iRobot - Roomba 981 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum - Black

I love this Roomba! Dragging out the big vacuum every couple days is a thing of the past. Maybe monthly just to get any possible missed spots. The 981 Roomba is amazing at vacuuming carpets and hard/tile floors. Goes everywhere, gets edges, etc. Picks up pet hair without issue. If you have several pets or long hair pets, you may need to dump the bin before it's finished. I have a long haired cat and have not had to empty the bin before it completes since the first time I ran it, but your results may vary. The 981 Roomba completely blew away my expectations. It's a powerful hardcore vacuum that does an amazing job. I love it so much I put googly eyes on it. The app is easy to use and you can schedule times for cleaning if you like. You can manually start and stop it from the app. When the Roomba is finished, you'll get a screenshot of the areas it's cleaned. You'll be amazed at what this little robot can pick up. It's not going to get larger items, it'll pick up stuff to about earplug size. Roomba is not a full size vacuum, and should not be treated as such. However it does a great job, so you may only need to break the big one out once a month or every 2 weeks to get places Roomba just cant reach. There are a couple of cons that made my lady want to rate it 4 stars (I still give it 5 stars because it works that good!). One- It's LOUD. As in you may want to run it when you aren't home. It will ruin your TV watching experience. Two- the filter is small and needs frequent cleaning. I recommend using canned air or an air compressor to extend the life of the filter, otherwise you'll replace them too frequently. Three- The filters are a bit pricey in my opinion- hence using compressed air to clean the filter regularly. Four- Make sure your home is reasonably picked up. Roomba will pull up cords, headphone cables, hair ties, etc and get stuck. All in all, if you're in the market for one, get it. You will not regret it.

I’ve had a few different robot vacuums over the years and they have all had their differences. iRobot Roomba is certainly one of the most well known names out there so I really expect the most from them. This 981 kinda left me feeling slightly disappointed but I can see the improvement in its guidance and attempts at getting tough spots. This does really good on hard floors and probably would do better on a different carpet style. But, it takes the long dark hair of my dog and leaves it in clumps on my short carpet. I feel this is because of the rubber rollers instead of brushes or flaps like others. After five runs it managed to get more of it up, but every time it ran it managed to create a few clumps instead of picking them up. The other thing that is different from others is that there is no screen or anything before the filter, so everything is just pulled straight into the filter. Pretty much requiring you to remove it and brush it out each time you empty the container. Then it has sensors on the inside that detect if it is full that will prevent you from starting a new cleaning job if they aren’t wiped clean from time to time. You can certainly hear when this little guy is working though, especially when it transitions over to carpet and ramps up the suction. You can also see when it detects a dirty spot and continues to go back and forth over a section to try and get something up. But, it really struggled when it came to the dor hair on this carpet. The upside to the rubber rollers is that they don’t get tangled up in hair as much as a brush would though. Overall, this iRobot Roomba 981 does a detailed job in general cleaning. However, if you have a long haired dog and short carpet, it may still require you to use a regular vacuum to finish the job. If it does a full clean on a regular basis it’s still better than taking your time to do it yourself every day. Cleaning the dust bin after each use is pretty much all you are left with.

