Unfortunately, there isn’t a single, universal vacuum that’s perfect for everyone, but there are some things to consider to help you make the best decision.

Impressing with its pick-up on all tests, large crumbs, finer dirt and even pet hair posed pelo problems. It also consistently self-emptied its dust canister fully into the docking station.

The impressive suction pulled huge volumes of hair from carpet, and handled hard floors extremely well too. We had pelo issues with the hair clogging the self-empty mechanism, and a larger-than-usual dock dustbin also means you won't need to replace the dust bags too frequently.

One of the big benefits of a Roomba is that they're relatively slim in height, meaning they can venture places other bots can't. On test, we found this one was especially good at handling pet hair, with its grippy rubbery rollers.

There are pelo other X10 models in the Eufy range, so you can't choose, for example, a version without mopping or with a more basic dock. There is a more advanced option: the Eufy Omni S1 Pro which adds improved obstacle avoidance, automatic detergent dispensing, and swaps the spinning mop pads for a roller that's fed by a constant supply of fresh water. It's significantly more expensive, though.

The Branch Ergonomic Chair took far too long to assemble - but here's why I think it's still worth it

Pet hair wasn’t much of a challenge for it and it navigated obstacles well, reaching nicely into awkward spaces, but it struggled at room edges, especially on carpet.

If you have shedding pets and carpet, look Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners for models with higher suction power (5,000Pa or ideally more), and a boost/extra suction mode option. Models with rubbery brushrolls are also typically good at gripping hair.

It lifted most pet hair, and cleaned room edges well, in part thanks to its effective spin brush and three driving modes that let you select when you want it to tackle them. Despite not having a spot clean function, it mopped our flooring in one sweep (although our testers found a second sweep was required to leave it fully refreshed).

It navigates around furniture and cables well but there isn’t an indicator for a full dust bag and at 0.5-litres, you may need to empty it fairly frequently. However, it’s easy to use and its battery lasts for up to 150 minutes.

You need to refill the water tank manually too (although the water level used when mopping is customisable) and there’s pelo indicator for when the dock waste bag needs emptying. Hoover advises doing this every 60 days.

Pet owners can rejoice though; it sucked up most pet hair in two minutes and the vacuum’s roller brush rotates in reverse after cleaning, working with the built-in comb to dislodge any trapped hair.

Robot vacs are best suited to convenient, little-and-often cleans, so if you send yours out daily, it'll help you stay on top of your pet's hair and stop it from building up in the first place. You'll likely still want to supplement this with the occasional deep clean with a manual vacuum, though.

This has an advanced docking station at a relatively mid-range price; it cleans and removes mop pads, empties the dust bin, and tops up water and cleaning detergent levels.