Should you buy a Roomba i7+ Robot Vacuum in 2021?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- For business inquiries, email at mrroombato@gmail.com.
This is a thorough review, test and comparison (to other models) of the iRobot Roomba i7+ to help you answer the question...should you buy this robot in 2021?
Clarification: When I say "it" is the only robot with a sensor that tells it when its dustbin is full, or "it has the best auto-empty docking station on the market," I am not talking about specifically about the i7, but the whole "new" Roomba lineup (i3, i6, i7, s9 and whatever other Roombas have that dust bin full sensor).
Also, I was wrong about the i6, i7 and i8. Thank you to Smurdle450 who pointed it out in the comments...they are all identical (other than color as I mentioned) except that the Costco exclusive i8 has a slightly larger battery, 2210mAh to the i7's 1800mAh. Apparently, you cannot buy this larger battery, you can only get it by sending your robot in for service, at least that we could find...if you know of a way to buy the battery directly, please let me know in the comments. But if you got your hands on the battery, you could install it in the i7. Not that it would make much of a practical difference, but it would be a fun project to make a video about.
Roomba Mapping Tips and Tricks Video: • Roomba j7, i7 & s9 Map...
Your Roomba is Scratching Your Floors: • Your Roomba s9 & i7 Ar...
I've had mine since last summer and I love it. I have 4 dogs and 3 cats with a very fluffy shedding dog - American Eskimo - that visits twice a week. I'm still on my first box of collector bin bags.
For all of its faults, its auto-empty bin is the best in the industry.
Thank you for this! Very helpful. I am trying to convince my wife that we want one of these robots, but so far, I guess we are staying with our regular Dyson.
the best roomba review video ive ever seen! no bias
Thanks great review! Just orderd one after seeing ur review:)
The mapping process will be painful. I have a video that describes it and gives you tips on how to make it not suck as much. Once it has a map, it works quite well. Link: th-cam.com/video/5n97MaviH9o/w-d-xo.html
Thanks will check it out now!
thanks for that review! very helpful
I'm glad you found it useful!
I had an Ecovacs Deebot DR98 and after two years the brush drive broke. My cheap Eufy, on the other hand, still works. (bought around the same time). Recently switched to a Roomba i7 and it seems to me a lot more robust than the Deebot. Admittedly, Ecovacs navigation is more refined
I'm happy with my i7 plus dock. Bought in 2020
Great vidéo, i love the time you took in the comment to answers to a lot of people ! I hope you channel will grow and you will be able to keep this going =D
Looking to see futur video from U =D
Thank you! I won't be able to keep replying to everyone if my channel grows a lot (fingers crossed), but I'll try my best.
Great video! Just ordered one!
Thanks! Good luck with the robot. Wash the brushes every time you clean hair out of them and clean the filter.
great test, thank you!
You're very welcome!
Great video, I have the roomba 980 which has more suction than the i7
Thanks! I think the 980 and the i7 have the same motor, but iRobot did something with the settings and more importantly, the exhaust vent. You can that yours has visible exhaust vents in the back, and the i7 doesn’t. The higher suction will make a difference on carpet.
How is the floor scratching on the Roborock S7 and S6 Max V? I'm considering to get one of those two robots?
The S6 Max V doesn't scratch floors. I don't have an S7 so can't be certain, but some of my subscribers reported that it does scratch floors.
On obstacles, you can avoid it using the virtual no go zones, but not really best for the chairs being at counters. I have those chairs at a table and my old 890 (that I'm replacing soon) got stuck under the chairs. I'm planning to get a i7+ because I'm not rich (Obviously.) So I can set nogo zones there when its map is finished.
Do you have a lot of carpet? If not, I'd recommend the Z10 Pro (it's made by the same company that made Roborocks and some viewers have reported that it gets the brush stall error on carpets...but then again, the i7 gets error 26 just as often, and that essentially bricks it.
The Z10 Pro is a much better robot and it's about the same price right now. The self-empty dock is actually better than iRobots and the robot has spectacular navigation and mapping capabilities. It's also extremely bug free.
@@MrRoombato Well my house is half wood and carpeted. My 890 gets stuck on the vent on the carpet and the very thick carpet on the living room. It shows error 6 when stuck on them. It mostly happens on the corners too. I'm gonna find a way to fix that issue. Without that, my 890 works just fine.
@@As2Bax If you're in the US and buying from Amazon, I'd give it a go. Or the Neabot Q11, which is almost as good and a lot quieter. The i7 is fine, but it's just such a dinosaur. Watching it smash into things because it has no way to detect them other than its bumper is painful. I thought the j7 would at least fix that, since the camera is on the front, but nope. It still smashes into everything.
