Customer Ratings & Reviews

I love it! I don’t mop anymore or swipe. This robot is doing a great job!

I cant tell you how disappointed I am in these. The first one we bought broke after a couple of or days. It started making an awful grinding noise whenever the mop was down. Luckily we were able to return it and get a replacement. We set up the new one and did a test run where everything was working great. This morning we woke up to error code 1003, dead vision board. The quality control isn't there for these. We were upgrading a j7 which worked perfectly fine. Save your money and skip this one.

Great vac & mop combo. Definitely makes keeping the floors clean automatic.

Worked good one month. I did ti many calls to customers service and changed filters

Support sucks… call I robot they don’t help… call Bestbuy they don’t help!!! Likely lost a customer over this 6 month old product that doesn’t work as designed and hasn’t from day one!

This is now my 4th robot vacuum, 2nd of which is a Roomba, and with each iteration they just keep getting better. A self-emptying base is pretty much a must-have at this point and this latest version delivers that plus some. First up let's talk about the vacuum, after all, that is the primary reason someone would buy this Roomba. iRobot has been around long enough now that they've got the vacuuming part figured out. It does exactly what it's supposed to do and does a great job at it. It has plenty of suction power to pick up dirt and hair and doesn't miss a spot, except those tight corners and areas where these round robot vacuums have always had issues getting to. What's really nice is that you can set how powerful you need the suction to be. That's a good thing for several reasons. Since on some surfaces, such as hardwood floors, where you don't need the highest suction power, setting it lower helps increase the time the Roomba can keep cleaning before it needs to recharge, and it's not as loud for those times you're running it while home. This Roomba doesn't just vacuum, it actually adds another dimension to floor cleaning, mopping! The term 'mopping' is used a bit loosely though here. It doesn't so much mop as it does just wipe the floor with a damp cloth as it goes. It's best to not have too high of expectations for this feature. It does a decent job maintaining a clean floor, but it can only do so much. You're still going to have to mop your floors once in a while with an actual mop or steam mop. Plus one thing I noticed as I watched this Roomba go, is that the 'mopping' is a bit streaky. It doesn't get full coverage of the entire width of the cloth, even after it had been 'mopping' for over half and hour and had plenty time to get the mopping cloth soaked. You also pretty much need perfectly flat floors. Any grooves, bows, uneven spots, etc. and it's going to miss a lot. To get the most out of the 'mopping' feature you really need to set it to mop everyday, this way it eventually wipes over the entire floor. One benefit to how it 'mops' though is that you don't have to mess with any dirty mop water and you hardly have to do anything at all. It refills its water tank itself from the base and only uses just enough water to get things slightly damp. That means my floors fully dry within minutes of getting wiped down. Then there's the clean base, and the base that comes with this Roomba is by far the best iteration of a base I've had yet. First of all, as I mentioned earlier, a self-emptying base is a must-have. I honestly wouldn't buy a robot vacuum without one. Not only is it less maintenance, but also it allows you to keep vacuuming day after day even when you're on vacation. The dustbag inside the base holds quite a bit given its size too. And for the mopping feature it also contains a water tank that you fill up that it uses to re-fill the Roomba. I've now had it mop about a 400 square foot area numerous times and I have yet to have to refill the water tank inside the base. On top of that, the door has storage shelves to hold extra filters, dust bags, mop cloths, spare brushes, etc. I can't tell you how much I actually love that added bonus. Plus this base looks good, and with the wood-like top, can actually double as an end table! All of these features and functionality come together with the app, which is basically required in order to use this. It makes setup a breeze, including updating the firmware, and makes using it very easy. You can see the full map of your house that the Roomba puts together as it cleans, and manage settings, set schedules, or tell it to clean specific areas. Overall I like the app and how simple it is to use. If there's one thing I wish this Roomba had though, it would be full use of the camera. What I mean by that is my previous robot vacuum actually let you view what the camera sees from within that brand's app. It's a great feature to allow you to check up on things while you're away, especially with pets in the house. Sadly though this Roomba doesn't have that feature. Hopefully it's something iRobot adds in the future since it already has a camera and appears to have the hardware needed for that feature. Given that this isn't something necessary for what a robot vacuum is, I'm not deducting stars for it, it's just something I'd love to see added one day. Overall I've been extremely pleased with this latest iteration of Roomba. It does what you expect it to and more and I would definitely recommend this Roomba.

Sent me a used one with scratches all over it and hair still caught in rollers.

Of the many robot vacuums I’ve owned over the last few years, iRobot has always consistently been the best one for cleaning, mapping, and features. The new Roomba Combo j9+ adds even more features that make this one of the best vacuums I’ve ever used. Set-up was extremely easy using the iRobot app. Everything was well packaged and intuitive. The base station is very big, but has a nice wooden top that fits nice with our home. There was a firmware update, and then I let the Roomba charge for a few hours. Once full, I started my first mapping run. It took about 30 minutes to map my entire home, and the results were very accurate. With the front camera, it did a good job with obstacle avoidance and navigating around. I labeled all the rooms in my map and created a schedule. One of my favorite features is that the iRobot is both a vacuum and mop, and I like that it does both at the same time, allowing it to complete its cleaning quickly. Before I would have to schedule my vacuum to clean first, then the mop would come in after. The Combo j9+ does a very good job recognizing cables, cords, boxes, or whatever might block its path. It then sends a picture of the item to the iRobot app and I can mark it as an obstacle or create a No-Go zone. It’s so smart that it will recommend creating a cleaning zone in front of specific places it recognizes, like in front of the oven or counter. The only problem I've really run into is that it thinks my kitchen floors have cables due to the design. I just mark it as No Obstacle Here. I am so happy with this Roomba. This is the first vacuum robot that I feel like I can actually just let it run without any intervention. I can rely on it to complete its cleaning run at the scheduled time and not find it stuck anywhere. There are many robot vacuums on the market, but iRobot has done a great job with the Combo j9+.

