iRobot - Roomba® Plus 505 Combo robot + AutoWash™ dock

The mopping performance of their current bots (505 Combo and 705 Combo) is actually very good, arguably the best on the market due to the Y pattern movement. 

I got the 505! This is my 3rd robot, my second roomba. My first one was a Neato D4. First impressions: Room mapping was super quick and accurate! My apartment is not big (2bed 2 bath) and the 505 mapped the whole apartment in ~18 minutes. Cleaning: So far so good! Mops really well and it reaches the corners with high precision Overall, Im very impressed so far. I will do more testings over the week. Highlight: the noise! It is super quiet, my cats and my dog are not even disturbed with the noise.

Push for the 505. Although it does have lidar, the 405 does not have the obstacle avoidance tech of the J9. The 505 does.

Personally, I would only consider the 505 mop combo at this time. At $599 currently, it’s discounted but I wouldn’t say extraordinarily so. The 405 mop combo is similar to the 505 and has a much better discount at $399. For me, though, the lack of obstacle avoidance in the 405 is a deal-killer. The 505 also has heated drying of the mop pads and can swing one of the mop pads out to reach corners, something the 405 also lacks. Not as big of a deal to me as the lack of object avoidance in the 405.

I got the 505 its just as you say too wet at first and I'm worried about my floor

I just bought the 505 a couple of weeks ago. And I’m returning it. The side brush keeps falling off while vacuuming. This is our 4th or 5th Roomba. And this new model is the only one where the side brush snaps on, instead of using a screw. Our house is new, we don’t even have furniture yet, and still the Roomba keeps losing the brush mid job. I’m bummed because I was really liking the way it avoids obstacles and how good the vacuum feature is, but without the side brush it just leaves all the corners and edges dirty. I can’t be looking after it monitoring where and when the brush falls off.

I was torn between this and the 505 but it seems like all the 505 has is heated pad drying which I don't really think is all that important. But yeah It goes back constantly to refill like every 10 minutes for about 6-700 square feet. So it works but definitely adds time.

Just exchanged my 405 for a 505 and I gotta say the object detection is much better. The 405 did pretty well but the object had to be tall enough to get detected by the lidar. The 505 was able to completely avoid a sock, cord and flip flops I threw on the ground. Also shows avoided obstacles in the app.

It's much much quieter is the first thing I noticed the 900 was so freaking loud on carpet. I couldn't hear anything and had to scream just to hear what I was saying. I could easily be on a phone call while 405 is going on carpet and barely be bothered. Can't tell how well it vacuums yet it has 4 different settings of suction. It defaults to the third highest and I just left it at that. It did pick up some test things I threw on the floor just to see. So I think it's probably pretty good at least as good as the 900. Might try out the high suction tomorrow to see if it's really loud. The mopping I'm undecided so far. I've never had a mopping robot so nothing to compare it to except good ole elbow grease mopping. Which I know is going to always be 10x better. But it seems like it doesn't store water it just wets the pads because it starts off out of the machine with decent wetness but then as it goes you can see the water decrease that it leaves behind. My floor is also reasonably clean right as I used my bissel vac mop the other day. But I did clear out the dirty water and it was pretty dirty so it's doing something haha. Will it lift up some caked on mess I don't know.

I upgraded to the 505 shortly after this. But the 405 was great the whole time I used it the 505's been really good. I had to replace it once because one of the mop spinning motors stopped working but it was pretty seamless replacement process

I just got the 505 upgraded from the 405 and you couldn't convince me to buy anything else I love this thing. And it's not going under no way no how.

Bought this same Roomba a couple of weeks ago, before I had heard of anything related to the bankruptcy, got it on sale and thought it has really great performance for the price. I'm a little worried about what happens if they do go bankrupt but I have to assume another company will just take over and keep some of these new devices running. These new models are Chinese made so they are pretty good, have had minor software glitches that require me to reboot the Roomba but otherwise performance has been great. Disclaimer, I have no experience with the other brands of robot vacs Oh on the hair issue, the hair gets coiled at the end of the green brush and it's easy to remove the cap and remove any caught hair every now and then. There's a video online on how to do this.

