IQ Robot Self-Empty® XL

We have hard surface floors here with a runner by the side door. I’ve had two basic roombas both of which ended up “front lawned” ie I pitched them out the front door. I had come to the realization that a robot vacuums only lasted about two years before something catastrophically failed, besides the battery I bought a shark iq RV2520AFCA to replace them on a Boxing Day sale it was marked down about 75%. I had low expectations, I’ve had to replace the battery and for some reason the brush catches in one specific place at the back door and pops off. Besides that and having an issue with a failed firmware update starting it at 2am for a week it’s been solid for a few years.

My Shark XL has been amazing on hardwood with 4 dogs. It maps your house instead of just wandering aimlessly.

we bought a shark self emptying (rv140) a few years ago from lowe’s and it’s been one of the best purchases we’ve made for our house. we have a german shepherd and she sheds all the time. this robot vac has kept up with the dog hair and kept our floors clean for 3 1/2 years now with no issues. we run it daily only on our hardwood floors downstairs. highly recommend.

Looking for some help. Dove into robot vacuums in 2023 with a Shark RV1001AE IQ and while it sold us on the concept of a robot vacuum the model itself leaves a lot to be desired. It just requires to much babysitting and maintenance at this point and I am ready for an upgrade. Some frustrations I am trying to rectify \- If it self empties I want it to actually work. With the shark 1/2 the time i try and start it I get an error and have to pull clumps of hair out of the vacuum to get it to work. Or just go with bags \- An user friendly setup and app experience (shark is terrible with this). I have a map set up but it likes to ignore that. \- ~~No mop function- Not comfortable with my laminate floors being mopped by a machine. We have to do it so infrequently a swifter wet jet and 15 min solves it. Not a problem I'm looking so solve so don't want to pay for that function.~~ Seems like this is just how they come now. So if it has it great I will prob not use it so performance here doesn’t really matter for my decision \- Want to run it at night with lower light and not hear it banging into everything imaginable while I'm trying to sleep (this isn't the biggest deal we can run it during the day but it would be nice) \- Brushes that deal with hair well. Too much time having to de tangle hair our of the brushes. Mostly my wife's hair which is reasonable long House is relatively small with all laminate floors and some area rugs. bout 1400 sq ft. We have a cat and will be getting a dog in the neat future. Budget under 1k but sweet spot is in the $500 area Any help would be awesome

I like my Shark IQ. It's model RV1001AE. Its rollers and mechanism are designed not to get clogged up with fur and hair. It's worked well and hasn't gotten dog fur or hair wrapped around its rollers. It's an old model, but I'm sure that they have current ones designed to work in similar ways. The place that I used it had tile floors and it had previously been occupied by squatters for at least a couple of years. There was an almost endless supply of hair, dog fur, and dust because they hadn't cleaned \*anything\* in that time.

AV2310EDUS with self empty

I have three floors of primarily hard flooring to clean. Sweeping has largely ceased to be a thing due to my robot vac. It does area rugs decently as well. It’s not heavy enough to really get down in the fibers so I pull out the real vacuum every couple weeks and do over the rugs.  I don’t use the damp cloth “wiping” feature because my upper floors are slippery and the robot spins in circles over its own tracks once it has wet the floor. In my basement, my tiles are kind of rough and I don’t think damp wiping would be effective so I don’t use that part either. When it’s time to unleash the robot vac, I do a quick run around for any large enough items or debris that it’s gonna choke on and remove them. I sweep dust and debris out of the corners where the robot wouldn’t fit out onto the main floor. Then I run the bot and come back later to empty. (Usually done before 90 mins) They make ones with vacuum bases that empty themselves. It’s convenient. If you get a vacuum base, get one with washable base filters instead of a vacuum bag that needs replacing after every fill. My friend bought an expensive one that vacuums and mops with spinning pads that self empties, self rinses, and dries its mop pads back on its base with heated water. He seems to like it. His house is all wood-look tile. Unfortunately his has vacuum bags as consumables. I also worry spinning action might swirl some missed grit around on any more delicate flooring. I’ve got a Shark IQ with the self-emptying base(vacuum only),  a secondhand Roomba 890(vacuum only, manual empty every use), and a Yeedi K700 in white and rose gold coloring(he’s pretty). Yeedi has the optional mop bin with the wipe cloth I don’t use. And is manually emptied every use. They make it simple to pass a mop myself after the robot does its run.