iRobot - Wifi Connected j9 Robot Vacuum

I have four dogs, two Bernese mountain dogs, a Corgi and a Westie. I had been using an i7+ for years now and had been extremely happy with it, with regular maintenance and removing the hair from the rollers and the front wheel practically daily, it ran great. But I've had the upgrade bug for a while and just last week I upgraded to the j9+ vacuum only and I'm very impressed with the upgrades! It's definitely faster, far more suction power, quieter. So I'm not sure what your budget is but I would recommend a j5+ or j9+ just because I like having the bins for self emptying if you are looking for vacuum only devices.

I have 4 dogs and have a J9+ vacuum only version and am extremely happy with it. Just keep up on maintenance and cleaning it and it will do a great job.

The J9+ (no combo) has 100% more suction. If you have lots of carpet that might be the way to go. The key is to run the robot every day or even twice per day so they don’t become overwhelmed. I had a golden retriever.

I can’t blame you. When the Max 10 or Combo j9+ work as they should,…….they are really great products. I run two Combo j9’s and a plain j9+……in a 1700 square foot rancher. I’m OCD. Love em. Love em.

Just gonna tell you, the mops work very very well. Not sure where you heard they don’t, but if you wanna if you insist on going vacuum only, I recommend iRobot. They are the best at vacuuming and have great customer support. I’d say j5, j7, j9, will all be great.

Oh ok, I can’t argue with that logic. If you have pets I’d suggest you go the extra mile and get the j9+ since it’s very good for pet hair. Regardless, you’ll love the j5.

Coming from a person who’s tried the Roborock Q Revo Pro, Roborock Q Revo Master, Dreame L20, Dreame L40, iRobot Roomba Combo 10 max, iRobot Roomba j9+, iRobot Roomba j7+, and iRobot Roomba i7+, I can confidently tell you that the Roomba j9 or 10 max is by far the best. iRobot is definitely farther behind in most other aspects, though.

They stand out because I never see dog hair on my carpets when they run in contrast to older Roomba series and other brands. They definitely need more maintenance though. They have worse navigation, get stuck more, and are much worse at mopping. Roborock is much better overall but they suck at obstacle avoidance. I’d say go with dreametech. They’re a great overall. Just get the tri cut brush.

YES. It is most definitely that bad. It’s bad on hard floors but god forbid you run it on a carpet. I have a video of it just plowing through fake dog poop on carpets. Edit: I have owned both the roomba j series and dreame l series, and both are so so much better.

I bought one a while ago for the novelty since it was a black Friday sale (and I suck at keeping a schedule to vacum. Didn’t have mapping but I thought it would be smart enough to still navigate just fine. Instead it just rams into things then randomly changes direction. Meanwhile, a coworker bought some  bootleg that cost a fraction of the price and it runs flawlessly. All the extra shit that roomba charges for in it’s higher tier models are included for free.  Never buying another roomba product. They’ve clearly just been coasting off of brand recognition.

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.

They were great 7 years ago. Try the new ones. J9+ ect. I'm not arguing, it's just my opinion.

Only 1 short hair dog. It did a great job as far as cleaning goes... but the poop. It would plow through it, then stop and complain. Had to dry it all out, scrape it off, vacuum it with a shop vac, scrub it with a wire brush, etc. 4th time was too much. Just ordered a j9+ from home depot using amex points... maybe that will work out. Otherwise... you want a good deal on a used dog?

irobot roomba j7+ is quiet and has great avoidance system. the next one, j9 is more powerful so it’s louder sometimes.

irobot roomba j9 is very quiet

Irobot j9 and newer. They all have pet poop specifically mentioned in the warranty

I have a J9 the thing is awesome but I do think there are better robots for the price if you care about obstacles avoidance more then pick up abilities

Get something from Roborock with Lidar detection. Don't waste your money on iRobot stuff. They have fallen off in terms of quality lately. I've used two of RR's (one high end, one mid/high) and they outperform my J9+ without question. I have the iRobot J9+ and it's honestly disappointing. I would recommend nobody buy a robot vacuum without Lidar at this point. I've used two different Roborock systems dating back 4-5 years and are still superior to iRobot's new stuff with only camera based detection and mapping systems. My J9+ literally gets lost in its own map and struggles to navigate at times. Sometimes it wanders around with an error in the app until it redocks and restarts cleaning.

