The honest answer is that they do different jobs. Which one to buy first depends on your floors and on how much you dislike vacuuming.
What a robot does well
- Daily cleaning of open floors while you are out.
- Pet hair that would otherwise pile up in corners.
- Mopping hard floors without a bucket.
The Clarel Robo S8 maps rooms with lidar, lifts its mop on carpets and empties itself into the base for about seven weeks.
What a robot cannot do
Stairs, sofas, car seats, shelves and the gap behind the bed. For those you need hands and a cordless stick: 60 minutes per battery is enough for a whole flat, and the battery swaps in seconds.
Which one first
- Mostly hard floors, pets or small children: the robot.
- Carpets, stairs and a lot of furniture: the stick.
- An allergy in the family: either, plus an air purifier in the bedroom.
Many households end up with both: the robot keeps the floor clean during the week, and the stick comes out for ten minutes on Saturday.
