iRobot - Roomba Plus 405 (G185) Combo Robot Vacuum & Mop + AutoWash Dock - 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, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Make Room For The Roomba Plus 405

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  My Experience with the iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock Living in a 2,300-square-foot home with our dog, keeping our hardwood, tile, and low-pile rugs clean can be a challenge. Between muddy pawprints, crumbs, and dirt tracked in from the backyard are constant, and with busy work lives, juggling work, dog walks, and family life, my wife and I have been in desperate need of some cleaning solutions that save time. The iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock, a vacuum-and-mop combo, promised to handle these messes with minimal effort. After using it for the past week, here’s my detailed take on its performance in my home. First Impressions and Setup Unboxing the Roomba Plus 405 Combo, I was impressed by its sleek black design. It looks more like a modern tech gadget than a vacuum, and the AutoWash Dock is equally stylish, blending into a corner of my living room without clashing with my decor. Its compact size keeps my space tidy, which is important in a busy household. Setup was quick and easy. I placed the dock on my laminate floors, and downloaded the Roomba Home app. In about 10 minutes, the app guided me through Wi-Fi setup and started the first mapping run. The interface is pretty intuitive, letting me name rooms, set cleaning schedules, and monitor tasks like filter health. For someone with a packed schedule, this straightforward setup was a great start. Navigation and Mapping: Organized but Not Perfect After app setup, the Roomba used its LiDAR navigation to map my 2,300-square-foot home. It navigated my living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and hallways efficiently, creating an accurate map with neat rows. I could set cleaning zones for high-traffic areas like the entryway, where my golden doodle leaves dirty pawprints, or keep-out zones around her water bowl to avoid collisions. The LiDAR works well in low light, making evening cleanings convenient as well. One of my friends, who owns a Roomba, stated that they had some issues with mapping during the initial setup, but I didn't experience any issues at all. To be completely honest I was impressed how accurate it was. The robot did struggle a bit with small objects like charging cords or Luna's dog toys, so I had to clear the floor before each run. This extra step was a bit frustrating, as I hoped for a more hands-off experience. Although once the map was set, it navigated flawlessly, sticking to my designated zones. Vacuuming Performance: Great for Daily Upkeep The Roomba Plus 405’s suction power is strong, easily handling the occasional fur from my low-shedding golden doodle, along with dust, dirt, and crumbs on my laminate and tiled floors. It automatically boosts suction on my low-pile rugs, pulling out dirt and debris from my living room carpet effectively. The single roller brush works great, rarely tangling with fur or small debris, making maintenance quick and simple. That said, it’s less effective with larger messes. Random small dog food spills or small pebbles from the yard often need multiple passes or a manual sweep. While it’s excellent for daily messes, heavier debris requires extra effort, which was a littl bit of a letdown when I wanted a fully automated clean. Mopping: Helpful but has a few small drawbacks The mopping feature is a key reason I chose this Roomba. Its spinning DualClean mop pads scrub away messes like dried coffee spills from my daily routines or pawprints on my kitchen laminate flooring, leaving the floor noticeably cleaner than my old manual mop. The pads lift automatically on rugs, keeping my carpets dry, which is essential in my mixed-floor home and was a worry at first. However, mopping has a few minor drawbacks. The pads return to the dock often to rewet, which slows cleaning in my larger home. The single water setting can randomly leave the floor too wet, and I sometimes wipe up excess water afterward, which feels counterintuitive for a hands-free device. Corners and edges are also challenging, often needing a manual touch-up to be fully clean. Note: This did not happen consistently during every use this week, but thought I would at least mention it. The AutoWash Dock: Convenient but a bit Noisy The AutoWash Dock makes maintenance nearly effortless. It empties debris for days, washes and dries mop pads, and refills the water tank for multiple mopping sessions. Its self-cleaning cycle keeps things hygienic, perfect for handling dirt and pawprints. This low-maintenance setup is a lifesaver with my wife and my busy schedule. On the downside, the drying process is noisy and takes hours, so I avoid mopping at night to keep the house quiet. The dock also uses more cleaning solution than expected, which could be a hassle with frequent mopping. Its size requires a dedicated space, so I had to rearrange a corner to fit it, but was not an issue. App and Smart Features: Useful but Glitchy The Roomba Home app simplifies controlling the robot. I can schedule cleanings, adjust suction levels, and use Alexa to start a kitchen run with a voice command. It also shows cleaning time estimates and filter alerts, helping me keep the robot in top shape without much effort. However, the app has issues. It crashed a few times on my phone this week, disrupting schedule adjustments. I also wanted more customization, like adjusting mop wetness, but those options aren’t available. Alexa integration is convenient but took longer to set up than expected, adding a minor frustration. Final Thoughts The iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock has simplified cleaning my 2,300-square-foot home. Its suction handles daily messes like dust, occasional fur, and pawprints, while the AutoWash Dock reduces maintenance tasks. The LiDAR navigation keeps cleaning organized, and the app adds control that fits our busy life. Its sleek design blends into our home’s decor, which is a nice touch. Pros: Strong suction for daily messes AutoWash Dock minimizes upkeep LiDAR navigation maps efficiently Sleek design blends well Mop pads lift on rugs Everything looks and smells great when finished cleaning with little effort Cons: Mopping can sometimes leave wet floors Struggles with small objects App crashes occasionally Noisy, slow dock drying High cleaning solution use Overall, I am impressed with how well it cleans and maintains our home and would highly recommend to those who want to free up some time in there busy life and leave the cleaning to the Roomba Plus 405!

