Customer Ratings & Reviews

It works great if you vacuum before and after you use it.

The iRobot Roomba 690 is nicely packaged and easy to set up out of the box. It does a good job of removing debris from my tile, hardwood floors and area rugs. The iRobot Roomba 690 seems sturdier and more powerful than the Bissell vacuum robot I used in the past. The amount of dog hair and debris in the waste bin is solid evidence! You can use the Roomba out of the box, just by pressing the Clean button. When the room is clean, or when the battery charge gets low, the iRobot returns to its charging station. You can always press the Home button to sent the vacuum to its charging station. To get the most out of this machine, you should connect it to your Bluetooth device like a smartphone or tablet. The software currently does not work with the higher speed, 5 GB networks, so you have to connect to an alternate network if you have both in your home. The iRobot learns the layout of your home, and it is effective in sensing different shapes in your baseboard molding... it inches along and adjusts, rather than zipping off at a 45-degree angle for large obstructions. If you want to clean only a specific room, then close the doors and/or use the provided barrier device to keep the Roomba in that room. If you have lots of things on the floor, including power cords, be careful! Remove obstacles if possible or watch that the Roomba does not catch a power cord and pull your lamp or computer down from the table. Pros: sturdy, programmable, relatively quiet, nearly maintenance-free, different cleaning patterns, works on many different carpet, rug and hard flooring types. Cons: not yet compatible with 5GB wireless networks (this software issue could be upgraded in the future), takes a long time to do what a manual vacuum could do in a few minutes. With Bluetooth capabilities and a smartphone/tablet app, this truly is the next generation of home automation. I would recommend this to a friend or family member.

Not worth the money! It constantly got stuck so I returned it!

Stopped working after a few months. Horrible product

This vacuum does not pick up the carpet very well.

Only worked once, didn't have time to return it on time.

Review for iRobot - Roomba 690 App-Controlled Robot Vacuum. I’ve always wanted to try a Roomba and this Web-enabled version of the popular 650 model seemed just right. My house is medium sized, so I wasn’t sure if the Roomba would do a good job for me. Having a dog and dust allergies makes vacuuming a challenge, but I’m happy to say that this Roomba seems to be meeting it! It’s not a substitute for an occasional thorough vacuum job, but it sure goes a long way toward maintaining the house day-to-day! I like that it gets places I may miss; it goes under chairs and tables better than I and gets bits in the kitchen under the edges of the cabinetry. . I was genuinely surprised at how much dust it picked up! The setup was super simple. I saw a review that said it was difficult to figure out and use, but I found just glancing through the (short) guide was more than enough information to feel that I could use the Roomba well. The Quick Setup card was also just right in length and content. Setting a regular schedule was easy, so now it's just set it and forget it! Although downloading the app was easy, some people may find connecting the Roomba to their wi-fi a bit frustrating. It’s no harder than connecting any other IOT device these days, but it’s really no easier either! Again, the documentation helped a lot — don’t expect to just wing it — RTFM! After just two days, my house already looks better! The doc says you don’t have to watch it, but me and dog find ourselves checking it out as it moves from room to room!

Overall this is a great product. Easy set up and programming. It does a good job of picking of dust and light debris, especially pet hair. It works wonders for pet hair. My issue is the battery. It has ran out once or twice before actually finishing a cleaning cycle. It may be because with a two year old there are just two many obstacles and it gets confused. On a picked up floor it does great. It will not pick up heavy debris like a regular vacuum will, but it definitely will keep the area free of lighter bentos.

First off, I might have a small vacuum cleaner problem...I'm not necessarily a neat freak, but the Roomba 690 came in as the sixth machine in my cleaning arsenal. Unfortunately, it will likely be relegated to last place, no matter how many I have. Why? It's not very smart, can't seem to manage to find its way around without manual assistance, and gets stuck in nearly every room of the house. When it's not stuck on curtains, cords, bedskirts, under chairs, etc., the cleaning pattern is erratic. It zigs and zags, covering the same area multiple times while totally ignoring others. I really tried to love this machine and thought it would be a real time saver. However, I cannot run it unsupervised (which is kinda the point) since I know there is no way it will not get stuck. Using the virtual wall might help, but only one is included in the box and buying enough to keep the robot away from "danger" areas would simply be cost-prohibitive, not to mention totally cluttering up the floor with gadgets. Doesn't add up to a simpler, cleaner home. If you have a home with wide open spaces, very large openings between every room, and nothing hanging near the floor, this machine might be good for you. In my home, however, I simply don't find it all that useful. About the only use it will get is maintaining the kitchen and den floors since I can corral it in there with the virtual wall. I will say that I didn't experience any difficulties with the initial setup that some others did. Just be sure to very carefully follow the directions and don't try to wing it.

