Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is my second iRobot purchase. The first one was a 980 (we’ve had it for 5 years). I always said it was the best purchase I ever made. The battery started to fail and the two batteries I got to replace it did not make a difference. That’s when I decided to move the old one downstairs and get a new vacuum. I am very pleased with this model. I ran the map without vacuuming as it suggested. I let it go into all the rooms, even in rooms I did not want it going into to vacuum later. It finished fairly quickly. Once the map populated I added room dividers, and no go zones, such as closets, and areas that have cords on the floor. I have watched it vacuum several times. I love how it vacuums each room separately according to the map. I feel like it does a better cleaning job when it stays in its section before it moves to the next room. This vacuum is much quieter than my old one. I have owned this vacuum a month and the only issue so far was I had to reconnect the vacuum to the app but the app tells you exactly what to do to fix it. I really love these, I just wish they were more affordable so I could buy another one. Even on sale they are expensive.

I wanted to write this review (instead of my Husband). I never write reviews, but, I felt others needed to know how this iRobot Roomba has freed us from our regular vacuum cleaner. We named it Sweepy, because you get to name it (so cute!). You see we have 3 labs (see photo) that shed 365 and we were vacuuming constantly! The Roomba was easy set up out of the box. Next came the mapping of the house (this made us look at each room and get stuff off the floor Sweepy couldn’t get under). We then were able to review the map, name each room and change room divides if needed. Set up the schedule and ready for the first run (daily for us on all floors except carpeted rooms - those are weekends only right now). I wasn’t expecting to be as thrilled as I was! Our floors look great! No dog hair in sight! We have hardwood floors with some area rugs, 2 carpeted rooms and luxury vinyl…Sweepy works great on all these surfaces! When done it docks and empties. I should have had one of these years ago…such a time saver! I love coming home to clean swept floors (no more dog hair tumbleweeds). Highly recommend this product !

We purchased the roomba to help keep up with the detritus from puppies and kids. I was skeptical about its efficiency. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised with the ease it took to set it up and with the cleaning job that it does. We have had multiple corded Dyson vacuums and a cordless Dyson. The Roomba had impressed me with its cleaning ability and lack of noise.

Have been running the robot for a couple of months now. And so far we like it.. we ordered it on sale, it came in promptly. Set up was easy. And stating it up was easy as following the instructions.. it has been running every other day and getting smarter each time we run it..

