Best Budget Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair Under $200

Owning a pet is always fun. It brings joy and happiness to see how adorable they behave. You can also play with them indoors or outside. However, great fun brings great responsibility. Pets behave differently than humans, and you have to take good care of them so that they stay healthy all the time.

One of the most responsible ways to care for your pet is to clean and groom them on a regular basis. However, this is not enough. You also need to provide a safe and clean environment for it to live in. Unfortunately, pets tend to run around your house unpredictably. You have no idea where it has been, and this makes cleaning their fur more difficult. You don’t want to spend the entire day cleaning floors, upholstery, home furnishings, and other items, do you? In this case, you can get the best robot vacuum for the cleaning job.

If you have a pet, you should consider using a specialized vacuum for pet hair. When it comes to a standard upright vacuum, you have many options. Let’s take a quick look at some of them because you definitely need one, even if you are looking for the best vacuums for pet hair under $200.

Unique Technology in Upright Vacuum for Capturing Pet Hair

The two impressive technologies you want in your vacuum cleaner for cleaning pet hair are duo clean rollers, which you can find in Shark Apex Zero M, and anti-hair wrap technology, which comes in Shark Vertex. Both are excellent at untangling hair and are ideal companions to your robotic vacuum.

It is worth noting that a brush is also an essential component for both pet and human hair cleaning. The previous models are effective because they have hair entanglement features that look like combs and a wider brush gap within the roller. This minimizes hair entanglement while allowing the main machine to vacuum the hairs.

This specialized brush, however, is not typically found in robot vacuum cleaners. This means that you will never find the same quality as you do in upright vacuum cleaners. Is it a problem? Probably. It depends on how much effort you are willing to put into cleaning pet hair and how many pets are in the house.

If you don’t have much time to clean your house and hate how much hair is scattered around, you should consider an automated system. In this case, a robot vacuum cleaner can be a valuable addition to your house tools. However, if you still have time to care for your pets, go for an upright vacuum cleaner with a great pet hair vacuuming feature. They are efficient and will be less likely to cause you any problems. In terms of price, Shark Navigator Zero M for example, is a great choice for cleaning pet hair, despite the fact that you need more time to do so. You can easily clean your home of pet hair and even human hair with this device that costs less than $200.

Set your expectations right

You may be wondering why you should buy a robot vacuum cleaner for pet hair when there are some good upright vacuums at a lower price that do the job much better. 

Like other robot vacuum cleaners, their role in the world of house cleaning is to automate tasks. With its automatic scheduling system, you can freely leave it to work while you focus on other things to do. However, if you are looking for a vacuum cleaner under $200, you probably need to set your expectations right.

• Missing Features Compared to High End Robot Cleaner

With the budget under $200, you shouldn’t expect the vacuum cleaner to clean a big house. It is better suited to a house with small spaces, such as an apartment or a studio. The reason is that most budget vacuum cleaners lack a LiDAR or camera sensor to navigate your home. When the battery runs out, it can’t continue where it left off and has to restart from the beginning. You can imagine how inefficient the robot is for a big house that requires longer battery life.

Even worse, your robot may get stuck at times. Since it can’t map the room and see the object in front of it, it will pass through everything, including cable, fabric, carpet, toys, socks, and a lot of other items. You can always expect to get a notification from your robot asking you to help it.

Another feature that is missing is automatic waste removal. You will still need to do manual labor to clean the dustbin more frequently, probably twice or three times per week, depending on how dirty your floor is. This is just like the opposite to the purpose of the automatic benefit provided by a robot vacuum. It gets even worse if your pets have long hair, which can easily get tangled in your robot vacuum brush.

• Missing Features Compared to Upright Vacuum Cleaner

As previously mentioned, upright vacuum cleaners have excellent brush attachments for cleaning pet hair and even long human hair. Some high-end robot vacuums come with dual brush systems. However, it doesn’t solve the entangling issue, especially for longer hair. Thus, regardless of what you do, an upright vacuum cleaner is still the better option for pet hair.

However, it is important to note that not all pet hair is equal. Some pets shed soft, short hair rather than longer ones. In this case, a robot vacuum cleaner can effectively do the job by capturing dust, debris, and small particles.

