“Dock” mode, introduced with the third generation, instructs the Roomba to seek a charging base for recharging. Many second- and third-generation Roombas come packaged with infrared remote controls, allowing a human operator to “drive” the Roomba to areas to be specially cleaned. I think the convenience is worth it, but they may require some tinkering. If you purchase the bin as an accessory rather than bundled, the robot may have trouble settling itself properly on the base station’s air ports when it docks.
In 2017 iRobot released the 890 with Wi-Fi connectivity that can be started with an app and various personal-assistant software. Few years, no product I’ve tested has advanced as quickly as the humble robot vacuum. Where once they ping-ponged randomly around your kitchen, you can now find robot vacs at every price point with an incredible array of features, including mapping capabilities, self-emptying bins, and even cameras.
It’s got a built-in camera designed to help it ‘see’ around your home, although in our testing, it still struggled with avoiding small obstacles such as a sock and a charging cable and attempted to suck them up instead. When the vacuum isn’t cleaning, you can get it to act as a security guard for your home, letting you see and speak to anyone irobot vacuum cleaner in the house through the app. It works with both Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can use your voice to start it cleaning. However, in our experience, it can’t avoid obstacles, such as cables and shoes, so you’ll need to pick these up yourself, and on full power, it’s louder than most of its competitors, coming in at around 70db.
It is super easy to edit, reschedule, on/off the cleaning routine whenever you want. Get personalized cleaning recommendations based on what’s happening in your home, and even tell your robots to clean while you’re away with smart home integration. Turn cleaning from something you do to something that happens around your life. Like a Roomba, a Braava mop will clean your floors for you, using a spray-and-wipe method that goes deeper than a simple vacuum. I haven’t had a chance to try any robot mops myself yet, but they’ve received some good reviews, despite being less popular than their vacuum cousins.
An added bonus is you don’t need to do any prep beforehand—unlike many other robotic cleaning machines. This means you won’t have to pick up objects the unit might dyson robot vacuum see as obstacles, such as kids’ toys or socks. We readily recommend the Roborock S7 MaxV, given it’s low profile, superior AI, and hybrid mopping capability.