10 Best Roomba Vacuum Tricks All Experts Recommend
The Best Roomba Vacuums
It's extremely effective in eliminating dust bunnies, pet hair and clumps of dirt from floors. Its HEPA filter also does a great job of sealing in allergens.
It makes use of a variant of vSLAM navigation. This means it's not able to clean up rooms as effectively as Roomba. Roomba with a dedicated camera. It's for those who don't want to constantly empty the bin.
Roomba s9+ irobot vacuum and mop combo from iRobot
The latest irobot roomba S9+ is a high-performance smart vacuum that is able to handle any home. It's not as full of bells and whistles of other top robot vacuums however, it does have the essential features you require in a quality home cleaner, such as the best cleaning performance, simple maintenance, a handy remote control and an automatic dirt disposal system that prevents your bin from overflowing too quickly.
The bronze disk on top and the D-shaped body give it a stylish appearance. It's slightly larger than the rounded bodies of other robot vacuums, however it's not too heavy to carry from room to room. The square front design allows it to maneuver corners and walls in comparison to other robots with circular bodies.
The s9+ model is distinguished from other Roomba models due to its superior mapping technology, the vSLAM. This makes use of several sensors to create a map of your house which eliminates spots that are missed and slow durations. You can also make use of this app to label certain areas or choose a "room-size cleaning" that can balance suction power and run time.
The s9+ is a powerful vacuum cleaner that can reach into carpets and pick up pet hair as well as large particles. It did well at navigating obstacles and maneuvering around furniture, but it missed a couple of pieces of salt from kosher in the corner of our test floors with carpeting. It can be controlled via an easy-to use app or voice commands from a smart speaker connected to the device. The app lets you define a schedule for daily or weekly cleaning and alter the power settings to achieve the best results. The s9+ comes with an automatic dirt disposal system, which means you don't need to empty it. The app will also notify you when the container is full.
2. IRobot Roomba i7+
The i7+ Roomba robot is one of the best. It comes with self-emptying cleaning technology that allows for weeks of hands-free cleaning. It also features Granular mapping, which enables it to clean specific pieces of furniture. It also supports Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing you to control it using your voice.
The setup process is relatively simple. The i7+ and Clean Base pair up over Wi-Fi, and you'll be able to take a few runs without vacuuming to create maps of your home. After that, you can start a cleaning task within the app or say "Hey Alexa - vacuum the master bedroom" and the i7+ will automatically un-dock and roll over to begin working.
During our tests, we discovered that the i7+ was able to perform well on hardwood flooring as well as low-pile rug. It was incredibly thorough and left no dusty traces on the floor. It also did a good job of handling the cereal test, where it sucked up a few large chunks and bits of milk that were spilled from the bowl.
The i7+ is a great device, but its battery life of only 2 hours isn't enough for multi-room use. The i7+ also has a limited dustbin capacity, though it does come with an additional bin disposal system.
The i7+ is also prone to getting tangled in long hair or rug tassels. You'll need to manually wash it periodically. The app allows you to monitor the status of your i7+ as well as schedule cleaning time and much more. It even comes with a full bin sensor that informs you when the bin is nearing empty. The app also gives you the option to label rooms, which is a good feature for pet owners or kids with long hair sheds.
iRobot 694
The Roomba 694 is a great alternative if you don't want to spend a lot on robotic vacuums. It's battery life is excellent and is smart enough to recognize when the cleaning is completed. It can be scheduled to run at a set time and will even return to its dock when it's done. You can also program it to run while you're away from home with the iRobot app or an automated system from a third party like August, Ecobee, or Leviton.
The 694 features a bright, reflective black top with matte plastic around the edges, and the green "Clean" button in the middle. A ring of Home and Spot Clean buttons surrounds the button. On the back, you'll see the iRobot Logo and indicators for power and Wi-Fi. It's a compact and light vacuum that weighs less than seven pounds. It's small enough to fit under most furniture, and is suitable for spot cleaning in difficult-to-access areas.
Like other non-mapping robot irobot roomba vacuums, this one makes use of sensors and software to determine its path around the space. It follows an unidirectional direction until it bumps against something, and then it adjusts its route. In my tests it took me around 90 minutes to clean a whole room. After that, the 694 returns to its dock to recharge and empty its dirt compartment.
In my tests of comparison I observed that the iRobot 694" performed best on bare carpet. However, it struggled to pick up larger debris such as rice or cereal. It also had trouble sucking up large chunks of sand out of low-pile carpet. The eufy RoboVac 30C has a larger dustbin and performs better on all kinds of floors. It's also more durable and has lower monthly costs and is more affordable.
4. Roomba i3 from iRobot EVO
The i3 EVO is a fantastic value and includes most of the features that are available in Roombas costing much more. It has a self-emptying bin and uses mapping technology to learn the layout of your home and cleans neatly in rows. It also cleans multiple surfaces at once and has a powerful suction for hard floors. However the i3 EVO doesn't seem as good at cleaning carpeting and isn't equipped with the object-avoidance features of the premium J7+ Combo or the s9+.
Like the i1+ like the i1+, i3 EVO is a pet-friendly model with unique dual multi-surface brushes that adjust and flex to remain in contact with carpets and hard floors, without becoming stuck in knots. Its filtration system traps 99.9 percent of dog and cat allergens that cause dander. It is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant so you can make use of your voice to control it. It's also easy to set up a cleaning schedule and view its battery level and cleaning history and get app updates.
The i3 EVO has excellent battery life and is quick to recharge. It can clean for about an hour and half before it runs out of battery power. This is a remarkable feat for the size of a robot. You can check the remaining battery charge on the base of the robot, or in the irobot self Empty base Home App. It also comes with a handy cleaning time estimation feature that tells you how long vacuuming will take.
Smart maps on the i3 EVO are an upgrade to the maps on the i1, which allows you to label rooms, create area dividers, and select different cleaning settings for each space. It doesn't feature obstacle avoidance, so it could be a danger to objects like toys, power cords, and shoes.
iRobot Q5 Pro
The Q5 Pro is a smart robot vacuum that has mopping capabilities. This makes it a good option for homes with pets, as the mopping function helps in the removal of pet hair and other debris that a regular vacuum could overlook. This model comes with an onboard 770ml dust bin and is compatible with Amazon Alexa. You can control the device via voice commands.
Similar to the newest irobot Roomba s9+, the Q5 Pro is able to trace your home's layout and create an effective cleaning schedule that makes sure that no area is missed. It makes use of GPS as well as internal sensors and an LIDAR sensor to detect furniture and other obstacles that block its path. The result is a fast and effective cleaning system that reduces the amount of passes required to cover your flooring area.
The Q5 Pro's capacity to clean up debris from bare floors is another major benefit. It can remove large and medium-sized pieces of rice or cereal from hard floors with ease, and it also does well in picking up finer material such as sand that might be left close to walls or in corners.
The only difference that is significant between the Q5 Pro and the pricier iRobot Roomba i8+ is that the latter feels more well-made and has more advanced features and does a better job at sealing in fine allergens. The Q5 Pro is a great option for those who are on a budget. It has a longer running time and it can be used with the dock that automatically empty itself. This reduces the need for manual maintenance.