Great video - which is the best high end vac on the market that won't scratch floors?
Unfortunately there is no such thing as the best robot vacuum. It depends on what your priorities are. Self emptying? Trouble free? Few bugs? Great hard floor cleaning? Great carpet cleaning? Decent mopping? Intelligent object avoidance? And you can't have all of those things in one product.
just bought an i7 for $250 can't wait to try it
That's a heck of a deal!!!
That I7 doesn't seem to be so good, especially avoiding scratching furniture, so is not one I would buy. But you said you have others that do not scratch the furniture, are those better or good ones? I am also in need of something to do Moping, have you tested any of them? Thanks a lot.
Sorry I missed this comment, TH-cam's notification system sucks. You should check out my latest videos. There are some pretty amazing robots on the market these days. The i7 is like Dodge K Car from the 80s. Don't buy it.
Never had a roomba before and I was just wondering how often do you run iRobot and how long does the bag last?
I don't know what you mean by "run iRobot." How often I use the app? Not often, just to set up the map, define the clean zones and set the schedule. If I need spot cleaning I use google or alexa. The bag lasts about a month in my house, but I imagine it would last longer if I didn't have pets.
You're worried about scratching plexiglass, try putting plexiglass down on your floor walking around on it for a while see how it looks compared to your regular floor.
The plexiglass is only to measure relative effects between different robots. So if one robot just leaves tiny marks and the other destroys it, you know that one scratches a lot more than another. The actual damage to the floor finish will be cumulative. Everything you do to your floor scratches it, and eventually you need to refinish or replace it. But if you have a mobile sanding drum running around the floor every day, you will need to refinish a lot sooner than you otherwise would.
Keep in mind I started doing the plexiglass tests after noticing scratches on my floor caused by an s9. And if you can see them with your eyes after just a couple of months, imagine what that thing will do in a couple of years.
Got the i6 (same as i7 basically) for $300. Best robot you can get with auto empty at this price range! If your spending more then $500 go for the ecovacs t8. That robot is very reliable and cleans well, it's been running daily along with my m6 downstairs for the past 8 months. Love it!
That's an incredible price! Where did you find it?
@@MrRoombato it was on sale on Amazon in a "used" version for a couple days. It was $301. The product arrived in basically new condition for me.
That's awesome. Do you by any chance remember what the description of its "usedness" was?
@@MrRoombato yes it actually was used acceptable. Large imperfection
@@meltdownblitz Interesting! And it looked like new. Huh. I gotta try one! :)
Been using the i7+ upstairs, where the furniture, to me, isn't as important to protect. Don't have any antiques or anything. Downstairs, for furniture guests will see, we use the i3+, which has better obstacle avoidance and is much gentler with frontal impacts. And since the beta update iRobot is developing now may enable clean maps for the i3, we may have equal convenience both up and downstairs by early next year. I'd honestly recommend the i3 only for those who want room by room cleaning and don't care about clean and no go zones, which I *think* won't be included for the i3 and kept exclusive for the i7.
The i7 can't do those things because the IR sensor in its bumper is leftover jump from the 1980s. The j7 corrects this by using the camera, or by having a better IR sensor next to it or both. All of these things are very much an example of iRobot resting on their laurels.
If you ask me the only one worth buying now is the J7+. Visual obstacle detection and self-emptying solve my two biggest problems with robot vacuums and it cleans good enough for my floors
It's a great robot, sure, but it also bumps into your furniture legs pretty hard, gets easily lost and confused if you have a complicated floor plan and takes forever to map your house. The object avoidance is among the best on the market though, but it's an i7 with object avoidance, nothing more, nothing less.
Great Video, thank you for the hard work doing these reviews!!!, Please help us to decided which machine to buy.!!! We live in a 2700 sq ft. home (2000 sq ft main floor and 700 sq ft top floor); in the main floor there is a 300 sq ft living room which is at a lower level that the rest of the floors.There is hardwood floors around the house with some short hair area rugs and tiles in the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms (no carpets at all); only 2 adults with 2 cats living on the house, which machine will be the best option for us?? .We were planning to get the I7+ and then we saw your review and recommendation on the Neabot NoMo and got confused!! please help !! thank you!!!!!!
Well, unless you want to build a ramp, you may want to consider two robots.
Your choices at this point are a solid, reliable robot with awful mapping and bad navigation (but that will get the job done) but an excellent app, or a robot with a second rate auto-empty bin (compared to iRobot, all of them are second rate), superb mapping and navigation with a pretty good app that is a little harder to use but offers more flexibility (Neabot).