I bought my j9 on Feb 2024 and I feel like I can finally give a fair overview on how well the mopping and vacuuming is but more importantly how well the j9 works through the house. We live in a one level tile floor 2550 sq ft house in Florida. The j9 has access to about 2050 sq ft of it. I have certain spots marked off limits on the app so the j9 avoids these areas. We have 2 cats and a dog and ALWAYS have hair on the…EVERYTHING! So, yes, I need to vacuum everyday but who has the time for that (who really wants to DO that??-uh, not me)! Of course, I thought I would be buying a ton of replacement, filters, bags and mop heads and brushes when I purchased the j9 but I figured I’d suck it up because this was going to make it easier to keep the house cleaner and less hairy! However, so far, I’m happy to say, they are lasting a good amount of time. The app lets you know the “life” of each part and reminds you to replace them! I think I have bought a box of replacements of each part and have not finished each box yet in the 5 months I’ve had it and I’m using my j9 Monday, Wednesday, Friday for vacuuming and mopping then on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays the j9 just vacuums. I ABSOLUTELY love the self emptying feature. When it gets full from doing a section it comes back to the base and whoosh it goes right up into the bag and it charges back up or goes back out to keep on working! I love that it is mopping and vacuuming my house because you know people spill stuff, people walk in with stuff on the bottom of their shoes, and a mop every other day is just not a bad thing to do with 2 cats and a dog and 3 - 4 people in and of the house over the course of a day. The app is pretty easy to use, you will spend the most time setting up your account and then the map after the j9 has finished going through your home. That’s when you will create your rooms and name them so you can send the j9 to do a job in a particular location or multiple locations by setting it up on a schedule or a one time job. The only thing is I drawback is you cannot drive the j9 manually with the app. Normally the j9 goes through our house moving around chair legs, under tables, in and out of rooms, up and down hallways, in and out of bathrooms and bedrooms, The j9 will get stuck on something under one of the kids’ beds or on our sliding door track My Biggest Pros: 1. Dirty zones are identified by the sensors and these areas will be the first ones the j9 will start with when beginning its operation. These show up as dark green on your map, light green is normal dirt, white is clean. 2. The j9 will show you a detailed map of your home and allows you to name the areas with general or custom names and create rooms by adding lines to make invisible barriers the j9 will obey. You even have the ability to block the j9 from going into areas on that map by creating red boxes that the j9 will interpret as an area to avoid when in operation. 3. New Dirty Spots will be identified periodically and you will be prompted to give them a name so you can send the j9 out just to clean that spot if needed! My Biggest Cons: 1. Sometimes my j9 will get stuck along my sliding glass door track (it is 20ft long and does stick up a bit higher than average). I have seen it kick itself off the track but sometimes it gets on there too far and can’t get itself off and will run out of battery trying if someone doesn’t help it. I do try to put styrofoam pool noodles in the tracks but sometimes I forget to put them back after they get put away when guests have come over. 2. The mop pad will streak my tiles if I don’t rinse it every couple of days. Sometimes some yucky stuff just gets in there, it just depends on how much traffic we’ve had on the floor! 3. My daughter’s dog hates it! She is deathly afraid of the j9 for some reason and I think it is because of the sound it makes. It’s a bit louder than I would like because it is mopping and vacuuming on tiles throughout 95% of my house. On the living room rug it is pretty quiet though.

