Customer Ratings & Reviews

Won’t turn on at all. I tried everything but it won’t turn.

Roomba seemed to have started the robot vacuum game years ago. With so many options today, I honestly forgot about the Roomba. iRobot seems to want to capture the entry-level market with this new vacuum. While basic, it's still got some great abilities for a starter robot vac. I'm not sure if looks are important for something like a robot vacuum, but the Roomba Essential is pretty simple in appearance. Made of durable, mostly matte plastic, this vacuum has very limited design aesthetics. There are no advanced mapping features (like LiDAR) with this robot, but it uses basic pattern-sweeping paths to clean your home. This robot follows a parallel pattern when traversing your home/room. It'll go back and forth from one side to the other until it cleans the entire space. I personally think this is more systematical and consistent compared to some other low-end robot vacuums that clean in a random pattern. A cool spot-clean function is available, which will clean a small area for the small little clean-ups that may be required. The spinning brush seems to work better when it is running along a wall or large piece of furniture. When on hard floors in an open space, I noticed it just flicks larger crumbs or debris around. Sometimes, it will catch it; other times, not so much. The dustbin seems rather small, so depending on your floor, you should probably be ready to empty it after each cleaning cycle. Opening the dustbin is rather easy and does not make much of a mess. Access to the HEPA filter is also easily accessible. The iRobot app has several features to provide more control of your Roomba Essential. Through the app, you can control suction settings (high, medium, and low), timed cleaning sessions, and schedule cleaning sessions. Note that suction settings can limit how long the robot lasts. I have a small condo, so it seems to have been able to successfully clean the space in about 25 minutes on high suction. I suspect your mileage will vary depending on the size of your home. You can connect the Roomba to Alexa or Google assistants to ask it to start or stop a cleaning session. If you are searching for a basic robot vacuum to help clean your floors between deep cleans, the iRobot Roomba Essential might be a great fit for you. With a reasonable starting price and basic/expected features for this class of robot vacuums, it will certainly get the job done if you have a simple home with not too many obstacles or cleaning restrictions (like areas to avoid). If you want more functionality (zoning, larger or auto-empty dustbins, better carpet cleaning, advanced LiDAR mapping, vac/mopping, etc.), then you may want to consider higher-priced products.

iRobot Roomba Vac Essential Robot Vacuum (Q0120) - Black The first impression of the Q0120 is that it is smaller with less height than many other robot vacuums. It still covers a 7” swath with each pass, but it gets under virtually any furniture that’s on legs. It does a very good job of cleaning as well; comparable to two other larger scanning robot vacuums we have for other parts of the house. Our experience is that it is a no-fuss device. As soon as it leaves the charging station, it pivots and heads out in a straight line avoiding any obstacles in its path while picking up its interrupted straight line of cleaning on the other side of the obstacle. It continues in this pattern until it either needs recharging (up to 120 minutes depending upon the surface it’s working) or the job is done – in either event it simply heads back to the charging station where it will stay if the job’s done or it will take off again if more remains to be done. If you use the smart phone app, it can be set to clean while you’re away, set up a cleaning schedule etc. and will even provide a map of the area it cleaned so you can look at it later to see what was done. Just note that the Q0120 Roomba Vac Essential requires a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network if you plan to use the phone app. We have a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network only so I wasn’t able to use the phone app, but for me that wasn’t an issue since I like the simplicity of tapping the button to send the Q0120 on its cleaning job, or if you feel it’s done the job but it keeps working, you can tap the home button and it will return to the charger where it will stay until you need it again. I really like the simplicity of this instead of using a phone app. The Q0120 will run at different power levels depending on the surface/cleaning job at hand. You can hear it running, but it’s not a distraction. We use it in a master bedroom that adjoins a master bathroom and master closet. It has not gotten stuck anywhere and travels under a dressing table, two leather chairs and a king bed plus navigating around shoes and boxes of such in the closet. It has a large dust bin which we’ve not had to empty yet after two complete cleanings of the above mentioned on suite. Overall, we are very pleased with our new Roomba Vac Essential Q0120. It does as good a job as larger robot vacuums we have yet it is easy to use and definitely gets under furniture the other ones will get hung up on trying to go under them. Simple to use so we are very pleased!

