iRobot - i5 Series

I’ve had robot shark and roomba. I believe running them daily has prevented us from being buried in dog hair and 100% recommend a robot vacuum. My dogs are very housebroken and I’ve never had the poo every where situation.  Overall, I think the shark works a little better, but I think the roomba’s features and app are better. I just upgraded to the dual vacuum/mop roomba and it’s not perfect but I’m happy. I still have to real vacuum once a week as it doesn’t get all the hair all the time, but the literal basketball was of hair I pull out of the canister every few weeks tells me it’s working pretty damn good. 

We started with one iRobot, it worked great! Later decided on a brava (iRobot mop) and it worked amazingly! I was in my doctorate program and didn’t have time to clean the floors. We have two small dogs and five children. The floors are one thing I don’t have to worry about anymore. We recently moved and purchased two combo vacuum and mop, one is iRobot and the other is ecovacs. I like the ecovac more, it seems smarter, however they both do a great job. We have three stories so there are robot vacuum on each floor, they run every day, this keeps the stairs pretty clean and I vacuum the stairs once a week. Our original robot is eight years old and runs fine with daily use.

I got that exact one a while back. Fyi it is not the self emptying base version, no matter what the description says 😭

That's correct for the self-emptying version. However, they simply did not ship the self emptying version. :( (If you get the self empty version, I'll be livid)

I have the Wyze robot vac and a roomba self emptying vac. I vastly prefer the performance of the wyze vac.

Your experience must be with the cheaper Roombas. I bought a $500 Roomba and base and my experience was the same as yours. Hot trash. Sent it back and even that was a bad experience, they never refunded me and I had to do a credit card charge back. But then I bought a $250 roborock + base. Wayyyyyy better. Never have to tinker with it. Completes our kitchen, dining room, main bedroom, and living room in 35-40 minutes. Does multiple floors/mapping. Vac and mop. A lot quieter than the Roomba. Very clean floors, like I'm blown away at how well it vacs, the Roomba left little crumb piles  everywhere. I have not manually vacuumed anything since I've bought it other than to spot clean when my dogs destroy a toy or something. Overall there is a reason irobot is going out of business. Roombas are overpriced and perform poorly. But not all robot vacuums are created equal and other brands are both cheaper and higher in quality.

We love ours. We have one for upstairs and downstairs. Don’t try to get a cheap one, we did that and went through a couple of them pretty quickly. Now we have two good ones (iRobot) with the bin that they self empty into when they get full. We have three kids, two dogs, and a cat that sheds more than both dogs combined, and having robot vacuums has been a game changer. Before we got the one with the bins, it would get full and need emptying before it finished a whole cycle. Now it goes and empties itself and then goes back to cleaning. It’s some trial and error at first. Just run it the first few times when you’re watching it to see where it has any problems. Then you can try to adjust any problem areas. Our upstairs vacuum doesn’t go into the bedrooms because the kids have lots of tiny Barbie shoes and stuff. We have them clean up good and just regular vacuum real quick every other week or so (and we keep bedroom doors closed so the pets don’t go in there to keep hair shedding out). But the robot keeps the main areas of the house from getting hairballs and dirty. We recently got a robot mop as well, and that has been awesome! I feel like it’s just like having any other vacuum. You have to get everything picked up off the floor before you start. You wouldn’t start regular vacuuming with things still on the floor. If there are areas that it gets stuck often, either block it off or try to adjust any problem areas. We usually pull all of the dining room chairs away from the table so that it can get a good clean under the table and around it. We run the vacuums & mop anytime we leave the house, and it’s so nice coming home to freshly vacuumed and mopped floors!

I have a Roomba that I picked up from Costco. It can be controlled via app and it has a self emptying base.

I hope they find a decent US or EU buyer. I’ll buy most Chinese products all day long, but I don’t trust having my entire house’s LIDAR scans or photos/videos in the possession of a company that can be easily forced to hand all data over to their government, no matter their policy. That makes most of the great robot vacs a non-starter for my wants & needs, so I got a roomba i5. It’s been great despite this sub’s negative feedback toward the brand!

