iRobot - Roomba s9+

S9+ Roomba also. In theory any D-shaped bot

D-shaped robots are superior in some regards, but in most they are worse. From navigation to main brush pressure, to side brush placement. It's just very difficult to make it work. It makes sense why the round ones won. That's coming from someone who owned a Neato D5 and a Roomba S9+, on black friday I will finally switch to something more sensible, a Dreame Aqua 10 Roller (maybe the Mova Z60, I will see what deal is better I guess).

I have three shorthair cats and live in an apartment that is mostly medium pile carpet. In my experience vacuums that have rollers with combination rubber and bristles do better at combing pet hair out of carpet fibers than ones with all rubber rollers. A lot of reviewers do pet hair tests by scattering small clumps or individual strands of hair on top of carpet and that's not the whole story in real life. The hairs work their way down into the carpet and it takes aggressive agitation and strong suction to get them out. If carpet performance is paramount, get the Dyson Visnav or if you don't mind used, the Roomba S9+. Older Roombas that bounce around randomly and have the dual rollers with a separate rubber and bristle roller are also great at carpet combing. I keep a 690 around just for that reason even though I also have had newer vac and mop combo robots.

I didn’t read all the comments, but the answer lies in the fact that Vacuum Wars updated some of their tests, and as a result of retesting, naturally the rankings changed. In response to those call on long term testing, that would be unreliable if just from a single source. The best form of long term testing would involves statistically significant surveys of long term owners. As far as I know, very few reviewers would do that as they are full time engaged in reviewing new products (which may or may not be a devious strategy by the industry to keep our eyes of the prize). Australia’s Choice magazine (and website) does surveys like I mentioned, but as I am not currently subscribed, I don’t know if that has ever included robot vacuums. For my 2c worth, while they have been mechanically reliable, the iRobot Roomba s9+ and Braava M6 have gone downhill over my three years of ownership due to declining mapping and navigation performance. Therein lies another problem with long term reviews: who is interested when they are buying in considering one, two or three years old models with far fewer features?

Hello, i have s9+ all that years from release. I readed many post about new robots and how it become better and better, but its really much better? Its worth to change or rather keep s9+ as long as it work?

yeah it works but i never was 100% happy about it, thats why i asked this question. Its really feel like completly new generation or just a little upgrade?

Mine is going strong!

S9+ I bought mine used and no problems in the two years that I have had it. I like the D shape and the features. No problems vacuuming my small area rugs.

I bought mine in 2020 and it’s still going. Most of any issues I’ve had with it are usually dust accumulation. Simple cleaning usually takes care of it

Agree completely. I've had the flagships from all the main brands, but none of them remotely clean carpet as well as the S9+. Been using it regularly for about 6 years without a single issue.

Yes. I pretty much only use my Miele canister for the stairs at this point. Most high end robots vacuum well enough on hard floors. On rugs or carpet the Roomba S9+ or Dyson are in a league of their own relative to other bots. They seem to be the only ones that can really get hair/fur/fuzz off of carpet.

In that case, it’s likely personal preference. I’m partial to iRobot and have been loyal for the better half of a decade. I wouldn’t recommend a combo robot. If you’re wanting just daily or several days a week cleaning - go for the j8 enhanced, j9 or the s9. Roborock has a pretty good rep and Narwall (spelling?) has a good rep for combo robots. Just see what your cleaning needs are. If price isn’t an issue get the most powerful one. IMO, no such thing as too clean 🤣

Unpopular opinion: iRobot. They’re easy to repair and there’s an abundance of filters and spare parts. The i5+ is a mid level entry robot. You can likely find it around $300 or just stay on the lookout for a sale. Even better mid level option, the j5+. Probably above your price range, but it’s a good investment, per say. I say that having had a Roomba 960 since 2017. A Roomba j7+ since 2021 and my most recent addition a Roomba s9+. Honestly the 960 is still a beast. I have several floors, for the record…they’re not in a closed glass case. 🤣 Roborock has some models that do well, as well. I’m not sure if them off the top of my head. PS: A combo robot just isn’t it quite yet, I wouldn’t spend the money on a combo at this point, especially at your price point. Question: what size is your place? Square feet wise.

It’s a solid model. Cleans well, you can still get the replacement kit for it. It’s a little loud compared to the j9+ but I would say it cleans better. $200 is very reasonable.

I don’t believe the Amazon buyout happened. iRobot is overhauling the c-suite and R&D and I’m hoping 2025 and 2026 start churning out innovation. They have certainly lost market share and cutting edge technology AND they’ve managed to stay relevant, make the easiest to repair robots on the market and provide excellent customer service. The s9 is arguably still their best cleaning robot, it just doesn’t have object avoidance. It was released almost 6 years ago. I will stick with iRobot purely for the customer service and repair ability.

I'm still running a Roomba S9+ and I'm yet to find something else that can handle my specific requirements. It's carpet performance is unmatched in real world performance. I do also have a Roborock Qrevo S, which was bought to replace the S9+, but it does nothing better than the Roomba (for my use case) other than the fact it can mop. I'm holding out for the Roomba 705 Combo that's apparently dropping in the next couple of months. The 705 doesn't match the carpet performance of the S9+ but if it can do a half decent job at carpets and also mop my one room with a hard floor then I'll probably end up purchasing that.

Piggybacking off of this comment; I'm solely in the market for a robovac that can deal with pet hair, specifically on a house with 95% carpet, other than the kitchen. A combo vac/mop is preferred as it would be nice to keep on top of muddy kitchen footprints during the winter/wet season, however I do get that combos aren't the best at vacuuming pet hair on carpet and that is the sole priority for me (Haven't been able to find a combo that can do a decent job on carpet). I currently own a Roomba S9+ which did a fantastic job of vacuuming pet hair, it's been average at everything else. This has now been relegated to the upstairs which is all carpet and is happily being busy getting up the pet hair and, naturally, getting stuck/hitting obstacles. I love this thing despite its flaws. To replace this downstairs I was recommended a Roborock Qrevo S, which was on an incredibly tempting offer at the time of purchase. I've had this a good few months now and, quite frankly, it's sh\*t. It can't handle pet hair, but don't get me wrong it does excel in most other categories. The mopping is great and so is the self-cleaning mop brushes and self-emptying station etc etc, but it just doesn't deal with pet hair. I'm in the market to replace this and I'm just struggling to get anywhere, most reviews praise the vacs for their pet hair performance but this is on hardwood floors or a short test on carpet, which doesn't account for the real world. The X9 Pro Omni isn't available in my region (UK) and I'm unsure on the Saros 10r due to my current experience with Roborock. The Qrevo Curv was an option in my replacement search but the price was a bit steep. Luckily I there's no budget for this next purchase so I'm happy to go all out. I am tempted on the Roomba Max 705, purely due to past experience with Roombas and the fact this is a vacuum only but this is also what's putting me off the purchase. I see the 705 combo is due out soon, but again, this is a combo robovac and I'm cautious about it's pet hair performance.