670

Friend of mine has kids and came over several times and asked me what I was doing to my floors that made them feel so clean. I had no idea but around 6 months later I gave them my old Roomba 670 (the stupid one that bounces randomly off everything) while I upgraded to a Roborock Q5 Max+. Only after running my Roomba for a week in her apartment did she realize that the feeling she had in my house was from having actually clean floors. Since then she's tossed the Roomba and picked up the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra and *loves* it. Now her floors feel cleaner than mine and I've debated upgrading to a robot that does mopping but probably will give it another year to let the technology mature and come down in cost.

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 have the older 677. Still works great. If I had to buy another I’d get the self-emptying.. buts she’s only on hard floors, no carpet.

I should add that I do have one older Roomba in our cat litter room. It does do a really good job, but it’s in a square room with LVP and it really can’t go wrong. I don’t know if I would trust it on long dog hair and human hair in thick carpet.

More complex vacuum and mopping robots with lots of sensors and fail points are probably going to last less long than a simple vacuum. I believe a lot of brands are heavily pushing mop + vacuum because they need replacing more and are more profitable. If longevity is important, I would think about vacuum only if you don't really need the mop. Brands change over time. I have an Irobot 676 which is working just fine 6 years, but they tend to get bad rep lately.

Just picked up a Roborock QRevo from Costco yesterday, and was able to return an older Shark that stopped working as an even swap ($399). The tech has come a long way in a few years. I’ve relegated my old Roomba 671 to the basement.

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.

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.