980

Have a house with 5 dogs. I’ve had a robot vacuum doing a run every day since ~2017. I haven’t had that fur buildup around the baseboards since. My model’s old(from around 2018) so it doesn’t have as good of suction as the new ones. I’m considering getting the vacuum/mop combo unit next. I will note that if iRobot hadn’t stocked replacement parts I might have a different opinion on old roombas(iRobot recently sold everything to the chinese factory that manufactured the units, so I can’t speak to the new models), because I ended up replacing a battery, both wheels, and the charging dock(all broken from non-manufacturer related issues). But they had how-to videos on the same site where you could buy the parts directly, so I was able to keep Scruffy going all these years. So I can’t give you a current recommendation for a brand or model, but I can tell you it’s pretty much a requirement for my house these days. Very convenient, turns a daily chore into a monthly chore of emptying the vacuum bag in the base. I’d say continue looking into it and if you’re looking at a premium unit, check on how repairing the unit is gonna go 5-10 years from now. I have a 2016 Roomba 980 that still vacuums my second floor every day. These can be long life appliances if you maintain them.

My Roomba 980 was going strong 10 years later (with some maintenance) and I only got a new one cos after my son was born I wanted a mop

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

Before my roomba 980 was on schedule. The got less use once our son was bornand we ran it less often so not to disturb his sleep. But as he got a bit older we upgraded to Dreame with a mop. Running it as often we can (and not forget) manually. Hard tondo a schedule as we need to pick up a lot of baby stuff before it runs

I still have the 980 and I think its amazing as a vacuum even though they discontinued cloud support. I also have a J9+ combo which I supposedly upgraded to a few years ago and its complete crap. It couldn’t find the base, it couldn’t refill the water tank. I ran the 980 after the J9 and it vacuumed a lot of stuff that the J9 missed. Irobot isn’t what it used to be. You don’t see it talked about because it’s bad now

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 basic Roomba 980 that I purchased *refurbished* in 2020 that handles cat hair just fine. I’ve had 2-3 cats the whole time I’ve had it, and one was a long hair cat. Tile, LVT, or rugs - it doesn’t make a difference; it gets the fur up. I keep lurking and watching for the latest models so I can replace it when it croaks, but it refuses to die!

I have no experience with the current ones. Mine was manufactured ~6 years ago. But if you aren’t ready to get an expensive one yet, you might be able to start with a cheap one and see what you like or don’t like. I bet most will handle pet hair just fine. It’s long human hair that gets wrapped in brush and rollers on mine, and needs to be cut off! Pet hair has been zero problem, except needing to empty the dust bin more often, since it takes up more space than dust does.