Today, we’re comparing two robot vacuums from Eureka: the J15 Pro Ultra and the J20. Despite their similar-sounding names, these two models turned out to be quite different after several weeks of hands-on testing. In fact, we found one to be very good, while the other left much to be desired. So in this J15 Pro Ultra vs. J20 review, we’ll break down the results, highlight what sets them apart, and reveal which one we consider the better choice.
Top Choice: Eureka J15 Pro Ultra At-a-Glance
The Eureka J15 Pro Ultra stands out as a real contender, boasting advanced features that deliver superior cleaning performance compared to its older sibling, the J20. Its anti hair-tangle technology actively cuts hair from the roller—proving exceptionally effective in our hair tangle tests—and it excels in picking up both flattened and deeply embedded debris from carpets. Equipped with a front-mounted camera and structured light, the J15 ensures reliable obstacle avoidance, while its sophisticated charging dock not only washes and dries the mop pads using hot water but also features a self-cleaning mop station. Additionally, the J15’s mopping system—including an automatically extending mop pad and carpet-detection technology that lifts the mop pads—combined with above-average battery efficiency and a feature-rich app, clearly positions it as the flagship model and a top pick among robot vacuums. See additional info
Price as of March 23, 2025
Auto Empty Station: Self Empties Debris | Washes Mop Pad | Washes Mop Pad with Hot Water | Dries Mop Pad | Dries Mop Pad with Heated Air| Self Cleaning
Mopping: Lifts Mop Pads on Carpets | Extending Mop Pad for Hard to Reach Areas
Hardware: Removes Hair from Brush Roll
Performance: Carpet Boost Settings
Obstacle Avoidance: 150+ Objects Recognized
Mapping / Navigation: Multi Level Maps | Virtual Barriers and No Go Zones
Pet Features: Live Video Monitoring | Pet Checkup or Similar
Controls: Virtual Assistant Options
| Scores | Eureka J15 Pro Ultra | Average Robot Vacuum Tested |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum Wars Overall | 4.57 | 3.12 |
| Features | 4.33 | 3.37 |
| Mopping Performance | 4.45 | 2.93 |
| Obstacle Avoidance | 3.41 | 3.50 |
| Pet | 4.09 | 3.77 |
| Navigation | 3.35 | 3.30 |
| Battery | 2.32 | 2.64 |
| Performance | 3.12 | 3.41 |
| Official Battery Life: 100 Minutes | Navigation Type: Spinning Lidar |
| Official Suction Power: 16200Pa | Dust Bin Size: 400ml |
| Obstacle Avoidance Type: Single Camera & 3D Structured Light | Objects Recognized: 150 |
| Multi Level Maps: Y | Virtual Barriers: Y |
| Detergent Capacity: N/A | Disposable Bag: 3L |
Eureka J20 At-a-Glance
The Eureka J20 robot vacuum is an older flagship robot vacuum equipped with a single structured light sensor for obstacle avoidance and a multifunction charging station that washes and dries its mop roller. In our mopping tests, its rare flat roller design effectively removed dried-on stains while leaving behind very little water, aided by a mechanism that flips its cloth to a nonabsorbent side when traveling over carpets. During hair pickup tests, it left 84% of the hair on its roller, and it struggled with heavy debris on carpets. Though it does include an easy-to-use app and advanced features such as a self-cleaning station, its battery life proved unremarkable in testing, often running out of power sooner than expected. See additional info
Price as of March 23, 2025
Auto Empty Station: Self Empties Debris | Washes Mop Pad | Dries Mop Pad | Dirty Water Sensor
Hardware: 22mm Threshold Crossing
Performance: Carpet Boost Settings
Mapping / Navigation: Multi Level Maps | Virtual Barriers and No Go Zones
Obstacle Avoidance: Unknown number of Objects Recognized
| Scores | Eureka J20 | Average Robot Vacuum Tested |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum Wars Overall | 3.10 | 3.12 |
| Features | 4.19 | 3.37 |
| Mopping Performance | 4.85 | 2.93 |
| Obstacle Avoidance | 1.49 | 3.50 |
| Pet | 2.59 | 3.77 |
| Navigation | 3.04 | 3.30 |
| Battery | 1.77 | 2.64 |
| Performance | 2.42 | 3.41 |
| Official Battery Life: 130 Minutes | Navigation Type: Spinning Lidar |
| Official Suction Power: 8000 Pa | Dust Bin Size: 400ml |
| Obstacle Avoidance Type: Dual-view Structured Light | Objects Recognized: Unknown |
| Multi Level Maps: Yes | Virtual Barriers: Yes |
| Detergent Capacity: Unknown | Disposable Bag: 3L |
Eureka J15 Pro Ultra vs J20: evaluation and performance
First, let’s clear up a potentially confusing naming situation. The J20—despite it being a higher number than the J15—is actually about a year older than the J15. The J15 is also a bit better on paper in terms of its specs and features.
