iRobot - Roomba s9 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum - Java Black

The Roomba S9 is a premium robot vacuum that comes at a very high price. The vacuum works extremely well, but is still not perfect (which feels rather surprising due to its high cost). It is rather loud and makes a degree of varying noises as it moves over different surfaces. It typically transitions well as it moves from hard floors over area rugs and across carpet, but because the noises change with each surface - it often sounds as though it is stuck - when it is actually working just fine. You can reduce the suction for a quieter clean, but it is still rather noisey. I recommend setting the schedule to clean when you are not at home. If there are any errors, the Roomba will pause, return to base, and you will get a notification through the app. We have two dogs and a 4 year old - which means that we have a lot of clutter for the Roomba to navigate around. The vacuum does an exceptional job at finding and tracing the edge of walls - And, it had no trouble mapping out our main floor. It took about 3 trips through the house to have it fully mapped. Once the iRobot knew its way around, we were able to draw boundaries and name each room within the app. Now, we are able to tell Alexa to vacuum a specific room and the Roomba does the job and returns to the base when it is done. The roomba is actually so smart that it can pause the job if the dust bin becomes full, or if it needs to recharge. Once these issues have been addressed, the vacuum can actually continue working right from where it left off. In my opinion, iRobot has done a poor job of marketing. Even the information on the box left me wondering what was new about the S9 (and why it cost so much more money). The main difference appears to be that it has 40X the suction as the previous 600 series. 40 times the suction sounds too good to be true, but I can confirm that it does an excellent job vacuuming carpeted areas. When I carry the Roomba to our carpeted upstairs, it instantly knew that it was in a new area (not the mapped out downstairs) and it started to make a new map. I very much like that the robot leaves nice parallel vacuum lines in the carpet (instead of a bunch of crazy zig zag lines from driving around all willy-nilly). See the attached pictures which show how nice the vacuum lines look after it’s very first attempt at vacuuming our carpet. What I particularly appreciate is that the S9 is designed for homes with pets and those with allergies. The vacuum does a truly wonderful job at sucking pet hair off of our wood floors and also out of our various area rugs and carpet. While it cleans, it also filters 99% of mold, pollen, and other dust that triggers allergies. While the vacuum does a great job at navigating the house, it does occasionally get stuck. It absolutely cannot handle shag carpet. If you have carpet, or an area rug with long fibers - be aware that even this high end robot cannot vacuum such areas. Surprisingly though, we have not had any trouble with toys, shoe laces, dog bowls, area rugs, bathroom rugs, stools chairs, tables, etc. If you can afford the Roomba S9, I would actually recommend saving up the additional cost to get the S9+ as that model is able to empty its own dust bin 30 times! It even keeps all of the dust contained when it transfers into the larger bin that is built into the home base. The S9+ will truly be trouble free cleaning. With the S9, you are required to empty the bin almost every time the vacuum runs. Luckly, the default setting will keep the robot working even when the dust bin is full...Though I recommend changing that setting so that the Roomba will return to its home base when the dust bin needs to be changed. Be aware that filters, rollers, and the corner sweeping brush all need to be replaced. Generic filters can be found, but here are the parts that you will need to locate: Replacement Parts: - Roomba S Series Replenishment Pack (contains replacement rollers, filters, & corner sweeping brushes) (Best Buy info: Model:4646124. SKU:6352888) - Roomba S Series Filter 3 Pack (iRobot Item # 4643682) - Roomba S Series Corner Sweeping Brush - 3 Pack (iRobot Item # 4646123)

When I took the Roomba out of the box, my initial reaction was: "wow, this looks extremely well built, sturdy and powerful." It took a few minutes to remove it from the package, download the app, connect and start. The robot comes with a partial charge, so it's recommended to have it charge a few hours before the first use. I found a great location to keep the robot downstairs. There are two types of surfaces the Roomba will clean: linoleum and tile. I don't recall exactly the square footage of downstairs, but I want to say it's about 900 sq feet. I'm sharing that because how long the machine runs is directly related to the size area it's cleaning. Pros: Works better than thought Battery Mobile app WIFI Built in Batter charge station Start and end from smart device Can create a schedule Powerful Transitioned well between different surfaces Vacuums for you! Easy to empty Smart map capable so you can have it clean certain areas of the home Cons: Pulled the thin kitchen mat Loud Time consuming pending on the size of the home, but not a deal breaker First run through: I was really impressed. It took just over one hour to