I spilled cat litter on the hardwood floor and the j7+ recognized it as a “dirt event.” It got to the end of the cat litter spill, reversed itself back to the beginning of the spill area and took another pass at it. Even litter that got scattered by the sweeping motion of the side brush was eventually picked up. The Eufy 11s may not be smart, but its brute force approach covered our test area almost as well as the connected robots, plus it’s quiet, slim enough to reach under most furniture and does a great job cleaning. That means you’re looking for a robot that can traverse different floor types or maneuver around furniture without needing help. This is especially true if you have dark flooring, as infrared sensors might mistake a black carpet for a ledge, and refuse to pass over it. We test vacuums on hardwood, tile, and rugs to see how well they manage the transitions across various surfaces.
We measured the volume on the bot’s maximum suction setting and found that it was just 57 dBc, a full 5 dBc quieter than the Roomba 694—that’s a major difference. On its normal suction setting, it’s just 53 dBc, which sounds more like a fan than a vacuum cleaner (“traditional” vacuums are often 70 dBc or louder because of their much stronger suction). And since the 11S stops short of most obstacles, it also avoids creating many of bissell crosswave cordless the bonking impact noises that the rougher Roomba 694 does. Other basic Eufy models have slightly stronger suction and can be a couple decibels louder, but they are still quieter than most competitors. Compared with other cheap bump bots, the Roomba 694 is a little rough on furniture. None of the current Roomba 600 series models come with a barrier system, but they work with the iRobot virtual walls, which you can buy separately.
Granted, the s9 is on the pricier side, but you’re paying for an elite level of clean that few vacuums, even other Roombas, can replicate. However, we couldn’t get it to complete the mapping process despite several attempts and a call to customer service. shark cordless CNN Underscored is your guide to the everyday products and services that help you live a smarter, simpler and more fulfilling life. Keep a can of compressed air handy in case you need to blow dust out of gears or other hard-to-reach nooks in the bot.
(It was launched in fall 2021, and representatives from iRobot suggested to us that it will get smarter over time through software updates.) However, the one obstacle that they do promise to avoid—with a money back guarantee—is poop. “You’d be surprised at how many types of poop there are,” said Hooman Shahidi, iRobot’s vice president of product development, in a conversation with Wirecutter. He noted that they’ve curated a large learning library of different “shapes and configurations” of pet waste. They’re basically fine, but they won’t match the agility of the Eufy or the durability of the Roomba. The LG CordZero R9 is a very expensive vacuum with powerful cleaning specs, but user reviews from Australia, where it’s been available for a while, are not favorable. The 11S and similar Eufy models have a manual steering mode (Roombas don’t).
Several other Wirecutter staff members own Roomba 600 series bots and have also found them to be sturdy and reliable. Here’s a quick summary of the important differences between iRobot’s best Roomba models. It will look stupid sometimes, and that can shatter the illusion that you have an artificially intelligent magic machine. If a robot runs shark cordless across anything smearable, get ready to do some nasty cleanup. Bots also tend to struggle with thresholds, certain types of furniture supports, and sometimes even floor-to-rug transitions. The iRobot limited warranty shall not apply to failures or problems which are caused by products or equipment not authorized by iRobot Corporation.