iRobot - Roomba® i3+ (3550) Wi-Fi® Connected Robot Vacuum with Automatic Dirt Disposal - Neutral

I’m writing this review from the perspective of someone who has owned and used the Roomba 690 for the past few years. The i3+ is a huge improvement in every way and the Clean Base lets me set it loose on large areas without having to worry about emptying the bin. It doesn’t have the mapping features of the higher end models, but after seeing it in action and how it handles multiple rooms it’s not something I’m going to really miss. Unless you need to be able to specify cleaning to specific areas I don’t see any reason not to get this over the i7. The clean base makes for a nice dock just for how much more substantial it is compared to my 690’s dock. I have had issues in the past with my 690 not quite lining up with its dock and it just ended up pushing it around for a while. Besides being taller it doesn’t take up all that much more space than my old Roomba and I was able to put it in the same spot. The base does use a bag that says it can hold up to 60 days of dirt. I’m guessing your mileage will vary on that one, but at least the box does include one replacement (as well as a replacement filter), so you should be good for a little while out of the box. Setting it up through the app was super easy and I’ve enjoyed seeing the improvements that iRobot has made over the years. Onto the actual cleaning, I started off using it on my first first floor, which is all hardwood. It’s a single room consisting of a hallway, living room, dining room, and kitchen. It covered that area in 53 minutes the first day and 37 minutes the next day. I did notice an improvement in how much dirt it picked up and the navigation is much more predictable than my 690. It’s also much quieter. It does emit a low hum that seems to be amplified somewhat by my hardwood, but we had no issues hearing the TV while it was on. It didn’t bump into my furniture as aggressively as the 690 either, which was never too much of an issue before, but something I noticed. I also have the Bravaa m6 mop, which can be setup to run after the i3 finishes and that worked as expected. At the end of each job the vacuum returned to its base and was emptied. The base I will say is quite loud when it is sucking dirt out of the vacuum. It sounds like a shop vac. I don’t really have an issue with that, but if you’re not paying attention it might startle you. At the end of the day, picking up dirt and dust from my hardwood was something my 690 did pretty easily. I moved the i3 upstairs to my 2nd floor, which carpeted. Its layout is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a hallway. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the i3 was able to navigate to each room, make trips back to the base to empty its been, recharge once, and remember where it had been the whole time. I watched it stop in the middle of cleaning the master bedroom, drive back to the base in the hallway, empty its bin, and drive right back to where it had been. There was a section of carpet in one of the bedrooms that I thought it wasn’t going to get, but it ended up coming back there towards the end of its job to get it. I know this doesn’t have the mapping functions of the higher end Roombas, but I really wouldn’t know it watching it. I’m not sure what magic they’re using to make this happen, but I’m genuinely impressed. It left the carpet clean enough that I didn't feel the need to go over it with a regular vacuum for a while and it was long overdue for a good cleaning. I will say this isn’t going to beat a good upright vacuum, but I don’t think any robot vacuum can do that. Overall with the bin emptying and recharging (which took about 45 minutes), it covered this area in about two and half hours. I was ready to criticize the i3+ for not having built-in mapping, especially with competing vacuums offering that at a lower price, but after seeing it run these past few days I just don’t see it as that big of a deal anymore. Roombas are still the more expensive option in robot vacuums, but I think you’re getting your money’s worth with this one.

My initial run with this vacuum has been pretty good. I previously owned a Shark robot vacuum which was okay but had room for improvement. The biggest upgrade for me here is that this iRobot vac has it’s own trash bin and empties itself. Much like any other robot vacuum, this iRobot one is pretty standard in design and operation. One big thing I did notice between my two robot vacs is the noise. The Shark was pretty loud. It had three power settings you could toggle between and the most powerful one was obviously the loudest. This iRobot one is pretty quiet which is nice. I have hardwood floors so the noise from these robot vacs is amplified quite a bit. When cleaning my carpeted bedroom floors, much much quieter. When you first use these robot vacs, they need to meander around your place in order to get the lay of the land, so to speak. This one does something so simple yet so effective; it goes in parallel lines. The first time I used my Shark, it went everywhere, round and round, bashing into furniture, etc. The iRobot will logically run in parallel lines and the sensors onboard know when there is a large object in its way. Basically, it learns much faster and logically compared to the Shark. After each run you can view the map it came up with to confirm accuracy, The biggest issue for me is the trash bin. It’s great in that the vacuum empties itself but the biggest issue for me is it is LOUD when it empties the dust bin. The trash bin uses bags very similar to the old school vacuum bags so that’s where all the dirt goes and does need to be replaced. When the vacuum empties itself, it sounds like a jet turbine engine. I think it sounds louder than a normal, full sized vacuum cleaner. It’s loud and it revs much like a normal engine. Basically it spins up and spins down when the trash is being emptied. Kind of surprising how something that small can be so loud. This vacuum has its own companion app as well being Alexa/Google Voice compatible. So far things have been pretty good and this vacuum performs as expected. Aside from the jet engine sound from the trash bin, this seems to be a great home automation device to have.

