Best Robot Vacuum Cleaners 2023

If there’s a robot vacuum that epitomises value, it’s the Proscenic M8 Pro. It is a vacuum that’s on the larger side, with a 35cm diameter, and comes comprised of some unassuming looking black plastics, apart from when you look at the top. Here the M8 Pro takes on a smarter finish, as well as a laser conning tower that sticks up by around an inch or so, raising its total height to 10cm. This is low enough so it will fit under sofas, but you may have less luck fitting it underneath sideboards and cupboards. Underneath, the M8 Pro comes with a rotating brush bar to loosen dirt on hard floors and carpets, as well as a side brush that aids in increasing the cleaner’s overall reach. 

It comes with a decent capacity dust box on the underside, which doesn’t actually need any emptying, but as this is a vacuum that can also mop, it still needs to be filled with water. The mop attachment comes as a clip on plate with a microfibre cover which is easy enough to attach. In addition, the Proscenic app provides excellent control, although there is a bundled remote control to use if you wish to. Alongside this also comes a couple of spare dust bags and a spare HEPA filter, as well as a combined brush/razor tool for removing any tangled hair. 

The M8 Pro also comes with loads of features to get stuck into, including three vacuum levels and three different water volume settings to pick from – on the default of these (the middle setting), it automatically detects whether it’s on carpet or solid floor and for the most part, the M8 Pro did a decent job of adjusting between different floor surfaces. To achieve a precise clean, Proscenic’s robo-vac uses a rotating laser to go round your house and map out a floor plan. The Proscenic app allows for manual designation of zones, which is especially handy, as is the app’s scheduling feature for cleaning, and its spot cleaning one, too.

Admittedly, it also does an excellent job of cleaning, especially thanks to the amount of obstacle detection the M8 Pro features. There’s infrared time-of-flight sensors, as well as cliff detection, bump detection and laser mapping, as discussed previously. During testing, we found it to successfully navigate door stops, stair tops, chair legs, and other furniture too. It also dealt with our reviewer’s chunky divider well, as well as with their thick doormat and rug. 

Its suction is decent enough, with our testing showing the M8 Pro to do a good job in dealing with smaller items like crumbs and pet hair. Its mopping skills were okay, and while the M8 Pro wasn’t that adept at dealing with dried on stains, it was a good performer with recent, wetter spills. The four hours of battery life Proscenic quotes is perhaps a little too optimistic, as our testing demonstrated that a 23 minute clean drained between 10 and 12% of the battery’s total 5,200mAh capacity. Its noise level ranged between 58dB and 62dB isn’t too loud to hold a conversation over, although the base station’s 70dB is about as loud as a normal vacuum cleaner, even if it’s only on for around 15 seconds at a time.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Proscenic M8 Pro review