Vacuuming
In our evaluation, we found that they were evenly matched in terms of sweeping up debris from the surfaces of hard floors and carpets. Both robot vacuums have a side brush and a similar style main brush in a floating housing, though the J15 also has an anti-hair-tangle feature that the J20 does not.
Anti-Tangle Technology
The J15 actively cuts hair from its roller using a metal component inside the brush housing.
And we found it did well with this feature in our 7-inch hair tangle evaluation. The J15 left only 4% of the hair on the roller compared to the J20, which left 84% of the hair (a big difference).
The J15 also did better picking up flattened 2 and 1/2-inch hair on carpet. It picked up 92% of the hair compared to only 65% with the J20.
Carpet Deep Clean Test
This trend continued with our carpet deep-clean evaluation, where we assessed how good they are at picking up heavy and deeply embedded debris like sand from medium-pile carpets. The J15 had a respectable score of 72%, but the J20 was significantly below average at 41%.
Obstacle Avoidance
Another significant difference between the two robot vacuums is their obstacle avoidance. The J15 uses a front-mounted camera and structured light to recognize and avoid obstacles, whereas the J20 only has structured light and no camera.
In our various obstacle avoidance evaluations, the J15 scored average, which isn’t remarkable but acceptable. The J20 scored well below average in all the obstacle avoidance evaluations.
Charging docks and automated mop pad maintenance
They both have very advanced multi-function charging docks that wash the mop pads, dry them, and refill the mop tanks. However, the J15 has a few advantages over the J20. For example, the J15 uses hot water to wash its pads, whereas the J20 does not.
Also, the J15 (in addition to washing its mop pads) has a self-cleaning mop station, where it uses two squeegees in the base to clear out debris that can build up. But they both have a removable tray for manual deep cleaning.
Mopping performance and features
As far as mopping performance and features, both robot vacuums use completely different mopping strategies. The J20 has a flat mop roller design, which is a rare design even among roller mops. In contrast, the J15 uses the more standard two spinning mop pads.
The J15 also has an automatically extending mop pad for getting closer to edges, whereas the J20’s roller doesn’t have this feature.
Additionally, the J15’s mop pads lift 12 mm whenever it senses carpets to avoid getting them wet, whereas the J20 shifts the cloth on its roller to its non-absorbent side to effectively do the same thing. Its mop pad does not lift as far.
One area where the J20 did better than the J15 is in actual mopping performance on dried-on stains. Both robot vacuums were above average, but the J20 was significantly better—one of the best scores on record.
And the Eureka J20 got that great score while leaving behind very little water, something that’s important for avoiding streaking.
As you can see, the J15 left behind an average amount of water but has an above-average stain removal score. So it was still above average overall.
Battery life & app performance
Our evaluations found that the J15 was a little above average in every battery metric, such as battery efficiency and estimated square foot per charge. However, the J20 was significantly below average in these same evaluations, despite having a higher official battery life rating from Eureka.
App Features
The Eureka J20 and J15 Pro Ultra robot vacuums use the same app, and we were generally impressed with both.
In general, Eureka did a good job including all the features that really matter in their app, and it’s on par with some of the best apps in the industry. It has things like multi-level mapping, virtual barriers, real-time progress monitoring, carpet boost, and much more. Plus, the ratings on the app stores are good.
Eureka J20 vs J15 Pro Ultra: conclusion and recommendation
It’s clear that Eureka has produced two very different robots, which is a good sign for the company.
The J20 was Eureka’s first flagship robot vacuum released a year ago, but its performance was poor, in our opinion. However, they regrouped and this year put out a real contender with the J15—especially considering its price compared to other flagship robot vacuums with similar features.
After adding up all the scores, the Eureka J15 Pro Ultra rocketed to the number six spot on our top 20 robot vacuum list. The J20, however, didn’t even make the list—ranking around 36th place as of this article. So, in this competition the Eureka J15 Pro Ultra is the clear winner, offering better vacuuming and superior features overall.
