Shark vs. Roomba: Evaluating best robotic vacuums hands-on by way of NewsFlicks

The dialog surrounding the ultimate robotic vacuums is a noisy one, with an ever-changing handful of manufacturers at the leading edge relying on who launched a brand new type maximum not too long ago. However in spite of the stiff pageant that the Eufy and Roborock vacuums of the arena pose, the Shark vs. Roomba debate is especially heated — exemplified when even a generic seek of “robotic vacuum” on Google triggers the “Folks additionally ask” field to populate with “Is Shark or iRobot higher?”

It is tough to cement both as the finest robotic vacuum emblem duration, when “higher” is beautiful subjective, swayed by way of what a consumer wishes their robotic vacuum to excel at. Some would possibly imagine the simpler robotic vacuum to have extra progressed navigation that results in much less babysitting, whilst others would possibly classify the one who squeezes out adequate efficiency for much less cash as the simpler price.

The brand new 2025 Roombas shifted the tides

This comparability information would were an excessively other article to learn had you clicked on it any time sooner than March 2025. Ahead of that, iRobot and Shark had been each roughly plateauing when it comes to the number of their respective lineups. It was once like a contest to peer who may well be essentially the most mid.

However the lukewarm contention were given fascinating when iRobot went rogue and overhauled the entire Roomba fleet out of doors of its conventional overdue summer time time table. The most recent batch is composed of 8 new Roombas falling beneath 4 other umbrellas: the Roomba 105 or 205, or Roomba Plus 405 or 505, ranging in worth from $299 to $999. The transfer would possibly or would possibly not were a last-ditch effort to save lots of the corporate from a reportedly bleak monetary state of affairs.

iRobot turns out to have patched up lots of its vulnerable spots and prioritized funds friendliness with out skimping on options that customers actually care about, like together with sensible mapping in even the most cost effective fashions.

The 2025 Roombas all have LiDAR towers — a primary for iRobot.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The place Roomba wins: Small impediment avoidance and extra fashions to suit extra wishes

iRobot merely has extra robotic vacuums than Shark, and that selection by myself will make it a extra palatable emblem to extra other folks. Extra fashions to make a choice from way extra alternatives to customise the options and funds to a consumer’s major objectives for computerized cleansing.

Let’s assume you are keen to pay a bit additional for a top class robotic vacuum that achieves essentially the most hands-off enjoy conceivable. Between Shark and iRobot, iRobot has extra choices with options that make a robotic vacuum self-sufficient, together with mopping pads that robotically raise when going over carpet, self-empty docks that still wash and dry the mopping pads, and small impediment avoidance cameras.

The best phase in regards to the Roomba lineup is that you’ll mix’n’match a number of of those options to stick inside of a undeniable funds. You’ll skip all the different fancy options whilst nonetheless bringing house small impediment avoidance with the standalone Roomba j7 for as low as $299 on sale, or check out the space-saving DustCompactor design with or with out mopping for less than $500. Even the most cost effective 2025 Roombas ensure LiDAR-powered sensible mapping and 70 occasions (learn that once more) the suction energy of the 600 collection Roombas, that have been the great widespread reasonably-priced Roombas a couple of years in the past.

Probably the most important growth to the Roomba circle of relatives has been to the self-sufficient mopping Roombas — nice information for other folks who’ve been warding off robotic vacuums with mops as a result of they do not wish to manually deal with the soggy pads. Whilst Shark solely has one robotic vacuum that maintains its personal mopping pad, a number of Roombas accomplish that at various worth issues:

If your house’s arduous flooring are endlessly lined in a layer of hair from quite a lot of pets, self-rinsing mopping pads are an indicator characteristic of the ultimate robotic vacuums and mops for puppy hair. In a different way, all of that fur will probably be clinging to the rainy mopping pad till the following time you wash it by way of hand.

iRobot additionally diverted from the standard flat mopping pad with its 2025 overhaul. Now, the Roomba Plus 405 and 505 Combo use twin spinning mopping pads — a design that almost all of iRobot shoppers favor, iRobot instructed me in a press briefing. The Roomba Max 705 Combo upgrades even additional to a curler mop, making it shut pageant to different new high-end releases just like the Dreame Aqua10 Extremely Curler.

However here is the article with robotic vacuum and mop combinations: Now not everyone seems to be pro-combo. Numerous other folks merely do not wish to handle tanks or the rest soggy in any respect, however discovering a vac-only robotic vacuum in most cases way settling for a great fundamental type — all the maximum progressed robotic vacuums are robotically hybrids this present day. iRobot heard the cries of the anti-mop crowd on Reddit and launched a vacuum-only model of one of the robust Roombas, the Max 705 Vac.

The Roomba Max 705 Combo has a paint roller-esque mop and a wood dock.
Credit score: iRobot

The brand new Roomba Plus 405 Combo has two spinning mopping pads — a primary for iRobot.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

iRobot’s mastery of small impediment avoidance provides it critical leverage over Shark — it is in truth the finest small impediment avoidance I have skilled from any emblem I have examined at house. All j-series Roombas, the Roomba Combo 10 Max, the Roomba Plus 505 Combo, and each 705s have the particular small impediment detection digital camera device, which is helping to steer clear of small stumbling blocks that less-advanced robotic vacuums would in most cases devour, like a telephone charger, extension twine, rogue sock, or puppy waste. Briefly, it solves the primary gripe that many robotic vacuum non-believers have: robotic vacuums get caught so steadily that they are extra bother than they are value.

