Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’ve had my Roomba robot vacuum for about three years now, and it’s still working perfectly. It has been very reliable and consistent, making daily cleaning so much easier. I love how it saves me time and keeps my home clean with minimal effort. Definitely a great investment and a product I truly love.

First time owing a roomba and i am more than impressed how how well it cleans up it saves me time while i do other things. I can turn it on before i get home from work and clean floors.

As a WAH mom/wife; this saves me so much time with keeping things organized and tidy without tiring myself up!

Works pretty good, would definitely recommend to anyone who needs help cleaning around the house. Was definitely hard to setup first but once we figured it out works like a charm

This one is extremely helpful. I have it on an automatic schedule 3 times a day and it makes my life so much easier. Extremely helpful if you have pets that stay indoors.

clean, easy to install, remote access, rechargeable

Very helpful .. work smarter not harder, indeed! Im loving it

I was looking for a budget friendly robot vacuum for our 2nd floor which is bedrooms and has mostly hardwood flooring with a few rugs. We’ve got a small maltipoo dog, who though doesn’t shed as much, manages to carry the outside in with him every walk. We’ve got a robot vacuum on our first floor that does an okay job at keeping the floors clean but have noticed the collecting dust bunnies on our 2nd floor and our lack of consistency in running the vacuum to banish them. Thus, the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop enters! We didn’t need anything too complicated with dozens of features but at least smart enough to not take a tumble down the stairs. Pros: - Easy to use and maintain. - Cleans the floor thoroughly! - Navigates around well. Cons: - Lack of clear pre-use instructions. - Could have improved route tracking. - Runs into walls and objects hard. Initially, I had high hopes that the setting up of the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop would be simple as the first thing you see when you open the box is a QR which leads to the iRobot App. But, after setting up an account, the App instructions skipped quite a few initial steps from setting up the charge station to attaching the sensor brush. I did find these steps outlined in the Owner’s Guide that can be downloaded from the App. The App completed the rest of the setup flawlessly, from pairing with the Roomba, connecting with the WiFi, and providing the Dustbin and Mop pad setup instructions. I didn’t find steps to be all that difficult to figure out, but this isn’t the first robot vacuum I’ve set up. Overall setup requires taking the iRobot Roomba out of the packaging, attaching the guide brush, and plugging the charging station. Then position the device on the charging station to begin charging. If you want to use the mopping functionality, you just attach the mop pad and fill up the water reserve. iRobot includes 2 mop pads, so you can have one on hand to replace the used one. The actual prep is very simple, but the provided directions are lacking in specific steps. The Roomba can be triggered through the iRobot app with a limited number of options, but I found just pressing the button on the robot more convenient. I’d usually check the dustbin from the last run, refill the water tank and swap out the mop pad then press the start button on top. This kept me in the habit of maintenance before each use such as emptying the dustbin, pulling off the collected hair from the moving parts, and checking the mop pad. When the mop pad was dirty, I’d mostly handwash with mild soap and air dry so it would be ready by the next use, but I also just as easily tossed it in a load of laundry depending on the day’s chores. Additionally, if you want to end the Roombas activity early, just tapping the little house icon, or home button, will stop its current activity and send it home. There is a spot clean button, which will have the Roomba spiral out in 3 feet and clean the area to end in the same spot it started, but I didn’t find that as useful as just running it once per day. The iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop cleans efficiently on both hard flooring and carpeting. After the first use, I noticed a major difference on the rug in the hallway. While running, the iRobot Roomba follows a pattern of cleaning that is very efficient, covering all the floor while navigating around objects and obstacles mostly without issue. The only issue I found was with the bathroom mats or any cloth that could bunch up, the iRobot Roomba tended to get stuck on these items if they were initially flat but as it rolled over would bunch up. This is more of a User Error issue than iRobot fault, one of the pre-steps is to pick up loose items or block off rooms you do not want the robot to go into. Closing a door or putting something in the way to block off an area was effective enough to stop the issue from happening again. One of the bigger issues I had was that the iRobot Roomba got stuck under a bed, multiple times, and in the same spots. Might be more User Error, but in both cases the Robot was unstuck/de-clogged and moved to a different part of the room, only to start up again and head right back towards the obstacle it had just been defeated by. It would be convenient if the iRobot App had some kind of mapping or learning feature where the Roomba would learn the routines that worked and avoid obstacles or objects that would cause it to encounter an error. Maybe it does in fact have this but needs more time to learn the route. The only other issue I noticed was just how hard the iRobot Roomba would bump into the wall and objects such as tables or bedframes. At times it would surprise me from the other room as it rammed into a wall with an audible thud through the wall. Only time will tell, but at least I can say there are a few rooms I will be leaving closed for the time being to avoid issues or surprises. The iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop is a great choice if you’ve got a combination of carpet and hardfloors that you want to have cleaned on the regular by robot that will have a high rate of successful navigations without your intervention. The initial setup process could use a little more polishing but it’s not too complicated and there is additional documentation available. Additionally, with the MSRP around $275, this robot is on the more affordable end of options with plenty of features that work as advertised. This is a solid choice to make your home feel more comfortable and cleaner, while saving you the time and effort of manually cleaning!

