iRobot - Roomba Combo® j9+ Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Feb 15, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
14
10
"avoids pet messes like a pro"
"Our J9+ Combo does a great job of cleaning up after him."
"I had a Roomba J9+, it has the 'obstacle detection' function and will avoid pet accidents. ... Mine never ran over any poop or puke."
18
5
"handles carpets like a champ"
"My home is mostly hardwood and two area rugs. It does all 95 % better than I can any given day!!"
"J9 has better cleaning than both."
32
4
"handles carpets like a champ"
"My home is mostly hardwood and two area rugs. It does all 95 % better than I can any given day!!"
"No more dog hair tumbleweeds!"
25
5
"No more dog hair tumbleweeds!"
"I still love it for cleaning up after my cat and dog though."
"Our J9+ Combo does a great job of cleaning up after him."
14
3
"I upgraded to a roomba with the self emptying thing and I love it."
"Now we have two good ones (iRobot) with the bin that they self empty into when they get full. ... 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."
"Self emptying is the best upgrade ... haaaated emptying that thing constantly"
Disliked most:
4
14
"It took some weeks and several "mapping runs" for it to finally figure things out, and then it broke and needed replacing. ... It was very frustrating to get working"
"I would recommend nobody buy a robot vacuum without Lidar at this point. ... I've used two different Roborock systems dating back 4-5 years and are still superior to iRobot's new stuff with only camera based detection and mapping systems. ... My J9+ literally gets lost in its own map and struggles to navigate at times. ... Sometimes it wanders around with an error in the app until it redocks and restarts cleaning."
"my god it's fucking buggy and not that smart. ... It regularly needs rebooting and rescuing from getting stuck."
2
6
"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."
"it starts just wadding up hair and leaving it in chunks"
"I feel that this model needs better anti-tangling tech to be more competitive"
8
7
"my god it's fucking buggy and not that smart. ... It regularly needs rebooting and rescuing from getting stuck."
"It also needs a good clean frequently. ... The dirt it picks up gets wet from mopping and forms mud/silt/grime mixture inside the dust compartment."
"if you get the vacuum, you do have to clean it almost every time it vacuums. Otherwise hair and dirt get in and it doesn’t work as well."
6
10
"if you take if off the dock yourself it loses the mop function unless you restart it literally 10 times"
"It took some weeks and several "mapping runs" for it to finally figure things out, and then it broke and needed replacing. ... It was very frustrating to get working"
"I'm 24 days into waiting even to get a reply with an ETA on the warranty service for my Combo j9+, which is fully out of commission. ... This, despite buying it with their premium warranty upgrade!"
0
6
"if you take if off the dock yourself it loses the mop function unless you restart it literally 10 times"
"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."
"However, the few times I have attempted to use the mopping feature, it has not worked well at all. ... 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."
Boonswagger 1.0Push for the 505. Although it does have lidar, the 405 does not have the obstacle avoidance tech of the J9. The 505 does.
Excellent! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait for the 505 to come out and for comparisons between the 405 and 505. I’m also curious as to the downsides, if any, of not having an onboard water tank. I like that my j9 combo continuously wets the pad as it runs. With a fairly large floor space, I’m not sure constantly going back to the base to wet and wash the pads is reasonable.
CourageHistorical100 1.0So iRobot just released an entirely new line of robots. Their design is completely different, so not sure there’s a lot of data on the new ones. That said the Roomba 405 Combo is right on budget for you which is their latest technology. The j9+ combo is a solid model and the Combo 10 Max seems to still be their flagship as well.
Crazy_Reader1234 1.0I use mine on my carpet floors upstairs and infact liked it better on hardwoods as it got the corners better. Have a j9+ combo to mop the hardwood now
So I love mine saves so Much time and effort. I just make sure kids mess is in 1 room or picked up at night into bins and then just run it. Technically the Roomba j9+ I have avoids items in the ground but still I prefer to clean up the floor before it goes off to vacuum and mop. I do still need to mop weekly or so for a good cleanup but definitely vacuum is done.
I’m thinking of getting the 707 next month (if it stays at 899) have the j9+ and not happy with the mopping . How do you like the roller versus the circular ones on the others?
Costco has it and I’ve been thinking about it as my j9 doesn’t do a great job mopping
daviEnnis 1.0It's odd how navigation has became their weak point. I have a J9+ Combo and kept it upstairs because it picks up from carpet better than my actual vacuum did, but the much cheaper Ecovacs I have downstairs has way quieter modes and does the job in half the time. I will also credit the Roomba at being way better at both object avoidance and untangling itself, whilst being way worse at finding it's way in to spaces it then can't find it's way out of.
Dry-Economics-535 1.0I have a golden and a lab and the roomba J9 combo is good but my god it's fucking buggy and not that smart. It regularly needs rebooting and rescuing from getting stuck. It also needs a good clean frequently. The dirt it picks up gets wet from mopping and forms mud/silt/grime mixture inside the dust compartment. Had a vacuum only euffy before and tbh having had both, if I was buying again I'd get a vacuum only robo and save the money
EnvieAndFleur 1.0I have only had it about two weeks but the ecovacs deebot x11 has beautifully managed my Bernese mountain dogs fur that I used to have to vacuum twice a day for. Previously had the iRobot j9 combo that could not cope at all with it. I do run the x11 twice a day to keep up. We also have a longhair chihuahua and two British shorthair cats.
flagondry 1.0I like the Roomba j9+ Combo for its design. The base looks aesthetic. The hardware is well designed. The app is good and easy to use. I run it daily for vacuuming and mopping and it keeps everything nice and clean and dog hair free. I would suggest considering two for upstairs and downstairs because the whole point is that you can automate it, to make your life easier.
hellflame 1.0Roomba combo j9, It does have it's germlings \-doesn't like back out the bay onto the carpet sometimes \-random midnight activations \-the app is very finicky about when the wifi connection to the roomba works But, it does a way better job then me cleaning consistently so i'm very happy with it. though, fuck roomba and their expensive bags, I just empty the same bag over and over again
hubahuba1973 1.0I agree with others above. Suction power really doesn’t make that much difference. Airflow and roller design make far more difference. I have a Roomba combo j9+ and it is great at vacuum with lower advertised suction but the dual roller really does clean the carpet effectively. I have a Narwal Flow that is fantastic for mopping but not quite as good for vacuuming (though for my house it’s mainly tiles downstairs so that’s not so important) These vacuums are all about compromises I believe. One may be good at one but not necessarily good at the other. Still looking for one to do it all.
jmirkle 1.0We have a long-haired white cat with extra toes who sheds a lot and tracks litter. Our J9+ Combo does a great job of cleaning up after him.
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