There are caveats, though. Robovacs can't deal with stairs, so their usefulness in multi-floor homes is far more limited. They're also not capable of proper deep cleans, so if you're dealing with lots of hair or dirt, they might not cut it.

This combo vac-and-mop performs very well on both hard floor and carpet, and it's nice and easy to use thanks to a very well-designed app. It also takes care of emptying itself, meaning less intervention is required from you.

We'll also look at how the robot tackles the issue of switching between vacuuming and mopping – will it reliably detect floor type, and pick up its mop pad when moving from hard floor onto carpet, for example?

Most robovacs fling large debris about the room rather than vacuuming it up, so this is very impressive. Another area where many robovacs fail is on cleaning around the edges and into the corners of rooms. Again, the Freo X Ultra shines here: the side brushes get right up to the edges of rooms.

While upright and canister vacuums are better at deep-cleaning hardwood and carpets, a robot vacuum—often controlled by a smartphone app—can be useful for regular touch-ups.

It's not perfect. Our tester found it struggled to follow more specific commands. However, it works fine if you Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners just set it to clean your whole space in the most thorough way possible, so if that's your main plan for it, then it's still a solid recommendation.

If the robot vacuum has a mop function, we see how it copes with fresh liquid spillages as well as dried-on, sticky messes.

That might feel like overkill, but if you're planning to use the L40 Ultra regularly then it's going to save you a significant amount of time and effort.

After at least two weeks of testing, we consolidate our findings and use them to judge who (if anyone) we'd recommend the robot vacuum to. We also compare the features and build quality to the price, to assess if the robot vacuum is good value for money.

Plus, when the battery is running low, the vacuum returns to its charging base, empties into a sealed large-capacity bag for mess-free disposal and resumes cleaning where it left off.

This is so that it has adequate space to start cleaning and dock on re-entry, without any furniture getting in the way. Don’t forget that it needs access to a power socket as well.

You are looking for a two-in-one option. Most have rotating brushes for efficient floor and rug cleaning, and many convert to or have a hand vacuum on board so it’s like having two vacuums in one. Most come with attachments, like dusting brushes, crevice tools and charging stands for storage.

That's exactly in line with my personal experience – while I can see that my robot vacuum's cleaning power is not as strong as a manual vac, the fact that it allows for regular, basically effort-free vacuuming means it has still had a massive positive impact on my cleaning routine.

Premium, but there are very few alternatives with this roller mop system. Plus you're paying for the comprehensive dock.