I first skilled this feeling of reduction when reviewing the Roomba j7+ and Combo j7+, and it was once by no means simple to get again into the dependancy of pre-tidying when making an attempt every other robotic vacuum that did not have small impediment avoidance. I might simply sacrifice extra intense cleansing for a robotic vacuum to have the mind cells to do this.

The place Roomba loses: Reducing corners on the ultra-cheap and top class ends of the spectrum

Plummeting income one month, a random revamp of all of the Roomba line the following month — if we are looking to learn between the traces, I might say it turned into obviously evident that individuals had been getting in poor health of Roombas costing so much however now not doing sufficient.

So whilst I’m going to give credit score to Roomba for buying more effective with its costs, Shark nonetheless does budget-friendly higher. As an example, I believe that the easiest starter robotic vacuum is one with sensible mapping and self-emptying, with suction energy being much less of a concern so long as it is adequate for mild day-to-day maintenance. In Roomba global, the most cost effective choice for that is the Roomba 105 + AutoEmpty Dock, going for $449.99 at complete worth or round $299.99 on sale. In Shark global, the similar functions can also be secured for as little as $199.99 on sale with the Shark IQ RV2302AE. And there are indubitably extra robust reasonably-priced robotic vacuums than either one of them, particularly from Roborock.

On the absolute maximum within your means finish of the spectrum, iRobot’s $150 to $250 collection is comically Now not Price It. In April 2024, iRobot fumbled a low-hanging alternative to mend the inexpensive Roomba state of affairs by way of liberating much more reasonably-priced Roombas with out sensible mapping. I would not counsel the Roomba Crucial line to any individual — sensible mapping is a characteristic I think is ~Crucial~ in any robotic vacuum.

The Roomba Combo 2 Crucial was once extra of a ache than a lend a hand in my condominium.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

In my enjoy, simply hitting “move” and letting a robotic vacuum blank aimlessly is a recipe for coming house to a robotic vacuum misplaced beneath the mattress. The zigzag trend appears like a hit-or-miss guessing sport made extra anxious by way of getting caught and lacking spots at the flooring that I might relatively simply hit with my Dyson stick vacuum, anyway.

Certain, all of those base-tier Roombas do move on sale steadily. It’s worthwhile to technically rating absolutely the least expensive Roomba for round $130 or a mopping, self-emptying Roomba for $280. However settling for no particular room cleansing simply is not value it, particularly when a identical wad of money may just get you manner additional in the event you had been purchasing a Shark.

There may be additionally some skimping afoot at the fancy finish of the iRobot spectrum — essentially the most robust Roomba does not stand an opportunity in opposition to essentially the most robust contenders from different manufacturers. On its face, the Roomba Max 705 Combo feels like a beast: It has 175 occasions the suction energy of a 600 Collection Roomba and is coined as essentially the most robust 2-in-1 Roomba. However iRobot, who’s quietly revealing Pa suction energy measurements for the primary time, has showed that the Roomba Max 705 Combo has 13,000 Pa suction energy. That signifies that even the finest Roomba for puppy hair or carpet is considerably weaker than the opposite flagship robotic vacuums available in the market: the Narwal Freo Z Extremely has 18,000 Pa, the Roborock Saros 10 and Z70 have 22,000 Pa, and the Dreame Aqua10 Extremely Curler has 30,000 Pa. That isn’t an instantaneous comparability to Shark, however indubitably nonetheless related.

Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The curb enchantment of the brand new self-emptying Roomba Combo fashions is missing. The plasticky uncovered water tank glance does not precisely float in an differently comfortable, well-decorated house — this feels just like the bodily embodiment of chopping corners to stay costs down. I am a lot more willing at the Shark PowerDetect NeverTouch Professional‘s swish self-emptying dock.

The place Shark wins: Spot cleansing and affordability

Shark has traditionally been in track with what the common particular person is keen to spend on a robotic vacuum. The emblem persistently provides core functions like sensible mapping and mopping at decrease costs than its Roomba opposite numbers — a degree of cost-effectiveness that are supposed to be specifically engaging to strict funds consumers or first-time robotic vacuum homeowners.

The Shark Matrix RV2310 is a competent little vacuum.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Shark’s extra approachable worth issues do not essentially imply it skimps on cleansing efficiency, although. Shark Matrix vacuums blank in a grid trend, drawing near the world a number of occasions from a couple of angles to snatch the rest it’ll have overlooked within the first go or two. In keeping with Shark, Matrix mode dishes out 30 % higher carpet cleansing than the older RV Shark fashions. For Shark 2-in-1 robotic vacuums, a mop in Matrix mode vibrates 100 occasions in step with minute to clean at stains that most likely would not budge from a unmarried go of a inexpensive robotic mop or a paper towel. Matrix mopping at all times is available in seize for maintaining with the consistent layer of shoe prints by way of my entrance door.

