Always wanted to fly? Then try one of the best drones of 2018.

The best drones out there have a few features in common. The best drones sport a great camera, super-steady video stabilization and, in some cases, a foldable form factor that allows them to fit in the palm of your hand or slip into a backpack for easy transportation. 

You don’t have to be an expert drone operator to get started with a great drone. These days, anyone can pick up and easily fly a drone, though selecting the best drone is still a difficult task.

That’s why we’ve recommended the following top drones after countless hours of rigorous testing high above our heads. Drones by DJI and Parrot continue to rule the skies, whether you’re a first-time flier or a drone pilot expert looking for the ultimate hovering camera.  

The best part of picking from the best drones in 2018 is that affordable or even cheap drones now shoot 4K resolution video with steady image stabilization. It’s true; you don’t need a Hollywood blockbuster budget to capture amazing aerial footage. 

Even if our No. 1 drone recommendation, the DJI Mavic Air, isn’t exactly inexpensive, it’s still the best drone for your money.

Finding a quality drone at a reasonable price isn’t hard anymore. Being able to fly your drone legally is sometimes more tricky, especially in cities. The good news is that the best drones available give you fair warning – usually through accompanying apps – that map out where it’s legal to fly without incurring the wrath of local authorities.

Here are our picks of the best drones for everyone, from beginners to experts.

1. DJI Mavic Air

Weight: 430g | Dimensions (folded): 168×83×49mm | Dimensions (unfolded): 168×184×64 mm | Controller: Yes | Video resolution: 4K 60fps | Camera resolution: 12MP | Battery life: 21 minutes (2375mAh) | Max Range: 10 km / 6.2 miles) | Max Speed: 68 kph / 43 mph

It’s hard not to absolutely love the DJI Mavic Air, the premier foldable drone that can capture steady 4K video at 60 frames per second, yet fit into a backpack or even a jacket pocket. There aren’t many compromises either if you’re okay with 21-minute battery life. Our tests proves its true flight time can be as little as 18 minutes, but that’s enough time for most people, especially if you buy into the recommended Fly More Bundle with three batteries (totally worth it).

The Mavic Air is small, fast and can do a lot of neat tricks. It can track moving subjects, boomerang around them on a pre-coordinated path, and take spherical video as if it’s crashing down to earth to capture your ultimate drone selfie.

The reason this tops our list is that it’s the best foldable drone for you money, but we do encourage spending a bit more for the totally worth it Fly More Bundle.

Read the full review: DJI Mavic Air

2. DJI Mavic Pro

Weight: 734g | Controller: Yes | Camera resolution: 12.35MP | Battery Size: 3830mAh | Range: 4.3 miles

Until the DJI Spark came along, the Mavic Pro was the smallest drone in DJI’s lineup. It also features folding arms so it can be stowed away in your bag. Don’t let its diminutive size fool you though – this pint-sized flyer boasts the kind of performance that DJI’s larger drones are famous for.

The camera is mounted on a gimbal, which is unusual for drones of this size. It delivers fantastic results with both photos and video in good lighting, although the small size of the sensor means low-light shooting can sometimes be tricky. The Mavic Pro has a top speed of around 40 mph, so it’s no slouch in that department, and the battery is good for around 20 to 25 minutes of aerial action.

As is the case with other DJI drones, the Mavic Pro comes with a dedicated remote control that uses your phone’s display to show you exactly what the device is seeing. Range is quoted as being over 4 miles, giving you the opportunity to capture some amazing stills and video without worrying about the connection dropping.

Read the hands-on review: DJI Mavic Pro

3. DJI Spark

Weight: 300g | Controller: Yes/Not included | Camera resolution: 12mp | Battery Size: 1480 mAh | Range: 2 km

The DJI Spark is the company’s most approachable drone. With its incredibly cool gesture controls that make you feel like a Jedi and its different colored body shells, it’s definitely more fun out of the box than a lot of the others on this list. 

It is easily controlled using your smartphone, but it’s worth noting that that’s the only controller you’re going to have unless you fancy buying a separate controller. It’s definitely affordable in terms of drones, but still we would like to have a controller thrown in for good measure.

