iRobot - 980

I hope you are right about Dreame as I just got L50 pro Ultra. After almost 10 years with Roomba 980 my biggest fear is that these tech filled toys cant live half of that

Why not iRobot Roomba? My 900-series works perfectly. Low carpets are easy, high carpets are difficult. My roomba runs every other night when we are asleep :)

I have an iRobot roomba from about 2015. Still works great. It can connect to an app but doesn’t need to and has simple replacement filters and parts. Easy to clean. I did need to replace the battery once. I think the lower models with less connection needs must end up outlasting for this reason.

I bought a Roomba that can mop and vacuum (pricey models are great). I bought a bunch of replacement rags/mops on Temu for a few euros, and exchange them every now and then. All you have to do besides that is fill its water tank with clean water and floor soap. I also went on my Roomba's App, drew out a map of my house, and set a cleaning schedule for every single day on setting 'deep clean'. And he keeps the floors like 98% spotless, while we have 2 long-haired dogs and 1 short hair cat. We still vacuum and mop ourselves like once a week or so. But if need be we could easily skip that. The difference has been amazing. Googly eyes are optional. ;) Why do it yourself if a robot can do it for you?

The 980 has two power levels, and can automatically switch to the higher power when it drives onto a rug. You can turn the boost off in the app. I would get the 980 and have the extra power option, even if you only use it occasionally.

I don't know about the new lineup, but nothing beats a Roomba 9-series on carpet, though. Even on hard floors, my Saros 10 misses a lot of spots that my J9 never did.

980 checking in. It's a beast.

So my setup for 4 cats and a dog. 1500sq ft. Hardwood and tile, no carpet. Upstairs: iRobot i4 Roomba. Downstairs: iRobot 980. Downstairs: iRobot M6 mop. My Roombas (iRobots) are great to me because they run where I can't easily reach. They go under things (sofa, bookshelves, beds, etc). They run when I'm not home. They keep the "tumbleweeds" under control. When you get the map dialed in and your furniture / cables organized so they don't get hung up, they're great. Are they perfect? No. But can I tell if they don't run for a day? Absolutely. Whole house: Dyson Gen5detect. I *despise* this thing. Purchased in November 2023 when it was their top of the line product. I've had nothing but issues. Warranty replaced the whole machine in May 2025. This one is even worse; feels like a second cheaper run of the product. It even sounds cheaper when it runs (higher pitch), feels fragile, just doesn't suck as well as the first one, auto detect doesn't work, it won't switch to boost when running on auto., pushes around the dog hair... the list goes on and on. It's being replaced AGAIN under warranty as of August 2025. Robots run twice a day; mop runs once a day. Dyson is for every 3-4 days to catch what was missed and the stairs. At this point, my robots are doing the heavy lifting and we're looking at Sebos. Seems like bagless just will not last as long. Full stop. For the robots, yes bin size is important but HEPA is more important to me due to dander. You want something that will pack the bin full. My 980 thinks it's "full" when it's about 1/4 to half full because pet hair is fluffy and it triggers the full bin sensor. They fixed this on the i4 which will PACK that bin to bursting before it triggers full bin. Run time is less important; most robots have recharge and resume now if they map. I've also had an Eufy (I think it was an 11S?) For $200 I was impressed. I just missed the smart map; it was an old style where it bumps and then pivots to cover an area. It was annoying to watch after a "smart" robot vac. I've gifted these for housewarming gifts and the recipients (who also have pets) like them. I hope this helps.

I have a 900 series and a j7. I don’t really have an issue with either one. They rarely get stuck and complete jobs regularly. However I recently bought a Roborock and it is definitely better. The app is much more advanced and lidar seems to be more efficient and accurate.

If you can find a 980 for a reasonable price, it is definitely worth considering, especially since the 980 is still rarely beaten in carpet cleaning tests (usually only surpassed by the S9). Although 960s are typically more affordable (essentially an 880 with iAdapt 2.0), my 980 has not experienced any issues after 765 jobs, 610 hours of cleaning and 23,200 square metres cleaned. The only maintenance it has ever required was changing the brushes and cleaning the metal contacts that supply power to the motor in the dustbin.

I will say iRobot has been on a losing streak since the J7 but I have a 980 and a S9 my 980 has been cleaning for 650 hours at this point my S9 about half that I haven’t had a single problem with my 980 but I did have a problem with my cleaning head module on my S9 and they sent a replacement no problem