iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) Robot Vacuum with Automatic Dirt Disposal-Empties Itself for up to 60 Days, Wi-Fi Connected, Works with Alexa, Carpets, + Smart Mapping Upgrade - Clean & Schedule by Room

This vacuum in amazing. Simply amazing. I've had a Roomba 650 for several years and was mostly satisfied with it but this iRobot Roomba i6+ is, well, miles ahead of the 650. Once you've got it set up and ready to rock, vacuuming your house is, for the most part, an afterthought. First of all, be assured that the i6+ is nearly identical to the i7+ with the exception of the silver top, no included virtual wall, and the lack of extra bags and filters included along with it. But more on that later. Set up is easy. Simply find a nice space for your Roomba to reside and you're on your way. iRobot says you need about one foot of space in the front and on the sides of the base station. Once you've established that, it's time to charge it and set it in motion. My i6+ came partially charged so I went ahead and charged it fully before beginning a vacuuming session. While it's charging, download the iRobot app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store. You can also link your Roomba to your home network at this time. It took me a few tries to get this right and I had to end up using a different router than I had first attempted to connect with. My "parking place" isn't too far from the router but for some reason, I could never get it to connect to that one. When you've connected, your i6+ will upload the latest firmware version. Once your Roomba is fully charged (you can follow the progress on the app), it's time for it to take a tour of your house. The instructions you receive with your vacuum isn't real clear on this next step so let me try and fill in that gap for you... The i6+ needs to learn your house before you'll be able to schedule regular cleaning runs. I watched several videos that told me to send it on mapping runs first. Your mileage may vary but the app didn't allow me to do this. For the first 2 times I vacuumed, I had to simply send it out to vacuum the entire main level of my house. Finally, after those initial couple of sessions, the Map icon lit up and I was able to send the i6+ out on scouting runs to more efficiently map the house. It's really amazing how you can see the map start filling in and how accurate it is. Once you've got your house mapped, you can start naming rooms and setting up schedules for cleaning. By far, the coolest thing about the map is the ability to set up "keep out" zones, such as areas where cords or cables are on the floor or, in my case, where the water dish is for the cat. This may take a bit of experimentation but it really works well once you set them up. I've had it bump the water bowl once but it was because the i6 got trapped by a chair someone moved while it was in a corner and the only way out was to take a path that the bowl was blocking. My old 650, like the i7, has a black top which, over time, became very scratched and unsightly. The silver top of my i6+ looks brand new, even after 30 or so sessions. Aside from the aforementioned water bowl bump, this i6+ has performed nearly flawlessly. There has only been, so far, one incident where it stopped during a session and that was due to it sucking up a cat toy on the floor. I simply pulled the toy from the rollers and off it went! I have yet to change the bag in the main unit and when I inspected the dirt bin on the vacuum itself for the first time today, it's amazingly clean and free of dust. I was constantly having to clean the bin of the 650 and change filters. Not so with this guy. If you're on the fence about buying this vacuum, have no fear. It is, as I stated above, amazing. Your house will stay much cleaner without investing your valuable time doing so. It's pricey, yes, but it's well worth the investment if you're looking for a vacuum that you can "set and forget".

I took it out of the box yesterday and since I had plans I didn’t read the directions just the quick start guide. Was disappointed when it ran for 12 minutes and needed me to put it on the dock. Fast forward to today and it ran over an hour while vacuuming/learning my house. (After READING THE DIRECTIONS I learned it only comes partially charged.) I followed it around so I could make adjustments to plants and such but for the most part it did well maneuvering. Also I followed room to room to turn on the lights for it which is what you need to do for the camera to work. Because of the camera it can tell if there is a particularly dirty area and it will spend extra time there. It fit well under a couple pieces of furniture that normally collect dust bunnies which was really nice! It did a pretty good job learning and has cleaned every room I’ve opened except my master. It’s currently charging and the ap tells me it will resume cleaning once charged. I did notice it return to several places repeatedly so hopefully it will work itself out with that regard. The crud that gets on my floors is cat hair and fir needles for the most part. It did a great job with that. It also did a great job maneuvering rugs without too much trouble. Only once did I have to intervene when Sam (yes I’ve named it) tried to climb the Christmas tree. That will be gone in a day or two so, no matter. The vacuum itself is not loud in my opinion. The emptying as others have said is pretty loud. In my video my kitten is running through the house so that’s not Sam making that racket. I have two rooms that are carpeted but I haven’t tried it on carpet yet because the rooms are not picked up. Also I think I’d prefer to just use my Dyson on carpet. If I try using it on carpet I’ll update. This was a gift from me, to me for my 50th birthday and so far I am very pleased with this purchase and would definitely recommend. Update: 1/14/21 Well there are def some quirks. I got the map and redefined some boundaries so likely confused the little b$(&@stard while he was running. IDK if that has any effect. But although it vacuumed like a champ it was a little lost at times today. Also, it sent itself to the charger (great job lil buddy) but then sent itself back out after about three minutes of charging; thought better and then went back to the dock. So there it currently sits until IDK when. This is all fine to me. Tech evolves and so do we. I’ll keep ya posted. Bottom line? Floors look nice.

