Keeping a constant eye out for pet waste didn’t seem to slow the Roomba J7 down. This Roomba robot vacuum left about half of the material on the floor during this test. It can even mop and vacuum carpets within the same cleaning run by raising and lowering its mopping pad. To do this it first performs a mapping run to locate where your carpets are. The robot mop vacuum then uses sensors to confirm the presence of carpeting where it expects to find it.
We purchase our own vacuums and put them under the same test bench, so that you can compare the results easily. In some situations, you may be able to run the machine without disturbing sleep if you’re not near the device . Yes, with the help of the sweeping brush on the edge of a Roomba, the round devices can get dirt out of corners. One of the newest designs, the i9 Roomba, comes in a D-shape with a flat edge that smartly tracks into corners to get even more dirt.
We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability. Get the iRobot if you want a better-maneuvering robot vacuum with an allergen-trapping HEPA filter, but consider the eufy if you want a broader array of automation features. Other bots with stronger suction might slurp it right up, while wimpier bots may glide right over the pet hair woven into the fibers.
IRobot uses what it calls Dirt Detect, focusing more cleaning effort when it detects a concentration of dirt. I spilled cat litter on the hardwood floor and the j7+ recognized it as a “dirt event.” It got to the irobot vacuum cleaner 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.
Here are the main aspects to look for when considering which one to buy. At 77 dB on high suction power, the s9+ was by far the loudest model we tested, and even in quiet mode, the vacuum is not unnoticeable. The more helpful feature is the auto-empty station that automatically empties the dustbin after cleaning sessions. Setup is a breeze, shark cordless only taking about 10 minutes, including connecting to the user-friendly app. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t allow you to set up no-go zones, so you must buy virtual wall barriers. The barriers work as advertised, but at around $40 each, I prefer using everyday household objects to keep the Roomba out of areas I want to protect.