The Roomba i3+ is a well designed and thought out robot vacuum with the added accessory called the Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal unit, which enables the robot to automatically empty it catch bin, so you do not have too. Let’s first discuss what comes with this robotic vacuum system and then we’ll tackle any remaining features, provide some usage impressions, and end with pros and cons. The i3+ comes with of course the Roomba I3+ robot and the Clean Base®. You get the usual assortment of manuals – one for each part of the product. The Clean Base® comes pre-installed with an AllergenLock™ bag and there is a spare in the kit as well. This will give you up to 120 days-worth of vacuum collection, and the bags are rated to trap 99% of pollen and mold. Additionally, the kit includes a spare High-Efficiency Filter. The Clean Base® is also the Robot’s parking spot and charging unit. Here are some additional features of the robot: • Powerful Pick-Up and Suction – the robot has a 3-stage cleaning system that includes the 10x (vs the iRobot 600 series) Power-Lifting Suction. • Smart navigation – navigates and maps your home via state-of-the-art floor tracking sensors to vacuum hardwood floors, tile, and carpet. • Reactive Sensor Technology – helps the robot know where it can and cannot reach – so it does not get stuck and knows where to go. This combined with its Dirt Detect™ sensors means the robot will focus on the areas that need the most cleaning. • The robot can be controlled from the iRobot Home app – which allows for scheduled operations and multiple schedules, seasonal recommendations, and other options – so the robot works to your schedule. It is also Google Assistant and Alexa compatible and you can get the robot moving with your voice. The setup of the robot is easy and starts with strategically placing the Clean Base® and plugging it in. Next, one downloads the iRobot at home app, creates or logs into their iRobot account, and sync the robot to your WI-FI® network, and then sends the robot on its way. The app will also allow you to update robot and base settings and find your robot should it get lost! The only issue that I have been having it looking at the post job status items - this causes the application to crash on my Android phone but I have not missed this part of the application and I have not yet done proper troubleshooting. Usage Impressions Well, this robot has already found its place in our home. We love the fact that she will startup at 10 am and vacuum the entire lower floor while we work on other things. The robot has yet to get stuck and as needed she returns to the Clean Base® to get a recharge in and then she is off and running again to complete the job. All told it takes her just under 3 hours with 1 hour of recharge time included for vacuuming nearly 1300 square feet. She has already earned her place in my wife’s heart when she stated that she is on the list of items that are now must-haves for our home. The unit retails for $599.99. Annual recommend maintenance costs for - Bags (6/year), filters (6/year), and brushes (1 set each year) are $140. This means the first-year cost of $710 dollars, with annual maintenance thereafter of $140.00 – which is likely to be far cheaper than hiring this work to a human. Overall, we are thoroughly impressed with the vacuum and it has indeed found its place in our home. The fact that one does not have to do much with this device except replace the bag when it gets full is a real time saver. The ability to schedule the robot to run on your schedule allows one to automate the basic day-to-day cleaning and then focus in on other responsibilities and cleaning where the human touch is needed. Despite the app issues, this item is a winner and the app issues should be an easy fix. Pros: Clean Base®, Smart Navigation, scheduling. Cons: the app issues – which should go away.

Love this smart vacuum. Was worried with having a dog the vacuum would not fully clean my home but I am really amazed. I have it run once a day and it dose a outstanding job. I love the fact it has a smart tracking feature and shows me where it was and where it had to spend a little more time with a deep deep cleaning feature. It will not fully replace your standard vacuum but will make it feel very obsolete only needing it for places the iRobot i3+ cannot reach. The vacuum is nice and quiet but still able to retain amazing suction the loudest part about this device is when it empties it’s self and sounds like a jet taking off I may be exaggerating a little but it is loud. With a sales tag this Black Friday of $399 without a doubt was worth it. It may not be as smart as the i7 with the room mapping but again at that price worth it. In conclusion this is one of those moments when I actually asked myself why didn’t I get this sooner.