Bought this online on the app and sadly I didn’t even get the chance to test this out It came in as an open box item which did not say in the item description when purchased and when I took it out the box pet hair and A LOT of dust came off of it it I was disgusted to say the least! Took it back to the store and they said they will send me a new one and here I am 2 WEEKS later and have not received it yet!! It says order is delayed. Honestly I am very disappointed and don’t understand how they do not inspect an item before taking the return from a customer and sending it to another!

The iRobot Roomba essential combo is simply that, just the essentials when it comes to everything for an automated vacuum. The iRobot Roomba Essential combo does some things really well and falls short in a few areas, however I think it was made/designed this way for a reason. This is a product that is simple and easy to use and gets the job done. While being a smart vacuum it can be used without an app with the physical buttons Clean, Home and Spot clean. What the Roomba Essential does really well is clean, the vacuum picks up just about anything that comes in front of it on hard surfaces(on super furry rugs it doesn’t work at all) and I have had no issues with its suction power. The Essential Combo was even strong enough to push over smaller items when cleaning an area. It does well when transitioning from tiled floors to rug and almost seemed to have a hop to it so it could make the transition. What really got my attention was how long this vacuum worked without having to return to its power station (it easily went an hour and 15 min while still having 50% battery remaining). The mopping function works well also the only thing you need to do is make sure the pad it presoaked before adding the attachment. Cleaning the dustpan or adding/removing the mop attachment is easy. There is even a small brush that is attached to the dustpan to get any small items that don’t fall out. The app for the vacuum is easy to understand and gives you all of the essential information. I did notice that on the IOS app you get a bit more information than the android version, however both work just as well. While the iRobot does a really nice job cleaning/mopping it does fall short in certain areas. The application is very limited and is a hit and miss when it comes to mapping and has glitched on me a few times. There is no way to add areas to vacuum, all you can do is set how long you want the job to go for. This was one of the biggest short falls of the vacuum since you can’t send it to a particular room of your choice. Since the mapping is a hit and miss it does take a while to know where the home station is, thankfully the battery life is amazing so you don’t have to worry about the battery hitting 0% before it gets back to the home base. The obstacle avoidance isn’t the best and just like the mapping is a hit and miss. Overall the iRobot vacuum does a really good job when it comes to cleaning and most of the issues I had are with the software and the missing features are usually for the higher end products in the automatic vacuum cleaners. I was impressed with how well it cleaned and mopped it would be a great entry spot for anyone looking for a automated vacuum.

I recently got the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop for my home, and have used it for about a week now and have had a mostly positive experience, along with some little annoyances. The convenience of the Roomba is a nice addition to the home. With just the push of a button, a simple voice command to my smart assistant or scheduling it to run in the iRobot app the Roomba will vacuum and mop throughout my home, picking up dirt, dust, and debris on both hard floors and carpets. The intelligent navigation system allows the Roomba to map out my home's layout, though it did have some issues with running over a random foam block causing it to get stuck, getting caught under an awkward piece of furniture, getting tangled up on the cable cord and dragging a shag rug. So, I do recommend monitoring it the first couple of runs throughout your home. What sets the Roomba Combo Essential apart from other robot vacuums at this price point is its dual-functionality as both a vacuum and a mop. The vacuuming performance is decent, with strong suction power that lifts and removes dirt and pet hair from the floors. The mop attachment provides a nice thorough clean, leaving my hardwood floors clean and streak-free. The mop attachment comes with two mop pads that are velcroed to a plastic bracket and if you don't want the Roomba to mop, just remove the attachment and it will only vacuum. I found the best aspect of the Roomba is its ability to get under those hard to reach places that you can’t get at with a standard vacuum. The iRobot app is where you control and set up the Roomba. Setup is super easy, just follow the step-by-step guide and connect it to your WiFi and you’re good to go. The app is very user-friendly when it comes to the features and customization options that the Roomba Combo Essential offers. The iRobot Home app allows me to schedule cleaning sessions and has a feature that will only run when I’m not at home. You can set cleaning preferences if you want to use the mop or just vacuum, which allows me to keep my place clean even when I'm not around. I do wish I was able to see a real time heat map of where the roomba is currently in the house, but you can only see the heat map after it has completed its job. In terms of maintenance and upkeep, the Roomba Combo Essential is a breeze to clean and maintain. The dustbin and mop reservoir are easy to empty and refill. Roomba does recommend you change the brush and filter every 6 months. The dust bin is on the smaller size, so I recommend emptying it after every 2-3 cleans. Also at this price point, I do wish the docking station came with an automatic dustbin disposal. Overall, the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential Robot Vacuum & Mop is a good automatic Vacuum in terms of performance, convenience, and versatility. That being said, I do not think it will 100% eliminate your need for a standard vacuum, where you will still want one for those immediate spills, big homes with multiple floors, and especially if you have more than one animal that sheds. Just go into viewing the Roomba as a partner to the standard vacuum, where it cleans those tricky areas that you can't get to and just keeps your home tidy. Pros: Convenient and hands-free cleaning with intelligent navigation. Dual-functionality as a vacuum and mop for comprehensive cleaning. User-friendly app for scheduling, customization, and monitoring. Suitable for both hard floors and carpets with strong suction power. Cons: May struggle with very high-pile carpets or shag rugs. Some may prefer a larger dustbin for less frequent emptying. Docking station does not have an auto empty dustbin Not for big homes.

