Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA Review After 9 Months
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2020
I purchased the Roomba i7+ in March 2020.
At the time, I had a budget friendlier Deboot, but I was constantly rescuing it from under the table (that just happened to be at a similar height), on the thick bathroom rug, or stuck on a lamp with a curved base. I was spending so much time rescuing it that I could've just done the work of vacuuming myself. Before spending additional money on a replacement, I had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. Would a more expensive Roomba perform better? How long will it last? How much maintenance is needed, and how costly are replacement parts? The consumer report / tech articles, reviews, and YouTube videos that I watched helped a ton, and I promised myself that I would pay it forward with my own review after I had enough data to form a solid opinion. So, here I am, 9 months later with my review. I have no ties to any robotic companies or Amazon. I purchased this Roomba myself from Amazon (thankfully a verified dealer which kept it under warranty – important for the recall that occurred), and no one asked me to leave this review.
The Background:
I live in a 715 sq ft. apartment with 2 dogs (one medium, one large) and my boyfriend. One dog is part shepherd and sheds a ton. Daily vacuuming is a necessity. I have laminate wood, carpet (medium pile) and tile floors. I also have two rugs - the bathroom rug is high pile; the large living room area rug is low pile.
Set-Up:
I had no issues with the set-up instructions. I am not techie, but the connection to wi-fi was seamless. The only set-up issue was finding a non-intrusive place to put the base that was near a plug and had a long enough "runway" for the vacuum.
I read some reviews about having to "map" your home on the first few runs before vacuuming. I did not see that in my directions. I didn't move any furniture and just started vacuuming after charging. It seemed to map everything while vacuuming on the first go - which took about an hour to complete - and a couple of trips to the base to empty.
Setting up the schedule was also incredibly easy. I run it at one time Monday - Friday and a different time Saturday & Sundays. It adjusts time with daylight savings.
Vacuuming:
The Roomba is a little loud. I work from home, and while my colleagues say they can never hear it in the background, sometimes I need to turn it off to hear them. I also can't watch tv when the Roomba is vacuuming in the same area. However, when it is in the bedroom on medium pile carpet it is much quieter and tolerable.
As far as suction / vacuum power - it's impressive! I did not "pre-vacuum" before using it the first time. I did, however, "post-vacuum" just to see how much debris remained. Typically, my upright vacuum is completely full after a once-over on the living room and then completely full again after a once-over on the bedroom carpet. (Again, 2-dogs!) While I certainly picked up debris on the follow-up vacuum, it was less than half-full. Nine months later and after good maintenance (be sure to read that section), I believe it vacuums just as well as day 1.
The Roomba has *very rarely* needed to be rescued unlike my Deboot. Despite being the same height, it has never gotten stuck under my living room table (which was a Deboot daily occurrence). Instead, the Roomba has a method where it dips its front down just slightly and backs out. I have also never needed to rescue my Roomba from my thick bathroom rug or from my floor lamp with the curved base. On the rare occasions its needed rescuing, it's typically been because it's picked up a wayward phone charging cord or the drawstring to window blinds. It's gotten stuck on a few things I store under my bed from time to time, as well (tennis racket, picture frame). I run it daily, and I think I've rescued it less than a dozen times.
Of course, the Roomba doesn't pick up furniture and vacuum underneath/behind - so there is still a need to do some manual vacuuming every other week or so. It seems to do fine along baseboards, but it'll never get behind open doors. Also, I have four barstools that sit in a row at my breakfast bar and it doesn't do the best job underneath them because it's larger than the space I leave between the chairs. It meanders between the chair legs and does its best.
The vacuum is fairly gentle on my furniture, but I'd say there are a couple of scuff marks here and there where it runs into legs. It's far less than the damage I have caused from manually vacuuming. From what I can tell, there are no chips in the wood or scratches.
Maintenance:
Okay - this section right here is THE MOST IMPORTANT section to deciding if you want to purchase a Roomba. Yes, the vacuum can be scheduled and self-empties, but it is not a set-it-and-forget-it vacuum. It requires maintenance to operate effectively. Ideally, you should conduct weekly maintenance, but I do it every week and a half to two weeks. There are some YouTube videos that will walk you through the process, but some leave out important steps! Today I found this one which is great, and I strongly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2X0-8LHI2E (I don't know the guy, just thought he was really thorough.)
