Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is my second IRobot Vac that I have purchase. This item missing a lot of places and the autoEmpty dock does not work. Also, gets confused and at times unable to returned to the base. I would not recommend this product.

The physical unit seems sturdy, and it's good at picking up crumbs. But the pathfinding is absolutely horrible. I previously had an off brand unit beforehand that died after 5 years of great service. It was less than half the price of this, but it was much better at actually navigating any spaces we put it in, and it didn't jump off stairs regularly. This one stumbles around the same area repeatedly, knocking into everything constantly, then eventually jumps off. Sure, the more expensive models may do spatial mapping, but I don't understand how a company that basically invented the robot vacuum has fallen to making products this useless. After months of trying to still use it on occasion (key word trying, since my Google Home routine stopped working, and the button only sometimes works), I'm going to recycle this and find a quiet portable vacuum.

The iRobot Roomba Essential Robot Vacuum is an entry level robot vacuum that has just enough features to get the job done while keeping the price low. I’ll go over the key features, breakdown how well it works, and then give you some pros and cons about the vacuum. Key Features: 3-Stage Cleaning System: With 3 stages of cleaning, a multi-surface brush roll and a corner brush, the Roomba does a pretty good job at picking up almost anything. 4 Power Modes: The Roomba has 4 levels of suction power. Automatic Docking, Recharging and Emptying: This little Roomba will automatically return to the dock to recharge and empty itself. It’ll even resume cleaning if it needed to recharge in order to get the job done. Spot Cleaning: The ability to spot clean is also a nice touch. Auto-Empty Dock: The Roomba will empty itself into it’s dock for up to 60 days before the bag is full and in need of being replaced. Ease of Use: Setup: Getting this little Roomba going is a breeze, just download the app, register for an account and start cleaning. As long as you have the robot charged up and on the dock, the rest is cake. Maintenance: I prefer bagless solutions to Roomba’s bags, but it sure does make emptying the dock simple. You’ll need to do that every couple of months, with replacement bags being reasonably priced as well. You’ll also want to make sure you wipe down the Roomba to keep the sensors clean, and use the hair cutting tool to cut off any hair that’s eventually going to wrap itself around the brush roll. App Control: The Roomba app is simple to operate, especially since the control options are limited for this vacuum. There is no mapping involved, so you really only get to choose between starting the vacuum, returning it to it’s dock and what suction level you want to use. You also have the ability to set up a basic schedule for cleaning, which is very convenient. Performance: Cleaning Effectiveness: You have to remember that this is a base model in the Roomba line up of vacuums, and it shows. On hard flooring, the robot does well at almost any suction level, but once it starts trudging through carpets, you’ll want to set the suction to its maximum level in order to get a decent clean. This probably won’t be a dealbreaker for most people, but you’ll get much less battery life and a louder experience with the vacuum set on max. If you’re wanting a deeper clean on carpeted surfaces, I would look elsewhere. Navigation: There’s no mapping with this Roomba. There’s no selecting an area to clean or any sort of intelligence other than some sensors that will try to avoid larger objects, furniture, and walls. This little guy will bump and rub up against a lot of things in your home, so be prepared for that. To give you a comparison, other more expensive Roomba vacuums will give you the ability to have the vacuum scan your home and map it out for you. This allows you to spot clean, set up rooms and areas to avoid, etc. There is none of that in this model, so please make sure there’s nothing on the floor that might be damaged or impeded the Roomba’s job. Runtime: I have an 1800sq ft home with several rooms and the Roomba on max suction had to recharge once in order to complete the entire house. On lower power modes, which might be useable if you have all hard flooring, the Roomba advertises 120 minutes of run time, but I was unable to replicate that. Pros: Effective cleaning for everyday dirt and debris. Especially on max setting and hard flooring Easy to set up and use Automatic docking and recharging Automatic emptying into dock for 60 days Affordable Replacement bags are reasonably priced Cons: A good clean requires using the maximum suction setting Lacks mapping, scanning and advanced spot cleaning Replacement dust and filters are an added cost Overall Impression: The iRobot Roomba Essential Robot Vacuum is a decent entry level robot vacuum. Roomba is a solid company with a good reputation that will be around for a long time, so that’s a plus as well. The vacuum itself doesn’t do great on carpeted floors unless you set it to its loudest maximum power setting. The lack of advanced navigation and mapping really does hurt the unit's appeal. Having a robot vacuum just free roaming your house may not work for a lot of people with pets, children, or just areas they don’t want vacuumed all the time. I think spending a bit more and stepping up to a robot vacuum with mapping would be the smarter decision. However, if you really just want something that’s easy, affordable, and picks up dirt, then the Roomba Essential might fit the bill.

