iRobot - Combo J5+

Unpopular opinion: iRobot. They’re easy to repair and there’s an abundance of filters and spare parts. The i5+ is a mid level entry robot. You can likely find it around $300 or just stay on the lookout for a sale. Even better mid level option, the j5+. Probably above your price range, but it’s a good investment, per say. I say that having had a Roomba 960 since 2017. A Roomba j7+ since 2021 and my most recent addition a Roomba s9+. Honestly the 960 is still a beast. I have several floors, for the record…they’re not in a closed glass case. 🤣 Roborock has some models that do well, as well. I’m not sure if them off the top of my head. PS: A combo robot just isn’t it quite yet, I wouldn’t spend the money on a combo at this point, especially at your price point. Question: what size is your place? Square feet wise.

All the i and j7 and below series vacuums have the same motor. Only the s9 and j9 have more suction, the s9 is actually better suction. On hard floors any of them will pick up the hair. The s9 will do very well on the area rugs. Not worth buying the combo models.

Roomba’s aren’t terrible, just other companies have surpassed them. iRobot has a big 2024 with a lot of change in the c-suite and mid levels which should change the trajectory. The j series aren’t a bad robot there are just better ones out there. I say keep the j5 because iRobot has always made robots that are easy to fix and/or replace things. Their customer service team is usually pretty good as well. I admit, I am biased. I’ve had Roombas since 2017. Sure, there’s a glitch or a bad software update every now and then but I love having something to do the light cleaning so I only have to vacuum with my fill size vac one or two times a month.

Combos from iRobot aren’t that great, to be honest. The i5 as a vacuum isn’t bad at all. It’s the lower mid level but no less cleans decent. J5 and j7 are great mid to middle upper levels. I have limited experience with a combo and I wasn’t a fan. The vacuuming aspect of things is great.

Don't bother. The J5+ I have is a pain. It has good obstical avoidance, but is constantly getting clogged. I've had it for 1 year and already looking to replace it because the suction has stopped working.

Is there a robot vacuum that doesn’t use a camera but still maps? I got the iRobot roomba combo j5+ with smart mapping and a mop. I loved it but my partner hates that it has a camera

So, I'm on my third robot, though the second one was returned after a week.  First one was a "dumb" robot. It's a lefant something or other, doesn't save maps or have no go zones, and ran right over my puppy's sole oopsie. For all that it has no avoidance and got caught on cords all the time, it did a good job for five years and it's still functional.  I then decided that my price range was the same as yours, and bought a Roomba j5+ on black Friday. It had a mopping attachment, better obstacle avoidance, mapped the house - everything I thought I wanted. I didn't care that I'd have to fiddle with the mop. And... It's fine, except that it went a bit haywire about some of my furniture - specifically my storage bed with bins that slide out. The clearance was tight... And it absolutely lost it under the bed. It would get stuck on nothing, randomly decide that the bins were too low when they aren't, and give up. And to me that was a deal breaker.  So. If the furniture you want it cleaning under has a 3.75" or so clearance, you should be fine with something like that. I ended up paying more for a fancier model from roborock and I'm pleased with it. But that Roomba would be fine for you, I'd think.

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.

I have a Roomba 960 for 10 years now. And it works very well! I just changed the battery after 9 years. It's connected to my Home Assistant, disconnected from Internet and all could stuff. But today I am looking for a new one. I would like a self-empty station. It's not an easy stuff to find a new one. Ten years ago, market was IRobot and Neato. Today, Neato is dead, replaced by more than 10 Chinese brands. All with a lot of technology: Mop, cartography, cameras, vacuum suction of 10000Pa, and a budget of more than 1000$ in most of the cases. It's ok, this is the new market. I want something simple: * Clean the ground, and do it WELL! * a self-empty station * a little bit of cartography, but not too much * no mop, it doesn't work well, and it's more maintenance * A reliable product, that will work in 10 years, I want to be able to buy replacement part if something fail. * No internet connection. It's a vacuum, it doesn't need to go on the web, just to clean. With my shopping list it's not easy, and I have two models in competition: Roomba J5+ vs Roborock Q8 Max. But both seems to be garbage! J5+: * Irobot doesn't give the vacuum suction. But based on reviews and comment, it's less than Roomba 960 (9.3CFM for 960, 7.3CFM for J5+). I should expect a worse result * I can jump to J9+, seems to have a better suction, but more expensive Q8: * Everybody love Roborock, but when you look at the reviews, it's broken after one year * When it's not broken people say "It's work well, it's my 4th Roborock in 4 years!" Why do you change your vacuum every year??? So I have the choice between a vacuum with 5000Pa of suction but will probably have failure in one year, on a Robot that will be robust, but a suction below than we have 10 years ago...

