JONR T5 Pro

Suction in pascal, as the maker measures it. More pascal helps on carpet, but it says little about how well the robot picks grit off a hard floor.

Whether the robot copes with pet hair: a brush that hair does not wind around and a dock that empties the bin for you. Where the maker does not say so itself, we read it from those two.

The filter the exhaust air passes through. A HEPA filter holds back fine dust and pollen, which counts if someone at home has an allergy.

How the mop is built: flat pads, two spinning discs or a roller. Discs press harder on dried-on dirt, a roller rinses itself while it works. On this model: seen on the product photo, not stated in the maker's text.

The pad slides out along a wall or a kickboard, so the last few centimetres are mopped as well.

The dock empties the robot’s dust bin, usually after every run. You only empty the dock’s bag or bin.

The dock washes the mop for you, so you do not rinse it by hand.

The dock dries the mop afterwards, so it does not sit there wet and start to smell.

Drying is done with warm air instead of cold. It is faster and it helps against smell.

How the robot maps your home and follows that map. Lidar measures with a laser and works in the dark, a camera looks along and recognises more.

The highest threshold the robot takes, as the maker states it. Measure your own: the step into a bathroom or onto a balcony is often higher.

When the battery runs low in the middle of a run, the robot recharges and then carries on where it stopped.

Sensors under the robot that see a drop, so it stops at the top of a staircase instead of falling down it.

The noise in decibels, in the setting its source names: makers mostly give the standard setting, shops often the highest. 65 dB is like a vacuum at half power, 55 dB like a conversation.

You set days and times, and the robot starts by itself, also when you are not at home.