It’s an incredibly light drone, unsurprisingly as it’s the size of a can. This is both one of its greatest strengths and its greatest weaknesses as it’s super easy to carry around in your bag, but will be affected by wind during flight. 

Read the full review: DJI Spark

4. DJI Phantom 4

Weight: 1380 g | Controller: Yes | Camera resolution: 12.4MP | Battery Size: : 5,350mAh | Range: 3.1 miles

A refinement of the already impressive DJI Phantom 3 Professional, the Phantom 4 brings with it a more sturdy construction, updated object-avoidance technology and – like so many of DJI’s offerings – an excellent dedicated remote control which connects to an equally feature-rich smartphone app.

4K video recording is supported, and the gimbal design means you get rock-steady footage even when the drone is moving at speed and changing direction. The biggest downer – and you’ll notice this is a common complaint with many commercial drones – is battery life, which is only around 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how hard you’re pushing the drone.

While it’s not quite in the same league as its Inspire 1 sibling, the Phantom 4 offers a similar degree of performance and functionality for a lower price, making it an excellent option for budding aerial photographers rather than experienced professionals.

Read the full review: DJI Phantom 4

5. Parrot Bebop 2

Weight: 500g | Controller: Optional | Camera resolution: 14MP | Battery Size: 2700mAh | Range: 300 metres

The Bebop 2 is a mid-range offering which won’t break the bank yet offers a surprising amount of features for the price. The camera utilises a fisheye lens, and stabilization software removes the need for a gimbal; combined with the intelligent construction of the chassis, which uses rubber dampeners to reduce vibration in-flight, this results in video footage that’s refreshingly judder-free.

If you’re feeling especially flush you can take the Bebop 2 to the next level by purchasing the optional flight controller and FPV headset. The former connects to your smartphone and offers proper flight controls, while the latter uses your phone’s screen to present a first-person view of what the Bebop 2 is actually seeing. It’s initially quite jarring to fly the device in this fashion, but after a while you’ll wish all drones came with such an accessory.

On the downside, Parrot has locked away some of the Bebop 2’s more interesting features, such as route planning and ‘follow me’ functionality, behind a paywall, which means the cost increases further if you want to use these. Battery life is also somewhat disappointing, so it may be worth investing in a spare power cell.

Read the full review: Parrot Bebop 2

6. DJI Inspire 2

Weight: 3440g | Controller: Yes | Camera resolution: 30MP | Battery Size: 4280mAh | Range: 7 km

Soundly knocking its predecessor off the top spot is the highly impressive Inspire 2. With a sleek metal composite bodywork upgrade, it’s a much more attractive piece of kit. What’s more, with more advanced object avoidance technology you don’t have to worry about that beautiful body getting scratched by you accidentally clipping a tree. 

You get more than 25 minutes of flight time out of the twin-battery arrangement, and the ability to swap camera lenses means that professional photographers and videographers have complete control over their images and 5K video.

The fully-featured smartphone app and dedicated remote control make this drone incredibly easy to control, but make no mistake, this is a professional piece of kit. 

Read the full review: DJI Inspire 2 

7. DJI Inspire 1

Weight: 2935g | Controller: Yes | Camera resolution: 12.76M | Battery Size: 5700mAh | Range: 2 km

The DJI Inspire 1 may look like some kind of fearsome war-robot from the far future, but once you’ve gotten over its rather intimidating appearance it’s all too easy to fall in love with this agile and feature-rich device. 

It comes with its own controller, which boasts amazing range (you’ll need to supply a monitor via your smartphone or tablet’s screen, though), and the camera – which is mounted on a gimbal for aiming – is upgradeable, so you don’t need to worry about your investment becoming obsolete after a few months.

Performance in the air is nothing short of exemplary, even in quite windy conditions. The DJI Inspire 1 is also incredibly swift and – when twinned with that excellent controller – easy to maneuver. It’s only shortcomings are its cost and the fact that the bundled battery only gives you around 15 to 20 minutes of flight time before it needs recharging.