I sure the mops work well. But I want to replace my 960 to reduce maintenance, especially having an auto empty station. And at least the same level of performance. If I take a model with mop, I must fill a water tank from time to time, and replace the mop. It's more maintenance. I compared the 960 with J5 on on Rtings, and it's the same level of performance. I will buy the J5. There is a good deal on it

They all have "docks," so I think you mean you don't want a self-emptying machine. To be fair though, the area on the floor taken up by a self-emptying dock is about the same as the space taken up by the robot alone; and the same will be true with just the little charging station. The only direction where you can save space by using only the charging dock instead of the self-emptying dock is vertically. Cleaning ability: Some vacuum models in the Roomba brand line have more suction power than others. It's up to you to research the specs on that. Last spring I bought my first robot, a J5 Combo, which \*can\* mop, but I've never used that feature and never will. I bought it because at that time I couldn't get that level of suction in any machine that was dry-vacuum-only. I tried a Roborock for about a week before I got the Roomba. Great app, great navigation. But when it ran over my in-floor vents for forced air heat, or over the steel ring that supports my swivel rocker, its rollers absolutely fell out. Seriously! And when it finished a job and I went to empty its bin, there was hardly anything in the bin. So I borrowed an old, outdated Roomba - a 690 Series - and ran that immediately afterward. The bin was full of pet hairs. So even an old Roomba far surpassed a new Roborock. It's possible that that particular Roborock machine was faulty, but I wasn't ready to give Roborock another chance after iRobot/Roomba had proven itself. Navigation: Roombas need decent light to do well. Roborocks (and probably other Lidar-driven robots) do not. Depending on when you want to have your robot run, this may be an issue. App: iRobot's app is clunky. It works, eventually ... but it's not fun or efficient. Every time I go into it I feel like I'm in a find-the-secret-door strategy game, plus it's very S-L-O-W. I can go make coffee while the map loads. Roborock on the other hand was slick. In short, in my experience there are trade-offs. So far, Roomba/iRobot seems to have superior cleaning and machine durability, whereas Roborock had superior navigation and app functionality. I value the cleaning ability the most. What you value the most is up to you.

I too have all carpet in my place except for kitchen and bathrooms. (I like to be \*comfortable\* here in MN, no cold hard floors for me, no matter that bare floors are all the rage these days.) I have a J5 Combo and a J7+. Both do very well keeping up with my German Shepherd's shedding, and for the first time in decades of GSD ownership I can walk through my main living area at any time and not get hair all over my socks. Huskies may not shed year round like German Shepherds, but the few I've known, when they blow their coats, it's a blizzard. You'll still have to brush them pretty often to keep up at those times, but a robot vacuum can help with the normal shedding and the hairs that keep falling no matter what you do in the grooming department. These two vacuums are advertised to have increased suction power over some other models. I think that with carpet, the extra suction is important. I never use the available mopping feature of the J5, but at the time that level of suction power didn't come without it.

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.

If you don't care about mopping, then I would suggest considering a roomba j series. The dual rollers, bin design (reduces filter clogging), dirt detection, and bin sensor for auto empty make it well suited for pet hair. Hair will still accumulate inside of the rubber rollers and require maintenance. VacuumWars recently found that the similar combo 10 max picked up 100% of 2.5 inch hair from carpet, which was much better than many modern flagship models from competitors. I have 3 robovacs (Ecovacs x1 omni, Roomba j5+, Roborock S6 pure) and rate the j5+ highly. I have 270 hours on it so far with no issues

The comment about robot vacuums only being for small places is probably based on the old random pattern robots. Most robots now map and do well in large houses. It sounds like most mapping robots would work for you, since you don't want mopping, have hardfloors, and no pets. So anything with lidar (prefered) or vslam navigation. Obstacle avoidance might be a useful feature for cords, shoes, toys etc. left on the ground. It might be worth looking into a Eufy L60, iRobot Roomba j series, Roborock Q series, or shark. I'm biased because I have three robot vacs (Roborock S6, Ecovacs x1 omni, and iRobot Roomba j5+ combo) and my roomba j5+ is the only one that is reliable and working at the moment

iRobot is likely the longest lasting brand, there are many accounts of people having these bots for so many years and well over 1k hours.. iRobot are still providing parts for 12+ year old bots. Where is the planned obsolescence there?

