iRobot - 670

You can get third party batteries that work fine. I would guess that it's unlikely that the manufacturer makes their own batteries anyway. Batteries are still available for my 5+ year old roomba 670

I mostly agree. I had to stop using scheduled runs after my X1 omni spread dog poo throughout the house (including rugs). My dog is toilet trained but just decided to carry in an old poo from outside one day. I couldn't have predicted it. At the same time the uses and priority of features vary so much between users. Some people are minimalist and tidy, so won't have to babysit robots either way. Another example is my garage robot vacuum, that just needs to handle large debris like leaves and twigs. My ancient roomba 670 has a bin opening the length of the roller, which is uncommon now but perfectly suited to the debris in my garage. I get that this is an obscure use though.

I'd buy second hand. These are machines and parts can be replaced on well known brands if needed. I picked up a 5+ year old roomba 670 from marketplace for $50 AUD The random pattern navigation is a limitation, but it can be made to work in small spaces. It cleans up my garage every night reliably and parts are available/easy to replace if ever needed

In my house, I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a toddler. The dogs are constantly tracking mud/dirt, the cats track litter, and the toddler is, well, a toddler. Before getting a RoboVac, it was near impossible to keep my floor clean. I could sweep and mop everyday, but the dust bunnies and foot prints would return by the next day. Found a Roomba 670 at Goodwill, and the dust bunnies were no longer an issue. Still had foot prints, and minor dirt on the floor, but definitely less fur floating around. Just upgraded to a Qrevo S, and I can tell the floor is much cleaner and less dirt captured in my socks. You can still see some dirt in the right light, but my floors are noticeably better. Only upgraded maybe a week ago, so things may change. In short, my floors aren't as clean as if I pulled out the bucket and brush and scrubbed my house down. But it is so much cleaner than what it was before and quality of life has increased considerably as a result. So temper your expectations accordingly and you won't be disappointed.

MOST DURABLE? Alright then, new robot vacuums wont really do that. I know i will get downvoted for this but if you dont need self emptying, mopping etc, just pick up a second hand Roomba 500 series, they are known for being extremely reliable. Some 600 series like 675 or 690 are 500 series with wifi and some minor improvements, they are pretty common, cheap and easy to repair. Want mapping? Roomba 980 or any 900 series roomba (do note that roomba 900 series doesnt have keep out zones). 900 series are known for being reliable and just good robots over all. Why did i recommend these? Because newer robor vacuums these days have too many moving parts, and they work best at homes. While the roombas i listed above were also made for homes, old irobot was different than current day irobot, more reliable and roombas are pretty modular, you can take then apart and drop in a replacement part easily. They can work decently in commercial environments, especially 500/600 series. This subreddit is mostly "against" irobot, so i'll say this, i am not paid by irobot, i am a 14 year old on the internet who is passionate about this stuff :)) Edit: Check out Makita's industrial robot vacuums as well. Way more suited to commercial use.

Buy an old roomba instead, (500/600/700/800/900) they are the most reliable you can get.

I bought one a while ago for the novelty since it was a black Friday sale (and I suck at keeping a schedule to vacum. Didn’t have mapping but I thought it would be smart enough to still navigate just fine. Instead it just rams into things then randomly changes direction. Meanwhile, a coworker bought some  bootleg that cost a fraction of the price and it runs flawlessly. All the extra shit that roomba charges for in it’s higher tier models are included for free.  Never buying another roomba product. They’ve clearly just been coasting off of brand recognition.

If it's just one room, get one of the old random bounce around Roombas with the bristle roller. 500 or 600 series. They're great at picking up litter and combing embedded pet hair out of carpet. I have a 692 I keep just for that. They're also super cheap because everyone wants the self-emptying models now. I see the older ones pretty often at thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for under $30.

Older roombas are simple, reliable, durable, effective, and cheap. But they don't have smart navigation or mapping where you can ask them to clean specific areas. If you want navigation they become less cheap and less durable. I have a 10yo 600 series roomba and a new Roborock Q5. Q5 is great but I'm skeptical that it's going to last as long.

I have a Roomba 564 Pet I bought when my son was 6 months old. He's now 14 and the Roomba would be still doing the job if this little bastard had not screwed the elly plaque's screwheads. I bought a new battery I cannot replace because of that (I'll Dremel them out after the Spring clean out). So it was working since 2011, August. The other Roomba, a 600 something bought on discount in a clearance sale when my son was 6 or 7, is still going strong. I wonder how the Dreame L50 Pro Ultra is going to perform. It is my Mother's Day present, but we're not done with the Spring-clean so it just worked in the living-room.

Look for an irobot roomba 600 series. Random navigation, effective cleaning performance, durable and easy to repair, cheap spare brushes/filters/batteries. I mostly use a newer roborock, but when it dies, I've got a roomba 600 on standby in the closet.

I'd recommend an older roomba model as well, 500 or 600 series. They're very easy to take care of and repair, clean really well, are simple, and last. I have one of those cheap ionvac models you've probably seen. It's better than I expected, but an older roomba is way better still.

We have had an iRobot Roomba for 17 years. We initially bought the 535, it’s been upgraded with the new bin (aero vac 2) and running gear from the later 600 series It has had two battery replacements in its life, and has had a replacement main board once, which added the schedule feature. It cleans better than the 780 models relatives have. This Roomba, with replacements when things wear out, has outlived most other appliances we have. You can still buy the 600 series which is based on the same platform, and if ours ever became unrepairable, we would buy one. Heck, considering you can change all of the parts with a screwdriver and a bit of basic knowledge (how to plug/unplug things), a second hand one would be fine.