First off, I do genuinely love iRobot vacuum cleaners. I really like the idea that you can come home to a nice, freshly vacuumed house while you're at work or running errands. When I saw the iRobot was "upgrading" their vacuum/mop combo, I knew this was something that I'd want to check out. Unfortunately, the Roomba Combo j9+ did not live up to expectations. Set up for the combo was super easy with the iRobot app. I did run into a circumstance where I had to reconnect the vacuum to my app which I thought was weird but not too troublesome. As expected, the vacuuming aspect of the Roomba was superb. The vacuum mapped out the interior of my home after the first run and I have been running daily for the past 10 days. The vacuum does a great job of picking up crumbs and other debris that's left on the floor. When it's done cleaning, it returns to its base to empty and recharge. It works great and I'm incredibly satisfied with the vacuum part of the combo. I'm imagining 99% of people reading this review are going to want to know about the mopping feature of the machine. The system in general is fairly easy to use. You fill up an interior plastic container in the housing of the base. The vacuum while leave the dock, back up and fill up with water. Then as the machine is vacuuming the rear of the unit comes down with a small mop attached and mops while vacuuming. The best way I can describe the mopping is that it just leaves streaky water marks on your floor. It didn't seem like it was doing a very good job of mopping. I purposely left a mark on the floor and the mop wasn't strong enough to clean it. If you're looking for something to spread some water on the ground and pick up some of the surface level dirt then the Roomba Combo j9+ will work okay. For what it was advertised to do, I expected more. For that reason, I cannot recommend that you purchase this item.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ Self-Emptying & Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop is a very welcome addition to my cleaning arsenal. This robot does check a lot of boxes. This is my first Roomba and my 3rd robot vac. Compared to my other brands, Shark and Ecovacs, it does run about twice as long as the others, which is close to 2 hours before recharging. That was a very impressive feature. Setup was not difficult, but it wasn’t easy either. There are picture diagrams and the dust bin doesn’t have an intuitive eject button. I really had to hunt for the eject button. The mapping process took a long time too. It took hours. The only good thing is that if you have to cancel the job, it will add to the map on future cleaning jobs when it finds a new area. That sort of makes up for the long mapping process. Plus, it is just a one-time inconvenience. The day you get it, don’t expect it to clean that day. Just resolve yourself to let it be a mapping day and you’ll be a lot less agitated. The mopping feature is truly a feat when it comes to crossing carpet, then mopping, then crossing back over. Most robots can’t do that. My other two brands can’t cross the carpet with the mopping plate on. It should be noted that the mopping pad is small. It is about half the size of my other mopping pads. It also comes in a grey color. You can’t really tell how dirty your floors were after it’s finished. I did a mopping run with my Roomba and then a run with one of my other mopping robots that has a white mopping pad. There was dirt on the white mopping pad which shows me the floors were still dirty. To be fair, I could do that with any robot and there would still be some dirt on the 2nd run. The point is, I’d like to know how dirty, and the grey cloth doesn’t really give that info. That aside, it automatically pre-wets the pad before mopping. That is great because some robot brands will only begin to actually mop after a couple of rows have been done and the pad gets saturated (or if you pre-wet the cloth yourself). It even tells you on the app “prewetting cloth.” Additionally, the floors do look clean even though the pad is small. So, with regular mopping, (for me that’s probably every other day or so) it is easy to maintain a clean house. Oh, and the refilling feature is really cool. You don’t have to babysit it during the day as it’s working. It just refills and empties the dust bin and then gets back to work. I’d like to note, on one occasion I didn’t stick the pad on securely enough with the Velcro side and it flipped up and needed to be fixed. I was not home at the time. That was a bummer because it's ideal to run it when you're not home, so I canceled the job instead of draining the battery. I think as long as the mop pad is secured properly, there won’t be lots of instances like that. That has been my only one so far. At the end of the job, I usually get a text notification that the job is done. It would be nice if it also reminded you to remove the mopping pad after it’s finished. One of my other brands does remind me to remove it with a separate notification. I keep it up on my text queue till I remove the pad, so I don’t forget. With Roomba, it doesn’t do that extra reminder text. On the flip side, it does have a pretty good display under the “history” tab. It shows how long it took to clean, how long it charged, paused time, the total time, area cleaned, Dirt Events (high focused cleaning areas where your robot noticed more dirt), and a map showing areas in light green for vacuum only, and dark green for vac + mopping. I quite like that color coded feature. On the downside, while the vac is running, although it tells you which room it’s currently in, you can’t see which ones are done until the whole job is all done. This is useful to me in areas like the breakfast nook where I usually place the chairs upside down on the table top to get them off the floor for cleaning. I’d like to know as soon as possible when I can put them back down again. Or if I want to turn on the TV without noise interruption in that room from the vacuum. If I knew it had been cleaned already while the cycle was still going, that would be very useful. (Hardwood and tile don't have vacuum lines to let you know it's been cleaned.) The vacuuming feature makes pleasing lines/appearance on the carpet. They are closer in look to a standard push vac. Does that matter? Not really, just an observation and it makes the room inviting to walk into when you see all the lovely vacuum lines. I also forgot to mention it has a head light that will brighten if needed in darker rooms or spaces. You can program the vac for a new job, or use one of your saved programs from a previous job. There are multiple options such as low, medium, or high suction. You can select one or two passes per room. Turn on smart scrub for mopping which makes the robot go forward a few inches and then back to double scrub the area. You can opt in or out of the obstacle picture review. I used it for a while with no review and it beautifully avoided obstacles. I did opt in (after some time) so I could evaluate the feature. It took a picture of an electric outlet on the floor by my couch and avoided it. I’m glad it did because it was mopping at the time. Now it knows to permanently avoid it, and it’s a super tiny spot on the map. It didn’t block off a large section to avoid it. During the obstacle review, you can opt for a temporary obstacle and after moving the obstacle out of the way, you can opt to have it “tidy up the area” it skipped. I thought that was a nice touch. The high-efficiency filter is small. After a couple of vacuum jobs, it’s a good idea to remove it and go outside to gently tap it on a post or edge somewhere to shake out the dust. The High-Efficiency Filter, Edge-Sweeping Brushes, Dual Multi-Surface Brushes, Washable Cleaning pad, and Dust-Bin Bag are the parts that need eventual replacement. A perfect floor vac model, in my opinion, would have a bagless dust bin collection. I don’t want to keep up with multiple replacement parts. A bagless bin would be one less thing for the consumer to worry about. If this model was bagless, it would be the cherry on top. I have not found a robot vac with a bagless dust bin on the charging base yet. The bin is bagless on the robot itself, but not the larger collection bin on the base. Worthy of noting, when I first got this vac it would not refill. After some time with tech support, which could use improvement on wait time (I consistently waited 20 to 30 minutes to get an agent on the line) it was determined that a REboot would not fix it. A new unit was issued and it performed perfectly after that. *I will keep my box in the attic in case I have an issue down the line that requires it to be sent in. I feel like if it is going to fail, you will know immediately within the first week or so. Before connecting the new one, I did delete the app and reinstall it. I shut down my phone and restarted it before connecting the new robot, just in case those issues were a factor. I am glad I didn’t just give up on the j+ model because the new one works perfectly. Of the 3 robot vacs that I own, it is the most expensive, but it is a workhorse and my primary choice for use. The Pros: -Does almost double the cleaning time before recharging compared to my other brands. -Avoids floor obstacles easily and does not get tangled. Has an advanced obstacle review option. -Refills, dust-dumps, and recharges without babysitting it. -Map shows vacuumed areas and mopped areas in different colors on completed jobs. -Floors appear very clean and bare feet test reveals little to no crumbs/dust. -Carpet vacuuming to tile mopping in the same job is no problem. -Has a head light that brightens or dims depending on the light of the room/space. -You can save a cleaning session’s preferences on multiple rooms for future use. Example: mop kitchen, medium suction, smart scrub, two passes. Vacuum office, high suction, one pass. The cons: -The mopping pad is small AND grey in color which fails to convey how dirty the floors were. - The charging base’s dirt collection requires a bag and should be bagless in my opinion. -Doesn’t text alert to remind you to remove the mopping pad. -Does not show map progress as it’s cleaning, it will only name the room it’s currently in. You must wait till the job is complete to see the map and what areas were cleaned. (My EcoVacs model lets me see real time progress on the map, so I know it is possible to add that feature.) -Initial mapping during setup takes a very long time. *Be sure to fully charge the robot before beginning or it will take longer. -Should you need tech support, customer service wait time is usually 20-30 minutes to get an agent.

