iRobot - i7+

I’ve had Roombas since ~2016, a 960 and an i7+. While I wish they integrated with HomeAssistant a little better, they have been rock solid, especially the i7+ due to the self emptying. Currently the i7 runs daily on the main floor and the 960 runs in my bedroom(when I remember to empty it). Had to replace some parts on the i7 and they were mostly easily acquirable directly from iRobot, so that has been nice. Do a little bit of network monitoring and they don’t really ever seem to randomly phone home, so that’s nice.

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 a Roomba i7+, so I can’t speak to the devices with a mopping feature. I think ours is just okay. We have a German Shepherd so I’m constantly cleaning tanged hair from the brushes. It does okay on our Ruggables but sometimes gets caught on the edges or leaves big tufts of hair behind. I think if I ran it daily, we might avoid it leaving the tufts behind, but I’m honestly tired of cleaning the brushes with a scissors 😩

I have both Roborock Saros 10R and Eufy e28 on your list for a couple of weeks now. And for now I decided to keep both. Posted a review earlier: https://www.reddit.com/r/Roborock/s/PW7vVWd6uN From my limited research, Roborock seems to be the most reliable brand, with Eufy coming in second. I also had a Roomba i7+ for about 3 years. I would say for vacuuming performance, 10R and e28 would not exceed your i8, but they are much better in other aspects, such as navigation and mopping. If your floor is mostly tile, both should do fine. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

I bought a Roomba i7+ back in 2020 and it recently turned 5! I've used cheap Amazon replacement parts and it still does a good job. ALTHOUGH! iRobot corporate had been having some issues lately. They were supposed to be acquired by Amazon but that deal fell through. I think they almost went bankrupt as well. If I were to buy a new robot vacuum today, I would likely be eyeing roborock. Lastly, regarding these robot vacuums, I'm pretty firm on the saying "you get what you pay for" within this genre of purchases.

Anecdotally, I got about 8 months out of a roomba before the thing went feral. It would try to get out the backdoor and down the deck stairs. After awhile it would just come out of the dock, spin, and go back home. Support was useless and felt more like a scheme to get me to buy more bits and add ons. I have friends who have told me the same.

It was a Roomba i7+ that I bought in the summer of 2022.

Yeah maybe pets has something to do with it. We have dogs that shed a lot. It just got to the point where I was doing more babysitting of the vacuum than actual vacuuming.

I have an i7+ that is an absolute trooper. Works great with very little attention from me...have a couple of Aussies, so hair does wrap up in the rollers, but not much outside of that...just change the bag and filter when needed. Two years ago, I bought the Roomba Combo...I think I grabbed it shortly after its release on a $400 off sale...that should've been the first red flag for me, but I've had Roombas forever and they always improve. Never again...what a POS this thing is. Never empties the bin on its own. That sliver of a mop pad must be for laboratory clean homes...it just trowels the dirt out over the entire area as it is saturated with dirt quickly. Software updates are finished, apparently. They did sent me a replacement while still under warranty, which is only slightly less horrible than the original unit...it returned to the base to empty its bin once. I was so excited to finally see this happen. Never did it again...just docks and notifies me the bin is full. Doesn't matter how clean I keep the bin cover and the sensors. Auto-bin empty cycle never works...I have to use the app and empty the bin myself. Because of that, I can only clean one room at a time, or that daffy thing will PACK that dirt bin FULL and then some... The Braava Jet 6 I have (paired to the i7+ routines) does way better...it's wheels are worn and has issues getting off its dock and, gasp, no way to replace them. Otherwise, its been a great little machine. I will never purchase another Roomba. That was cemented by the lackluster (that is being generous) support I received...they were just reading a script and no matter who I got, I got all the same feedback. I asked each time...don't you have me in the system and record our discussions each time I contact you with the results of what I was asked to do previously?

I’ve had my i7+ for about 5 years now. It’s still doing ok. The hardware continues to work. It’s the firmware you have to watch out for.