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  Posted 1 week ago by TechSavvy

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Mesmerizing, methodical, but can also be vexing.

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 10 Contributor

  iRobot - Roomba Plus 405 (G185) Combo Robot Vacuum & Mop + AutoWash Dock. It’s been a few years since I tried to use a robot to vacuum or mop our 2800 sqft home. The area to be covered, the mix of hardwood, rugs, and tile actually required a robot team as well as a complex homeowner strategy. This new all-in-one package from Roomba reduces the thinking necessary to create a cleaning regime and allows for one-place management. But, it does require planning and it comes with its own hurdles to cross, especially during setup. Once set up, I was more impressed by many of the elements of the feature set, if not all of them.
 
SETUP: Day 1, the Troubles. Roomba needs some work here. 24 hours later, I could laugh about it, but day one? Issues included a Wi-Fi connection that took multiple tries, an update that failed repeatedly for hours, and a dock with a cord that was so loose I got blinking lights until I taped it down to make it more secure. (iRobot is sending a replacement) There was even a sticker hidden in the robot garage floor I didn’t discover for a few hours. Any one of these issues could have adversely contributed to the others. The app, however, is not informative about some of the errors in the setup, and even when it makes you aware of a problem, it has no way to solve it. 
 
The app is designed to walk the end user through a logical setup path, but when that path is blocked, it becomes unresponsive, sometimes hanging with a blank screen. Other times, it appears everything is OK, but the app requires repeated actions (Create a Map, Begin routines, etc.) when it is actually stuck in an error loop. As you discover later, after the faults are corrected, the app was hiding those next steps you don’t know were available. Reboots requested from the app or even Mapping requests never occur, and do not succeed at the robot though they appear to have been accepted in the app. Day 2, the Successes. Eventually, this all sorts out. Overnight my connection became rock solid, mapping requested using the robot buttons succeeded, and the app now revealed all of its previously hidden features. It’s tempting to say all is forgiven now that it all works, but these setup wrinkles need to be ironed out. I was unable to create the maps I show in my app screenshot. Mapping took minutes, improving greatly on previous experiences I’ve had with earlier robot vacs. The LIDAR technology does not need to touch surfaces, and instead captures obstacles, doorways, or wide-open spaces by scanning areas, not traversing them. The completed maps are very accurate. You can edit maps and assign areas that are out of bounds or need a special cleaning effort. A cleaning history is provided. 

PERFORMANCE: Once you are past the vexing startup issues, using the app becomes enjoyable. There are numerous ways to schedule the Roomba Plus 405’s features by creating routines. The routines are assigned to cards you subsequently select. So, for example, you can assign cleaning to selected groups of rooms, and then decide which features will be employed (mopping or vacuuming) singularly or together during the cleanup session. You can follow the mapping or cleaning in real time if you are really bored. Watching the Roomba in action reveals a well-designed navigation system, maneuvering that solves many home layout issues, and cleaning tools that come close to replicating my own vacuuming or mopping strategies. It improves on some. I certainly don’t methodically circle each bed or chair leg, but the Roomba does. It looks like a curious puppy chasing a toy. The Roomba never forgets to lift the rotating mops when it climbs my area rugs. My rugs stay dry. Vacuuming increases in power on rugs. The spinning sweeper is effective at capturing loose debris on my hardwoods. The moistened mops hold on to dust and leave no visible streaks on the floor. A map of the cleaning routine is created, showing the tight pattern of travel on wide areas, the somewhat more complicated cleaning where there are obstacles. The Roomba returns to the dock at more regular intervals than I expected, but those returns result in a frequent mop pad washing routine. I have not figured out if the the Roomba dock delivers water to the robot during those cleaning forays, other than these pad washing activities. A significant amount of water is involved in a full cleaning session. ISSUES OF NOTE: I covered the setup problems earlier. I found the overall Roomba Plus 405 robotic vacuuming performance to be encouraging and useful. I also think expectations need to match the inherent limitations with robot vacs, which do not reduce my enthusiasm for these tireless cleaning assistants. We have newer area rugs which are expected to shed lots of fibers for a few weeks of vacuuming. These excessive sheddings quickly filled collection bins and interfered with early robot cleaning sessions. It was also a reminder that robot cleaning bins are not comparable in size to manual vacs of any type. The Roomba Plus 405 is a very quiet robot vac, likely to occasionally scare you when it sneaks up on you. However, that docking regime for cleaning the pads, filling or draining the robot, is anything but quiet. We could easily hear it from a few rooms away. Speaking of cleaning the pads, you will want to be scrupulous about emptying the water collection bin with its dirty water. You will not want that sitting around for a few days. A spray of a disinfectant each time you clean it out is a reasonably precautionary measure. SUMMARY: iRobot’s Roomba Plus 405 represents a leap forward from the earliest robot vacuums. The design reflects realistic expectations from end users that the entire process requires less time and effort. iRobot has made the mapping very fast and accurate with much improved technology. It gets better at a higher price point, but this navigation technology truly works well. Editing maps is just as quick and more intuitive. Creating and selecting customized routines is so easy that you will actually do it. Really. Combining a vacuum feature with a companion mopping feature and having it work without a hitch was the big surprise. None of this is to say you don’t still have to be attentive to water changes or vacuum bin emptying. Your robot may clean up after you and your home, and it does a very good job at that. You still have to clean up after your robot. I can recommend the Roomba Plus 405 with the caveat that setup and initial glitches may be frustrating.

