iRobot - Roomba 960 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum - Gray

The Roomba 960 has been cleaning the bottom floor of my house nearly daily since late July. So far I’m very satisfied with the job it’s doing. My wife was skeptical about the value of the robot, but once she saw how much dust and dirt it was picking up from a floor that appeared to be clean, she now uses it daily. We have a dog who sleeps inside the house in a crate and the Roomba has kept the pet dander to a minimum. This has helped a lot with my wife’s allergies as she is allergic to pet dander. Couple of notes from my use - Battery lasts just long enough to complete a cycle through my bottom floor (see picture) - After each cycle I empty the dust bin, remove the filter, rollers, clean all sensors and blow off dust from the robot using a dataVac electronics blower. This takes me about 3-5 minutes as I’ve got my routine down. I usually do this after getting home from work since Roomba runs during the day - I put my couch up on blocks to ensure the entire bottom floor is accessible by the bot. This was the dirtiest place in our house until we started using the Roomba. - 42 completes cycles and the Roomba has found the base station every time - Dust bin full sensor is very delicate regardless of my maintenance routine so I turned on the option to force the Roomba to finish a cleaning cycle regardless of the bin. - After setup on WiFi I can’t seem to get the app to connect until I get off WiFi and onto the cell network then the app runs just fine. I imagine it’s an issue with my router but I haven’t taken the time to trouble shoot why the app is getting blocked - I’ve ran the bot on carpet upstairs a few times and it did a great job, I may get a second bot to clean upstairs. I’ve owned the BotVac connected before and I remember it had issues getting stuck and finding its base station. I don’t know if the new model is any better, but I don’t think I’ll find out because I’m happy with the Roomba. I’m pretty sure the Roomba 980 has the more powerful carpet mode so that will most likely be my next purchase so it can clean the upstairs. The price is a lot considering vacuuming can be done by hand for a lot less, but this Roomba can clean places I can’t and it does the work while I focus on things I need to get done around the house. The extra time saved makes it worth it.

I did a lot of research before deciding on buying the Roomba 960. iRobot sells parts for it's units so they are repairable if needed. The comparisons I read also gave it high marks on suction and pickup. While it isn't the quietest on the market it is no where near the noise a traditional upright vacuum makes! Then the WiFi connectivity, mapping, self-charging & resume, Google Assistant compatibility and grid pattern features all had me sold. I had to attempt to set up the WiFi feature 3 times, even moving it near the router, before it worked but no problems once it's done. I love my 'Little Honey' so much, I'm going to get him a friend to do the mopping!

For years I avoided becoming "one of those people" who has a robot vacuuming their home. I'm the guy who spent a pretty penny for a Ricar vacuum package just last year for our new-build home because I wanted to keep it clean. (I used to sell Kirby vacuums, so I appreciate high suction and reliability). Roombas came up in a recent conversation with my neighbor so I started researching. Most of our home is hardwood with a few rugs. I was spending more than an hour vacuuming traffic areas with the Ricar, and that was getting old. Great vacuum, but requires some effort. I found the 960 was most appropriate for my needs (and budget). When Honey alerted me to a price drop well within my budget I jumped. I.am.impressed. "The Maid" (as I labelled it) navigates most of the house just fine. A few smaller throw-rugs can cause it to get stuck, and I do move dining chairs out of the way each cleaning cycle - but that's nothing compared to the hour+ when I had to navigate the Ricar 1-2 times/week. Coverage is impressive, not completely random. Against walls/edges, under the couch, into and out of a half-bath and surprisingly tight quarters it navigates well. It takes a (recharge) break once before it completes downstairs. The bin is usually full after the job completes, which is easy enough to dump. I love the map! Like an employee coming to you at the end of the shift with metrics on their productivity. Brilliant! I do have to carry it (and the small dock) upstairs as this model is not able to climb stairs. :-) Once positioned it figured out the floor plan and takes care of business just fine - avoiding a trip down the stairs/cliff. Very helpful are the codes (on the phone app) so you know why it interrupted a job (bin full, charging, stuck, etc.) Very helpful is the audible communication from the Roomba when it does get stuck. (I lost it a few times under furniture or in an obscure corner - ignoring it for a few hours so I missed the initial alert. Once you open the app, the Roomba will call out what the problem is from its location which is super helpful in finding it again.)