It also depends on whether you use Google or Alexa and want to use it with your robot (i7) or want it to run at night (Neabot).
Thank you so much for the quick response and your thought!! I was thinking to get 2 robots; a 360 S5 (based on your review of the machine) for the top floor (not much going on there) and the Neabot NoMo or the I7 for the main floor. Probably we will not use Google or Alexa with the machines but instead we will set up run them during the time that we aren't home using the app schedule; based on that I'm leaning towards the Neabot but my only concern is the reliability of the machine and the customer service if something goes wrong (It's my understanding that Roomba got one of the best customer service/product reliability)
@@cyclest9300 iRobot has, in my experience, great customer service, but so does Neabot. My main brush housing has a hairline crack and they sent me a new housing, even though that's something that they would normally want you to send the robot back for. I actually haven't installed it yet because the crack isn't causing any problems. But it's nice to know that they are flexible. The only problem with the neabot is the lack of aftermarket filter support. You have to pay OEM prices to keep it running.
The 360 S5 is a great choice for the top floor. But how will you handle the transition on your main floor?
@@MrRoombato it's very nice to know Neabot has a great customer service, helps me a-lot!!!. Based on that I think we shall get the Neabot (newer machine) to run it on the main floor (and get the 360 S5 for the top floor). I'm not too concern about the lower level living area of the main floor because we do not use it that much (it's a formal dining room), it is a very low traffic area and if necessary I can build a removable ramp so the robot can access the area or just manually vacuum it as we are doing it now. Thank you again for all your help and advise, very helpful!!!!!!
@@cyclest9300 Glad I could help!
Any particular reason to cut the spinning side brush?
Yes, it doesn't scatter stuff as much. I have a video about it: th-cam.com/video/UPM1-GkBUWo/w-d-xo.html
Did you let the irobot roomba i7 clean the carpet twice like I saw the T8 AIVI and S6 MaxV clean twice in your video 'Clash of the Titans'? If you did not that may be that's why you feel that the iRobot Roomba i7 did not do such a good job.
I did, yes. The video actually shows two passes, though it's two passes by LIDAR robot standards, not Roomba standards (they tend to bounce around more as they are mostly blind in comparison). The point is, it passed over the carpet the same number of times as the other robots I've tested.
The only difference/exception is that the i7 does a single perimeter pass whereas the lidar robots do two, but that will only affect the outer edge of the carpet.
Please help me with your advice.
I am indecided between the roomba i7 or roborocks (like 5s max, I heard that he's still the best): I don’t care about the washing of the floor (of which I have heard conflicting views about it) but what I am looking for is the most thorough cleaning possible in a vacuum cleaner robot, so... which do I have to buy? (I have hardwood floor)
Thank you
Same interrogation but for roborock s6 max and roomba i7...
I tried roomba 975 and was disappointed because of navigation. It's blind in dark rooms as i7 is.
For hardwood floors, Roborock. Get the S7 if you want the self emptying station. It’s not out yet (the station) but you can get it when they release it. If you don’t care about the self emptying than any Roborock would do.
@@MrRoombato so for your experience, there aren’t any differences between S5max, S6, and S7 (Beyond the station)?
@@valerioparadisi8131 The S6 MaxV has artificial intelligence and more power than the S5. The S7 has that fancy new mop, is as powerful as the S6, but has no artificial intelligence. You should know that due to a recent update, the S6’s artificial intelligence is amazing.
@@MrRoombato serious? Because i have heard that AI on S6 is problematic and therefore adversely affects cleanliness (for example, ti detects things that aren’t there and therefore doesn’t clean a large piece of floor)
Its a shame we can no longer believe online reviews due to so many paid schills. Yours seem unbiased many look like infomercials
Also nit one reviewer mentioned that Roombas will destroy the corners if nearly every lay rug
I paid for it. I am not a paid shill. I provide honest reviews even if the company sends me the robot. The only compromise I make is if I think the robot sucks and the company sent it for free, I will offer them the option of not putting the review up. I feel guilty otherwise. Ecovacs sent me the X1 OMNI for free, and I wasn't exactly kind to it. It's why I don't have too many subs or a whole lot of videos. It's hard to be me. :)
My i7 is amazing, I love it.
Dude if you still got that s9 my guy I’m again here
Sorry my dude, you are too late! It has returned to Jeff Bezos.
@@MrRoombato lol
You mentioned in this video that you have one lidar robot that has a push thru feature on it.
I was wondering which robot that is.
I think that is a feature that should be on all lidar robots.