I currently own two 500 Series "Pet Hair" Roomba's purchased from a different store). We recently gave a 690 for my daughter and she uses it every single day to keep up with a the mess created by a cat, husband and a five year old child. Here is my experience dealing with iRobot and their specialized pet hair products: 1. Some maintenance is required - it isn't particularly onerous but does require some skills in using simple tools to remove accumulations of pet hair and string on brushes and around bearings, There are lots of YouTube videos out there to walk you through maintenance tasks. 2. iRobot sometimes introduces improvements to certain parts (i.e. the dustbin/motor module and battery). These improvements are real and provide a significant increase in performance. over the part replaced. When iRobot says they have improved a part or parts module they aren't just blowing smoke and trying to get you to spend more money. 3. Some folks expect to have clean floors without exerting much personal effort and are disappointed with Roomba's performance. I try to give our Roombas (yes - we use two at the same time) an uncluttered space (free of wires and such) in which to operate and end up with a great result. A two hour job becomes requires perhaps 10-15 minutes ti set up before you turn Roomba loose. You end up with cleaner floors than if you used conventional vacuum cleaners and brooms. If this is too much effort for you or takes more time than you are willing to send then perhaps you should hire a cleaning service 4. Replacing worn out parts (yes, parts wear out but it takes several years of twice a week operation before you need to think about replacing parts. The good news is the parts are reasonably priced. Their parts pricing encourages you to maintain your robot rather than throwing it away and getting a new one. 5. The "Virtual Walls" works as advertised and are invaluable. 6. Note about Roombas and carpets -you will be stunned at how much cat hair there is under your bed and bedroom furniture. It took several weeks of once a week Roombaing before the dust bin was less than jam packed with cat hair.

I was super excited when I bought the roomba 690 today for the great price of $275. After using it for a couple clean cycles, I've decided I absolutely hate this thing. It cleans well but the whole time it's running, it bumps really hard into all my furniture. Hard enough to put dents in a brand new $600 table I just bought. That might not bother most people, but the fact that it has trouble going back to it's dock in my 1 bedroom apartment was the deal breaker. I'll be returning tomorrow and researching other brands!

First Roomba Ive experienced. Kind of a dumb machine but gets the job done. Bumps into everything! this vacuum claims to return to base by the push of a button, the app, and on its own. this thing gets lost in my house all the time and often dies underneath a bed or something. It NEVER returns to base nor when i tell it to or on its own. the company claims it loses track of its home base if its distance is too far away. MY home is only 1300 sq ft. other than that it cleans pretty good and we use it for our thicker carpet instead of our Dyson vacuum. I will keep an eye on the upgraded ones with tangle free brushes and better gps system. Definitely saves countless hours of having to vacuum every other day and is alot quieter than a regular vacuum. transition from our carpet to tile seems pretty smooth. would not pay over $300 for this tho so try to get it on sale.

First impressions… Easy to get going. Just remove the Roomba, base, and cord from the box. Plug the base in & set Roomba on the base to charge for a few hours. Nothing else to put together, except for putting batteries in the virtual wall, if you use it. Virtual wall can be used to prevent Roomba from entering areas you don’t want it to clean, i.e. Down a hallway towards the bedrooms, or set a 2 foot perimeter around things like pet food/water. Easy wifi setup via the app, but of course, you have to install yet another app on your phone… App makes it very easy to manually start/pause/cancel a job, or make a weekly schedule. Allows you to specify days of week & times when Roomba will run. Roomba does not support 5Ghz wifi. Probably not a deal breaker for most, but something to be aware of. Integrates with Amazon Alexa, allowing you to start, pause, resume, and stop cleaning. Also lets you ask Alexa where your Roomba is, which causes the Roomba to play some tones. Cleaning Appears to thoroughly cover the room Much louder than a competitor’s robot vacuum. Not stupid loud, but I doubt you’d want to run it when you’re sleeping or trying to watch a show. One area that had a transition from carpet to vinyl - Roomba could not figure out how to get back onto the carpet; kept thinking it was an obstacle, so got stuck in the small vinyl area. I had to manually move it back to carpet. Reports back via the app when it has completed cleaning the room or if it gets stuck Also has trouble with a floor wine rack we have. The rack has a wooden base (about ¾ inch high) that Roomba climbs over, but then can’t figure out how to get back out of. Why it climbs over this, but not the vinyl/carpet transition mentioned earlier, is baffling. Bottom line - If you’re looking for a robot a vac that you can control from an app or Alexa, then you’ll probably be okay with this one. If you’re just looking for a basic robot vac that you can start when you leave for work, there are better (cheaper) options.