Under $200, however, we can see that you are also missing the deep clean feature of upright vacuum cleaners. This means you can’t rely on it to clean your carpeted floor properly. If your floor is carpeted from corner to corner, you should consider two options, either you increase your budget for a robot vacuum with more powerful suction and deep-cleaning ability, or you buy a dedicated upright vacuum to do the job (if you don’t already have one).

With many features removed, an under $200 vacuum cleaner should only serve as an additional automatic cleaning machine. It can’t replace any upright or cordless vacuum. It works well for light cleaning before you start the main process. It also makes it easier to get started, reducing the amount of work you and your main vacuum machine have to do. Additionally, you still need to perform some manual labor to keep your robot vacuum clean and free of untangling hair.

Now, if you already have a main vacuum cleaner to clean most of the floor, you can choose the best robot vacuums for pet hair with confidence. However, if you don’t already have one, make it your top priority because robot vacuums under this budget have annoying limitations, especially for those who have high expectations. 

If you are looking for automatic cleaning assistance, we have covered a few key factors to consider. When looking for the best robot vacuum, there are many options available at different price points. The key points listed below will help you in finding which one best meets your needs.

What Do You Need from a Robot Vacuum for Pet Hair?

• Ability to resist tangles with various kinds of hair

For obvious reasons, you should choose a robot vacuum that is tangle resistant. Typically, a brush with a wide gap between brushes or the one with comb-like grates works best for pet hair, both short and long. Unfortunately, those brushes are not available in most robot vacuum cleaners. However, a lot of higher-end models still offer decent resistance. For a budget vacuum, you should always be prepared that it will get tangled most of the time.

• Vacuuming ability on carpet 

If you have carpet in your house or in your pet room, you should research how effective it is to clean dirt, debris, and hair. Typically, suction power, measured in Pa (Pascal), will be the main deciding factor. A vacuum with a pressure of 3000 Pascal or higher is ideal for carpet cleaning.

• Vacuuming ability on a hard floor

The ability to vacuum hard floors is important, especially if your home has little to no carpet at all. You don’t need a powerful suction for this type of floor. To easily remove small grain dirt, you will need a soft roller. It also helps you to prevent scratches on the floor.

Important Features for the Budget Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair 

• Bins size

A robot vacuum cleaner that costs less than $200 has a number of limitations. However, bin size is a subjectively important factor that you should look for. The larger bin size allows you to perform less maintenance. This increases your freedom and gives you a better feeling of automation.

• Filtration System

As dander (pet’s dandruff) is microscopic size and can be harmful to your health, vacuuming it needs the use of a specialized filtration system. This requirement is less important than when you are choosing a cordless vacuum. The robot vacuum works on the floor, so you don’t interact with it up close. Basically, it is a feature that is not urgently needed, but still nice to have.

• Extra Agitation Feature

Pet hair in the carpet doesn’t float. It penetrates deeply into the carpet fabric, requiring an extra agitation feature. The feature can be used with a hard brush from the roller. It helps the robot in lifting the stuck hair and, as a result, cleans the carpet of all kinds of hair. This feature is usually obvious when a trusted reviewer says the robot cleans the carpet very well. If you have a room full of carpet, you should definitely choose a device with this feature.

• Brush type

It is important to understand how much pet hair you deal with on a daily basis. Most modern robots now are equipped with a brush that is capable of cleaning both hardwood and carpet. However, the brush generally doesn’t work well with longer hair. That means you will receive notifications often that it is stuck and tangled because of the hair. 

A clever solution from manufacturers is to remove the brush entirely. Without the brush, the hair can’t get entangled. It simply goes directly to the waste bin. However, this type of vacuum cleaner doesn’t perform well on carpet which is still leaving you a problem to solve.

• Battery Life

If you think battery life is not important, you are mistaken. The battery life of robot vacuums with a price less than $200 is an extremely important factor to consider. The reason is that the random navigation system of the device forces it to work aimlessly until the battery runs out. It also can’t record which parts of the area were cleaned after each charge, so it will just restart from the beginning.

Without enough battery capacity, the robot vacuum may leave the job in a random part of the house and keep cleaning the parts that have been done while leaving the untouched parts remain uncleaned. Having enough battery prevents that risk from happening, and it is worthwhile to find a robot with a better battery life.

