The Best Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums for 2024

The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is among the most advanced robotic floor cleaners on the market, with the ability to both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, wash and dry its own mop cloth, and refill its water tank. It even doubles as a roving home security camera with two-way audio and features a built-in voice assistant (dubbed Yiko) that enables voice controls without a separate smart speaker. When its dustbin is full, the X2 Omni empties the contents into a 3-liter dust bag in its base station.

This top-of-the-line model is suitable for those who are willing to pay a premium for convenience. With solid battery life, strong suction power, and AI-powered obstacle avoidance technology, the X2 Omni is an excellent option for large homes, as well as those with pets. The Dreame X30 Ultra offers similar features, but the X2 Omni is our Editors’ Choice because it costs less and performed better in our cleaning tests.

Although most self-emptying robot vacuums transfer the contents of their bin into a bag, the Shark IQ Robot XL takes a different approach. It has two dustbins: one in the robot itself, and a larger one in the base station that you need to empty only about once a month. The advantage of Shark’s bagless auto-empty system is that you never have to worry about running out of bags. Otherwise, it delivered strong suction power in our tests, effectively cleaning dust, debris, and pet hair from hard flooring and carpet, and it never got stuck. 

If you want to upgrade from a basic robot vacuum to one with self-emptying abilities, the Shark IQ Robot XL is an excellent choice. Thanks to its bagless self-emptying system and self-cleaning brush roll, it’s one of the lowest-maintenance models we’ve tested. 

The iRobot Roomba j9+ is one of the smartest standalone robot vacuums you can buy, with a pet waste-evasion guarantee and a self-emptying base that means you rarely have to lift a finger. It uses a built-in camera and machine learning technology to recognize obstacles in its path and automatically route around them. When it docks after a cleaning run, the robot automatically empties its dustbin into an allergen-sealed bag that holds around 60 days of debris, depending on how often you vacuum and the cleanliness of your home. Its self-emptying base is fairly compact and looks classy, with a matte ribbed texture on the canister and a leather pull tab on the lid.

If you have a cluttered home or accident-prone pets, the iRobot Roomba j9+ is the model to buy. It comes with a POOP (Pet Owner Official Promise) guarantee: If the Roomba j9+ fails to avoid solid pet waste within a year of purchase, iRobot will send you a new one for free. Its predecessor, the Roomba j7+, offers the same guarantee and is also worth considering, but the newer j9+ has improved suction power and battery life.

The Dreame X30 Ultra not only empties its own dustbin into a preinstalled 3.2-liter bag, it also washes and dries its mop pads, and even cleans its own base station. It uses 8,300Pa of suction power on carpets and its mop arms can extend 1.57 inches to the side to reach into the corners of your hard floors. It can even remove those mop pads while at the base so it can navigate on higher-pile carpets without getting them wet.

The Dreame X30 Ultra is one of the most expensive robots on this list, and the Deebot X2 Omni did better on our cleaning tests for less. However, if you’re willing to pay a premium for extra self-maintenance, it’s a reliable model well worth considering. Thanks to its ability to remove its own mop pads, it’s especially handy if you want a hybrid mop and vacuum but have medium and high-pile carpets.

This midrange Deebot Ozmo N8 Pro+ 2-in-1 is equally adept at vacuuming and mopping your floors, and it can empty its own dustbin after it completes the job. High-end robot vacuums now tip 18,500Pa of suction, but you don’t necessarily need that much power. Its rating of 2,600Pa is still sufficient for carpeting and pet hair if you let it do multiple passes. In testing, the N8 Pro+’s automatic bin emptying feature worked well, always successfully transferring debris to the bag in the base.

The Ozmo N8 Pro+ is a couple of years old, but it’s still a worthwhile choice, especially because we’ve seen it on sale for around $400. That’s a steal considering the Roomba i3+ EVO costs about the same and lacks mopping support.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ is the first floor-cleaning robot with a fully retractable mop, a feature that allows this pricey 2-in-1 to suction debris and remove grime in a single run without wetting carpets. It supports self-emptying and comes with two Dirt Disposal bags, each of which holds roughly 60 days’ worth of debris assuming normal use.

The Combo j7+ offers the same advanced AI obstacle avoidance technology and poop-evasion guarantee as the standard non-mopping Roomba j7+, so it’s an excellent option for homes with a mix of floor types. Some high-end competitors on this list offer more scrubbing oomph and require less mop maintenance, but the Combo j7+ is a top choice for efficient double-duty cleaning runs. Its successor, the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+, is worth considering as well if you can find it on sale. We like the Combo j7+ better for its value, but the Combo j9+ adds extra suction power and a self-refilling water reservoir.

The Roomba i3+ EVO is iRobot’s most affordable model with a self-emptying dustbin. It offers 10 times the suction power of the entry-level Roomba 600 series and did a good job of removing dirt from hard floors and carpets in testing. When it finds an especially dirty area, it automatically engages Dirt Detect mode and moves over the offending spot multiple times. This model also boasts smart mapping capabilities, so you can send it to specific rooms with phone or voice commands.

The Roomba i3+ EVO is a compelling option if you suffer from allergies because it uses a high-efficiency filter to capture allergens as it cleans, and transfers its bin contents into a bag. One caveat is that the i3+ EVO’s mapping capabilities are limited to a single floor; its pricier siblings can remember multiple floors, a must for multi-level homes. For comparison, the Roomba j9+ boasts more advanced obstacle-avoidance tech and the most suction power in iRobot’s lineup. 

The Shark AI Self-Empty XL offers the same bagless self-emptying system as the Shark IQ XL, just with double the bin capacity. Shark estimates that the large dustbin in its base station can hold up to 60 days worth of dust and debris between manual emptyings. The base station canister traps 99.97% of dust and allergens down to 0.3 microns, complying with HEPA standards according to the company. A transparent window on the right side of the base lets you check the fill level. This model also offers an UltraClean Mode for pet hair and carpeting. In testing, the vacuum delivered strong suction power, effectively collecting dust, debris, and pet hair from hard flooring and carpet.

Shark makes some of the best-performing robot vacuums we’ve tested, but for homes with shedding pets, we recommend this model over the more affordable Shark IQ XL because of its larger bin capacity. We also appreciate the convenience of Shark’s bagless auto-empty system, but allergy sufferers should stick with an option that uses bags to avoid all potential exposure.

The SwitchBot Mini K10+ packs a lot of features into a small frame at a reasonable price. It supports app and voice control, navigates systematically, and maps your home, letting you label rooms for targeted cleaning runs and create Keep Out Zones so it avoids certain areas. Its compact design allows it to thoroughly clean corners and maneuver tight spaces like around furniture. Its self-emptying functionality works well, and it can even do a little mopping.

If your floor plan has many tight spots that need vacuuming, the SwitchBot Mini K10+ is a top choice. It can also give your floors a wet wipe, but it doesn’t actively scrub when mopping. If you have a lot of hard flooring, you might want to consider a 2-in-1 with more effective mopping capability, like the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo N8 Pro+.