What roomba vacuum cleaner is the best?

Community Playground General Discussions
#21

I have the 980 and it works outstanding on hardwoods. When going over rugs it doubles its suction speed and when it transitions on to the hardwoods it cuts it in half to save battery. Hardwoods have never look so clean. The price is high but I?ve had it over a year and still can?t believe how much it picks up on each run. I would buy again without question. Bed bath and beyond has it on sale right now online for $799

#22

And use the 20% off cupon

#23

I thought about 980 or 960 but after reading some reviews about robovacs for hardwoods I stay confused, for in the article mentioned Roomba 650 not the the 900s
 So, is 650 better than 900s, hm? :-\

#24

For me the vacuum part or design on a 650 to either of the 900’s is not a hug difference. The size, spinning sweeper brush and all are the same on all of them. Now the design and parts have matured over the years. My 650 i replaced it because it was worn out not because it didn’t clean.

The 900’s are about half as quiet as my 650 when running. My 650 I changed the battery to a larger one and my run times doubled (so out of the box not great but for like 30-50 bucks you can double the cleaning time). So no huge advantage for me on the battery or run time as that’s an easy fix for even a cheap model.

600’s have no wifi or connectivity. So you need to add a 100 or more wifi modual to have it run when your away and send updates and such. Depending on how cheap you go it will also not tell you if the bin is full. It will just keep running with a dirty plugged up bin.

900’s biggest advantage and its HUGE! Probley the only reason anyone should buy a 900
 Is its mapping and smarts. 900’s are teh only roomba that has mapping and built in camera and logic to map and properly clean. All model’s below just randomly (maybe not totally random) just bump off walls until its battery gets to a certian % then keep bumping off walls until it see’s it dock, then docks. The 900’s actually see the room map and can follow a map back to the dock without bumping off walls to get back. In bigger house or if you have double pass on it will clean until the battery is low then head back charge up and then go directly back to where it left off and continue until finished then go back. Maps of what it has cleaned or where it gets stuck will show in a map on the roomba app. Bacsicly the camera and mapping makes the 900 way different. Also built in wifi for all this. You can get wifi and some quieter motors on some 800 series so for me the 900’s are only if you want the smart mapping. And for me the Smart mapping is a huge update.

For me I would also not get a 700 or 800 series. If I wanted a dumb logic one I would buy a cheap 650 for the sol purpose of saving money. Sure it might be a bit louder, but it will clean just as good as a 900 (if it runs over the mess). I would not buy a 800 series because the cost is so close to a 900 series and yes its quieter but its still has the same dumb logic of bouncing off walls. So for me its not a money saver and its not the best cleaner, it will still miss spots. 900’s you buy for the smart logic not because its cheap. If you want a great smart cleaner with the bells a whistle (wifi, mapping, app, quiet, etc
) then this is as good as any other high end brand or better for cheaper, but not cheap over all. So my recommend would be go cheap or go smart. Avoid the middle as the cost upgrades over the 600’s are not worth the price (bin sensor, different brushes, etc) for 100-300 extra over the 650.

Hope this helps.

#25

Thank you for your patience while explaining all of these to me. I’m so glad that there are people who can and are ready to help. :smiley: I guess, I’ll take 900s Roomba as I thought before, thanks to your post :slight_smile:

#26

Did anyone get the roomba 960 or 980 to integrate with Vera (as noted at beginning of this post)? Similar to the roomba wifi plugin for older models? I am assuming that plugin doesn’t work with the new 960 or 980, correct?

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

#27

I never bothered to try and integrate My 980 into Vera mainly because the irobot mobile app is pretty good and the weekly / daily schedules are already setup within the vacuum. However I am curious as to understanding your use case for the vera integration. What is it you trying to accomplish with the vera integration?
Thanks
John

#28

[quote=“jbonzey, post:27, topic:197386”]I never bothered to try and integrate My 980 into Vera mainly because the irobot mobile app is pretty good and the weekly / daily schedules are already setup within the vacuum. However I am curious as to understanding your use case for the vera integration. What is it you trying to accomplish with the vera integration?
Thanks
John[/quote]

Personally I want mine to run only when I’m gone. Not at the same time everyday. Weekends, holidays, flex-able schedules and such makes it harder to accomplish this. So using home and away I’m able to make sure everyone has been gone, battery is at 100%, it hasn’t ran in “X” amount of hours and send it out if those are all met.

