iRobot - s9

I’ve had many roombas from the 650, i7, S9x3 (they sent me 3 replacements), and a braava jet 240. They work good for awhile, but the crappy software updates, constant errors and resets broke me. I seriously love iRobot hardware vacuum performance as in the amount of dirt they pick up, but the software is absolute garbage and a vacuum is completely useless if it can’t navigate correctly. I still have my first 650 bouncing around in my basement and the i7 has been moved to garage duty. The S9 ended up in pieces. My main two robot vacuums are roborocks and I love their navigation. I wish I could take the navigation from a Roborock and put it into a roomba.

I agree with everyone saying to replace the parts if it gets wonky on you. I’ve had my s9 for going on six years. Four dogs, two homes, combo carpet and hardwood. I’ve only had to repair it once, and it was super simple! YouTube made it easy, lol. Also, if you have rugs that are being torn up / tearing up the roomba, I would just block that zone off from the machine. Unfortunately, most area rugs I’ve found are the enemy of all vacuums and vice versa.

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 🤣

All the i and j7 and below series vacuums have the same motor. Only the s9 and j9 have more suction, the s9 is actually better suction. On hard floors any of them will pick up the hair. The s9 will do very well on the area rugs. Not worth buying the combo models.

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.

In my experience, over a few months, it doesn’t mop or vacuum very well. The roller mop bounces and is not consistent. The vacuum leaves springs of hair around the floor for us to pick up, rather then vacuum. Its experienced errors, which SwitchBot repaired and sent back with more issues then when it was sent. They agreed something happened during repair and offered a full refund. I will not buy another one and will stick with our iRobot s9. Gets stuck a lot but it vacuums really well

You do not need to have it running on max. Auto mode is doing most of the time a better job since it also slows down while detecting more dust (the slowdown does not happen with max mode). Once in a while let it run it max mode for a specific room. An EOL option is the AEG RX 9.2 that according to my testing (my yt channel is linked in my profile) also beats a Dyson Vis Nav (but only with carpets) but i need to retest it with my latest test procedure (i am using certified test dust). Here you have one test how they outperform a s9 in a birdsand scenario ( [https://youtu.be/rahVXYL7e\_8](https://youtu.be/rahVXYL7e_8) ) and some more testing of the Vis Nav [https://youtu.be/raBVxedCf\_M](https://youtu.be/raBVxedCf_M)

Dyson Vis Nav, AEG RX 9.2 \[sadly near EOL\] and maybe UPBET V10 if they develop a better mainbrush for carpets. Everything from Dreame, Roborock, or iRobot \[iRobot is an exception if you have very shortpile carpet. the s9 is still decent but EOL\] comes not even close to the performance. Source : my own testing using certified testdust \[the carpet test dust is very fine sand\] and bird sand. See [https://youtu.be/raBVxedCf\_M?si=jE52SgcVQkExtErp](https://youtu.be/raBVxedCf_M?si=jE52SgcVQkExtErp) [https://youtu.be/rahVXYL7e\_8?si=-28xTTYL7wISkSJ6](https://youtu.be/rahVXYL7e_8?si=-28xTTYL7wISkSJ6) and more

S9 is notorious for that, it can be fixed by supergluing felt on the side of the roller that doesn’t have any silicon to help it slide. The narwal I mentioned is quiet and many new higher end vacuums have many settings. I have the Ecovac x2 Omni, with a long haired girlfriend, and 2 cats I’m surprised to never see hair but it does happen. Look into the switchbot s10. It’s a new one that really looks promising for a new robot company (they are a robotic and smart home company and I use many of their products) the mopping is outright crazy on it too

Really? I have two Roborocks Q5s and they are definitely inferior to iRobot’s S9 which I also have. Worse mapping, worse suction by far. The Q5 struggles with any elevation differences: it struggles to get over thin rugs or floor transition strips. That said, I got the Q5 at a cheap price and it’s been OK. I would just rather the S9 if the price was equal. Of course, Roomba has its own problems.

Thank you for this. I too have gone through 3 S9s and have finally had enough of its shenanigans. I think I’m going to give this one a shot.

While I’ve heard the carpet performance was supposed to be good - after a few attempts to have a reliable working S9, it feels like everything else about it was poor.

iRobot s9 is awful.

Only the Dyson and roomba s9 robots perform on carpet

You forgot the most important question which is what your budget is. I have 2 German shedders and a chocolate lab. I've had an S9 that worked pretty well for the last 5 years on hard floors. Technology and anti-long hair tangle has come a long way and, almost any new bot in the mid-range or premium range are going to do great at anti-tangle. I know people really don't like roomba right now but, my max705 just did my while 900 sq/ft space without puking out clumps of hair like my S9 would, on a single pass. I tested a Dreame X50 too and frankly it was about the same result there too albeit the dreame did it much more quietly.

Don't buy a roomba. I have an S9 and it needs an intervention 90% of the time. I clear up the space and everything. Very unreliable.

We have had the s9 for 6 years. I was honestly surprised at how well it did and just how much hair the base station can hold between replacing bags. We run it almost daily to keep up with the tumble weeds that congregate along the hall walls and heat registers.

Dyson 360 or Roomba S9. They are just in a completely different league than anything else for vacuuming prowess, but do lack modern featues, such as object avoidance.