The 'essentials' robot vacuum has come a long way over the years. I love the simple controls both on the device itself and the app, setting up is relatively easy and then it just goes. But what I was not prepared for was how quiet it was. Usually if we are watching a movie the vacuum gets turned off as it is noisy enough that it interferes, however, this one we didn’t even notice until my wife got up and almost tripped over it. Her first thought was “this is too quiet, I’m not sure it will actually do a good job”. But it leaves nice straight lines, and the dust bin certainly shows proof it is picking stuff up including those easter strings that are in the baskets without getting all tangled up in the brush which was nice. It is low profile enough to go under all the beds and it smart enough to avoid falling down the stairs. I haven’t had to rescue it once. I did change the setting to the highest suction which warned me it would reduce the battery life, however, it is still able to compete my upstairs in one go, so in my mind its worth it for the extra defined lines on the carpet. The dustbin is small, if you have a extra hairy animal in the house that leaves hair everywhere it might be annoying but we were able to vacuum several times without needing to empty. Overall, if your looking a basic robot vacuum that is super quiet I absolutely recommend this one.

For the record, this is my third robot vacuum. Setup is pretty easy since you have to use the app, there is no other choice for setup. We should all be used to apps for setting everything up these days so no biggie. Does a good job of cleaning, it picks up a lot. Loved the spot clean function, it's my first time seeing that feature in a vacuum. It takes around 30 minutes to clean my 2nd floor, which is on par with my previous vacuums. The vacuum also avoided the stairs, which is very good. My first vacuum would get stuck near the stairs and I would have to put it back on course. The velcro organizing strap was a nice touch that I never got on my previous much more expensive vacuums. Got trapped under my dining room table and sent a message to the app and you can have making a beeping noise in case you can not find it. Overall I'm very happy with this vacuum and it is just as good as the more expensive models minus some features and I would recommend this to anyone who is considering buying their first robot vacuum.

The iRobot Roomba Vacuum Essentials Robot was super easy to set up. The app found the Roomba without me pressing a button on the Robot and only required me to press the clean button once on the robot to confirm it was the robot I was setting up. It connected to Wi-Fi immediately (an earlier robot gave me more difficulty with Wi-Fi, though I've admittedly changed my routers since then). When I set it off to clean from the App (though it could've also been done without the app), it seemed to follow patterns in its cleaning, but I was super glad to see it appeared to avoid bumping into walls (older iRobot vacuum models weren't as good at that). That should also mean it gets stuck less if it's better at avoiding obstacles. Right after I wrote that, the Roomba got stuck in a place no other robot has ever had problems with, and that's at the base of a sofa bed (in front of it). But after I cleared it from the obstacle, it ran for quite a while without getting stuck again. I was surprised to see how fast this robot moved. When it was going over a cleaner floor, it was fast, but it quickly adjusted its speed to slower when (I presume) it found a dirtier area. When I ran it, however, it seemed that this Roomba was probably louder than any of our other robots, which is a negative. This may not be one of their more expensive models, and if you're looking to save money, you may not care as much about that. From what I can tell, this robot is not a mapping robot (and I wasn't expecting it to be). I want to say that this may not be a disadvantage. I like having at least some vacuum robots that you can place in a room and press go and guide by tapping their bumpers with your feet like this one. Mapping robots (which this is not one) tend to want to decide on their own where they want to clean (or can be controlled via an app), although they genuinely tend to avoid most obstacles better. We're finishing some work in the house after a water leak, so we probably have more dust than usual. Still, about 8 hours before I let this robot go by itself (and no construction was done today), the floor was cleaned by other vacuum robots from 3 different companies (all running at once), so it should have started its run with a clean floor. When it was done, there was some microscopic dust (no clumps; I could barely see it, but I could feel it in the bin). However, this was stuff that the other robots missed, so it's better than not having cleaned with it. As someone with Dust allergies, I'm happy with any additional dust removal from the environment. I'm giving this Robot 4-stars. It's not iRobot's best model, but for its price, it is good. My biggest gripe is the noise level (it's not THAT bad; it's just noisier than we're used to these days). My second gripe is that it got stuck once (in a new place), and our other robots never had problems there – however, it was only once.