I love this item. It works perfectly for what I need and the most important thing is that it cleans itself.. 100% recommended!

I really wanted to love this vacuum. I had an older, different-brand robot vacuum that handled my hardwoods, rugs, and stair edges like a champ for years. It occasionally got stuck on a sock or curtain, but it worked. When it finally died, I figured I’d upgrade to this for the auto-empty feature. Within 30 minutes, I knew I’d made a mistake. It has a single set of bristle brushes, which is fine, except they pop off constantly. The smallest transition (like from hardwood to a rug) pops them off, and the vacuum keeps going… without the brushes. So I’m left with a machine quietly rolling around the house doing absolutely nothing except missing dirt. By the time it’s done wandering around aimlessly, it’s dead somewhere in the middle of the room, not on its base, no brushes, and my floor still dirty. I have to: 1. Go find it. 2. Carry it back to the dock. 3. Go hunting for the brushes like it’s some weird robotic Easter egg hunt. And the 15-day return policy? Yeah, that window slammed shut before I realized I’d basically bought a $270 floor decoration. I don’t know if I got a lemon or if this is just how it is, but either way, it’s a miss for me.

I have a few different brands of robot vacuums that do everything from auto detect areas that need more cleaning to vacuum and mop in one pass, so my expectations were already somewhat high when I picked up the iRobot Roomba essential robot and auto empty dock. This review is based on a week of use on tile and hardwood and some of the challenges I had with this vacuum. In the box is the auto empty dock, the robot, vacuum bag, and instructions. Setup is relatively easy, using the iRobot app over your wifi network. To get started you can either set a schedule with start times or you can hit play from the app and set a cleaning duration. There is a third option that I didn't test which is using location and/or smart assistant so it only cleans when you are away or when you ask it to via the assistant. Either way your option is limited to run time only. This version does not have a floor map, so there are no excluded zones, and no ability to target areas. This caused two issues for me, first I cannot exclude areas with low clearance furniture which means that 100% of the time I can expect the vacuum to be stuck when it gets to that area. The second issue is that I have high traffic areas that I want vacuumed more frequently than others, but due to lack of map or zoning I'm not able to select. It feels like this vacuum is a throwback to the 2010 models, it runs in straight lines until it hits something, pivots, and tries again. I have a 300 sq ft room with a table, 4 chairs, and a cat tree, I've watched the vacuum spend 30 minutes bumping around between the table and chairs, breaking loose and then getting stuck again. At this point, I'm not sure how long it will take the vacuum to completely clean this room. Ok, so it's clear this vacuum isn't for me, but to be a little less biased, I want to call out what it does well. First, it has four levels of suction: a low / quiet / low battery use mode up to a maximum suction, noticeably louder, and fast battery depletion, then a medium and high mode that split the difference between the two extremes. The suction is good on wood, tile, and low pile rugs, enough to pick up cat litter versus flinging it everywhere. You can set a schedule and/or run time, so there is some ability to meet your needs for scheduling. The docking and auto empty are a tossup, I find that with the dock being lightweight, the vacuum will move it when docking and 25% of the time will angle it such that it cannot dock without intervention. This is likely an easy fix by adding in a floor grip, moving to a rug, or seating the dock against a wall. The vacuum does self empty well and the collection bag is large enough that it will likely take well over a month to fill if it ran every day. Lastly, and the thing I like about all Roomba's is that the wear parts are all replaceable, so your roller, filter, and bag can be changed as needed. Bottom line, this vacuum isn't for everyone. I think it would be great for smaller spaces with limited furniture, it's also good for a single room where it can be contained by closing the door. I can also see this being good for open floor plans with few obstructions, as it does run in a straight line very well, at least until it runs into an obstacle. On the flip side, if you want control of where, when, or what it vacuums, or if you have a lot of obstacles, this isn't the best product for your space.