The Roomba J9+ was simple to unbox and get up and running. Everything comes pre-assembled and merely required unpacking and room placement. Device activation and configuration was completed through the iRobot app which subsequently applied a “10 minute” update that actually ran for over 40 minutes. I was forced to abort and close the app due to other obligations, but when I returned later I noticed the vacuum software version number had jumped from 7.X to 9.9. Although it wasn’t exactly a smooth start, the issue apparently resolved on its own and the Roomba has been problem free since. Cleaning tasks are managed through the iRobot app, which also provides the capability to monitor and maintain the device. The Roomba can clean on demand, or as specified through custom cleaning schedules. The app is straightforward and intuitive to use, with all options logically arranged and easily accessible. One of the most useful features of the app is home mapping. The Roomba maps the layout of the home as it cleans, which is then saved in the app. Mapping allows more refined custom on-demand cleaning by allowing me to select specific rooms or the entire floor. Mapping can also be used with scheduling to clean individual rooms or areas on specified dates and times. This is good for automatically cleaning heavily trafficked or soiled areas more frequently and any less trafficked areas less frequently. Mapping isn’t perfect however, especially if there are a lot of random obstacles or oddly shaped or angled rooms. But it gets more accurate the more the machine runs and learns the home’s layout. I can also go in and edit the layout to make it more accurately represent my floorplan. Watching the Roomba run the first few times is like watching a baby deer learn to walk. It’s clumsy, unsure, frequently repeats areas, and seemingly puts too much emphasis on certain spots. Once the vacuum gets a good sampling of the house layout, it runs more efficiently, although it still occasionally runs in questionable patterns at times. The vacuum is moderately loud while cleaning but gets much louder when self-emptying due to the drastically increased suction used to empty the device. Both modes are loud enough to potentially frighten sensitive pets, but the noise from the emptying process is much more likely to do so. Cleaning results are pretty good. The J9+ does a thorough job and frequently doubles back to ensure cleanliness. It occasionally misses debris, just as my previous Roomba 981 did, but it seems a little more thorough than the 981 and usually does a good job overall. It’s adept at traveling onto and cleaning large low pile area rugs and good at avoiding stairs, obstructions, drops and other obstacles. It sometimes lightly bumps against walls and furniture rather than stopping before impact, but this became less frequent the more it learned the layout. Once it finishes all areas, it automatically returns to its home base where it self empties automatically. Dirt is sucked out of the Roomba and into a disposable vacuum bag inside the base. Once the bag is full, it gets removed and tossed like any other vacuum bag. The only areas I don’t like the J9+ traveling onto are floor vents and small rugs and mats. Small lightweight rugs and mats tend to get caught up in the roller and suction, and the grinding sounds the machine makes while traveling over floor vents makes me wince. Out of an abundance of caution, I usually remove small rugs/mats and cover floor vents before cleaning. The rollers and brushes are consumable user replaceable parts that I fear will may deteriorate prematurely from unfriendly surfaces like grated vent covers. The app monitors consumables and advises when it’s time for replacement, but it is time and use based. I suspect it may not accurately account for excessive wear caused by environmental factors. We’ve been pleased with the Roomba J9+ performance. It cleans the house reliably with few missed spots. We don’t have small children, pets, or a lot if foot traffic, so I’m sure that makes it easier to clean and likely plays a role in our results. The iRobot app scheduling, coupled with the self-emptying feature, makes the J9+ practically a set and forget appliance until it’s necessary to empty the base. The robot accurately cleans areas automatically for us on a daily schedule and returns to its home base afterward. Overall, it accomplishes the bulk of our vacuuming needs and even with our large area rugs, we’re seldom forced to use our uprights to supplement the Roomba.

The iRobot Roomba J9+ is one of iRobot’s latest iterations of the popular Roomba robot vacuum series. The J9+ offers the strongest suction motor that is currently offered from iRobot. This one is the vacuum only but if you would like the same vacuum performance with the addition of the mop, I would suggest the J9+ Combo. After testing several brands of robot vacuums over the years, including an older iRobot, there are certainly strengths and weaknesses to them. In the Box: - Robot - Docking Station w/ Long Cord - Extra Vacuum Bag (One Pre-installed), Filter, and Side Brush Setup: EASY! Take the robot and its entire assembly out of the box. Remove a couple small protectors and packaging, plug the dock into a wall outlet near your final setup location, and log into the iRobot app. Out of the box, it should only take about 10 minutes to pair and set up via the app. Mine did a software update which added a little more time, but it really is quite easy. The iRobot app adds many additional functions so I would highly recommend using the app with this robot. Usage: Like any robot vacuum, the first one or two cleaning sessions will take longer and will be mapping sessions to learn your homes layout/obstacles. It's comical to observe the robot moving during its first run because it will bump into more objects than usual and may have a strange pattern. Once it finishes mapping, it may prompt you inside of the app with potential obstacles and whether they are permanent or temporary. Eventually it will learn the layout and you can label the rooms and edit the floorplan as you wish. It is handy to accurately label rooms and edit them as you see fit to get the best experience possible from the cleaning sessions and to avoid issues. You can also select to only clean certain rooms/areas at one time if you wish. The suction performance is quite good. I would say the vacuum itself is average levels of “loudness” for a robot vacuum like this. It will vary slightly if you have different surfaces as the suction levels should be higher on carpet than hard floors. Occasionally, I had issues with the vacuum catching corners of small area rugs. It was fairly good at avoiding most obstacles on the floor, but I tried my best to pick up most things to keep the area free from potential hazards to keep the robot from getting stuck. One major difference of this robot versus some others is the fact this one only uses a camera for navigation and smart features where others have started using LIDAR as well as cameras. I would say this limit just how good it is at mapping and avoiding obstacles BUT all things considered it performed very well for its hardware limitations. Once complete, the robot will automatically empty the debris into the bag integrated into the base. This feature is by far one of the best aspects of robot vacuums as it removes most of the hassle from the user. It is quite loud when this happens so it could scare pets or animals around at first. Pros: - Smaller Dock Footprint - Self-Emptying - Strong Suction - App (Scheduling, Map, etc.) Cons: - No LIDAR Overall: The iRobot J9+ is a solid offering in the robot vacuum space with good performance, solid app, and enough features for the average user. I would like to see LIDAR integrated into their higher end models for more precise mapping and object detection, but the camera only system does well for what it is. Compared to the last iRobot I used, this is leaps and bounds better than just a few years ago.