Hearing about longevity is great!! The issue is that current models change and may not have the longevity of the old ones. With that said… We bought an iRobot i7 with the emptying base in 2019. We have recently replaced his battery but he still cleans everyday. He has nearly 2000 hours of vacuuming and paired well with the M6. I try and “bathe” him weekly cleaning brushes and blowing dust out of sensors and what not, but generally speaking they are still going strong. Just to be honest within the last 2 weeks we purchased a 705 max and he is brilliant. mapped the main floor in 15 min and can clean the whole thing in an hour. All while avoiding obstacles like errant socks and cables that the i7 didn’t know to look for. The i7 is great, but i don’t always have time to tidy the house before the scheduled run (which is part of why i like him. it kinda forces people to pick up after themselves until it just became me picking up after everyone for the bot)

Thanks for the review! I ordered mine the other day on Prime day after a lot of reviewing. Our roomba i7+ has finally taken a crap and it was time to replace - it comes in this week & I’m stoked to get it running! (Plus, the wife is out of town for the week and doesn’t know I got it. So she’ll be welcomed home with clean floors)

Preach! My roomba loves to die under the couch and not go home smh. Also takes a solid 6-7 hours on our (not huge) house. And the way it full on smacks into everything makes me chuckle. Looking forward to the upgrade - sounds like not be disappointed

I have a i7+ and my lab sheds. Jarvis picks it up just fine, I do have to do maintenance weekly, but yes it will get the job done.

Oh and I’ve had him for five years, so longevity is AMAZING.

Yes! I love him. I want to get a new one, but he keeps working just fine with normal maintenance, and a battery swap.

Yes worth imo. I just went from a Roomba i7+ to a Roborock Qrevo Curv. Night and day difference compared to clean. Also the stations keeping the mop pad sanitary was the thing that made me finally dive in, and I’m glad I did. I enjoy not having to vacuum my main floor, and it’s given me a hour or two back in my day.

If you got short pile carpet i highly recommend the iRobot Roomba i7+. It's an slightly older model but it's made for households with pets and kids. It has 2 rubber rollers which easily pick up animal für, even from carpet. It detects carpet and will even start to vacuum harder on them and slows it's pace. It's also equipped with 'dirt detect' so will not run over an accident your pets or kids may have. And it has a cleanbase. I'm not sure how it will work on deep pile carpet since i have none but i can imagine this get's stuck inbetween the rollers. They don't recommend this either. The only down side is the Cleanbase ( automatic dirt disposal unit ) that comes with it. It has 2 metal charging points in the bottom that can move a little up and down with a spring underneath it to avoid damage when the robot returns to it. The charging points are hold in place by plastic on both sides. Sometimes it melts stuck inside the bottom plate and if you are unlucky it's unable to make contact with the robot thus can't charge it anymore. I had this happen to me twice with the same machine, the second even had this within 3 weeks of use 😅. Luckily it was still within warranty and they just send me new ones. Most perfect customer service they got. But because it's an older model you can find them cheap second hand too.

For the price point, yes, absolutely. But like you said it’s pretty outdated, for me personally the navigation was decent, but it bumped everything it didn’t expect to be there. like a chair being moved 2cm.

I have the irobot i7+ for a couple years now and I'm happy with it. I haven't tried any other brands with some of the more advanced features, but I'm happy with mine enough to not care about buying something else.

i honestly didn’t think i’d care about a robot vacuum until we got the [iRobot Roomba i7+](https://www.amazon.de/iRobot-Absaugstation-Raumerfassung-Zeitplanreinigung-Multibodenb%C3%BCrsten/dp/B07V9LD1HZ?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1DKR8FK8CYHA7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bj_W0vdcxiQgS75I8OlIals1N-k_Vy0mzG66Qk9ZRCLGIIkxcRKZ4TW8f6Ey8mG10l2KBoJycjECKtot6uNXwzG5CAnM4Xbtxv7bDCNCmnkOQODvQ9_04-QlvOKWnV1riFiVblAKuo3_yHYdCdR9ivwGx6PL99bf6mNHdDBa6J9HPrA7NmYfvVG_AtFuIqhdOGKwl9VxDhX79FoamBX8xX2ZIUKbyd6Ey-Ji8eyEhBA.pQgBZfF4REzCiG7uX576YgCgAOAGMVh958AzereDd4o&dib_tag=se&keywords=iRobot%2BRoomba%2Bi7%2B&qid=1746040068&sprefix=irobot%2Broomba%2Bi7%2B%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-4&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=workshift-21&linkId=ca3c836489b3e8eaeefdb294cd423c73&language=de_DE&ref_=as_li_ss_tl). it’s surprisingly smart with room mapping and doesn’t get stuck like our older one. emptying itself is the best part tbh. we have a dog and it handles hair like a pro.