The j9+ Self-Emptying & Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop was to be a wonderful addition to the family, but it tends to act more like an insolent child at times. My first floor is where this robot lives and works, and it's a place fraught with obstacles. Chair Legs, End Tables, Throw Pillows, Power Cords, Dog Toys abound this landscape. The floor is a hardwood floor, with area rugs in both the dining and living room. So the thought of finally having an auto-mop was very appealing. For several years now we've had robot vacuum's in our homes, we've tried several brands like Neato, Samsung, and iRobot. Our most recent robot was an i3+, and it did alright. It was loud, it got stuck or gave errors, and was constantly telling me the bag was full even if it was a new bag. I think the base station had a sealing issue, but there was no support or help for that in the app. And I opened a ticket and never got a response. So I knew mostly what I was getting into with this new model. The promise of new features like Dirt Detective, Smart Scrub, and a retractable mop made for an enticing product. It came in a massive box, and after taking some time to get it setup and ready to do its job, I opened the app to connect it. I was immediately met with a failure to communicate with the robot. I tried furiously for at least a dozen attempts. No reason for failure, just failed to connect. The app could see the robot, it could detect the wifi, and it would begin the process with ease, but then just freeze and not continue. I managed to get hold of phone support after a lengthy 30 mins wait on hold, I was met with the most pleasant person who was able to near immediately resolve my issue by informing me that the app and this robot in particular was having issues with Google Pixel 6 devices. Odd that I just happened to have the 1 common phone type that would have an issue. Her advice was to find an Apple product. Luckily I had an iPad nearby that I could use to set the device up, and then when I logged into my Pixel app it was there and working no problem. So there's bug/issue #1, there wasn't enough testing and bug fixing before release. Issue #2. It didn't come with a manual, just a couple cards with setup info. It mentioned adding mop solution to the reservoir, but not what kind could and should be added. I had to do a bunch of digging on their website to determine what solutions were safe to add. This was not a friendly experience and took far to long to determine what was safe to use in the system. I've now had this robot a few weeks and I run it on a schedule of M-W-F at 1:30am. I've not seen the sealing problem that my old robot had with its dirt bin in this new one, but it has still had issues. Pros: It's quieter than previous models It can mop (although not great, but better than nothing) It's base station, while huge, isn't a total eyesore. Claims it will steer clear of obstacles like poop (luckily i don't have that problem) The app will notify you if you need to reload mop solution or a new bag Cons: Doesn't connect out the box with Pixel phone It's base station is huge It gets stuck a LOT (In 11 cleaning operations it got stuck or failed 8 times) The sensors get dirty and it throws errors and stops working (the sensors look totally clean anyway) It has a totally random cleaning pattern that leaves it doing a room more than once, or even going over the same areas multiple times. It bumps into everything causing scratches and paint transfer onto itself Dog Hair clogs the rollers sometimes I've had such a problem with the failed runs, as indicated in the cons above, that I took photos of it being stuck. On one such time it actually stopped about 2 ft from the base station directly in front of it and claimed it was stuck. There were zero obstacles to it getting home, just another 2ft of open space. It seems to make less battery charge pit-stops than previous models, which I think may be adding to it's getting stuck. It gets far from home, runs out of gas, and can't make it back. It produces a nice map of the cleaning area and can tell you how dirty it is, apparently mine is filthy because it is solid dark green on the map. I look at the floors and they don't seem that dirty. So not sure why it claims it's filthy after it just ran. One would think with this fancy map it's generated that it would be a bit smarter about navigation and not return to the same area multiple times in a run. But that is not the case. The mop feature was to be a huge blessing, but so far I've not seen it do much. One day it got stuck trying to mop an area rug when it's retractable mop became wedged under a tv stand. Because my floors are a mix of area rug and hardwood, I think it gets confused about when to mop vs not. Overall it does have a powerful vacuum for such a small appliance. It does a great job of spot cleaning our common areas and picking up dog hair, leaves, and debris. We still have to come along behind it with a traditional vacuum or mop from time to time, but it saves us a bit of time here and there. It's terrible at getting corners and up against edges of things. It tends to just brush hair and debris over into those areas and then it builds up over time. I'm hopeful that with more firmware updates it will get smarter and do a better job with mopping and whatnot. Time shall tell. It beats doing it myself, and for that reason I would probably recommend it to others.

