Exhausted from using a hand rake or brush to clear up the leaves? Leaf blowers can do the job in a fraction of the time, with leaf blower vacs also sucking up the leaves into a holding bag. Cordless ones, which are petrol or battery powered, tend to be the most pricey, but if you have a big garden they can be a godsend. Meanwhile, corded ones are great if you’re on a budget or have a smaller outside space. Corded machines tend to be easier to use too, as well as lighter, usually enabling you to hold it with just one hand. Make sure you pick one that’s comfortable and easy to start. Also think about whether you need just a blower, a blower vac or finally one that does both these things along with mulching up the debris as well. If you go for the dual or triple purpose ones, it should be easy to change modes and have an easy to empty collection bag. We tried a range of machines on the very wet leaves in our garden to bring you the most efficient for the job. 1. Flymo GardenVac 2700: £59.95, amazon.co.uk

As well as blowing and vacuuming, this versatile corded machine will shred leaves. Remove the blades to suck up other debris, like pinecones without blockages. 2. Qualcast 2800W Garden Blower and Vacuum: £49.99, homebase.co.uk This good-value corded blower, vacuum and mulcher is one of Homebase’s best-sellers. You get a well-balanced machine with a shoulder strap and wheels for easy movability and there’s a quick-change leaver from blow to vacuum. For a powerful option that suits large gardens, this machine is quiet. It runs for 60 minutes on unleaded petrol and with attachments (sold separately) it converts to a vacuum. 4. Ego Power Plus: £129, egopowerplus.co.uk We were surprised to find this rechargeable machine had more oomph than some petrol-powered blowers. It’ll run for 20 minutes on the impressive ‘turbo boost’ setting This is only 1.6kg but it’s so powerful, the 12-minute battery life is sufficient to clear most gardens. We found the long nozzle useful for shorter gardeners.

Compatible with other Bosch garden tools. 6. Cobra BV26C Blower/Vac: £119.99, cobragarden.co.uk Here’s a lightweight (5kg), well-balanced machine ideal for big spaces. The controls are comfortable to use for long periods of time (there were no achy thumbs) and it’s idiot-proof to change functions. 7. Black & Decker BW2500: £53.71, amazon.co.uk This corded, lightweight blower and vacuum picks up stubborn wet leaves super-efficiently. best way to clean hickory hardwood floorsThere’s a generous 40-litre capacity bag and it comes with a shredder that shrinks its volume tenfold.best vacuum cleaner australia 2010 8. Draper 2500w 230v Garden Vacuum/Blower/Mulcher: £53.99, mackay.co.ukaverage cost of vent cleaning

This corded bit of kit with a handy shoulder strap blows, vacuums and mulches. The 2500W motor and air flow are good for smaller leaves and it easily switches from one function to another. 9. Stihl Cordless Blower BHA85: £216 (battery sold separately), briantsltd.stihl-dealer.co.uk For anyone with heavy leaf-clearing duties, this hefty machine is exceptional in its ease of use, battery life and sheer power. It made light work of the seriously wet stuff in our garden.best upholstery cleaners new york city 10. Ryobi OBL1802: £44.95, amazon.co.ukair duct cleaning michigan reviews This lightweight machine is easy to store thanks to the detachable blower tube. best prices for miele vacuum cleaners

We found the the power level spot-on, but you’ll need to work quickly as the lithium battery lasts around eight minutes This is a great option for people who don’t like cords getting in the way of their leaf tidying tasks. Using a powerful petrol engine, it is surprisingly lightweight, weighing just 6.5kg and the shoulder strap is both padded and adjustable. Be careful it doesn’t suck up the stones when you’re working on gravel. 12. Makita DUB362Z Twin 18v Brushless Blower: £228.95, axminster.co.uk This is costly, but it works like a dream, with a huge amount of power from the engine, as well as being very comfortable to hold and use. You never have to change the brush and although the battery isn’t included in the price, if you have a Makita battery powered product already, you can simply use that. The Bosch ALB 18 is an incredibly powerful little machine that’s hard to fault and comes at a reasonable price, when you consider its durability and compatibility with other Bosch garden tools.

