Certain homeowners may be skeptical of how easily a robot vacuum can handle their thicker, high-pile carpets. That’s a legitimate concern; robot vacuums pack a lot of power for their small size, but they can struggle to clean thick carpet as thoroughly as a traditional vacuum that sports a more powerful motor and larger cleaner head.
But there’s good news: Some robot vacs come with extra suction and other features that can do very well on carpets, even those with high piles. While their batteries may need to be replenished more often as they expend the necessary power, your carpets will stay clean. Here’s what to look for.
Best overall robot vac for high-pile carpets
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra
- Self-emptying, self-cleaning
- Simple setup
- Quiet
- Great mopping performance
- Decent obstacle avoidance
- Lackluster pet hair pickup on carpet
- Large dock
For deeper carpets, suction is especially important to get rid of dust, dander, mites, and anything else unpleasant that may be hiding below the surface. There’s no robot vacuum on the market that can produce suction quite like Roborock’s S7 MaxV Ultra, which tops out at an incredible 5100Pa of suction and is packed with useful smart features.
The vacuum can automatically empty and recharge at its station (an important feature for any modern robot vacuum), sense and avoid new obstacles like extra furniture, and has a set of app features that allow for full control of when and how the bot cleans. It also has a mopping feature for hard flooring, not to mention compatibility with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant. The downside is that it’s also one of the most expensive robot vacs around, so you’ll have to decide if your carpet is worth it.
Best robovac for cleaning high-pile carpet and hard floors
Roborock Q7 Max+
- Mops and vacuums simultaneously
- Powerful 4,200 pa suction
- Lengthy battery life
- Includes a self-emptying dock
- Excellent mapping capabilities with lidar
- No-go zones, virtual walls, and water-flow control
- Minimal included accessories
- No sonic mopping
- The most expensive model in the Q-series
The Q7 Max+ offers a bit of compromise: It’s significantly more affordable that the S7 version and keeps many of the same smart features, but lowers the suction down to 4200Pa — still much more than any of the average robot vacs available. Otherwise, you’re getting many of the same benefits, including an alternative mop mode for cleaning hard floors, voice assistant compatibility, and auto-cleaning and recharging (with up to 180 minutes of run time).
The vac’s app allows you to set schedules, create blocked-off zones to avoid, and performs other useful robot vac abilities. The brush is also designed to avoid hair tangles and may be a good option if you need to routinely clean up pet hair from your carpet.
Best robot vacuum for deep cleaning
iRobot Roomba s9+
- Superb cleaning performance
- Self-emptying dust bin
- Multi-floor smart mapping
- Precise object detection and navigation
- High price
Roombas may not quite be able to reach the suction power of some Roborock models, but they have plenty of smarts and an excellent three-stage cleaning system that’s designed to get carpets as clean as they want. This Roomba can also sense when an area is dirtier or carpet is thicker and turn on a power boost mode for extra cleaning. The design is also good at taking care or corners and edges as it works.
In addition to being able to automatically empty its bin and recharge, the s9+ builds smart maps of every room to plot the best cleaning path, while allowing you to set spot cleaning, no-go zones, and more. Alexa compatibility allows you to issue voice commands to clean up a sudden mess, and the app will even make suggestions about what sort of cleaning schedules to set over time.
Best robot vac that won't break the bank
Yeedi Vac 2
- Great features for a mid-range model
- 3000Pa of suction
- Oscillating mop included
- Auto dustbin emptying
- Lacks cleaning options found on more expensive models
Yeedi’s vac and mop bot combo is an excellent mid-range option that still manages to reach an impressive 3000Pa of suction to help give carpets the deeper cleaning they need. It also has an oscillating mop for hard flooring and can switch between the two when moving from carpet to flooring and back again. Smart mapping and object avoidance allow the vac to identify rooms and plan a cleaning strategy, too.
It’s also impressive that users get auto dustbin emptying at this price, as well as automatic recharging for the robust 240-minute battery. Voice assistant support is included, too. We wish this Yeedi has more options for power boosting and spot cleaning, but it’s still ready to handle thicker carpets.
Best robovac for mid-pile carpets
Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 15C Max
- Affordable
- Boost mode for carpet
- Voice assistant support
- Object avoidance
- No automatic emptying or charging modes
- Not made for the highest pile carpets
This Eufy model isn’t exactly meant for the highest pile carpets; in fact, it directly says that it’s made for mid-pile carpet. But it’s the most affordable model you can find for tackling this job and could be a suitable option for carpets or rugs that are thick, but not too thick. The vac can generate up to 2000Pa of suction and features a useful BoostIQ system that can detect when extra vacuuming strength is needed and increase suction power, which helps save battery life when the bot isn’t on carpet.
The app isn’t packed with the same options of a Roomba, but it still includes important scheduling functions. The bot is smart enough to avoid obstacles or falls down the stairs. It also includes voice assistant support. However, at this price point, you’re not getting a station for automatic bin emptying or recharging, so you’ll have to manage these features yourself with what the 100-minute battery can accomplish.
