Three self-emptying robot vacuums we'd pick
By Emma Walsh
The bin inside a robot vacuum is small, and a robot you have to empty after every run soon turns into a robot you stop running. A self-emptying dock fixes that by sucking the dust out of the robot and storing it in one place. Most robots in our list now come with one, so the choice is less about whether to get a self-emptying dock and more about which kind. Compare how much it holds, whether it uses bags, what else it does, and how much of the laundry it takes over.
Best overall
Ecovacs
Deebot T50 Omni
- The dock empties the bin into a 3-litre dust bag
- It also washes the mop pads in 75°C water and dries them
- At 8.1 cm it's the lowest robot in our $500 to $1,000 band
- Its 15,000 Pa of suction is middling for our $500 to $1,000 band
Best bagless
Ecovacs
Deebot X11 OmniCyclone
- A bagless dock, so there are no dust bags to keep buying
- The dock washes the roller, dries it and adds detergent
- Runs for up to 254 minutes on a 6,400 mAh battery
- It's in our over-$1,800 band, two above the T50 Omni
Best budget
Xiaomi
Robot Vacuum H40
- A 4-litre dust bag, the biggest stated in our list
- A 5,200 mAh battery and up to 180 minutes of running
- 10,000 Pa of suction for under $500
- At 9.7 cm tall it stands 1.6 cm higher than the T50 Omni
What we look for in a self-emptying robot vacuum
What you still do
The dock sucks the dust out of the robot's bin after a run and stores it. Your part shrinks to changing a bag or tipping out a container every so often, which is a far easier habit to keep than emptying a bin every day.
Read the explainerHow much it holds
The dust bag's size sets how long you can forget about it. In our list the stated bags run from 2.5 to 4 litres. A house with pets or a lot of carpet will fill a bag faster.
Bag or bagless
Most self-emptying docks in our list use a disposable bag, which is something you keep buying. A bagless dock collects the dust in a reusable container, so there's nothing to restock.
What else the dock does
On a mopping robot the same dock may wash the mop, dry it, refill the water and add detergent. Each of those is a job taken off you, and each makes the dock bigger and dearer.
Read the explainerWhere it will live
Measure the spot before you choose, then check it against the dock's three dimensions. We give them for each pick in the write-ups below.
Side by side
| Best overallDeebot T50 Omni | Best baglessDeebot X11 OmniCyclone | Best budgetRobot Vacuum H40 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price band | $500 to $1,000 | Over $1,800 | Under $500 |
| Dock | Empties the bin, Washes the mop, Dries the mop, Refills the water | Empties the bin, Washes the mop, Dries the mop, Refills the water, Adds detergent | Empties the bin |
| Dust bag in the dock | 3 litres | Bagless | 4 litres |
| Bin in the robot | 260 ml | 220 ml | Not stated |
| Suction | 15,000 Pa | 19,500 Pa | 10,000 Pa |
| Mop | Spinning pads | Roller | Flat pad |
| Height | 8.1 cm | 9.8 cm | 9.7 cm |
| Check price | Check price | Check price |
"Not stated" means the brand doesn't give that number. Open a product's spec sheet to see where each figure was read.
Which one is for you
- You want the bin emptied and the mop washed, without an over-$1,800 price
Deebot T50 Omni - You don't want to keep buying dust bags
Deebot X11 OmniCyclone - You only need the bin emptied, for the least money
Robot Vacuum H40 - The robot has to fit under furniture with less than 9 cm of clearanceDeebot T50 Omni
- You want the biggest dust bag we listRobot Vacuum H40
Best overallEcovacs Deebot T50 Omni
If a dock is going to live against your wall, it may as well do more than empty a bin. The T50 Omni’s dock does the emptying, pulling the dust out of the robot’s 260 ml bin into a 3-litre bag, and then it looks after the mop too. It washes the spinning mop pads in water heated to 75°C, dries them with hot air at 45°C, and refills the robot from a 4-litre clean water tank. You get all of that for $500 to $1,000.