I have the iRobot J9+ and it's honestly disappointing. I would recommend nobody buy a robot vacuum without Lidar at this point. I've used two different Roborock systems dating back 4-5 years and are still superior to iRobot's new stuff with only camera based detection and mapping systems. My J9+ literally gets lost in its own map and struggles to navigate at times. Sometimes it wanders around with an error in the app until it redocks and restarts cleaning. Roborock would get my vote.

Thanks for your post. I’ve just pre-ordered one and should be here within a week. I have a J9+ currently but am returning it as it bumps into things way too hard and the dirt detect feature is triggered all the time on a certain patterned carpet I have. The carpet is clean so I can only presume it’s the pattern that’s causing the issue so I can’t use it on that carpet now. I hope the dirt detect on the 705 doesn’t do the same or it’s a deal breaker :( Do you know if the lidar on the 705 has an issue with mirrors? I had an Ecovacs lidar in the past and it had issues with the full length wardrobe mirrors. I had to cover them up with paper when I was doing the mapping run but I hope I don’t have to do that with the 705. Also what is the size that the 705 sticks out from the wall please when on its dock as I can’t find that info anywhere. Thanks in advance :)

I had a J6 and still have my J9. You can get a j6 for the price you want. (I gave it to my sister in law, works fine after 2 years) I bought a Roborock S8MV, so the J9 got the J6 spot and the J6 was kicked out.

I’m very happy with the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum & Mop with NeverTouch Pro Self-Cleaning Base. I got it from Costco. I first tried a Roborock and returned it bc it did a poor job vacuuming compared to my old Neato D7. Then I tried the IRobot Roomba J9 and returned it bc it doesn’t auto fill the mop water from the base. I’ve been drooling over the roller bar Eufy’s but YouTube video reviews (particularly Just a Dad videos) helped me decide. It didn’t seem to justify paying double what I paid for the shark…in fact it seems like the shark might clean better.

Get the straight vacuum. No combo because you lose suction. I had a 985 that is still running but was relocated to my son’s campus housing. That thing was not smart, but did an outstanding job. I have a J9 now. I feel like it does the job more efficiently, but is not quite as powerful. I still love it for cleaning up after my cat and dog though.

The 9xx are robust creatures. 960 cleaning should be comparable to J7. J9 has better cleaning than both. The obstacle avoidance features in J7 will make it a lot less likely to get caught on things, but also likely to stay away from things you may want it to clean The robot itself doesn't have that much more that could break. The j series are easy maintenance  I'd be concerned about battery on a 9xx since they are old, may need to buy a new one.

I jumped at the 705 for upstairs (all carpets). Downstairs I still have a combo of j9 and braava m6 mop but I’m waiting for the rumoured 705 combo roller mop which I’ll grab for downstairs (mostly hard floors). Plus 505 Combo may be ok for you?

I got the J9 last year and it has broken more times than I can count. My clean station’s charging contacts have pushed in and I have to pry them up so it can charge. This is with it on a completely level hardwood floor (I checked). I am really upset that I spent so much for a product that breaks so frequently. Even the brush carriage fucked up. From get this, a thread from one of my wife’s dresses that had fallen on the ground

Roomba J series would work

For your needs, j9 is the way to go(which you already have). So far, j9 has near the best carpet cleaning performance, so i'd say stay with it Of course there are other options like the other comment says, but you are not gonna be able to get as good carpet cleaning performance as others. Maybe obstacle avoidance as well if you care about it.

iRobot makes the best tech for poop detection. Covered by many tech YouTube reviewers. I've got a J9+ and it even avoids cables like a champ.

Havent had an issue myself with the j9+(knock on wood) but did get it for $500. Had an i7+ before and so far atleast vaccumming seems to do better and not bang into things as much.

I just went through this. iRobot invented the robovac. Just go with. MIT engineered and headquartered in the US. Maintenance kits readily available. Same company makes robots for military. I bought the j9+.

