Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 stars*edited review*
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2019
JUNE 2021 UPDATE: Had this thing about two years now. The issue with the charger drives me crazy. It can be sitting on the charger for days and still not be charged, because it wasn't actually charging. I have to pick it up and put it down repeatedly for it to acknowledge it's on the charger, and then the slightest bump ruins the whole thing. Apparently it's draining whenever it's not charging, even when it's sitting idly not in use.
Another annoying thing about it is that it wakes itself up and starts trying to clean, again with the slightest touch. I hate it.
It's better for my disabled self to have this vs not at all, but I hate it.
Update: I’ve had this guy for 13 months now, and am satisfied with the way it performs lately. I’d say it’s as expected for the price point, as long as one’s expectations are appropriate for the cost.
I replaced all the parts with the available maintenance kits, which is what it really needs to work optimally. That can’t be overstated enough. Do keep up with the maintenance if you expect it to operate as well as it’s capable. And also keep in mind it won’t be as smart as a higher end machine, but keeping the sensors clean lets it be as smart as it can be.
I find I need to run it on 2-3 cycles per room. It’ll think it’s done and do its little job completion tone. I’ll pull out my phone and click Clean again until I feel like the floor looks and feels the way I want.
To be fair, I have two heavy shed cats who track litter all over the place, and the machine’s zig zag pattern isn’t the most efficient—It gets stuck a lot in this one area around a pub table and spends too much time trying to run up the legs. I should probably just give in and buy one of the barrier products, but can’t bring myself to spend that money.
I think some of the higher end models might be better at learning the furniture layout, or allowing more granular control from the app. This one definitely just sort of careens around. Thus, it takes multiple cycles to put a dent in the debris around the house.
I think it’s a perfectly fair machine for the price I paid for it, which was on sale for Prime Day last year. It seems on par with other equivalent machines in the same MSRP range. I wish it came with a barrier... I’ll probably end up buying some next time there’s a big sale event.
If there are any buyers looking for an item specifically to keep up with cat hair, this product can handle the job if —and only if— you maintain the machine on a proper schedule. The app tells you that schedule. Parts are disposable and need to be replaced every few months. There are kits on Amazon. The filter needs to be cleaned and changed regularly. Keep this in mind when considering the ongoing cost and effort associated with a robot vacuum.
For me it’s still better to have this imperfect vacuum, rather than the house not being vacuumed nearly enough. I’m disabled, vacuuming every day isn’t in the cards for me without products like this.
Update almost 3 months in: After repairing the bumper the device basically works as it did before in terms of how it moves.
In terms of cleaning power, I haven’t been doing the monthly maintenance and it definitely shows. The hair from my two cats is a lot to handle on the daily and it doesn’t have as good of suction. It also gives the full bin warning a lot more frequently. That said it’s still better than not having it. I just need to maintain it as directed.
Oh yeah, the original charger died not long after my last update, and customer service was actually helpful that time and replaced it for free. Prompt delivery.
All things considered my 3 rating stands.
Update after a few weeks:
Okay so I've had this thing for a few weeks now and there's something wrong with the bumper. I have no stairs or cliffs for it to fall from so not sure how it's injured its bumper, but the performance has gone way down since this happened.
At first it would just spin and spin, and then threw an error. I looked up the error code in irobot troubleshooting guide, which stated that there was something stuck in the bumper. I followed the instructions (basically "hit the bumper until something falls out") but this didn't fix the problem.
I chatted with irobot support. They were useless, just parroting back to me what I had already read and done in the troubleshooting guide for the error code. I told them I had already done this and it didn't work and then grew so frustrated with their lack of critical thinking that I left the chat.
It started working soon after, but this is where the dip in performance began. It's apparent to me that the bumper is hanging part of the way off on one side, making that side extra sensitive and the other side barely sensitive at all. So now it careens into things, knocks things over, pushes furniture around, where it didn't use to do that. Or it spins in circles confused even when not touching anything. Guess I have to figure out how to fix this now, with no help from irobot customer service.
Reducing from 5 stars to 3.
***original review:
Happy prime day to me! This little guy is much smarter than I thought it would be. I'm super glad I held out for this to drop down to my price range. The reviews for other, cheaper brands didn't bode well for them, and this one far surpasses my expectations so far. It's only been a couple days but I already love it. The two cats feel differently, but not having their hair everywhere is worth it to me. Has no problems navigating over hard wood to area rugs (black white geometric pattern), various bath and kitchen mats, and the thresholds between rooms. Runs into things, but gently. Definitely gets smarter with use. I'm extremely pleased. I'll update my review over time if necessary.
