The 6 Best Robot Vacuums for Hardwood Floors, Tested and Reviewed

Best Overall Robot Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

iRobot Roomba 694 Robot Vacuum

$275 at Amazon


$219 at Walmart


$275 at Home Depot

For a basic, reliable robot vacuum that can handle hardwood, your go-to should be the Roomba 694. Although this relatively affordable vacuum lacks the bells and whistles of other models, it’s highly effective and works well on both hardwood and carpet.

We liked that it came with clear instructions, making it easy to set up with the included attachments. Once activated, it took on pet hair, human hair, and Cheerios very well. It also did an excellent job with sand, so if you have a beach house, this would be an ideal vacuum to have on hand.

There was a bit of a rocky transition between the edge of the area rug and the bare floor, but this is par for the course with many robotic vacuums, including others that nabbed spots on our list. Again, the fact that it removed sand from the rug was enough to make us overlook the little blip in the transition from bare floor to carpet. It operates pretty quietly, too. While there aren't a lot of special features with this Roomba, it does connect to WiFi for remote access.

The Roomba 694 maneuvers easily around furniture legs, but it does not have any object avoidance, so if there's something in its way, it will go through it—and yes, that can have disastrous results depending on the mess you’re dealing with. Given this lack of avoidance, we wouldn’t recommend this pick for those residing in a large household with an open layout. That said, we think it’s ideal for people living in smaller spaces where there are fewer obstacles to detect. Either way, this robot vacuum is pretty agile and moves quickly when it does bump into a solid object.

Overall, this is an excellent robot vacuum. After six months of use, we noticed no changes in quality, aside from the occasional long hair getting caught in the brush roll. While there are other more expensive models with more features on the market, the iRobot Roomba 694 will suit most people’s needs.

Dimensions: 13.4 x 3.5 inches | Dustbin Capacity: 0.35 liters | Battery Life: 90 minutes | Wi-Fi Connectivity: Yes | Smart Home Connectivity: Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant