How Roomba’s $1,000 robot vacuum handled my house of children and pets

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Roomba Combo j9+ is a $1,400 two-in-one robotic vacuum and mop that makes use of a retractable mop head. It’s $400 off on the time of writing.
• Its biggest enhance comes with the Clear Base, which can now mechanically refill the water tank.
• The mopping attribute is solely passable when tasked with massive messes, notably as compared with rivals with twin oscillating mop heads.

The Roomba Combo j9+ has made its methodology into my rotation of robot vacuums — and let me let , I’m very impressed. It’s shiny and has a up to date look and feel, and iRobot went out of its strategy to restore the shortcomings of the sooner Combo j7+. Primarily probably the most notable attribute is the Clear Base’s Auto-Fill Dock, meaning the robotic can merely return to the docking station each time it should refill its clear water tank.

Moreover: The best robot vacuum mops you can buy

The Combo j9+ is meant to be iRobot’s finest robotic however, utilizing iRobotOS to map your property seven events faster than sooner than. The robotic can mechanically label your map with as a lot as 90% accuracy, protect its P.O.O.P. (Pet Proprietor Official Promise) guarantee, and attain that far more. I cherished my Roomba j7+ ultimate yr, nonetheless was left wishing for further with the Combo j7+. I now actually really feel as if the two worlds have collided effectively with the Combo j9+.

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Straight out of the sphere

I just like the high-end look and feel of the Roomba Combo j9+. The robotic blends in fantastically with my furnishings and isn’t a machine that I’d tuck away in my laundry room or office so guests don’t see it. It’s bulkier than its predecessor, nonetheless that’s because of this model has a sturdier, refillable water tank, a drawer that holds the removable mud bin, and storage on the inside to take care of additional mop pads. The trade-off is correctly value it.

The robotic has a relatively straightforward setup course of. You will have to find a acceptable place in direction of a wall near an outlet, get the Clear Base plugged in, and align the robotic with the charging port. Pair the gadget with the iRobot companion app and likewise you’re all set.

Moreover: The best robot vacuums, mops, and mowers from CES 2024

Subsequent, the mapping run. With the app up to date, it took only some minutes for the robotic to find out my dwelling’s construction. The robotic caught to the partitions and edges of the furnishings, used AI to aim to foretell the place the rooms had been divided, after which labeled them accordingly. I solely need to make a few tweaks to the mapping, so it was often reliable. In case you already private an iRobot gadget and also you’ve acquired created a map of your property, you could swap the map from one gadget to a distinct throughout the iRobot app.

How does the Combo j9+ perform?

After I first examined the robotic, I decided to run it merely hours sooner than web internet hosting my family for Thanksgiving, because of who wouldn’t dwell life on the sting? One issue I immediately noticed was how for for much longer the robotic took to clean my dwelling than my earlier j7+ model. That isn’t basically a nasty issue.

The Combo j9+ cleans in smaller, shorter passes versus the longer passes of the j7+. In strategies, this lets the robotic clear at a finer tempo. To supply you an considered how for for much longer it took, the j7+ can clear my entrance room in 14 minutes whereas the Combo j9+ takes half-hour. This isn’t an unlimited deal if you happen to’re merely cleaning a room or two, nonetheless it positively made a distinction as soon as I used to be cleaning my complete dwelling. 

Moreover: The best robot vacuums: Expert tested

The most important distinction and most notable enhancements embody the Clear Base. The Roomba Combo j9+ can now mechanically refill its clear water tank, fixing my biggest gripe with its predecessor. I not must babysit the machine; the Combo j9+ is that self-sufficient. The water tank itself feels sturdy and holds a considerable amount of cleaning reply sooner than it should be refilled.

The Clear Base moreover permits the Roomba j9+ to self-empty as wished, storing the grime and particles throughout the disposable bag for about 60 days. Your mileage will vary with this attribute; my dwelling with pets and children will certainly be dirtier than any person’s dwelling of two. 

Merely as spectacular is how quiet the Combo j9+ self-empties. It’s noticeably quieter than any of the sooner Roomba models; I can run the Combo j9+ whereas my toddler sleeps, with out worrying that the suction from the auto-emptying will wake him up. I’m unable to emphasise adequate how so much I like this attribute. I can reset my principal dwelling areas throughout the night time whereas getting my vacuuming and mopping completed. It’s a very engaging attribute and important for people with little ones.

Vacuuming effectivity

For what it’s value, vacuuming has on no account been an issue for the Roombas I’ve examined. My home is repeatedly tormented by grime, particles, pet hair, meals crumbs, and additional, and I’ve been impressed time and time as soon as extra with the suction performance of these robotic vacuums. Pet hair is cleaned up successfully, my rugs and carpets have pretty vacuuming traces, and the realm beneath my consuming room desk stays crumb-free. 

Moreover: This one feature could revolutionize the way robot vacuums and mops work

With the Combo j9+, you could choose to have the robotic vacuum or every vacuum and mop. In case you ship the j9+ to a room with merely carpet, it come what may is conscious of that may in all probability be performing a vacuum-only job. Plus, obstacle avoidance is fairly reliable. My cords, pet toys, stray footwear, and the whole thing in between are always left untouched.

Mopping effectivity

The Clear Base liquid container is supplied to take care of iRobot’s approved liquid cleaning solution, in order that’s the solely liquid I put throughout the refillable container. I select this over merely using water because of my flooring require one factor a bit of additional extremely efficient.

Whereas the Combo j9+ is not going to put your native deep cleaning service out of enterprise, it is able to protect flooring wanting tidy adequate. All through testing, I noticed the longer I went with out manually mopping, the additional streaks I seen left from the robotic. The j9+ applies merely adequate stress to wipe off most stains, grime marks, and completely different messes, so I’ve felt comfortable with letting it clear the house all through the week, whereas I manually mop on the weekend.

ZDNET’s purchasing for advice

I’m completely impressed with the upgrades that acquired right here to the Roomba Combo j9+ from the sooner model. In case you’re like me and would possibly get the heavy-duty mopping completed on the weekends, this machine goes to take care of your flooring clear in between these deep cleanings. In a house filled with pets, children, and the whole thing in between, that may be a big win for me.

It positively helps that iRobot loves to run product sales, notably throughout the vacations, and I’ve seen this model routinely drop beneath the $1,000 worth stage (from $1,400).