This is my third or fourth roomba. The essential vacuum is pretty basic and reminds me more of one of the older ones I had. This isn't a bad thing; it just lacks a pretty big feature that I like on my other roomba. My other roomba has a way to create a map of your home, then within the app you can view the map and create different rooms. Then you can schedule roomba to run on certain days to clean different rooms. I really like this feature and this essential roomba does not have it. So, when you schedule a cleaning, it just runs around cleaning without a sense of direction. You also cannot use Alexa or Google home to say clean kitchen and have roomba come out and clean the kitchen, instead it just cleans everywhere. I still do like this roomba as its very quiet when running. We had it going while watching TV and it was hardly noticeable. You can adjust the suction strength through the app and I just left it on medium. It gives a good balance of battery and cleaning power. It was able to clean my living, dining, kitchen, and hallway on one charge. I did go back over my rug with my Dyson vacuum and it still picked up debris. We have two short haired dogs which shed a lot and make a mess, so I wasn't surprised my dyson (running at a higher suction) picked up more dirt. I feel the roomba is good for dusting and getting under places that are hard for a regular vacuum. I would not want this to be my only vacuum, but its great at keeping the hardwood floors clean on a day-to-day basis. The auto empty dock is nice, but I hate that you have to have a bag to collect the debris. I really wish you did not need a bag and you could just empty out the bin after it collects it from the machine. I have a few times just taken the dirty bin out of the roomba and manually emptied it in the trash to just avoid having to replace the bag more often. I would recommend this if you just wanted it to help maintain your cleaning after your clean the house. If you are expecting this to do the job your regular vacuum, you will be upset. The other roomba I have works better and seems to have better suction and features, but it does cost more. If you are looking for roombas to be your main vacuum spend some more money and get one that can do mapping as it will make a huger difference. This one will work fine for me to help just maintain cleanness until I can deep clean the house.

The iRobot Roomba Vac 2 Essentials is a compact self-emptying robot vacuum that is budget friendly and great at doing its one job, vacuuming. The first thing to note is that it is built with the reliable and typical iRobot quality. It does not feel any cheaper in material or components than any of the other Roombas on the market. It just comes with less technological features integrated. This robot vacuum is a speedy little guy that doesn’t exactly know where he is going, but he ultimately gets the job done. There is no mapping with this vacuum, so when it is time to go, it just bumps around and once it finds an open space, it begins going back and forth to clean every part it can until it bumps into something again and can go no further. It is surprisingly good at traversing through high-pill carpets without getting stuck and even good around stray cables. It found one by accident and just left it rather than sucking it up or getting tangled in it. During initial set-up, I had it set to medium suction, and this produced lackluster results. I had trouble finding how to change the suction setting. I eventually figured it out, so for anyone who encounters this same issue the setting can be changed by scrolling all the way down on the initial app page and selecting Product Settings>Cleaning Preferences. Once I switched to Maximum suction I had great results. It completely cleaned up a rug where, during its medium suction setting, it has just dragged around a tissue and left a shredded mess. My tile floors where completely cleaned, and it spent extra time under one of my furniture pieces getting it really clean. It does exceptionally well cleaning along the edges of the walls and furniture, something impossible to do with a regular vacuum cleaner. One of the downsides of not having mapping with this Roomba is that I can’t just send it to one specific room, I just have to hope it will find the area I most want cleaned. I have a 1500sq ft home, so it usually only does a third of the house before going home to recharge. I never know which way it will go either, so I’ll put up blockades to prevent it from going in the opposite direction to where I want it. The app is quick to set-up and get the Roomba going, especially if you already own one. It tells you the battery level, the time it will take to get back to work after going home to charge, when to change a part out, and the history and map of where it cleaned. It will also notify you if there are any issues while cleaning, for example, mine found and gobbled up a stray plastic zip-up bag, shutting down on the spot. Once I found and removed the object, it got right back to work. In my opinion, the Roomba Vac 2 is great for people with a smaller footprint home or who need one in a specific area of the home, like upstairs or in a room. I do feel it does better at getting around thick high-pill carpets than pricier options, but not having a sense of direction can be a bit frustrating with a large home. Regardless, it does a great job at vacuuming and spot cleaning plus is an asset for anyone on a budget who wants a handy helper to keep the floors clean.