I have hardwood, tiled and carpet flooring and this roomba goes over the carpets like a champ. I had a question about setup and called the company. They explained the instruction booklet was written for several models but the cust svce people were very helpful. It cleans very well. It is a little loud at least on hw floors and a a lil less quiet on carpet but you still hear it. The important thing is yes it does pick up all the particles on the floor. Read the instructions. Yes the barrier works great too. I have speaker wires behind my couch and it did grab those so i just turned on the barrier device and it didnt go near them.

the good: price - fairly competitive for robot vacuums wifi/app/voice control app - intuitively layed out and nice feature set. lifetime performance log and weekly schedule battery life - fairly good at 60-70 minutes. low profile - at 3.7", not the lowest in this category, but low enough to clean under most all but the lowest profile furniture. virtual wall/halo barrier - either create a 10' barrier to prevent entry, or a "halo" of 4' around an object strong cleaning suction the bad: can get stuck by higher pile carpet or rugs has trouble navigating dark colored floors can have trouble with small objects on the ground - floor needs to be relatively free of clutter noise - no quieter than a traditional vacuum overall: 4 stars with the price point at $325. any higher and you could probably get a bit more bang for your buck going with another model.

Our house actually stays clean now. We Have four dogs and two cats, and we used to hate walking around barefoot because there was always some kind a mess on the floor tracked in from outside. This thing handles all the pet hair and pollen and dirt and dog food and leaves no problem. We run him at least every other day, it is loud but I can deal with that it’s nice to have this thing running while you’re doing the dishes or laundry or something. It takes two rounds to clean our open floor plan home we have all solid floors with just a few throw rugs. Zero complaints so far

What a cool little vacuum!! Takes about 45 minutes to clean my entire apartment. The technology is so awesome. It even parks itself back in the charger base when it's done. I had always wanted to try one of these but was turned away due to the higher prices. Now I see it's worth every penny. Setup was simple, downloaded the app from Google Play, connected it to the network and off it went. The app isn't necessary to run it but has all kinds of little features like scheduling it to clean at a specific time, change settings and see the history of uses and time in use. You can even name it :) It even includes a little tower that can be used to keep the irobot from going near certain areas. For me, it's perfect for keeping it away from the cat's dishes. The next step is to get my cats to ride around on it :) So far they show interest and don't hide from it but I haven't coaxed them on top of it yet.

I purchased the IRobot Roomba 690 to reduce the job, and time of vacuuming the floors. This vacuum can be controlled by the app IRobot Home; which is you available to you for a free download on the Google Play Store, or the Apple App Store on any smartphone. The goal was to have the ability eliminate the amount of dirt, dust, and hair, with a touch of a button. The ideal consumer is anyone on the go. If you are a busy mom or just don’t have time to vacuum this is the perfect product for you. It allows you to control the device from anywhere with the connection to Wi-Fi. In addition, I believe this would be ideal for someone who doesn’t have the physical ability to use a standard vacuum. This model is fit for carpet, hardwood, and tile flooring, moving from the different types of flooring effortlessly. Although, it is compatible with any smartphone, you don’t have to have one to use the vacuum. Not to mention this is perfect for you if you are a pet lover with any animal shedding cats and dogs. The criteria I used to evaluate the Roomba 690 includes: • Run time • Loudness • Cleaning ability • Compatibility There are many benefits to owning Roomba 690. The run time for this model is about 60 minutes. Those are 60 minutes you could be doing other chores around the house. In addition, when it senses a low battery it will return to the docking station to charge itself. When running a traditional upright vacuum, you may notice the loudness of the motor. While the Roomba 690 is operating you will recognize a softer sound with the same cleaning ability. The 3-stage cleaning system, including different brushes to adapt to the diverse floor types will leave your home clean. You will notice all of the dirt, debris, and hair, that it picks up when you empty the dirt container. Finally, the compatibility this vacuum offers you to your phone and home devices is a convenient asset. In addition to the IRobot Home app, it is also as easy as commanding your Google Home or Amazon Alexa for IRobot to clean your home. Compared to the standard vacuum, the Roomba 690 is a true advancement in technology. It uses sensors to navigate around your home, and around or under furniture. The ability to preset what days or times you would like it to run on the IRobot App is very convenient. You could potentially clean your home from anywhere around the world!

