The Good And Bad About Irobot Vacuum

The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums nab pet hair, pure clean robot vacuum lint, and dust from floors before it can settle. They can also avoid obstacles such as furniture that is slippery and staircases.

Most robotic vacuums require maintenance, like emptying (and occasionally rinsing) the bin and wiping sensors and cameras. They also require to be plugged in. Many have smartphone apps for scheduling, adjusting setting and more.

Roomba 980 from iRobot

The iRobot Roomba 980, the most recent of a series of top-of-the-line robot vacuums, is a must for any modern home. This model comes with a HEPA filter that can assist those who suffer from allergies. In addition it has a strong battery that can clean for up to two hours and it will automatically return to its dock once its bin is full.

It also has an option called smart mapping that uses multiple sensors to help it determine the areas in your home that need attention and then create a clean path around them. This technology is very efficient in navigating toys that are left on the floor, or furniture legs sticking out from under things. It also comes with a sensor that can snap Roomba to reality if it begins to move away from its original location.

iRobot also added a set of rollers underneath the Roomba which do not have bristles and are therefore more likely to resist the tangles that previous models. These rollers are also taller and can be placed under low couches or beds. They're designed to make the model more maneuverable on different flooring types.

What sets the Roomba 980 apart from other models of this class, though, is its inclusion of a new dirt detection feature that uses a camera to spot tiny bits of dirt. This is an improvement over the previous version that relied on a sensor-driven pseudorandom cover method to bounce around the room and scrub the area three times, at different angles.

The Roomba 980 performed well in our tests on both carpets and hard floors. It scored very well on carpets with low pile and on mid-pile. It did a good job getting rid of pet hair, however it struggled with the thick and long pet hair that was stuck together.

The Roomba 980 is still one of the best budget robot vacuum performing robots on our list, despite these minor limitations. It's also not as expensive as top-of the-line models. It comes with many of the features we would expect from a top model but does not have all the fancy apps or smart home integration you'd find in other top models.

The iRobot Roomba can be set up in a matter of minutes and is ready for use as soon as you are ready to. After removing the pull tab for the battery and the yellow bin insert from its undercarriage, all you have to do is plug it into its Home Base docking station or a wall socket, hit its large "pure clean robot vacuum" button, and let it get to work. It will return to the dock when it runs out of battery or becomes full of trash. There are also indicator lights at the top of the bin that let you know when its bin is empty, when it needs to recharge, or if it loses Wi-Fi.