I am a big fan of the convenience offered by robot vacuums. iRobot by Roomba offers many features of a great system, including a great mobile phone application and simple setup. Overall, the vacuum does a great job of vacuuming the floor and the carpet looks good when it’s done. It does a good job on hardwood floors, tile and vinyl flooring. It even does an excellent job with area rugs with some considerable bulk to the texture. Unfortunately, there is a major problem with logic used by the robot. I have tested it several times and it becomes lodged under furniture every single time. It doesn’t sense when there is an obstruction and continues to wedge itself under couches, chairs, tables and stands. When it hits a solid object, it will turn itself around, but when there is space under the object, it will continue to push itself underneath until it becomes completely lodged and then sends an error. I have read that these need to be used in well lit areas, but it didn’t seem to matter what the lighting conditions were. I did try resetting the device, but it did not make any difference.

The iRobot Roomba Vac Essential is an entry level robot vacuum. It comes with a familiar sleek, low-profile design and powerful suction for cleaning. The Roomba comes with a charging dock, line cord and an extra filter. Download the iRobot Home app to connect the vacuum to Wi-Fi, control and customize your cleaning preferences. The setup was fairly easy, pretty much like plug and play as you follow the instructions from the app. The edge-sweeping brush and smart sensors help the robot navigate around the furniture or any obstacles. The robot might bump against the walls or furniture for the first time, but it learns the location and avoids the impact on next runs. It is also good at cleaning the edges and corners of any given room. The 3-stage cleaning system provides three levels of suction power that can be customized for hard floors or carpets. The low mode is too quiet that you might not even feel the robot is running. There is a spot cleaning feature that when enabled, the robot will spin on that particular spot cleaning for 2 minutes. The battery run time of 120 minutes has been good for my cleaning area. As with any robot vacuum, this Roomba will return to its charging station when cleaning is done or when it is running low on battery. If you are looking for an entry level robot vacuum with basic cleaning, consider this as an essential one.

I have been of IRobot Rumbas for many years Originally bought them due to 2 dogs in the house, and a lack of time to sweep and vacuum the hair left in piles around the house The vacuums have always done well, and the life of the battery determined how long they stayed in service When this new Robot vacuum came along, it was time for a refresh First off, the packaging definitely had the environment in mind. It all protected the product, without any excess or excessive marketing graphics It literally took a minute to set it up, and the downloaded app makes scheduling a breeze. Simple and very intuitive So how does it work? As well as or better than my Roombas in the past. Gone are the towers to keep it on track, and a much improved logic and sensors The hair balls are gone, the room looks fresh, and I get my time back to me If yo are in the market for a new vacuum robot, don't let the name (Essential) scare you off. With the app, it is feature rich and the quality of the job is as good or better than the past

I have used many robot vacuums in the past 4-5 years and this one is good without being great. Its a solid 7.5/10. The package is simple enough and its ready to use in under 5 minutes. Just attach the side brush, remove the foam pad used to keep the bumper in the same place, peel off the film from the sensors area in the front, and you are off to the races. You can start using it immediately, with the buttons on the machine. But most everyone will also want to connect it to the app, which is also extremely easy, since on turning on the device seems to automatically be in pairing mode. So, on the app you just select add device, once its found the device, it will ask you to press a button on the machine, to ensure you are connecting to the right one AND that you do have physical access to it (and are not randomly trying to add your neighbour's Roomba). It asks you for your Wifi password and its connected. Now you can start, stop send home and locate it from the app. The app also allows you to set schedules. You can also set the vacuum power and hence inversely how silent it is and if you want it to make a single, multiple or dynamic passes while cleaning room. Dynamic just figures out if its a big room - then just 1 pass, else 2 passes to keep the time taken consistent. Some weird stuff, I don't understand why Roomba's only have 1 side brush when some other models have 2, it just makes sense that it would sweep in from both edges, but guess they've made their decision. Also, the sweeper brush underneath WILL get hair entangled, I have used these types of brushes before with soft bristles, and they always are full of hair and you have to cut those off atleast once in a couple of weeks or maybe longer depending on your household. These are not the rubberized brushes, that barely get any entanglement - but also don't brush as well. The dust collector seems big enough, I have only had to empty it once in about 3 runs. And there is an extra filter in the package once we do need to change it. Apart from this, as I mentioned there is nothing extraordinary about it - the app doesn't have options to control it and move it in different directions if you want, or force it to sweep just the edges of the room or a spot ( you can clean a specific spot but by using the physical button). If you are in the market for an entry level robo vacuum, this will serve the purpose.