I'll start by saying this is my second iRobot product, my 4th robo-cleaner, and my second vacuum and mop combination cleaner with automatic disposal, so I have several points of comparison. Let's start with the only thing you really need to know. This is a must-buy if you're looking for a robo-cleaner that can mop and vacuum at the same time. I know I gave it only 4 stars, because it fails in several areas I'll detail below, but it's vastly ahead in the areas that matter most, convenience. Here's why: 1. You fill up and empty the base station only. The other high end model I owned required you to fill up the water tank on the robot itself. This meant picking up the robot from the base, removing the container, filling it with water and cleaning solution, every single time I wanted to mop. This meant it wasn't practical to set it and forget it, which is the whole reason to have a robot do the job in the first place. Roomba solves that with a single container to fill in the base. 2. It switches automatically from vacuum to mop in the same run. Like technological magic, it moves the mop from the top of the robot to the bottom of the robot to do mopping tasks, then moves it back to the top of the robot when it needs to vacuum. This means I can vacuum and mop wood floors, area rugs, and carpet, all in the same run. Those two reasons put this into the must-buy category for me, if you truly want a set it and forget it experience with a combo mop / vacuum robot. Here's more info for anyone else who wants to know more: The iRobot App (2.5/5) - The companion iOS phone app is fine. It could use some work, but it gets the job done even if it's a bit clunky and slow. Fortunately, things like mapping the house and setting up boundaries and naming rooms only needs to be done once. The app runs pretty slowly to accomplish those tasks and is all around cumbersome to use. It feels like someone said "we're launching this next week and we need to also be able to create and name zones", and developers scrambled to implement a proof of concept that ultimately ended up shipping. If anyone from iRobot happens to read this, do better. For the market being targeted with high end robot companions, they really deserve more. The Camera (2.5/5) - I like that the Roomba has a built-in camera, and attempts to use object detection to avoid obstacles. It also has an option in the app I appreciated to review objects and mark "temporary, avoid this zone, or not an object". I have a toddler at home, so we have a mat with different shapes on it. The Roombo flagged several rectangles on the mat as an "object" that it should avoid, despite it being a flat surface. It could use some intelligence updates. - The camera shamefully doesn't have night vision, or at least not in the photos taken for app review. It emits a tiny light that illuminates a small area in front of it, so a lot of what was in the photos to review was almost pitch black, with a tiny light illuminating an object. Since it's practical for me, and I imagine a lot of other consumers to run Roomba at night when no one is moving about the house, I was shocked that the camera didn't have an infrared light / night mode. My inexpensive baby monitor can see in the dark better than this robot can. Object Detection 1/5 - I talked about object detection relative to the camera above, where it mistook flat rectangles as objects to avoid, but what it didn't seem to avoid was my kid's toys. There happened to be a wooden train set on the floor in one of the rooms, and when Roomba was moving toward it, I assumed it would see it, back up and find another path to clean. At least, I expected if it hit the object, it would then back up and find another path of things to clean. It did not. It just climbed on top of those train tracks and drove over them and more for a good 20 seconds before it finished that area and moved on. - Another instance where the object detection failed spectacularly, was a pop up play tent in one of the rooms (yes my house is a disaster, that's why I need some help from a robot). Instead of detecting it as an object to avoid, it just rammed right into the tent and pushed it around the room. It never seemed to realize it had run into something. - Another robo vacuum/mop combo I've previously used had spectacular object detection, and it would avoid both of these obstacles entirely, so I know it's not a limitation of available technology. Overall, I was extremely enamored by how miraculously this Roomba switches from mopping to vacuuming in a single run. It's the best selling point by far and makes it stand out ahead of the competition. But for being such a high end product, it fails pretty spectacularly in it's some categories as well. The more I think about my experience using it, the less excited I am overall. Overall, iRobot gets a commemoration for the innovative way they combined a mop and vacuum, but they forgot about the rest of the experience. I'd still recommend this as the best robo vacuum/mop combo I've seen available, but I am overall disappointed. I hope iRobot takes some of this feedback into consideration for future models. If they can update the camera, object detection, and the painfully slow app, this would be a home run.

Having owned several generations of iRobot vacuums and other name brand vacuums for over a decade, I didn't even have to think to welcome the J9+ self-emptying and auto-fill robot vacuum and mop into my home as soon as it was released. This consolidates the vacuum and mopping into one unit with a single base, eliminating the need for extra floor space. I noticed several new features on this dual action J9+ Roomba and was amazed on how smart these devices get with each generation, and this is a big upgrade from my J7+ series. Set-up: The set-up was a breeze. It took less than 5 minutes to have it detected and configured in my iRobot app. Several options available on the configuration menu for scheduling (cleaning schedule, do-not disturb, and ability to automatically clean when the owned leaves the house -detects owner location via the phone app), setting cleaning preferences (one pass or two pass options, room size clean preferences), child lock, etc. Performance: I can surely tell the J9+ Roomba's ability to pick up dirt and debris is at a whole new level as the suction power dynamically adjusted based on the cleaning surface. Its suction power was higher when cleaning thicker carpets which is perfect to get the fine dust and pollen out of the carpets. I usually deep clean my carpets and rugs every other week to get rid of pollen and fine dust as I am allergic to those and J9+ solves this problem with its amazing suction power. I am impressed with its pressure mopping capability, got the stains off the hardwood floor. I still have to wait a few more days for it to learn and prioritize its cleaning mission based on most accessed areas with its dirt detection capability. It should automatically adjust the suction and scrubbing settings along with the cleaning passes to keep the dirt and dust to minimal levels. This alone is enough for me to not worry about manually cleaning high-traffic areas to keep dust and pollen down in my house, and I can confidently retire all other vacuums. Battery life is pretty good, it still had 40% battery left in it after cleaning for 90 minutes. Navigation and Mapping: Map run did an excellent job in mapping my floor plan by detecting the bedrooms, bathrooms, office, hallway, etc., along with the boundary lines, ensuring thorough coverage of the cleaning areas. Smart navigation picked the right directions and lengths to minimize possible runs and also segregated the vacuum and mopping functions. Base station with auto-fill tank: The base station occupies quite a bit of space as it has a water tank that stores enough water for a 30-day mopping schedule. Refilling the tank takes just a few minutes. Cleaning the mop after each run is recommended, as the mop can get dirty if your hardwood floors are stained. I prefer doing it after every run to keep the mop clean. The app indicates the amount of water in the Roomba's cleaning base and the auto-fill tank, so you know when it's time to refill the tank. Obstacle detection and avoidance: I definitely have to review this part as this is the most important feature that I care about in all the robot vacuums I have owned. The obstacle detection is by far the best on the J9+ compared to 2 other brands that I currently own. It detected the stairs, furniture, etc. and navigated around these obstacles with ease. The Roomba clearly avoided the cables, pet feeding bowls, etc. on the floor. The app does ask for the detected objects to be identified so it knows if its temporary or permanent obstacle as it learns from each pass on what's on the floor. Hands down, this has the best obstacle detection technology compared to all the name brand ones that I currently own. App: The app is very user friendly and offers tons of features for scheduling, setting cleaning preferences, checking product health, receiving alerts, mapping zones for cleaning and no-go zones, etc. Overall, this is a great addition for someone looking for a device that handles both vacuuming and mopping, great value for the investment. It's definitely smart in its vacuum and mopping capabilities to keep the dust and dirt at bay, and it only gets smarted by the day with its learning capability. I highly recommend the dual action J9+ just by judging on how smart it is.