This is the 3rd Roomba that I have owned and by far the best one so far. The i3+ does the basics...cleaning the floor, but it also adds a bunch of features that make life easier for you. First, setting up and getting to actually cleaning is very quick. From taking it out of the box to getting the Roomba online, it took less than 10 minutes. The directions were straight-forward and easy to follow. One of my favorite parts is seeing the area of the floor that was cleaned. My past Roombas just went around the floor in random and always missed areas. This one actually maps the floor and cleans in small sections to ensure it covers the whole area. Inside the app you can see where the Roomba cleaned and if there were any areas missed (see image). I found the only missed areas was due to something blocking the floor like chairs or boxes. The app also lets you schedule when to clean and will start and empty the robot when done. That is a big plus to me since I travel a lot and may not be able to empty the bin for weeks or months at a time. Overall, this Roomba is quieter than the previous versions that I've owned...that is with one exception. When emptying the robot's bin, it sounds like you have a jet taking off in your house. My wife was on a call the first time this happened and she had to tell them to hold on since she couldn't hear anything. On the positive side, this only takes about 5-10 seconds to empty and worth it if I don't need to empty the bin myself (always feel like half the dust just gets all over the place every time I empty it manually). Eventually I will need to empty the base that collects all the dirt, but at least it is getting stored in a bag and I can just throw that out. Another thing that comes up is the Roomba doesn't always make it back to the base. I have seen multiple reasons for this: gets stuck on something, closes the door to a room while cleaning, just doesn't make it back to the base before running out of charge, etc. I play the Find Roomba game every time I get home from a long trip. Most days, this isn't a problem, but with the old one it was about 25% of the time. So far, the new one has gotten back every time. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the i3+ does a good job of sweeping the floor. The sensor is supposed to identify areas needing additional cleaning and spend extra time to clean it. I haven't had that happen yet, but good to know. I would definitely recommend the i3+ for anyone that likes someone (something) else to do the cleaning for them. This one is even better than my previous versions since it empties the robot bin itself and shows where it has cleaned (see image).

So, this is the first time I've tried a robot vacuum. I really like it, but I'm not sure it's going to work out. Out of the box, the Roomba looks like a quality bit of tech. I placed the thing as best I could per the manual's directions and left it to charge overnight. The next day, I followed through with the rest of its setup. I had a bit of trouble with that, and ultimately wound up having to connect both the robot and my phone to my house's 2.4GHz WIFI band. Once it was fully set up, I was able to switch my phone back to the 5GHz band and control it without any issues. The app is intuitive and has a wide variety of options, though "per room" instructions appear limited to more expensive and intelligent models. First run, I was excited to see it in action, and it's fascinating to watch. It has a pair of front-facing pushbar sensors, and it will gently tap things that it encounters and try to go around them. Unless those things are shorter than the pushbars or light enough to push. Then it just tries to bulldoze over them. It cleans and navigates around furniture rather well, but it tends to smash into the cat's food and water bowls, spilling their contents and then mostly leaving behind a bigger mess. Per the manual, this kind of thing can be avoided by putting "virtual wall" sensors around things you'd like it to avoid, but none are included. It also has absolutely no problem climbing over things up to at least 1/2" thick, like cords, thresholds, and the plywood sheets that I build my relatively delicate Halloween and Christmas train displays on. I don't dock it points for that, it's really kind of impressive. Just maybe not right for my environment three months out of the year. I'm okay with that. But my environment has other problems. My home was built in the 60's and has a weird, semicircular sunken area that cuts through a large portion of the living/dining/kitchen area. The poor robot doesn't seem to understand what's going on. It finds what it assumes is a step, and it's like "Oh, okay, a step. Let me try to find the spot where this stops so I can keep going". But the step doesn't stop. The step goes on for thirty feet, and it does it in a wide curve. The Roomba just seems to have the worst time trying to figure out what's happening, and it does this every single time it runs. I imagine that one of the models with internal mapping features would remember this bizarre, unique, and "charming" feature of my home, but this one spends a large amount of time each time it runs trying to figure it out again. When it gets low on power or fills up on debris, it returns to its base and empties itself. When it does this, it sounds like an industrial shop vac. It's only for maybe ten or fifteen seconds, but it's definitely enough to wake someone up. That being said, the sound is absolutely worth not having to empty the Roomba by hand. As an aside, you know all those videos out there on the internet you see of cats riding these things? That's not my cat. He lives in mortal terror of the thing, and I'm probably going to have to get rid of it for that reason alone, which is kind of a shame because in spite of its faults, the Roomba is just cool and fun to watch. All in all, even though I don't think it's going to work out for me, I'm going to recommend it anyway. Just... maybe avoid it if you've got strangely shaped rooms with weird floor features, or pets that take attacks on their food bowls personally.

The iRobot i3+ was one of the best purchases I've made this year since moving into a new, larger home. It does an amazing job at keeping the floors clean while giving me a break. With 4 pets in the house, I was vacuuming every other day and I could see the light hair on the dark wood floor from far away. Now I don't even have to think about it and the floors are always much cleaner. I would like to add that my cats love following the iRobot around the house when it's working, so it's a great source of entertainment for them, too. :D

The best decision we have made in acquiring this equipment has been very helpful for keep the floor clean, since my wife and I are working all day. Very recommend, we love it.