The iRobot Roomba Vac 2 Essential Robot Vacuum is a less expensive version similar to my iRobot i8 Roomba, but with fewer features. The Auto Empty dock on the Essentials version is much more low profile. The Essential charges with contacts on the edge of the vac rather than on the bottom. It also empties from a port on the edge rather than the bottom. So, the Essential Auto Empty (and charging ) dock is not compatible with other iRobot vacs. The iRobot Roomba Vac 2 Essential Robot Vacuum comes with the Auto Empty Dock. An edge cleaning brush, a dust bag for the Auto Empty Dock and two filters also come in the box. The edge brush snaps on the underside of the Essential Robot, unlike my iRobot i8, which has a screw that holds it in place. To install the filter, you need to remove the dust bin to gain access. I was disappointed that the edge brush and filter are different i.e., not compatible with my i8’s replaceable parts. I can’t speak to the price of replacement brushes and filters yet. I installed the iRobot Roomba Essential on the second floor. It has no problem avoiding the stairs. At first it wouldn’t stay connected to my wireless network, but I moved the base, and it hasn’t had a problem since. The Essential robot seems to do a good job of vacuuming both my medium pile wall to wall carpet, my slate tile (with grout lines) in the bathroom and my hardwood flooring. My observation is that it runs a back and forth pattern and the perimeter. When it bumps into something it nudges around it or turns around if it can’t find a way around. My i8 also does a good job, but it runs a much more erratic pattern. The Essential is noticeably quieter than the i8, but seems to take considerably longer to recharge. The iRobot app is used to control the Essential (the same app also controls my i8). The Essential can be scheduled to run at certain times, but unlike the i8 cannot be scheduled to clean certain areas only. It simply cleans everything it can get to. It also does not seem to create a map with specific areas. It does provide a map of what it cleaned after each cycle. All in all, the iRobot Vac 2 Essential does a good job at cleaning. The cost is considerably less than the higher end iRobot vacs. So, if you are looking for a lower cost first robot vacuum or a lower cost second (and you don’t already have a collection of parts), this one is worth considering.

The iRobot Roomba Vac 2 Essential is a solid choice for those seeking a straightforward, no-frills robotic vacuum cleaner. Designed for simplicity, it is particularly well-suited for homes with simple floor plans. While it lacks advanced mapping capabilities, this can be seen as a feature rather than a drawback for users who prioritize privacy—there’s no camera on board, ensuring no visual recording of your home. This makes it an excellent addition to an Airbnb or rental property, as it allows you to maintain a clean space while respecting guests’ privacy. The lack of mapping means the vacuum occasionally bumps into furniture, particularly thin items like barstool legs. It’s not the most graceful navigator, but it still manages to clean effectively. If you have multiple iRobot devices, the iRobot app provides seamless integration, allowing you to manage all units conveniently in one place. For hosts managing multiple properties, this feature could be particularly valuable. However, note that this model has a very basic set of functions: its primary tasks are to vacuum everywhere or to empty the bin when prompted. The unit arrives ready to use with one pre-installed bag in the receptacle and includes a handy cleaning tool stored under the bin lid. This thoughtful inclusion helps keep the vacuum's heads clean, ensuring optimal performance over time. Whether for a personal home or a short-term rental property, the Roomba Vac 2 Essential is a dependable, budget-friendly option. Its ability to operate while you’re away and its privacy-conscious design make it a smart choice for maintaining cleanliness without compromising peace of mind.

