The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Robot Vacuum Mops vacuums nab pet hair, lint and dust from floors before they settle. They can also stay clear of obstacles such as furniture that is slippery and stairs.
The majority of robotic vacuums require maintenance, like emptying (and occasionally rinsing) the bin and wiping sensors and cameras. Also, they need to be plugged into an electrical source. Many have smartphone apps for scheduling, setting up settings, and more.
iRobot Roomba 960
The iRobot Roomba 980, the most recent of a series of top-of-the-line robot vacuums, is a must for every modern home. This model is extremely powerful suction and it comes with a HEPA filter that can assist anyone suffering from allergies. It also comes with a powerful battery which can clean for two hours and returns to its dock automatically when the bin is full.
Smart mapping is a different feature that helps it identify areas in your home that require attention, and then creates an easy path to get around them. We've seen this technology in action and it does a great job of maneuvering around toys that are left scattered on the floor, or furniture legs that are sticking out of the ground. Roomba also comes with a sensor that can snap Roomba to its real-world location if it starts to wander away from its original position.
iRobot also added a set of rollers underneath the Roomba that don't have bristles, which makes them more likely to withstand knots than earlier models. They are also taller and can fit under beds or couches with low sides. They're specifically designed to make this model more adaptable to different kinds of floors.
What sets the Roomba 980 apart from other models with a higher-end price tag, though, is its integration of the new dirt detection feature that uses cameras to identify particles of dirt embedded. This is an improvement over the previous model which relied on a sensor-driven pseudorandom cover method to bounce around the room, and then clean everything three times at different angles.
The Roomba 980 performed well in our tests on both carpets and hard floors. It scored extremely well on low-pile carpet and also on mid-pile. It did a good job getting rid of pet hair, but had a difficult time with the thick and long pet hair that was stuck together.
The Roomba 980 is still one of the most efficient robots we've reviewed despite the minor drawbacks. It's also not as expensive as top-of-the-line models. It still has a lot of features that we'd expect to find in a flagship model, but it doesn't have all the fancy app-enabled functions or smart home integration that are found in other top contenders.
The iRobot Roomba can be set up in a matter of minutes and is available for use as soon as you are ready to. After you have removed the pull tab for the battery and the yellow bin insert from its undercarriage, all you need to do is plug it into its Home Base docking station or an outlet on the wall, press its large "Clean" button, and let it go to work. It will automatically return to the dock when it runs out of batteries or is full of trash. There are also indicators on top that indicate when the bin is empty, when it needs to recharge, or when it loses its Wi-Fi.