I've been an owner of many robot vacs as well as from many different brands such as Neato, Shark & iRobot and the J9+ is to this point been a quantum leap. It's fun to watch as you see the learning process and how it avoids things like my dogs, power cords, furniture and other items in its path with much more ease than my previous units. The roller brush system stays very clean and its much more efficient than the old brush system. I find it easy to clean and maintain unlike the old units. It maps your home and allows you to draw room boundaries, name your rooms and choose what rooms you are going to clean. I have two Maine Coon cats that shed big time and again the improvement in technology is wonderful. No more hair! The self empty feature is wonderful and it's interesting that when the dirt container in the J9 fills, it scampers back quietly to its base and empties itself. Then amazingly it scampers right back to the spot it was cleaning and resumes finishing the cleaning. Same thing happens if the battery goes low. It scampers back to its dock and you get a message from the app that it is recharging with an estimate as to how long it will be before it resumes cleaning. Because it knows how much cleaning is left, you don't have to wait for a full charge too. I love that after it completes the map of your home shows the obstacles if any, that it encountered. Additionally you get pictures of obstacles and you can let the J9 know if those were temporary obstacles, or whether you want it to avoid that obstacle in the future. It's funny to see pictures of things in its path. I notice that now if it gets in the path of an animal it will stop before hitting them, and turn another direction. It's quiet too. Much quieter than my old robots. My cats pretty much ignore it as it moves along the floor where before they would haul butt into another part of the house. Also noticeable is that it will turn off the vacuum motor when it is traveling to specific rooms or when it is returning to its base. It also seems to have an extremely powerful motor on the base to suck the particles from the robot, the thing sounds like an old school Kirby so just beware because it may scare you the first few times. I am totally pleased soo far!