--- SETUP --- The setup for this iRobot machine is quick. There are just a few components in the box: The bristles, the mop connector, the charging base and cable, and the iRobot itself. Connecting everything is self explanatory. A QR code will take you to the app you need to install. The same QR code can be used again within the app to find the unit that you have for setup. You will need 2.4ghz WiFi to be able to use it. My unit came almost fully charged. It was ready to vacuum within 30 minutes of setup. --- FEATURES --- Combo vacuum and mop. Set and forget schedule with app, notifications of errors, self-return to charge. --- EXPECTATIONS and PERFORMANCE --- This Roomba unit is a great way to keep your place tidy on a daily basis. I have set mine up for a daily vacuuming and once a week on Saturdays, I let it mop. To mop, you do have to fill the receptacle with water and damp the cloth that you connect to the roomba. Before mopping, I drop a little bit of Fabuloso on the ground and let the Roomba mop over. It leaves a nice fragrant scent and looks amazing. The Roomba does a marvelous job of reaching areas that I don’t frequent myself. It’s also so low, that it easily goes under furniture. I set it to clean the last hour before I go to sleep. This way, if it gets stuck, I am home to help it. It is recommended that you don’t have small area rugs when mopping. I closed the doors that I don’t want the Roomba to enter when mopping, like carpeted areas. I do let it go over a rubber mat that I have near my elliptical, and it has no problem getting on top of the mat, nor circumnavigating the elliptical. The robot has a speaker and will speak things it needs to communicate. For example, if it gets stuck, it will say the error # and for you to check the app for more details. Though the Roomba does go around the entire path I set it on, occasionally, it doesn’t fully pick up all debris and trash. It’s not a major deal breaker, it makes it easier for me to just do spot vacuuming as needed. I thought it important to mention to set your expectations for this product. --- APPROVAL --- With every robot vacuum, it is expected that you have clear paths for it to travel on. As such, I recommend this Roomba for people who keep their floors clear of things like clothing, shoes, backpacks, and other miscellaneous things that may be left on the floor.