My furniture has a skirt on that a lidar robot will not go past.
The i7 doesn't need it. It can't see curtains and other soft barriers and tries to push through everything by default. Its front IR sensor is the worst I've ever seen on a robot vacuum. And yet, I still use it, because it's one of the two most reliable robots I have and unlike the Neabot Q11, it responds to google commands.
@@MrRoombato Thanks for the reply.but my question was not about the I7t,it was which LIDAR robot has the push thru function,to get furniture skirts and such that other lidar robots will not get past.
@@danimal107 Oh. Sorry, either I misread or you edited for clarity. None that I'm aware of outside the 360 line.
Hello Mr. Roombato,
Thank you for your Review (excellent!). I was planning to buy this i7 (for 450€) but then I saw the Ecovacs T8 Aivi and I got in doubt. And then I saw these (your) reviews and I got even more confused. I live in a house with about 1000 ft2 mostly hard floor and some carpets (short hair) in living room and bedrooms. I don't need a dustbin (i7+) but I find it interesting if it could have a mop (if it cleans well on one run = less waiting time). I'm worried about 2 particular situations
- usually when I clean the dust I like to move aside some furniture to clean behind it (dust and fluff of the week) so I would like to tell the robot to go clean those areas that I clear behind the furniture, or at least to tell it to clean that particular room and be sure that it will find and clean those clear areas behind the furniture (I leave enough room for the robot to go there) - so which robot do you think could do this? (I believe that the ecovacs t8 is capable but I'm affraid the app shows to be really poor even visually). And would love if i7 could help me with this (as it was my first choice).
- on the other hand I think I can clear the house as much as I can for the robot to map it but I have a fringed carpet on the kitchen that I want the robot to avoid when it is there and to clean it's under area when the carpet is not there... I'm sorry if I'm being so annoying with this "requirements" but this would be of a great help for my house cleaning. Could you please help me to choose the robot (I see so many recommendations - i7 / ecovacs / neabot / roborock and so on)?
Thank you!
Pedro
Actually any of the robots you mentioned could do that, but you may have a problem with the i7 going to where furniture used to be unless you remove it for the mapping run. It’s basically blind (ironic considering it’s a camera navigation robot!). The T8 can easily do it but it may blitz your map if it thinks too many things changed. You’re right, the app is garbage and Ecovacs has only taken some small steps to fix it.
The Neabot can do it, as can most Roborock models. If you want it to “mop” (wipe the floor lightly) as it cleans you need the S7 as it can lift the mop and clean carpets.
So if you want the floor wiping, I recommend the S7.
@@MrRoombato Thank you so much for your advice! So, with no mop I should consider Neabot (I think you have a great opinion about it) - if I prefer i7 I must let it "learn" the room with furniture removed and then put it back during the learn process in that room or it will consider the position of the removed furniture as non-cleaning point, right?/ with mop - Roborock S7 (but didn't you consider S6 as somehow a better choice? I think I've seen it somewehere in your reviews...
Thanks again for your attention!
@@MrRoombato Thank you! Do you think that with i7 after the map process in another clean run I can force it (with my feet as "walls") to find the new space behind the furniture and it will learn that new area and update it in the map?
@@pfmiguelgmailcom The S6 MaxV is a better robot than the S7 because of artificial intelligence. But you can never get the auto-empty bin for it, it will not be compatible. It's hard for me to use any robot without that bin. Emptying the dust bin every day is not something I enjoy, I like "set it and forget it."
But if you have no need for artificial intelligence, the S7 is the way to go. The Neabot is great, and if you don't need a mop, definitely consider it. The price is fantastic, and you get the bin. But really, any Roborock will also be good.
I would stay away from the i7. VSLAM navigation is just not up to par. It will work for you, but then again, it may not. And it will take three times as long.
As to your second question....maybe? But why? Why struggle with it? Why is that a worthwhile thing to do when a LIDAR robot will just do it?
In conclusion, if you have all the robots you tested or seen working at the same low price of $500.00 which one would you select? I need one of these monsters soon because of my bad arthritis and soon surgeries. plus the robot mop. which are better? Please let me know soon. I am having headaches by so much looking listening and see nothing great for any price. I have 2 canister vacuums very light and even those I can't use.Tthanks again.
I would wait for a sale on the Z10 Pro. It's 600, and its mop sucks (like most hybrid robot mops) but it's very reliable. The Roborock S7 with docking station is better, now that I know it doesn't scratch floors at all, but it's almost 1000 dollars. Its mop is pretty great, but you will have to replace/clean the pads and fill its water tank yourself.
