I test vacuums for a living — these are the 5 best robovacs I'd recommend for Aussies right now

No matter the type of floor you have at home, the DJI Romo P will put its 25,000Pa of suction to good use and suck up all kinds of dirt and debris effectively. In our tests, our reviewer was so impressed with its vacuuming that it gave the Romo P a sub-score of 4.5 stars out of 5 just for its cleaning, saying he was "exceedingly impressed" by its day-to-day functionality.

Unlike many other robot vacuums these days, the Romo P has twin spinning outer brushes, both of which automatically adjust speed to avoid scattering debris around, so it does a better job of guiding dirt into its onboard bin compared to a single side brush.

While it would need to be on a Max suction setting for effective carpet cleaning — same as any other robovac — you can conserve battery by opting for a lower suction on hard floors and yet get a clean surface.

Mopping is also effective, pretty much on par with other premium models like it. As our reviewer succinctly put it, "If you set a series of regular mopping schedules, it will keep on top of daily grime and light stains and leave the floor looking relatively shiny and clean. But don’t expect miracles from any of these robot mopping bots because you would be better served by using a little elbow grease with a simple mop and bucket or grabbing a dedicated cordless mopping machine and letting it do the hard work for you."

The spinning dual mop pads on this machine drag over a floor, so you won't get the scrubbing motion that a manual mop would, and pads aren't as effective as wet rollers, but the Romo P is still a good cleaner as long as you don't expect it to mop up dark soy sauce from your kitchen floor.

Most premium robovacs require minimal human intervention and the DJI Romo P is no exception. Its base station suction, with its distinctive see-through looks, is excellent and you'll find only the barest of fine dust coating the inside of the onboard dustbin after a clean.

The base station is compact, which means it uses a slightly smaller 2.4L dust bag compared to 3L in other premium models, but if you don't have pets, you may only need to change it out once every couple of months. If you do have pets, however, the smaller dust bag will fill up quickly and, if you don't keep on top of it, you might find a blockage in the dock that you may need to clean your manually. This is something Roborock handles better than DJI, but I still think the Romo P has a fabulous dock that would suit the average household.

From a design perspective, there is nothing like the DJI Romo P. It would look just at home on the Millennium Falcon as it would in any modern home, thanks to its see-through design, something pioneered by phone maker Nothing. And it's not just the dock that has this futuristic look, even the bot is designed to match. While I think it's fabulous, not everyone will appreciate its curvy dock. Perhaps you like clean lines instead.

No matter what your design aesthetic is, the DJI Romo P is unique. And it's packed to the rafters with plenty of sensors that make its navigation and obstacle avoidance the best in the industry at the time of writing. I also appreciate that it features two side brushes compared to just the one on several of its competitors.

There is a camera on board here, so you might be concerned about privacy issues, but it can still aid in basic home security while you're away. It gives you a good low-angle look and you can control its movements via the DJI Home app remotely which, by the way, is one of the best robovacs apps we've tried, second only to Roborock.

Not only has DJI used its obstacle avoidance knowledge in its debut robovac, but we suspect it's even harnessed what it knows about batteries to give the Romo P excellent runtime.

Even on Max suction and a Fine cleaning route — so it doesn't miss any spot on the floor, cleaning in a checkerboard manner — it was able to run well over an hour and still have a little juice left when our reviewer tested it. That's quite impressive given other robovacs in similar settings will typically struggle to clean more than 50 minutes before requiring time at the mains.

Perhaps the standout spec for the Aqua10 Ultra is its listed suction power of 30,000Pa. Now, as impressive as that sounds, it doesn't always translate in real-world use but this robot vacuum comes close.

The biggest test I could perform to test its vacuuming capabilities was seeing how well it sucked up entangled hair from within fibres of a mid-pile carpet and the Aqua10 Ultra handles that quite well. I will admit that if you have a pet that sheds a lot, the robot will struggle to clean up everything, but its pickup rate of 98% to 99% is better than anything I've experienced with other robovacs on its maximum suction setting. And if you only have hard floors, even lower suction is usually enough.

What I also like about this machine while its vacuuming is it automatically raises its small side brush when it detects certain kinds of debris, like rice or oats, to avoid scattering particles.

It even takes mopping to new heights, with the roller featuring its own slim cover that automatically triggers when the bot senses a carpet, so not even the tiniest amount of moisture transfers. And when it comes to cleaning up stains, the roller does use some pressure to mop and, like the Deebot above, it cleans a spot repeatedly if it senses more dirt. This may look like its navigation is unreliable, but that's not the case at all – it's highly reliable.

You'll need to clean out the dirt water regularly and refill the clean, but like all other premium robovacs, the Aqua10 Ultra's base station requires minimal intervention. Its standout feature is the hot-air drying of the dust bag as well, which means this is a rare robovac that can vacuum over a little moisture on the floor – I still wouldn't send it (or any robot vacuum) to clean a wet spill in the vacuum-and-mop mode.