In my opinion IRobot created and defined the robot vacuum market. Yes there others, but IRobot is really the “OG”, and the IRobot Roomba Essential Robot Vacuum carries on the Roomba legacy of quality and functionality. We have owned and appreciated several other Roomba models and it appears that this one will be the same. It was simple to unpack and setup, in fact we had it cleaning within minutes of pulling it out of the box. We put it upstairs to clean all of the areas that don’t get the same attention as those on the first floor (where our other Roomba stands guard). It immediately went to work cleaning the bedroom it was in. Once the first bedroom was complete, it made its way into the hall and on to the next bedroom, and so on until it was done (and had successfully returned to its base). I will say that the Roomba Essential is clearly more of a “value" option when it comes to Roomba purchases. We have had other Roomba’s that were more than double the cost of the Roomba Essential and I must say that their core performance (to vacuum) was no better then the Roomba Essential. Where the Roomba Essential deviates from the more expensive models is clearly only on the “bells and whistles”. More specifically, The Roomba Essential doesn’t come with some of the convenience features such as room mapping, self dumping, and pet waste avoidance. Yes I would agree that these features are nice…but at what cost? If you simply want a good quality robot vacuum and at a fair price, then the Roomba Essential is a great option.

Most are likely familiar with the Roomba by now but this is a nice consolidated and affordable package. Basically it's been laser focused on the best improvements over the years: 1. Brush bar versus the rubber scrubber on higher models - I actually prefer this because it seems to brush the carpet a little better. The other version may be better for hard floors but for carpet I think the brush bar is my preference. 2. Increased bin size - Versus the other models I've used, this one has a noticeably larger bin which makes it easier for it to go without worrying about changing in a given day as it processes the whole house. 3. Lower overall height - It still has the aggressive tread wheels that make it work viably on carpet, but in comparison it has a slightly lower height which lets it pop under my rolling cabinets a little easier. With my older version, it would slightly bump and sometimes decide to not proceed. With this model it slides right under without pause. Standard additional notes: As always this requires some upkeep. Cleaning out the brush bar, brushing out the filter, and occasionally taking it apart to get the wrapped up items that invariably make their way onto the cylinder is part and parcel of the standard upkeep. As long as you perform this regularly, this feels like it should last several years just like my previous!

If you have animals, I would be wary. We have two German Shepherds and it does not take long for the rollers in this machine to get clogged up. It's mainly because of the use of bristled brushes instead of the silicone-only rollers in iRobot's higher end models. But even if you do have animals, and don't mind cleaning this vacuum a little more than others, you can go wrong with this price point. But what to expect is in the name, "Essentials". There are no bells and whistles. This is a far cry from their S9. But that may be a good thing. We've had three S9s just stop working all together for no apparent reason. It might be good for iRobot to get back to its roots and create a solid workhorse of a vacuum. Don't let it simple profile and quiet demeanor fool you. This vacuum has great dirt pickup and an extra wide bin to catch it. The filters seem a little flimsy, but again I reiterate the word "essentials". Currently we have it working inside our climate controlled garage where our pups like to drag the mud, dirt and dog hair in. It will be a true test on this vacuum's longevity. I hope it can live up to the task. Due to my tainted history with other iRobot products, I will cautiously recommend this vacuum to beginning smart vac users who don't want to spend a small fortune.