When they work. They are amazing. I had a roomba s9 for two years and it was misery. Rarely worked, constant issues, terrible mapping. Every morning it was a game to see where it got stuck or why it didn’t finish its job. Sometimes it was just sitting in the middle of my hardwood floor and said stuck. A month ago I bought the Freo an ultra after tons of research and it’s a game changer. I have three dogs so ever other day I had dog hair tumbles all over. No more. The thing works flawlessly (though the app is kind of finicky). The mopping is great. You still do need manual vacuum from time to time but it really helps cut down how often.

I bought a roomba S9 and it's great. Got it at the auction and replaced most parts with Amazon parts.

It is extremely good at cleaning and avoiding obstacles. It not only memorizes obstacles but takes a photo of them that the user can touch while viewing the map to bring up the photo and to rename the type of obstacle if desired. The unit was an upgrade from a Roomba S9. That unit did a good job of vacuuming but was very prone to having problems with obstacles. For example, it would launch itself up onto the circular rod -like bases of several of my chairs and become stuck there. They Roborock 10R correctly recognized all of the bases as something to avoid. Some of them get labeled as chair bases and others simply as wires. **It has avoided every obstacle.** The first few times I ran the unit it stayed several inches away from all obstacles. Once it had completed several runs it began to come close to the obstacles but still avoided them–Getting close to obstacles to clean by them without touching them is great. It does a great job of vacuuming and mopping. I have read some reviews that rank the 10R is better than the 10. Very happy with the 10R.

The Roomba S9 is an incredible vacuum and very good with lots of hair on both hardfloor and carpet. I recently swapped to a Eufy S1 Pro for the mopping as my boy drags in lots of dirt from outside. The Eufy is an incredible mop but needs to vacuum much more frequently Vs the Roomba to keep on top of the dog hair.

Yeah I do miss mine. It does an incredible job of getting into corners and pulling hair out of rugs and as you said the base station does very well storing/compacting the hair to get the most out of a bag. The S1 Pro isn't as good so I have to run it every day in turbo mode to stop the buildup where the S9 could handle every other day.

I have the Roomba S9 and think it works great on hard floors and carpet. It self empties, so if it fills up, it empties and goes back to where it left off.

We have 6 fur animals and 3 long-hair people here. My Narwal Z Ultra has been running daily for 11 days now. This morning it ran over some paper business cards and threw a "roller tangled error" because two cards got stuck in the roller. It managed to take itself to the base to dry and decontaminate the mop pads. Why am I recommending this unit? Because when I opened the roller to remove the business cards, it was completely devoid of any tangles. No fur, no hair, no cords. The roller was clean, and just the business cards were stuck in there. I have: Two Roomba i7+ units (also great with hair, but not as good as the Z, since long hair makes its way to the axel on the Roombas, where as the Z sucks it into the chamber) The OG Freo with anti-tangle roller (not as good as the Roombas at vacuuming or tangle-free operation) I also have a shark regular vacuum, and was considering their robovac before I got the Z but the Z is fantastic at both carpet and mopping. If you don't need a mop, the Roomba J7+ or S9 would be good. Not sure about newer ones. The roborocks are also very good. Check out the VacuumWars YouTube channel if you want to make comparisons

s9 was and still is a beast at carpeting and hard wood. If it works consistently, doesn’t self destruct or boot loop. If the lid contacts don’t get crushed and need to be constantly pulled up or the rollers don’t load up with hair and melt the CHM. Yeah. Great vac all problems aside. Love the highest level jet engine sound!!! However, it’s Plagued with issues and hall sensor problems affecting lid and bumper, cable jiggles, a frame/carcass that flexes and causes all kinds of issues. Some very poor design decisions that would be awesome to fix and make an s10. Never gonna see it. And that top case that just snaps on….the suction motor grill on the inside of the body where it can get loose and contacts the motor. Yeah. Great stuff…..when they work.

I have an S8+ and 2 huskies and a German shepherd and the S8+ is absolutely awful for dog hair on carpets. Hard floor it does just fine, but it really cannot handle carpets. The Roomba S9 is way better in that regard. Had one that got stolen so replaced it with the Roborock and hate it every day.

I have been a huge S9 fan, I still have mine and it stilll is gong strong. I have a J9+ and while better in some ways, it never came close to the raw cleaning power of S9. But the new 705 Max surpasses it, I love mine and it's been running flawlessly .

The Roomba S9 does a great job with our 3 cats. A year or two ago people were having navigation issues with this model but those seem to have cleared up. One of our cats is extremely fluffy and this vacuum is super aggressive. Also has good corner brushes for getting stubborn fur out of corners.

How is it's clearance height for floor dividers? (I'm a little unsure if the correct term in English) Currently I'm sick of the performance if my Roomba S9 and M6 jet. There are numerous issues that I have over the last couple of years. But the biggest issue i have is how big thresholds it can pass. If i need to go to a different manufacturer, it's probably either roborock or now Samsung and Samsung seems the most interesting to me with their new bot

I did s9s until one had issues. I tried the successor but it was noisy, didn’t clean well, and ran into everything hard despite claiming it wouldn’t. I went a narwal from costco and love it.