Pros Attractive base station Relatively quiet even on max power Long battery life Usually cleans carpets very good Automatically empties dust bin Automatically refills water tank Large water tank No odors from mop cleaner on base Rollers resistant to hair Side brush seems to be stronger than older designs Camera can log and ask you what to do around objects Shows you where it missed and offers to go back after you tidy up Learns what to avoid based on what you tell it Keeps track of the dirtiest areas of the home Suggests extra cleaning in dirty areas Has dirt sensor and can focus more cleaning on areas found Dust bin and base station full sensors take out the guesswork Works with some cleaning solutions Cons AI doesn’t always recognize obstacles Sometimes vacuum dust bin sensor fails to know it is full Misses vacuuming carpet where rooms transition diagonally Doesn’t always vacuum straight Sometimes randomly stops vacuuming and goes to another part Sometimes starts vacuuming in the middle of the carpet If hair clogs roller, it cuts the roller Can’t navigate in dark or dim rooms Careful navigation is missing from previous models Bumps into furniture and walls regularly Too tall to clean under kickboards The Roomba Combo J9+ looks to be a combination of several previous Roomba models. It does omit the VSLAM navigation and instead relies on the front camera and a floor sensor. The camera does have a light, but it is only bright enough for obstacle avoidance and not navigation. The J9+ completely lifts the mop to the top of the robot so it can’t get the carpet wet. Setup 9/10 Setup is straightforward. If you have had a Roomba before you will find the experience very familiar. You will need to create a Roomba account to set things up if you don’t have one. During setup there are several screens you will go through where the app shows you features of the Combo J9+. To use the advance features, it will need to map your house. It doesn’t have lidar to do this, so it goes around looking at your house and bumping into walls and furniture. In some cases, it bumped into the same wall multiple times almost like it was unsure if it was real. It also got stuck under a chair during the initial mapping. The two mapping options are to tell it to vacuum everywhere or do an initial mapping. Choosing the initial mapping is supposed to be quicker as it just goes around learning the walls and furniture. If you do the quick mapping it doesn’t initially mark where carpets are. After the map is created it tries to figure out where your rooms are. It does a decent job of this but more than likely you will need to make changes. Next it asks for room names. In some cases, it was able to correctly suggest a name. The process was quick and simple. Navigation 7/10 Navigation has been hit or miss but it seems to be improving. Remembering to make sure there is enough light in the room helps. It still takes getting used to the fact that you must make sure there is a light on in any room you want it to vacuum. The bathroom is usually dark even during the day. From time to time, it can get a little confused if there isn’t a light on. It seems to use the floor sensor as a backup but if the light is too low then navigation consistency seems to degrade. It doesn’t typically get lost but just starts going diagonally through some areas almost like it is searching for something. Even with good light the navigation logic is unusual. Sometimes it will go to the center of an area and start cleaning from the middle and then clean the other half by moving diagonally to the other section. Maybe this is on purpose to try to catch grime that vacuuming the same way each time would miss but it is unexpected. If you like straight lines on your carpet, then the J9+ is hit or miss. One thing it does very well is finding a way to what seems like a blocked area. In one case, the normal path to a space was blocked by items sitting on the floor. The Roomba noticed the blockage and decided to take a shortcut under furniture to get where it wanted to go. Diagonal room transitions seem to confuse it. The main bedroom has a door to the bathroom that is at a 45-degree angle. The Roomba currently will not vacuum a small wedge of carpet in the that transition. It has been changing strategy so hopefully this will improve. AI Features and Obstacle Avoidance 8/10 After additional cleaning sessions it starts to learn more of your house and where the dirty spots are. It updates the dirty zones with each vacuuming to help you see if some areas are consistently dirtier. A surprise for our family is the area near the dishwasher seemed to be one area and it suggested adding a cleaning zone. After thinking about it, the counter above the dishwasher is where the family assembles their breakfast. During the process of learning your house you can opt in for picture review. What it does then is take snapshots of what the AI isn’t sure about. It recognized cords but got caught on paper and twine. When done, it presents you with the pictures where you can train the AI. You can also choose “Start Tidy Up”. You review items it skipped and pick them up. It will go back and finish cleaning those areas. This Roomba has the P.O.O.P guarantee which hopefully is never needed but good to have. The guarantee says if the J9+ ever vacuums pet waste they will replace your unit. It’s nice piece of mind. Our old Roomba was never quite the same after an incident with our new puppy. Vacuuming 9/10 Carpet vacuuming has always been a strong point for Roomba. Surprisingly the J9+ seems to be doing as well as its top predecessor while doing so far quieter. The overall noise level is a standout feature of the J9+. Of course, it is still noisy but previous Roomba models were distracting even when vacuuming in another room. The J9+ is barely audible from one room away. In the same room you can hold a conversation, but it would still be a distraction. Based on sound it seems like the suction might be on the lower side but even if that is true the carpet cleaning has not suffered. Maybe it is because it seems to make overlapping passes on the carpet instead. While it does have a dirt sensor, which is great to find heavy spots, so far it hasn’t needed to go back on an area. Resistance to hair tangling isn’t listed as a feature but the rollers look the same as previous models that claimed to resist hair tangles. Overall, it does a good job of resisting tangles but if you wait too long between vacuuming the hair does wrap around the roller and cut it. Most of the time the main maintenance that needs to be done is cleaning hair off the end of the rollers every few days. They have a little pocket on either side where it directs hair and traps it. Mopping 7/10 The mop is a simple design which wets the floor directly instead of the mop. There are three water nozzles just behind the carpet rollers that drop water just in front of the mop. When mopping begins, it starts with 3 wet lines and doesn’t mop between them. After some time, the mop becomes saturated, and the entire mop cleans. If you choose the Smart Scrub feature, it primes the pad more and scrubs in a back-and-forth motion. This causes the mop to get saturated much faster and work sooner. It makes you wonder how it keeps water off the rollers when it goes back and forth since the vacuum is still running. Thankfully, so far it has stayed dry. Currently, only the Bona cleaning solutions are approved for use. While it is nice that a cleaning solution works it would be even better if more cleaning solutions were approved. Using just water and a single pass only cleans the most basic stains and sometimes leaves streaks. With Smart Scrub enabled is helps for more stuck in stains but it isn’t a miracle and will still not get the hardest stains. That said, it handles regular stains just fine. Base Station 9/10 The first thing you will notice is there is no mop cleaner. As a pet owner, this is a good thing. Our previous mopping robot would clean the pads. This meant dirty pet water would stay in the cleaning tray. It would smell like pet hair and sewer requiring regular disinfection of the mop cleaner. It also meant that if the dirty base cleaned the mop, the mop would clean the house spreading the smell. With this base station all you need to do is have a few extra mop heads. Just swap out with a fresh one when it finishes and toss the old one in the laundry. The base station stays odor free, and the mops get a better cleaning in the wash. The water tank is very large. About the only criticism of the base station is it would be nice if the dust bag was larger. The bag is a drawer that only uses about 1/3 of the space it is in. For pet owners a larger dust bag would be icing on the cake. While emptying is still loud, compared to previous models it is much quieter. Final Thoughts The Roomba Combo J9+ is more of an evolutionary rather than revolutionary step in the Roomba line. It still has some quirks, like not using LIDAR, but it is a solid update to the Roomba line that offers a lot in a compact, and attractive, solution. It is quieter, cleans better, and adds some useful features to an already solid lineup.