Read the full review: DJI Inspire 1

8. Xiro Xplorer V

Weight: 1202.02g | Controller: Yes | Camera resolution: 14MP | Battery Size: 5200mAh

It’s rare for a company to put the looks of its drone ahead of core functionality, but the Xiro Xplorer V certainly looks unique, especially when it’s up in the air. This device really does look the business thanks to its sharp edges, LED lighting and fetching camo color scheme. All of this fits nearly into a specially designed backpack, which is an optional extra but comes highly recommended.

Like the Parrot Bebop 2, the Xiro Xplorer V uses a fisheye lens to grab wide shots and capture stable video footage. Sadly the implementation of this lens isn’t as impressive as on Parrot’s drone, and there’s quite a bit of distortion towards the edges of the frame, especially during video recording.

That aside, the Xplorer V is recommended purchase, especially when you consider that it’s priced a little lower than some of its rivals. Battery life is good as well, topping out at around 25 minutes per charge.

Read the full review: Xiro Xplorer V

9. ZeroTech Dobby

Weight: 199g | Controller: No | Camera resolution: 13MP | Battery Size: *970mAh | Range: 100 meters

This is the smallest drone featured in this list, and also one of the cheapest. Despite its humble status (and rather odd name) the Dobby is a surprisingly powerful and versatile piece of kit. Pitched by ZeroTech as a ‘selfie drone’, it’s small enough to fit in your bag, which gives it an advantage over many drones, which are often too large to be carried around easily.

The small size of the Dobby means it gets battered around in strong winds, but on a good day its performance is impressive. It’s controlled via a smartphone application and features such as orbital moves, object tracking and facial recognition are all included as standard, and are easy to execute. The drone’s audio and visual sensors, fixed on its underside, mean you can perform palm take-offs and landings, and you can use it indoors.

For such a small drone it should come as no surprise to learn that stamina is perhaps the biggest sticking point with the Dobby – the battery lasts between five and 10 minutes, depending on variables such as wind speed and recording time. Photo and video quality are also a step down from some of the more expensive drones on this list.

Read the full review: ZeroTech Dobby

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Having the best sat nav in your car can save you from many wasted hours trying to navigate your way back home… or wherever else you’re trying to go.

Losing your way, especially in an unfamiliar place, is one of the most aggregating things that can happen to a driver, but thanks to advancements in sat nav technology, it doesn’t have to happen, especially in 2018. 

Welcome to TechRadar’s guide to the best sat nav systems on the market right now, a list we’ve compiled to help drivers who are prone to getting of course, as well as those who want to make sure it never happens to them.

These are the sat nav devices that go beyond the GPS in your smartphone and the free maps you’ve picked up at random road stops over the years. Fold those paper maps up, put your phone away, buckle your seat belt, and get ready to obey the digital voice commands emanating from the sat nav on your dashboard. 

The following sat navs are dedicated to giving directions, so will get you from Point A to Point B, or Point C to Point G, if you ask them really nicely. 

We’ve done our best to highlight sat nav devices that straddle a number of price points and offer a bundle of features that will make you want to get in your car right now and just drive (with a planned route, of course). 

To be honest, we’d be lost without the following best sat nav recommendations.

TomTom Via 53

Screen size: 5-inch display | Maps: Lifetime maps Lifetime TomTom traffic | Updates: Updates via Wi-Fi Smartphone messages | Extras: Hands-free calling | Storage: 16GB internal memory

TomTom’s Via 53 very much sits in the mid-range category of sat navs. It offers connectivity options via a Bluetooth smartphone connection.

Through this connection, you get live traffic updates, can take advantage of hands-free calls and your text messages can also be read out by the device.

When it comes to mapping, the TomTom Via 53 is very good – the 5-inch touchscreen that requires light gestures, while voice control is warrantedEverything is clear and precise. 

The design is a bit too chunky, however, and the one-hour battery life is a touch disappointing. Those niggles aside and what you have is a well-specced and connected sat nav that comes at a decent price.