The Roomba Combo Essential (RCE), despite being a “budget” entry model still manages to include a mop, a nice value-added from previous entry-level models. The mop feature is limited in functionality and effectiveness, for sure, but it’s nice to have rather than not. More important, the RCE’s core vacuum performance is impressive. In this light, it is a five-star product, though not without weaknesses. To be clear, you get what you pay for here, but, used in the right scenario it’s a great solution and is a terrific addition to my cleaning arsenal for sure. ABOUT THE MOP & MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT I’ll start with the mop since it’s the RCE’s “headline” feature. My conclusion on the mopping feature is, while useful, is a bit of “jack of all trades, master of none.” Its Achille’s heel is the mop pad mounts on the bottom of the RCE and is always in contact with the floor. On the other hand, most of its more expensive “smart” siblings lift the mop when going over areas that shouldn’t get wet. This is not a complaint, just something to understand about how the RCE works. Moreover, according to the user manual, only cold water is safe for use in the mop’s tank. That’s fine for a daily tile touch up, but it’s is a no-go if you want to disinfect. By example, my main level, where RCE lives, is an open floor plan with tile in the kitchen and hardwood and rugs in the family room/dining area. This makes scheduling the RCE for auto-starts here limited to vacuum-only since I wouldn’t want to wash my hardwood without the ability to immediately dry them and also, obviously, don’t want to get my rugs wet. So, in my situation, to mop my kitchen with the RCE I have to block it off with a few cases of sparkling water. Of course, if you have a less open floorplan you can just close doors. The mops itself works as advertised and is good for freshen-up, but not a deep clean. Disclaimer: this is the first robot mop I’ve ever used so I have no personal benchmark to compare the RCE’s mopping effectiveness against other robot mops. It’s probably unfair, but I have a stick-vacs with mop attachment and a steam mops, so that is my yardstick here. The positive of the RCE, and something my other mops can’t do, is vacuum and mop simultaneously. That’s the real value for the RCE’s mop. It’s a huge time saving function even if it’s not a mopping genius. In standard vacuum/standard mop mode it picked up 90% of typical kitchen debris – tiny bits of wrappers, food, and dust. Especially helpful was its attention to the baseboard areas, which are awkward for any vacuum. What RCE wasn’t able to handle was stubborn dried sauce and drippings. My steam mop and stick-vac mop can easily erase these messes with just a little pressure. The RCE ran over those like they didn’t exist. I wanted to give the RCE the benefit of the doubt so I ramped up the mop to “ultra” and vacuum to “extreme” and ran the routine again. No change at all. The dried stains remained. I wasn’t ready to give up so I placed the RCE directly on the stain and pressed the spot cleaning button. Again, the stain won. Based on these initial experiences the mop function isn’t something I see myself using much since I have a stick vac mop accessory too. Maybe if I had doors to close off my kitchen from the rest of the floor I’d use it for a quick unattended clean. But having to physically block off the kitchen to mop, well, it will be less work and quicker for me to just use the stick vac mop. I might use the RCE’s mop when I need to multi-task and short on time; the RCE can mop while I’m doing other things. ABOUT THE VACUUM & MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT (including set up). Before I get into vacuuming, a quick walk though on the setup experience. Supplied accessories include a home dock/charger, power supply, mop attachment with washable cloth, and one extra cloth. There is also a small brush to clean the roller that stores on the bottom of the RCE. (Cat or puppy chauffeur is optional. Haha). As with so many appliances these days, an app with a questionable “privacy policy” is required for set up. Using the iOS app, I was required allow Bluetooth and Wi-Fi with “precise” GPS location. I tried using general GPS location but that was a no-go. From there the app connects to your home network and minutes later your Roomba is ready to use. I’m guessing the requirements are the same when using the Android app. The app features, at first glance, looked interesting to me with configurable specific room “quick starts,” automatic cleaning schedules, and using Siri voice commands via Siri Shortcuts (voice commands are also available for Alexa and Google). After fiddling around more though it appears the RCE model is unable to “learn” the location of rooms like its upper tier “smart” siblings. So the apps true functionality with the RCE is limited to: 1) schedule automatic cleanings generally, but not for a specific room or area, 2) set up basic voice commands like start, stop, go home, for Siri Shortcuts, Alexa, and Google, and 3) adjust the vacuum suction and mop wetting levels, 4) control the RCE (start, pause, go home). I did not see an option to spot clean in the app, only a button on the RCE itself. True to the “essential” part of its name, the RCE relies on collection “dumb” sensors for navigation. When it detects its path is blocked it backs off and goes around it or changes course versus the “smart” models that navigate using a “road map” of your home. I didn’t find this to be a problem since I schedule it to clean when I’m not home and don’t really care where or how it roams as long as it cleans – and it does clean. Incidentally, the RCE’s packaging shows the RCE uses an up and down path but in my experience it starts out that way but as soon as it bumps into an object it goes random. It still vacuums the entire area but it’s not via a predictable route. The RCE roller bar is a combination of soft bristles and a (guessing) a silicone sweeper (see attached picture) so it seems designed to clean the different kinds of flooring on my main level, though I have not done any testing in that regard. If you need to define precise areas to clean then your options are to close the door or put up other physical barrier or look at a “smart” model that has that functionality. To test out the RCE vacuuming effectiveness I took it my bedroom since the floor below the bed collects dust like squirrel’s horde nuts in the fall. To save time I set vacuum suction to high. I closed the door and punched “play” on the app and watched. The room is approximately 300 sq. ft. and the RCE took about 40 minutes to complete (I manually cancelled). One of the cool features of the app is that it does give you a map of where it cleaned, and areas missed. In this cleaning it missed maybe 15% but to be fair most of these areas were blocked by furniture. My takeaway after the cleaning and checking the dustbin was “WOW!” (see attached picture). It was really disgusting, but also impressive that RCE captured all of this. I absolutely love the RCE for the reason it can more easily clean under beds and furniture that is hard to reach or too low for stick vacs to get to. This also includes baseboards which are the bane of my cleaning life. I don’t think they’ve been this clean since the last painting. The RCE’s path looked mostly random (to me) but it did logically concentrate in one half of the room then the other. It also spent more time in areas where there was more dust. I’m extremely confident now leaving it to clean unsupervised – which to me is the point of a robot vac. The RCE was quite muscular in the way it approached slightly uneven surfaces such was the transition strip between the bedroom and bath or the HVAC vent cover. It never got stuck, although, like any vacuum it does have an appetite for cables, so make sure those are out of the way. BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING Battery life is also fantastic. Even on max suction power, after 40 minutes I still had well over half my battery left. From that I think it’s clear the RCE could easily clean a total of 700 sq. ft. in a single charge at max, or even more at standard power. When the time comes to charge, the RCE automatically goes to its charging dock, or you can send it there. There is no fumbling with plugging in a cable for each charge. WHO ITS FOR & BOTTOMLINE The RCE is an excellent robot vac for the money. Most importantly it has excellent suction. The mop part to me, for my home’s floorplan is a bonus. The RCE will supplement, not replace either my stick vac with mop attachment or steam mop. But I think the RCE could be one’s sole vacuum/mop in a small home, condo, or apartment or other space if that space has similar flooring or the user is willing to block off areas when mopping.