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  Posted 1 week ago by TECHBEENGOOD

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  This iRobot is myRobot and should be yours too!

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  The iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo vacuum and wash with docking station. I have owned several models made by two brands of robot vacuums (all purchased with my own money from Best Buy!) over the years and to date the best have come from Roomba's iRobot series. For the last 1.5 years our iRobot j7+ has been working hard keeping the carpeting on the first floor of our home clean as can be! Prior to that it was our iRobot Roomba i7+ which is now upstairs and has been working in our home non-stop for over 5 years now! To say that we are familiar with and rely on these vacuums is an understatement. When I bought the i7+ my wife was skeptical about a self-emptying robot vacuum but after learning the first floor layout and keeping it clean for the first week of ownership she was SOLD! I also bought and gave an iRobot Roomba 690 to my brother and his wife and it has been in their home working tirelessly for well over 7 years now! Fantastic? YES!! So when I had the opportunity to test out this new iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo Vacuum & Wash with docking station I was thrilled and eager to give it workout. I first downloaded the Roomba application for this new series of iRobot Vacuums, logged in to the account and set everything up. This only took minutes to do! The new Roomba Plus 405 is without a doubt the best mapping and vacuuming iRobot I have to yet to use! I installed it upstairs alongside the i7+ for a head to head comparison of their cleaning abilities. Suffice to say that the new Roomba Plus 405 is vastly superior to the i7+ in every way. Mapping our upstairs layout took roughly 15 minutes and then it returned to its charging station and sent the message that it was ready to clean. The Plus 405 Combo uses the BEST version of LiDAR I have used on a robot vacuum. LiDAR stands for "Light Detection and Ranging" and believe me, it is outstanding in use in the real world! Each upstairs bedroom as well as the hallway were quickly and efficiently mapped out and given a temporary name which you change if you so desire. After mapping and being fully charged, I had the vacuum go on its first cleaning mission and told it to "clean everywhere" and it did without a single mishap. The LiDAR performed beautifully with the Roomba Plus 405 Combo navigating around obstacles in bedrooms and the hallway with ease and carefully cleaning along the base of the bookcase in the hallway as well as cleaning to the edge of the stairs without a single mishap! It went to the edge of our staircase and did not have any "tip-over" problems but simply and safely navigated and cleaned the carpet at the edge of the top of our stairs! Once done the unit returned to its docking station to empty its dustbin and recharge for its next mission! The docking station's dustbin comes with two dust-bags, one installed and a spare next to it in the compartment. They are easily accessed under the folding down front cover of the docking station and thankfully use the same replacement bags as do my other 2 iRobots! It also uses the same efficient tangle-resistant center vacuum roller as my i7+ and j7+. OUTSTANDING! Speaking of which, the i7+ is now going to our daughter's home and the Roomba iRobot Plus 405 Combo will be taking over the upstairs vacuuming duties for the next several years! As I said in the beginning, I have purchased several Roomba iRobot vacuums at Best Buy over the years and this newest version is the best yet and I cannot recommend it enough. My wife and I are both seniors and I am physically handicapped and the iRobot line of vacuums have been a tremendous help to us over the years. I am a retired Electronics Technician and can attest to the ease of maintenance on these vacuums. I keep them and their sensors and charging points clean and replace the rollers and brushes as needed. In fact, the robots themselves will also alert me when they "think" they are in need of replacement parts and I simply verify if they need a cleaning or it is time to replace them with new ones. The j7 still has the ORIGINAL battery and it works as well as new but when the time comes to replace the battery it is easily accessed and done in minutes and I have no doubts about the quality and durability of the new Roomba Plus 405 Combo given that it is an iRobot! So is the iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo that good and easy to use and care for? Yes! Is it fast and efficient? Yes! Is it a quality made product that should last for many years of excellent service with proper care and maintenance? Yes! Do I highly recommended it without hesitation...YES!!

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  Posted 1 week ago by SSSS