Quick Summary: I've very much like the iRobot Roomba j9+ Combo vacuum robot. My home has all wood flooring but also have large rug carpeted sections. This was not a problem for the j9+, it handled both hardwood and carpet. The robot not only can vacuum but also mop the hardwood/tile areas; this is programmable through your app, but it also intelligent enough to know to not mop on carpeted flooring. iRobot did a great job of easy setup, programming, and use on the j9+. Highly recommended. In the box: j9+ Robot Charging and dust/water station Power adapter Instruction Spare cleaning parts Setup: The j9+ was a bit confusing at first, but once going over the quick setup guide, everything made sense. The first time running the j9+, it will automatically map your floor. In other competitors you have to take photos and upload them to an app that will help you arrange the floor layout. This auto mapping really took the work out of setup. Just install the iRobot app and follow the easy directions. Use: Using the j9+ robot was easy. I have mainly hardwood flooring but several areas rugs. I was a bit worried that the robot will map everywhere and rub in dirt into my white rugs. iRobot is smart to make the robot recognize carpeted areas and not mop these areas. You can also set up where you don't want to the robot to mop. The app made using the robot very easy.

This 2-in-1 vacuum that mops and vacuums helps keep my house tidy from 2 kids under the age of 5, 2 dogs that sheds and 1 crazy cat. Run it on a schedule and you can easily have clean floors without intervention for a month at a time. Initial setup was easy and does require an app and Wi-Fi. Once setup, use a “mapping run” for the Roomba to learn your floorplan. Once the general floorplan is learned in the app, you have the options to add room dividers, rename rooms and create zones. Zones can either be “keep out”, “No Mop” or “Clean Zone” aka high traffic cleaning. Coming from a previous robot vacuum that was equipped with LIDAR, this Roomba j9+ only uses a camera to map the room. The downfall on using just the camera is that it’s not as accurate as LIDAR. The first run of the mapping run was disappointing. After coming to terms with the limitations of camera-based mapping, I remapped by placing my dining room chairs in the garage and moved everything that wasn’t heavy out of the way so the Roomba can accurately capture the room shape. That also included placing my barstools on the kitchen island to accurately map my kitchen island shape. Why Roomba doesn’t use a combination of LIDAR and camera like the competition is beyond me at this price point. No complaints on mopping or vacuuming with the j9+. The base automatically empties the dust bin and refills with mopping solution. Comes with 2 dirt bags that should last 2 or so months. Extra bags can be ordered on iRobot’s site for $20 for 3 bags. The vacuuming portion is arguably one of the best in the market in suction and roller design. If you love straight vacuum lines in your carpet, this robot is it. The mopping portion and design is unique to Roomba. Other brands of mopping combos have the mop pad on the bottom of the robot and either slightly lifts off the ground to help keep your carpets dry or only does mopping. The j9+ actually lifts the mop pad onto the top of the vacuum to fully ensure that your carpets and rugs stay dry regardless of how plush your carpet is. Very neat feature by the use of surface detection sensor on the bottom of the robot vacuum. Do note that while the base will automatically refill your robot with cleaning solution, you still need to change out the mop pads after each mopping run. This kit comes with 2 pads but more pads can be bought on their site. With 2 pads, I would do a mopping run once a week, throw the dirty pad in the washing machine and place a clean mop head on the unit ready for the next mopping run. Roomba claims that this is more hygienic than the competition that automatically cleans the mop pad while docked. Another feature unique to Roomba is the “SuperScrub” feature. This is a back-and-forth moping motion that simulates a human mopping motion for the deepest clean. Other brands will either simply drag a mop head over the floor in one pass or have some kind of micro agitation. The app is intuitive and the main controls to the robot vacuum. You can easily set schedules and start impromptu cleaning runs. You can even have your smart speaker activate a cleaning run if you prefer. It would be nice if you can set a custom schedule where I could vacuum every day and mop every other week but the limitations of scheduling are set to weekly. There is a feature in the app that can track your GPS location of your phone so the robot can start cleaning if it detects that you are away from the home. The true shinning feature of the Roomba j9+ is the use of AI to help navigate around obstacles. It does this so well that they even guarantee up to a year that the robot will not run over solid cat or dog waste. Do note that this guarantee only covers if the robot runs over solid pet waste. If your dog vomited, had diarrhea or urinated a puddle on your hard floors and the robot runs over it, the warranty will not apply. Outside of pet waste, the camera-based AI detection does a fantastic job on avoiding cords, socks, shoes, toys etc. My last robot vacuum was only equipped with LIDAR and LIDAR only detects walls and tall objects. Socks and cords would constantly be stuck in the machine if I didn’t pick up before a vacuum run. This j9+ eliminated the need for me to pick up before which is worth the price of admission alone. Since it’s AI and cloud connected, the AI is crowd sourced to identify objects that it didn’t recognize to help build its database. After a cleaning run, the app will ask you to review the obstacles. It will show me a picture of my shoes on the rug in my mudroom and I will answer a few optional questions to help train the model to be smarter in future software updates. The AI will only get smarter with time and more users adding input. This robot vacuum is nearly perfect for a few reasons. Since its only camera based, your vacuum/mopping runs can only happen with the lights on or during the day. My last robot with LIDAR was able to run in pitch darkness so I can schedule cleaning while everyone was sleeping. But without LIDAR, and basing every navigation and decision made with camera has its limitations. Floorplan mapping isn’t as accurate as models with LIDAR and I feel like the j9+ spends a lot of time trying to maneuver out from underneath my dining room table with the chairs pushed in. It got in there but nearly stuck like a lobster in a cage. In summary, the Roomb j9+ is a fantastic vacuum and mopping combo. The base is aesthetically beautiful and fits with my décor. Not coming up with a way for the base to clean the mop head was a shortcut in my opinion. The competition at nearly the same price does automatic mop pad cleaning and includes the use of both LIDAR and camera for AI obstacle avoidance. Get the Roomba as a trusted brand with a long track record in this category.

This is my first robot vacuum and I was a bit wary to venture into these waters. The unit does a very good job of vacuuming and I have been impressed with the quality of mopping. The app was difficult for me to figure out and there are little or no instructions to help an old-timer (who works in technology) like me, so that has been frustrating. The menu design is not intuitive and continues to be troublesome. The unit has disconnected from my wifi several times and is complicated to reconnect, requiring multiple attempts. I must admit my internet service is going through system upgrades and is often out of service between 12-6am, and that might be part of the problem. The other problem I've had is the unit sometimes bumps objects just right [or wrong] and the dust box pops open, stopping the unit in its tracks, until I discover the problem. The replacement parts on the mfr website are not cross-referenced to this model, even though it has been out for almost a year. When I pointed this out, the service rep updated one item and then pointed me to it in the catalog, but the other items were still not indexed to this model and that is sloppy and a form of denial. I really don't like it when a mfr denies there is a problem and doesn't fix the problem. The quality of construction and ease of cleaning maintenance on the unit is very good. Overall, I would probably buy it again.

I’ve owned Roombas for quite a while and this replaced my Roomba S9+ vacuum and Braava Jet M6 mop. Both the vacuum and the mop functions have been greatly improved. The vacuum cleans better than the s9 and the mopping is more consistent and doesn’t streak like the m6 does. Also, this robot is about 50% quieter than the s9 and the empty bin mode is dramatically quieter. It seems like they put in some sound-proofing. The obstacle detection is excellent. I have cats and it has successfully identified and avoided toys that the s9 always seemed to get stuck on. It navigates my house much more intelligently and it is able to clean my entire house much more efficiently and rapidly than the previous generation. It isn’t without its imperfections and limitations. You’ll still need to occasionally vacuum and mop yourself. But, this helps to keep the house clean in-between those manual cleanings and it’s getting me through the week without having to worry about cleaning up messes after work. Im very happy with this purchase and recommend this product.

The Roomba J9+ Combo is a great robot vacuum! You will not be disappointed. My wife and I purchased a robot vacuum about 10 years ago and it was a terrible waste of money. So you can understand us being very skeptical and hesitant about purchasing another one, but it has been a decade so we decided to give it another try. We decided to go with the flagship Roomba, J9+ Combo after doing countless hours of research. What sealed the deal for us was the price. It was on sale for Pre-Black Friday, making it $500 less than their leading competitor. First off you can tell this think is premium. The base and robot are solid and made from quality parts. The base looks great and does not stick out like some of the others out there. The storage in the door is a great addition! As for performance, we were stunned. It did an amazing job mapping out house, it is even smart enough to label the rooms automatically on the app. While this thing does not have the suction of our Dyson Animal Ball Vacuum, we never expected it to. The Roomba J9+ Combo did an outstanding job picking up the dirt and mopping our floors. This thing is smart. The app is very nice. It is simple to connect to the robot and customize cleaning schedules and the maps. The only thing that they could add to make this machine better is the auto mop cleaner. If you are good with cleaning the mop pads after each use, you will be very happy with the Roomba J9+ Combo.