After seeing these for years and being skeptical, I finally bought this to replace a Dyson upright that died painfully in my front yard. Backstory: We vacuumed the entire upper level of our home with the Dyson upright. When we lifted it by the handle, due to the way it's over-engineered, the weight of the vacuum made the frame flex, which ejected the canister at the top of our stairs. It then tumbled down and about 4 stairs from the bottom, it exploded in a cloud of dust and dog hair. At that point, I was at my wits end with Dyson products (useless attachments, dead batteries, inop functionality, etc). As the smoke settled and my blood temp reduced to slightly below a boil, I took the Dyson and sent it on it's way. 9 pieces later, it was in the trash. I used another Dyson to clean up the previous Dyson's death mess then began my vacuum search. Onto the Roomba. I decided to just do it. So glad I did. I had no idea this thing was so awesome! We have 3 dogs (1 lab, 2 german short hairs) and some cat that hangs around for free food. 2 hours after I cleaned with my other Dyson, I turned the Roomba loose for the first time and WOW it picked up so much hair, dirt, and dust that I felt ashamed of my previous work. See attached pic. No, it didn't pick up the Sbux cup, that's just for reference, which is a "grande". If you're on the fence, just buy it. The waste bin doesn't hold much but enough to fill that cup! Quality is good, noise level isn't bad - I still work and take calls while it's running. If you have pets, don't schedule it to run in the middle of the night as the beeps and running noise will set off your dog alarms. I use it on hardwood floors, area rugs, and a cow hide. It does great on all the surfaces it's traversed thus far.

This vacuum works ok unattended if you have just one kind of surface it the room you want it to vacuum. If you have a mix or surfaces such as hardwood and rags, then most likely you won’t be able to use the schedule function or expect it to finish a job on its own as it gets stuck in the corners or the rags. Also, if yoU have a large rug with geometrical shapes with contrasting colors, let’s say beige and dark brown, Rumba won’t cross the shape pattern from a light shade to a darker shade, thinking that the dark shade is a cliff. It will vacuum the light shaded area for 20-30 minutes but won’t cross into the dark shaded areas. So this product does not work for me on the first floor living room/kitchen/dining area which is all one open space. It works good for bedrooms upstairs where I have 100% wall to wall carpet.

Love my Roomba. I have white tile floors throughout the whole house and live in an area where the earth's element are bound to blow in through the windows, so my Roomba does its job everyday and keeps my floors spotless. The only problem I have is some of my furniture is low and the roomba gets stuck under the credenza or dresser, etc and has to call for help by alerting me thru the app, which is fine when I'm home but if I am gone, it just has to stay stuck until I get home. I also have large rugs throughout the house and Roomba has no problem rolling on top and cleaning them as well.

So far so good. This thing far exceeded my expectations. The mapping is awesome. It did my entire first floor of a large home and didn't miss a spot. It goes in nice neat straight lines and really seems to know exactly where it is going. It is like a little autonomous vehicle running around my house. I bought this over the i3 since it supposedly has a larger dust bin (600ml vs i3's 300ml) and I did't want to spend the extra money on the automatic dirt disposal system and have to buy Roomba bags all the time. This one also includes the IR virtual wall, which the i3 doesn't ($50 item). If you want the option to pick and choose individual rooms, you have to upgrade to the i7 or higher end models. I have only had mine for a week, but very impressive. I just ordered a second one on sale to leave on my second floor. I love how it goes under the beds and dressers. I would have bought one for the basement too, but the wife looked at me like I was crazy. lol The only bad thing about it is that it needs some light for the mapping, so either lights need to be on or use during the day. The i3 doesn't need light, but I still think this is a better value. It also gets stuck on our small bathroom rugs, so I just set them on the tub before vacuuming or use the IR sensor so it skips the bathroom. The i3 is supposed to have more suction, but there is not a lot of reviews since it was just released. The 960 is no longer going to be produced, since the i3 is the cheaper replacement. I did a lot of research on this before purchasing. You can't argue with all the positive reviews. I hope my review helps :)

4 kids+ 2 shedding Cats+ 1 Harry Dog. We Love This Guy. He has become a member of the family. He’s a great guy, doesn’t complain when it’s chore time. He’s always full of energy, but not in a rambunctious way. If you get a chance to invite this guy into your home, you will not be disappointed.