The detergent dispenser here has two compartments – one for detergent and one for pet odour neutraliser. In fact, a bottle of each is shipped in the box and you can buy more later, although use of either is optional.

I also appreciate that Dreame ships a long-handled brush in the box with this machine that is used to clean the wash tray once every month or so. In fact, I've even used it to clean out the scum from the dirty-water tank as well.

The one thing this Dreame doesn't do as well as the Deebot X8 Pro Omni listed above is dry out the roller mop as well. I've occasionally found it still a little damp after hours of air drying, but I've never noticed any bad odours or mould growing on the mop. If you do find this is happening regularly, there are multiple drying options and you can set one that best suits your cleaning needs.

I am personally a big fan of the overall design aesthetic of the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra – there's something Mid-Century about it and resembles Marshall speakers in some ways. In Australia, the only colour of this model is black, but its gold accents lend it some class. Clean lines and sharp corners mean it fits into any home's decor too.

The robot has a moving LDS puck that descends when it detects low-lying furniture or when charging. A light ring around the circumference of the puck lights up when charging too. It's a very neat design, robot and dock both.

It doesn't skimp on features either, and I've already mentioned a few – high suction, air-drying for the dust bag, and cover for the mop, with the last two being unique to it. There's also a voice assistant that you'll hear often enough and responds well to some basic commands for cleaning functions.

The app is one of the better-looking ones where robot vacuums are concerned, but it sure can get a little complicated with some setting options hidden away. The app gives you access to all the features you need, but it requires a learning curve to master – I think the app could be better streamlined, but that's a personal niggle.

The battery life here is quite standard for premium robovacs, promising over 200 minutes on a single charge but, again, this will vary depending on what suction and mop settings you use for cleaning.

However, the way the Dreame uses its battery isn't the most efficient. As soon as you begin a clean, the vacuum suction kicks in as soon as it exits the base station. So by the time the bot gets to its starting point, it could have easily dropped 1% to 2%. This won't affect use in smaller one- or two-bedroom homes, but this loss will affect larger spaces.

Topping up takes a few hours, but it's intelligent enough to know just how much it needs to finish an incomplete job and will pick up where it left off efficiently enough.

Like many robovacs, the Xiaomi X20+ has four suction settings, but don't expect it match the likes of the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra listed above. Still, its 6,000mAh of suction does very well on hard floors. Our reviewer conducted some of our standard tests and found its 'Strong' setting vacuumed wood floors very well.

On carpets, however, the X20+ needed a couple of passes to get it clean on the strongest setting. It will struggle if you are a pet owner with carpets and rugs, but it should still be able to clean fur and hair from hard floors easily. Keep in mind that for slightly larger debris, you will notice some scattering.

There are three waterflow levels when mopping and the traditional dual rotating mops do quite well. However, our reviewer found that the X20+ can't always distinguish between hard floor and thin rug, so you may want to remove those from its path when it's mopping as the pads won't necessarily rise up.

While its navigation is fine, its obstacle avoidance isn't as good as newer and more expensive models.

While our reviewer wasn't enthused by the design of the base station, its performance was another matter – it was impressive. It's a comparatively basic model, and yet it houses a 2.5L dust bag to automatically empty the onboard bin. It can also wash the mop after every session and dry the pads with warm air.

What's not basic about the Xiaomi's dock is the water-tank capacity – it's 4L for both dirty and clean, which is one on the larger side for a budget model. There's also a self-cleaning cycle to clean the base of the dock, but you will need to give it a little scrubbing with a brush to remove any gunk from the mop pads. The dirty water from this self-clean cycle gets automatically pumped into the dirty-water tank, a feature that's usually found in higher-end models like the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra.

As I've already mentioned, the Xiaomi X20+ is a very basic robovac, so don't expect a lot of bells and whistles here. In fact, other that its ability to vacuum, mop and clean itself, there's not much else here in terms of features, but you can still schedule cleans and choose suction and waterflow rates.

Even from a design perspective, there's not a whole lot to talk about, but our reviewer wasn't a fan of the base station's bulk. That comes from the 4L water tanks for the most part, but there aren't any design elements to make it stand out in a crowded market.

So while there's not a lot to talk about here, it has everything it needs to its job with minimal human intervention.

The X20+ houses a 5,200mAh battery that's rated for a maximum 140 minutes runtime. That's not bad for the price point, but again, I should iterate that, in real-world use, you'll get a lot less than that.

I would recommend this machine for a smaller home because the battery also takes a very long time to top up – up to 6.5 hours.

If there's one thing robot vacuums aren't is consistent — there'll be days when it does well and at other days you might find it's missing spots. Not so with the Roborock Saros 20. Our reviewer found it to be very consistent day after day on both carpet and hard flooring. And even though it was cleaning copious amounts of pet hair, there was no clogging during self-empty.

While it needs a slightly higher suction setting to tackle finer particles, it handles larger debris easily with minimal scattering. And, if you don't need it mop and opt for a vacuum-only run, it will drop its mop pads in the dock.