To start off, I've used a handful of robot vacuums over the past few years and have a good technical perspective of what does "what" in this competitive space. The J9+ is interesting to me because it promises iRobots strongest motor while given the user the most advanced type of camera based VSLAM navigation. The general industrial design is based on the previously released J7 and as you've guessed, the J9 shares the newest possible object based navigation. This isn't my first iRobot.. I have long term experience with a last generation 2020 i3 which was more or less the entry "smart navigation" model using a standard optical floor tracker with gyroscope design. The i7 was similar, but added a top mounted camera to work with the optical floor tracker. In regards to vacuum performance, I can explain the IRobot hierarchy like this: The i3, i7, and J7 seem to all share the same motor and have the same general pickup performance with tolerance differences per unit. Possible subtle internal power adjustment too. There are outlier specialty Roomba made for certain vendors, but most robots are tied to a general "base" model. For example: i3 = i1/i2/i4/i5 (with specific changes) i7 = i6/i8 (with specific changes) The same is true for the J models with advanced navigation: j7 = j5/j8 (with specific changes) The j9+ one ups the base config with the stronger motor, possibly from the previous generation s9. Confusing? A little bit, but once you start piecing information together, everything starts making more sense. Current late 2023 lineup: i5+ COMBO = Better i3 with mop support (may have other possible changes). j5+ COMBO = J7+ with mop support. (may have other possible changes). J7/+ = Same as release from 2021. J7+ COMBO has auto retracting mop, older "standard" motor on both. J9/+ = Strongest motor, has same navigation as lower end J models. Removed rear cliff sensors. 4 instead of 6. (This robot) J9/+ Combo = Flagship robot offering everything. Since I got the technical background over with, we can generally start with what I think about the product at hand..That being the J9+ PICKUP PERFORMANCE: Given that I've used my Roomba i3 for a few years, I'm honestly VERY impressed with what this upgraded machine can do when it comes to embedded debris on carpet. This is indeed one of iRobots strongest products and certainly leaves the lower end models with the standard base motor in the dust.. Pun intended :) I can without a doubt say that the the J9+ is certainly among the best in the robot vacuum space. It defaults on medium suction and can variably shift for higher or lower power based on surface with its automated Powerboost. You can manually set the robot to lower or higher power which will extended or decrease battery life, but the default setting of medium is very well optimized that I don't really bother. Is the higher power needed for hard floors? Not at all, but it WILL help with pet oriented needs such as cat liter at least relative to a lower tier model with the standard Roomba motor. I've noticed the area around my cats liter box is much cleaner than other robots that I've used. NAVIGATION: It's no secret that the Roomba J series is much improved from previous i/s series models. While the i7 model was an improvement from something like an i3, it didn't have that much leverage to offer for a "WOW" factor. The pickup was similar, but offered no go zones due to camera. The J series navigation changes this as it can actually detect what is straight in front of it and go around or shift course. It's also a lot faster from what I can tell. Were competitor LIDAR robots better than the previous generation i7? I think so, but the J series from IRobot is actually competing neck and neck in its own way. Is my LIDAR Robot still faster for the entire house? Yeah it is, but the J9 has the trade off of simply cleaning better. I cannot understate this. DOCKING BASE: It works and functions like my Roomba i3. Just is a smaller and shorter package. I welcome this change as it looks much more mature. Has extra storage for a single bag and comes with two in the box. NOTICABLE CHANGES AND DOWNGRADES: Something I noticed looking at the previous J7 and even newer released J5+ Combo: For some reason, iRobot removed the rear cliff sensors from this specific J9+ model.. The j5 has them, the j7/+ has them, the J7+ COMBO has them, the J8/+ has them, and the J9+ COMBO has them, but this J9+ does not. An anomaly. The only thing I can think of is that the stronger motor takes too much space? Just seems weird since lower tier models have 6 instead of the 4 given on this "higher end" 9 series. Having only 4 cliff sensors is closer to the i3 base design. Another thing...The dust bin door hinge was also downgraded from previously released Roomba's and no longer has a release button. I know this J9+ only comes with an automated empty bin, but its a weird place to downgrade stuff. I feel like the newer design is more prone to breaking as it relies on a click hinge design.. previous model seems more durable. The i3 bin fits the J9+ and works without an issue. ACCESSORIES: Comes 2 side brushes, 2 filters, 2 bags. Pretty standard. Nothing else to really say here. I have extra replacement hardware from my older i3 and I'm glad everything is interchangeable. OVERALL: I'm very impressed with the general product. Is it perfect? No. Nothing is, but if you want one of the strongest Robot vacuums for pet pickup and deep cleaning carpet performance, I don't really think you can beat the Roomba j9 series. The J9+ is the only model in the current iRobot line up that doesn't have a mop. You will have to buy the J9+ COMBO if you want the same vacuum performance and a mop feature. Would a mop attachment work with this? It's possible that the assembly from the J5+ COMBO bin could fit, but there is no official support. Be warned. Solid 4/5. Better than I expected!