clean almost 900 sq feet. I think it took this long because of the amount of objects it worked around. Second time: Took 45 minutes to clean. Maybe it was because I moved a few items around to make it easier to access. The robot has a bumper on the sides and is really good at adjusting itself to maneuver... I think removing some of the chairs was a time saver. Third time: Smart mapping was ready and I was able to designate which area of the house to clean. I tested it out and it was impressive. I feel the more it's used the more efficient this feature will be. Final thoughts: I highly recommend this product. It's larger and more powerful than its predecessors. I love the fact that I can schedule this to run while I'm at work. Even though it doesn't take long to vacuum my home, it pleases me that it's one less thing to do when it's time to do chores. I have two dings: loudness and can pull mats. Both aren't deal breakers and I was able to make minor adjustments. I simply run it while I'm out so the noise doesn't bother me and I drape the kitchen mat over a chair. I love the idea if I make a mess in the kitchen, I can pull out my iPhone and tell it to clean the kitchen. I really recommend this!

PROs: - The new D-shape visibly allows for deeper penetration & better cleaning into corners than the previous circular shape--it also sports bigger/longer roller brushes to clean more with each pass - Room mapping & object avoidance was stellar...hugged walls/furniture edges much closer than I expected & managed to wiggle between table/chair legs, underneath couches, between bed posts, around speakers & decor...and the corner brush pulled gunk away from baseboards & actually left the rooms about as clean as I would get with a manual vacuum - Sensitive/responsive front bumpers help prevent damage to items close to the floor...automatically backs up, routes around obstructions, and remembers or avoids obstacles on future passes—very cool! - Shocking amount of suction for such a small device--initial cleaning pass covered 750+ sq feet and pulled up so much dirt I wasn't sure how it still managed to cram it all into the dirt bin - Roomba app gets five stars and a parade for usefulness, user-friendliness & intuitive design/interface--a multitude of helpful status indicators & messages, step-by-step pictorial guides for maintenance/troubleshooting, scheduling wizard for cleaning times and even specific locations if you'd like, customizable maps, power level adjustments, locator functions, tutorials and FAQs...it's quite extensive but not overwhelming in presentation - Charging or attention required (close lid, empty bin, etc.) doesn't cancel cleaning job...returns to its base on its own for any necessary re-charge or to await user intervention and then resumes the last job already underway (unless cancelled manually in the app or at the unit) - Outstanding smart home integration--we added Roomba to Alexa's skills and could then use voice control to clean specific rooms, start a whole-floor cleaning job, schedule new cleaning routine, return to home base when company arrived, play a locator tone, etc.—having so much control without needing the app elevated the “hands-off” experience to a whole new level - Automatically detected transitions between hardwood flooring, carpeting, gel standing pads, & area rugs—you could hear it adjust suction and brush action; never once fell down the stairs or failed to keep moving past shallow flooring features/bumps - Despite (advertised) massive increase in suction power (supposedly 4-40x over previous models), the s9 never faltered on our runners & rugs, even going so far as to back out of situations where a tassel started getting hung up in the rollers—hats-off to the AI programmer - Battery life was very impressive--a single charge lasted more than 5 hours of continuous use that included 3 hours of mapping (no suction/cleaning) and 2+ hours of “quiet clean” vacuuming covering just under 2000 square feet (the app helpfully tells you how much area was covered)...and there was still at least 1/4 charge left when it returned home and it was back up to 100% in less than 2 hours - Dust-bin removal/emptying is an easy, one-handed job: open the top of the unit, lift out the bin by the integrated handle, press the release button once you’re over a garbage bag—this will remove nearly all nastiness that accumulated during the last cleaning run (a more complete bin cleaning that includes the filter will require a little extra effort--see below) - On-board spot-clean button allows for a spiral vacuum routine in any room or non-mapped area without needing to schedule a select/all-rooms cleaning - Maps that are stored on board get more detailed & precise each time the unit does its business but cleaning can handle minor changes in the landscape—even when we trained the Roomba in a location with a large box on the floor, it still vacuumed up the carpet below once we removed the box later CONs: - I didn't get the automatic dirt disposal station, but I can see where once you’ve invested in the s9, you might as well pony up for it—the s9’s dust bin is pretty small and if you have an area requiring lots of attention due to pets, kids, high traffic, etc., you might get tired of all those trips to the garbage can - Speaking of the automated disposal station, that thing better