The combo 10 max (almost the same obstacle avoidance as all other modern/j-series iRobot models) initially scored in vacuum war's top ten for obstacle avoidance. It's also the only brand that guarantees avoidance of pet poo. Battery is debatable, but it's also a non-issue for most because of charge and resume

I have three robots (Ecovacs x1 omni, Roomba j5+, and a Roborock S6 Pure). When my Roborock had constant issues I looked into durability and longevity as the number 1 criteria and found that almost all comments from owners with high hours (maybe 800+) were either roborock S5s, old random pattern roombas, and i series roombas. I'd recommend an i7+ or j series Roomba (for obstacle avoidance and more reliable dock). They are well suited to hair and heavy use because of the dual rollers, bin design (reduces filter clogging/motor strain), bin sensor for auto empty and dirt detect, modular design (fast replacement parts), part availablity, and reports from owners. VacuumWars also found that cleaning performance of 2.5 inch pet sized hair on carpet was 100%, unlike many modern flagship models. My j5+ was been flawless for 270 hours so far. The only issues I have seen online relate to cleaning of bin sensors and charging contacts. Hopefully this helps

I have a j5+ with two people (one woman with long hair) and 1 or 2 dogs in the house at a given moment (both shedding long hair border collie crosses). It keeps up really well, and does a really good job on hard floors and especially carpet. It also sometimes cleans shredded cardboard from our dog and I'm really impressed that the dock hasn't been blocked with cardboard and hair yet. I vacuum every day and clean the rollers every 2 weeks or if I notice clumps of hair left behind on carpet after a run. I clean the filter and side brush at the same time.

The j7 and j5 have the same obstacle avoidance as the j9

In my experience, the key to getting rid of the hair ropes on carpet is to condition the carpet by vacuuming regularly (and cleaning the rollers whenever the ends are full of hair during this period). Eventually the hair and dander levels are reduced to a maintainable level where no hair ropes are formed. It's kind of different from manual vacuuming where everything is picked up in one pass. I run my j5+ every day with 1 or 2 shedding border collie crosses in the house Otherwise a newer model with anti-tangling features might work better

Keep in mind that many robot vacs will work without internet connection, just without scheduling, map editing or access to customised settings. I often take my ecovacs x1 omni and roomba j5+ to other houses without wifi connection. I just let them map without wifi, return them to wifi and ad no-go zones which are recognised during the next run

All have pretty poor customer service. I have three bots (Ecovacs, Roborock, and iRobot) and recommend the roomba i or j series for vacuum only (especially if you have carpet). It's designed for longevity rather than features. My j5+ has been reliable and kept up with 2 shedding dogs (long hair border collie cross) and two people

All have pretty poor customer service. I have three bots (Ecovacs, Roborock, and iRobot) and recommend the roomba i or j series for vacuum only (especially if you have carpet). It's designed for longevity rather than features. My j5+ has been reliable and kept up with 2 shedding dogs (long hair border collie cross) and two people

The shark will likely navigate and localise itself better thanks to it's lidar navigation. It will bump into walls softer than the roomba will. However the j5+ will avoid unexpected obstacles on the ground like shoes, cords etc. better. The j5 mopping isn't thorough as there isn't any spinning or agitation, but it's better than nothing. The j5 will also likely last long, unlike many bots that have been suggested by others here

This is objectively bad advice. You don't know what their requirements are. If they have carpets only then the j5 will outperform all of these models and last longer

Do you have it set to vacuum while mopping, sucking up moisture which makes hair and dust clump? I think the auto empty of Ecovacs/Yeedi is on the weaker side (at least comparing my X1 omni with my roomba j5+). I'd make it clean one small custom zone or room at a time on a schedule so that the hair doesn't build up too much between auto empties