The later Roombas with a camera/vision system are pretty good at avoiding things that could cause snags/clogs. I used to be vigilant with clearing the floor and even putting dining chairs on the table, but now I just have my Roomba run every night with dog toys, kid toys, wife's shoes and purse, chairs, charger cords, laundry baskets, and everything else blocking its path. It probably only cleans about 60% of the area I want it to, but I can still feel a noticeable difference when I walk barefoot through the house.

It depends on the Roomba... The S9+ is the best, followed by the J9/10. The Dyson VizNav is the only thing that can kill out more, but at full power I believe it only has a 12 minute runtime. And it has other issues being a robot. Dreame and Roborock have adopted the dual rollers design, but the actual performance of those don't remotely compare.

Pretty darn happy with my roomba j7/9. Comes with a base station that it blows the content into. Super low maintenance that way.

My black Mova V50 is mostly matte. It's my #2 behind the Roomba j7/j9, those were really good looking robots.

Irobot has a camera for object avoidance. I think it works pretty great.  It worked perfectly in the beginning, but God forbid when you are training the ai(?) by reviewing the photos you ever allow anything as "not an obstacle" then it will run over similar things forever. Like string, after I told it a cord off the ground was not an obstacle. :(

I have a j series its super easy to get long hair out of the rollers/wheels/whatever. Wife went through chemo and it was a test for the robot...both survived!

If you don't care about mopping, then I would suggest considering a roomba j series. The dual rollers, bin design (reduces filter clogging), dirt detection, and bin sensor for auto empty make it well suited for pet hair. Hair will still accumulate inside of the rubber rollers and require maintenance. VacuumWars recently found that the similar combo 10 max picked up 100% of 2.5 inch hair from carpet, which was much better than many modern flagship models from competitors. I have 3 robovacs (Ecovacs x1 omni, Roomba j5+, Roborock S6 pure) and rate the j5+ highly. I have 270 hours on it so far with no issues

The comment about robot vacuums only being for small places is probably based on the old random pattern robots. Most robots now map and do well in large houses. It sounds like most mapping robots would work for you, since you don't want mopping, have hardfloors, and no pets. So anything with lidar (prefered) or vslam navigation. Obstacle avoidance might be a useful feature for cords, shoes, toys etc. left on the ground. It might be worth looking into a Eufy L60, iRobot Roomba j series, Roborock Q series, or shark. I'm biased because I have three robot vacs (Roborock S6, Ecovacs x1 omni, and iRobot Roomba j5+ combo) and my roomba j5+ is the only one that is reliable and working at the moment

iRobot is likely the longest lasting brand, there are many accounts of people having these bots for so many years and well over 1k hours.. iRobot are still providing parts for 12+ year old bots. Where is the planned obsolescence there?

The combo 10 max (almost the same obstacle avoidance as all other modern/j-series iRobot models) initially scored in vacuum war's top ten for obstacle avoidance. It's also the only brand that guarantees avoidance of pet poo. Battery is debatable, but it's also a non-issue for most because of charge and resume

All have pretty poor customer service. I have three bots (Ecovacs, Roborock, and iRobot) and recommend the roomba i or j series for vacuum only (especially if you have carpet). It's designed for longevity rather than features. My j5+ has been reliable and kept up with 2 shedding dogs (long hair border collie cross) and two people

Obstacle detection/avoidance of the j series is good, it's the navigation that is problematic (hard hitting walls/furniture, poor coverage, and getting lost) I feel that this model needs better anti-tangling tech to be more competitive

Yeah, Roomba’s been coasting on name recognition for years. Hardware’s fine, but the software is way behind Dreame, Roborock, even Ecovacs. J series especially has dumb pathing issues. You’re not crazy though. Plenty of us jumped ship 😅

The IRobot J series is quite terrible. They don't seem to have enough traction while mopping even on their lowest setting and using plain water, it'll just start sliding and not go in a straight line. Then it'll give up and be in the middle of a room. Also, the vacuuming is good with its dual rubber brushes but it seems the brushes pull up some of the moisture from the mop and then dust will clump up along with pet hair and clog before getting into the bin. I should've done more research than going with a Roomba. But I do like the obstacle avoidance.

The I and J series clean so much better than the 2 Essential. Even the lowest priced I series is well worth the extra money.