We already have a much older Roomba in a different floor in the house and also used a different brand. The advancement in how this works is really impressive. We also use a j7+ in a different place and differences are negligible. Initial setup was straightforward. Everything else came ready. It even came with dirt bag already installed in the charging base and a spare bag as well. App onboarding takes a few minutes. Already had the iRobot app installed because of the other vacuum. It detected the new vacuum and connected without issues. After finding a good spot for the charging base with a good outlet, it's ready to learn the floor plan. Keep in mind that the docking base draws a good amount of power when emptying the trash from the vacuum into the base, and it can easily trip a circuit. If there are lights on the same circuit it will flicker (This is on a new construction, 15 Amp circuit). The vacuum has to be trained first: The first or two times it runs, it will map the floor and rooms. It will first bump into a few things, although there is a setting in the app that applies additional logic to prevent of the unnecessary bumping. The second time we ran a mapping run, the floorplan started to take shape in the app. After a few cleaning jobs, the floorplan is more or less complete, and the phone app will eventually ask to start organizing the map into rooms. This takes a bit of effort as it might not be immediately intuitive, and in our case it got room divisions incorrectly. Note that I had previous experience setting a similar model on a different floor. Even though the maps will not be perfect it should be good enough to instruct it to clean specific rooms, and over time sections of each room. Once the rooms are divided, it will prompt to name the rooms, from a long list of pre-assigned names, or it can be customized. It will then move to the next training level and start taking pictures of what it think are obstacles. The vacuum has a front camera that has a narrow view of the floor level. It doesn't see much beyond a the height of shoes. With that the app will ask if the vacuum found a new obstacle, and if it's permanent, or temporary. If permanent, it will start adding exclusion zones to the map. Some of the examples are cables and power strips it finds on the floor. Temporary obstacles can be shopping bags or socks or shoes left on the floor. It's smart enough to not go over cables, which was an annoying problem with other vacuums we used before, but it might still ask you to confirm a loose cable almost every vacuuming room, via the app, which can be ignored though. It integrates very well with Alexa and also with Google Home. With Alexa it has a rich integration. I can tell it which of the two Roomba vacuums to use and which room. With Google Home the integration is quite basic, allowing one to start and stop vacuuming the whole floor. There is no integration with Apple HomeKit, and I don't think any robot vacuum works wit it yet, but it supports Siri shortcuts. From the app, one can customize the order on which rooms are cleaned with the option to save the routine as a favorite to reuse later. If using the vacuum on different places (or different floors), it can be done because the app can switch between multiple vacuums each with maps. Vacuuming: It picked everything and went under beds and cabinets without a problem. We have teenagers in the house so there is a good amount of hair to be cleaned on the floor. I was impressed that the main brushes did not get clogged with hair. In fact there was nothing else to clean from the rollers. However the first two times it ran it collected considerable amount of hair that made it fail the job. Cleaning the vacuum: The base does a great job of emptying the dustbin from the vacuum. As I mentioned, it's very powerful (And also very loud). Only takes a few seconds to complete though. However, debris that is larger than a grain of rice will have to be picked up manually from the vacuum's internal dustbin. The brushes are very easy to clean and as I said their design does not collect much hair at all. There is also a caster wheel to be cleaned but it pulls right out. Then the front-side brush will generally get some hair, and I had to unscrew it to pick all the hair from it. But things should be easier if using the vacuum consistently. The first time it will pick up a lot of dirt that the handheld vacuum missed (mostly under cabinets, sofas, etc.). It seems to stumble on legs and chairs more than necessary. With all its smarts it continuously gets stuck on the horizontal frame of an IKEA Poang armchair. I might have to exclude that area from its cleaning cycle. It does handle transitions between bare floors and carpets with ease. The app will show the rough area where it detected carpets. Overall I'm very impressed. Very well designed. Note that have to give it about a week to train it to each space. The docking base works well at emptying the dirt from the vacuum. The phone app is very well designed. iRobot has been making improvements for years, and I'm impressed how much smarter it got since their older vacuums. Integration with Alexa is very good. Compared to our j7 vacuum, the difference in smarts and vacuum power seems negligible in my experience. I also had issues with their support over time, for example waiting for a week to reply and then tell me that the warranty expired four days before submitting a request for a pre-existing issue, so an extended warranty might be worth with this. So it's great but If I had to choose again I'd choose the mid-level model instead.