If you’ve got a lot of leaves and a bit more money, we also love the Makita BHX2501 4-Stroke Hand Held Blower. Your neighbours will be pleased with that option too as it’s nice and quiet.We may not yet live in a Jetsons-inspired space bubble, or rehydrate pizza with the touch of a button (come on, Black & Decker, hurry it up!), but the smart home is starting to take shape. Intelligent heating, lighting, home security and appliances all aim to make our lives easier and more efficient. Top of the tree for labour-saving potential, though, is the robot vacuum cleaner.Unlike the connected washing machine, which still needs loading and sorting; or the coffee machine, which can pour you a cup remotely but only if there’s coffee, water and a cup in position first; the latest robot vacs offer the promise of pristine floors without you moving a muscle, and the chores done by the time you get home from work. Sure, robot vacuum cleaners have been around for more than a decade now, but the exciting (albeit generally awful) early tech has moved on at a pace, with the latest crop of machines combining powerful suction, app control and camera mapping that Homeland Security would be proud of.

But do they really offer mother-in-law-placating levels of cleaning without the effort? T3 puts its feet up and reaches for the remote in order to give the three flagship models from Samsung, iRobot and Dyson a chance to tackle the dog hair and dust in our test house…The “world’s most powerful robot vacuum cleaner” (Samsung’s words), the VR9300 has cyclonic suction, full remote control and advanced room-mapping.The Roomba 980 is an edge-to-edge connected cleaner that automatically goes into power- boost mode when it switches from hard floor to carpets.Dyson claims that the 360 Eye has “twice the suction of any other robot vacuum”. It also offers true 360-degree vision and carbon-fibre brush-head filaments.While these robots look infinitely better than ‘normal’ vacuum cleaners, cynics might argue that they still resemble oversized ice-hockey pucks. Thankfully, looks aren’t everything and they’re full of clever tricks – from easy-empty dustbins to quick-release brush bars – to make maintenance simple. 

If the Dyson is a small compact car and the iRobot an executive saloon, the Samsung is a brutish 4x4. Understated, this thing ain’t. With a brush bar the width of a full-size vacuum cleaner, and a large-capacity dustbin, it’s built for larger rooms. The big wheels promise excellent height clearance when it climbs onto rugs, and even the charging dock is bulky. Multiple power settings, a full remote control and an app help to give the impression that this robot means business – even if it won’t fit under the sofa.  The Roomba 980 boasts a low-profile design (it’s just 91mm tall) that means it’ll fit under all but the lowest of sofas; and while it has a relatively large diameter, it won’t stand out like a sore thumb in your living room. Its excellent rubber brush bars actively help to prevent tangles from hair, etc, and are mercifully quick to clean, though the cleaner isn’t as simple to empty as the Dyson. Further points have to be deducted for the charging dock only having a plug on one side, which limits your options somewhat.

Finally, we have the 360 Eye; a short, squat cylinder (228mm diameter x 120mm height) that’s every bit a Dyson. Unmistakeable build quality, as well as reassuringly familiar components, give this vacuum cleaner an air of dependability and desirability right out of the box. The combination of brush bar (just like the one found on the Dyson V8 Handheld), transparent dustbin and slick, nickel-and-grey casing really catches the eye when it’s docked in the corner of your room. But it’s also fuss-free, with only a basic LED-lit control button, an easy-empty bin and filters that can simply be rinsed under the tap.Test 01 winner:  Dyson 360 Eye  Achingly cool, intuitively put-together and simple to set up… when it comes to combining design and aesthetics, Dyson hits the spot.Samsung has loaded the VR9300 with an upward-facing camera, a bunch of front, side and rear sensors, plus drop sensors underneath. All of this tech, plus the dirt sensors, means it doesn’t hang about, covering ground far quicker than the competition, and with fewer stoppages than the Dyson – though we’re not sure speed is important, given that we plan to be at work when the ’bot does its business.