This iRobot Roomba 981 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum is my second robot vacuum, my previous Shark Ion Robot has served me well. I recently did major maintenance on it by replacing the battery and a few other key parts. However, I decided to get a bit of an upgrade, this is where the iRobot Roomba 981 comes into play. I wanted a more capable robot with some connectivity and manageability via a smartphone app. First thing I noticed this robot vacuum is a bit taller than my previous one, which may make it a bit more difficult to get under some of your furniture, that can be a positive or negative. As for setting up the robot with the smartphone app I had a bit of a problem connecting it to my home Wi-Fi network, but after several attempts (and I a forced reboot of the device) I was able to get it to connect. The app provides some basic functionality, like setting a schedule, showing a map of what was vacuumed and general status. It will also send you notifications when the dirt bin is full. When I first started the unit up, I was surprised that it actually sounded like a regular vacuum, it was substantially louder than my first generation robot vacuum. In addition, the sound changes depending on the surface it is trying to clean. On bare floors it seems to be quieter, as it goes into a less suction mode, when on carpeted surface, it kicks up the suction and it produces a higher decibel sound level, above 70 from six feet. As for cleaning, the unit did a very good job picking up dirt and items on the bare floor as well as carpets. Unlike my previous robot vacuum the iRobot Roomba 981 only has one whisker brush, my previous had a pair. I suspect the single whisker brush does a better job not scattering dirt on the floor (and turns off when on a carpeted surface). The unit ran for about an hour and fifteen minutes, before going back to the docking station to charge, once the unit was recharged sufficiently it returned to cleaning. The recharge period took about two hours, the docking station initially has a green LED when the unit is docked, however it did not stay on which I found strange, as a matter of fact the robot largely went dark while charging. A couple items regarding this unit, there is not a capability to set “avoid” areas within your house using the mobile app, you must purchase a battery powered small projector like tower for the unit to recognize an area to avoid. Seems if you want or need that capability you should purchase the I7 model which is a higher priced model. Overall, I am a bit mixed about the iRobot Roomba 981 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum, it does a very good job cleaning, but seems like if you are going to purchase a model with Wi-Fi connectivity that capability should provide a bit more smarts and more capabilities configured via the mobile app. Pros: - Does an excellent job cleaning bare or carpet covered floors. - Vacuums in a nice straight line and pattern, your carpet will be left looking like a finely manicured lawn. - Good spot cleaning mode - App notifications, if the unit gets hung up on something or the dust bin needs to be emptied and status messages. - Rarely got hung up on uneven surfaces or light throw carpets. Cons: - A bit loud, especially when cleaning a carpeted surface. - No mapping of areas to avoid, the app shows a map of what was vacuumed, but it is really only for show. - Dirt bin is not self-emptying like higher level models.