If you get a roomba I highly recommend one that self-empties into a tower. We run ours 4 days a week in our bedroom, the living room, front hall. Kitchen, dining room. It keeps the ACD tumbleweeds at bay between weekly Dyson vacuumings.

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.

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.

Combos from iRobot aren’t that great, to be honest. The i5 as a vacuum isn’t bad at all. It’s the lower mid level but no less cleans decent. J5 and j7 are great mid to middle upper levels. I have limited experience with a combo and I wasn’t a fan. The vacuuming aspect of things is great.

I have the one that empties itself, i5. Works great. Sometimes I send the 890 in to pre-clean and it has a big bin.

Get a roomba with the self-emptying base station. Pays for itself 10 times over.

I have a self emptying roomba vacuum. It runs daily at 9:30 am, recharges and empties itself, then finishes rhe rest around 2 in the afternoon. I live on a horse farm with 4 dogs and 5 cats and only if its muddy do shoes come off at the door. That robot is a wonderful thing.

I only had a cat but my Roomba i5+ works great for hair. I run it twice per day.

I have an IRobot Roomba self emptying one! It literally just got done vacuuming. Genuinely LIFE CHANGING. I got mine as a Christmas gift and it’s great but I’d probably go with the Shark 2 in 1 self emptying robot mop/vacuum when my Roomba dies. I run mine at least 2 times a day and I think it helps keep it where hairballs don’t build up and get stuck in it.

Two huskies here. We have a self emptying Roomba. We run it 5 days a week. I have to keep up with the replacement parts, or it starts just wadding up hair and leaving it in chunks. But even that cuts manual cleaning time, because I can just take the hand vac to the chunks. We've had it since 2021.

Thats literally crazy.. I've had my roomba for like 5 years now.. We have 3 big dogs and a cat, in a small house. Still works great, I've replaced the brushes and obviously the filters on it but it still works awesome.

Robot vacuum. We have a roomba with the self emptying bin, SAVED MY SANITY.

Don't get the I5. I bought one and had to return it after less than a week because the side brush kept getting caught in the bumper. Apparently, it's a known defect for that model.

There’s actually a roomba that does both vacuuming and light mopping (think of it like roomba swiffer). It has a reservoir of the liquid at the charging station and a bag dispenser for the dust as well. I never felt older than when I got genuinely excited for a roomba like I would for a console when I was younger. That’s my “treat yourself” buy when I get my next bonus lol

We’ve used a self emptying Roomba for years. 3 dogs, a Basset, a Lab, and a Terrier. All are moderate shedders and fur accumulation is a problem. All three are indoor/outdoor dogs and mud is a consideration for us. We have area rugs from Costco that help dry paws and pick up some dirt. We launder them at a coin-op each month to save wear and tear on our washer. The Roomba is fine for keeping visible areas tidy, but one pass on the floor and the internal bin will fill with fur and dust. We still vacuum with a stick vac in corners and under furniture, Roomba can’t reach. No mopping robot can keep up with mud from paws if you live in a rainy muddy area. Invest in a good Swiffer wet mop or a light weight bucket based mop.

I bought one well over a year ago possibly on year 2. iRobot self emptying. If it only lasted a year I’d buy another one. It works as well as it did when I bought it. I replace the rollers and the brush thingy like twice. Get the iRobot replacement the knock off parts lasted like a week. I have all tile. Bedroom is carpet. If it runs everyday it’s not a problem on carpet. If it’s a few days of fur it creates nests I just hand pick up. I don’t have to do this if it runs daily. Completely worth it. I also live near a beach and it straight picks up all the sand too. It’s great. Never not having one.