I just got one of these on Craigslist for $50.00 and a 985 for 25.00 both are like new.
I had to return mine it kept dropping the internet.
I had to hard reset once which erased mapping and had to go through that process again
I think it would be great for a smaller house
But didn’t seem to work for my larger house
Yeah, vslam navigation is bad and its limits are quickly exposed by complicated floor layouts.
@@MrRoombato
Yea I switched to Roborock works so well I bought a second one.
Not 1 problem so far.
Thx for sharing I got a question i bought the e5 model and hit the furniture to hard I spoke with I robot company they going to send me a bumper wha about the i 7 this hit the leg of furniture too any recommendations please
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it, other than installing the padded bumper thing. The only solution is to buy a different robot. I can make some recommendations if you want, just tell me what you want to get out of it.
Mr. Roombato thx i guess I going to buy the i 8+ while having a maping technology what you think
I strongly recommend the Neabot Nomo. But if you want a Roomba, the i6 is the same exact thing as the i7 (and essentially the same as the i8, the i8 has a tiny bit more battery life which really doesn't matter), and is on sale right now on Amazon for 560 bucks.
Mr. Roombato the i 8 + right now is on sale with the vacuum base in cosco for 599 at the door not bad right i was planning to get tomorrow for my wife and return the e5
@@Jeep79 Ah yes, that's a great price! And you don't have to wait for shipping.
off course it is.. it dropped to 650 bucks and still does the same good job it did in 2018.. Why pay twice the price for an S9 if you don't have that cash to spare.
Hi..I am new in your channel....I am thinking in buying the I7+ ..but I was told that the S9 is a better option.....although a little bit pricer...what is your opinion?..
That depends on a few things. For starters, what kind of floors do you have?
@@MrRoombato I have only hard floors, is it true that it’s bad on hard floors? A lot of people are saying it has disappointing power for the price.
@@Ebu26 No, it's great on hard floors. You can watch my Clash of the Titans video to see how it compares to the Roborock S6 MaxV and the Ecovacs T8 AIVI, both of which are some of the best hard floor cleaners out there. It's carpets that it's not so great on.
I don't know why some reviewers believe you need a lot of suction on hard floors. You don't. It's carpets where you need the suction, which is why the better vacuums have carpet boost (detects carpets and increases suction) and not "hard floor boost."
@@MrRoombato Oh I was talking about the i7, is it disappointing on hard floors?
@@Ebu26 Yes, I know, I was also! I'm sorry I wasn't more clear. I use the i7 as the hard floor cleaning standard that the S6 and T8 have to measure up to in the video I mentioned above. It's the same footage as I used in this video (of the i7) but you get to see how it compares with other robots in case you wonder if you will be missing out. And both of those other robots have a ton more suction than the i7, which, again, doesn't really matter on hard floors.
Hello
So if actually Roomba i7 is at 549€ (without docking station) and Roborock S6 MaxV is also at 549€ which one should I buy? I have some mess on the floor and a carpet and a cat 🐈 ... it's really difficult to choose.
Robotock S6 MaxV is the best robot on the market if you don’t care about the auto empty bins. Its only weakness is that it’s not a great carpet cleaner, but then neither is the i7.
@@MrRoombato no, I don't care about bins. It's not ecological with their bag solution...
@@MrRoombato so... I thought i7 is really better because it was really expensive, and everyone talk about it. But as the navigation is the same as on 975, it's blind in my dark rooms, it's bumping everywhere...
Also I thought it was really better on carpet... but you say no, so I'll definitely keep Roborock for the same price as Roomba i7.
Thanks.
It's supposed to be better at deep cleaning, which I don't have the ability to test yet. But on the stuff you can see, it's worse than a Roborock. You can see it if you watch my Clash of the Titans video and then Should You buy an i7 in 2021. You can compare the carpet results for visible dirt.
@@MrRoombato thanks you.
For deep cleaning I have my Dyson that I will still use I think.
Bought it last week, used it once successfully....went to use it today, and got an error #14, which says to install bin. Bin is of course there. Instructions say clean contacts which after one use are not dirty but gave them a swipe. No luck. Rebooted, no luck. Conclusion: One use and it's broken. Ridiculous.
I'm sorry you have to experience that. Everyone makes faulty units now and then. iRobot will stand behind it.
I don t understand...i bouth one a week ago and he doesn t clean well at all..i had an s5 and he never left me a single thing on the floors
I would take a close look at your particular robot to see if anything is wrong...it could be something as silly as something stuck in the brushes. The i7 is an excellent cleaning robot, so if yours isn't cleaning well, something is wrong.
