Self-emptying dock

A robot vacuum’s onboard bin holds very little – often less than half a liter. A self-emptying dock solves that by vacuuming the bin out into a larger bag hidden in the base.

iRobot claims up to three months of hands-free operation for the Max 775’s dock, and ships a spare bag in a slot inside it. On fancier docks the base also holds clean and dirty water tanks and washes the mop.

The trade-off is noise and size. The dock for the Max 775 is about 17 inches tall and weighs roughly 19 pounds, and reviewers describe the emptying cycle as loud enough to interrupt a conversation.