It’s doesn’t do this with as little contact as the gentle AEG RX9.2, which backs away from furniture before bumping into it, but it’s easily a close second. It certainly doesn’t charge at delicate furniture like more aggressive rivals such as the iRobot Roomba j7. There’s one big omission from the app, however, and that’s the ability to store more than one map.
It projects a pattern of infrared light, which the vacuum detects and treats as a physical wall, prompting it to stop and turn around. Third-generation and newer models are compatible with the Dual Mode Virtual Wall, which, in addition to simulating a straight wall, can create a circular barrier roughly 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter. Some 500-, 700- and 800-series models are compatible with the Virtual Wall Lighthouse. It initially confines the irobot vacuum cleaner vacuum to one area to be cleaned; then, once the vacuum reports the area has been sufficiently cleaned , it directs it to proceed to the next space to be cleaned, and contains it there. The Roomba S9 Plus also struggled a bit cleaning sand from low-pile carpeting, earning a low average dust and sand pickup of 28%. While not the worst result we’ve seen (that honor belongs to the Ecovacs Deebot 600 at 18%), it’s definitely near the bottom.
Learns your home, cleans when and where you want with 10X the Power-Lifting Suction1 and custom cleaning control. The mop also performed well, with its floor wiping action doing as good a job shark cordless as a human could do with a cloth, some water and minimal elbow grease. It isn’t going to tackle stubborn stains but can wipe up a light footprint or kitchen spill if it isn’t too sticky.
The Bissell SpinWave picked up all the cat and dog hair we laid out on carpeting and hardwood. Additionally, on the hardwood, it only left a trace of kitty litter and flour. It came within 2 inches in corners and picked up more than 60% of the flour on both the carpet and hardwood. The more helpful feature is the auto-empty station that automatically empties the dustbin after cleaning sessions. Setup is a breeze, only taking about 10 minutes, including connecting to the user-friendly app. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t allow you to set up no-go zones, so you must buy virtual wall barriers.
The advantage of lidar is that it’s quicker to build up a map and does not need light, so your robot can map and clean in the dark. The other technique uses a camera in combination with a technique called localization and mapping and is known as vSLAM. Here, the cleaner orientates and maps its surrounding using a single 3D vision camera.
Wipe the sensors clean as needed, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines—usually with a microfiber cloth or cotton swab with a little water or rubbing alcohol. You could save some money by using third-party filters, which are extremely unlikely to harm the bot, but you may void your warranty if you happen to send in your bot for repairs with one of them in the filter slot. They’ve all worked well, and we wouldn’t try to talk anyone out of buying them instead of the Roborock S4 Max—as long as you get a good price, and accept that they’re usually lacking some of the polish that Roborock models have. Personally, I used an old Roomba 650 at home for four years and found that it held up very well. Several other Wirecutter staff members own Roomba 600 series bots and have also found them to be sturdy and reliable. If a robot runs across anything smearable, get ready to do some nasty cleanup.
I was surprised the first time I saw the 11S disappear under my bed—and then more surprised when it reemerged with an unholy amount of cat hair stuffed into its bin and wrapped about the brush roll. If you like the sound of the Roomba 694 but want just a little more cleaning power, you could look for a Roomba e5. It’s a similar robot, with semi-random navigation, plus some extra suction and nubbed “extractor” rolls that are great at getting debris out of rugs . Some retailers sell the functionally identical Roomba e6 instead. It’s a semi-discontinued model, and at this point may cost less than the weaker Roomba 694, so keep an eye out for deals.
For hard surfaces, the company also manufactures mopping robots that also include smart features to work in conjunction with their vacuuming counterparts. All Roombas include obstacle sensors, and they can detect areas with dirt and debris. Higher-end models will have more advanced navigation and mapping systems and some can map an entire home, which can then be used to specify cleaning areas through a downloadable app.