Sadly, the Samsung got stuck on every single test clean and, unlike the Roomba, didn’t have the motivation to get free and keep cleaning. The 980 is the first Roomba to boast a top camera and floor sensors. It can track where it’s been, and also avoid obstacles as it goes. This hybrid navigation system, essentially hi-tech camera mapping and blind bumping, works extremely well and offers a more systematic approach compared to older Roomba models.The Roomba worked its way around our living room effortlessly, covering good distances and taking its time to get out of jams instead of quitting. It bumps into more stuff than the Dyson, but hugs skirting boards better.Dyson’s robot vacuum cleaner uses a live-vision camera to create a 360-degree vision of its surroundings, before working out what it thinks is the most systematic cleaning pattern. It knows where it’s been, what needs avoiding and where’s left to clean. There are still IR sensors to prevent stair drops and help it get closer to walls, but on the whole it slowly works around the room in squares, overlapping to avoid missed bits. 

The 360 Eye works best in even light and can struggle to see if moving from shade to sunlight – and if your sofa has enough height clearance like ours, you’ll notice that it can get confused in the shadows. Infrared sensors are there to help, but cleaning in the day (or with the lights on) is recommended. The smaller footprint means it’s excellent at navigating through tight spaces, but the tank tracks don’t offer the best climbing power, frequently getting stuck on the fireplace hearth.  Test 02 winner: irobot Roomba 980It might not be the fastest cleaner on test but, as far as we’re concerned, when it’s this thorough, the Roomba 980 can take all day.Anyone who’s ever paid for a (human) cleaner will be familiar with the undeniable joy of returning home to a spotless house; and while our robotic vacuum cleaners can’t compete with that just-polished smell, when they work as they should – and don’t suffer from app drop-outs, cable tangles and pesky chair legs – you can really notice the difference.

With its super-wide brush bar and multiple power options, Samsung’s VR9300 is the closest thing in this test to a full-size, upright vacuum cleaner, and if you’ve got big rugs and carpets, you’ll be rewarded with a deeply satisfying clean. It doesn’t spend as long on hard floors, but your home will feel cleaner for its efforts. It would easily be our test winner if it wasn’t such a brute. The dinky Dyson just gets into tighter spaces. The Samsung also boasts spot-cleaning and full remote control. Being able to point a laser at some dust and have your vacuum cleaner go and suck it up is a neat trick, and there’s novelty in controlling your ’bot. However, it’s slow-going, and in the time it takes to deal with breakfast crumbs, you could’ve got a dust pan out, cleaned up, filled the dishwasher and put the kettle on.The Roomba’s superior navigation should, in theory, mean better cleaning performance; and while the rubberised brush bars help it to excel at attracting pet hair, watching the small, spinning brushes push dirt in the wrong direction at times – instead of into the path of the brushes – was infuriating.

But the 980 does deliver, and at times the dustbin needed to be emptied twice on a single route. There’s no such remote-control tomfoolery with the 360 Eye, just ruthlessly efficient cleaning. Let the Dyson do its thing and, despite the lack of love it has for getting close to the walls, the full-width brush bar picks up an embarrassing amount of dust, hair and debris on carpets and hard floors. We thought our bedroom rug was pretty clean until the Dyson proved otherwise, picking up piles of dust, and even sand from last year’s summer holiday.Test 3 winner: Dyson 360 EyeIt’s not fast, but the famous Dyson suction and superior carbon-fibre brush bars make light work of carpet and hard floors alike.OK, so It takes ages to get the job done, but if time isn't an issue, the 360 Eye out-cleans the competition every single time.T3 rates: The superb Dyson Link app makes it easy to schedule cleaning, as well as offering real-time feedback and geek-worthy analytics of its cleaning prowess – almost as if it’s showing off.