Sure, the review title is a little funny, but I definitely mean it! so we have a family dog and we are constantly sweeping the floor in order to keep his hair off of the floor that was until I got a Roomba a couple years ago. And I love our current Roomba and when I got the chance to get a second one I jumped all over it, significant other and my kids all rejoice when they saw that we had not one but two Roombas now. We absolutely love the ease of set up and the ease of use, it is very much a set and forget it type of thing. That said, of course, we do have to empty the Roomba every so often. But that is not a dealbreaker at all because of the fact that it keeps us from having to vacuum or sweep the floor every day or every couple days with our family Chihuahua. Our family took a little bit of time to get used to it, but it doesn’t really bother him much anymore. I’ve been wanting to try one of their wet mop type devices and we really look forward to hopefully getting to do so one day. With a Roomba, you can’t go wrong!

As I already have a robot vacuum cleaner from a competitor, I was really looking forward to seeing what the iRobot Roomba Vac Essential Robot Vacuum brought to the table. Unfortunately, I found myself underwhelmed. To begin, this vacuum is at a very reasonable price point and if you are looking for something that vacuums automatically without any "extra" features (bells and whistles), this is not a bad option. I was using this vacuum on a carpeted floor and have pets. It picked up a lot of hair that my hand-held vacuum cleaner apparently missed, so that is definitely one for the plus column. Beyond that, however, there are some significant limitations. First, the setup was relatively simple, although you are required to interface through the iRobot smartphone app (and, as a result, have an account with them as well). The base station for the vacuum is there for charging only. It does not conduct any other features (such as emptying the dust bin). This base station is also small, which led to the first issue I experienced. As the base station is placed in one of my rooms that is carpeted, when the robot goes to dock with the base station, the contacts do not always connect appropriately between the base station and the robot. Thus, I have had more than one occasion where I wanted the vacuum to start cleaning, only to be told the battery is too low (even though it was sitting on the base station for a couple days). I then had to manually maneuver the robot around on the base station to ensure it was indeed charging. Another issue is that the dust bin is rather small. When the robot is vacuuming my upstairs rooms, the bin is packed once it is finished, which makes me wonder how well it was picking up debris toward the end of its tour. When it vacuums, I do not believe there is any assurance that the area it cleaned is indeed free of debris. Rather, the vacuum just follows a simple forward-and-back pattern when doing its thing. Unlike other vacuums, it does not map out the space ahead of time and it appears to miss areas as a result. I also had an instance where it wedged itself under a dresser and eventually ran out of battery. I had to physically return the unit to its base station, but there is no option to resume cleaning. The robot would simply start over from scratch, cleaning areas it already cleaned before finally traversing to uncleaned areas. As far as I know, this robot does not have any "pet mess" avoidance built in, so I am hesitant to schedule it for automatic cleaning because, if it were to encounter a pet mess, I suspect it would do more harm than good. So, the bottom line is this. If you are looking for a simple, no frills automatic vacuum cleaner within this price range, this is not a bad option, but larger houses with more rooms may find this vacuum lacking given its small dust bin and lack of advanced programming to adequately handle larger areas with multiple rooms and areas in which it can get stuck. Spending a little more for a more robust unit with advanced features may prove to be worthwhile in many use cases.

Dont fall for it! after a few days of use it stopped cleaning in rows and started just spinning at the same spot for 30mins it had trouble returning back home and couldnt even clean one room i wanted to give it a fair shot… btw this is in a span of just having it for 5 days i called customer support they rebooted it …the robot was working great for 1 hour then went back to doing the same thing !!!! I had enough and returned it long story short i would just invest in another robot thats more expensive that gets the job done better ! If you have the funds ofc ! My advice save the time and money !!!!!

Gets stuck under furniture a lot, been 2 + weeks and it still seems like it hasn’t learned the layout of the house yet

This was a gift so I have no reason to review the product.