I bought this because I have 2 dogs and vacuuming 1-2x per week is not enough to keep the hairy tumbleweeds away. The first time I ran the Roomba I thought I'd made a mistake purchasing it - it ran wild in every direction, bumped into things (it has a bumper that pushes in when it taps something, so it won't damage your furniture) - BUT, that's its way of saying "I'm new here" and after 2 runs it had everything mapped out. I have a 2-story house and I love that it was able to map and remember each floor plan. I'm really impressed with how it runs under my dining table, bed, chairs, etc. and cleans effectively while navigating around all the legs of the furniture. I wish it was slightly slimmer to get under my couch, but the couch is very low to the ground so I'm not sure if even its competitors are thin enough to get under there. I run it every other day on each floor and am so happy with the results! I love that I can tell it to just go clean a specific room of the house, and also love the self-emptying bin - I went back and forth on whether this feature was worth the extra money, and ultimately I feel it was worth the splurge. It's also easy enough to clean and maintain the parts (filter and brush heads need to be cleaned regularly). I'm not one to pull things apart to maintain them - at all - so the fact that I didn't mind doing it, says something. Side note for pet owners - My one dog HATES the regular vacuum and will try to attack it. After speaking to others with similarly neurotic pets and hearing their success stories with a robo-vac, I decided to give it a try. Both dogs barked at it at first, but while it was making its first run I used lots of treats and positive reinforcement, and now they both ignore it - they can walk right past it. All in all, this was well worth the money. I actually purchased it while it was on an Amazon Epic Deal, so I'm even happier with the purchase. Highly recommend!

I have two dogs whose hair occasionally gathers into tumbleweeds across the wood floor, so I need to vacuum at least a few days a week. A few years ago, I bought this vacuum hoping that automating part of my cleaning routine would save me at least 30 minutes a day. When I first received the vacuum, I ran into some issues with it starting up and finding the charging station. It wouldn’t go more than a foot or two without giving me a dreaded error. Thankfully, customer service was really helpful, and we were able to resolve the issue over the phone. Now, three years later, I absolutely love this vacuum. It runs at 10 a.m. every weekday while we’re at work, and the only time I need to pull out another vacuum is when I need the handy vac. It is a bit loud—not as loud as a regular vacuum—but since it’s a vacuum, I don’t have any complaints there. The bag in the tower housing is easy to remove and replace every 60 days or so, which isn’t too bad either. Maintenance, though, is the key! You need to clean the little connections under the vacuum and on the charging station and replace the rollers occasionally. Every few months, I use a computer air blower to clean out the interior and keep the sensors working properly. I did have the small trap door latch for the brush housing break. I found a few replacement options on Amazon and the internet for around $50, but they’re not from iRobot. Paying that much for a tiny piece seems ridiculous, so instead, I’ve been super gluing the piece back on. It holds for a few months before I have to do it again. The reason I gave this vacuum four stars is because iRobot doesn’t offer enough replacement parts for components that fail due to normal wear and tear. Parts breaking is fine—that’s expected—but there should be reasonably priced replacements available. I’m not willing to pay half a house payment every few years for a new vacuum just because of a small latch, and I’m certainly not paying $50 for a two-inch piece of plastic. Plus, this particular piece seems to fail frequently if you do a quick internet search. If iRobot starts offering replacement parts at a fair price, I’ll gladly add another star. Until then, four stars is the best I can give.

I teach in a 1700-square foot martial arts school. We train barefoot, so it's important that we vacuum our carpet every day for foot safety. We are also trying to keep the doors and windows open as much as possible right now to increase ventilation during the pandemic. We have one very large empty room, plus a small lobby, small office complete with chairs, cords, desks, and the like, and a bathroom. I can't sing my Roomba's praises high enough. I've scheduled it to vacuum every morning, while we're closed, and every afternoon, I come in to a neatly vacuumed dojo, beautiful lines on the carpet, debris removed, and the Roomba back on its base, charged, empty, and ready for the next job. On windy days, when leaves and trash blow in through the door, I send it to vacuum the lobby while I teach, so that I can focus on my students without compromising either our neat appearance or our safety. If we've marked stances on the floor with chalk, the Roomba automatically goes over those areas more carefully to pick it up. I've been using it for two weeks now, and have completed more than 20 jobs, and am so very, very happy with it. A few things to keep in mind if you're thinking about buying one: 1. Consider your space. I tried one of the lower-end models first, and while it did a fine job, it didn't have mapping abilities, so it bounced randomly around. If it went for too long without running into something, it had an existential crisis and died, so I'd have to litter the floor with obstacles to keep it running. I've since moved that Roomba to my house, where it's quite content to bounce around and vacuum in a much smaller area. 2. Consider how important looking clean is versus *being* clean. The lower-end models do a pretty good job of getting everywhere, but the lines go randomly around the room. If you want neat, parallel lines, the mapping function is necessary. 3. Consider your timing. The ONLY issue I've run into with my i6+ is that it can't vacuum if the light is too low. (This is not an issue the lower-end model had; it didn't rely on sight, so it could vacuum overnight without trouble.) Most of the time this isn't a problem, but I teach until after sundown on Friday nights and then shortly after sunrise on Saturday mornings, which doesn't allow enough daylight for the Roomba to clean in between, especially during the winter. I've tried leaving the office and bathroom lights on, and have tried adding nightlights, none of which provided sufficient light. Until the days grow longer, I'm going to prioritize which areas I need vacuumed the most over night and have them done immediately after dawn. By next winter, I shall probably invest in a lamp or something else that I can use once a week for this purpose. I can control the Roomba's vacuuming from my house, so I can get it started as soon as it's light enough out, even if I don't know in advance when that will be. I used to spend between three and six hours a week vacuuming the dojo, and that time has been reduced to changing the bag in the self-emptying base once every few weeks. (After 20 or so cleaning jobs, I still haven't needed to empty it.) Usually, my friends and family can't get me to shut up about karate - now they can't get me to shut up about my Roomba!

Setup: Straight out of the box, ready to go after charging. Plug in, charge, download app while it is charging. Follow the app directions (WiFi needed, which is no problem in our home). No remote needed: After the app connected to my WiFi, I got to simply click on my phone to start cleaning everywhere and off “Alice” Roomba went. No more remote control! Yeah! Stops: And if it does stop for any reason, you can push the main button and she talks to you to tell you what’s up! When she gets to a dirtier area, she backs up and forward, repeatedly, to thoroughly clean that area. Awesome! Mapping: It took three complete runs and then the app notified me my map was ready. It did a pretty fine job of mapping our main floor’s three huge rooms and it’s many cubbies and it’s easy to edit the map if it’s not to your specifications. I also love that you can then very easily choose to clean just one room, or area that you have specified on your map. You can set areas not to vacuum... it’s real easy. Sound: The sound as Alice cleans is a vacuum sound, but not nearly as loud as a regular vacuum cleaner - I didn’t have to turn the TV volume up to hear it as she vacuumed beside me. When she empties into the bin (oh is this delightful to NOT have to do by hand), it is a loud sound, but only for about 10-15 seconds. I LOVE this feature! Bags instead of having to do by hand! Love it! Notifications: Of course you can set to receive or not. Just got notice she is finished with my kitchen! Requires WiFi and a little room to park: If you have an internet connection and someplace to put this Roomba where it has 4 feet clear in front of it (we have a throw rug in that area, but that doesn’t bother it) and a couple feet clear on each side of it - don’t hesitate to buy this! I also bought an Alexa, but haven’t set it up yet... more goodies to look forward to! PS. I already had a “Hazel”, not a Roomba but another brand, and she is now permanently designated as our bathroom vacuum. I have to empty her bin (belly) by hand and clean her brushes, removing my hair as well as our dog and cat’s hair. The dust in there is truly repulsive to have to handle constantly - but I love the superb vacuuming job she also does! Now Hazel will need much less frequent hand cleanings and I have the best of both worlds! And for those who wonder why anyone would spend the money to buy these vacuums: I am physically unable to sweep or vacuum without overwhelming pain and it takes me a long time with having to walk just a few steps only to have to sit down because of pain. Not as young as I used to be. And even for those not physically challenged, life is busy! Working parents, keeping up with kids or pets... MANY people have reasons that make this an affordable buy.

