums
Frequently Asked Questions
Any robot vacuum that mops can technically drag a wet cloth across your tile floors. But to ensure the most thorough automated cleaning possible and x-free transitions between mixed floors, rugs, and bath mats, keep these factors in mind:
Floor type sensors: If your home features a lot of transitions from carpet to tile, a robot vacuum that knows the difference is crucial for a streamlined clean. In the dry sweeping realm, this just ensures that carpeting is dealt more intense suction while keeping suction on tile or specific rooms (like the kitchen after dinner) on certain days. This mapping precision also allows you to set up zones that you'd like the bot to avoid, like a pile of toys or your pet's water bowl.
Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers and tests essential home tech like vacuums and TVs, plus eco-friendly hacks. Her ever-evolving 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.
