Roomba Combo j7 Plus review: an excellent robot vacuum with an okay mop

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus is a top-of-the-line robotic vacuum that may additionally mop and empty its personal bin. Due to its means to map your property and keep away from widespread family muddle, it’s one of many few bots I’ve examined that not often will get caught. All this autonomy makes it a very good family cleansing companion, although it’s a greater vacuum than a mop, and also you do need to refill its water reservoir pretty typically. But it surely’s one of many solely robotic vacuums that may reliably vacuum all your rugs and carpeted areas and vacuum and mop your flooring in a single go with out dragging its damp, soiled mop over your good rug.

iRobot’s first combo mop / vacuum, the $1,099 Combo j7 Plus takes the wonderful j7 robotic vacuum and provides some new sensors, an even bigger battery, a small water reservoir, and a robotic arm that raises and lowers a really small mopping pad. 

That robotic arm is essential. Virtually each different robotic vacuum with a mop requires handbook intervention: it’s a must to take away the mopping pad so it should sort out carpets and put it again on if you need mopping motion. However the Combo j7’s arm retains the mop pad tucked away on high of the robotic when not in use, then lowers itself behind and beneath the robotic when wanted. This operation is fully autonomous and labored reliably and easily in my testing. It’s additionally very enjoyable to look at. 

The mop solely deploys when the robotic is on a tough ground floor — wooden, tile, concrete. If it’s in mopping mode and encounters a rug, it gained’t go over it (I attempted to trick it, nevertheless it at all times backed away). Cleverly, if you ship it out on a job it vacuums all of the rugs and carpets first, then deploys the mop and and cleans and vacuums the onerous flooring. It’s not fully hands-off, although; relying on the dimensions of your property, you’ll need to refill the water reservoir at the least as soon as to mop all of it.

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The Plus in Combo j7 Plus means it comes with iRobot’s Clear Station, an auto-empty base that expenses the robotic and sucks the filth out of its bin. The common j7 vacuum will be purchased with the bottom (because the j7 Plus) or with out it, however you possibly can presently solely purchase the Combo with the bottom, which partially explains the eye-watering $1,099 price ticket. 

Design-wise, the Combo j7 seems to be nearly an identical to the j7. The one distinction is the sleek high piece of the robotic is damaged up barely by the mopping plate. That is nonetheless a handsome robotic; it’s simply the most effective design on the earth of robotic vacs. Its matte black plastic doesn’t present mud or fingerprints, and small touches — just like the brushed aluminum high piece with a small iRobot emblem — are a lot classier than the loud designs of rivals reminiscent of Shark and Roborock. 

The Combo has all of the smarts of the j7, together with AI-powered impediment avoidance plus new onboard acoustic sensors to find out the ground kind. It makes use of these sensors, plus the information it gleans from mapping your own home, to find out its cleansing sample. When it enters a room, it vacuums the rugs and carpets first, then mops and vacuums the onerous flooring earlier than shifting on to the following room. There isn’t a choice to mop solely; the robotic is at all times vacuuming and generally mopping. 

It may possibly solely mop in case you connect the pad (which is detachable so you possibly can clear it) and if its 210 ml water tank is full. With out each of these in place, it simply vacuums. When it runs out of water, it continues to hoover, and also you get an alert within the app to refill the tank. This does require handbook intervention: it’s a must to take the mixed mud bin and water reservoir out of the again of the robotic and fill the water tank. (iRobot says it’s wonderful to make use of any cleansing answer in its bot; most robotic mops solely take water or their very own cleansing answer). 

The small tank doesn’t final lengthy: after mopping my kitchen ground, it was typically spent. You will get extra mopping out of it by lowering the water movement degree within the app, however in my testing, the best setting was the simplest. Handily, you possibly can set totally different water ranges for various rooms. I had it take two passes and mop on the Extremely setting for the kitchen and eating room flooring however had it use Eco for the lounge. 

The Combo doesn’t use any scrubbing motion to wash the flooring, simply the downward strain from the mop arms and the friction from the pad dragging throughout the ground because the robotic strikes. iRobot says that programming it to do two passes is the simplest method to make use of the mop for extra cussed stains. In testing, that was true, however with two passes, I used to be filling up the tank much more typically.

The one different robotic vac / mop that doesn’t want you to connect its pad if you need it to mop is the Roborock S7 line. Roborock handles the “don’t drag a moist mop pad over my rug” downside by lifting its mop a number of millimeters when it encounters carpet. However this solely works on low pile rugs and carpets, whereas the Combo j7 can go over any rug or carpet, due to that robotic arm.

