iRobot Combo J5+

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Overall

#291 in

Robot Vacuums

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score56% positive
5
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3

Top Pros

Top Cons

Last updated: Apr 26, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit Iconderping1234
12 months ago

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.

Reddit IconTasty_Pool8812
8 months ago

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

10 months ago

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

9 months ago

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

Reddit Iconbring_dat
6 months ago

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

Reddit Icondfordium
12 months ago

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

Reddit IconNo-Net246
11 months ago

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.

Reddit IconOaksInSnow
11 months ago

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.

Reddit Iconslain2212
9 months ago

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.

Reddit IconTopspinG7
2 months ago

My Roomba did that once, but I'm 70 and once it saw me naked in the shower it immediately turned around and fled then caught on fire 🔥

2 months ago

I can't comment between Roborock and Roomba I can only say that my Roomba J5+ works quite well for vacuuming except on a very very thick (quasi Shag) carpet. I question whether they're going to go out of business especially when they're such a huge market for replacement parts bags etc I'm assuming they license other companies to provide some of those parts aftermarket. I don't use mine to mop so I can't comment on that. I found once I did the initial setup including mapping both floors of my house It works very well except on occasion it has a problem docking and emptying itself But that's usually resolved quickly. When there is some kind of problem I find the information provided to the app is generally pretty helpful. About the only thing that's missing it would be nice to show its current location on the map within the app. But for most people that's not a problem since you can just track it down yourself in your house. If I recall it beeps to help you locate it if it gets stuck but that's been an extremely rare occurrence.

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