Additional Features 

• Application Support

If you want the automatic experience of a robot vacuum, choose one with app support. Some vacuums only have a physical button on the unit, which is not very intuitive. If it gets lost, it doesn’t tell you immediately. This is why having a robot vacuum with an app that you install on your phone is more convenient.

• Spare Parts Availability

There is no way we know when the vacuum cleaner will break and stop working. Repairability and the availability of spare parts are two important aspects in keeping your unit working for an extended period. Big brands like iRobot offer various parts, including rollers, side brushes, batteries, and more to buy separately. If you are looking for one, you should find out if they have spare parts available on the market or not. If it doesn’t, the next question will be whether you will take the risk or not.

Now that you know what to expect from a robot vacuum, let’s look at the best ones available you can get. All of the following products are priced for less than $200, and they offer useful features you may need for cleaning pet hair.

Highly Recommended Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair Under $200

iLife V5s Plus

If you want an excellent robot vacuum, you can consider iLife V5s Plus because of its versatility in cleaning your house. It can vacuum and mop. The upgraded software enables you to control the device from afar using the Smart App remote and voice control assistant through Alexa or Google Assistant. 

Budget robot vacuums are typically not outfitted with fancy sensors. They will run around and bang on the walls to explore the room. However, iLife V5s Plus includes multiple sensitive sensors. They improve the robot’s behavior by adding anti-collision and anti-drop sensors, allowing it to move more smoothly without hitting walls again.

Another great thing is the battery life. It can run 110 minutes non-stop after a full charge. Random navigation requires more battery capacity because it can’t resume the previous unfinished work. Therefore, a long runtime from iLife V5s Plus is always a good thing to have.

People are satisfied with the results when cleaning non-carpet floors. It performs as expected at a consistent pace, and the sensor installed in the device allows it to prevent from colliding with objects in its path. What makes pet owners happy is that iLife V5s Plus is completely safe for their animals. It won’t eat your curious cat’s hair or tail. This is a big deal because it brings iLife V5s Plus to the level of ideal pet-friendly device.

Some negative reviews came from people who are unsure what this product is for. They want this robot to perform well on carpet, but it simply can’t. It is only designed to work well on hard floors. Some people even expect the robot to navigate flawlessly, despite the fact that iLife V5s Plus only has a simple sensor that detects nearby walls and cliffs, not to create a map like LiDAR does

iLife V3s Pro

If you are looking for a robot vacuum, it is definitely you want to clean your house entirely. iLife V3S Pro is so thin that it can fit into the depth of furniture, tables, and chairs. The three infrared sensors beneath the unit prevent the robot from falling, giving you peace of mind when running it upstairs. An additional sensor in the front prevents the robot from banging from anything in front of it, which reduces noise and protects your furniture and wall from scratches. 

In addition to the useful sensor, the mode is tangle-free and has great suction power. This product is highly recommended for cleaning hard floors, even if there is a lot of hair on it.

It is unsurprising that over 20,000 items of this model are sold. iLife V3S Pro is an excellent choice for pet owners and homes with hardwood floors. Even though it only has limited features, it does them exceptionally well. It handles dog hair with ease. It also works with longer dog hair, which is a bonus. In general, people love this vacuum robot for its excellent pet hair vacuuming capability.

Despite its usefulness for cleaning hair, the waste container is quite small, and there are no alerts when it is full. You won’t be getting any notification because there is no integration with the phone app. That means you should check and clean it periodically. Another common complaint is that the unit can easily get stuck in unexpected places. This is because it has a basic navigation system which you can’t expect to perform like the ones with higher-end models.

If you want to keep your home clean, even if you have pets, then iLife V3S Pro is an excellent choice. It has strong suction and no roller brush vacuum, allowing it to easily capture even the longest hair.

Even without an app, you can use the dedicated remote. It has all the features, including spot cleaning and manual movement using the arrow buttons in the remote. Another disadvantage, besides the lack of phone apps, is the unpredictable movement. You need to clear up the room before starting to operate the device to achieve the best results.

Even if you have to do things manually, iLife V3S Pro can perfectly perform automatic tasks like cleaning pet hair from hard floors.

Lefant M210 Pro

Lefant M210 Pro makes a similar first impression with iLife V3 and V5. The primary function of this model is simply to clean hard floors rather than carpet, and it doesn’t include a brush roller. Without the brush, this pure vacuum machine is an excellent choice for those who keep animals in their house. The hair and fur would not become tangled in the vacuum port. 