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

Just avoid Roombas. They're really loud so you can't really run them when you're in the house whereas Eufy and Roborock are very quiet (maybe not all of them just the ones I've seen). Roombas have also fallen behind on software, I spent €900 to replace my 4 year old 960 with a J9+ Combo, it's constantly struggling to dock, if you take if off the dock yourself it loses the mop function unless you restart it literally 10 times and it's forever getting stuck or ignoring the saved map. Now I have the clean bag full error after two months when the previous bag lasted me a full year. I got a J5+ for upstairs and it's equally bad. Can never find the dock or will do a random 10 minute clean before going back. My 960 wasn't perfect but when I bought it, it was one of the only decent ones on the market as they hadn't taken off at the time and it was also on the US market for like 4 years by the time I bought it.

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

Roomba j5 has POOP promise: for the first year of ownership: if the Roomba does not avoid poop and goes on top of it iRobot would replace it.

We are using a j5 combo and really liking it. Our main level is about that size i believe.

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.

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 have four dogs, two Bernese mountain dogs, a Corgi and a Westie. I had been using an i7+ for years now and had been extremely happy with it, with regular maintenance and removing the hair from the rollers and the front wheel practically daily, it ran great. But I've had the upgrade bug for a while and just last week I upgraded to the j9+ vacuum only and I'm very impressed with the upgrades! It's definitely faster, far more suction power, quieter. So I'm not sure what your budget is but I would recommend a j5+ or j9+ just because I like having the bins for self emptying if you are looking for vacuum only devices.

We have the mop vac combo (forgive me, I don't remember what exact model, but I DO know it is the self emptying combo w\ the removable dust filter "trash' bags, and has a grey "tweed" designer -look on the top. That probably makes no sense). At any rate, I LOVE the vacuum feature, esp the self-emptying component. However, the few times I have attempted to use the mopping feature, it has not worked well at all. Admittedly, my model could be a slightly older model, like maybe last year's, so take that for what it's worth. It starts off fine, but after no more than 10 min if that, it seems to get stuck. What it's stuck on is beyond me because it happens in dining room each time & sounds like it's spinning it's wheels (like a car stuck in mud). There are no rugs, chairs are moved out of the way & there's no visible debris obstacles like  one of my son's marbles or a plastic milk cap or anything. Literally just hardwood flooring. I've tried rebooting, I've tried popping the water/mop pad on & mopping immediately (thinking it would help reduce soaking & "puddling" near the wheels), I've tried wiping the wheels and following behind it to wipe up the drag marks of water. But it still spins & does nothing. I can't complain too much as I won it at my husband's  Xmas work party raffle, and like I said the vac feature is excellent. Since we have a young son & a dog that sheds constantly, I'm ok w/just the vac👌

iRobot already did that with their first generation iRobot Combo (R11xx). The Roomba Essential was also not made by iRobot. Now it seems none of them will be. I just don't understand the end game for iRobot. Are they just gonna be riding on the brand name from now on and slowly disappear into nothingness because why would OEM give 3rd party better tech and design than they use in their own robots? iRobot, as much as they've been weird and stubborn with some things, I still love their core design of robots since introduction of E series and later i. I loved how they ALL had identical main roller brushes, identical side brushes, identical filters, identical dust bins, identical almost everything. Not only it's cheaper for them to supply 1 type of each part, it's easier for users, for regular maintenance and repairs. I work in this part of the industry and I can't stress enough how many times customers/consumers have no clue what device they have, be it robot vacuum or a regular vacuum. If you just need to tell "I have a roomba" and that's all it's needed to know which part you supply. So many Chinese robots as well as ones from other well known brands like Electrolux, Philips and Rowenta have different parts for almost every model and it's soooooooooooo annoying.

I have one basic Roomba that moves around randomly and another that supposedly maps the space. The cheaper, random movement robot is vastly superior in all ways.

Irobot has a camera for object avoidance. I think it works pretty great.  It worked perfectly in the beginning, but God forbid when you are training the ai(?) by reviewing the photos you ever allow anything as "not an obstacle" then it will run over similar things forever. Like string, after I told it a cord off the ground was not an obstacle. :(

Just gonna tell you, the mops work very very well. Not sure where you heard they don’t, but if you wanna if you insist on going vacuum only, I recommend iRobot. They are the best at vacuuming and have great customer support. I’d say j5, j7, j9, will all be great.