So when are you going to test the J7 against the I7? 😃
I have no plans to do so. I'm not wasting any more money on VSLAM robots.
Should I get J7 for 449 or J7+ for 649. I don't want to pay for bags. Or should I get Eufy X8.
The bags are cheap and last a long time. And if you really want to, you can reuse them a few times. I would say j7+, unless don't mind emptying the bin every day (it gets really, really old, really really fast). A robot with a self-empty dock is a completely different experience from one without.
@@MrRoombato what about Eufy X8.
@@9to5techs I don't have any experience with Eufy. But if you want a recommendation, Dreametech Z10 Pro. It's the only robot I own besides the i7 that just works all the time without issues. The self-empty bin is the best in the industry and unlike the i7/j7, it navigates like a champ. The only downside is no google commands.
Unless you have a lot of thick carpet.
I got a i7+ for 350$ a couple days ago!
That's awesome! Amazon used?
I keep hearing the Roomba is better on carpets than a Roborock, can you confirm? From this video, I can't say it does much better than a Roborock would, what are your thoughts?
Well there’s deep cleaning and surface cleaning. For surface cleaning it doesn’t appear to do any better, at least on low pile carpet. For deep cleaning though, it is better. It will suck more fine dirt from inside the carpet fibers. That’s the i7. The s9 is much better on carpets than Roborocks.
@@MrRoombato Thank you. Appreciate your response :)
Is it alright to wet the brushes? Thank you
You mean can you wash them in the sink? Of course. Just dry them before putting them back in the robot (not that you'll hurt the robot but you'll make a mess).
If you don’t want that i7 I am always here and I’ll even give you my i3+
lol I said I was gonna keep it! At this point I'm kinda attached to it.
lol
Thanks for the review!
I was about to buy it, and now I won't.
I used to have a Xiaomi vacuum mop (~300$) for a year and then I thought I'd try a famous Roomba, decided on an i3 model (~450$). After the first tries, I was so disappointed, I would never imagine the famous Roomba would be so much dumber than a low-cost Xiaomi. It can't handle furniture, it randomly bumps into walls. After the first use, it was scratched more than Xiaomi that I used for a whole year.
So I thought maybe the i7 would be smarter, because of the camera and smart mapping, but now I see it's not, it looks as dumb as the i3.
Will go with Roborock now, thanks!
From what I understand the dustbin full sensor is patented by iRobot and cannot be used by any other robot vac.
That’s what I was led to believe as well. However, there are multiple approaches. First, use a different kind of sensor (harder than it sounds, I know, but not impossible). Two, use an algorithm based approach, or an app setting. For example, allow the user to set a time interval at which the robot will return to empty its bin. That way you can determine how long it should wait based on your individual circumstances. That would be super easy to do.
@@MrRoombato I agree that there are ways to code around the patent. Was just making a note that nobody else can use THAT sensor. The reality is, that if you empty the bin every time you dock for a charge, you should be fine, as regular running of a robot vac will hardly every really fill up the vac's bin on a run. So is it really that much of an issue?
@@hansielategan969 You must not have very many pets. :)
If you have the robot clean every day, it's only an issue the first couple of times it cleans, or if you spill a lot of stuff and don't sweep it up yourself. But not everyone wants robots crawling around every day, getting underfoot.
@@MrRoombato I actually have 7 dogs,, 2 chinchillas and a hamster that live in the house :)
Excellent! You mentioned “there are much better robots for that price”. Could you please name a few.
The Neabot NoMo is just about perfect, and has an auto-empty docking station. The Ecovacs T8 AIVI has a LOT of features, including an available vibrating mop, and cost about the same as the normal (non sale) price of the i7+ if you also buy the auto-empty station. The T8+ has the same features except artificial intelligence and can be bought with the auto-empty station for around 500 bucks on sale.
I didn't know the i7+ doesn't have Lidar
True, and that does have drawbacks, as I've discussed. But...it still gets the job done better than a lot of lidar robots.
I really can’t deal with the vslam. It just smashes around my house like a bull 😂
This is a serious piece of advice, not a joke...don't watch it work. :)
VSLAM sucks...but works. If you don't look at it, you will be happier. :)
LIDAR... SMIDAR... My i8 will push things out of the way as it's able to do so whereas a LIDAR machine will just avoid them.
iRobot vacuums are all modular, so after that one year warranty it's easy to make simple repairs in the event something wears out.
I currently have four roombas operating in my house. One 6xx model 2 8xx models and one i8.
The 6xx is over 5 years old and still going strong.