we’ve had the [iRobot Roomba i7+](https://www.amazon.de/iRobot-Absaugstation-Raumerfassung-Zeitplanreinigung-Multibodenb%C3%BCrsten/dp/B07V9LD1HZ?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1DKR8FK8CYHA7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bj_W0vdcxiQgS75I8OlIals1N-k_Vy0mzG66Qk9ZRCLGIIkxcRKZ4TW8f6Ey8mG10l2KBoJycjECKtot6uNXwzG5CAnM4Xbtxv7bDCNCmnkOQODvQ9_04-QlvOKWnV1riFiVblAKuo3_yHYdCdR9ivwGx6PL99bf6mNHdDBa6J9HPrA7NmYfvVG_AtFuIqhdOGKwl9VxDhX79FoamBX8xX2ZIUKbyd6Ey-Ji8eyEhBA.pQgBZfF4REzCiG7uX576YgCgAOAGMVh958AzereDd4o&dib_tag=se&keywords=iRobot%2BRoomba%2Bi7%2B&qid=1746040068&sprefix=irobot%2Broomba%2Bi7%2B%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-4&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=workshift-21&linkId=ca3c836489b3e8eaeefdb294cd423c73&language=de_DE&ref_=as_li_ss_tl) for a year and it still runs great. the automatic bin emptying is a game changer. i barely have to think about vacuuming anymore. maps our flat really well too.

I currently have an Roomba i7+. It works fine-ish, but has some problems with navigation in my house, and its getting old. We joke that it's going blind in its old age. (we recently gave it a deep cleaning; and that seems to have helped some, but I worry it won't last) So I'm looking for a new robot vacuum. I'm not attached to iRobot, and would be happy to switch brands. The biggest thing is that *I don't need a mop*. I have nothing I want the robot to mop, and the area to clean has a lot of carpet I'd worry about getting wet. To be clear, this isn't about doubting they work or any technical concerns. I just have no need for mopping on a robot, and I won't be enabling it or using it, to the extent that's possible. I've noticed that nearly all the newer models have some sort of mopping. Is it possible to completely disable that or will most models get angry at me for being on floors that it think it can mop and not mopping? Are some of them just glorified Swiffers? I value navigation, app/smart home integration (Home Assistant) and how quiet it is, probably in that order.

I have limited experience, but my Roomba usually empties its internal bin into the dock at least once per run, sometimes twice. Maybe the auto empty version has a smaller internal bin? I wouldn't want to have to empty it manually.

I have an iRobot i7+ since 2020. It still works like a charm. Only thing I've had to replace was the spinning brush and the two rollers, asid from the dust bag ofcourse.

I’d really say go with iRobot. Reasons why: They have really good support POLICIES, the agents are hit and miss(most of the time pretty good). Any issue within warranty and you’ll get an instant replacement unit. They are designed to be super easy to buy replacement parts for(which iRobot will often pay for sometimes even out of warranty). They also last really long: fifth year of owning and using my iRobot I7+(1600 hours of cleaning). They have the best obstacle avoidance for poop(check a video I have on my account of the Roborock Q Revo Máster plowing through fake dog poop. Also for under 500 the obstacle avoidance won’t even really work with my experience. No voice assistant Reasons not to: They’re behind with mopping They get lost more often and sometimes take longer to clean. On the louder end(especially self emptying) I really cannot put enough emphasis on their support team though. My roomba combo j9+ wouldn’t properly saturate its pad with my floor type so after some replacements they upgraded me to the roomba combo 10 max since it would “saturate its pad while cleaning at the docking station”. This was all done in manufactures warranty. My personal recommendation is the roomba j9+ when it’s on discount or you can settle for the j7+ but I strongly reccomend saving for the j9+.