The application is one of the most impressive features of this product. It allows you to control the robot in various modes, including auto, smart zigzag, edge, and spot. The zigzag mode is particularly interesting because it mimics the behavior of a high-end robot with sophisticated sensors.

In addition to the app, cleaning and emptying the vacuum is fairly simple. The capacity is also slightly larger than the previous models in the list, and it provides a greater sense of automation.

While Lefant M210 works well for their pets, some have tangling issues with the side brush. That is understandable, and it is very annoying when this happens. 

If you don’t have the budget to get V5 or V3 from iLife, Lefant M210 is an alternative option. This is a great option for dealing with fur and hair during the shedding season because it is significantly less expensive. However, it is better for you to only use this product on hard floors. Also, make sure to check the unit regularly until you have a good idea of what it needs after cleaning. Brushes can get tangled with hair, so they may need to be replaced or cleaned after every cleaning session.

Coredy R750

It is good to see a modern vacuum that can do multiple jobs at once. The main selling point of this product is its ability to mop and vacuum. Coredy R750 also has the capability to automatically boost carpet. The robot can also increase its suction power to perform deep cleaning automatically. 

Apart from that, Coredy R750 has improved features from the 500/550 version. It now supports cleaning schedule app that follows your habits, no matter where you are. However, though it is less expensive than the 650, it is missing on a gyro-based navigation system.

Notable Mentions – What if you can spend more than $200?

This list doesn’t meet the less than $200 requirement, but it may be worth buying if you are willing to spend a little bit more for better quality. They are recommended mainly for their dependability, availability of replacement parts, and build quality. They are generally more durable and dependable to have.

• Deebot N79s 

Ecovacs truly understand what their customers want. The N79s model is an excellent all-rounder as it can clean carpets and hard floors with ease, both at low and high power. The battery life is also very good, with a 120-minute runtime. This mitigates the disadvantage of a random navigation system by covering more ground with a longer time limit. 

If you prefer quiet rooms, Deebot N79s can do the job with a reasonable noise level. The app and remote are both extremely useful. They allow you to give instructions to the robot in various modes based on your needs, including spot cleaning, edge cleaning, and manual cleaning.

What’s even better about the unit is that you can expect it to do a good job at cleaning hair. Most robot vacuums with brushes get tangled easily when vacuuming long hair. It is almost unavoidable, but Deebot N79s handles it very well. 

After all, despite the fact that it costs slightly more than the set budget, this Ecovacs robot vacuum is dependable. You can clean hard floors and carpets easily while removing all hair and fur along the way.

• iRobot Roomba 675

Roomba is a very well-known brand in the robot vacuum world due to the quality of their products. For pet owners, this may not be the first option to look at since it has a brush roller that is prone to entanglement. However, you should know that the issue normally happens because it tries to vacuum long hair strands. An unclean brush can also be a contributor to being tangled with hair and fur. As a result, you should be aware that the device is not the only factor to consider, especially for the price range.

What sets Roomba 675 apart is its ability to remove pet hair from carpets. While some budget options are unable to clean even the low pile carpet properly. With the dual brush system, this allows the device to deep clean carpets as well as pet hair. If your pets are staying for the whole time in a carpeted room, you better spend a bit more and get this robot instead.

All of the features mentioned are truly amazing for these specific people. Somehow, it is even better for general use as it comes with a sophisticated navigation algorithm though still relies on random movement. There is also no problem climbing high-pile carpets and cleaning all over it. Even better, hardwood is easy to clean due to dirt detection. This feature allows the robot to focus on a specific area after detecting dirt.

Our Tester’s Conclusion

Please always keep in mind that a limited budget also means less features. For example, iLife vacuum lacks the ability to perform a deep clean even on a low pile carpet. Despite having the ability to climb on it, it performs poorly. It will still leave dirt embedded in the carpet.

Before getting any of the products on the list, please make sure that you understand your exact condition and needs. That way, you can enjoy the benefits of automation while spending less money on it. It is also important to remember that a robot vacuum, especially one in this price range, should not be used as your primary cleaning machine. To properly clean your house, you will still need to invest in a good vacuum and/or mopping tool.

• Bonus: The 7 Best Robot Vacuum Cleaners Under $500