Oh ok, I can’t argue with that logic. If you have pets I’d suggest you go the extra mile and get the j9+ since it’s very good for pet hair. Regardless, you’ll love the j5.

Yeah, Roomba’s been coasting on name recognition for years. Hardware’s fine, but the software is way behind Dreame, Roborock, even Ecovacs. J series especially has dumb pathing issues. You’re not crazy though. Plenty of us jumped ship 😅

The IRobot J series is quite terrible. They don't seem to have enough traction while mopping even on their lowest setting and using plain water, it'll just start sliding and not go in a straight line. Then it'll give up and be in the middle of a room. Also, the vacuuming is good with its dual rubber brushes but it seems the brushes pull up some of the moisture from the mop and then dust will clump up along with pet hair and clog before getting into the bin. I should've done more research than going with a Roomba. But I do like the obstacle avoidance.

The I and J series clean so much better than the 2 Essential. Even the lowest priced I series is well worth the extra money.

once you get a i/J series with a Clean Base. you will never want to go back. When shedding season start , you can setup a daily clean up. and a weekly maintenance of the robot.

I guess I’m the outlier here but I love mine. I have the self emptying, mapping Roomba. It mapped my space great and does a really good job cleaning. Self emptying is the best upgrade, as I previously had a much cheaper model and haaaated emptying that thing constantly.

I have a Roomba that I picked up from Costco. It can be controlled via app and it has a self emptying base.

They \*could\* but I doubt very much that they do; it would cost a lot. The biggest privacy risk is revealing a map of the layout of your home if your online account is hacked. I have an iRobot Roomba that empties its own bag into a base. Love it. Love not having to vacuum under beds and sofas. It took some prep to make my home ready for it--furniture needs to be high enough (and legs wide enough apart) for it to run up under. Lamp cords need to be secured. Don't run it automatically or when you're not home. Do clean the hair out of it after it runs (takes only a couple minutes). I run it once a week. I spend 3-4 minutes putting things like litter baskets and chairs up off the floor so it has a better reach, then schedule it to run 3x. Then turn the schedule off again and return loose items to the floor. Spend about a minute getting hair out of its rollers. I've had several good looks inside my Roomba and didn't see anything like microphones or cameras. Its bump sensors are not cameras. It does have an internet connection and so can be voice-controlled if you connect to Alexa or Google Home. But that is optional. If you only operate it with the app or onboard buttons, it cannot be voice controlled.

We’ve used a self emptying Roomba for years. 3 dogs, a Basset, a Lab, and a Terrier. All are moderate shedders and fur accumulation is a problem. All three are indoor/outdoor dogs and mud is a consideration for us. We have area rugs from Costco that help dry paws and pick up some dirt. We launder them at a coin-op each month to save wear and tear on our washer. The Roomba is fine for keeping visible areas tidy, but one pass on the floor and the internal bin will fill with fur and dust. We still vacuum with a stick vac in corners and under furniture, Roomba can’t reach. No mopping robot can keep up with mud from paws if you live in a rainy muddy area. Invest in a good Swiffer wet mop or a light weight bucket based mop.

I started with a eufy and it was pretty good on all hardwood floors. It would pile some fire up in the corners I could pick up. But then I upgraded to a roomba with the self emptying thing and I love it. The app and tutorials are very helpful.

I have the Wyze robot vac and a roomba self emptying vac. I vastly prefer the performance of the wyze vac.

I have a self emptying roomba vacuum. It runs daily at 9:30 am, recharges and empties itself, then finishes rhe rest around 2 in the afternoon. I live on a horse farm with 4 dogs and 5 cats and only if its muddy do shoes come off at the door. That robot is a wonderful thing.

I have an IRobot Roomba self emptying one! It literally just got done vacuuming. Genuinely LIFE CHANGING. I got mine as a Christmas gift and it’s great but I’d probably go with the Shark 2 in 1 self emptying robot mop/vacuum when my Roomba dies. I run mine at least 2 times a day and I think it helps keep it where hairballs don’t build up and get stuck in it.

Two huskies here. We have a self emptying Roomba. We run it 5 days a week. I have to keep up with the replacement parts, or it starts just wadding up hair and leaving it in chunks. But even that cuts manual cleaning time, because I can just take the hand vac to the chunks. We've had it since 2021.