Picked up a Roomba 600 Series at Costco going on 10 years ago now. Changed the brushes and beater bar a few times and it's still working flawlessly.

675 or other 600 series model from a thrift store. $20. Doesn’t empty its self but if you want that you prob need to buy a new one or from someone off marketplace. Honestly emptying the bin yourself after it’s done takes 30 seconds :)

I have a roomba 6xx series. It was a gift. Thought it was gonna be a gimmick but it surprised me with how well it actually works (when its not getting hung up on cat toys.) Just dont forget to empty the hopper after each use and buy a full supply of extra parts. (Filters, brushes, the little wheel in the front.) Once a week I have to pull all the hair off the bristle brush and the cat fur from around the spindle ends but its a small price to pay for its constant upkeep. That particular brand iRobot is cool cus they seem to like Makers tinkering with their products sonthey make them very easy to fix. You can swap batteries out, motors, wheels... anything.

The basic 600 series Roombas don't have much to go wrong, and there are OEM and generic parts available all over the Internet. I'm not sure about high-end models, but the basic ones have been made for years and have excellent support

If you are into servers and self-hosting, Valetudo is an option. It's a self-hosted replacement for some robot vacuums' cloud services I also don't think the Roomba 600 series need cloud features. They use random navigation

Basic Roomba 600 series are what you want. Been in production for a long time, OEM and third party replacement parts available everywhere, no cloud services necessary. They have basic random-mode navigation, which is not as nice as a mapping feature, but it gets better coverage than most people would assume, and doesn't need any fancy sensors or software features

Go out on Ebay or your local thrift store and pick up old 500 or 600 series Roombas for parts. They usually just need a new battery. Be sure the charger comes with them. The older Roombas are superb cleaners and very durable. This is what we mostly use at our house along with several iRobot Scoobas for the mopping.

Pull it out once a month and put it through its paces and keep the battery charged. Pull the charged battery and store it separate from the robot. This way, your robot will be ready to go to work when you need it.

I had a crappy experience with a Roomba. But it was an older model from around 2017. The thing kept running into things and getting stuck along edges where 2 types of flooring would meet. IDK if newer models are better, but that thing was pretty disappointing, IMO. You could make a game out of sweeping and vacuuming so that your kids will be eager to help out. The goal is to eventually have them do it out of habit. 😅 I actually got my friend's son into vacuuming when he was 2 or 3 yrs old. The idea paid off several yrs later. My friend was a single parent (toddler and a newborn) with multiple pets and a huge home, mostly carpeting. She seemed to be suffering from Postpartum Depression, so I'd stop by at least once a wk to help clean and just to give her a break from her toddler. Her son was very difficult to manage - clingy, sensitive, always wanting undivided attention, always wanting to be held, never content to play alone, never wanting to follow instructions, prone to throwing tantrums and acting out, etc. But he was also VERY curious and full of energy - which were qualities I could work with. I bought the kid a toy vacuum. Minor problems solved! He would finally stop interrupting me while I vacuumed. In fact, he would "vacuum" along side of me. He would shout, "Go to your kennel," "Coming thru," and, "Lift your feet," along with me. It was great! No fussing, and I could keep an eye on him bc he was always right next to me, copying my movements and words. It was also just amusing to observe him and teach him little things. He became a great helper. He was eager to pick up his toys and other items that were in the path of the vacuum. He also became great at directing his pets out of the way. Fast fwd about 6-9 mos... The kid lost interest in his toy vacuum. He could tell it was not the real deal. He figured out the real vacuum was cable of sucking up dirt & debri. He would keep trying to use the real vacuum, but it was too large and dangerous for him to handle - even tho he had learned to stay clear of the suction area. He started getting in the way again. So I gave him an old cordless hand vac. And he got pretty good at using it! He started vacuuming the couches, dining chairs, and entryway. Eventually, we "put him in charge" of all the hard flooring. 😂 That kid would get territorial if we tried to clean "his" areas. He vacuumed daily and even started sweeping with a hand broom. (He was sloppy, but got better over time.) (Parent humor incoming!) About a yr later, my friend bought him a cordless Dyson for Christmas. I got him his own handbroom, dustpan, and Swiffer. We bought these items as a joke. We made him open them before all other presents, thinking he would hate them. But he was so excited! 🤯 Especially for the Dyson (which my friend actually bought for herself). My friend's son became pretty good at vacuuming by the time he was 8. He naturally took charge of vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, AND dusting as part of his household chores. He continues to do them without hassle to this day. Another thing to consider is an automatic dustpan. IDK how child-friendly they are, but it's another item my friend invested in to get her children interested in helping with chores.

Our roomba tries to keep up. Hal (main floor roomba) needs maintenance every few days. But man 2 days where Hal is off duty and you can see it. The tumbleweeds roll in. Hal doesn’t replace vacuuming or steam cleaning area rugs. He does however help keep the dusting down and limits the tumbleweeds . My better half will tell me don’t pause Hal he is doing https://preview.redd.it/7mmkuro4c1ef1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fd808d8cc6c7e830934f5fb947860ae71518915 Gods work ROFL. We have 3 dogs 2 super shedders GSD and Husky/GSD mix and 1 wire hair terrier. This year we have had to even vacuum dogs as well. They are so worth it! ❤️❤️❤️

We named our Roomba Harry. We have a lab/beagle mix.