Garmin DriveSmart 61

Display: 6.95-inch edge to edge | Maps: Lifetime Maps & Live Traffic | Connectivity: Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth calling | Extras: Navigate from your Garmin watch

With the Garmin DriveSmart 61 has created a premium-looking sat nav that’s packed with features you’ll want to use. Its screen is responsive, the information it offers clear and concise. 

Yes, it’s expensive but it’s one of the best GPS systems available to get you from A to B.

Garmin Drive Assist 51

Maps: LIFETIME MAPS & HD DIGITAL TRAFFIC: | Size: 11.1W x 6.3H cm; 12.7 cm: | Display type: WQVGA colour TFT with white backlight: | Storage: Dash Cam memory card: min 4 GB data card included:

The Garmin Drive Assist 51 is a fine, premium = alternative to getting maps on your phone. If you want a dedicated sat nav that doesn’t rely on a handset then the Drive Assist 51 is an excellent choice. 

It’s wide feature set, ease of use and simple docking means it’s a great for those less tech savvy. 

The Garmin Drive Assist 51 is laser focused on the navigation experience, and it’s one that excels when you’re behind the wheel. It’s hard to say if it’s better than your smartphone, they’re very close, but it’s certainly no worse.

TomTom Go 5200

Battery lifetime: Up to 1 hour | Vehicle mount: Active magnetic mount | Storage: 16GB | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, built-in SIM

The TomTom Go 5200 has a 5-inch touchscreen that sits neatly within a sleek plastic chassis. It feels solid in the hand, and the magnetic connection gives a reassuring click into a robust connection with the stand.

It’s a wonderful top-of-the-range sat nav that is a pleasure to use, with a bevy of additional features for the frequent driver. If you’re looking for a world-class driving aide, this is the one for you.

TomTom Go 520

Battery lifetime: Up to 1 hour | Vehicle mount: Active magnetic mount | Storage: 16GB | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, needs a phone for real-time traffic updates

The TomTom Go 520 is a smart well built sat nav that’s simple to use. It comes with voice functionality – both integration of Siri and Google Now and its own voice system – and some of the best maps around.

It does lack connectivity while on the go which will be an issue for some. You can get around this with a simple hook-up to a smartphone, though. 

Battery life is a problem. Up to an hour is quoted but we never really got past the 45-minute mark. In a real-case scenario, though, most will use the supplied charger, given that a sat nav is usually used on longer journeys.

If you are looking for the premium smarts of the TomTom Go 5200 at a smaller price, then this is for you.

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Like a clean house but hate to, you know, clean? Then you need to check out one of the best vacuum cleaners of 2018 to ease the chore.

With new advancements in vacuum cleaning tech, it’s gotten easier to snipe up unwanted dust and debris in a snap, but also harder to make a selection.

There are so many vacuum cleaners to choose from, and who really wants to spend their time picking out an appliance that means work around the house?

Luckily, once you’ve selected the best vacuum cleaner for you, turning your home into a sparkling, dust-free abode will never be easier. 

Most of the best vacuum cleaners these days have done away with the massive cord that was always a tripping hazard, and instead feature a cordless design. Dyson, for one, has vowed to stop developing corded vacuums after the release of the new cordless Cyclone V10.

Vacuum cleaners today are much slimmer than the vacuums of yore, and some even have brains of their own. While it’s still a “chore” in the traditional sense, vacuum cleaning can now be done in far less time and with far greater ease thanks to cordless vacuums and those that clean your house while you’re out and about.

Digging out the best Dyson or Roomba to help lighten the load can be the sort of investment where the benefits become almost immediately clear. Like the budding Ghostbusters we are, sucking up junk into our proton-pack-aping vacuum cleaners can actually be quite satisfying. It’s instant gratification, seeing the dirt, grime and crumbs sucked away into the netherworld of the vacuum cleaner’s bin.

And it only gets better if you’ve got a top-notch gadget to help you do it all. Whether it’s a lightweight cordless, a super-powerful upright or a “who needs humans?” robot cleaner you’re after, these are the best vacuum cleaners TechRadar has used. They all suck, but in the best possible way.

Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute

Power supply: : Cordless, battery | Weight: : 5.9 lbs / 2.6 kg | Bin size: : 0.75L | Run time: : Up to 60 minutes

Dyson’s newest cordless vacuum cleaner is so good, the company is no longer producing new corded vacuums. That’s how confident Dyson is that the Cyclone V10 and the vacs that follow will meet all your cleaning needs. 

Simply put, the Cyclone V10 is the best vacuum Dyson has ever made. Dyson has redefined its cyclone technology to produce more suction power than ever; the new V10 digital motor is 20% more powerful than the previous V8, and, we can assure, it sucks a lot (we mean that as a compliment).

You’ll notice a number of crucial changes between the V10 and older V models. For example, the barrel is now front-facing, and all attachments connect here directly. The design allows for greater suction efficiency, according to Dyson. The V10 is smarter than ever before, too, and can even detect differences in altitude, air pressure and temperature, and adjust itself for maximum performance. 

Prices and models vary across regions, but needless to say, you pay for the Cyclone V10’s souped-up suction. And while the Cyclone V10 is more powerful than ever and boasts a more energy-dense battery than previous models, putting it on the highest setting will drain the battery in about five minutes. At the lowest setting, however, you’ll get up to 60 minutes of use, and that should be plenty for your everyday messes. 

Read our full Dyson Cyclone V10 review

Shark IF250UK

Power supply: : Cordless, battery | Weight: : 4kg | Bin size: : 0.33L | Suction power: 25.2AW

Don’t want a Dyson? This Shark IF250UK is a cheaper and suitable alternative to some of the top end products from Dyson that sit in this list. It’s another cordless cleaner that can run for 22 minutes from a single charge – but the best bit is there are two batteries in the box, so you can just hot swap out mid-clean and get 44 minutes in total.

We really like the design of the Shark IF250UK, although it is a little on the heavy side. It comes with Shark’s Flexology technology that means you can bend the cleaner at the mid-way point so you can get those hard to reach places like under your sofa without having to get down on your hands and knees.

It’s not as lightweight as the Dyson above, but we still found it easy enough to carry and suitably portable. 

This thing is powerful too. If you own a pet, you can get a special edition version that comes with in-built pet cleaning features, but in an animal-free home we found the Shark IF250UK cleaned up easily when using its maximum suction mode.

For a lower price than the Dyson above in this list, the Shark IF250UK is suitable as your next vacuum cleaner as it’s just as powerful as the competition and easy to use.

Read the full Shark IF250UK review

Dyson V8 Absolute

Power supply: : Cordless, battery | Weight: : 2.16kg | Bin size: : 0.54L | Suction power: 22AW (115AW in MAX mode)

Formerly the best cordless vacuum experience that money could buy, the Dyson V8 Absolute is still a top-of-the-line battery powered vacuum cleaner, even as the Cyclone V10 has dethroned it as the very best. It also remains an absolute joy to use.

First, the design. With a removable extender pole and equipped with six different heads for different surfaces and use cases, the V8 Absolute is lightweight and easy to run around the house. But with the suction motor in the pistol-grip handle area, you can easily clip a head directly onto the main unit, turning the whole thing into a portable cleaner, perfect for going up the stairs of de-crumbing the car.

A full-charge will give you around 40 minutes of use, which is really impressive for a cordless cleaner – though mileage will vary once you start using on the motorized heads, or switch on the V8 Absolute’s MAX mode. You’ll rarely need it though – for a handheld, this cleaner will rival even an upright for sheers dirt-sucking power. Its large bin will take in plenty of trash too before needing emptying – another convenience not often seen in a cordless.

Best of all though, it genuinely is fun to use. The sci-fi aesthetic makes it one of the few “white goods” gadgets you’ll happily leave on show in the house, with the transforming design as useful as it is clever. It’s worth saving the cash for.

Gtech AirRam MK2

Power supply: Battery (cordless) | Weight: 3.5kg | Battery live: 40 minutes

The Gtech AirRam MK2 blends the flexibility of a cordless vacuum with strong suction performance and easy use, making it a great choice for those looking for a vac they can quickly whizz around the home.