The i8 had a bad wheel module... They sent me a new one in less than 5 days, took 10 minutes to change and fixed the problem.
How does the competition stack up against that?
Well, pretty much the same way. Most of these things are modular now and replacing parts is fast and easy. And most companies are very willing to send out replacement parts rather than asking you to send the robot back to them.
And...you really need to experience a LIDAR robot in action. I was like you once. :) Then I bought a cheap 200 dollar Tesvor S6 just so I could say "LIDAR SMIDAR." But then I saw it map my entire house in minutes with precision my then darling s9 could only dream of. And over the next few days, it began to gnaw at me that my 1200 dollar Roomba was clumsily bumping around while this 200 dollar budget thing was roving the house like a precision guided missile.
As for curtains, that's a fair criticism. But not all LIDAR robots have that limitation. 360 Robotics vacs (and maybe other brands) have a setting that you can turn on to allow them to bump into things to see if they are soft barriers. This allows them to go behind/past curtains the way VSLAM robots do. But, most LIDAR robots don't have this option. Hopefully more will add it in the future.
The thing is though...VSLAM robots do this because they are essentially blind, as ironic as that is. Pick up a cheap LIDAR robot if you want to see what they're like. I recommend a 360 S5. They are usually 200 bucks on Amazon. You owe it to yourself to see how the other side lives!
I bought the i6+ from Amazon as refurbished
Awesome! Hope you got a good deal. It's a great robot.
@@MrRoombato yeah I got it for $301. The only bad thing is I didn't get manual, and the box was torn up. The robot itself looked brand new.
@@Iggy1008 That's a sweet deal!!
Also, you can get the manual online, so you didn't really miss out.
So, what's the best?
A better question is, “What’s the least awful one?”
Right now, as far as I know, that goes to the Neabot Q11 or just the old Neabot N1. Everything else I own is hot garbage.
And no, Neabot didn’t send me free robots. I asked for a Q11 and they turned me down. Shortsighted dimwits. Fortunately for them I bought one anyway and will be doing a review.
Customer care should be one most important factor to consider before buying theri product or not. This is not the company I would do business again. They lack of business ethics , lie after lie with broken promises. For the worse, Ceo Angle doesn't even respond to his customer's email , what a arrogant guy.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them. Other than deciding that scratching the floor is a normal thing, they have been pretty good with me.
1 minor correction: the i8 has a larger battery than the i7.
Just got an i7!
I keep hearing that. It would be great to see something on paper. Is there a different replacement part from iRobot? Can you buy the larger battery for the i7?
@@MrRoombato according to iRobot's website, the i7 has a 1800 mAh battery, and the i8 has 2210 mAh.
It seems as though finding an i8 battery is next to impossible, but of course costco service is generally thought to be very good, so I'm sure they'd have a battery on hand.
I saw a Reddit post of someone who bought an i8, and swapped its larger battery into the i7. The i7 ran longer and had no major issues.
however they also attempted to swap the i7s battery into the i8, which caused the i8 to freak out and fail to return since it expected the larger battery and thought it had more power left than it really did.
@@Smurdle450 Very interesting, thank you. I went to iRobot’s website and thanks to you, found the battery difference. However, I couldn’t find the i8’s battery for sale. I guess you have to buy it from Costco? Do you know if they sell it directly or do you have to send your i8 in for service to get a new battery?
@@MrRoombato unfortunately I'm not sure, but if I had to bet, I'd bet on you having to send in the robot, since it's a proprietary part and I'm not sure if they would just ship one to people. If that were the case, I would think they would just have it on their website.
@@Smurdle450 Yeah, I’d bet on that as well. Oh well. It’s a trivial difference anyway. Thanks for the info!
Has anyone ever told you that you sound like Tim Robbins?
lol no. But...is that a good thing or a bad thing? :)
@@MrRoombato good thing! Sounds like I’m watching Shawshank haha
@@Schillsifer Any spinning side brush that goes in my mouth isn't coming back out?
the i8+ (which is the Costco version of the i7+ with a bigger battery, more bags and filters) is being sold for $580 right now, which makes it a significantly better value than anything except arguably the j7+, which is the first of the new generation with a camera and AI. It's a decent upgrade if you have one of the "e" series Roombas, it actually follows patterns while cleaning instead of the old random hunting algorithm it used previously. Battery life is significantly improved too.
In a pure Roomba world, that is a great value. In a world of LIDAR robots...not so much. :)
@@MrRoombato Perhaps, but buying from Costco makes the risk small. If it works well for you, then you get a great deal. If it doesn't work for you, you take it back.
