The Dreame X60 Max Ultra is currently $1,180 on Amazon, down from its usual $1,700 price, saving you over $500. It performed quite well in cleaning, with an overall average of 59.22% across flooring types. That may not sound high, but let me assure you that for robot vacuums, that’s a very good score. With hardwood floors, it was more impressive, removing 97.08% of dust from hardwood and handling low-pile well at 55.94%. It also handled pet hair with ease and benefits from a retractable pressure plate that lowers to create a tighter seal against carpet for deeper suction. Obstacle avoidance and navigation were both very solid, with four out of six test objects avoided and nearly 80% navigation coverage, meaning it cleaned most of the room without missing spots. 

If you know anything about Dreame, you’ll recall that their X40 Ultra was one of the first robot vacuums to incorporate a lift system that lets it get over thresholds. That feature is still here with the X60 Max Ultra, where it can climb double-layer thresholds up to 3.46 inches high. It also has a retractable turret and a super-slim 3.13-inch body, so it can fit under tight furniture. It comes with a self-emptying and self-cleaning docking station, can mop your floors, and has dual compartments that mix a dedicated pet odor-eliminating solution with your standard floor cleaner. 

The one thing to note is that it’s louder than other robot vacuums, the loudest we’ve tested, actually, so if that bothers you, it may be a pass, but while 65.18 LAeq is loud relative to other units, it’s not that much louder that you’re going to notice it more than you would the recommendations below. 

While the Curv 2 Flow didn’t make our top 10 during testing, it’s not too far off in performance. It scored 70.8% in sand pickup on hardwood floors and achieved an impressive 83.05% room coverage while cleaning. Object avoidance and carpet performance weren’t as good as the X60’s, which is where the price premium shows itself, but the robot vacuum is more than capable of tackling most of what you need. It benefits from Roborock’s app, which is one of the better interfaces for managing these things than others I’ve tested. 

It also doesn’t compromise on features, despite being significantly less than the X60. You get a self-cleaning mop with 15 newtons of downward pressure, anti-tangling pressure rolls, and automatic detection that switches it to mop-only mode for liquid spills. It comes with improved AI obstacle recognition, can learn to avoid around 200 objects, an improved docking station with self-emptying and auto-refilling water tanks, and supports high-temperature mop cleaning while it docks. 

For not much more than $600, it’s an easy one to recommend if you want all the key flagship features without the flagship price. 

This is another robot vacuum with a midrange price and flagship aspirations, but in this case, the Saros 10R is actually Roborock’s mainstay model from last year. I’ve often said that the best way to get a good deal on a robot vacuum is to buy last year’s top-tier model when it’s on sale. That’s certainly the case with the Saros 10R. While it wasn’t a top 10 pick last year due to stiff competition, it has plenty going for it. It scored 50.14% in low-pile carpet, and hardwood pickup was around 60%, though it scored as high as 89% in our earlier test run before we changed the procedure. It covered 76.81% of the room and avoided four out of six objects in several runs. 

If you’re looking for an ultraslim robot vacuum, the Saros 10R is about as slim as the Dreame X60 at 3.14 inches, and it doesn’t have a turret. It features dual spinning mopping pads, an arm for edge cleaning, and the AdaptLift system to get it over obstacles and thresholds. AI obstacle navigation is present, with 108 objects that it can detect and avoid. Naturally, you also get a docking station with the complete set of self-cleaning, emptying, and drying features we’ve come to expect from high-end models.