iRobot - Roomba j8+ (8550)

We just need something that's 'as good as' our Roomba J8+ on carpet, but doesn't spin in circles like a loon and need to be rebooted all the dang time. A lot of VacuumWars ratings list newer vacs with much lower carpet cleaning scores so I've no idea what would be better than and more reliable, than what we already have.

My J8 leaves hair clumps even when run daily.

J8+ is meh for Pets. Have a yellow lab and the j8+ barfs hair clumps all over one of our rugs.

J8+ barfs hair clumps over one of our rugs

I maintain it routinely. Filter, rollers, brush, etc. it’s a machine that doesn’t have enough suction.

What kind of dog do you have? We have a 62 lb Lab who seems to shed constantly. If I run the vacuum every day it’ll do the rug just fine. May leave 1-2 ropes. If I don’t run it every day, there will be more. The borders of the rug is where there are always ropes. I can run the robot twice and there will be ropes. I can run the Dyson then the robot and there will be ropes. I can pull the edges up, dyson under the rug, then Dyson the entire top of the rug and the robot runs—guess what I get along the edges? Ropes. Watching it carefully, the robot runs along the edge and there is a gap that it doesn’t have enough suction to pull a quarter ounce rope of dog hair. And when it passes by and the side brush pulls it under it’s a 50/50 chance for the robot to suck it up—on a hardwood floor or short nap rug. You can say what you want that Roomba has the best suction and if you look at Rtngs or vacuum wars they may in those particular test environments. However in real life my J8 is a fail in this use case. And if I run my 960 in the same area…no ropes. This is rug that’s about 3/8” and is light in weight. Roomba as the market leader should have a machine in their current lineup that has enough power to complete this mission. For a $500 machine to fail this is a design failure. I’d take it back to Costco but at a year, I’m not that type of person. I may buy a S9 but it’s not a great solution either as it’s no longer supported by Roomba, the J9 may or may not be suitable, the Dyson 360 would be worth a shot with its powerful vacuum but the navigation seems to still be a work in progress and for some reason, I’m hesitant to buy a roborock. I’d test them one by one but am not into tying up the capital. Roombas have been around for 23 years. For apologists to say they are still working the kinks out in the vacuum function, is a bit of a stretch at this point.

Coming in late. This helps on the main rug but we still get ropes around the edges and I can run the J8+ twice or three times and it will leave some every run. Thinking of trying a J9+ as they are supposed to have more suction.

I just returned the iRobot J8 Roomba that I bought 15 months ago. It worked fine until the last month or so. It would start a cycle and move out a few feet and then just spin in place until I paused it. I was unable to get it to start over again. I cleared it electronically and re-set it up over and over again and it just kept doing the same thing. Luckily, Costco refunded the $500ish we spent on it in June 2024. I am starting to research other brands. does anyone know about Samsung or Dyson? Thanks in advance.

I have a iRobot j8+ from Costco. Works great for my needs. It only vacuums and has auto-empty and obstacle avoidance.

We have the Roomba j8 from Costco. The first one was flaky so we went and exchanged it and the replacement has been solid. 

Same for my j8+, it avoids cables, then asks about them in the review step.

I have a Braava M6 that runs after my roomba j8 runs. I'm relatively happy with the pair. I kinda wish they could share maps but whatever. My gripe with the mop bots is they dont have the equivalent of the vacuum's waste bin station. If there was a way to auto-clean the pad and auto-refill the water tank, I'd be in hog heaven.

Tell me if I made the right choice! I have a 1 floor 2.5 bed (2 bedrooms + office) 2 bath which is mostly vinyl (bathrooms are tile and my walk in closet is carpeted); live alone but have a dog who’s a massive shedder. There are transitions between the bathrooms and other rooms but not otherwise. Went with the Dreame L50 Ultra; other things I considered were the L40 Ultra AE, Roborock QRevo Edge and the Eufy E28. Currently have a Roomba j8+ which struggles with the pet hair and also doesn’t mop.

Should I mention that I’m getting a Dreame Govac 508 soon and hoping to do this. Had an iRobot J8+ with the separate mop bin and that’s what I would use. But since that was self contained it’s a different story.

I have a Roomba j8 for vacuuming and a braava for mopping. I opted to buy them separately because I feel like it's less likely to have something weird break on them. I love them. They have great mapping and they are made to avoid pet messes. They send you some images when it finishes so you can go over whether or not it was a pile of dog shit or a scrunchie that shouldn't have been there. You can then have it go back over that area after you pick up the shit or scrunchie. Costco usually has the Roomba for a great price if that's an option for you.