PRODUCT IROBOT ROOMBA COMBO ESSENTIAL ROBOT VACUUM & MOP (Y01420) – BLACK SUMMARY GOOD ROBOTIC VACUUM / MOP COMBO – BETTER THAN I EXPECTED REVIEW For a value focused “ESSENTIAL” model, the ROOMBA does a surprisingly good job of overall cleaning. I tested it on a 700 SQFT distressed hardwood floor, with rugs, and 2 dogs. Other than self-emptying, I’m not sure what other features I might want or need. For vacuuming only, I give this model a “B+”. It misses some corners, and does not do a deep vacuum, but it still performed very well. For Vac + Mop, I give it an “A-“. It really did a good job. Some Drawbacks - Slower than others on vacuum only mode (2.5 hours vs 1.5 hours) - Dust Collection bin is smaller because part of the chamber is allocated to water - Mopping is limited to “Water Only”, no cleaners for a sanitizing clean - Not sure it knows when it is full. It was very clogged after 2.5 hours. Some Positives - One of the quieter robot vacs I’ve tested - It is short, so it easily gets under chairs and tables - It managed to get itself unstuck from a tricky spot under a row of chairs - Better than average cleaning with mopping SETUP It eventually went OK, but there really are not any instructions. The quick start guide just says to plug it in and install the app. When I plugged it in, it just started up and took off. Eventually I wrangled it back to home base and set up the app. The “real” manual can be downloaded from the app and that actually tells you how to use it. In my case after I told it my network, I could no longer see it from my phone over WiFi. I could only operate the unit if I turned off WiFi and used my phone’s data plan. THE APP Easy to use, not much to it. Start, Stop, Pause, Schedule. I did not see anything in app about setting up restricted zones or anything fancy, just the basics. RECOMMENDATION As the name implies, it covers all the essentials nicely, especially if your definition of essential includes a web mop. I think it is ideal for a simple layout on a single floor, especially good for hardwood floors. I think in heavily carpeted situations, the small dust bin would become and issue and quickly fill up. In short I recommend this product

iRobot is iconic for its creation of what we now call "roombas". Those little helpers are a staple in many households, chipping away at some of the chores that we all pretty much hate, such a running the vacuum and mopping. Even if we have come a long way, these machines still aren't able to fully replace cleaning by hand, but they do help maintain the floors from dirt between two deep cleaning days. So let's have a look at the newest product from iRobot, the Roomba Essential 2 in 1. The unboxing was a positive experience, the Roomba is well designed and is sturdy, there are soft foam "pegs" on its sides to avoid damage to furniture and base boards (a great idea). Navigation is smarter than the average and the device seems to be able to manage more complicated surroundings better than my other two robots. The suction power is amongst the strongest I have ever seen and the motors driving the Roomba are VERY powerful (it's the first time I saw a Roomba pop a wheelie and I'm not even kidding). Now that we have seen the vacuum function, let's have a look at the mopping. Mopping is not great. In order to use it, you take the dust compartment out which features a soft plastic latch that pops open to add cleaning solution and water. Sadly the compartment is about the size of a shot glass and it's a bit hard to get the mixture right at first. Once that was done, I put the mop adapter plate and slightly wet the pad (of which there are 2 in the box). I pulled up the app and had it start the vaccum+mopping function. I let the Roomba do its thing while I watched a movie. I came back and it was parked and charging (good!). It wasn't until I went to empty the dust bin that I realized that the device had sucked up a small amount of mop water which turned everything in the tray into a wet mess. I think that the way the Roomba runs it's path, it sucks up parts of the previous track it was cleaning as those slightly overlap. I'm planning on trying this again but as of now, I am not a fan of the mopping (even though the floor was very clean without streaks on hardwood floors). The companion app is very well made, it doesn't have too many options in which you'd needlessly drown and the two main functions are right there on the first page, allowing you to essentially start the cleaning in two taps on your phone. The remaining of the app is just a intuitive and easy to navigate with notifications on the cleaning process. That's another clear win for iRobot. This new model comes with improvements and a competitive price point, ready to trade blows with other brands and it might very well come out on top. As I have mentioned above, the only big problem I have encountered was related to the mopping function, which needs some work. Aside from that, be it the suction power which is great, the simplicity of the app or the generally less erratic pathfinding (which plagues most low cost solutions) all offer overall better cleaning results. This is what happens when you care just as much about your hardware as you do your software. I would have given the Roomba Essential a better rating if the mopping function worked better as this is 50% of why you would purchase this device. Nevertheless, aside from that, there is hardly anything wrong with this Roomba and it does do a good job at maintaining your floors from dust and dirt.

