It’s only natural for humans to want to automate their chores. The only thing more expected is a fascination with robots at CES, the largest tech conference in the world, currently going on in Las Vegas.
BestReviews has been covering the phenomenon of making robots do your chores as long as we’ve been a company, starting some of our earliest in-depth testing projects on the robotic vacuum. Starting with the popularity of Roombas, we’ve seen consumer interest in that space skyrocket, as more and more competitors create products to automate housework over the years.
We’ve found that robotic vacuums, the emerging robotic mops and even window cleaners are effective at keeping the house tidy without having to put in nearly as much effort. That puts us on the hunt for the next big thing: The technology that will allow people to stop working on something so mundane and use that time toward something a little more enriching.
More BestReviews-at-CES coverage here:
Here are the three places robots will be making life a bit easier in the future as the technology becomes more widespread.
According to Google Trends, interest in robotic pool cleaners has been steadily increasing since 2004, with a huge spike in interest in May of 2022 (and another near-peak in May 2023). The technology is clearly piquing the interest of the consumer market, with more and more pool owners adding them to their pool sheds.
There were several exhibitors at CES looking to plunge their products into the consumer market before this summer. One that stood out was Wybotics (pictured above). They have nine products available across the price spectrum and unveiled underwater-docking technology that claims to be first of its class. You wouldn't think about a battery charging seamlessly underwater, but their inductive charging system makes it possible.
This kind of innovation is what makes CES special: It’s a product type that hasn’t even fully taken root, yet this company is coming up with ways to create new features before the technology becomes a standard for any home lucky enough to have a pool.
BestReviews’ favorite robotic pool cleaner from 2022 was the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Robotic Pool Vacuum Cleaner and we plan to test the line of products this spring once temperatures warm up a little bit.
BestReviews first started researching robotic lawn mowers in 2021, when more than one model truly became available on the consumer market. It’s still an expensive product today and hasn’t caught on quite yet. At CES, the biggest makers in the space were showing off improved robot functionality that should make the technology more easily adopted.
In the early versions, robotic lawn mowers required a work-intensive setup that asked users to stake their lawns and predetermine the route the machine would take. This year, several robot lawn mower makers displayed their improved technology that made the machines operate more like robotic vacuums, automatically mapping your yard and detecting obstacles on their own.
The two that we’re looking forward to trying out for the Best of the Best slot are the Mammotion Luba 2 and the Novabot series.
The Luba 2 is stacked with features, including all-wheel drive capabilities that allow it to take on significant uphill terrain up to 38 degrees of incline. It also has a pretty cool app that allows you to customize your experience with predetermined routes (for those who still demand the stripes). Meanwhile, the Novabot N2000 can cover up to 1.5 acres and also has safety monitoring features to detect unexpected movements in the yard.
One thing to note before getting too excited about your future of totally free weekends in the summer: The Novabot N2000 currently costs $3,399 and the Luba 2, which hits the market as early as February, will likely run for thousands of dollars as well, based off how much Mammotion’s current model costs.
Wrapping up the category are the robots that are designed to clear snow from your front walkway or leaves/debris from your yard during the fall, and then also mow your lawn throughout the non-snowed-in months.
The favorite version of this concept that I saw was the Yarbo at the CES Showstoppers event on Tuesday night. The Yarbo 2024 line is designed to be a whole-year solution if you buy all of the different modules — which would not be cheap by any stretch — allowing you to toggle between the life blowing, snow removal and lawn mowing designs. It also doesn’t require wires and can monitor your yard for security surveillance. And for the people who still want the experience of doing the work without leaving their couch, you can even sync it to a VR headset and control it that way. This makes it one of the Most CES 2024 Products there is.
The Yarbo Snow Blower S1 is currently for sale on their site for $7,499 to give you an idea of how attainable the technology currently is.
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Jacob Palmer is the Sr. Director of Content for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
