That’s enough to keep most homes tidy, and most owners seem happy with it. This system looks dumb, and some people simply can’t stand to watch it. The bots might even (semi-randomly) shark cordless miss a patch of ground or even an entire room in any given session. But if you run the bot at least a few days per week, your floors should stay pretty tidy.
With the best models, it doesn’t happen often, but it will eventually happen to everyone who owns one of these bots. At some point, you might have to erase your old maps and re-train the robot. As of 2021, Roborock now does a decent job of keeping spare parts like filters and spare brushes in stock for its recent-model robots, which is an improvement over the spotty stock status of the past few years. Even if you can find something like a spare transmission or wheel, it’s not so easy to just swap it into the S4 Max using a regular screwdriver. But we’re happy to report that Roborock seems to be establishing a decent reputation for product quality and support.
The E5 is a midrange option with five times the suction power of the 600 series, but still slightly less than the i7 and i3. It lacks smart mapping but features advanced sensors to help it navigate around furniture and along edges. As of 2021, iRobot markets models of their 600, i3, j7, and s9 series, while continuing to provide support and sell accessories for their previous series. Various models have different features, including tangle-free brushes, separate sweep canisters, more powerful vacuums, obstacle avoidance, and performance maps displayed via smartphone apps. Newer high-end models also have a camera, which works in conjunction with onboard mapping and navigation software to systematically cover all floor area, move from room to room, and find recharging bases and beacons.
Also, we’re not convinced that obstacle avoidance is really the holy grail of robot-vacuum technology. Yeah, avoiding the occasional accidental pet waste is really valuable. One of the reasons robot vacuums help your home feel so tidy is because they force you to pick stuff up off the floor. Even if advanced obstacle recognition irobot vacuum cleaner worked well enough to let you skip the pre-tidying, your home would still feel messy. Some high-end robot vacuums now include advanced obstacle recognition in their nav systems. In theory, these systems should help the robots simply drive around any floor clutter they find, and even avoid hazards like dog turds.
You’ll usually pay more for the Roomba 694 than you would for our other budget pick, the Eufy 11S, or other super-cheap bots with random navigation. But the Roomba can easily pay off in the long run because it’ll last longer. A possible side effect of the Roomba i3 EVO’s design is that it may be relatively slow compared with other smart-mapping bots, like our other top pick, the Roborock S4 Max. Although those other bots use lasers or cameras to help them map and clean areas, the i3 EVO still utilizes gyroscopes to help it navigate. Laser-nav bots can learn your home’s layout in a single session, whereas the i3 EVO and higher-end Roombas typically need two or three sessions of training. The laser-nav bots also tend to bump into less stuff than the Roombas do and complete their jobs faster as a result.