For that budget, vacuum only. And honestly even they might not handle the shaggy rug. Most robots can't.
If you're okay with vacuuming the rug by hand, and basically creating a no-go zone around it in the robot app to stop them getting stuck, a roborock q series vacuum-only model might be decent.
Unfortunately it's all in the market pressures, certain sets of requirements or categories of robots have been totally eliminated. For example it's really hard to find much choice of robot mops, everybody has switched to making combination all-in-one robots which are much more expensive. It can be really frustrating.
What I will say, avoid models with AI obstacle avoidance camera systems mounted on the front bumper. This should help limit privacy concerns. A lidar sensor can give a basic layout of your house and furniture placement but it can't really see details, it's basically a 2-D image. Edit: obviously all images are 2-D lol. What I meant is, it's only seeing your house through a really thin laser beam shining out from the top "turret". This means it can see shapes on that line of sight and nothing else, basically it doesn't steer that laser up or down. It can't see details of people, pets, objects not at floor level etc. It'll see four furniture legs, with no way to tell if it's a sofa or a dining table.
Obviously having a literal camera is a totally different story there. And luckily a lot of the more basic options lack cameras (for now anyway).
Models like the eufy L60 or Roborock Q5 might be ones to look at.
Join the r/RobotVacuums subreddit for great info! It’s generally agreed that Roomba and Shark are pretty low quality, while brands like Roborock, Dreame, and Eufy are very well liked.
There is such a wide range of features and price points. We got an older, more basic model to start out with (a Roborock- only vacuum, no mopping- was on sale for less than $150 last year) and I love it. The reservoir has to be emptied every day or two since it doesn’t have the self emptying feature, but it still saves me a ton of time with 2 big dogs and kids in the house. We definitely plan to upgrade in the future to one that has self emptying and mopping features!
We also have a Roborock (Q5S?) and 3 labs. I agree with the previous poster- it’s better than nothing. It picks up a lot of hair but leaves big clumps in its wake. Those aren’t hard to whisk up. The mopping is my favourite feature, especially around the water and food bowls. Is it as good as the Miele canister? Not even close.
When my roborock Q5 broke down (after 3+ years of daily cleaning), I searched around and found the Tapo RV30 max plus for only $180 on Amazon. It got some great you tube reviews plus it was recommended by Wirecutter and had got a PC Editors Choice award.. I bought it last week and it works great; well the mopping isnt that good but the vacuuming is better than my old roborock. The only downside is that it takes a long time to recharge so when it docks in mid-cycle its a few hours before it resumes. But anyway for the price I don't think you can beat it.
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