Yes. Roomba 105 navigates smarter but sucks (negatively) at vacuuming and would be a nightmare with hair tangles in the brush. Roomba i5 has more basic navigation, but is a much more "thoughtful" machine in terms of actual cleaning capabilities.

Mine is named Robbie, I can’t keep the floor clear enough to use him. My goal for the weekend is to clear his path. Wish me luck!

They still have the same dual roller design that my old Roomba i5 (no station) has, and let me tell you - it's anti-tangle my ass. I have to dismantle the whole robot after cleaning because although the hair doesn't tangle around the rollers, it makes up for it by tangling heavily around roller axles and inside the roller (roller ends are hollow) and also around the small tri-brush arm. It then just drags long hair all over the place. So unless you don't have long hairs in your household, it's maybe worth it.

I have the i5+. Run it 1x/day and 2x during the shoulder seasons when mine sheds a lot. Usually takes 4 runs before I empty.

Hi, I’m not a mom but my roomba with self-emptying base is a - and I cannot stress this enough - fucking lifesaver. I have three cats, have hardwood and carpet and the roomba is literally one of the only reasons my floors look even remotely clean. Beware: I owned one without the self-emptying base thing and I never used it because emptying it every time it was full was a barrier I wouldn’t get past. Getting the base where the roomba empties itself is a GAME CHANGER.

I have 3 Roomba's of varying intelligence. A dumb one which bounces around a room until the battery is almost dead, a smarter one that will actually pass through the room in a pattern, and a smart one that self empties. I also have a self-emptying shark... considerably cheaper but supposed to be more features. Other than the dumb Roomba... I actually prefer my Roombas over the Shark. I find the Shark to just be too stupid to adapt to change. For example, I have a cat bed against 1 wall. Shark has determined that something is there and avoids it ALWAYS.. even when I move it to allow it to clean there. It just drives around the open space. Roomba, ensures that it gets every place it can get into. I am not unhappy with my Roomba. I am unhappy with my Shark.

I have 3 Roomba's of varying intelligence. A dumb one which bounces around a room until the battery is almost dead, a smarter one that will actually pass through the room in a pattern, and a smart one that self empties. I also have a self-emptying shark... considerably cheaper but supposed to be more features. Other than the dumb Roomba... I actually prefer my Roombas over the Shark. I find the Shark to just be too stupid to adapt to change. For example, I have a cat bed against 1 wall. Shark has determined that something is there and avoids it ALWAYS.. even when I move it to allow it to clean there. It just drives around the open space. Roomba, ensures that it gets every place it can get into. I am not unhappy with my Roomba. I am unhappy with my Shark.

We have a Roomba i6+ (old, not sure still being made) and recently added the i5+. They have mapping and self-emptying, which for me are absolutely essential features. We've had others without the self-emptying feature and I never emptied them regularly enough, which rendered them less effective.

I had a Roomba, and it did a good job. It died after 2 years though, and they don't sell repair parts. I kept it limping along for another few months until I gave up on it. I don't think I'd ever get another Roomba, but I would like to try another brand.

We got the Costco iRobot Roomba on sale (just sweep function) and it’s been really helpful. Definitely worth the time savings and it probably does a better job than our manual vacuuming. We don’t care for the mop function that much, just don’t want to deal with the water compartment

I have one basic Roomba that moves around randomly and another that supposedly maps the space. The cheaper, random movement robot is vastly superior in all ways.

I started with a eufy and it was pretty good on all hardwood floors. It would pile some fire up in the corners I could pick up. But then I upgraded to a roomba with the self emptying thing and I love it. The app and tutorials are very helpful.