I am trying to look for one too we have a Roomba i7+ and it is not good with our 3 goldens. The only one I hear to get almost 0% tangle rate is the robrtock qrevo curv and it's 1300$ im waiting for it to go down in price

We have 6 fur animals and 3 long-hair people here. My Narwal Z Ultra has been running daily for 11 days now. This morning it ran over some paper business cards and threw a "roller tangled error" because two cards got stuck in the roller. It managed to take itself to the base to dry and decontaminate the mop pads. Why am I recommending this unit? Because when I opened the roller to remove the business cards, it was completely devoid of any tangles. No fur, no hair, no cords. The roller was clean, and just the business cards were stuck in there. I have: Two Roomba i7+ units (also great with hair, but not as good as the Z, since long hair makes its way to the axel on the Roombas, where as the Z sucks it into the chamber) The OG Freo with anti-tangle roller (not as good as the Roombas at vacuuming or tangle-free operation) I also have a shark regular vacuum, and was considering their robovac before I got the Z but the Z is fantastic at both carpet and mopping. If you don't need a mop, the Roomba J7+ or S9 would be good. Not sure about newer ones. The roborocks are also very good. Check out the VacuumWars YouTube channel if you want to make comparisons

I have the freo Z now. I love everything about it. My second Freo unit, started off with the original Freo, upgraded when it got an auto empty dust bin. Also has two Roomba i7+ units and a braava M6. Love the roomba's too but the Freo Z is hands down just an overall better unit in every way. I also have the automatic water exchange unit for it. Absolute game changer.

I have a roomba i7 that self empties. My hair is down to just above my knees, I also have 2 large dogs (one with a double coat that sheds if you just look at him) and 4 cats. I've scheduled the roomba to run every other day. I empty the bag once a month. Quarterly, I'll take it apart to clean the hair that gets trapped inside as well as replace filters and cut any hair off that accumulates in the rollers. I also run a dyson animal on the couple of rugs I have once a week, and that collects my hair around the brush more than the roomba does. Regardless of the type of vacuum, maintenance is still required. Just like dish washers, washing machines, etc. The things that we use to clean also need cleaning.

I have 2 huskies, an Aussie Shepard, a cat, and a toddler. Been through several robot vacuums. The best by a large margin has been a Roomba i7 with self emptying base. The thing has been trucking along with just basic replacements of the brushes, beaters, and filters. I have owned it for maybe 4 going on 5 years. Without it running each day, my place ends up looking like an old Clint Eastwood movie.

I have a Roomba i7+ purchased in 2021. We run it 6 days a week for our shepherd mix who sheds like mad. As others have said, it's not great on the rugs but the daily run helps keep it manageable, and then we use our upright once every 2-4 weeks for rugs and baseboards and a deeper clean. Imo having the base where it can go back and empty itself is key. On its usual run of our main floor (maybe 800sf) it will empty itself mid-run and then finish. I do perform regular maintenance every month or two to make sure the brushes and rollers aren't clogged. I also clean the sensors and filter maybe once every 6 months or so. Still going strong!

I have an i7+ and a J7+ and both do a decent job. The i7 does a better job getting on the taller area rugs we have and get stuck less. If I was going to buy one, I would go with the older i7 again.

You basically can replace just about any part. The head, the rollers, the wheel assemblies, the spin brush motor, batteries, wheel treads, single guide wheel, ect. I’ve overhauled mine and replaced just about all parts. My i7+ is 5 yrs old, 4 dogs, 2 ACDs, 1 BC, 1 jrt. It does great on hard floors

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

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

It's hard for people to recommend since few people would test their vacuums with this much fur. Picking up hair from hard floors is easy for any robot vacuums, even on low suction settings. I think the challenge will be keeping the bin from filling or the dock from clogging. iRobot roomba i+ and j+ series are suited for this as they have sensors that detect debris building up in the vacuum path and send the bot to the dock to auto-empty and resume. Whatever you get, you will likely need to run regularly and maybe one room at a time.

Came here to say this—I have the i7+ with 2 dogs, and am not a fan. I spend more time keeping the vacuum running than I would just vacuuming my house directly. And it would be cleaner, since the roomba doesn’t actually pick up the fur.

Havent had an issue myself with the j9+(knock on wood) but did get it for $500. Had an i7+ before and so far atleast vaccumming seems to do better and not bang into things as much.