We already own a Roomba j7+ with a self-emptying dock, which has a camera, maps your home and has some special features in the app. Given that this model is much less expensive - but basically includes all of the main features, including a fancy dock, I figured there must have been some trade-offs that I’d only really find upon picking this up… I’m happy to report that it really can do most of what I love from the fancier model - all the main capabilities remain and I’m happy with them. The biggest difference being how it’s navigates. We’ve had several Roombas that find their way with the help of a camera that can help it locate itself and navigate in a structured way. This model, in contrast, claims to clean in straight lights, just without this camera. I was skeptical, but hopeful. As I watched this Roomba navigate, it did just fine! - It may have taken a bit longer, sometimes coming back to clean little nooks and crannies it missed while it ran in straight lines back and forth through the rooms (~think toe kicks in the kitchen that were indented from the protruding fridge, for example). I was throughly impressed that it remembered these places and came back to get them later. I assume it’s forming another kind of map with just enough information for it to find its way. It’s in no way random, it finds it’s way in clean passes, just with less tech and a bit more time. But you won’t find all the bells and whistles here, so whether I would recommend this model depends on your situation. This bot doesn’t have the ability to avoid pet waste, avoid areas set via the app, or see cables on the floor, so you’ll want to pre-plan for this one a bit more (something I generally already do) It’s brush bar is also a bit different than most of the higher end Roombas. Those have double rubber beater bars that are great for all floors, especially cleaning carpets. This essential model has a soft-bristle bar which I see performing best on hard floors, first and foremost. It doesn’t have the strength to separate carpet fibers in the same way. The map it creates is also just for viewing after a run - You’ll still get info on how long it ran, etc. but you cannot send this model to clean a specific room as it doesn’t identify them or allow naming. You can, however, benefit from seeing its activity remotely and starting a generalized cleaning from the app. Now for some more upsides… This Roomba has a much bigger bin than my j7+, while I don’t think too much about this capacity now that these have self-emptying docks, it is nice to see. To empty, this model actually backs up to the charger, possibly allowing for this greater capacity. The other thing I love is how quiet it is. We own another earlier high-end model that has a camera, but was so loud that we never wanted to run it. This one is quiet enough that I can continue working in the same room with it, it’s great! Overall, I’m very impressed. Once you have a model with a self-emptying charging station, you’ll never want to go back. It’s that convenient... and much less messy. So having that here in such an inexpensive model is a game-changer. Next is cleaning power and how quiet it is. It excels at both - offering several suction levels while remaining much quieter. Finally, navigation. It does this perfectly (in my testing) while taking a little longer to finish - a tradeoff I’m fine with. This model comes at a good time. The marketplace for robotic vacuums has increased in competition over the last few years, with some latching onto other technologies that Roomba does not have - the largest being Lidar. But here’s the thing, Lidar just seems over-hyped in the robotic vacuums world, IMO - navigation in a home seems reliably doable with other technologies, and this is no exception - these aren’t self driving cars afterall. I’ve had several friends buy those models, only to have the Lidar break or freak out, making their bots useless. My Roombas, on the other hand have never let me down - they do their job and find their way equally well without it. It’s also from an American company and the original robot vacuum innovator. I like putting my money in companies that are doing good work and not just copying others. With this model, I’m convinced that they’re on the right path. I may still prefer my j7+ for areas of my home (where the cats are), but this quiet essential model with its self-emptying base is perfect for another part of our home. ___ The Good Stuff ___ - Good suction and performance - Great navigation despite limited sensors - Quiet - Self-emptying base station is a must! - Inexpensive for the value and convenience you get ___ The Less Than Good Stuff ___ - No pet waste or cable detection - Only simple, non-actionable maps in the App - Speaker is louder and lower quality than the higher end models (when chiming on charge or starting a run) - Best for hard floors, not carpets, beater bar more simple than higher end models.