Let me start by saying that we're BIG Roomba fans...we already have the iRobot Roomba S9 smart vacuum and absolutely love it. When we decided to expand our Roomba stable to include another robot vac for the less-frequently used basement, we thought we'd try a slightly more economical model. Let me just say up front, you will definitely get what you pay for. If you are simply salivating for some iRobot build-quality or brand recognition and you have relatively simple vacuuming needs, the 981 will go absolutely gangbusters on your carpets and flooring and provide you with some pretty stellar cleaning results. But if things are a little more complicated in your home--multiple rooms, areas you'd like to avoid, lots of uneven floor coverings, etc., the 981 may turn out to be a little disappointing. On the positive side, iRobot continues its tradition of providing near idiot-proof, exceedingly user-friendly, and simple in-app setup and informative status indicators and notifications. Getting the 981 online and tied to our account in the iRobot app took less than 3 minutes. The vacuum itself will speak to you in clear language to confirm when it is connected and ready to work. Once you're ready to go, you can use the 'Clean' button on the vacuum itself, use the app or even Alexa to start the vacuuming routine--schedules and routines are also a snap to set up for automated cleaning throughout the week. The app provides clear status indicators when the bin needs emptying, if a wheel is stuck, or if the battery is getting low enough that Roomba needs to return to its charging station before resuming a job--if you have a smartphone replete with notifications from all manner of apps and services, you'll feel right at home with the Roomba. Cleaning preferences in the app allow you to make some useful behavior tweaks such as: 1) adjust between adaptive vacuum power based on detected floor surface and dirt concentration (what iRobot calls "dirt events"), eco-mode (constant lower power with lower noise), and performance mode (maximum vacuum power boost) 2) change the number of cleaning passes for one full pass in larger rooms and 2-3 passes in smaller rooms; one full pass in every room, and two full passes in every rooms. 3) stop cleaning when the dustbin is full or continue a full cleaning job regardless of dustbin contents (I'm not sure why someone would pick this option) 4) adjust whether the vacuum will conduct more careful and focused cleaning along walls and edges or just concentrate on the big open areas Once you let the Roomba Frankly, if you just have a big open space (or several easy-to-reach connecting rooms) and not a lot of clutter on the floor, the 981 is a great mostly unattended vacuum that will give you wonderful results...your carpeting will be exceptionally clean and look like a nicely manicured lawn; cleaning performance along baseboards and corners is surprisingly thorough; and results on hardwood flooring and tile are fantastic. We were positively astounded at the amount of debris and dirt the Roomba picked up on our carpet that frankly just doesn't get much regular use! Assuming the 981 does not get stuck and simply runs down its battery while vying for your attention in the app, it will even automatically return to its base station for a recharge and then pick back up where it left off...definitely a nice feature if you have a larger home or multiple rooms the vacuum will need to navigate. But there are some caveats and issues you should be aware of before springing for the 981 (although to be fair, many of these issues are common to all robot vacuums with this type of design). First, unless you can catch this vacuum on a good sale--and I've seen it here on Best Buy for up to half off--you can get other vacs for about the same price that also come with an automatic dustbin disposal station. We knew what we were getting into when we picked the 981, but if this is your first robot vac, note that the dustbin is relatively small so you'll likely be making several trips to the trash can to manually empty the dustbin each time it gets full. Also, the air filter sits open-faced against the dustbin cavity; you have to bang or shake the filter in a trash can, and maybe even pull clumps of dust, hair, and dirt off by hand, to help restore air flow and suction power. Second, this is not a purchase-it, set-it, and then forget-it affair. These robot vacs require regular "replenishment kits" that include replacement air filters, corner brushes, and even carpet dirt rollers. The kits aren't exactly cheap (currently about $60 for 3 filters, 2 corner brushes, and a set of carpet rollers), so you have to figure at least one or two additional purchases a year into the cost of ownership, especially if you use your robot for near-daily or weekly carpet/floor cleaning. Third, the 981 is loud...enough so that if you're trying to read, watch a little TV, or have a meal, the sound might be intrusive, especially if the vacuum is nearby. Granted, this is a vacuum cleaner so you shouldn't expect it to be whisper quiet, but even the lower-power eco-mode still makes enough noise that you probably won't have the Roomba clean your carpets at night while you're trying to sleep! Fourth, although this vacuum is technically a "smart" device, there are a few nice-to-haves in the underlying programming that did not carry over from more sophisticated Roomba offerings. In particular, this model cannot take advantage of any "Smart Mapping" features such as dividing your home into discrete rooms that can be cleaned separately/independently, or allowing you to specify any custom avoidance zones within a room even after it has been fully cleaned and mapped (you will see a "map" of the areas that were cleaned each time you use it...but you cannot have the 981 return to these maps for the next go-round to do anything particularly useful). When you turn on the 981 and start it to work, it simply cleans *everything* it can reach through its exploration and navigation routines...if you want to skip a room or two, you have to close the doors. And if you have an area within a room you want to avoid for some reason, you'll have to resort to boxes, bins, or even small IR avoidance sensors to create virtual walls that will keep the vacuum at bay. In use, this Roomba seemed a bit less capable than our S9 in dealing with things like area rugs or carpet remnants. One small rug in particular gave the 981 fits as it struggled for nearly 20 minutes to find just the right angle to get over the edge...and by the time it did, the battery had been depleted to the point that it had to return to the home base to recharge. Strangely, the vacuum did not wait until it was fully recharged before returning to the same spot in the room to resume the job--instead, it took off at half charge and therefore had to return to base to recharge again before being able to complete the entire room. Once it managed to get stuck on the corner of a small area rug--I was notified in the app of a problem with the wheel, but the unit continued to try freeing itself using its obstacle avoidance and troubleshooting routines until it completely depleted its battery. By the time I was able to rescue the Roomba, I had to return it to the charging station myself, and then it was unable to automatically return to the same corner to complete the cleaning job once the battery was sufficiently recharged. Still, overall I'm satisfied with, though not necessarily super-enthusiastic about, the Roomba 981. It DOES clean exceptionally well and provides for modestly unattended operation, especially if your vacuuming needs are pretty straight-forward; but there are a number of niggles and a few limitations that make the value proposition of this particular model somewhat suspect, especially in the relatively crowded market of mid-tier robot vacs. Tepidly recommended so long as you fully understand what you're getting yourself into.

Great robot vacuum, easy to setup and use. Its very simple to use and doesn't have more complicated features like the higher priced models. Setup was easy using the phone app. Connected to my home wifi and charged and was ready to go. I like that you can setup cleaning schedules or start a clean up manually from the app. Its missing some features higher priced models have. In example, you cannot create cleaning zones or exclusion zones. It either cleans your whole house or not. It does a good job at avoiding walls and other obstructions, although I had to come help it (it will alert you via the app if its stuck) in example when it couldn't go over a very thick rug I have. Another con is that it does not auto empties its dirt/dust container, you have to keep an eye on it and dump and clean it yourself when it does get full (will alert you via the app too). It does return automatically to its charging station though. If you can get past this small limitations, it's a great cleaning bot (and cheaper than the smarter higher up models). I really like it and the little cons don't bother me. It does a great job at keeping my floor clean of dust (I don't have any furry pets, so don't know how good it will be with pet hairs, but I assume would do well).