I have a nearly 6 year old Roomba i7+, but I would not bank on any new robot vacuum to match that. Roombas at the time were known as pretty serviceable for a consumer electronic product. In the time since then, the market really exploded and iRobot didn't keep up. Were they built better than a Roborock? Maybe, but no one cares if it didn't have the latest features. So now they might not be around much longer. Now it seems like there is a new product from Roborock, Dreame, Ecovacs, etc. every other week. I'd guess at that rate, they are intended to be pretty disposable even if they cost $1k.

I7 with the clean base. Get the clean base. Mine empties itself 3 or 4 times per clean. You don't want to do that by hand. Came bundled with the iMop that we use for the upstairs bathroom bc of all the drool she leaves on the floor after drinking, it actually gets slippery.

I have a Roomba i7+, I got used a few years ago. When I got it, it seemed like it was in good condition. But there were problems like the wheels spinning once it was the base, for eternity. And the rubber brushes would just spin up my Bernese mountain dogs hair into little ropes on our ruggable. The rotating brush that pulls things to the brushes spins so slow it’s not effective. This is true before and after cleaning dog hair out, which is annoying as is. My Dyson doesn’t need to be pulled apart to get hair out of it. So I’m not 100% against the brand if they’ve fixed these issues, but I’m not interested in more of the same with a new model. Open to other models as well, budget up to $1K, although preferably less. Please comment both things you like and don’t like about yours if you recommend one!

Yeah I really tried all the things that customer support suggested, replaced the rollers and brushes, etc and it’s the same. I was watching some vacuum wars videos and I guess the hair entanglement stuff is a problem for all but very few exception vacuums Non stick tape is a good idea! Although I still have the problem of general not cleaning that well

I am currently looking at the iRobot 10 combo. Currently have an i7+ and a Braava m6, but the Braava is stupid AF. Not sure I will stick with iRobot but need good home automation (Web-API or IFTTT)

I disagree.. i have a roomba I7 and the brush design is far superior to toborocks.. Ya, hair neatly rolls up at the edges.. That is what it is supposed to do

My first robot was the i7, bought in 2020 (with a matching Braava). I thought, at the time, this was the best of what robots had to offer. It wasn't until I started testing robots that I understood just how poorly iRobot was adapting to the changes in the industry. I recently tested the 205, part of the new lineup. I thought it performed abysmally. [https://lifehacker.com/tech/roomba-205-dustcompactor-combo-review](https://lifehacker.com/tech/roomba-205-dustcompactor-combo-review) The app kept crashing (I tried on a few platforms) and it wasn't my only complaint. In terms of apps, it depends on whether you're striving for simplicity or features. I enjoy little talked about features like Pin and Go and Remote Control, and kind of hate in app adverts. So Roborock is one of my favs. But Ecovacs and Dreame robots have a decent app as well. I would never, ever overlook Switchbot, btw.

HI! I purchased my first robot (a roomba i7) in 2020. Since then, I've literally begun testing them for a living. The difference between 2020 and now is just absurd, and I mean that in every way. The difference between two years ago and now is fantastic. 1. Navigation- almost all robots now use LiDAR and some use LiDAR and AI assisted cameras. They map a room within seconds, and can tell what kind of surface is on the floor, where furniture is. The LiDAR makes obstacle recognition and avoidance a whole new ball game. 2. Extending sweeps and mops- You likely had a static mop pad and sweep. But now, they are on extending arms, and can reach under stoves, up to walls, and around spaces the robot can't fit. 3. Towers clean the mop- they sterilize, they auto dispense detergent, they can be piped directly to your water line. They're also modern and in some cases, beautiful. 4. The apps have better features, like remote control, pin and go, voice recognition, and a ton more map controls. 5. Roller design has improved 100x. Split rollers, rollers with razor cutters.... hair just isn't the issue it used to be. it's just not the same. Invest.

I’ve had many roombas from the 650, i7, S9x3 (they sent me 3 replacements), and a braava jet 240. They work good for awhile, but the crappy software updates, constant errors and resets broke me. I seriously love iRobot hardware vacuum performance as in the amount of dirt they pick up, but the software is absolute garbage and a vacuum is completely useless if it can’t navigate correctly. I still have my first 650 bouncing around in my basement and the i7 has been moved to garage duty. The S9 ended up in pieces. My main two robot vacuums are roborocks and I love their navigation. I wish I could take the navigation from a Roborock and put it into a roomba.

