Cleaning the floor is probably one of the most boring and time-consuming tasks that you can do in the home. But it’s still an essential one. Even the cleanest looking house carpet could be holding millions – yes millions! – Of bacteria and can be hard to get rid of. So short of hiring professionals in to get the carpets spick and span, what can you do if you are lazy but need to be clean? Have you considered the Roomba? To some, they are just the sort of thing you see cats riding around on in online videos or the iconic DJ Roomba, star of Parks and Rec, but there’s more to them than that.
First look
The iRobot 980 is 13.8 inches in diameter and weighs in at nearly 9 pounds, which might seem a little big for something that is marketed as an agile and nifty little robot. Set up is pretty simple; the Roomba has a power dock that you need to plug in for charging, and the device will pair with your smartphone and uses an app to control it.
Cleaning
When you get the Roomba going, by using the start button situation on its main control panel, it will make its way around the room. When areas need a deeper clean, it will stop and concentrate there and if it is in an unobstructed area is will simply zigzag across the room. Despite its large size, it is agile and easily changes its route when it comes up to furniture. Very little gets in its way, although it can have some issues with shoelaces getting caught in its wheels! It’s vacuuming strength is very good and can pick up dirt and debris very easily.
Extras
The Roomba connects to your smartphone so you can do a lot of hands-free adjusting, including stopping and starting it, tracking its movements from other rooms and getting notifications. The app also can you give you statistics about the progress of your device and you can also schedule vacuum sessions for when you aren’t in, but know you need some cleaning to be done.
Issues
The round shape of the Roomba can mean that the edges of rooms get a little neglected by the cleaner. It also only has a small dustbin, so while it does an awesome job of picking up the dirt from the floor, it needs emptying pretty frequently. So if you were scheduling the Roomba to clean while you were out, it could probably not do your whole house. Also unlike the previously mentioned DJ Roomba, the device is quite loud so you probably wouldn’t want to try and listen to music over the top of it working.
Overall the iRobot Roomba 980 is a good product, although a little pricey as costs $899.99. It does a great job of giving you a reasonable level of cleaning with minimal supervision and input from you. While it’s not quite ready to do the whole house for you while you’re at work, it’s still an excellent piece of technology, and you’re likely to get quite attached to the little guy too!