I've had a few robot vacuums over the past few years and this iRobot Roomba 981 is pretty impressive and I feel like it does a great thorough job at cleaning. The robot and the app work very well and have a very user friendly design. The iRobot Roomba 981 is a very attractive looking machine with it's brown/green hue on top, and clean looks. The base has a small footprint also, so it can be place nearby an outlet quite easily. The iRobot app I am currently using on my iPhone is easy to navigate with lots of features built in such as wifi mapping, control the settings and job preferences, scheduled cleanings, and a history of cleanings. I also have been using this robot vacuum with my Alexa voice compatibility in my home, but Google voice assistant is also available. The robot vacuum has done an excellent job at cleaning up the debris, crumbs, and hair on my carpeted floors and also my laminate flooring. The dust bin fills up quickly based on how dirty your area is so it requires some frequent dump outs, but it's just par for the course. I like the dirt detect technology on this robot vacuum as it helps to sense and rerun over high traffic spots that have more debris and dirt. The high efficiency filter traps 99% of the allergens and that's a great feature for me as an allergy sufferer. I think the suction power on this vacuum paired with its dual multi surface rubber brushes helps to clean up a lot of extra dirt and dust trapped within my carpets. I have enjoyed using this robot vacuum while I work from home especially. I can set it up to clean the house and I can still be working on Zoom calls while the house gets clean. Efficient to use and very user friendly. PRO: Thorough cleaning on carpet or hard surface Wifi mapping User friendly app CON: Frequent dustbin cleanouts needed

So I think the benefits and drawbacks of these automated vacuums are obvious. The first being that these can obviously clean under large pieces of furniture such as beds and couches easily. Our large sectional couch can't be moved without a great deal of effort if I were to want to clean under and behind it. The Roomba has no issues cleaning under it thoroughly and does several passes. Before I get into the drawbacks I wanted to speak of the raw cleaning power itself. In an optimal pass, it does a great job at getting fine debris, allergens, and other dust particles that embed deep into carpets. There were times I ran Roomba not expecting to find much in the bin, but was surprised to find a decent amount of debris and dust it managed to capture. It can auto-detect when it's on carpet or a hard surface and automatically adjusts the power accordingly. But while it does do a phenomenal job on carpets, hard surfaces are another issue. It was common for me to find noticeable amounts of particles and debris still on hard surfaces. This in large part due to the oscillating brush that is meant to brush dirt against the wall line. Many times that brush would just brush away debris out of the path of the Roomba with the unit never having a chance to scoop it up. It was common for me to still have to broom away areas on hard surfaces after Roomba already completed it's job. Each job took about 45 minutes to an hour. And it is able to squeeze into spots you might not have thought it could. As long as there is space, Roomba will most likely be able to get into for a pass or two. But every time I ran a job it ran into issues that stopped the job in it's tracks. It consistently would get the corners of rugs stuck in its maw and require me to try and pry it out of it's mouth like a dog that doesn't want to give up it's chew toy. And about half the time it just stops a job without any error message requiring me to press restart on the app. These habitual issues where I have to monitor it from time to time defeats the purpose of an automated vacuum. I could potential prep the area first by rolling up the rugs but add that to already looking out for cords, wires, and other items that could potentially snag, I might as well use a conventional upright. Heck, with my upright I can at least clean walls, crevices, and countertops with all the attachments. That's something that Roomba just can't do. So in the end I am impressed with it's ability to clean under large heavy couches and beds, and it's ability to deep clean carpets; it's subpar performance on hard surfaces and it's constant chewing up rug corners or other errors left me slightly unimpressed with Roomba

I own several robot vacuums and have been most satisfied with roomba. It was the first brand I purchased several years ago and still going strong - the battery has not had to be replaced and no parts broken - unlike 2 different deebot models I have purchased since. One of my deebots recently broke (after long and frustrating troubleshooting finally realized battery needed replacement). On another newer deebot, the pins came out of dust bin so it comes apart when removed. I contacted vendor to get replacement pins and was told they can’t give me or sell me them - they told me to purchase a new bin or new vacuum. Therefore this time I only considered a roomba replacement. I will not buy another brand again. I was able to get this one on sale at a great price. This is first time I’ve purchased one with rubber brushes so hopefully it avoids hair tangles. This one sounds very powerful as I can hear and see the strong suction on the carpet. It easily goes from bare floors to area rugs.