My J7 also quit a couple of weeks ago. We are 1 week in to a new 505. It has a slicker app. Always knows where it is. With the lidar, it barely hits anything. All that said, it's not cleaning as well as the j7 did. We have all hard floors with area rugs It turns the suction up and down (I'm assuming to save battery) as it transitions from hard to carpet. In effect it just leaves a pile of junk next to all the rugs. It does a slightly better job in the kitchen where there are no rugs, but it always leaves noticable missed dirt that it has hit, but just pushed around. Not sure that I would not recommend, but I also wouldn't actively recommend either

I would recommend a roomba model that detects stuff, from a J7, J7+ to a J9, J9+ (the do detect pet "presents"😅) not the J9+combo, (that units dock had plenty of failures) I would also go for a Plus 505 combo if you also want to mop the floor, because It has the laser view but also a front camera. J7 J9 send pictures of obstacles and asks you if they're permanent or not, you could ask an AI to compare those models to better pick what suits you best, hope I've been helpful.

I started using the Roomba 505 Combo in June, and here are my thoughts (I didn't receive any payment). My home features marble tiles and wood flooring as the main materials. I can honestly say that this robot vacuum is absolutely perfect for families with hard floors. 1.Overall, I would rate the vacuuming performance as excellent. I can't guarantee excellent carpet cleaning, as carpets are the domain of the 705, but the 505 definitely scores 90 out of 100 for vacuuming hard floors. https://preview.redd.it/n3bmukoeum0g1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=deac078876c9b342bcbd63b3e9ff193d2aca88cd 2.Regarding mopping, I felt it was too wet at the beginning (which might not be suitable for some wooden floors), and too dry towards the end. However, the SmartScrub function did significantly improve the cleanliness of the mopping. Overall, I would rate it 65 out of 100. 3.I'd give it a 95 out of 100 for obstacle avoidance and navigation; it basically doesn't miss any obstacles, but the app can't view obstacle images. This time, ClearView Pro LiDAR also recognizes furniture and adds it to the map, a significant improvement over the previous generation. https://preview.redd.it/duqivb1nyr2g1.jpg?width=2355&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fdd7188a048d00e7669d5a0d71856b44bd01479e 4.The AutoWash base station function and dust collection are excellent. I've examined the dust collection box; it has one hole for air intake and another for exhaust (dust removal), resulting in very clean dust. The cloth washing function is a bit weak; it uses two scrapers, and after adding water, the mop rotates on top, but only uses room temperature water. The cloth drying function works perfectly at 45 degrees Celsius. I give it 80 out of 100. https://preview.redd.it/wxc44i6yum0g1.jpg?width=1331&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4062050005d1936fa4b84c38b11250746b19be53 5.The anti-tangling features between the main brush and side brushes aren't very good. Occasionally, strands of hair get tangled in the main brush, while the side brushes get quite a bit tangled. I'd give this a score of 60 out of 100. 6.The Perfectedge® mop head with its excellent corner cleaning function is great, but it's a pity the side brushes don't have an extension function. Overall, I'd give it an 80 out of 100, because it's much better than my old Roomba 530 7.I think the app design could be improved, but after getting used to it, you'll find many thoughtful little details in the app. The customized swipe function is great, and the new map is also well done. I give it 70 out of 100. https://preview.redd.it/mtigatb5ym0g1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=594dd29b74b654b1de0a89ebad1b2ccd7d5af8b1 Taiwan

I just read your comment. I've also isolated my Roomba Combo 505 robot vacuum cleaner through a D-Link router to ensure the security of other smart home devices. I also have D-Link cameras connected to the internet, and I'm worried that China might use them to attack my smart home system.

Indeed, I'm not afraid at all that he'll publish my home map; my only concern is image security. I'll check out other brands of lensless models. Thanks! It's too late. I bought a 505 Combo in June and can't return it now. I'm thinking about what to do next. I won't throw it away, but I need to take some safety precautions. And I definitely won't choose their products for my next robot vacuum.

Wow, that's awesome! I've already added Shark to my consideration list, although I've seen some criticisms. Could I see what the app looks like? My iRobot Roomba Combo 505, which I bought in June, still has a terrible app. Anyway, I definitely won't be buying another iRobot.