iRobot has excellent expertise in product packaging and in creating an excellent out of the box experience for its customers. I received a “box in a box” – a shipping box that contained the actual product box. Once I removed the product box and opened it up, I was very impressed. Packaging is optimized for the Roomba’s form-factor. The robot it in the very bottom of the box sitting on a plastic piece which rests on the base. Above that is an accessory box containing the power cord, and a spare filter and edge brush. Putting that box aside, I removed the Roomba j9+ vacuum from the box, and the removed the base. Removing the protective thing foam wrap from the base was the most challenging task in getting things going. It’s really that simple. I plugged-in the base to our electrical outlet, placed the Roomba j9+ on the base and began the installation using the iRobot app on my iPhone. That process was simple, but there was one glitch – more on that later. The Roomba j9+ connected to my iPhone, and then ultimately to our home WiFi. From there, I was notified via the app that a firmware update was needed. Things got really slow there, and after I waited for over 15 minutes, I closed the app and later reopened it, and viola, things had been installed and the Roomba j9+ was in my list of products (I’m moving the j7+ I had downstairs upstairs, to replace the Roomba i7+ we were using). When I replaced past products, I had to retrain the new product and create rooms, keep out zones, etc. Now, I was able to adopt the training from the prior have vacuum – that’s a great feature and saves a lot of time and hassle! Some features on this vacuum include a stronger suction than the vacuum we were using downstairs. We have three fur babies in the home, so getting the fur up off the carpet and hardwood flooring is a big deal for us. This model has the ability (somehow) to gauge the dirtiest areas of the home and prioritize them, adjust the suction for a particular area, and change the number of cleaning passes. Like our previous Roombas of recent vintage, the vision system allows the vacuum to steer around objects – like our fur babies’ toys. After the cleaning is done, the Roomba j9+ will empty its bin into a larger disposable bag located in the base. These disposable bags are large enough to hold a couple of months’ worth of dirt, fur, etc. and emptying the base every couple of months is very simple. The Roomba also can integrate with Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant-enabled devices, but we don’t use that feature. I have a schedule in the app, and it runs when I want it to. I have it running now, and I have to say that I’m surprised how quiet it is in comparison to our Roomba j7+. I can hear the strength of the suction varying as the Roomba goes from carpet to our hardwood flooring and vice-versa. iRobot has an almost comical feature called P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise) that means the Roomba j9+ will steer clear of pet waste (and in the event it doesn’t, iRobot will replace the robot for free). Living in the Pacific NW, we use “pee pads” inside. I wish the robot firmware would detect the pads and steer clear of them, but alas it does not. I’ll likely just create an exclusion zone where I place them and call it done. I’m looking forward to seeing our Roomba j9+ perform over the coming weeks. Our j7+ served us well, and will continue to do so upstairs, but the j9+ will take over cleaning our primary living space.

After a great experience with the i6, I decided to set the bar high for the j9. Delivery/Packaging: After receiving my tracking number, I received my delivery on time. Mapping Run: During mapping run, the j9 was bumping into many objects such as furniture and walls. It was hard to watch my new vacuum end up with scratches and paint marks the first day. After the mapping I did a cleaning run with the j9. When the cleaning was complete I received a notification to review the report to make the roomba smarter. There were pictures of possible obstruction that I was able to verify and label what they were to avoid next time. The j9 doesn’t appear to be bumping into much after a few cleanings. Accuracy: So going on a few days of using the j9, it was stuck on the bottom of my dishwasher. With the AI technology I was expecting this iRobot to be a lot smarter. I’m reviewing and submitting everything on the reports to make it smarter. The j9 was stuck probably 3 out of the 6 times that I ran it to clean. Cleaning Power: I cannot complain on the suction of the j9. I’ve noticed that the areas I’m using it in are left with less dog hair. Hopefully it helps with keeping the dust and hair off my furnitures. Ending Comments: I like that the j9 empty out the dust bin after cleaning. I’m all about freeing myself up to take care of more important tasks. I’m hoping that the AI technology will prove to be superior since it advertises to avoid dog poop. I will hate to have the Roomba riding over poop. I will recommend this Roomba j9 because the longer I have it, I start to sense improvement with the mapping.

iRobot, J9+ is an amazing robot vacuum. Set up was so easy, there was an update immediately and after that, all set. This robot vacuum is actually smart. I’ve had a few others in the past that seemed to behave erratically, with no rhyme or reason to their cleaning pattern. This J9+ makes sense. The cleaning pattern it mapped out seems logical, and it is incredibly efficient as well as effective. I can’t tell you how surprised and kind of relieved I am to watch it and think that it made sense in the way it was vacuuming. Finally! iRobot gets it! One charge and a few empties cleans the entire downstairs of my home. It does a great job getting everywhere with speedy results. It comes with a couple of extras, like an additional filter and little cleaning brush. It also comes with an additional vacuum bag in the base. Thoughtful gestures that I truly appreciate. That was the one surprise to me, that when it empties it actually goes into a bag, inside the base. Once it’s full I’ll have to remove it, which is easy, it’s just slides and clicks into place, and then put a new bag in. I do appreciate the bag vs just a bin that I empty. It will keep the dust better contained. Overall, iRobot is the one for robotic vacuums. They’ve got it down to a science and I’m happy to have this cleaning my home.

The iRobot Roomba j9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum is a sophisticated smart vacuum that cleans and empties itself as it connects back to its charging station that contains a bag to receive the dirt from the cleaning round. Being a smart vacuum, the Roomba needs a wi-fi connection and the iRobot app to operate. And this is where my biggest frustration lies. It would not connect to my phone as much as I tried. I own 2 premium Android phones running on the latest Android 14 and the vacuum would not work with any of them. In the end, I had to borrow an iPhone which quickly established the connection and after doing the set-up, it then connected to my Android phone. Once connected, the set-up was easy and fairly simple. The vacuum charges quickly in its charging station. It looks like a typical Roomba, completely rounded with a camera and a light in the front with sweeping brushes on the right front and a pair of rubber brushes at the bottom. For the first cleaning round, it mapped the entire house as it cleaned. In the end, it produced a virtual map of the area that you can customize and set boundaries within the app. My house is a medium to small house that is a bit cluttered; the Roomba did a great job at mapping accessible areas and avoiding the many obstacles. It felt at ease on the ceramic floor and on the areas with carpet. Performance-wise, I give it a B+. The vacuum makes noise but not loud enough to be an annoyance. Compared to a traditional vacuum, it doesn’t clean as well, especially in the corners and in areas where it cannot fit. In a few instances while mapping the house in the beginning, it would hit the boundaries a bit hard which made me wonder about its long term longevity. The first cleanup for the entire house was done in about 40 minutes. Since the mapping of the house was done, it shaved about 5 minutes. I tried to end the cleanup early and it does a great job at finding and docking to its charging station. It’s also simple to schedule regular cleanup from the app. The iRobot Roomba j9+ is a good performer in the smart vacuum arena. The additional option of self emptying is a very welcome feature. Beside the initial connectivity issues that hopefully will get resolved soon, I would recommend it to someone looking for a smart vacuum that performs well and is easy to program and use.

As a background to my review, I have two other robot vacuums in the house from two other brands. One of them is not smart, it just goes around without a map, and another one is and has a map and offers the same room by room cleaning that iRobot does. So my review is based on other experiences, and not just getting a new robot vacuum. First thing I really liked when getting the box is that its ready to go right out of the box. You open the box, pull it out, plug it in and place the vacuum on the charger and its ready to go. Everything is put together and even the waste bag is already inside so you don’t have to do anything. It also comes with an extra waste bag and extra brush. From my other experience you don’t get the extras and there is always a manual on how to assemble things. Once plugged in the setup is also pretty easy. Just get the iRobot app and follow the steps. The app finds it and connects and you’re ready to go. As far as the app goes, its decent once you learn it. I did a map run first to make a map and it was OK, though it didn’t get all the rooms right and it looks odd you can edit it enough to make it work. I do wish I could edit the rooms, as it has some odd things where furniture is, but at least I can tell it to go to the room. Now onto the actual vacuuming. I have a do that shed some, and for that it works great. It got some of the corners that I usually find hair left in after some other vacuums. The smart feature to avoid things works too, though I tried to put some stuff in the way and it turned around and went back home but didn’t tell me. The app works good to show you where it went, but no notifications if it misses a part of the room. So the one thing that to me is a miss, that you have to version of the j9, one with a mop and one without it. The one I have is without the mop, and I would hope being the same you could add that later but it doesn’t seem to be possible. So while it’s a good vacuum, just remember that you cannot change it to add the mop.

