iRobot - Combo J5+

I had an i8+ which died and got exchanged for a j5+ this never worked and after 6+ months of troubleshooting I finally got a replacement unit that works. I will never buy a Roomba again.

I'm really happy with my j5+. Every run is fine and I have ~450 hours on it. It's navigation sucks compared to my lidar bots and it can't run in the dark. It also seems like the older combos are less reliable. With that being said it vacuums well and has good obstacle avoidance. It can handle insane messes thanks to the bin sensors

My j5+ is really good with pet hair. No clogs or tangles. Long human hair does get stored inside the rollers, but will eventually wrap around the rollers My Ecovacs x1 and roborock s6 have a bristle brush that pet hair gets stuck in

Obstacle detection/avoidance of the j series is good, it's the navigation that is problematic (hard hitting walls/furniture, poor coverage, and getting lost) I feel that this model needs better anti-tangling tech to be more competitive

It's fine, mine j5 is 3 years in and still going. It is pretty good at cleaning the apartment, it was still a life changer. I bought cheap replacement parts and filters off Amazon and never looked back. 

Agreed, I had to have my j9+ replaced once because of several issues and the replacement dock they sent me doesn’t even work! The J5 has been great though, these combo robots are not very good IMO

i have a j5+ and it will be the last roomba i ever buy lol. actually the worst thing i’ve ever wasted money on and i got banned from the sub for saying that

I would think the C20 would be much more convenient than the j5+. Although there's no internal water tank on the C20, the dock has both clean and dirty water tanks on the base station, and can automatically wash the mop. It will have to return to the dock frequently to keep the mop pads wet, but it should do this automatically as it's cleaning. With the j5+, pretty much all maintenance on the mop will be manual, meaning you will be responsible for cleaning and drying dirty pads, and refilling the onboard water tank (which will be smaller than the C20's base tank). Additionally, since the C20 washes the pad multiple times during the job, the pad will be less likely to smear dirt across the entire floor. Finally, the spinning pads on the C20 will provide more scrubbing power than the stationary pad on the j5+. Astroturfing is always a concern with reviews; the best thing is to look for reputable reviewers. Just A Dad on YouTube has recent reviews, including a comparison with the Eufy X10, and he has a good reputation for being independent.

The Ecovac Deebot T50 Pro is awesome. I just got in a week ago. I ditched my iRobot Roomba J5 which sucked. Always got lost and stuck. The T50 has honestly been so much better and was only $650. I have 2 other iRobots that I’ll get rid of because they’re all god awful.

I run a Roomba J5+ daily on the main floor where my GSD hangs out. And a couple times a week in the bedroom/hallway, because she sleeps in there with me. Been doing this for a little over a year, and it has helped a lot. It does pretty well at keeping up with the hair. One thing I've noticed though is that, at least in my house, the dust filter needs to be cleaned regularly, even with a self-emptying vacuum: every two or three runs or so. This is because dust (not hair) tends to cake onto it, and the self-empty feature doesn't pull that off very well. If it gets even partially blocked the vacuum won't pick up debris and dust as well. Fortunately the dust filter is easy to get at. Keeping the equipment clean will help it perform at its best. My house is probably dustier than many because I have carpet throughout, except in the obvious places (kitchen, bathrooms). There's no roller brush on most Roomba models; instead, it's a pair of rubber (or silicone?) rollers. Nothing gets stuck on them, though you may have to take them out and clean around the axles occasionally. Robot vacuums definitely help, but I don't think any robot vac is going to be completely hands-off, set it and forget it.

A roomba. We have a J5. You can run them every day with minimal effort, and they do a pretty good job, and then just go over once a week with your regular vacuum. We have tiles, and it does a great job. But this week, through a series of unusual events, I ended up using my roomba on medium pile carpet that is original to our late 90's home, and omfg the hair and dander is pulled up is insane. I'm disgusted. We vacuum it once a week with an upright bissel, but apparently, the roomba is so so so much better. For the couch, I have a handheld pet bissel and a reusable lint roller which work amazing. I have 2 blue heelers and a cat.

I bought one with a home base that self empties. It also does mopping. I have had it for 2 years, still have not used the mopping function. I have 2 dogs, a very busy house, and it is a champ. We got ours at Costco,I would buy it again in a heartbeat. It is the Roomba j5 for reference.