It’s super easy to setup out of the box, and after the the initial charge (it takes four hours to fully charge from flat) you’re ready to go. The need to charge however can be a hassle, especially if an accidental spillage has occurred and you want to quickly clean it, only to find the AirRam MK2 is out of battery. You could use it if plugged into the wall, but with such a short charging cable supplied that’d be wholly impractical.

An hour on the charger will give you a short burst of power to address a spillage, but if you’re planning on doing a general clean you’ll want a fall charge, which gives you around 40 minutes of use – similar to what you’d get from Dyson’s V8 Absolute.

While charging may be a little inconvenient at times, it means you’re never tethered to a cord when using the Gtech AirRam MK2 and that is where is comes into its own. It’s lightweight and highly manoeuvrable body allows you to quickly and efficiently move round your home.

Gtech’s Airlock technology automatically adjusts the head for different flooring types, and suction is generally very good – but it’s not the best on offer.

The collection bin may be a bit on the small side too, but it’s incredibly easy to empty and ensures you don’t get your hands dirty, with the removable cylinder featuring a sliding lever that pushes out all the nasties.

It’s easy to carry up and down stairs, but with no hose or attachments you can’t easily vacuum stairs with it, or hard to reach areas of your home. It’s price tag makes it a more approachable option than the Dyson however, so if you’re on a budget it’s well worth a look.

Dyson Light Ball Multi Floor

Power supply: Corded | Weight: 6.9kg | Cord length: 9.4m | Suction power: 90AW

If you want serious suction from your vacuum cleaner, Dyson is the market leader. Its cyclone technology has long been touted as the best sucker around, and on the Light Ball Multi Floor we can safely say; this thing sucks big time. In a good way.

With 90AW of suction power the Dyson Light Ball Multi Floor tackles carpet, wood floors, laminate and more. Each pass hoovers up dust, hair and other particles struck inside your carpets too, not just those sitting on top.

We were surprised, and impressed with the amount of stuff it picked up during the first few trips around our house – clearly our previous vacuum wasn’t doing the job as effectively.

When the large bin fills up, it’s just a simple one button release from the body of the Light Ball, and then another one button press to dispense its contents into the bin – although with the large flag that opens at the bottom you’ll need to angle the cylinder accordingly.

As well as acting as a standard upright cleaner, the Light Ball also comes with a built in hose and tools, allowing you to tackle hard to reach places, ceilings and stairs with relative ease.

It’s still a bit of a beast to carry up and down stairs though, and at times the long 9.4m cord does get in the way, making you wish this was a cordless vacuum – but the trade off will be inferior suction.

If you’re in the market for a vacuum cleaner that will give your floors a seriously good seeing too, then the easy to use, highly maneuverable and surprisingly quiet (considering the suction) Dyson Light Ball could be up your street.

Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner

Power supply: Battery | Weight: 2.4kg | Bin size: 0.33Lm | Suction power: 20AW

With AI smarts improving all the time and robotics increasingly as at home as on the production line, the sci-fi dream of having a little robot helper to potter about the house is increasingly becoming a reality. The Dyson 360 Eye is the vacuum cleaning company’s first effort in the space, and makes a good account of itself.

After a relatively painless app-powered set-up process, the camera equipped Dyson 360 Eye is able to navigate your home, weaving around obstacles on a cleaning routine you again establish through the app. 

Considering its small size, it’s surprisingly capable at sucking up the rubbish in your home and, when its battery gets low and it’s time for a recharge, the 360 Eye will intelligently return to its charging station without any prompting. 

It’s a premium product, commanding a high asking price that’s best used as a supplement to your usual cleaning rota rather than a replacement. With the 360 Eye doing the rounds once every day, you’ll find that your home will need a “deep clean” vacuum session by your own hand far more rarely. 

But there’s still room for improvement if the company ever make a second generation – the tall clearance makes it difficult for the 360 Eye to fit under furniture, a bigger bin would lessen the need to keep emptying it out, and a larger battery would give it a better chance of completing a whole-house sweep in one pass without a recharge session. 