I have read complaints about the price of replacement parts, but I don't think it's a deal breaker. I haven't tried the knock-off versions and can't comment on them. Nine months in, I've bought new rollers, and I'm on my 3rd filter and 3rd bag. Replacement reasonings are outlined below. I ordered all replacements directly from Roomba. Shipping is a little slow.
Rollers: The only replacement piece I am upset about is needing new rollers. The rubber on the original rollers expanded/stretched from all of the hair that collected *inside* of them. I hadn't been cleaning the *inside* of the rollers, didn't occur to me. One day I was watching a maintenance video and I saw a guy pull the endcap off of the roller and pull out additional debris. Who knew? Happily, my replacement rollers aren't hollow all the way through like the originals, which has eliminated much of this issue. You still need to pull the endcap off and clean out the inside, but it doesn't collect all the way through. Be sure to check which rollers you have and, regardless, pull the endcaps off and clean them out in addition to cutting off the hair wrapped around the outsides.
Filter: The filter lasts for a long time. I don't think I replaced the first one until month 4 or 5. You can tap it out into the trash can during maintenance. Every few weeks, vacuum it out with another vacuum to extend its life. I read a ton of reviews about the filter and how important it is to keep it cleaned/replaced for the Roomba to work effectively, so I've been REALLY on top of it. The only reason I'm on a 3rd filter already is because my 2nd one got wet after the Roomba ran into a full dog water bowl. If you get it wet - game over.
Replacement bag: I don't think my first bag was full until 5 months. Roomba REALLY packs it in before it tells you it's full. It was rock solid and super heavy when it was time to empty it. The 2nd bag I threw away prematurely after the wet Roomba / filter issue from the dog water bowl incident. When Roomba gets wet, dirt starts to stick to everything inside of it and gum up the innards. So, I just tossed it when trying to fix that mess. (This is important to note if you have any pets that are not housebroken! The Roomba is NOT your friend if you have pets with frequent issues. I had an original Roomba eons ago that met its demise after a dog diarrhea issue that was unfathomable. You’ve been warned)
Bin: Okay, this is the mother of all things maintenance. Recently, I noticed that my Roomba was emptying 5 or 6 times a run. (Previously it would only empty once or so per run.) I changed filters, cleaned out my rollers, wiped down my sensors, etc., but with only minor, non-lasting improvement. Also, I was getting frequent "empty bin" warnings.
Well - I'm an idiot. I saw the "no water" sign on the bin and had only been wiping what I could reach in the bin out with a dry cloth. Nooo... that no water sign on the bin is next to a picture of the filter. Don't get the filter wet. BUT, you can pull that filter out and *then* RINSE YOUR BIN with warm water and let it air dry. (Turns out, there's a water sign with a picture of the bin right on the bin as well.) So, I'm here to tell you that I hadn't rinsed my bin ONCE in 9 months. The screen that the air goes through before it even gets to the filter (looks like a window screen) was covered in a solid, thick film of dirt. The vacuum wasn't doing a great job emptying because the base wasn't getting enough suction through that screen. GROSS. I rinsed the bin, let it air dry, and ran the Roomba again and it only made one trip to empty on its entire run.
Wheels: No issues at all with the wheels. I do pop out the front wheel to remove some dog hair that gets stuck - pull out the caster, too. It's shocking the amount of dog hair that gets underneath it!
Durability:
Outside of the “bin is full” issue I was having from not properly rinsing out my bin (and is now solved), I’ve had no issues with my Roomba.
About a month ago I did receive a recall notice where I had to request a new power cord. (I think it could start a fire if your Roomba gets wet? Not a small concern.) The recall process was fairly smooth, but their online recall form didn’t work on my android phone. And, again, shipping was slow. I can see where folks might have issues with the Customer Service since what minor interactions I’ve had haven’t been impressive. The power cord swap, itself, was easy.
Conclusion:
I highly recommend the Roomba i7+! The vacuum does a great job removing dirt/debris/hair/fur. I see a visible difference every time it runs. I never see it leave debris behind. I still mop my laminate wood/tile floors, but I did that with my upright vacuum, too.
You must commit to a regular maintenance routine, but it takes mere minutes. Sure, you could save the money and vacuum yourself, but what’s key here is that the Roomba vacuums on the days I wouldn’t have bothered to do it. So, I KNOW I keep a cleaner house because I have it than I would have otherwise.
Worth the money!