Whilst the manufacturers themselves make it tough to immediately evaluate suction energy on paper, in my enjoy, I discovered the low and mid-range Shark fashions to be much less prone to depart a rogue crumb or pile of hair in the back of than a majority of funds Roombas.

Shark even extends the Matrix cleansing mechanism to maximum of its super-affordable fashions, making any of the RV2310 or RV2300 fashions a forged selection for a funds robotic vacuum. I skilled no noteworthy navigational problems when sending both of the ones fashions to comb particular spots in my condominium. Regardless that the suction energy is expectedly simply OK, it was once sufficient for surface-level day-to-day maintenance of the large, visual particles. Those two Sharks also are one of the maximum compact self-emptying robotic vacuums I have observed — large information for small areas that do not need room for an enormous dock.

Shark robotic vacuums specifically shine with regards to messes that wish to be looked after at the moment. Shark’s spot cleansing has been one of these simple, dependable characteristic in each Shark robotic vacuum I attempted. My final spot cleansing check is the world out of doors both of my cats’ clutter packing containers — even the inexpensive Shark robotic vacuums at all times were given to the correct spot and cleared the kitty clutter sooner than I walked in there with naked ft.

In September 2024, Shark in the end stuck directly to the entire “self-sustaining mopping pads” factor with the discharge of the Shark PowerDetect line. Even the ones top class Sharks debuted at $1,199.99 and $999.99 — a long way not up to the asking worth for flagship hybrids from different manufacturers.

The Shark PowerDetect robotic vacuum with NeverTouch Professional dock.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

That is the primary mopping Shark that is aware of to forestall mopping on carpeted spaces with out you having to in particular designate so. For excellent measure, the PowerDetect may be provided with massive wheels that hoist the vac over carpet to stay it dry all the way through mopping mode. The ones hydraulics additionally helped the PowerDetect to be one of the vital solely robotic vacs I have examined that is by no means gotten caught on a rug nook or scrambled up my tub mats.

The place Shark loses: Small impediment avoidance and diversity

Shark’s greatest shortcoming is that it takes without end to liberate new robotic vacuums, and that staggered time table steadily leaves it taking part in catch-up with different manufacturers. Manufacturers like Roborock and Dreame appear to drop new vegetation of robotic vacuums two times within the time frame that Shark introduces a unmarried new type. The prevailing mid-tier Shark fashions also are a bit extra fundamental than the Roombas in the similar worth differ.

Shark can also be at an enormous drawback till its robotic vacs can steer clear of cords and puppy waste — it is the lone primary robotic vacuum emblem that hasn’t actually invested in small impediment avoidance. That is one of these staple characteristic in my existence, as I am certain it’s for any individual whose flooring could be cluttered lived in every now and then.

Regardless that I used to be glad with the ground protection, thoroughness, and mapping accuracy when trying out the Shark Discover Professional, it kind of feels overpriced for the negligible variations between it and a typical previous self-emptying Shark. “Discover” sounds find it irresistible must confer with the aptitude to hit upon telephone chargers or socks, however alas, it is in truth speaking a couple of characteristic that will increase suction when an edge, nook, or additional grimy spot is detected.

The Shark Discover Professional is ok. Simply superb.
Credit score: Leah Stodart / Mashable

In a similar way, just one mopping Shark robotically stops mopping when carpet is sensed. This implies vacuum and mop mode are not conceivable on the similar time within the different 2-in-1 Shark Matrix fashions, and an individual must manually connect the water tank to modify to mopping mode. With Matrix Mopping being one of these forged characteristic, it is a bummer that its utilization is so depending on human intervention.

Even the finest Shark robotic vacuum nonetheless solely has a flat D-shaped mopping pad. It does press downward and vibrate for extra tenacious scrubbing motion than the lazy mopping achieved by way of reasonably-priced mopping robots, however the robotic vacuum is more or less previous that singular design now. The general public, myself integrated, appear to favor twin spinning mopping pads, and now curler mops harking back to a paint curler are shooting up — each mopping designs that iRobot provides. The PowerDetect NeverTouch Professional did a forged process of wiping up small spills and shoe stains on my condominium’s hardwood, however it wasn’t ready to clean in corners and alongside edges like iRobot’s versatile spinning mops can.

Shark does not do itself any favors by way of refusing to listing its vacuums’ suction energy in Pascals (Pa). Virtually each different primary robotic vacuum emblem measures suction energy in Pa (even iRobot now), which makes evaluating choices simple. Shark nonetheless insists on conserving an aura by way of only evaluating suction energy to different vacuums in its personal circle of relatives tree. Shark has additionally been identified to make claims like “50% higher suction than the best-selling iRobot.” No matter that suggests.

The place iRobot and Shark each lose: Their apps suck

Paradoxically, two of essentially the most longstanding names within the robotic vacuum sport have the 2 maximum outdated-feeling apps. The naked bones house maps in each the Roomba House and Shark Blank apps are a long way much less intricate than the color-coded maps that Roborock or Eufy be offering. Pausing a blank or including an additional room to the queue is in a similar fashion clunky on each.