iRobot - Roomba 985

Get the straight vacuum. No combo because you lose suction. I had a 985 that is still running but was relocated to my son’s campus housing. That thing was not smart, but did an outstanding job. I have a J9 now. I feel like it does the job more efficiently, but is not quite as powerful. I still love it for cleaning up after my cat and dog though.

My wife won a Roomba 981 as a sales target bonus in 2016. It’s still going strong, doesn’t seem like it will ever die. Which sucks because I want to buy a new one with all the bells and whistles but she thinks it’s a waste of money if we already have one. Not that her point isn’t without merit, but there’s a reason ours is called “50 First Dates” in the app. It will start a job in the home room for a random amount of time then switch to a different room and do that for 5-10 minutes, then come back to the original room and start it again. Even at low suction it’s so loud and annoying in its random cleaning methods that we can’t program auto cleans so we start jobs when we’ll be out for at least 3 hours so we don’t have to watch, listen, or point at it and laugh. That said, it cleans very well and despite its quirks we can’t seem to get rid of it. The thing won’t die. I desperately want it to, but it lovably keeps trucking along, getting all the pesky dirt we can’t even see and keeping the place tip top. With the new combo-mopping, auto dumping and filling, and obstacle avoiding features out now I may be able to convince her to get 50 First an assistant, but until she dies she will always run the house.

Strange, I have a J7+, i5+, 985, 980, 770, 694 and Discovery that all perform correctly and other then standard maintenance and replacing consumable parts have been running without issue since their initial launch year purchase. I’m about to try out my new 505 combo this week.

I’m own professional cleaning company and have been messing with vacuums forever so when I get home just want a robot not that they clean as well but literally NOTHING robot works like an iRobot that I’ve seen so far esp the j7 and the 988 those are the strongest in their class

Why not iRobot Roomba? My 900-series works perfectly. Low carpets are easy, high carpets are difficult. My roomba runs every other night when we are asleep :)

I don't know about the new lineup, but nothing beats a Roomba 9-series on carpet, though. Even on hard floors, my Saros 10 misses a lot of spots that my J9 never did.

I have a 900 series and a j7. I don’t really have an issue with either one. They rarely get stuck and complete jobs regularly. However I recently bought a Roborock and it is definitely better. The app is much more advanced and lidar seems to be more efficient and accurate.

Firstly going by the suction numbers alone never tells the full story. That's all marketing. Both will probably vacuum well and the roomba probably has a slight edge on deeper carpet. Both should work offline with basic functions. No idea about home assistant compatibility. Longevity, well, frankly thats not a guarantee on any model from any brand. I've had a roborock for a few years and its been perfectly reliable for me. But again, that varies. And I've heard you can get parts on ali express. Your 900 series roomba was probably one of the most reliable generations of robot cleaners made. Irobot is still pretty good with spare parts. But I've seen some of their newer models aren't built modular anymore. Plus the company has had a rough couple years financially and are struggling to compete. If they went under...well spare parts may get more difficult to find. The unfortunate reality is more money doesn't buy you more reliability, expecting 3 to 5 years is a little more reasonable these days. Planned obsolescence etc but it's industry wide.

Buy an old roomba instead, (500/600/700/800/900) they are the most reliable you can get.

5/7 days for my new Mova z60 and I used my old Roomba 900 series 3 or 4 days a week for over 5 years.