iRobot Roomba® i3 (3150) Wi-Fi® Connected Robot Vacuum Vacuum - Wi-Fi Connected Mapping Braava Jet M6 (6110) Ultimate Robot Mop- Wi-Fi Connected

There's a lot of "wow" to the new post 600 series Roomba, but unfortunately most of it never makes it off the back of the box or the online item description to actually work in your home. In a word, I'm "unimpressed", but if were to use more words I would also say I was annoyed, aggravated, exasperated, perplexed, angry, and surprised (both in good and bad ways).Let me just cut to the chase -- I returned it. The main reason why I returned it was because the much touted "Smart Mapping" feature simply didn't work. With the i3 model, you can't have the vac just learn the Smart Map of your house while it vacuums. Instead you have to send it out on a mapping only mission, where it doesn't vacuum at all and instead uses the battery just to find it's way around your entire house with the idea that once it's done it will creat this editable "Smart Map" so the next time you want use the vac you can just tell it, "Clean the kitchen, living room, and family room". After wasting a total of 8 hours (4 hours twice) supposedly "unlocking the Smart Map feature" by creating my first Smart Map, I still had no editable Smart Map, even though in the history it showed that he vac went literally all over my 3800s/f home.Okay, so I can't use one feature -- why is that so bad? Well, the problem is that all these new Roomba models are completely based on that feature! Since none of them use a random vac pattern anymore, they need to be able use a map to know when their job is done. Unless you successfully create a Smart Map, that job everytime will be your entire house. Since there is no other way to like remote control these vacs start in a particular room or only clean part of the house, you have to be able use the Smart Map feature. Also, because it use row by row movement instead of random, the first time the vac runs in your house it takes a LONG time to figure things out, so unless you want it to take the same long time every time it needs to have a map to move around and do the job faster, even if it's doing your whole house. Another reason why this feature is important is because I also bought the iRobot Braava Jet M6 mopper, which also uses Smart Map and is supposed to share information back and forth between the Rooba i3 and the Braava Jet M6, specifically the map. Not being able to tell a Roomba to go vac one room is one thing, but the Braava Jet M6 can't mop your whole house every time. You HAVE to be able to tell the Braava to go mop like only one or two rooms. Well, the Braava does figure out the Smart Map as it mops, so it will eventually learn the whole house. However, I was hoping to use the supposedly quicker Smart Map creator of the Roomba i3 to create a Smart Map of my house to immediately share with the Braava. But nope -- that's not happening. So now I have to wait for the Braava to run like 4 continued mopping/charging cycles before it will finally learn the Smart Map of my house.So because that one feature isn't working, this "high end" original robo vac actually performs much worse than my much cheaper (yet better featured?) Coredy hybrid vac/mop that it was supposed to be replacing. I welcomed the Coredy vac back with open arms after dealing with all the Rooba frustration/annoyance. But before you think I'm just being picky about this one feature, the i3 has numerous other issues, too:1. It wasn't able to go over a single rug in my house. Not a single one. No matter if it's a rubberish mat, low shag, cotton like cloth, etc. it wouldn't transition from the tile/hardwood floor to the rug. Sometimes it would roll it up under the wheels, stranding the vac with its butt up in the air until it screams for help. Someetimes it would suck up the corners of the rugs in the "no tangle dual roller system" (I don't think they know what "no tangle" means). It's so bad at transitions it wouldn't even go over a lamp cord on the floor and there are several rooms in the house that go from tile to wood so they have a raised tile or wood transition, and it would get stuck on top of that. Seriously. It's only like 1/4" high and it could barely get over that.2. Although it had trouble going over tiny transitions, sometimes it would actually do almost like a kind of wheelie going over things it shouldn't and would actually strand itself with most/all wheels off the ground.3. The i3 is surprisingly tall, wide, and just big. Basically it fits under VERY little in my house -- including just the kitchen cabinet overhangs. It also won't fit between my rather standard dining room chair legs, kitchen table chair legs, or bar stool feet. It also gets stuck/wedged trying to go under my rocking recliner chair. My Coredy robot vac fits in all these places (and more) no problem!4. I cannot emphasize how annoying it is that you cannot remote control this vac, like to get it where you want it to clean, or if it misses something and you want it to go back, or it gets stuck, etc. There should be a way to control/steer this vac from the app (or at least from an included dedicated wireless remote control). This is especially needed when the Smart Map feature simply doesn't work.5. The dust cup on the i3 is less than half the size of the dust cup on my Coredy vac. That's actually okay though (not really) because it picks up less debris than my Coredy vac does, so although it's difficult to determine a true suction comparison (since iRobot only lists it's suction power as compared to its own 600 series Roombas -- like 3x, 10x, etc.), I suspect that my Coredy vac has stronger suction.6. The battery on the i3 doesn't last as long as my Coredy vac does. I don't know what the specs are of either batteries, but I know it's must be significantly different because the Coredy seems to clean better (stronger suction) and the battery lasts almost twice as long.7. Even though the advertise it as specifically NOT doing this anymore, the i3 still slams into things just as much as I remember my first Roomba doing over a decade ago. Again, my Coredy vac doesn't do this, so although they both use a bumper technique for navigation (rather than lidar, lasers, cameras, etc.) the Coredy is much more gentle. I thought my wife was going to destroy the i3 when it started repeatedly slamming into her beloved Wolf oven (KABANG KABANG KABANG!)I'm sure there's negatives I'm forgetting, but that's most of it. It was mostly an annoying/aggravating experience.Okay, on the positive side -- there's only one. I'm mildly impressed with the straight line row by row vacuuming. I'm one of those people who will go nuts watching the usual robot vac randomly clean the floor completely missing a big chunk of debris for HOURS. This new method/technique should definitely solve that syndrome, but unfortunately without the Smart Map feature it's just not a very viable method of cleaning.So, my summary would be the same as it's been since I bought a Roomba over 10 years ago. Do not buy a lesser model Roomba. You can spend the same amount and get a really high end, well featured non-iRobot brand that will do a much better job. That being said, even though I could buy it, I'm not going to buy iRobot's top of the line Roomba either. I simply do not trust that will work as advertised any better than their lower end models do (don't), and they definitely haven't earned my trust in their products enough to pay $1000 for their top of the line model.

Where to begin? Out of 100+ comments I can think of (as a robotics professor, with all my degrees from MIT), here are my top 7:7. Very often, it's clear the robot "knows something I do not know". Specifically, it will cut a job short and "go home" without sending any sort of message (to the phone app) about what has gone wrong. (Spoiler alert: it's usually an "empty the bin" warning situation. But really, it's not that the bin needs to be emptied; it's instead that you need to "tap out" the dust from the detachable filter thingy, which is a sub-part of the dustbin you take out...6. Take out the "rollers" regularly, to untangle hair. (They're the light green and dark green rollers, on the underside. Detaching isn't particularly intuitive; there's a small, green lever-button, to push sideways.) Check and de-hair/de-fur both ends of both rollers, most especially, as well as the main/central roller parts. Learn how to manage various release and re-insertion techniques, via practice, b/c they are not designed in a way that would make them intuitive or obvious.) Do similar checks, regularly, on the various wheels and that three-pronged brush-whisker thingy, that you can more easily see on the underside, too.5. Despite previously having mapped the "house", and being told to stay ON this map, only, occasionally Toto (whom we perhaps should have named "Dora") goes rogue. It goes into "exploring" mode - yet this adds absolutely nothing to the "mapping", for this (low-grade) iRobot model (i3 Evo). i.e., it knows it's mapping something new, but it cannot just "add this to the existing map" (sigh). It just means Toto/Dora inexplicably wanders and is thereby likely to tangle into cords or shoelaces or similar, despite your very best efforts to have told it, "Please don't go outside this region, sweetie!". i.e., do not trust your "map" will be paid attention too, sadly...4. About that "initial mapping" deal/experiance. It's - really, really terrible. The worst part is that you'll simply have no idea "if things are going as expected or not" until it has completed some Byzantine process, on its own (with you out of this loop, entirely). Also, definitely expect to have to do that via a few attempts, and then breath calmly, recognizing "it is not you; it's the stupid robot." If you lift the robot (to help it, when it gets stuck) or touch it in any way, it doesn't give you any warning "things are now bad, and this map won't work" - but also, then the map totally doesn't come out in the end, either. So, stay calm and just assume it is very, very, very, very stupid. Do yoga poses, or something. Stay calm. ;-) What I did was: clear out EVERYTHING that might tangle. Block all hallway access points, via large, immovable physical blockades. Take all chairs and pull them off the floor. Limit the search space to 1,000 sq feet or so, max. This finally got a map, for me. Then all was good (kind of; see item 6, before), and you finally MIGHT get a map and can then section it into sub-regions.3. Do not run the robot unless you are around to monitor it. It can get way, way off, on the map. Also, it routinely gets into a mode where it thinks the dustbin is full (before it truly is), then runs home and sits there. Which is fine - but there is never any message on my darn phone - nor via audio from the robot - when this happens. So, Toto/Dora just "gets an idea in their head" and goes off-script, with no explanation. Be prepared that this will happen - frequently. Again, treat Toto/Dora like a toddler, with a lot of patience required.2. So, there's this assuming thing that happens where pet fur gets rolled into a little tuft, but doesn't get picked up. This is better that nothing. Be prepared to walk around any carpeted areas, picking up the tufts. Or just pull out a vacuum, to snarf them en masse, after a robo-run.1. Be sure to "tap out" the filter! When you "empty the bin" - DO NOT JUST "EMPTY THE BIN". You also need to pull out the little, white filter thingy (with all those crenulations or whatever - the diagonally-peaked features, of the little filter). You can pull that filter out. Go "whack, whack, whack!" on the side of a hard surface (inside the kitchen sink, or inside a trashcan - although works better with a more rigid surface, thus the kitchen sink suggestion there). Totodora was barfing up for quite a while, on day 4 or so of running, before I figured this out. (Sigh...)Aside from those minor details and concerns, great(?) product.Well, I mean shucks - I am actually pulling out the vacuum and sweeping the floor now. So I am getting exercise, and the house is definitely more clean the past week or so that we've used it. :-]

Pros:- Cleans almost everywhere and moves in straight rows.- Slows down before hitting a wall or obstacle, most of the times.- Almost never get stuck. Doesn't need my intervention. Happened once since I've got it. (a month and a half)- Works well with Google Assistant.- Deep cleans carpets and rugs. *Perhaps too much.- App is simple enough and works well for what I need (schedules).- I'll be honest: I've owned the i3 for a month and a half now and I haven't used my "real" vacuum since. My floor are always clean now. I'm lazy and happy.Cons:- *Will be too rough on wool or other delicate fabric carpets/rugs- Hair (long) rolls in around front wheel and rubber brushes bearings. I clean it every other day. (very easy to do)- The Edge-Sweeping Brush with scatter some debris around since it's going very fast but chances are the i3 will pick them up after so it's not a big con.Note:-I suggest keeping a cluster-free floor as this thing will eat everything small enough in its way. It has very good suction! In my case, it ate a small cat toy, once. Just remove all small stuff from your floor and let the i3 do its thing. If that's too much work for you, go for the new Roomba J7.-If you want to be able to clean specifics room and not your entire floor each time, go for the Roomba i7. EDIT: This is not true anymore as the i3 have the mapping feature now and can clean one room at the time if needed. Also, it is possible to create schedules using your rooms in the app.

The robot works well but it's a little noizy. It needs to run more often to be able to recognize all the rooms perfectly.Exemple: After the first run for making the map of all the rooms, you ask the robot to go to a specific room (mention on the map) it can't find it. It stay near the entrance of the room where it's supposed to start sweeping but it doesn't no where to go. It was ok for all the other rooms except one particular room. So, it has to do multiple run to learn the map entirely, or start all over again to create a new map. Also this robot is not able to move forward when there is a small threshold. But I think it's not that bad for this robot at a reasonable price around $350. to $400.Overall the robot is fine, the app is restricted with some degree of imperfection, also the Roomba needs more sensors. But it's ok for the price it's worth.NOTE: I cannot say more about this product because i've only have this device for about 6 to 7 weeks.

Better a decent auto-vacuum that cleans up daily than a really good manual vacuum I'd only use once a week.

This is a mighty little machine that sucks up dirt, dander, and pet hair from my two shedding dogs very efficiently. (Better than my canister Miele.) I recommend this machine for anyone who wants help keeping floors dirt- and pet-hair free.Update: I still love this little machine but it has trouble with my two shedding dogs' hair if I skip one single day. Two days of their hair fills the small bin quickly and then the hair wraps around parts of the machine and jams the two cleaning rollers, the wheels, etc. Then it smears dog hair along my low-pile area rug as it continues its run. So it's a good little machine for daily cleaning but I still need to do a thorough vacuuming twice or three times a week on top of the machine.

We are so happy with this purchase. This vacuum is a modern day convenience essential. You need to prep your cleaning area by lifting blankets, cords, chairs etc for a thorough clean as it will eat cords and struggle around chair legs, but it really does the job.I spend 5 minutes clearing the floors (which also helps us to keep the house clean) and then let it do the work. I feel so smug sitting down and letting a robot clean for me!The I3 can do two floors, but must be carried up and down stairs. Still worthwhile. It’s not great at cleaning deep into corners (it is round), but it does a better job than a full upright vacuum with zooming under beds and chairs to get all the dust bunnies and fur balls.Fun and effective. Well worth the price.