The limitations of the wider product category taken into consideration, it’s a solid luxury cleaning product regardless.

iRobot Roomba 980 robot vacuum cleaner

Power supply: Battery | Weight: 3.94kg | Bin size: 0.6Lm | Suction power: 33AW

Dyson’s not the only company working with robotics in the home space, and many rate iRobot and its Roomba 980 vacuum cleaner very highly, too.

A low-clearance, dirt-sucking disc, it’s likewise intelligent enough to go about its business in your home without much prompting from its human owners. The Roomba 980 will intelligently map your home for problem spots, kicking into a high-power mode when carpets are identified, and weaving around chair legs and other potential obstacles. 

With a two hour battery life, it will manage a longer cleaning cycle than the Dyson before it too heads back to its charging dock.

Other smart features of the Roomba 980 include its battery-powered “Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers” which signal to the bot which area to avoid if placed across a doorway, and more granular control over its cleaning procedures through its accompanying app. 

However, the Roomba 980 too has room for improvement, with it’s app not always terrible intuitive, and the robot itself sometimes getting bamboozled by cables.

It’s another pricey cleaning luxury, and making the choice between it and its Dyson rival will be a tough one. But for those that can afford it, the Roomba 980 is another excellent cleaning convenience. 

Eufy RoboVac 11

Power supply: Battery | Weight: 3.02kg | Bin size: 0.6Lm

You may not have heard of the name Eufy before, but this more affordable robot vacuum cleaner offers some fantastic value and it comes from the sister brand of Anker, which is the closest thing to a household name in the world of portable chargers.

The RoboVac 11 has lots of cleaning settings included an automatic mode, maximum power, edge cleaning, single room cleaning or a mode that specifically focuses on one small area.

The problem is, unlike the two vacuums above you can’t connect the RoboVac 11 to an app so you can’t monitor or set your robot cleaner to go when you’re not in the house.

Instead it’s all activated through a remote control that comes in the box with the RoboVac 11. You can set it up on a timer so the cleaner will automatically head on its journey once a day, but it’s not as useful as having an app to do it from anywhere in the world.

There’s also no mapping technology built in and instead the RoboVac 11 will just make its own way around your home until the battery runs out. It uses infrared sensors to avoid bumping into furniture in your home, but it can be quite frustrating if you’re to sit and watch it work as it doesn’t clean as efficiently as some other cleaners.

With a 0.6 Lm bin this will keep going for multiple cleans and we found the battery life to last around 90 minutes on the automatic mode and a little bit less if you’re using the maximum power suction.

The Eufy may not be the most efficient or powerful robot vacuum cleaner on the market, but considering its super low price point it’s impressive how much value for money you get with the RoboVac 11.

Read our full Eufy RoboVac 11 review

Neato Botvac Connected

Power supply: Battery | Weight: 3.94kg | Bin size: 0.6Lm

While not quite as familiar a name as Dyson or Roomba, with the Neato Botvac Connected, Neato managed to create a vacuum cleaner that definitely gives the others a run for their money. 

At 10 cm tall, it comfortably manages to shuffle under most items of furniture, and uses laser guidance to map the room. It’s very satisfying watching it figure out which items of furniture it can navigate under and around. 

A little frustratingly, it doesn’t seem to factor in the little protruding circle on top of the unit that houses the Neato logo, and so does occasionally get caught on items that it only just clears.

You can control the Neato Botvac Connected using your phone, set up routines for when you want it to clean, and even pause mid-clean. There are also convenient buttons on the unit itself; one for ‘spot clean’ that will do one room, or ‘house clean’ that will do your entire home before guiding itself back to its base station. 

At 0.7 Lm, the bin size is bigger than both the Dyson 360 and the Roomba, but is still small in comparison to a standard vacuum cleaner, and will need emptying mid-clean if you have a large (or particularly dirty) home. 

There is the option to either have the Neato clean in Eco or Turbo mode, which will give you quieter or deeper cleaning, depending on your preference. From the time that we have spent with it, the deeper cleaning mode provides a very thorough level of cleaning, although will invariably miss areas that require moving of obstacles, so you’ll still need an occasional once-over with a hand-held vacuum cleaner.

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