The robot itself is 8.1 cm tall, the lowest in our $500 to $1,000 band and the third-lowest we list, so it has a fair chance of getting under the couch and the beds. Suction is 15,000 Pa through a rubber main brush, and the side brush extends to reach into corners. A mop pad moves out to within 1 mm of the skirting, and the mop lifts 9 mm on carpet. A front light sensor helps it avoid obstacles, and it climbs a 2 cm sill with the mop on.
The battery is 5,200 mAh, good for up to 225 minutes, and the robot makes 63 dBA vacuuming in standard mode.
The dock measures 35 x 47.7 x 53.3 cm, so check the spot you have in mind.
There are two things to weigh. Suction of 15,000 Pa is middling for our $500 to $1,000 band, and the dock uses bags. If buying them forever annoys you, the X11 OmniCyclone is bagless, though it costs two bands more. And if you only want the vacuuming half handled, the Xiaomi’s dock takes a bigger bag and comes from a band below.
Best baglessEcovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone
Dust bags are a small running cost that never ends, and some people would rather pay once. The X11 OmniCyclone’s dock has no bag. It empties the robot into a reusable 1.6-litre container.
That container holds roughly half what the 3-litre bag on the T50 Omni does, and less than half the Xiaomi’s 4 litres. It’s a smaller store of dust, and the trade is that you never have a bag to buy.
Suction is 19,500 Pa, and the main brush has V-shaped bristles and a spiral comb to shed hair. It mops with a roller that reaches 1.5 cm past the body and lifts 1 cm on carpet. The dock washes that roller in water heated up to 75°C, dries it with hot air for three hours by default, refills the robot, and adds detergent. A front camera helps it steer around clutter. Its 6,400 mAh battery is as big as any in our list, and the robot runs for up to 254 minutes.
It’s 9.8 cm tall and climbs a 2.4 cm sill with the mop fitted. The dock measures 38 x 49.3 x 46.5 cm, and the bin in the robot is 220 ml.
What stops us putting it first is the price band, which is our highest. Two bands is a lot to pay to avoid buying bags, and we’d only do it if you also want the roller mop and the camera. Otherwise the T50 Omni empties, washes and dries for much less. The Xiaomi is three bands cheaper, with a flat mop pad and the biggest dust bag we list.
Best budgetXiaomi Robot Vacuum H40
Plenty of people want one thing from a dock, which is to stop emptying the robot by hand. They don’t need it to launder a mop. For them the H40 makes the dear docks look like a lot of plumbing, because it sits in our under-$500 band and empties into a 4-litre bag. That’s the biggest dust bag stated in our list, and the dock that holds it measures 34 x 16 x 32.6 cm.
The robot is a decent vacuum for the money. It has 10,000 Pa of suction across four levels from silent to turbo, and a V-shaped main brush with a comb that strips hair off it. The anti-tangle side brush is for hard floors, and you swap it for the plain one on carpet. It maps with a laser, runs for up to 180 minutes vacuuming and mopping in standard mode on a 5,200 mAh battery, and climbs a 2 cm sill. Its mop is a flat pad, and the tank that feeds it holds 210 ml.
The catch is height. At 9.7 cm the robot is 1.6 cm taller than the T50 Omni, which matters under a low couch. Its mop is also the plainest of the three, a flat pad where the T50 Omni has spinning pads and the X11 OmniCyclone a roller.
If you want the mop washed and dried for you, the T50 Omni does that from one band up and gets under lower furniture. The X11 OmniCyclone only makes sense over this one if bags bother you a great deal, since it’s three bands dearer.
Final thoughts
Decide how much you want the dock to do beyond the dust. If you'd like the mop washed and dried as well, the Deebot T50 Omni does that and empties into a 3-litre bag for $500 to $1,000. The robot is also the lowest in that band. It's our pick.
The Deebot X11 OmniCyclone is for people who'd pay not to buy bags, and it's two bands dearer. If emptying the bin is the only job you need done, the Xiaomi H40 has the biggest dust bag in our list and sits in our under-$500 band.
