Quick Answer: Prioritize Hair Management Over Raw Suction
If you need a robot vacuum for pet hair, carpet, hardwood, and mopping around the $1,200 / A$1,700 range, the smartest shortlist is not simply the model with the biggest suction number. For a Labrador-and-cat home, the better buy is the robot that combines strong carpet pickup, an anti-tangle main brush, good mop lifting, a reliable self-empty dock, and enough obstacle avoidance that you do not have to prep the floor every day.
For most mixed-floor pet homes, the Roborock Qrevo Curv is the safest first choice when it is discounted into budget. The Dreame X50 Ultra is the premium pick if thresholds, furniture legs, and obstacle handling are bigger problems than price. The ECOVACS DEEBOT T50 OMNI is worth considering when it is much cheaper, but it is the one I would buy only after checking recent owner feedback and return terms.
What Matters Most for Pet Hair
Pet hair exposes weak robot vacuums fast. A high suction rating helps, but hair still has to move through the brush chamber into the dustbin without wrapping around rollers, clogging the inlet, or getting dragged across damp mop pads. That is why brush design matters as much as suction.
Look for three things: an anti-tangle main brush, a dock that empties into a bag, and carpet detection that lifts or avoids the mop. Bagged docks are usually better for pet homes because they keep fur and dust sealed when emptying. Bagless can save on consumables, but it is messier and less appealing if allergies are part of the reason you are automating cleaning.
Best Overall: Roborock Qrevo Curv
The Roborock Qrevo Curv is the strongest fit for a home with constant shedding, mostly hard floors, a couple of rugs, and carpeted bedrooms. Its standout feature is the DuoDivide anti-tangle brush system, which is designed to move hair toward the center intake instead of letting it wrap around the roller ends. It also has an anti-tangle side brush, 18,500 Pa suction, dual spinning mop pads, mop washing and drying, self-emptying, and an AdaptiLift chassis for uneven flooring and rugs.
The reason it makes sense as the default recommendation is balance. It is powerful enough for carpet maintenance, better than older Qrevo models for long hair, and less fussy than many spec-heavy flagships. Roborock's mapping and app controls also tend to be easier to live with day to day. For a pet home, that matters because the best robot is the one you can run often without babysitting.
The main catch is price. At full retail it can sit above the target budget in some markets, including Australia. If it drops near A$1,700, it becomes the model I would chase first.
Best If Thresholds and Obstacles Are the Problem: Dreame X50 Ultra
The Dreame X50 Ultra is the one to consider if your home has higher room thresholds, chair legs, toys, cables, or tight furniture that caused older robots to get stuck. Dreame advertises 20,000 Pa suction, ProLeap threshold climbing, structured-light obstacle detection, mop washing and drying, automatic emptying, and a lower-profile navigation system that can help under some furniture.
For pet hair, it is very capable, but I would choose it over the Roborock mainly when the layout is challenging. Its climbing and obstacle features are the selling point. If your floors are easy and your main problem is just fur, long hair, and everyday mopping, the Roborock usually feels like the cleaner recommendation. If your robot needs to survive thresholds and clutter with minimal prep, Dreame becomes more tempting.
Value Alternative: ECOVACS DEEBOT T50 OMNI
The ECOVACS DEEBOT T50 OMNI is the value play if it is significantly cheaper than the Roborock and Dreame options. It has 15,000 Pa suction, a slim body, an OMNI station, edge-cleaning features, and anti-tangle hair handling. On paper, that is a lot for a discounted price.
The caution is long-term reliability and software consistency. ECOVACS can offer strong hardware for the money, but buyer satisfaction tends to be more model-dependent. If the T50 OMNI is several hundred dollars cheaper and available from a retailer with easy returns, it can be a sensible buy. If the price gap is small, I would step up to Roborock or Dreame.
What I Would Buy
For a Labrador, two cats, hardwood, rugs, and carpeted bedrooms, I would buy the Roborock Qrevo Curv if it lands near budget. It has the best mix of pet-hair brush design, carpet competence, mopping convenience, and everyday reliability.
I would buy the Dreame X50 Ultra instead if thresholds, clutter avoidance, or low furniture clearance are a bigger pain than hair wrap. I would buy the ECOVACS T50 OMNI only if the sale price is clearly better and the retailer has a painless return policy.
For any of these, set realistic expectations: a robot vacuum reduces manual cleaning, but it does not eliminate it. Heavy shedding still means checking the brush area, cleaning filters, replacing bags, and occasionally doing a full-size vacuum pass on carpets. The win is that floors stay under control between deeper cleans.
Simple Buying Checklist
Before buying, confirm the exact local model name, return window, replacement bag and brush availability, and whether the mop can lift high enough for your rugs. If you have deep carpet, prioritize vacuuming performance over fancy mopping. If most floors are hard, prioritize anti-tangle brushes, edge cleaning, and the dock. For pet-heavy homes, do not overvalue suction numbers alone; the brush path and dustbin transport are what keep the robot from becoming another chore.