One of my favorite innovations in recent years is the robot vacuum. There seem to be many variations these days and this vacuum/mop combo from iRobot is no different. From my experience, robot vacuums have essentially the same setup process. Unbox it, remove packaging, set the vacuum on its base, download the app, and connect the vacuum to your WiFi network. Within just a few minutes you are ready to start your first cleaning session. This Roomba Combo unit was the same type of setup. Since this device also incorporates a mopping function, you have the option to add the mop head or leave it off if you are going to vacuum only. I didn’t have any issues with getting the robot set up or the app connected. What I did have issues with was getting the robot to actually finishing a cleaning session. The first time I sent it out, the robot ran for approximately 2 minutes and didn’t clean enough floor space to register in the app. In reality it was probably only about 2 feet away from the base. The vacuum pulled out of the base station, rotated a few times, moved forward a bit, hit a transition strip between our dining room and living room and then I heard the chime indicating that cleaning was done. I was shocked. I immediately sent it back out. This time it ran for 3 minutes, ran into our dog dishes, which spilled water all over the floor (and the vacuum), and then returned to its base. Both times there were no errors that occurred. The vacuum just thought it was done cleaning. Before I tried a third time, I moved the base out into the open. Originally, I placed it up against a wall, but it was underneath our rabbit’s cage. So, I thought the open floor space might help. Ironically enough, I placed the base directly in front of another robot vacuum. This time, the robot moved off the base, rotated a few times and then shot out across the kitchen floor. “Finally!” I heard the vacuum moved back and forth across the kitchen/dining room linoleum and then it came to the transition strip again. The vacuum bumped the dog dish again, but there was no spill this time. The vacuum paused before attempting to move across into the living room and all of a sudden, the unit powered off. I’ve never seen that type of behavior from a robot vacuum — not even one with low battery. I looked a the app and saw that the vacuum lost its network connection. The app directed me to take steps to fix the issue because “this was not something that would resolve itself.” I did a reboot of the vacuum and then sent it off cleaning again. The vacuum did make it into our living room, which is mid-thick carpet. The vacuum didn’t seem to have trouble moving across the floor, but it did get stuck in a corner three times. I had to pick it up and move it out of the corner each time and tell it to clean again. After about an hour of babysitting the vacuum, I called it quits and told the vacuum to go home. It could not do it. I tried three different times and the vacuum just spun and then got stuck in a corner again. It finally re-docked on the base once I physically moved it to be within about 1.5 feet of the base. I like iRobot products in general, but I just don’t know about this one. I was genuinely surprised at the lack of functionality I experienced with this unit. In addition to the vacuum’s ineptness, the app also seems to lack something. It looks as though the app/vacuum should be recording map data, but I never saw any from my Roomba. I also noticed that there was a large gap of history on the app. As I mentioned, the vacuum tried to clean for about an hour before I stopped it. That cleaning session was not recorded at all. I will say that the space the vacuum was able to clean seemed to be done well. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make up for the amount of babysitting I had to do while the vacuum was running. I feel as though that defeats the purpose of having a robot vacuum.

First, setup was as easy as it gets. Get it out of the box, find a suitable place for the base station and install the app. You have a few options to get it started. The button on the vacuum, start it with the app, or a voice assistant. As far as options in the app, you have vacuum and mop everywhere, or vacuum everywhere. That's it. I put the home base in our dining room. I figured that was a nice out of the way spot. I pressed the button to start vacuuming (bare floor). The first thing it did was move forward a few feet and run into a dining room chair. It then proceeded to drag the solid oak dining room chair around the dining room. It didn't hit it and back off and turn to find a new path as I thought it would. I paused it and placed it on the other side of the room facing away from the chairs and table. It then turned and started dragging another chair around the dining room. I paused it again and moved it to the kitchen which is completely open. I started it on an edge. I watched it the entire time. It started moving fairly straight and went across the room and bumped into the stove. That made it back up slightly and turn. From there, it went to the other side of the room and bumped the cabinet at an angle which turned it a little. It then backed up and turned a little more and continued. Every time it hit the cabinets, it turned it slightly. This made for an erratic path. It just barely fit under the front edge of the refrigerator and it scrubbed slightly. This again caused one side to have more friction, turning it again. After 31 minutes of vacuuming I stopped it. The app showed that it covered 258 sq. ft. However, in that time, it didn't even complete the kitchen. The app also says, "Cleaning error". That's it. No explanation of why or what happened or how to correct it. I tried the mop feature for the kitchen the next day. It was the same story. It mopped fine, however, every time it hit a cabinet at an angle and slightly turned, it got off on the path. It went over the same spots several times and completely missed others. I stopped it and sent it back home, which it found fairly easily. The features section states, "The smart navigation methodically cleans in neat rows, while sensors help it navigate around furniture and avoid falling down stairs." I can't speak to it avoiding falling down stairs as I don't have any, but it didn't navigate around furniture well for me at all. We have dogs and their toys often make their way to the living room floor. It can't sense them and navigate around them. It will just try to run them over. You have to keep a close eye on it, which to me, completely defeats the purpose of having a robot vacuum. There's no way that I've found in the app to map your home, or specify certain areas that you want vacuumed or mopped. The only option for a "new job" is to vacuum or mop a timer. You have 15, 30, and 45 minute times. They tell you that if you don't want an area vacuumed, you should block it off by putting large items in doorways of rooms you don't want it to go in. That's ridiculous! I understand that at this price point you're not getting the best technology, but it shouldn't be so bad that it's dragging dining room chairs around the house. My third vacuuming was the living room. With a couch, loveseat, coffee table, two end tables, TV stand and brick hearth it was running into everything and not covering the area well, so I just gave up. My best advice would be to spend more and get one with better obstacle avoidance and mapping features. You should be able to run it and have it map the house, then label each room and be able to select which rooms you want to vacuum/mop. I will say that the battery life is great. Other than that, I have no use for it. It's just a pricey paperweight.