Another thing is the 980 camera on the top only see’s in the light. Some rooms in my house are pretty dark. I can use Lumance sensors (aeon 6-1 multisensors) to make sure the z-wave blinds are opened or the lights are dimmed on a bit while the roomba is running. More info here: http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=19195

Another thing is everything has an app. My cameras, sprinklers, roomba, Sonos, Harmony Remotes, and so on. I like to try and keep everything in one app for normal usage if at all possible. Makes it easy for my wife all too. Her phone doesn’t have to have 5 plus apps to check on everything even if I do. Attached is some screen shots.

#29

We just got the Xiaomi and I love it. The app is a bit tweaky to set up, but it is awesome once you get going. I’d love to be able to send it commands (like I can from the app) from Vera to send cleaning, cleaning power, docking, etc commands. Then I could set different cleaning schedules and modes based on home conditions. Right now we have just set up some basic calendar cleaning schedules in the app. I do love that it doesnt need light to see, it’s able to map the house very effectively too.

#30

Would really like to know how to command the Xiaomi to go clean when i leave the house. anyone suceeded in that with just the Vera plus and some LUA code?
so far i found my token and IP. whats next?

#31

I successfully implemented an integration between my Roomba 960 and Vera using HTTPS calls. It works very well and does involves a) a Rapberry Pi / Debian Server b) some creative thinking with regard to Scenes and buttons.

Let me know if you are interested and i can document what i did to get this running.

Thanks

#32

Roomba 960 is the best including price, although the 980 has best overall features. The Roomba 960 will do a great job for most people, but the Roomba 980 may be better suited in some situations where a home has lots of carpets, especially thick and dense ones. The Roomba 980 a specialized carpet boost mode where the suction is boosted to make sure stuck dirt and debris are collected, and as the robot vacuum has more oomph, it will do a better job in some cases. Those with hard floors should pick the Roomba 960 as the perks of the extra suction power won?t be necessary or worth it for the extra $200.
reference: Roomba 960 vs 980 – A Detailed & Clear Comparison - Your Smart Home Guide

#33

helpful guide thanks, thinking of getting one myself can be confusing, I got both hardwood floors and some areas with carpet

#34

djensenevmef - Can you please start a new thread if you’re looking for VPN advice as it has nothing to do with this topic.
Thanks

#35

[quote=“jbonzey, post:34, topic:197386”]djensenevmef - Can you please start a new thread if you’re looking for VPN advice as it has nothing to do with this topic.
Thanks[/quote]

I suspect he is a troll.

#36

My Roomba is not the most recent model, but we’re happy with it so far. All we really needed is a strong suction since we have both the dog and a carpet. But it doesn’t have a mobile app. Really hoping I can find a good deal during Black Friday so I can get an upgraded model. I found this one , gives update but if I can find a lower price, better.lol! One thing we didn’t like about Roomba is its noise. When it runs, we have to stay somewhere, it’s that bad.

#37

I agree with the noise. Trying to watch TV while its in the room is like any other vacuum running the in the room with the TV on.

But this is one reason why I have it only run when we are all “AWAY”. So unless we come back quick it’s finished already. During the weekends this is more likely to happen but during the weekdays we all leave to work and school then it runs. I could only have it run 5 days a week if I never wanted to hear it, but we do have it set to 7 days.

#38

Roomba 960 is far better then 890, 960 offers edge cleaning mode with the 75 min of power, you can also go with 980 it is best for Carpet cleaning.

#39

Has anyone mentioned how these floor sweeping robots handle cat vomit? I picture that not going well.

1 Like
#40

I imagine that it will make a mess in the robot so this is the reason I do not have mine on a schedule. I manually turn it on when I’m at home and have checked the floors firs.

Apart from this my Neato is an old version that has no remote access