Expert Q&A Sessions, Vacuums, Part 3: What would you reccomend to someone with a $400 budget, a two-bedroom apartment, and a shedding dog.

Question: The hypothetical: someone DMs you saying "I have $400, a two-bedroom apartment, and one shedding dog. Make a recommendation." What are you buying with that budget — one machine, two, robot plus stick, something else?

Iconian: If you have a shedding dog, then yes, that absolutely changes the equation. For a short-haired dog that sheds moderately, a quality robot vacuum like a Roborock can handle it pretty well. But if you have a long-haired breed, like a husky or something similar, then I'd probably look into a vacuum specifically designed to deal with heavy pet hair, and then potentially use a robot vacuum as a secondary maintenance tool.

A lot of this really comes down to the specific layout and needs of your home. For example, if your apartment has stairs, split-level sections, or raised transitions between rooms, then a robot vacuum obviously can't handle all of that on its own.

For me personally, one of the biggest advantages of a robot vacuum is being able to let it run freely across an entire floor, whether that's upstairs or downstairs, without constantly needing intervention. That's where the convenience really becomes noticeable.

So before buying anything, I'd first identify the actual requirements: pet hair, floor type, stairs, room layout, runtime needs, and so on. Once you understand the environment and the problems you're trying to solve, it becomes much easier to pick the right tool for the job.

Question: What's the most underrated vacuum or vacuum category right now — the thing you keep upvoting on Slickdeals that doesn't get the attention it deserves?

Iconian: I can't really think of any underrated robot vacuum brands at the moment because the market is already pretty saturated, and the leading brands have spent years proving their reliability and performance.

The barrier to entry in this category is also fairly high. A company needs strong engineering, navigation technology, manufacturing capability, software support, and enough scale to compete on both features and price. At this point, most of the major brands already offer similar core functionality, so the main area left to compete on is value.

Because of that, it's difficult for a completely new brand to enter the market and immediately stand out unless they offer something genuinely different or significantly better.

That said, I'm always interested when new products or brands appear because I like trying new technology and seeing whether there's actually meaningful improvement. If something performs really well and offers good value, I have no problem recommending it to others.
But as of right now, for robot vacuums specifically, I'd still personally lean toward brands like Roborock/Xiaomi or Dreame because they've consistently performed well in my experience.
Corded and cordless vacuums are a separate discussion entirely, though. Once you move into those categories, the differences in design, performance, battery systems, weight, attachments, and long-term reliability become much more complicated.