I have a Roomba and their mop version too. love them, been working well for two plus years with regular part replacement (filters, rollers etc).

iRobot already did that with their first generation iRobot Combo (R11xx). The Roomba Essential was also not made by iRobot. Now it seems none of them will be. I just don't understand the end game for iRobot. Are they just gonna be riding on the brand name from now on and slowly disappear into nothingness because why would OEM give 3rd party better tech and design than they use in their own robots? iRobot, as much as they've been weird and stubborn with some things, I still love their core design of robots since introduction of E series and later i. I loved how they ALL had identical main roller brushes, identical side brushes, identical filters, identical dust bins, identical almost everything. Not only it's cheaper for them to supply 1 type of each part, it's easier for users, for regular maintenance and repairs. I work in this part of the industry and I can't stress enough how many times customers/consumers have no clue what device they have, be it robot vacuum or a regular vacuum. If you just need to tell "I have a roomba" and that's all it's needed to know which part you supply. So many Chinese robots as well as ones from other well known brands like Electrolux, Philips and Rowenta have different parts for almost every model and it's soooooooooooo annoying.

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

It's hard for people to recommend since few people would test their vacuums with this much fur. Picking up hair from hard floors is easy for any robot vacuums, even on low suction settings. I think the challenge will be keeping the bin from filling or the dock from clogging. iRobot roomba i+ and j+ series are suited for this as they have sensors that detect debris building up in the vacuum path and send the bot to the dock to auto-empty and resume. Whatever you get, you will likely need to run regularly and maybe one room at a time.

I think the key is consistently running it. I have a Roomba i5 (we named it Jeff Goldbroom) and it doesn’t get clogged and does a good job of keeping things clean— if we run it every day. If we let it go for a few days, the floors don’t get all the way clean until I run it, declog, run again. 

It’s a iRobot Roomba combo i5! Got it a few years ago for Christmas. But I barely use the mop function because this model uses gravity to wet the rag and it just isn’t wet enough to effectively mop. But the vacuum works great! Having a self empty bin is also super convenient

I don't know. I have a roomba 767 and I5 and they work well, but both my cats are long haired and frequently pull out tufts of knotted fur (or i cut them of) and those really mess up the rubber brushes. The one regular brush on the 767 holds up much better, but needs more cleaning. If yours just shed loose single hairs it should be fine, but min are outside a lot and get all kinds of stuff messing up their fur.

I have a couple of roombas's, one 767 and an i5. The 767 I got new about 4,5 years ago, the i5 I bought used two years ago. Both are still on their original batteries and has had little maintenance other that brushes a filtes. I did have the fan motor stop working in the i5, but i was able to fix that by taking it apart and reassemeling, IIRC a contact had worked loose somehow. IMHO the brushes are my main eco concern with these, the rubber ones get ruined relly fast by long hair and larger debris. The actual bristle brush on the 767 is far more robust, I've not replaced that one yet. The roombas specifically seem to be resonably reparable, wheels, motor assemblies and so on can be replaced if they break and there seems to be guides on youtube for everything. The roombas specifically will work without an internet connmection, but you loose the app functionality. They can still be controlled trough Home Assistant thought, just reqires inital wifi setup with the ap then can be blocked in the firewall from acessing the internet and only talk locally to Home Assistant.

I have a Roomba i5 with a cleaning base and love it. I *do* have to clean hair out of the wheels at least once a week but it does a good job getting under my couch and other places the kids don't sweep. Do *not* get a vacuum that doesn't empty itself. You're going to see this thing run home to empty itself a few times during its run.

1. A little over 2k sq ft. Older home, not open layout at all. Current Roomba i5 is constantly getting lost and unable to get back to its base. Mix of hard floors and area rugs. 2. One story. 3. Two short transitions. 4. Three shorthair cats 5. No kids. 6. Real hurdle is cat litter and the need for no go zones 7. Budget is $400 Caveat: I have a shark matrix on the way which I got for $200. Will return if I can get something better suited with great value. I have used the mopping feature on my Roomba only once because I have to block its access to the rugs and it did a crap job anyway. And TIA!!

I guess I’m the outlier here but I love mine. I have the self emptying, mapping Roomba. It mapped my space great and does a really good job cleaning. Self emptying is the best upgrade, as I previously had a much cheaper model and haaaated emptying that thing constantly.