This is the worst robot vacuume I've ever owned. It gets stuck on every single thing and finds ANYTHING it can to suck up and get disabled. It hasn't run a full cycle in months because of that. We have hardwood floors and rugs, and this robot seems to "sweep" all of the dirt and cat hair to the edges of all of the rugs for us to have to go and sweep up manually later. Obstacle avoidance is a joke. My last robot was a roomba i7 and it was great. We only upgraded because the mapping was better on this one, it had "better obstacle avoidance" (what a joke) and it could mop without intervention as well as cleaning the mop head on its own. The surface level stuff looks really good (like the maps and mopping stuff), but that stuff is worthless if it can't even do a single vacuume cycle without getting stuck. If I could return this, I would. I hate it. Not to mention the price...... sigh. Maybe I just got a bad one, but this thing is terrible, and I can't understand how all of these reviews look so good all the time. I can't wait to get something different. Let me know if you have any questions.

Lidar is less useful for my use case. Or more specifically, some of my cats. Two of them will decide to lay in the way and the lidar kind of goes over them. One of them will start digging out all of his favorite toys and the Roborock will eat them. Having better luck with the camera models like the Roomba i7 most of the time. They'll still eat feather toys but they've been good at avoiding springs and puff balls.

Both not in your selection but I found out my new Roborock Qrevo Master is more silent compared to my older iRobot I7 (which got a halve-retirement: only two smaller rooms upstairs so I don’t have to move the robots anymore). Besides the finer tuning of suction power it’s also less noisy around brakes between the tiles. Not sure if the wheels are more elastic or they have better coil springs… but it’s even possible to draw lines on the map where there gaps between eg rooms are, so it drives slower / more careful / less noisy over those.

I haven't reset my i7 back up since they changed the damned software app. I've been happy with the hardware (enough to buy a second) but the software with its frequent inability to stay connected and constant shitty advertising has defeated me.

As a long time irobot user, i will not buy another. There are several software problems that have been well known for years but not addressed. I have an i7 and braava jet. The i7 regularly wakes up at night, plays a small tune (and wakes me up). No faults, no alarms, it just does it. It is impossible to turn off this action .. many people complain. It would seem so simple to disable this from happening at night in the software. Irobots are not as gentle on your furniture as the competitors. Both of my robots regularly seem to “discover” new spaces to clean that do not exist. This screws up the mapping. It would be so easy to fix this in software by giving the user the ability to “lockdown” the current map to prevent this behavior. I braava jet tends to backup at high speed until it hits something. When it hits something (like a wall or furniture), the lid to the braava pops open .. When this happens everything stops until I intervene and close the braava lid. This is obviously a hardware issue. I ended up taking it apart and removing the spring that makes it pop up. I use the braava jet recommended cleaning fluid. After running an hour my Braava jet wheels are wet from the cleaning fluid. This makes the wheels slippery … and then the Braava jet is unable to climb the 1/16 inch plastic pad on the brrava home base without my assistance Irobots software is frozen in time. The hardware is dated. Look elsewhere.

I had a i7 that lasted about 5 years. I had replaced battery, both wheels, completely disassembled and cleaned it out 4 or 5 times, but it was still chugging along after daily use for over 4 years. The dock was actually the weakest point...the contacts where it charges the roomba wore down and it stopped making good contact. I was able to get some conductive tape and kinda fix it for quite a while. We replaced it because it started getting really bad about getting stuck, failing to re-dock, just generally failing and being more of a pain as it got older. I suspect some sensor failed internally but there was no way to tell. I replaced it with a roborock and it is so far doing a much better job (due to lidar sensors and newer tech. Roomba was still mostly just bumping around and a few infrared scanners)

