iRobot - Roomba i6+ (6550)

I have mine scheduled to run at park time. I take my pup to the park in the morning and late afternoon and schedule the roomba to start at the time we normally leave. The downside is that my dog has identified the correlation. He's also figured out that he can make the Roomba move by bopping it (it dislodges from its cradle and starts up to re-seat itself). He therefore will bop the Roomba to tell me he want's to go outside.

I sometimes forget that my dog sheds unless my Roomba stops working for some reason. My place is mostly hardwood floors, with tile in the bathrooms, but I have a couple oriental rugs, big mat in the entranceway and some smaller mats in the kitchen and bathrooms. The Roomba has no trouble getting fur up off of any of those surfaces. There are places the Roomba can't reach (doors and corners) where fur and dirt will gather up, but that's quick work for a little handheld vacuum. I've had the Roomba I6+ just shy of 4 years now, and it's still going strong. It replaced a cheaper $200 Eufy that died in less than 2 years. If you haven't had a robotic vacuum before, here are some tips: \* You'll spend the first couple weeks robot-proofing your home, eliminating areas where your robot will get stuck. This will make the early days a little frustrating because it'll seem like the robot finds a new place to get stuck every day. Once these are eliminated, it'll run more smoothly. \* I've found that shorter runs are better than longer runs. The longer the run, the greater the chance that it will encounter a problem, get full or that it will run out of battery and have to recharge mid-run. That increases the likelihood that I'll have to intervene. So, I never have the Roomba vacuum everywhere in a single run. Instead, I have it do a single room (or area) each run and it does each room twice a week. Its runtime for each room is about 30 minutes and I schedule it to go at the time I take my dog out in the morning and late afternoon, so it does its thing while we're away. What's funny is that my dog has identified the correlation between the Roomba starting and us going to the park. He's also figured out that he can bop the Roomba to get it to start (when it's knocked off its cradle it starts to reseat itself). So he'll give it a bop if he wants to go outside. \* The docking cradle I have has a built-in vacuum bag, so the Roomba empties itself when it redocks after each run. The cheapskate in me hates that I have to buy the bags, but it does make the entire thing more convenient since I don't have to manually empty the Roomba's internal dust bin and can just swap bags every month or two.

That last bit is so true. I just checked and realized I paid $600 for my Roomba i6+ (upper tier but nowhere near top back in 2020) and that was on pretty significant sale. Vacuum only (back then mop vacs were brand new and were stand alone), though it has a self-emptying charge stand (not new but still a “feature”). Now, I’m looking to replace it and realize I could blow it out of the water with something 2/3 of the price. It has served me well, though.

Our i6 has been fantastic. I don’t know how the newer ones fare, but I was really impressed with our model. The way it hops over thresholds is very clever, and a huge improvement over the offbrand version I had previously. 

We got a Roomba at Costco. I'm happy with it. Not sure the model--something like a 6+, this was a couple of years ago. I was advised to get one that was self-emptying. We did that and it seems like a good tip.

My home is a 4 level townhouse which is annoying in that my SF of ~2000 would be fine with just 1 vac, but hey, stairs. Main floor (living/dining/kitchen/1bath/hall is about 600 sf and I have the Mova v50 and it mop washes 4-5 times per cleaning cycle. My bedroom level is about the same SF….I would not want to be carrying the robovac up and down 2 flights of stairs 4-5 times for it to mop wash while cleaning up there, nor would I want it to mop the whole floor without additional mop washes. Carrying it back and forth that many times for mopping would negate any convenience as changeneverhappens pointed out. My basement and loft level are much smaller SF so I put my old 2020 roomba i6 in the basement to just vac (until it dies one day) and I’m currently looking at getting a P10 Pro or similar for the bedroom level. I would love to do another V50 up there as I love mine, but for that price I could do the P10 pro and even get something more basic for my loft level and never vac my house again on my own. Others have already mentioned, but you’d want lidar navigation and most robots come with cliff sensors (and you can set no-go zones) so it won’t yeet itself down the stairs or off a landing. I’d also recommend the models with spinner mops and self washing base station as they are more tested and available at reasonable prices. Roller mops are in generation 1 so it’s up to you if you want to take the risk - they are still pricier currently. If you’re actually wanting the robot to mop, I’d avoid the pad version as those just basically drag a damp cloth around. You mentioned your hair has tangled/clogged other vacs before….if that’s a concern, look for models with either as split roller (some Roborocks) or Mova, Dreame, and Narwhal have some models with the dual anti tangle brushes that have a pivot/axle only on one side so long hair doesn’t tangle. Some Mova and Dreame’s who have a single roller can be upgraded to a tricut brush that will cut up hair strands shorter so they don’t tangle. Basically you want to avoid a single roller with pivots/axle on both ends of the vac roller as long hair will get wrapped onto those. Suggest just buying from a place with an easy return policy (Amazon, Costco, etc) to see if you really like it and if works well for your needs and if not, send it back.

Check Facebook marketplace and the like, lots of people sell their like new or new ones. I got a Roomba + Braava combo for less than half MSRP brand new. I got it because I moved into a home with laminate floors instead of carpet, and it's been amazing. I have two cats, and so between their fur and the litter tracking, plus just life, the floors can get pretty dirty in just a couple days, to where I can feel it on my feet and I feel dirty walking around. Running my Roomba once in the morning everyday has kept everything feeling super clean, and I even have one that maps the house so I can have it just clean the kitchen after I finish cooking dinner. Like others said, it's not going to keep floors 100% clean, but it'll keep it a manageable 80-90% clean between your deep cleans.

Oh yeah, my mop doesn't heat the water at all. Doesn't compare to a proper actual hot mop, but it's more for just keeping it feeling nice between cleans.

I picked a roomba from vine and I'm constantly having trouble with the app. It took DAYS to set it up, and once done it has constantly sync issues. It works eventually, but it's one of those instances that paying for the brand name is not worth it.

We named our Roomba Harry. We have a lab/beagle mix.

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.

If you get a roomba I highly recommend one that self-empties into a tower. We run ours 4 days a week in our bedroom, the living room, front hall. Kitchen, dining room. It keeps the ACD tumbleweeds at bay between weekly Dyson vacuumings.