iRobot - j6+

I bought a Roomba when they first came out 2 decades ago. It did ok, but I bought it more for the novelty, as my 3 story loft was not conducive to robot vacuuming. I have a new place that should be perfect. Wide open spaces, flat floors, few obstructions. Saw $100 rebate for a J6+ at Costco, and bought one. And wow, it is terrible. In 2 weeks, it hasn't completed a single full house cleaning mission. It gets stuck in ridiculous spots that I think my 2 decade old "dumb" Roomba could have avoided. And at least half of its fails are because it gets stuck trying to get on its own docking station (which is in an easy to reach and clear spot) to charge. That should be a no brainer part of its operation. Almost all of the fails seem to be from low quality software. I guess because of brand recognition, I mistakenly thought Roomba was synonymous with quality. Is this a new thing, or has Roomba been a junk brand for awhile now?

I'm boxing mine up tomorrow and returning it too. Good thing for Costco's return policies. I'm just shocked how bad the software is. They've had 20 years to figure out how to get a robot to go into its own charging dock. I've sat there and watched it back up, go back forward, miss, back up, spin around, miss again. It literally does this until it either manages to get itself stuck on the dock, or just runs its power down. I'm just at a loss how Roomba could have become such a low quality product so quickly.

They were joking cause J6 and Jan 6 sound the same. That being said, the J6 is slightly different than the J7 in that they’ve software locked object awareness to the J7, J8 (official Costco model), J9. The J6 is their unspoken “budget” flagship to the J7. In the Same way the J5+ is the “budget” model of the J9+ super similar but missing some key conveniences. I would actually recommend the J7 over the J6 if it’s possible for a good price but idk if I’d spend an extra 400-500 on it just for the object detection over other options.

I just got this model from Amazon. Was an open box so got it for $200. Love it so far

Great starter! Only recommendation, grab a third party battery on amazon that’s 4000mah+ and you will double the cleaning time.

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.

Love mine! The obstacle avoidance is seriously a game changer.

Absolutely. Fortunately my review history is usually 99% dog toys haha

My dog is a short hair, but I am myself a long-haired breed and I shed like crazy. I have a roomba J6+ which is not even close to being the newest model so you know they're getting better every generation.

I have the G30 and X8. G30 croaked within a year. They sent me a used replacement which is working fine after almost 4 years of usage. But battery life is whack. X8 sucked big time from the get go. It didn’t do a good job cleaning like the G30. And right after 1 year, the WiFi dropped all of a sudden. And I can’t get it to connect to my network. Tried everything. X8 is a POS! On another note, I tried the Roomba J6+ about 7 months ago. That shit was whack! Returned it after using it for about a week. Thank God for Costco!

Ooooh! You are right! I didn't realize that Costco even sold another version. I just looked it up and it does appear as if it's a dumbed down version, I guess that's why it's such a good price. Probably still a good vacuum, but it's definitely a trade off then. Sorry about that!

They're the same device from everything I've seen. I have the J6+ and it's great.

I've seen that mentioned online but I swear there has since been a firmware update making that false. My J6+ avoids anything and then after the fact asks me to review what the object is and I can either choose to ignore or tell it to always avoid stuff like it. The hardware is the exact same, it would be very dumb to limit the software on one so they can release an updated version alongside it for pretty much the same price.

I had a J6 and still have my J9. You can get a j6 for the price you want. (I gave it to my sister in law, works fine after 2 years) I bought a Roborock S8MV, so the J9 got the J6 spot and the J6 was kicked out.

I went in watching Zero reviews for the current flagships and bought the S8MV while on clearance at Best Buy. I've loved it since I set it up. I replaced my J9 and J6. (The J6 went to a family members, the J9 went to our upstairs FROG room) The object avoidance is fine on my Roborock, I had a cord snag day 1 and 2, once I got that area tidy'd up no issues since. Roomba's support for me has always been excellent. For example, they sent me a new vacuum motor for my J9 after warranty was up. I haven't had to use Roborock's and I've heard mixed reviews, I haven't heard a lot goof form Dreame, so that was a big factor for me. I believe all the flagships are excellent, and at this point we are splitting hairs. Go with your gut, which one do you want the most. BUY it!

That’s a great price!!! You get a bigger battery in that model vs the j7 that sells out of Costco.

No, they are the same robot (the j6+ has a bigger battery)

You’re thinking of the J8+, which is the Costco version. This is the J6, which is a slightly worse J7 with its obstacle avoidance basically taken away.

The software is different. The J7 will attempt to avoid any small obstacle while the J6 only avoids power cords and pet waste. That in itself is a pretty big difference.

The J7 “gets confused” more often because it’s built to avoid all obstacles (socks, toys, etc) while the J6 only avoids cords and pet waste. I’d rather have more false positives than it not avoid anything at all.

Also, spec wise, the hardware seems the same, but people have noticed that they are in fact different, just not sure if the differences do anything as they seem insignificant. Stuff like a piece of plastic will be a slightly different shape.

You’re thinking of the J8+, which is a J7+ with a bigger battery. This is the J6+, which is a lower end model.

Roomba J6 is disappointing. We spend more time monkeying to get it working than if we just vacuumed! 🤔😞 Worked 20 minutes this morning then quit half under our bed. Said to move and restart. It started and went back to base. Checked charge. It’s charged. Cleaned roller of a bit of dogs hair. Pushed button to start while in new area. Started but just went back to base. Reminds me of a stubborn toddler!

Get the **+** version - this has the self emptying base and is a must have. You won’t use the robot if you have to empty the bin twice a day.

Everything I read said J6 and J7 are the same. We've had a J6 for a couple years. Moved into a house with 2 levels, so "needed" a second one. Bought a J7 ... Guess what? They are physically different (the dust bins for starters). And the J7 "gets confused" more often than the J6.

They were probably anticipating the Amazon acquisition that failed. Also it’s an American based company though manufacturing is overseas. Chinese markets took over and dominated. Just like the drone market. 3D printer market. Etc I bought the same j6+ from Costco. It was so horrible I returned it. Saving up my shekels for a roborock.

I have a j6+ and if I go to Product Settings -> About it actually says the Model is a “Roomba j7+”. To the app the j6+ and j7+ are the same. The SKU and Serial Number both start with “j7” too. I bought my j6+ from Amazon.

The later Roombas with a camera/vision system are pretty good at avoiding things that could cause snags/clogs. I used to be vigilant with clearing the floor and even putting dining chairs on the table, but now I just have my Roomba run every night with dog toys, kid toys, wife's shoes and purse, chairs, charger cords, laundry baskets, and everything else blocking its path. It probably only cleans about 60% of the area I want it to, but I can still feel a noticeable difference when I walk barefoot through the house.

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

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.

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

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

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. :(

I have a j series its super easy to get long hair out of the rollers/wheels/whatever. Wife went through chemo and it was a test for the robot...both survived!

YES. It is most definitely that bad. It’s bad on hard floors but god forbid you run it on a carpet. I have a video of it just plowing through fake dog poop on carpets. Edit: I have owned both the roomba j series and dreame l series, and both are so so much better.

Roomba J series would work

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.

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.