About a month ago I bought one of the new 705 models. I was excited to try the new Roomba’s because of the addition of LiDAR and an “apparent” over 100x suction than the previous Roomba I had. I didn’t have it more than 3 days before it went back to the store. My older i7 has stared having issues on carpet, leaving behind trails of cat hair it just smeared around the floor instead of picking it up. When I upgraded I thought that the new one would at least be a bit better, but nope! It did the exact same thing but I paid 900$ more dollars for the displeasure. The initial set up was painful, it got suck on the software update screen even tho the robot updated fine. It made me wait there 2 hours like that before I finally just reopened the app and it decided to work. Initial mapping run went fine and I was able to refine the set up. However I noticed the robot would go out to clean and it would go to the rooms I wanted but it would never complete job. It would return to dock to charge only to about 30% then head out and repeat until I cancelled it manually, sometimes it would show 5-6 hour jobs when nobody was home to stop it. This thing had way too many issues for being so expensive! I just returned it and that was that, won’t buy another one ever again. I also bot permanently banned from the iRobot subreddit for sharing my experience and saying Roomba’s use to be the high standard but have since fallen from grace.

I am considered (by my husband, who doesn’t care to clean at all) as a bit obsessed with cleaning. My 19 month old is a tornado barbarian who would only eat when he is running around. The food mess is a lot. It grinds me when i walk barefoot and i feel bits of stuff under my feet whatever it may be. We had the stupidest vacuum roomba i7 that was so loud when i am home i cannot hesr my toddler. It’s so inefficient i need to empty it after every use because the dust pocket smears dust at the base and my hair gets tangled in the rubber brush. Its so violent the side brush destroyed the interlocking foam mat which a large area of our house is covered in and when the robot is running around me it literally rams into my feet and cannot find its way again. It also has docking issues and when my toddler accidentally brushes his feet against that thing, it wakes up and needs to noisily redock again. I ended up having to clean the floor with a swiffer and handheld vacuum anyway because it cannot go on the foam mat, and it cannot navigate and gets stuck between chairs. I took advantage of Prime Day deals and got a MOVA p10 pro-ultra. (I am not paid by MOVA and i am not associated with them in any way). I am running my robot twice a day in a 900 sqm place. It is so quiet compared to the stupid roomba, it doesn’t ram into me or my toddler (it goes around us politely), and it self empties with no dust around the base. Never have docking issues, and have not seen any single hair and only need to spot clean when my son spills oily food or milk ever since. The best part is that it cleans the foam mat and avoids toys so so well!!!! Needless to say i want to throw the roomba and see it smash into pieces, that’s how much hate i have for that thing. And i wish i didn’t listen to my husband who said the roombs was “not that bad, you just don’t know how to use it”. Excuse me, this new MOVA is like 2000% better and it’s so easy to use, it mops, it dries itself, it self empties, and i barely have to clean my floors anymore! I realized this turned into a rant. Lol. I am just so happy and have nobody to share it with.

Hardwood only: Roborock (S6 or newer) Carpet: Roomba. (i7+ or newer)

Used on ebay. If you have carpet, Roomba i7. If hard floors, Roborock S6.

I have the i7 still I’m so far behind haha

I’m still rocking a roomba i7 I paid $400 for in 2019 or 2020. It does what it’s supposed to do and is pretty bomb proof. I want a nice new vaccum but I can’t bring myself to pay for one.

I have an I7 Roomba and it runs just fine for my GSD. If I had 2 or more dogs I would probably have at least 2 and run them daily and twice daily for the shoulder seasons when they shed the most.

I used to have the i7 and felt the same. It broke a few months ago and i was done with Roomba’s bullshit and got a Roborock - it’s a night and day better productive. Incredibly quiet, doesn’t get stuck and the parts last 5x as long as Roomba’s. And it’s like half the price

THIS. I'm not looking for a robot mop because I leave my floors filthy with caked on mud and dried grape juice and coffee spills. I want one because I have dark floors (never again) and cats...I don't wear shoes inside my condo, nor do I allow anyone else to; my i7 Roomba is great for getting the floors free of dust and light debris; now I want those occasional kitty foot prints mopped away by something that mops the floors just as well as my Swiffer Wet Jet does without me having to hunch over 1,300 sq feet twice/week. There seems to be two groups of people who shop for these machines: folks who think they are competing in Robot Wars and folks who just want to make their lives a bit easier lol

my i7 hasnt been working right since last year tbh

Been using roomba i7 for nearly 3 years now. Works well and does an excellent job in vacuuming. Needs filter replacement maybe once in 7-8 months. I don't recommend a robot mop. People in my family have it and it takes too long to mop and there isn't enough force on the mop head to remove sticky dirt

I've always heard bad things about Shark robot vacuums. We bought a secondhand Roomba i7 from Facebook and it was great at first but now I want to chuck it.