When you do need it to mop, it does a decent job, although I should note that dual spinning mops aren't as effective at cleaning viscous, sticky messes compared to roller mops. Despite that, our reviewer says it "did a stellar job", leaving tiles free of marks and streaks. The Saros 20 also reliably avoided mopping thin rugs, while reaching out to mop along room edges consistently.

Like many premium robovacs, the Saros 20's dock is impressive, effectively washing the mop pads even after they've cleaned sticky messes, with our reviewer saying "they looked (and smelled) good as new".

There's a soap dispenser in the dock and you can set to automatically add detergent to the mop water and, like the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra listed above, it uses hot air to dry out the dust bag as well to prevent bacterial and fungal growth. This process, however, will emit a low hum that you will need to get used to.

I was a big fan of the Roborock Saros 10 series design and I'm glad the brand hasn't changed things too much in the Saros 20. It's still a smart-looking machine with a slim robot that doesn't have the LiDAR puck, so it can roll under some furniture for cleaning. That's because Roborock uses a proprietary navigation technology called StarSight rather than LiDAR.

The headline act here is the AdaptiLift Chassis that raises the bot up to traverse high thresholds. This also allows it to get the bot to lift itself out when it gets stuck, and helps it roll smoothly over thick carpets.

The robot can also assess the depth of the carpet or rug in front of it, and elevate itself to one of a selection of preset heights, where it will hover as it cleans. This theoretically means an efficient clean without the risk of getting bogged down in the fibres. It's suitable for pile up to 3cm.

Object recognition has been improved for the Saros 20, with Roborock promising recognition of over 200 common object types, as small as 2cm in height or width.

A 6,400mAh battery is quite standard in premium models, and that's what you'll find here as well. While our reviewer neglected to mention how long the Saros 20 can run on a single charge, I can make some educated estimates based on the Saros 10 series and other bots using the same battery capacity.

Roborock says this should give you up to 180 minutes of use in Quiet mode but, in real-world use, that will around the 160-minute mark in the same mode, but it depends on how much clutter the bot will need to go around. On higher suction settings, you're likely to get between 50 to 70 minutes, again depending on how much cleaning and navigation the robot has to perform.

The standout here is that Roborock says the machine has fast charging abilities, so you could see a fully drained battery top up in about 2.5 hours.

There's a very specific cleaning option to avoid pet poop, the X50 Ultra would be a fabulous option for pet owners. That said, our testing found that this mode was 95% accurate, leaving a little bit to chance, although this shouldn't be a major problem if your furry friend is house trained.

What the X50 Ultra does excel at is cleaning up fur and pet dander. It's max suction may no longer be industry leading, but it's plenty to clean up carpets just as well as it does hard floors. And if you home has mixed flooring, it shouldn't be a problem at all as the X50 Ultra will detect the changes automatically and adjust suction power accordingly. Dirt detection will also do the same.

The mop pads will automatically rise when carpets are detected, so you don't need to worry about them getting damp or wet, and mopping itself was "thorough" and "impressive", according to our reviewer. The robovac was tested on sticky, dry and wet spills, with our reviewer claiming it "cleaned each with ease", although streaks were left behind on some occasions.

Equally impressive is its edge cleaning as both the side brush and the mop pads extend out.

The X50 Ultra is one of the few robot vacuums I know that uses UV light to disinfect its mops. So along with self-emptying the bin, and washing and drying the mops, there are dual UV lamps in the base station that target the mop pads and the dust bag to prevent bacterial growth. Everything else about the base station is what you'd expect from a premium model, offering a low-maintenance experience.

One thing to note, however (and this is not a base station issue), the robot itself might need a little manual maintenance as our reviewer found that hair can get tangled around the side brush and will require regular cleaning.

As I've already mentioned, the X50 Ultra was one of the first robovacs to popular raising the bot to climb over high thresholds. It has little legs under the chassis that unfold to a maximum height of 6cm to ensure as much floor coverage as possible. Don't expect it to climb stairs though.

Like many robot vacuums available now, the X50 Ultra also features a retractible navigation puck, so it can crawl under low-lying furniture but it's not the slimmest droid available today (Roborock takes that crown with the Saros series).

Speaking of navigation: the X50 Ultra does that very reliably, but it can stumble when it comes to obstacle avoidance. Our reviewer found that while it is quite good at recognising and avoiding some things in its path, it's not 100%.

This is the only complaint our reviewer had with the X50 Ultra — the battery drains rather quickly. While Dreame claims it can run for up to 200 minutes (on the lowest settings of course), real-world use will give you an average of 90 minutes of just vacuuming. That is enough for many homes, but if you are setting it to do multiple cleaning (like 2x vacuum or 2x mopping), you'll likely be disappointed.

The X50 Ultra will, of course, return to the dock to charge and then get on with the rest of the cleaning once there's enough juice, but there's no fast-charging here and our reviewer found it can take about 4.5 hours to top up from empty.