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In a small apartment the robot has to handle hair, chair legs, and a threshold the marketing photo did not show. Obstacle avoidance is the difference between a tool and a YouTube fail compilation.
Mop vs vacuum
Combo mop-vac robots are convenient and worse at both jobs if you have real mud. A vacuum-only robot plus a cheap mop on Sunday is honest. If you have long hair, look at a self-emptying bin you will empty anyway.
Obstacle avoidance
Cameras and LIDAR help. Cables still eat robots. Pick up the charging spaghetti or you are buying a toy. Thresholds over ~2 cm are a skip unless the spec is real.
When a stick vac is smarter
If you have one rug and wood floors you already sweep, a stick vac is faster and quieter. Robots win when you will not vacuum for three weeks without them.
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