have a jet engine for a motor in it. The design of the dust bin is such that the bottom of the air filter is open-faced against the area where dirt is collected--the tight folds of the filter material holds the dirt in even tighter clumps so you need to remove the filter from the housing and shake/bang the dust off to restore air flow/suction. Those of you with visions of never having to sweep out a vacuum’s dust bin by hand will still find yourselves scraping away dirt clumps & hairballs to get the bin clean again - You can adjust the suction power for “Quiet Clean,” but even then the unit is still a bit loud in operation—unless it’s operating a floor away or behind closed doors, it was loud enough to be intrusive; we couldn’t have it running during dinner, while were in the next room watching a movie, etc. - Okay, this part I didn’t see coming—the air filter needs replacing every few months as does the rotating corner brush; the multi-surface brushes and rear caster wheel also need annual refresh. iRobot sells a kit with 3 filters, 3 corner brushes & 1 main brush set for $75; the rear caster will set you back another $6 (plus shipping). I don’t necessarily begrudge needing to replace these parts given that the payoff is virtually hands-free floor cleaning—I just didn’t know going in that the cost of ownership would be an ongoing burden - The soft-touch plastic finish gets marred pretty easily, especially when the unit is cleaning near/underneath kitchen cabinetry or low-slung furniture like couches or upholstered chairs…after the first use, there was a huge scuff running all the way across the “Clean” button; by the end of the first week it looked like I had dragged the Roomba behind my car. Mind you, it’s just my vanity talking here—but it’s still a mildly disappointing cosmetic development for an otherwise really good-looking robot vacuum clocking in at nearly a grand…and because it needs quite a bit of clearance on all sides for its base station, you kind of need to keep it in the open where others might see it (if stuff like that even matters to you) Summary review: Okay, for our first robot vacuum, the s9 was admittedly an indulgence that went a bit over the top…but man alive, does it do its job well! The new design seems much better suited to corner cleaning and hugging walls than the older circular design, and putting the larger rollers way up front near the rotating corner brush means baseboards & edges came away surprisingly clean. Like any vacuum, stray cords bound the unit up just slightly, but I was impressed to see it back out of the dilemma without any manual intervention. In fact, other than emptying the dust bin (okay, we actually have to do that a lot) and initially putting the Roomba on its charging station, I haven’t touched the unit with my hands since I opened the box. The companion app also has enough features, customization settings, and helpful indicators that you actually feel like it’s a useful and even necessary part of the experience, rather than just an appi-fied wrapper for the manufacturer’s website. Better still, Alexa integration went smoothly and affords you voice control that ranges from utilitarian (“Alexa, ask Roomba to vacuum the master bedroom”) to whimsical (“Alexa, ask Roomba to play dead”—which paused the current cleaning job). As to the unit itself, its methodical navigation routines mean that in open areas, you still get those cool, lawnmower-style vacuum carpet marks where the deep cleaning took place--but the s9 is equally at home on hardwood & tile flooring and the results are every bit what you’d expect from a top-of-the-line robo-vac. My wife actually admitted yesterday that she is starting to understand the allure of what is otherwise a pretty spendy indulgence because she’s noticed she no longer feels those little crunchies and dirt particles underfoot. Given that she normally doesn’t wear shoes in the house, this alone is a glowing endorsement to how well the Roomba keeps our floors clean and tidy. While there will always be those occasions where you simply need a manual cleaning, for regular upkeep, this unit really goes to 11 across a broad range of hard and carpeted floor coverings. My only “complaint” really centers on the price of admission. In exchange for virtually effortless & hands-off vacuuming, I do have to engage in some occasional hands-on maintenance & semi-regular purchases of consumable parts. Knowing that now, I might suggest a slightly cheaper model that provides similar results given that you’re probably going to be buying replacement parts across the entire Roomba line anyway. But there’s no denying that this unit has a more effective cleaning design than its circular brethren—add in the increased suction power, better navigation camera and 3D sensor, better edge-hugging mapping & cleaning routines, and other in-app capabilities that are reserved for the premium-priced models, and you start to understand why and how the s9 commands its premium price. Is all that worth it? Given that my spouse stays at home, the time returned to her by not having to clean the floors, and the comfort the Roomba’s results affords her in our home, definitely make it a worthwhile proposition for me. If you’ve already got your sights set on a unit in this price/performance tier, the s9 should definitely be on your short list!