I was excited to use the new iRobot Roomba Vac 2. I have used these automated vacuums for a few years now and was glad to see this new one by iRobot. I have hardwood floors throughout the house and have a dog that semi sheds around, so I felt this was essential to have. Set up was pretty simple and connecting it to the app was a breeze. I set it up for the first vacuum run and experienced mixed feelings about it. For the most part the iRobot Roomba Vac 2 works well but had some disappointing moments. Pro: - Like previous models and editions of iRobot or other touch-and-go vacuums, you can simply just turn it on and it will go and vacuum around the home. It is supposed to sense the area around it, often bumping into things and remembering it as it lays out it's pattern of where to go. I feel that this has always been its strength and really nice to have as you can just leave it be so you can be free to do what you need to do in the home. - This is smaller compared to other devices which I like. It does not take up too much area against the wall and the vacuum itself is no wider than a through pillow. It's not large or bulky so it can fit anywhere in your home. I have it up against the wall near our bedroom and living room divider where it can go about easily. - The sound is amazing as it is quiet. Of course, compared to regular stand up vacuums this does not emit loud decibels so you hear it humming around the room. It does get loud when you send it home and it empties the bag into the home center. Then, you hear the vacuum sound and it can be quite jarring. - App control. This is the heart of the device where you can see the current job, device health, empty bin, create a schedule and add new jobs for it to accomplish. I actually like setting it up on a schedule once-a-week so that I know that it will get the larger areas that I feel will allow me freedom to do other errands around the home and not worry. Cons: - It misses spots. Yes, it is supposed to learn its environment but there were large sections where it completely ignored and I had to try to gently nudge it back. That was really disappointing in my opinion. Because of this, you have to ensure that the area you want it to clean is void of objects (shoes, ottomans, smaller items that you can simple move out of the way.) As "smart" as this Roomba is supposed to be, because it does not recognize that an object it runs into is temporary or permanent, it will by pass it. - This is a supplementary device. I need to keep a traditional vacuum around just for areas that this cannot get. Thick carpets and it will get stuck. Smaller crevices that it cannot get underneath requires a traditional vacuum with hose set. Overall, this is a fun little axillary device to have in the home. I hope this review helps anyone considering buying a robot vacuum!

Roombas are quite possibly the most popular robot vacuums on the market and that is because they are always quality products. This particular Roomba I would say is more on the entry level side, and it may only do one job, but it does that job well. It’s not as smart as other Similar products, but that’s OK, it’s still roams around and does what it’s supposed to. Downloading the app and connecting your Roomba to your phone is very easy, the step-by-step instructions will show you exactly how . With the press of a button on the Roomba itself, or through your app, you’re able to get things started, your Roomba will sweep your floors and if you give it enough time, it will do a good job. It’s got your typical sensors to move around, but this particular model moves around by bumping into things, it is designed this way. Once it bumps into something, it will try to look for a way around the obstacles. this is part of the entry-level I was talking about, other similar products have better sensors that can see other obstacles and move around them, this particular Roomba also does not map your rooms. It just moves and sweeps moves and sweeps. Once it is done, or you tell it to, it will go back to its homebase, and empty out its contents, it will also charge itself. Inside the homebase is a dust bag that must be cleaned out whenever it gets full. You can manually empty out your Roomba by flipping it over, and removing the wastebasket and emptying it out that way. Overall, my Roomba performs very well and I am very happy with it and would recommend it to anybody looking for an entry level cleaning robot that isn’t overly complicated.

I have owned a handful of these robotic vacuums over the past few years so I have a good idea of what I like and what I don't like. This Roomba has some really good things but had one significant flaw during my first week with it. Pros: - It cleaned very well! Sometimes robot vacuums don't have the best suction power but this model impressed me in that regard. - The app is user friendly and helped me set the vacuum up quickly and easily. You can adjust the suction power in the cleaning preferences menu. I like to always keep it on "maximum". It will be louder with this setting, but will clean better. - The vacuum navigated under tables and between chair legs quite well. Collision detection seems good so I didn't have to worry about table legs getting banged up. I've had other vacuums that get stuck under tables and chairs but this one performed well in that area. - It comes with an extra filter! Not all robot vacuums do this but it is really appreciated when they do. Cons: - The vacuum had difficulty finding its home base on numerous occasions. I'm hoping that a future firmware update might be able to fix this. I made sure it had the latest updates available but still had issues navigating to the base. This vacuum is a good buy if they can fix the home navigation issue with a patch in the future. It performed very well for me in every other way.