Whereas its rug-avoiding technique works effectively, its mopping is lackluster. That is true of just about each different combo vacuum and mop I’ve examined, nonetheless, particularly in comparison with a Swiffer-type mop and a few handbook labor. 

Sure, it really works effectively sufficient to select up wonderful mud the vacuum misses, nevertheless it gained’t get dried milk up except you ship it out 4 or 5 occasions, even with a cleansing answer, by which level chances are you’ll as effectively have grabbed the Swiffer. iRobot has a devoted mopping robotic, the Braava Jet M6, which does a a lot better job at mopping — it obliterates dried milk stains. But it surely’s very gradual and might’t deal with rugs or high-room transitions in the identical method the Combo can.

Each the Roborock S7 Plus and the S7 MaxV Extremely do a greater job at mopping flooring than the Combo j7. The S7’s mopping pad is twice the dimensions of the Combo’s and vibrates ever so barely to simulate scrubbing. The S7’s oscillating movement did a greater job of cleansing a dried milk stain in a single move than the Roomba did in two passes, although it didn’t fully take away the stain in its common mode. The Roborocks have a high-intensity mopping degree the place the bot doesn’t vacuum in any respect, strikes extra slowly, and scrubs extra intensely. That mode did fully take away the dried milk and left my flooring feeling like somebody had really mopped them.

Roborock additionally sells an Empty Wash Fill dock for its S7 MaxV Extremely robotic that routinely refills the robotic’s water tank and scrubs the mopping pad, along with emptying its mud bin and charging its battery. Whereas the Roomba Combo j7 Plus does include an auto-empty dock, filling the water tank and cleansing the mopping pad are on you. And also you do need to refill the water tank ceaselessly, regardless of iRobot’s hands-free claims; it by no means acquired by my 800-square-foot downstairs with no need to be refilled.

In iRobot’s nook, the Roomba’s auto empty station is far much less of an eyesore than the Roborock’s, and the Combo j7 Plus with the station normally prices about $300 lower than the Roborock with the Empty Wash Fill base. Plus, Roombas don’t speak to you, in contrast to nearly each different robotic vac I’ve examined, together with the Roborocks. Significantly, these items are Chatty Cathys — “I’m going to wash the kitchen.” “I’m caught, and I need assistance.” “I’m very annoying.” 

In the end, the Combo j7 Plus provides a bit extra comfort than most vacuum / mop fashions and can get your flooring a bit cleaner than the common j7. And whereas it’s an okay mop, it is a superb vacuum. Roombas are the most effective at really vacuuming of all of the fashions I’ve examined. That is partly due to a singular twin rubber brush system that helps it dig into carpet fibers and choose up filth higher from onerous flooring.

The j7 and Combo j7 have the identical software program and the identical vacuuming options. I reviewed the j7 when it first got here out, however due to a number of over-the-air updates to its robotic mind (or working system), it has gotten considerably higher. I encourage you to learn my earlier overview of the Roomba j7 for extra background, and I’ll go into among the updates right here.

The j7 is the one iRobot vacuum with AI impediment avoidance. This implies it’s sensible sufficient to know to go round that sock, cable, or pile of poop. Roomba’s AI impediment avoidance is superb, a lot better than the Roborock S7 MaxV, its closest competitor, and higher than the Samsung JetBot AI that I initially pitted it towards.

I put this right down to the Roomba’s means to determine what objects are in its method and resolve what to do about them quite than simply avoiding something lumpy. That is key: you desire a vacuum to wash proper up near a litter field or pet bowl however undoubtedly not canine waste.

In testing, the j7 nearly at all times gave pet waste and cables a large berth (if it does make a poopy mistake, iRobot guarantees to ship you a brand new robotic). It acquired near — however not in a tangle with — socks, baseball caps, and backpacks and proper as much as pet bowls and litter containers. You can provide the robotic extra definitive instructions within the app, which helps you to designate clear zones for areas you wish to goal cleansing, no-mop zones, and keep-out zones. 

That is price doing in case you have something delicate you need it to keep away from; Roombas are very bullish and can bang into furnishings, and AI avoidance isn’t foolproof. Whereas the Combo j7 not often acquired tripped up by something in my testing, it did often get caught underneath a chunk of furnishings.  

