The Roomba 980 cleans with a central dual-rubberized brushroll, spinning side brush, and three wheels for navigating uneven floor types. Contrary to Roomba models outside of the 900 Series, the Roomba 980 navigates each space methodically and with straighter paths, largely due to the advanced onboard camera. This series includes cordless stick vacuums, that also double as 2-in-1 handheld vacuums.
It got stuck trying to go over a wood gap for a floor transition between rooms. I’m a Roomba skeptic — I returned one more than a decade ago after it bumped into a leg of a side table, sending a wine glass to its splintery demise — so the robots were a tough sell for me. It took the Roomba J7+ several runs to create a map of my home. For reasons that irobot vacuum cleaner are still unknown, it kept skipping my master bedroom; only after I picked up the robot and started it up in there did it add the bedroom to its map. Last month, Roomba-maker iRobot announced the Roomba j7+ Robot Vacuum, which features the ability to do pet poop patrol. Above and below you’re seeing photos from the FCC listing of this vacuum.
On all three test beds, the test area is the same length (30.25 inches). We conduct three cleaning runs (at minimum) on each floor type. From there we can calculate the percentage of debris pickup for every cleaning run and the average amount of soil a machine manages to remove. Additionally we run anecdotal (visual) pet hair tests for each robot, on all three floor types. Third, even some more expensive—£300 and up—robot vacuum cleaners can struggle getting right up against walls and tables and other tight spots cleaned. It’s always worth having a look up against walls after your robot vacuum has completed its job as you may find its size, shape and the layout of the device has meant some pesky mess has been missed.
The 360 Heurist has plenty of performance improvements over the original 360 to make it a better cleaner – we’ll get to those – but the most intriguing feature is night vision. However, unlike the basic mapping of the 360 Eye, the Heurist really ups the game with personalized zones and room settings. If, like me, you have got side units and appliances that you do want the gap underneath cleaning then the Dyson isn’t for you. You do end up sacrificing large parts of your flooring as no-go zones due to its taller stature.
And since Dyson is willing to cover things such as battery repairs within the warranty that Roomba doesn’t with their standard warranty, they easily win in this department. Dyson’s warranty for the 360 series is two years, to iRobot’s one year. Their extended bissell crosswave cordless warranty plan known as Protect Plus increases the time to two years total. While some of it is placed around the filter during clean-up, it also stays within the rest of the debris. That’s pollen, airborne pathogens, and mold-causing fungal remnants.
These suck in the dirt very quickly and do an excellent job of separating them from filters. If you don’t mind paying the extra cost and emptying the bin, then Dyson 360 Heurist is the best choice. However, at one-third of the price of Dyson, Shark IQ is also a great option with plenty of great features. Our custom-built tool lets us match soil area to a robot vacuum’s nozzle width.
If the robot can’t move over your floor, then it wouldn’t be a very good option. Luckily the 360 Eye and the Roomba 980 make use of wheels and tank tracks for mobility. It takes 30 images per second to get the current layout of the space and then creates a panoramic view to follow.