This is my fourth Roomba. When I moved in the past my roommates inevitably ask to keep my iRobot and I have used that excuse to upgrade every few years. This is my second Roomba with an automatic emptying station and I love having it built it so I am not having to empty Roomba after the daily run. With senior parents, kids, and dogs - my floors and area rugs are in need of daily care. Love that Roomba can handle it all I do not have to mess with it. Before I had Roomba I had to vacuum everyday due to the dog hair alone now Roomba runs every day on a schedule that I set and I rarely use the full size vacuum. Pro tips from a long time user: 1. buy furniture that has 4"+ clearance so that you never have to see another dust bunny 2. Use the app to set up keep out zones. Roomba skips the laundry room at my house. 3. Keep area rug pile height on the low side. Official compatible heights are on the site, but I try to keep it under half an inch combined height for both rug and rug pad. 4. You can turn off the settings that make you uncomfortable in the app. Don't want it to make a map of your house or use the camera? It takes less than 30 seconds to turn those features on or off - but you might lose some functionally so read up on that before buying. 5. The obstacle navigation has improved a lot over the years, but you can anticipate that you will need to rescue Roomba occasionally if you have clutter. 6. Be prepared to buy the replacement part kits. How often you need to replace the parts is really going to come down to how much Roomba is cleaning your home and how much Roomba is picking up. For my house we swap parts when they visibly need to be replaced (maybe 5-6 times a year). I've read online that you can vacuum out the docking station bags to reuse them, however, I've never had success with that suggestion. Feature I miss: Manual charging. Long ago the docking station used to have the option of plugging directly into Roomba. That meant if you were having issues with the connection points on the charger you could still charge Roomba even if the docking station needed cleaning or maintenance. I'm not sure why they would take away this feature - I use both wireless and USB charging on my phone, and it's nice to have a backup option.

I bought the J9+ after buying and quickly returning Evovac's latest Deebot X2. The X2 was clueless as to where it was going. The Roomba J9+ seems to know exactly where it's going. I was super-impressed that on its very first use, it navigated my 4-room apt almost perfectly. When it got hung up on the corner of a throw rug, it spun to move from a different angle and succeeded. The Deebot was a lost soul that I started to feel sorry for. The iRobot knows what's going on. And I look it forward to really getting to really know the space.

I am very impressed with iRobot Roomba J9 plus. It automatically cleans my my home on the preset days of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It sends me the message as to what all the ideas it cleaned. Fascinatingly every single time it goes and cleans, he discovers the mapping out the house and adds in the system. I am very pleased that I bought this device.

Very impressed with the J9 +. We are coming from an old shark robot and let me tell you this thing is sooo much better than the shark. It was easy to get it going and set up. The J9 mapped my downstairs perfectly on the first run which I was very impressed with. The J9 continues to make small adjustments every few cleaning runs. The J9 also makes cleaning zone suggestions and even will even suggest a name. The J9 will take pictures of certain things ( dog toys, balls, wires ect ) and ask you after he finishes if they are temporary or permanent. Then ask if you want to make a keep out zone. This thing is loaded with tech and super cool. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a robot vacuum

Had a Roomba i3 that worked well enough but decided to purchase this one after reading reviews. It is fantastic! Mapping system much more accurate than previous model, it takes pictures of things it believes are obstacles (like a rug on a hard wood floor) so you can tell it to skip an area or ignore the obstacle and clean. I have a mix of hard wood and carpet and it cleans both really well. Best purchase this year.

Love this smart one. Set up to vaccume regularly. Came home with clean floor and emptied bin automatically. Made my life easier and room clean.