What roomba do you recommend?

[expectantsteelerfan]

Dh wants to get me a roomba for my bday (at my suggestion, I'd be super thrilled), and he researched a bit and was going to buy the Roborock S4 because it has good mapping technology.  It does not have self-emptying capacity, but you could buy an attachment for that (but that almost doubles the price).

When I told him I thought I'd want self-emptying, he started leaning toward the Roomba j7, but that is super expensive for just the self-emptying function.

I also remember Eufy tend to get recommended a lot around here.

So is there a specific brand/model you'd recommend?  Is the self-emptying feature worth it?

[msmerymac]

I got a deal on this one on Prime day, I think: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085D4MFS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's not self-emptying, but I wanted two, since we have a 2 story house. I just build emptying into my routine, and it's far easier than actually vaccuuming. It cuts down on at least 80% of vacuuming, since we still have to do the stairs and under couches and some corners.

I can start it from my phone, it sends me reports on my phone, and I can schedule it for once-a-day cleaning on my phone. I do the upstairs at 7 PM while we're downstairs eating dinner and the downstairs at 5 AM while we're asleep.

It's the only Roomba I've had though, so I can't really compare. I've been using them for 3 months.

[Jalapeñomel]

I would absolutely get the self emptying one, because it can run while you are gone several times if need be. I have this one:

store.irobot.com/default/roomba-vacuuming-robot-vacuum-irobot-roomba-i3-3550/i355020.html

[expectantsteelerfan]

Oct 4, 2021 13:43:11 GMT -5 mofongo said:

This may not be helpful, but I recently got rid of mine and got a dyson animal stick. I can do in 10 minutes what the roomba did in an hour. I was constantly fighting with it about where it was going etc.

Yeah, I'm not expecting the roomba to totally eliminate my need to vacuum.  But we have 2 dogs and hardwood floors throughout the main level, and the tumbleweeds of dog hair accumulate daily, so I feel like even though I go around with my handheld dyson pretty much daily along the floorboards, there's still hair.  I do think it would help at least cut down on this!

[7costanza]

I’ve had three robot vacuums, and have the self-emptying Roomba that doesn’t map your house right now. I highly recommended the self empty! I have it set to run 4x per week while my kids are at school and love not having to remember to empty it. I don’t mind not having the mapping, if I want it to clean a specific room I just pick it up and place in there, vs telling it on the app to go to the bedroom or whatever.

I previously had a Eufy but didn’t like it much. It constantly got stuck and didn’t do a great job, probably because it didn’t clean in any kind of pattern, just randomly bumped into things for an hour.

[ssmjlm]

I got rid of ours, it was really loud on our HW floors and got stuck constantly in the weirdest places (like our half bath).

[stephm0188]

We bought the Roomba i8+ at Costco and I LOOOOOVE IT. The auto empty was a must for me- it runs when we’re not home and empties itself a few times during its normal route.

It’s my favorite family member.

[mcmel]

Self-emptying for sure.

[zarapipe]

Oct 4, 2021 13:43:11 GMT -5 mofongo said:

This may not be helpful, but I recently got rid of mine and got a dyson animal stick. I can do in 10 minutes what the roomba did in an hour. I was constantly fighting with it about where it was going etc.

This is exactly what I did. I am so much happier with my dyson. Mine always got stuck and never learned my house even after a year.

[al dente]

Oct 4, 2021 13:43:11 GMT -5 mofongo said:

This may not be helpful, but I recently got rid of mine and got a dyson animal stick. I can do in 10 minutes what the roomba did in an hour. I was constantly fighting with it about where it was going etc.

I feel the same way. I always feel guilty but I kind of hate our Roomba.

[penelope]

We have the Shark IQ, Self Empty Base Robot Vacuum with WiFi and I love it! Our German Shephard sheds enough hair in a day to make another dog, I swear, and it has helped with not only the work involved but my allergies have improved as well.

[carmenere]

We have a eufy and it’s fine (I have no basis for comparison) but if I were going to buy one now I would splurge for one with room mapping functionality.

Personally I don’t find emptying to be much of a hassle, but if bending to pick it up is difficult then self-emptying may be worth it. The real PITA is cleaning hair off the brush roll.

[VillainV]

A neighbor has both a self-emptying Roomba and regular Roomba and the self-emptying doesn’t have nearly as much run-time per charge. She runs them both, and the self-emptying is always going back to charge.

We have a Eufy and like it. It’s easy to empty, and if we easily get 2-3 full runs before we have to empty it (we have two cats, for reference).

[al dente]

Oct 4, 2021 20:36:55 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Oct 4, 2021 14:59:53 GMT -5 al dente said:

I feel the same way. I always feel guilty but I kind of hate our Roomba.

Same. Even thought it’s doing the work, I was still having to work to make sure it went where I want it! With my Dyson, 10 min and it’s over. Lol

yes! Mine just does the same path over and over and misses huge sections so I'm always moving it around. It also terrifies my dog so I can't even run it when out of the house because I have to constantly be separating them lol.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 4, 2021 20:36:55 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Oct 4, 2021 14:59:53 GMT -5 al dente said:

I feel the same way. I always feel guilty but I kind of hate our Roomba.

Same. Even thought it’s doing the work, I was still having to work to make sure it went where I want it! With my Dyson, 10 min and it’s over. Lol

Maybe it’s the kind of Roomba you have? Mine gets everything, most of the time without getting stuck.

I also have a stick Dyson Animal, but I only use that once a week.

[wowhead]

We have an i8. For our house, the self emptying part is a necessity. It runs every single day and has to stop and empty itself about half of the time.

[lpcats]

We have one of the cheaper Roombas, no mapping and no self emptying. The Roomba combined with our stick vacuum has been the best combination I've ever had. We have 2 cats and a kid and our house has never been cleaner.

I don't find emptying the Roomba to be that much of a hassle (I empty it after every time it runs in our 1000 +/- square foot first floor and it's never overflowing) and it does an impressive job for not having mapping capabilities.

[CloudBee]

Here's our current setup that we're happy with:

- Eufy (bumps around, does not self empty)
- Dyson Turbo (upgrade from Animal)

- About to purchase a Roborock robot mop once we pick one out
- Considering a 2nd Eufy for our finished basement where DH's office is

DH works from home half the week, and I'm a SAHM. We don't really have the need for mapping and self emptying, as we're always here. I would rather put that $ into the robot wet mop. If I worked out of the home full time I would definitely want a self emptying model so it could run while we're gone.

[sporky]

I have the e5 I think- it's a non-self-emptying model and that's never been an issue for me. Even with daily runs, I empty the compartment maybe once every 3 weeks.