And no 30 day return window!
Just dumped our Roomba i7+ for a Deebots N8 Pro+ because the Roomba isn't reliable. Great warranty support, we're on our 4th unit, but now that we're past 1 year no more response or support from Roomba. Two problems: first is the latest software updates that prevent the unit from finding its way back to the base. Bigger problem is within two months the unit no longer "communicates" with the clean base so it only charges and does not empty the tank. This is why they gave us three new ones in the first year, but after that you're SOL. Hopefully the Deebots will last longer.
I'm sorry to hear you had so many problems. My s9 gave me a few, but my i7 has been flawless so far (well, you know, for a Roomba :P ). One thing you have to do, with the Deebot also, is reboot them often. If they start to act up in any way, reboot them. Before even contacting customer service. You probably know this, but I figure it's good info to put out there just in case.
@@MrRoombato thanks for the tip. So far the N8 Pro+ has been flawless, but it's only been a week.
@@DanielAcostaAZ Glad to hear it. Ecovacs fixed one of the major app headaches. The robot no longer wipes out your room labels if an area becomes inaccessible. However, it will still do it if it finds a new area, which could mean shining a laser through a glass door. So just keep that in mind.
How is it holding up?
@@headerahelix so far the Deebots N8 Pro+ has been flawless, much better than our Roomba ever was. I think the Roomba did a little better at leaving the carpet with that freshly vacuumed look, but since the Roomba always broke within a month or two it made it pretty useless. Glad we switched to the Ecovacs Deebot family.
Just got one for 499 Canadian 500 off.
Ive purchase ld the i7+ twice and twice it has lasted 6 weeks and given me the same error 26 time to switch to another company 🤞🏽
I'm sorry you had this bad run of luck.
Same boat. Same amount of time.
Just get a Roborock
I'm afraid it's not that simple. Roborocks don't clean carpets well and have no auto-empty bins. The upcoming S7 may change the carpet cleaning thing, and will introduce the emptying bin, but we don't know how well it works yet. And it will probably cost a lot more than the $549 that it would cost to get an i7 (well, i6, but same thing), which is the sale price on Amazon, and the sale happens often.
NO COMPREN POR NADA DEL MUNDO LA ROOMBA i7…. En mi pais me costo un dineral y solo duro 3 meses con un error 26 irreparable🤦
I'm sorry you've had this problem. I can't comment because I've had 3 roombas and none gave me that issue.
The answer is NO. There are much better alternatives now with much more features for about same price or less.
Name one that doesn't also come with all kinds of stupid problems and horrible customer service. If I try to answer that same question, I get Neabot. And...uh...yeah. Just Neabot. But Neabot is an immature product without a massive support network. You can't even buy aftermarket filters. So...yes, I think it is worth buying.
Assuming it doesn't screw up its mapping, it just works. If you don't like VSLAM, don't watch it work. It makes it more tolerable. :)
@@MrRoombato indeed vslam is not relaxing to watch. I think Roborock are the smartest efficient vacuum and that’s the way to go.
@@clou1969 Roborock makes great robots but they have their own problems.
@@MrRoombato I’m not American or Chinese Bias Roomba have no suction power anywhere else than in their dust bins but the double rollers is what they make em pretty good.
@@clou1969 Sure, that's true, but does that matter? Again, if you just want it to the job, what does any of it matter? The only question is...will it do the job? The answer is yes.
Worthless test.
The navigation and cleaning of my I 7+ is excellent.
Have you ever owned a lidar robot? I used to think the same thing about my i7 and s9 until I got curious and bought a cheap 200 dollar Tesvor s6 on Amazon just because I wanted to see if lidar was all it was cracked up to be. I started the mapping processes and watched that little thing move around my house in methodical, precise paths and map my entire house in the time it would take my s9 or i7 to map one tiny room (and still not get it right). And the resulting map was precise, not some rectangular estimate. You owe it to yourself to see for yourself. Don't take anyone else's word for it.
I7 navigation is just okay. I have one and sometimes it drives me nuts .
@@akilghosh You and me both!
NO LA COMPREN , es una estafa, al mes te sale el error 26 el cual no tiene solucion.
I have had mine for almost a year. No error 26. Also, they have a warranty, at least in the US.
It won't pick up pet hair on hard floors and rugs. Don't buy it.
That hasn't been my experience, but otherwise, yeah, I wouldn't recommend it at this point.
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The title says i7+ yet this is about the i7 - TOTALLY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS!
The i7+ is the i7 with the “clean base,” which you can see at about the 1:00 mark in the video, making the product in the video the i7+.