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.

This isn’t Dyson’s first robot vacuum cleaner but, because the brand is a relative newcomer to the scene, it lags behind the competition with a higher price tag, fewer features and less adept navigation skills.

She is an active member of the ASTM Committee on vacuum cleaners and chairman of the consumer information sub-committee.

The mopping function is excellent. It doesn’t just swish a mop pad around on the floor, it actually scrubs the floorboards, helping get rid of dried coffee stains.

We would recommend choosing the version with the self-emptying charging base. It sounds like a jet engine when it’s emptying, but the bin holds weeks’ worth of dust and makes the robot basically fully autonomous.

Unsurprisingly given its price, there were a few things to flag; testers noticed that the mop plates would collect dust and crumbs when vacuuming, so would recommend removing them for that task.

✅ You want a hands-off dock: The dock will empty dust (into a larger than usual dock dustbin), refill water, dispense detergent and even wash and dry the mop pads, so there's minimal effort required from you.

It disabled the side brushes when on carpet, so it struggled on room edges, and it didn’t quite have the power to collect all the dust we laid. It did a decent job with pet hair and crumbs though.

If you have cash to splash and want the best of the best, Roborock is the brand to browse, and we rate the Roborock Qrevo Curv as the best premium robot vacuum you can buy right now. This hybrid robot vacuum-and-mop offers outstanding vacuuming, soaring through all our suction tests and proving more than a match for our reviewer's pet hair-covered carpets.

❌ You're on a budget: The Deebot T30S Combo is one of the more expensive robot vacuums in my guide, and if you're willing to make a few compromises on performance or features then there are plenty more affordable alternatives.

If you frequently use a handheld vacuum to tackle small areas of debris on your carpet or kitchen floor, then they’ll take the pressure off your back too. Many also have mopping capabilities, so are great multi-taskers.

✅ Your priority is mopping: The star of the show here is the innovative and effective Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners roller mop, which continuously siphons dirty water off the mop pad and adds fresh water as it cleans.

✅ You have tall thresholds: The Curv is great at scaling tall steps, and on test it very rarely got stuck.

This bot was previously our top pick for hard floors, thanks to hot water mopping that's more than a match for greasy spillages.