I review robot vacuums for a living, ask me anything!
I’ll be answering subscriber questions today at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. Come chat about the robot revolution for our floors.
I’ll be answering subscriber questions today at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. Come chat about the robot revolution for our floors.
by May 21, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
Welcome! I’m The Verge’s smart home reviewer, and I’m hosting an exclusive subscriber AMA today at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. I test a lot of connected gadgets for my job, but the dominant device in my home — by both number and square footage covered — is the robot vacuum. At any given time, I have a dozen of these bots bouncing around, sweeping and mopping my floors and irritating my cats.
I just published a guide on how to choose the best robot vacuum for your home, and I recently reviewed the Dyson Spot & Scrub, Shark’s Power Detect, and the Matic, which is the most interesting new approach to a robot vacuum I’ve seen in my 7 years of reviewing these machines.
From vacuums with arms and ones that can climb stairs to basic bump-and-roll bots, there’s a dizzying array of robovacs on the market. I’m here to help you cut through the marketing hype (no, suction power isn’t the most important spec; yes, robot mops are better now, but they’re still not great) and pick a robot that will clean your floors without driving you crazy.
I’ve also been closely covering the business side of the robot vacuum world and can answer your questions about who bought iRobot, what the heck is up with Dreame, when robot vacuums will climb stairs, and why Dyson put somebody else’s motor in its latest vacuum.
So, if you have questions, concerns, or just big thoughts, post them in the comment section here. I’ll start replying at 1 PM ET today and will hang around until 2 PM. Come join me to talk about the robot revolution. It starts small.
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