The robot did most of the job I want it to do. It creates an OK smart map. The noise is not quite high, it is quieter than my Dyson V6. I like it, but it sometimes still got stuck on my rugs and it scratches itself very much. I am not sure if it supposes to keep scratch itself with hitting the wall with its backside. I bought another s9 clean base to make it be able to charge on both my 1st and 2nd floors. The clean base and the D shape are nice. It needs light to do the job which is kind of annoying when you are not home. Overall, I like it but I hope it can improve better with a software update or something. If we can have a live time location of the robot on the smart map, that would be nice.

Beyond my expectations, lives up to the hype. It’s simply incredible. Does a fantastic job. I have a yellow lab that sheds like crazy. Hair is everywhere all the time no matter how much cleaning you do. The iRobot 9s changes everything. It does everything it says it will do. Super easy to set up, super easy to program and always returns to its base when done.

The s9 does a great job. As long as you don't move things like furniture. For example coffee table or dinning room table. If you do it has to remeasure from walls and chairs and what not. So you need to keep everything in the same spot and it will do an awesome job..

I’ve always lived in a house with a dog — sometimes multiple dogs. So, I’ve always been a little OCD when it comes to keeping the floors vacuumed and free of pet hair. The only problem is that with my schedule, it makes it hard to take the time to vacuum as much as I would like to keep things tidy. My daughter has been trying to help out and vacuums a couple of times a week, but she has her own life, too, so I thought that maybe a robot vacuum would be the way to go. A couple of years ago, I tried a third-party branded robot vacuum that simply did not work the way I hoped. It constantly got lost and stuck in places that it shouldn’t have gotten stuck. So, when I was introduced to the S9 from iRobot, I wasn’t expecting much. I ended up being in total shock with how well this little robot vacuum did. It’s super cool! The first time you use the vacuum, it makes a map of your home. This is a really cool feature, but I do wish that I had more options like being able to adjust the map more so that the vacuum would avoid certain spots where it’s prone to get stuck like underneath my couch. What would be great to see is a feature where you can map your home by controlling the vacuum like an RC car. You could drive it around remotely with the iOS app and the vacuum could create the map based on your navigation. As it is right now, my home map doesn’t look like my home. The S9 does a wonderful job, but the map it created has some weird turns. As far as cleaning goes, the vacuum does a really good job and the deep clean function really is a deep clean. Unfortunately, the battery runs out quickly when you use the deep clean feature. I have done a few deep cleaning cycles and then used the custom option inside the app to change it to less of a deep clean so it can do the entire house in one charging cycle. I will switch back and forth depending on how badly it needs it. The vacuum does a great job at collecting dirt in corners and along base boards. Way better then I would have imagined it doing. Removing the bin to empty the trash is super simple. The sensor does get dusty and needs to be cleaned every so often but overall, I am not disappointed with the results from my personal R2D2 unit. The changing base is a bit aggravating because I have had it move on me when my Roomba is trying to dock. We ended up using carpet tape to keep the base in place so that when the Roomba docks it never moves making sure that I have good charge at all times. iRobot really knocked it out of the park with the S9. I have a 1485 square foot home and it does its job phenomenally well. An added perk is that having this robot vacuum means that my daughter is off the hook with vacuuming twice a week and that makes her extremely happy. What’s funny is that the robot vacuum actually does a better job than she does cleaning.