You designate these zones on the map the iRobot app creates if you run the robotic. (Of word, iRobot was just lately bought by Amazon, a transfer which can be to realize extra perception into our houses by these maps. The deal has not but closed.)

The j7 maps extra rapidly than earlier Roombas, due to its onboard digicam. This helps it determine not solely rooms but in addition furnishings and home equipment. I may simply arrange a clear zone in entrance of the range and ship the robotic there with a voice command to wash up after dinner. 

The bot also can determine issues like Christmas bushes and pet bowls and recommend clear zones for you — though I didn’t have any of those arrange throughout my testing. It’s going to additionally recommend keep-out zones after every run if it encounters obstacles.

Voice instructions are a good way to regulate the Roomba, and it really works effectively with Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri (utilizing Siri shortcuts). The Combo additionally has particular mopping instructions, so you possibly can inform it simply to hoover or to mop and vacuum. 

iRobot’s app can be one of many cleanest and best to navigate, particularly in comparison with Roborock’s cluttered interface. A few new app options handle a few of my largest gripes with the Roomba. First is a brand new on-the-fly skip choice. When Roomba begins on a job however encounters resistance — say, a husband watching TV — as a substitute of stopping the job fully, you possibly can inform it to skip this room, and it’ll go off and proceed the remainder of its job. 

There’s additionally a brand new quiet drive characteristic, so if you ship it to wash a selected room, it doesn’t begin up its loudest motors till it’s there, once more making it much less doubtless somebody will flip it off as a result of it’s annoying them. Roomba is likely one of the few robotic vacs the place you possibly can’t set the suction degree; others provide quiet and medium modes along with common and extremely.

In fact, the easiest way to make sure a robotic vacuum finishes its job is to run it when nobody is house. You are able to do this with the iRobot app utilizing IFTTT and your telephone’s location or occasions from different linked units you may need — reminiscent of an August sensible lock locking, an Ecobee thermostat going into Away mode, or by connecting it to a sensible house platform reminiscent of Alexa. 

I examined the IFTTT and the Alexa integrations, and in each circumstances, the Roomba began to run once I left and docked itself once I arrived house. For those who don’t need it to cease each time you arrive house, it’s also possible to set it to pause and ask if you’d like it to proceed. 

These quality-of-life touches go an extended technique to making Roomba’s robots among the finest you should purchase. And the iRobot OS that runs them is on all of the bots the corporate presently sells, not simply the high-end fashions. One other factor I like about Roombas in comparison with a lot of the competitors is their repairability. You should buy (not cheap) replacements for most of the shifting components on these bots, tremendously extending their lifespan. 

The Combo j7 Plus is a comparatively small enchancment over the j7 Plus. I might have favored to see extra scrubbing motion from the mop and likewise an even bigger footprint (that mop is actually small). But it surely does clear onerous flooring higher than the j7, so from that perspective, it’s definitely worth the worth distinction, particularly in case you have lots of rugs in your house. However I’m undecided barely cleaner flooring are definitely worth the $300 premium. In case you have a j7, you definitely don’t have to improve, however if you’re searching for your first Roomba, it’s a small step up over the non-mopping j7.

If you would like a robotic to essentially mop your flooring, I desire the Braava Jet M6, a devoted mop bot which you could get in a bundle with the j7 typically for lower than the Combo j7 Plus. However it’s gradual and restricted in its maneuverability, so it’s finest suited to conserving single rooms like a kitchen or rest room clear. And two robots take up twice the room. 

Another choice is robotic vacuum mops from Ecovacs, DreameBot, and Yeedi, which use two giant spherical oscillating mops. In my testing, these do an excellent job of scrubbing your flooring, and a few include bases that may refill the mop for you. However these gained’t clear carpets and onerous flooring in the identical run; it’s a must to manually connect the pads if you wish to mop.

That is the place the Combo j7 does finest — higher than the Roborock S7 line, due to its means to wash high-pile carpets. Simply press the button and it’ll clear all of it (till it runs out of water). In case you have a number of onerous flooring with a number of plush rugs and carpets, then the Combo j7 will work effectively for you. In any other case, the common j7 vacuum, with out the dialog piece robotic mop arm, is a better option.

Talking of that robotic arm, it’s a formidable piece of engineering design. It’s not too on the market to extrapolate that such a accent mechanism may very well be deployed in different methods. A robotic arm to select up muddle, maybe, or a robotic foot to assist the vacuum crack the ultimate frontier for these spectacular cleansing bots: stairs.

Pictures by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge