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Self-empty docks: bag or bagless?
Updated
Pick a bagged dock if dust bothers you or you want the longest gap between empties. Pick a bagless base if you never want to buy supplies. Both of our roborock picks use a 2.7 liter bag. The Shark AI Ultra is our bagless pick. Whichever you choose, treat the "days" number on the box as a best case.
The two types side by side
| Bagged dock | Bagless base | |
|---|---|---|
| Emptying | Lift out the bag and drop it in the trash. The Qrevo S Pro listing calls its bag sealed | Carry the base bin to the trash and tip out loose dust |
| Supplies | New bags, for as long as you own it | None. You wash or replace a filter, as with any vacuum |
| Maker claim | Up to 70 days (Q10 S5+), 7 to 9 weeks (Qrevo S Pro) | Up to 60 days (Shark AI Ultra) |
| Our picks | roborock Q10 S5+, roborock Qrevo S Pro | Shark AI Ultra |
How long a 2.7 liter bag really lasts
We set our estimate so that an easy home lands near the maker's claim, then scale it for pets and carpet. With daily runs:
- Maker claim, up to70 days
- 1,000 sq ft hard floors no pets68 days
- 1,500 sq ft mixed floors one pet18 days
- 1,500 sq ft carpet two pets10 days
So a busy pet home changes bags about every 10 days, not every 70. That is still far less work than a 0.6 liter robot bin, which fills in about 2 runs in the same home.
How long the bagless base lasts
We cannot give you a firm number. The Shark listing claims up to 60 days. Its spec table shows a capacity of 0.27 gallons, which is about 1 liter, and does not say whether that is the robot's bin or the base. If it is the base, our estimate for an easy 1,000 sq ft home is about 25 daily runs, and about 4 in a 1,500 sq ft home with two pets and carpet. If the base is bigger than that, it lasts longer. Either way, plan on emptying a bagless base more often than the claim in a pet home. You can pick 1 L in the emptying calculator to see your own number.
How to choose
- Dust bothers you: bag. The dust stays inside it from the dock to the trash.
- You hate buying supplies or forget to: bagless. A full bag with no spare in the house means the dock stops emptying.
- Pets: either works. The bag goes longer between empties by our estimate, and the bagless base costs nothing extra however much they shed.
- Bags are a running cost. We do not list prices. Look up the maker's own bags for the exact dock before you buy the robot, and count on more bags per year than the box suggests if you have pets or carpet.
The caveats on the picks
The Shark AI Ultra has the most mixed owner summary of our picks, with reports of early failures, and it does not mop. The Q10 S5+ has mixed reports on getting stuck. Owners of the Qrevo S Pro are split on overall satisfaction. And a dock only handles the dustbin. You still clean the filter and cut hair off the brush.
See them side by side in the roundup.