I bought my first robot vacuum in 2012 because of a puggle. Her name was Piper, I got her late in 2011, and boy did she shed. Vacuuming by hand every day wasn't going to happen, so it was time to bring in a robot.
Fourteen years later, I've owned seven robot vacuums across four brands. Here's the full timeline of what I bought, why, and what I learned along the way.
2012: Neato XV-12 — The One That Started It All
The Neato XV-12 was my first robot vacuum. At the time, Neato was the top of the game — way better than the iRobot Roomba that dominated big box retail. The XV line used laser navigation (LIDAR) to map your room in straight, efficient passes, while Roombas were still bumping around randomly. It was night and day.
For a single puggle in an apartment, it handled the daily hair load well enough. The dirt bin was small by today's standards, but it worked. One feature the Neato had that I still appreciate: when the dirt bin was full, it would stop and wait for you to empty it before continuing. Simple, obvious, useful. And a feature that would go missing for years on later vacuums.
2015: Neato Botvac 85 — Two Puggles, More Hair
By 2015 I had met my girlfriend (who also had a puggle), so we now had two puggles living with us. The hair situation had doubled. I upgraded to the Neato Botvac 85, which had more suction and better brush design for pet hair.
I moved the XV-12 to a small downstairs room where it could handle one area, and the Botvac took over the rest of the house. Two Neatos, two floors, two puggles. It was a good system for its time.
The Samsung Experiment — A Lemon
At some point after the Botvac, I tried a Samsung robot vacuum. I don't remember the exact model name, but I remember it was expensive and promised great new technologies — hair tangle prevention on the brush, better navigation, some cool-sounding features.
It was a lemon. The hardware itself seemed fine, but the software was terrible. It kept erroring out, getting confused, and generally being unreliable. I've seen this pattern from Samsung across multiple product categories over the years: solid hardware, poor software, disappointing execution. This robot vac was no exception. I returned it and moved on.
2019: Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 950 — My First Ecovacs
In 2019 I picked up an Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 950, and it was an impressive upgrade from what I'd been using. Navigation was better, suction was stronger, and it had mopping — a first for me. This was my entry point into Ecovacs, a brand I've stuck with ever since.
2021: Ecovacs Deebot T8 — The Self-Emptying Breakthrough
By 2021 I had two things working against me: two puggles worth of hair and a dirt bin that filled up constantly. The Deebot T8 was my first robot with a self-emptying dock, and it was a game changer. Instead of emptying the bin every day, the robot would dock and suck everything into a larger bag in the base station. I only had to change the bag every few weeks.
This is one of those features that sounds minor until you live with it, and then you can never go back. If you're looking at robot vacuums today and you have pets, make sure the self-emptying dock is non-negotiable.
2025: Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni — The Current King
The Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni is what I'm running now, and it's the best robot vacuum I've ever owned. A few things that make it stand out:
- Mopping that actually works: I moved to a house with more hardwood floors, so a good mop was essential. The X9's OZMO Roller system washes itself, uses hot water, and dries with hot air. No gross mop pad sitting in the dock.
- Dirt bin sensor is back: This was on the old Neatos but went missing on the Ecovacs models for years. On the Ozmo 950 and T8, the robot would keep vacuuming even when the bin was completely full — no warning, just diminishing performance. The X9 detects a full bin, returns to the dock, empties itself, and goes right back to where it left off. This is the feature I'm most happy to have back.
- 16600Pa suction: More than enough for puggle hair, hardwood, and low-pile carpets. I don't worry about it leaving anything behind.
- ZeroTangle 3.0: The brush design genuinely doesn't tangle with hair. The old Neatos needed regular brush cleaning with scissors. The X9? I check it every few weeks and there's nothing wrapped around it.
Where I'd Look Today
If I were buying a robot vacuum right now, I'd look at three brands: Ecovacs, Roborock, and Dreame. They're all making excellent robots and I don't think you can go wrong between them. The trick is finding the features that fit your specific needs:
- Pet hair? Make sure it has a self-emptying dock and good hair tangle prevention.
- Hardwood floors? Look for a robot with a self-washing mop and hot air drying.
- Carpets? Make sure the robot can lift or remove its mop pad when it detects carpet, so you're not dragging a wet mop over rugs.
Ecovacs has served me well across multiple models over six years, which is also why I bought their Goat 1000 robot mower — and that's been excellent too. But Roborock and Dreame are both putting out great hardware, so check the features first and pick what fits your home.
What I've Learned After 14 Years of Robot Vacuums
- The self-emptying dock is the single biggest quality-of-life improvement in the history of robot vacuums. Don't buy a robot without one if you have pets.
- Don't buy Samsung robot vacuums. Good hardware, terrible software. The pattern continues.
- Mopping has gotten good. The early mopping robots were basically dragging a wet cloth around. Modern ones like the X9 actually scrub, wash their own rollers, and dry them. It's a real mopping solution now.
- LIDAR navigation is the standard and it's been great since the Neato days. Random bump navigation died for a reason.
- The dirt bin sensor going away and coming back tells you everything about how the industry iterates — sometimes features get lost and it takes years to bring them back.
Bottom Line
Robot vacuums have evolved from novelty gadgets to genuinely essential home appliances over the past 14 years. My Neato XV-12 in 2012 was impressive for its time, but today's Ecovacs X9 Pro Omni makes it look like a toy. The technology has matured to the point where any of the top three brands — Ecovacs, Roborock, Dreame — will give you a robot that actually keeps your floors clean without you thinking about it. And for a house with two puggles, that's exactly what I needed all along.