iRobot - Roomba Vac 2 Essential robot vacuum + AutoEmpty dock (Q0520) - Black

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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products or points for an honest, helpful review.

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Disappointed

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for 1 month

  This is my second IRobot Vac that I have purchase. This item missing a lot of places and the autoEmpty dock does not work. Also, gets confused and at times unable to returned to the base. I would not recommend this product.

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  Posted 4 months ago by LittleMama

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  It Picks Up Dirt, But It's Pretty Basic

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 1000 Contributor

  The iRobot Roomba Essential Robot Vacuum is an entry level robot vacuum that has just enough features to get the job done while keeping the price low. I’ll go over the key features, breakdown how well it works, and then give you some pros and cons about the vacuum. Key Features: 3-Stage Cleaning System: With 3 stages of cleaning, a multi-surface brush roll and a corner brush, the Roomba does a pretty good job at picking up almost anything. 4 Power Modes: The Roomba has 4 levels of suction power. Automatic Docking, Recharging and Emptying: This little Roomba will automatically return to the dock to recharge and empty itself. It’ll even resume cleaning if it needed to recharge in order to get the job done. Spot Cleaning: The ability to spot clean is also a nice touch. Auto-Empty Dock: The Roomba will empty itself into it’s dock for up to 60 days before the bag is full and in need of being replaced. Ease of Use: Setup: Getting this little Roomba going is a breeze, just download the app, register for an account and start cleaning. As long as you have the robot charged up and on the dock, the rest is cake. Maintenance: I prefer bagless solutions to Roomba’s bags, but it sure does make emptying the dock simple. You’ll need to do that every couple of months, with replacement bags being reasonably priced as well. You’ll also want to make sure you wipe down the Roomba to keep the sensors clean, and use the hair cutting tool to cut off any hair that’s eventually going to wrap itself around the brush roll. App Control: The Roomba app is simple to operate, especially since the control options are limited for this vacuum. There is no mapping involved, so you really only get to choose between starting the vacuum, returning it to it’s dock and what suction level you want to use. You also have the ability to set up a basic schedule for cleaning, which is very convenient. Performance: Cleaning Effectiveness: You have to remember that this is a base model in the Roomba line up of vacuums, and it shows. On hard flooring, the robot does well at almost any suction level, but once it starts trudging through carpets, you’ll want to set the suction to its maximum level in order to get a decent clean. This probably won’t be a dealbreaker for most people, but you’ll get much less battery life and a louder experience with the vacuum set on max. If you’re wanting a deeper clean on carpeted surfaces, I would look elsewhere. Navigation: There’s no mapping with this Roomba. There’s no selecting an area to clean or any sort of intelligence other than some sensors that will try to avoid larger objects, furniture, and walls. This little guy will bump and rub up against a lot of things in your home, so be prepared for that. To give you a comparison, other more expensive Roomba vacuums will give you the ability to have the vacuum scan your home and map it out for you. This allows you to spot clean, set up rooms and areas to avoid, etc. There is none of that in this model, so please make sure there’s nothing on the floor that might be damaged or impeded the Roomba’s job. Runtime: I have an 1800sq ft home with several rooms and the Roomba on max suction had to recharge once in order to complete the entire house. On lower power modes, which might be useable if you have all hard flooring, the Roomba advertises 120 minutes of run time, but I was unable to replicate that. Pros: Effective cleaning for everyday dirt and debris. Especially on max setting and hard flooring Easy to set up and use Automatic docking and recharging Automatic emptying into dock for 60 days Affordable Replacement bags are reasonably priced Cons: A good clean requires using the maximum suction setting Lacks mapping, scanning and advanced spot cleaning Replacement dust and filters are an added cost Overall Impression: The iRobot Roomba Essential Robot Vacuum is a decent entry level robot vacuum. Roomba is a solid company with a good reputation that will be around for a long time, so that’s a plus as well. The vacuum itself doesn’t do great on carpeted floors unless you set it to its loudest maximum power setting. The lack of advanced navigation and mapping really does hurt the unit's appeal. Having a robot vacuum just free roaming your house may not work for a lot of people with pets, children, or just areas they don’t want vacuumed all the time. I think spending a bit more and stepping up to a robot vacuum with mapping would be the smarter decision. However, if you really just want something that’s easy, affordable, and picks up dirt, then the Roomba Essential might fit the bill.

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  Posted 6 months ago by KMed

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Nice Basic Roomba

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  This is my third or fourth roomba. The essential vacuum is pretty basic and reminds me more of one of the older ones I had. This isn't a bad thing; it just lacks a pretty big feature that I like on my other roomba. My other roomba has a way to create a map of your home, then within the app you can view the map and create different rooms. Then you can schedule roomba to run on certain days to clean different rooms. I really like this feature and this essential roomba does not have it. So, when you schedule a cleaning, it just runs around cleaning without a sense of direction. You also cannot use Alexa or Google home to say clean kitchen and have roomba come out and clean the kitchen, instead it just cleans everywhere. I still do like this roomba as its very quiet when running. We had it going while watching TV and it was hardly noticeable. You can adjust the suction strength through the app and I just left it on medium. It gives a good balance of battery and cleaning power. It was able to clean my living, dining, kitchen, and hallway on one charge. I did go back over my rug with my Dyson vacuum and it still picked up debris. We have two short haired dogs which shed a lot and make a mess, so I wasn't surprised my dyson (running at a higher suction) picked up more dirt. I feel the roomba is good for dusting and getting under places that are hard for a regular vacuum. I would not want this to be my only vacuum, but its great at keeping the hardwood floors clean on a day-to-day basis. The auto empty dock is nice, but I hate that you have to have a bag to collect the debris. I really wish you did not need a bag and you could just empty out the bin after it collects it from the machine. I have a few times just taken the dirty bin out of the roomba and manually emptied it in the trash to just avoid having to replace the bag more often. I would recommend this if you just wanted it to help maintain your cleaning after your clean the house. If you are expecting this to do the job your regular vacuum, you will be upset. The other roomba I have works better and seems to have better suction and features, but it does cost more. If you are looking for roombas to be your main vacuum spend some more money and get one that can do mapping as it will make a huger difference. This one will work fine for me to help just maintain cleanness until I can deep clean the house.

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  Posted 6 months ago by apalmo