I have an i7 combined with a Braava M6, and I'm satisfied with it. The predecessor was made by Ecovacs, and after a year, I incurred significant costs with it (which I did not anticipate). I have not regretted buying the iRobot Roomba and Braava; the devices have worked well for almost three years with few problems or costs. The i7 has cleaned for almost 500 hours, with only one exceptional cost: a new front swivel wheel because the previous one was worn out.

My previous vacuum cleaner was a Roomba i7, and I never had any complaints about it. The robot was replaced by another brand, with a mopping function. I changed brands because iRobot has not been doing well since the failed takeover by Amazon, but the robot's reliability was good. I think that sometimes expectations are too high; a robot cleaner is an aid, not a total solution. Weekly maintenance also prevents many minor problems during operation.

I bought my i7 new in 2022 for €430, so the asking price is reasonable. I am very satisfied with my i7; it performs excellently. Keep in mind that the i7 does not use LIDAR to create its map, so it occasionally bumps into things.

I had the same combination and wasn't really that impressed with the Braava M6. If it works for you, I would recommend going back for an i7. The robot is solidly built and replacement parts are readily available. I switched to a Deebot X9 Pro Omni from Ecovacs and am extremely pleased with the improved mopping function compared to the Braava M6. I sold the i7 and Braava to family.

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.

Get a roomba with the self-emptying base station. Pays for itself 10 times over.

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.

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’ve had a Roomba for over 10 years now. It’s 100% worth it. I got it when I was a single cat lady in my 20s working long hours. Now I’m married and we have 2 kids, a cat and a dog. We upgraded to the Roomba that maps the house and empties itself in the docking station. It vacuums the whole house 3x a week and does the high traffic areas 5 nights a week after the kids go to bed. I do wish the mop version (Brava) worked better. I have not gotten that damn thing to properly map my house to mop for me and the solution that they sell for it makes all of our house shoes squeak for days.

We love ours. We have one for upstairs and downstairs. Don’t try to get a cheap one, we did that and went through a couple of them pretty quickly. Now we have two good ones (iRobot) with the bin that they self empty into when they get full. We have three kids, two dogs, and a cat that sheds more than both dogs combined, and having robot vacuums has been a game changer. Before we got the one with the bins, it would get full and need emptying before it finished a whole cycle. Now it goes and empties itself and then goes back to cleaning. It’s some trial and error at first. Just run it the first few times when you’re watching it to see where it has any problems. Then you can try to adjust any problem areas. Our upstairs vacuum doesn’t go into the bedrooms because the kids have lots of tiny Barbie shoes and stuff. We have them clean up good and just regular vacuum real quick every other week or so (and we keep bedroom doors closed so the pets don’t go in there to keep hair shedding out). But the robot keeps the main areas of the house from getting hairballs and dirty. We recently got a robot mop as well, and that has been awesome! I feel like it’s just like having any other vacuum. You have to get everything picked up off the floor before you start. You wouldn’t start regular vacuuming with things still on the floor. If there are areas that it gets stuck often, either block it off or try to adjust any problem areas. We usually pull all of the dining room chairs away from the table so that it can get a good clean under the table and around it. We run the vacuums & mop anytime we leave the house, and it’s so nice coming home to freshly vacuumed and mopped floors!

I bought one well over a year ago possibly on year 2. iRobot self emptying. If it only lasted a year I’d buy another one. It works as well as it did when I bought it. I replace the rollers and the brush thingy like twice. Get the iRobot replacement the knock off parts lasted like a week. I have all tile. Bedroom is carpet. If it runs everyday it’s not a problem on carpet. If it’s a few days of fur it creates nests I just hand pick up. I don’t have to do this if it runs daily. Completely worth it. I also live near a beach and it straight picks up all the sand too. It’s great. Never not having one.

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.