The iRobot Roomba Combo Essential is their newest entry-level floor solution. This is a vacuum-mop combo, which is surprising to see at this price point. I have used a couple of Roomba’s in the past, and a couple of vac-mops so I had some idea of what to expect. My current basement vacuum is a Roomba J7+, which I really like, so I had a positive outlook for the Combo Essential. Design and Features The Combo Essential sticks to round shape that Roomba’s always have. It measures in at Ø13.0” x 3.1”. The main cleaning path (roller head width) is 6” along with a side brush that picks up dirt along the edge. The top of the vacuum is pretty simple – black plastic with the silver iRobot logo and 3 buttons. The 3 buttons are return to home, spot clean, and power/clean (big button). The power/clean button lights up white when fully charged and pulses white while charging. The front of the device has the sensor array with light, touch, and cliff sensors. The rear of the device is the dustbin/water tank, which is removable. The bin/tank combo also carries the cleaning brush in a little molded spot for safe keeping. Opening up the dustbin compartment reveals the removable filter, which can be washed to prolong its life. The dock of the is pretty small, so its easy to locate a spot for it. It has a built in Velcro strap on the back to bundle up any extra cord length, which I thought was pretty nice. The dock uses an IR emitter to guide the vacuum home. Controlling your Combo Essential is done with the iRobot app. I already had the app installed for my J7+, so this was one less step for me to take. Pairing it with the app was easy and getting it onto the home Wi-Fi was no problem. Compared to the J7+ the feature list was very brief. There is a scheduling assistant, settings for vacuum suction strength, runtime limits, and mop water amount. As far as cleaning presets there is only “Vacuum Everywhere” and “Vacuum and Mop Everywhere.” I thought I would have to start with a mapping run, but that is not an available feature. The feature set is pretty basic and is almost reminiscent of earlier robot vacs that bounced around the house for a few hours before stopping. Setup and Initial Run The setup process was just as easy as my other Roomba. I located the dock according to the guide book directions, and put the vac on the charger to wake it up for setup. I breezed through the app process of adding it to the Wi-Fi and giving it a name in just a few minutes. The quick setup guide gives you details on how and where to position the dock. The whole process is very easy to follow even if you aren’t very tech savvy. I let the vac charge for a few hours, per the manual, before it set off on its first vacuum-only run. I let it run for almost 2 hours before I had it return to the dock, so the run-time claim checks out. The vacuum had 2 instances where it got tripped up in the initial run – it got confused around the base of the refrigerator, and when told to return home it spent a decent amount of time finding the base. Neither of these issues have happened since, so it was kind of odd. Transitioning to mopping meant pulling off the dustbin to attach the mop pad to it and fill the reservoir with water. In the app you can choose between 3 water dispersion levels. Prior to starting the mop run you need to block off any carpet areas because the vacmop doesn’t differentiate between flooring types. You will end up with wet carpets if you don’t block them off. With this vacuum there is no map to configure with “Off Limits Zones” or anything like that. Again, I would liken it to the old style of robovacs that aimlessly bounced around – not much to configure. In the Combo Essential’s case the pathways for cleaning aren’t random though, and it does clean the floor in nicely laid out rows. Cleaning Performance Cleaning is pretty simple – vac or vac+mop are your only options, and you can toggle the suction strength, water dispersion level, and runtime. From there you just hit clean and the vacuum does its thing. It runs up and down the floors in nice lines. There is no small object detection, so you have to make sure the floors are picked up beforehand. It found a sock under a bed on one run and some cords on another. The vac handles the top of the stairs with ease – no tumbling down to the basement. It navigated the thresholds between rooms and handled hard floors, area rugs, and carpet just fine. I have 2 huskies that shed plenty, so I paused it a few times to check how full the bin was. About halfway through I had to empty it, but that’s similar to how I have handled my other robovacs that don’t self-empty. Corners are still difficult due to the round shape, but that is an issue across the board with all the round robovacs. I had to clean out the roller after a few runs to undo the long hair/dog fur combo before it impacted the rollers ability to spin or clean effectively. This is fairly standard for me when it comes to robovacs. I felt like it handled the hardwood pretty well, and it did so without making much noise. Carpet performance on a medium pile carpet was OK. There was still some dog fur and hair left behind that a cursory manual vacuuming would clean up. The run-time is pretty long on this vacuum, which impressed me, so it has the ability the cover the upstairs space more than once. Switching to mop mode is easy enough. You select a new cleaning job in the app and pick the vacuum+mopping option. The mop attachment is a simple pad that attaches to the dustbin. You will want to block off any carpet beforehand. The mop pad is washable, and the vac comes with a spare. Compared to my experience with other vacmops - one that utilized rotating scrubber heads, and another that used ultrasonic vibrating cleaning pad, I would put this down at the bottom just behind the vibrating pad. The stationary pad can only handle so much, which should be expected. It does a good job on surface dust, and water spots, but that’s about it. Stuck on debris, sticky spots, etc. will not be fully cleaned. A cheap steam mop will take care of these issues much more effectively. I will say if you have a relatively clean house that just sees a lot of surface dust then this would be more than adequate. I think someone like my mom in Arizona would benefit from a vac-mop like this. An adult home that stays picked up, big floor plan, mostly hard floors, and no difficult floor messes (just desert dust). Overall, the Roomba Combo Essential is a good starter robovac. I was surprised at how bare bones the feature list was compared to my j7+. I would have expected some basic mapping features like no-go zones or room designation, but I guess the sensor suite isn’t able to handle that degree of floorplan mapping. It does beat out the old robots that would bounce around aimlessly. I really think this would be a good vacuum for someone with a well-kept house already, and without pets that shed a ton. The long run time would be great for larger floor plans. Even though the scope of the mop’s effectiveness is limited it would still be useful to someone that wants to take care of surface dust with more than just the vacuum suction.