Roomba took a cue from the Neato Botvac and ditched the hockey puck shape. I've been researching robot vacuums for over a year and really wanted a Roomba 980 but at around $800 I couldn't pull the trigger on it as it was consistantly beaten in head-to-head comparisons in corner and edge cleaning by the Neato's square, forward-facing shape. The D shape of the S9 alleviated my fears and the performance and navigation is impressive. We have 80% hardwood flooring with carpet in the 4 bedrooms but our hardwood is probably 30% or more covered by area rugs. We have 3 kids under 10 and 2 big dogs so there are random socks, toys, etc. scattered everywhere and dog hair and dust are a constant. After picking up the clutter on the floor I ran a training run on the Roomba. No suction, just a mapping run. The S9 came off the charging dock, did a circle and went back to the dock. The error message on the history log simply said "Stuck". Time and again the S9 would leave the dock, turn around and come back. Reestablishing the WiFi connection didn't work, powering the unit down and back up didn't work, uninstalling and reinstalling the app didn't work and removing my specific unit from the app and adding it again didn't work. After messing with it for several days I finally gave up. I sat down to write a horrible review but then decided to contact the iRobot tech line. The agent connected with my S9 and after trying a few different options she did a factory reset and the Roomba took right off. She must have been able to preserve the settings I had entered because no further input from my end was required. The first time it actually got out of the gate it cleaned for 1 hour and 33 minutes before returning to the base to charge. I watched the s9 the entire time and can say that it doesn't miss much. I paused the job 5 times to empty the dust bin and it was embarrassing. There was so much dust and hair in the bin I almost felt sorry for the vacuum. The s9 isn't what I would consider loud. You can hear it but unless you're a light sleeper I don't think it would wake you up. There is an audible increase in power when transitioning from hardwood to carpet but the volume level is still far from obnoxious. One of our rugs has tassles that are approximately 3" long and I was certain they would tangle in the brushroll and cause the Roomba to stop but it went right over them again and again with no issues at all. We have been using the s9 for over 2 weeks now and we have only had to manually return it to base 2 times. The first was because we placed the Roomba in the back of the house to start a job. The battery ran out and the machine just quit in the middle of the floor. I was disappointed but learned that if the unit does not start a job from the base, it will not return to charge. No big deal. The second time was when one wheel of the Roomba went over the lip on the bottom edge of a dollhouse and it couldn't back out. We helped it over the lip and it took right off and resumed it's job. Corner and edge cleaning is exceptional but leaves me wondering why there aren't brushes on both corners of the s9. I would think that would eliminate a lot of turning around and returning to finish the edges. There are 3 cons to the s9, 1 of which is easily remedied. First, despite being chock full of technology, the s9 still uses a bump-and-go way of feeling around and I have noticed some white paint from our kitchen island on the machine and a dark spot on the island. Slightly annoying but not enough to deter me from using the Roomba. Second, about 20% of the time while attempting to access the s9's settings, job logs, etc. I receive a message that in order to use these features, my phopne has to be on the same network as the Roomba. They are on the same network. Have been since day 1 but still the message continues to come up. Normally a power down of the Roomba fixes the issue. The third con is emptying the bin. It holds a lot but is still a tiny receptacle. Fortunately, an agent at iRobot confirmed that the s9 is compatible with the self-emptying base of the s9+. I will be adding one shortly. Yes, it's $300 so do yourself a favor and get the s9+ with the base in the first place. You'll save a little money, have the best robot vacuum on the market and since the self-emptying base is supposed to hold up to 30 bins of debris, you'll hardly have to think about it.