Nowadays everything is smart, or robotic, or smart and robotic, but Roomba is a name synonymous with robot vacuums as far as most can remember robot vacuums. The name recognition has most referring to any robot vacuum as a "Roomba," so overall, iRobot has won. The Roomba Vac 2 Essential is a solid entry level in to the space. It doesn't have all the extras of some of the other models, but, it does vacuum. Set up for this was super easy. Plug it up, scan the code on the box to download the app and you're ready to go. I thought the app would allow for all sort of crazy stuff with all the features...boy was I wrong. The feature set is very limited. All of the room mapping of other models/vacuums...absent. From the app you can tell the vacuum to vacuum, you can set a time limit, you can "call it home" you can tell it to empty itself. The basics. With that said, it DOES vacuum. That's what you got this for, right? In terms of vacuuming, the vacuum does a decent job. My floor wasn't a mess, but it definitely needed to be vacuumed. I was surprised with how easily the Vac 2 transitioned from the carpet of my bedroom to the floor of my bathroom and back. No assistance needed getting back up the carpet. It did vacuum for quite awhile. My room isn't necessarily large, but in the few times I used the Vac 2 i never seen it finish vacuuming, I called it home because it seemed to just keep going for over 40 minutes. The Roomba Vac 2 Essential robot vacuum is a solid entry point in to the world of robot vacuuming. With it's minimal feature set, it's so easy a caveman could do it...however, I might recommend most pick another model with more go-to moves and variety.

The Vac 2 Essential is an affordable capable little vacuum. Standard design that's simple and clean. The dock looks very smart and despite being tall to house the dustbin, doesn't feel bulky. Setup in the app was very easy. Scan the qr code and you're off to the races. It was found immediately and once you're connected to the network you can start using it with the app or smart assistant. If you've got a spill of some kind you can have it perform a spot clean. Otherwise when you run it it'll just make it's way around your floor. Unlike older roombas this doesn't just bounce around randomly. It starts to zig zag line by line methodically. If something is in it's way, it'll hug around it and then continue on. It handles different elevations with easy. It goes over the kitchen fatigue floor mats without issue as well as transitions between carpet and floor Once it's finished it'll return to dock and empty itself. You can monitor bag life as well as brush life within the app. You can also recall it early through the app or with a smart command to charge early or if you don't want it to run the whole floor. It does not mop, so have a dry floor, but that's standard for this price point. It also doesnt map rooms for targeted cleaning but for those that don't need it and don't mind closing doors, you'll he fine Overall a great, simple vacuum for those that don't need a lot of extra bells and whistles

I have had a similar vacuum like this before but somehow it malfunctioned and I never replaced it. I decided to give it another try so I came upon this one. I never knew how I missed having an automatic. Vacuum. One of the things I liked about this was the ease of downloading the app and installing it on my phone. The set up was effortless and the step by step tutorial was very simple. I noticed that when the vacuum went from surface to surface, it didn’t miss a beat. What I mean by this is it started on the regular carpet, then it went to the hard floors then on a throw carpet runner I had in my foyer. Going over all these different surfaces, it adapted really well. It was low and precise when vacuuming and it also has an amazing battery life. When the vacuum was done performing, the carpet was clean and beautifully manicured. One of the things I like about this is you can set it and forget it. One word to the wise, make sure your tablecloths are up and your curtains are not hanging low. If you are on the fence about purchasing one of these, don’t be, do yourself a favor and buy this.

Works great, but does not map the floor. 3 star for self cleaning

1. It catches all the small stuff on your floor; it doesn't catch the larger stuff. Dust? Yes. Small piece of dirt? No. 2. It's horribly slow and still can't seem to find its docking station. It's been a few months, so enough time has elapsed for it to get "smarter". 3. The brush falls off ALL THE TIME. I have to constantly monitor it to make sure it doesn't detach. 4. It gets stuck very easily. Over all, the idea was to have something on hand that I didn't need to monitor constantly. Between the brush falling off; it constantly getting stuck; and not being able to find its docking station, it's way more high maintenance and ineffective that I had hoped. Bottom Line: Not worth your money

It will be better if it has two edge -sweeping brushes instead of one, because it missing dirty time after time. the most inconvenient issue is that you cannot schedule a particular room to be clean. If you want a bedroom to be clean, the robot has to clean the entire house. A remote control, as first generations have it, will be wonderful to have, because you can direct the robot to a particular room. Some ties it gets stacked in places and looses its edge -sweeping brushes. I cannot pick up the robot and place it at a bedroom, so it can start cleaning from the back of the house toward the from of the house and ending by the living room where the dock is located. It does have a good battery.