The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Robot vacuums remove pet hair, lint, and dust from floors before it can settle. They also can stay clear of stairs and other obstacles, including tippy furniture.
Most robotic vacs require some maintenance, such as emptying (and occasionally, rinsing) the bin and wiping sensors and cameras. Also, they have to be plugged into a power source. Many have smartphone apps for scheduling, setting and more.
iRobot Roomba 980
The iRobot Roomba 980 is the latest in the line of top-of-the-line robot vacuum cleaners that are an essential part of any modern household. This model is extremely powerful suction as well as an HEPA filter that will help anyone concerned about allergies. It also has a large battery that can clean for two hours, and return to its dock automatically once the bin is full.
It also has the feature of smart mapping that uses multiple sensors to help it determine the areas of your home that need attention and then create a clean path around them. This technology is very effective at navigating around toys that have been left on the floor or furniture legs sticking out under things. Roomba also has a sensor that snaps Roomba back to reality when it begins to move away from its original location.
iRobot has also included a set of rollers underneath the Roomba that do not have bristles and are therefore more likely to avoid the tangles that previous models. They are also taller and can be tucked under beds or couches with low sides. They're designed to make this model more movable on various kinds of floors.
The Roomba 980 differs from other models with a high-end price tag by its brand new dirt detection feature, which uses cameras to identify dirt that has been embedded. This is an improvement over the previous model which relied on an algorithm that was driven by sensors to bounce around the room, and then clean the entire area three times at various angles.
The Roomba 980 performed well in our tests on both carpets and hard floors. Its score on low pile carpet was impressive, and it also scored a excellent score on mid pile, too. vacuum and mop combo did a fair job of picking up pet hair, but it had a difficult time with very thick and long pet fur that was stuck together.
The Roomba 980 is still one of the best performing robots we've reviewed despite the minor drawbacks. It's also not as expensive as top-of-the-line models. It still has a lot of features that we'd like to see in a top-of-the-line model, but it doesn't have all the fancy apps or smart home integration you might find in other top contenders.
The iRobot Roomba can be set up in a matter of minutes and is ready for use immediately. After taking the yellow bin insert and pull tab from its undercarriage you simply plug it into an outlet on the wall or to its Home Base docking stations, press the "Clean button" and let it work. It will return to its dock when its battery is out or it's full of debris, and it also has indicators at the top of the device to indicate that its bin is full or it's time to recharge, or its Wi-Fi signal is lost.