The laser-nav bots also tend to bump into less stuff than the Roomba bots do and complete their jobs faster as a result. However, we still predict that Roomba bots on average will last longer than any of their competitors and work better at getting hair out of rugs. They’re more than a toy or a novelty item, and they can be a valuable floor-care tool in most homes.
The main thing that makes the Roomba 694 stand out from other affordable robot vacuums is that it’s more durable and easier to repair . They generally don’t break, spare parts are always in stock, and you can swap in everything from a new filter to a new transmission with nothing more than a screwdriver. Usually you pay more for the Roomba irobot vacuum cleaner 694 than for our other budget pick, the Eufy RoboVac 11S, or other super-cheap bots with random navigation. But the Roomba bot can easily pay off in the long run because it’ll last longer. In fact, several Wirecutter staff members have owned Roomba 600-series bots for several years and have found them to be sturdy and reliable.
The key is that bots don’t procrastinate or get bored, so they spend more time cleaning, and they clean more thoroughly, than almost any human. Pet owners and people with young kids in particular seem to gain a lot from bots, but many robot vacuum owners have told us that they are amazed at how clean their floors look and feel after they start using one regularly. If you run your bot a few times per week, or even every day, crumbs and pet hair will never get a chance to pile up; the mess is gone before it becomes a nuisance, with very little effort on your part required. In addition to an effective cleaning routine and a carpet boost, it has a long-lasting battery time and a large dustbin.
The navigation was a little clumsier, and some of the details—including the translation in the app, manual, marketing materials, and even the voiceovers from the bot itself—lacked polish. In owner reviews, the main complaints about the bot included glitchiness, an unstable app, and poor customer service. While the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO is better at cleaning, the Roborock Q5 is smarter. Equipped with a superior mapping system that can irobot vacuum cleaner store multiple maps for different levels of the home in both 2D and 3D, the Q5 also has an easy-to-use app and responds well to voice commands. It cleans admirably , moves fast, and steers clear of larger obstacles. The dustbin on the i3 EVO is smaller than those on some other bots at this price, but the upgraded Roomba i3+ EVO comes with a dock that automatically empties the bin when it’s full or at the end of a cleaning session.
For instance, if there are crumbs under the kitchen table, users can tell their Roomba to “clean under the kitchen table.” Areas of the home where children or pets might be playing can be set as “off-limits” areas. The vacuum’s “clean map reports” allow the user to see where the Roomba cleaned and for how long. Since iRobot has several models, it can be difficult to choose the best Roomba to suit your needs. Sometimes a hands-on test is a helpful way to truly know what works in a home, so we tested some of the most popular models in a home environment to find out which ones are the best.