iRobot Roomba Review

A complete set of sensors helps Roomba navigate your home. It uses a map for identifying rooms and furniture. It also detects when its dust bin is full and it's time to recharge.

MIT Technology Review reviewed the privacy policies of 12 robot vacuums and found that most of them had similar language on using personal information to improve the product. People who are concerned about privacy may opt to not buy the products.

Powerful Cleaning

The best robot vacuums are great on carpets and hard floors. They also remove a lot of pet hair. Some models come with a side-mounted brush that can be positioned to reach beneath furniture. Some models have allergen filters that trap dust mites, pollen, and other particles inside. This stops them from circulating around the house. The majority of them work with an app that lets you plan cleaning schedules, establish boundaries, and receive maintenance notifications.

IRobot's Roomba line of robot vacuum cleaners is the most well-known product. These automated cleaners use advanced navigational techniques and sensors to cleanse your entire house. Most of them are Wi-Fi-enabled and can be connected to your smartphone for simple operation. Some of them are able to locate your home, identifying obstacles and avoiding them. The more expensive models may also utilize computer-vision, an artificial intelligence subset that mimics the human eye.

In addition to these basic features, some models can recognize specific rooms and alter their cleaning strategies based on the size of your floor plan. Some models are able to detect areas that are filthy and take extra care to clean them. Certain models are designed to recharge and pause as they move, so you won't have to worry about running out on battery.

Certain Roomba models are equipped with vSLAM. This camera-based system is better at mapping rooms than standard sensors however it is less effective in low lighting. It can also learn your habits and develop an individual cleaning schedule that considers the times when you'll need to clean more frequently, such as after a pet-shedding or allergy season.

On the mopping front, certain models use a specialized brush that is able to get into small spaces and grab hard-to-clean dirt, whereas others use a combination of agitation and scrubbing to loosen and lift debris. Some can also detect wet areas and return to the base to reload their water tanks.

iRobot has a broad range of robotic vacuum and mop models, with price points to suit nearly every budget. The Combo J7+ is an excellent example of what you can get for less than $1000. The model comes with a stylish self-emptying dock that automatically emptys and refills the tank with water each time it completes a cleaning run. It will even identify which areas require the most attention based on historical information, such as the kitchen floor or the dog's litter box.

Easy to Operate

The iRobot Roomba requires no assembly and is easy to set tant or via the iRobot app to clean that specific spot. Alternately, you can set the iRobot App to automatically clean rooms or rooms.

The images shared with MIT Technology Review reveal a new leakage point for personal data, a fact that very few people are aware of. The toilet image is a tiny slice of a massive data supply chain. People don't expect to see videos of your kids using the potty or your sock collections. But this is the result when these images are shared with crowdsourcing platforms. iRobot did not permit us to look at consent forms that were signed by participants but said that the contracts clearly declare that human viewers will be watching the images.

Easy to Clean

Robots are quieter than conventional vacuum cleaners. The type of robot, and the location within which it operates will determine how loud it is. For example the Roomba for carpeting requires more agitation than a robot designed to clean bare floors, and therefore it is likely to make more noise when working.

iRobot has been a pioneer in the field of home robotics for more than two decades. Its Roomba line of automated floor cleaning robots is a huge hit with customers. Since 2002, Roomba has sold more than 40 million units all over the globe.

Roomba models range from basic to advanced based on your requirements and the features available. Some of the more advanced models come with features such as a virtual wall that emits an infrared light which allows you to establish boundaries that Roomba will never traverse. Certain models also have cameras to automatically define a space and alter its cleaning strategy according to its dimensions and the presence of specific objects.

The most recent models come with multiple sensors to avoid obstacles such as automatic charging and docking, and various cleaning modes. The iRobot smartphone app lets you to start and stop your robot, send it to its charging base, set time limits on the length of time it will run before returning to charger, and see the details of each cleaning task. The iRobot HOME app lets you create a schedule for when the robot is supposed to clean, and it will notify you if you have not done so.

Keeping your iRobot Roomba in tip-top shape is simple with a little regular maintenance. You should inspect and clean the dustbin regularly to get rid of lint and other physical debris that could block the filter and decrease suction power. Also, you should clean the multi-surface brushes and cleaning head module at least once a week, and more often if you have pets. This will ensure that the robot is moving smoothly across your floors and that dirt does not block the brushing wheels.

Easy to Maintain

The iRobot home app lets you organize cleaning schedules, manage the robot and alter its settings. It also provides suggestions, such as additional cleaning during allergy season depending on your lifestyle.

It makes use of what iRobot calls Dirt Detect to concentrate more effort on areas that accumulate dirt. For example, when I spilled cat litter on my hardwood flooring, the j7+ immediately identified the area as an "dirt event," returned to the point of the spill and made a series of passes until all was removed.

It's fitted with advanced sensors that aid in navigation between furniture and under it as well as along edges and steps. Edge Detect and Cliff Detect aid in following furniture as well as walls and stairs. It also recognizes where things belong in the room. This means it can avoid backpacks and cords and cat litter boxes, shoes clothes and other household junk. It also knows when to convert from mop mode to vacuum mode. You can control it with the iRobot Home app, your voice assistant*, or Google or Alexa voice assistance**.