+Automated cleaning with almost no manual intervention +Wifi connectivity -Small Battery -Not as "smart" as the 800 series units -Only 1 virtual wall included The 690 is my first foray into the world of automated robot cleaners, and while is does an adequate job of cleaning, the short battery life leaves me questioning whether it's getting my entire space. I'm using the 690 in the lower level of my bi-level home, which is about 1000 sq ft of open space. Kicking off a cleaning cycle is very easy, initiated either by pressing the button on the top of the unit or kicking it off via the free Roomba app. Speaking of the app, getting the unit connected to my Wifi network was simple. Download the app, and let it initiate the connection for you. Watching the robot go to work is interesting; it takes some seemingly illogical paths over the room, but after a while, you get a sense that it somewhat understands the space, as it eventually goes along the border of the cleaning space. It does a pretty decent job of cleaning overall (at least as good as you'd think for a machine this small with limited dirt bin capacity). Cleaning out the dirt bin is simple and is the only manual task required to use this otherwise completely automated vacuum. The biggest downfall of this product in my usage is the battery life. In my space (completely open save for some furniture), the 690's battery runs out before it can complete a full cleaning cycle. Every time, the app alerts to me to a "canceled" job. This wouldn't be an issue if the unit started back up after a charge and continued where it left off. This doesn't appear to be the case, however. I have to manually kick it off for a subsequent clean cycle, which appears to put it back into the beginning cleaning state based on the route it takes. This lead me to thinking that the cleaner isn't as "smart" as I would've expected, which was confirmed with some quick Googling. It appears the real bread and butter of the Roomba lineup starts in the 800 series. The 690 does a decent job of navigation obstacles, but this isn't a unit for those that live cluttered lives. Also, it has a knack for getting itself trapped in rooms; almost every time I've run it, it has gone into my bathroom and shut itself in by closing the door. Now, I know to leave the door closed. My other main issue with this unit is that iRobot only included 1 virtual wall with it. Virtual walls are small block shaped units which all you to put up a virtual fence, keeping the Roomba out of areas you don't want it to go. This is a great idea, and it works great in my experience, but it'd be great if they'd include at least 2, preferably more. The 690 does an adequate job of cleaning, and is great for convenience sake as it requires very little in the way of manual intervention to have it operate. However, the drawbacks of the unit leave me wondering whether one of the more expensive units in the Roomba line would be a better investment.

The Roomba 690 excelled in some areas, but a disappointment in others. As a vacuum, it does an OK job. Basically boils down to better to have a roomba vacuum than nothing at all. As this is one of iRobot's cheaper models, it sure does show when it comes to performance and cleaning power. PROS: For starters, the robot is quite smart. This is my first robot vacuum, and the ai definitely exceeded my expectations. My favorite part was that the roomba slowed itself down before bumping into surfaces. This worked extremely well - I had a very light trashcan and the roomba navigated around it graciously without knocking it over. I have seen it get into some very tight corners, and still have no trouble exiting them to complete its job. I see no issues having roomba activate while I'm away. CONS: The setup process was actually more annoying than I had liked. The app failed to proceed to the next step even though roomba had already connected to the network. It was fine after I exited the app and restarted the setup process. However, when I activated roomba to start it's cleaning process, my wireless network when awol. I had to restart the router to get it back... most frustrating and the first time a smart home device had done this to me. After that, the app was barely usable because it kept complaining that I was not on the same network as roomba even though I clearly was. Fortunately, you don't need the app to get it running, it's more of a nice to have. As for performance, it was so-so. I let it run in my kitchen, so basically the best the roomba could hope for. It ran for 30 minutes in a small 200 sq ft of space, and actually picked up more dirt than I had expected. However, after it was done, I was still able to see some places it had missed. The only cause I can think of is that the spinning brush on the side was flinging dust around. Overall, the Roomba 690 is a nice to have. Your $70 vacuum could do a better job, but if you're lazy like I am, this is basically a god send. As my first vacuum robot, I would certainly recommend it to my friends.