The signature D-shape design of the machine makes it easier to get into corners and edges, and it was the easiest of all the connected vacuums to set up. 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 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.
It’s able to clean finished hard floors that include hardwood, tile, and stone. It also has many of the smart features that make Roomba’s robot vacuums so popular, including room mapping and navigation smarts powered by vSLAM navigation. It features Roomba’s three-stage cleaning system and dual multisurface brushes.
Its more expensive siblings, on the other hand, can remember multiple floors, which is useful if you have a multi-level home. I’m PCMag’s executive editor of reviews, steering our coverage to make sure we’re testing the products you’re interested in buying and telling you whether they’re worth it. I previously managed the consumer electronics reviews team, and before that I covered mobile, smart home, and wearable technology for PCMag and Gigaom. The Roomba® j7/j7+ Robot Vacuum uses iRobot OS Technology and PrecisionVision Navigation to recognize and avoid common objects in its way, like cords, pet waste, socks and shoes. Forget about vacuuming for months at a time with the Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal that allows the Roomba® j7+ Robot Vacuum to empty itself for up to 60 days. Save on cleaning products powered by iRobot OS for a more thoughtfully intelligent cleaning experience.
It features effective battery life of up to 75 minutes, while also delivering Roomba’s triple-stage cleaning system and having up to 5 times the suction power of the 600 series. IAdapt navigation technology tracks where the robot has cleaned and helps it intelligently avoid obstacles. The Roomba 960 makes a great budget-conscious offering for almost any home. Whether you’re looking to mop the floor or lift pet hair from the carpet, there are robot vacuums that help tackle a multitude of household cleaning jobs. Roomba vacuums, made by iRobot, are a well-known name in hands-free cleaners. The Roomba product line comes in a variety of small but effective robot vacuums with smart features such as household mapping, as well as control integrations through app, Wi-Fi, and voice.
IRobot is one of the most respected names in the robot vacuum market, and the Roomba i3+ EVO is its most affordable model with a self-emptying dustbin. Beyond offering greater convenience than their more manual counterparts, self-emptying robot vacuums significantly limit your exposure to dust, a big plus if you suffer from allergies. If you’re looking to upgrade from a basic robot vacuum to one with self-emptying abilities, the Shark IQ Robot XL is an excellent choice.
It’s more basic in its design, lacking smart home connectivity, but it cleans very well and couldn’t be better value for money. We spent hundreds of hours testing dozens of robot vacuums, both in a controlled environment and at home. After reviewing the results, we believe that the best robot vacuum is the iRobot Roomba s9+.
You can also add Clean Zones for areas you want the J7+ to pay more attention to. The J7+ will also recognise and avoid pet waste and iRobot offers the P.O.O.P. , which sees the company replace your J7 or J7+ for free if this feature doesn’t work. The Roomba i7 adds to the i3’s functionality by using a camera to map your house, allowing you to tell it to clean a specific room or even a specific irobot vacuum cleaner area of a room (like “under the couch”) as needed. Like the i3, an elevated a “plus” version equips that lower-touch self-emptying dock. IRobot’s 600 series encompasses its basic models, with the Roomba 614 being the most affordable. It doesn’t route itself intelligently around your house, so it might not be ideal for super-large areas, but it should work well enough in average-sized rooms.
The R750’s dual hall sensors can detect boundary strips to only clean predefined areas. Meanwhile, the Coredy R750’s delivers super-deep cleaning capability thanks to the notable 1600Pa vacuum that increases to a whopping 2000Pa when in boost mode. This upgraded version of the RoboVac 11S boosts suction power from 1300 to an impressive 2000 Pa, making it better at cleaning carpets than before. Increased power means this robot will be a little louder, being about as loud as an average conversation.
Thanks to its bagless self-emptying system and self-cleaning brushroll, it’s one of the lowest-maintenance robot vacuums we’ve tested. That said, allergy sufferers might prefer the comparably priced Roomba i3+ EVO, which empties its bin into an AllergenLock bag so you’re not exposed to dust. Like other self-emptying robot vacuums, the Shark IQ XL returns to the base and empties its contents. The Shark, however, is the only vacuum we tested that features a bagless self-emptying base. To empty it, you simply detach the bin and empty it manually over the trash. This can get messy as dust flies around, but you save money buying replacement bags.