2 robot vacuums to avoid

Bryan Wall is the Consumer NZ robot vacuum expert. We asked him which machines he thinks are most likely to leave you wishing you’d made a different choice.

Here are the 2 worst robot vacuums that immediately came to mind.

1. MyGenie XSonic Robotic Vacuum

A lot of robot vacs do badly in our carpet test. The test involves sprinkling sand onto a section of carpet and then weighing the amount of sand each model manages to pick up.

But this MyGenie robot vacuum is so terrible that it scored just 4 out of 100 for this part of the test.

It also did a poor job of removing pet hair, cleaning around corners and along edges, and mopping. It was good on hard floors – but most robot vacs are.

“A mapping function is pretty standard on robot vacs these days. A mapping app lets you tell the robot to just go and clean a specific part of the house,” Bryan says. “But the MyGenie didn’t have one.”

It has the lowest overall score – just 42 out of 100 – out of all the robot vacs in our test results.

This robot vacuum is often on sale at Briscoes – it was only $240 a couple of weeks back. We say:

Don’t be tempted by the low price.

If you’re a Consumer NZ member, our test results will show you a robot vac at The Warehouse we recommend that’s nearly as cheap.

2. Eufy Robovac X10 Pro Omni

Other robot vacs scored lower than this Eufy in our test results, but this one stood out because it’s so expensive compared with its performance – even when it’s on sale. Its usual price is above $2,000, but you sometimes see it on sale for around $1,300 at PB Tech, Noel Leeming and JB Hi-Fi.

As we always say though, a high price doesn’t mean a good performer; and a sale price doesn’t mean a bargain.

The Eufy got 10 out of 100 for carpet cleaning – only the MyGenie mentioned above got a lower score.

If you’ve got rugs, you’ll also want to avoid using this robot vac. It struggles to move up onto them. We had some small rugs that it just pushed around the floor, and it got tangled up in the tassels on one.