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

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).

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.

My floors have never felt cleaner! The little brushes sweep out areas that my regular vacuum never got. It is louder than I expected but is so thorough and efficient that I’m thrilled with it. Further I love that it finds its way home to the docking base for recharge or when the job is complete. So clever!!

We have a Dogo Argentino puppy who is shedding like crazy. Now I’ve owned my fair share of big dogs but have never had this much shedding with any of them. I run this roomba 3x a week at night while we’re asleep and then the night before I do the floors just to save me some time. We have travertine floors and a 3500sq ft house. I just did the weekly maintenance on the device and you can CLEARLY tell it’s working. It’s even picking up my hair, my daughters hair and my sons girlfriends hair. It’s also been raining so the dog tracks in so much dirt. Trying to convince my husband to be me the mop device now! Lol You won’t regret buying this. We do have two area rugs that it goes over and it isn’t the best on the rugs when it comes to the dog hair but is works for the crumbs my 4 year old. I’ve been trying to convince my best friend to get one. She is like me and has a pet peeve about dirty floors. Once the vacuum bag is full I plan to cut it open to really see how well it’s been working but I can tell by looking at my floors that it’s a game changer! You do have to buy vacuum bags and filters. I just had my husband blow the filter off with our air compressor and it looks brand new. If you keep up with the maintenance I think it will last you much longer. The add on’s aren’t expensive tho.

I cannot say enough positive things about this product! We just tore out all the main floor carpet and had new floors installed. I now see everything on the floor and just put the roomba to work!! I’m having issues with the app right now and am starting and stopping it manually until I get our WiFi signal figured out.

At first, I was a bit intimidated. I did not know what I would have to do in order for the cleaner to clean the floors or how much time to do things such as setting boundaries, to make sure it didn't fall off stairs or get stuck. Little did I know that this little guy is actually pretty smart. The process to get it setup was super simple however, the instructions laid out the process to just get the base plugged in, connect the unit to the base and get it setup on the network via a mobile device app, and the vacuum just figures its way based on sensors. Some of my friends have had robot vacuums in the past and this steps is what they said made it very tough to get it up and running. The cleaner and base unit materials seem very solid and do not seem fragile in any way. I am very impressed with the technology and applications supporting this cleaner, such as setting up a cleaning schedule, even when an issue happens such as a jammed brush, the application alerts you and provides you instructions on how to look/repair the cleaner or reporting on the areas in the house it cleaned. (I have had a few problems with the dust ports getting clogged and not able to empty it in the base unit which requires manual intervention, however the fix is fairly simple.) This set of parameters gave me confidence that, even if there was an issue, that I could do some entry level diagnosis and fixing to get it back on track. As a dog owner it is a constant battle on keeping the floors clean with hair but this cleaner does a very good job at cleaning the floor. Something that I didn’t realize it would do is that it even it will go under furniture as its slim design is very accommodating. Overall this product is super solid and comes in very handy when trying to maintain clean floors with pets and kids. I highly recommend it due to its very intuitive fixing guidance and its slim compact build.