This is the second Roomba that I’ve owned. I’m a fan of this brand. Everything you need to vacuum sweep and mop, your floors and carpet are included in this combo. The charging dock is nice and small and I’m loving the slick and sleek black color of the vacuum. However, the microfiber is blue so it shows very quickly how dirty it can get which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I always register all of my electronics. I strongly suggest you do the same. Set up is really easy once you link the robot to your cell phone whether it be iPhone or android. You can also work it via voice assistant, however mine doesn’t work as well as I would like it too, and that may be my problem and not the robots problem, still working on this issue. The spot clean button is really cool especially since we have a puppy who makes small random messes throughout the house. I literally pick up the robot place it in the area of the mess and press the spot, clean button and wait for it to do it job. I don’t use the mopping feature very much because our tile has small grooves, which allows dirt to stay cleaned unless we apply a certain amount of pressure. So the function I use the most is the actual vacuum. Overall, this is a great robot, vacuum and mop, especially if you’ve never tried this brand.

The Roomba Combo Essential arrived in a neat box with everything you need to get started – the robot itself, a charging base, a water tank, extra mop cloths, and a filter. The robot itself is pretty compact, and surprisingly lightweight, which makes it easy to move around if needed. Getting the Roomba up and running was a breeze. I downloaded the iRobot Home App, which walks you through the entire process. It took just a few minutes to connect the robot to my Wi-Fi and set up my cleaning preferences. The app is well-designed and easy to use, even for someone not super tech-savvy like me. But you can also control the robot manually if you want it to tackle a specific mess. Overall, I'm impressed with the Roomba's cleaning performance. The robot navigates my house in a neat pattern, making sure it gets everywhere, but I make sure to remove any cords out of the way, and close the doors of the rooms I don’t want the little helper to get in. Now, one of the things I love most about this Roomba is the mopping function. It has a water tank that you fill up, and a washable microfiber mop cloth that attaches to the bottom. It's not going to replace a deep mopping, but it does a great job of keeping my floors clean. I think it’s great for everyday maintenance. Overall, I'm really happy with my iRobot Roomba Combo Essential. It's a great little robot that takes the hassle out of vacuuming and mopping my floors. The app is easy to use, the cleaning performance is solid, and the mopping function is a real bonus. Sure, it's not perfect – you'll need to empty the bin regularly and keep an eye out for obstacles – but for the price, it's a great way to free up some time and keep your floors clean.