Update: Reduced review from 5 to 2 stars. I've now had it nearly a year. I wish I had bought a different brand. It lost all maps and wouldn't create any for a couple of months. If it misses half the room you have to have it remap so it has to map a room like 10 times before it actually has it anywhere near correct. It also IGNORES keep out zones. We had sticky ant bait everywhere as no matter how large I made the keep out zone it ignored it. I discovered when I wanted to remove the keep out zone it has no option...so I would have to remap the entire room to get the keep out zone to disappear. It CONSTANTLY gets stuck on my furniture, a cord, or sometimes nothign at all. It will call out for help until it flattens itself so you'll have to go searching under the bed and in every nook and cranny until you find it if you weren't running it while babysitting it. Cleaning it's a pain as it constantly gets blocked with the simplest of things. Gum wrapper - blocked, small piece of food - blocked, a penny - blocked. You basically have to go around the room sweeping before the roomba sweeps or inevitably it will find something somewhere to get jammed in it's tiny suction area or when it tries to empty. I thought I wouldn't have to babysit this one, but I do. It's a HUGE disappointment as I have been laid up for the last month. I can't run it because every time I do it gets stuck or gets something stuck in it and calls out for help. The whole point was so that I wouldn't have to help it. Now it's decided that even though it's under the couch in the living room, it thinks it's gone back to it's charging base and stopped running. There's no way I can get under there to fish it out so it's just going to have to collect dust bunnies. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY on this. Buy one of the other ones. I had an early model Roomba which had the bristle-style rollers on it. I finally gave up on it because I spent more time babysitting it than it spent cleaning my floors. This is a dream in comparison. With this model, it's hands off except for a weekly sprucing up & the occasional twist or two of hair wrapped around the spinning corner brush. With it's rugged big wheels it trundles over my thresholds with ease. There's no need to turn on and off those little laser things to keep it from going into places you don't want it - just block them off in the app. The rubber brushes clean hard floors well but are easy to clean themselves. The only drawback I can see is that it sounds like a plane taking off when it's vacuuming the dirt from the Roomba into the tower. I just make sure to use it during the day instead of at night. However, if you have small children or nervous pets, the random extremely loud vacuum could startle them as it let's you know it's done AFTER it empties itself - no warning beforehand. I adore the tie-in to Alexa. I can tell Roomba to clean whenever I want and whatever room I want cleaned without even needing to be in the same room. I also have keep out zones set up so it doesn't wander into the bathroom or get stuck under my office chair (the only spot in the house that it can't seem to navigate). The Roomba I love, but the software still needs some work. Even with the beta functions turned on, it still cannot do a discovery run which includes under my kitchen table. Somehow it keeps 'missing' most of it because it will bump against a couple of things and then appear to give up. I wish there was a way to 'train' it in discovery mode for JUST ONE ROOM as that would be so much quicker. I've basically given up on getting it to clean under the kitchen table and resorted to doing it myself with a broom and dustpan. One additional comment - After I bought this I thought, "I'll get the Brava M6 like it suggests to do my mopping then I won't ever have to clean my floors by myself ever again." Boy, was I wrong. The software that runs the Brava M6 is a dinosaur in comparison. It's clunky, is designed to stop at thresholds - even when you tell it not to- so you have to carry it from room to room, sometimes turns off for no apparent reason so you have to tell it to 'clean' the same room 10x or more before it actually does the floor in one room most of the way, can't finish a run in even a tiny room when in discovery mode so never actually maps a room, and doesn't clean worth a darn. Save your money. GET the Roomba but SKIP the Brava M6.

I was an early adopter of the Roomba and bought one many years ago when they first came out. It moved in a random pattern. It was ok but this one is phenomenal. Firstly I did my research and looked at many reviews. The I6 -- my kids named Morty started to work right out of the box. I set up Google Alexa linkage (ver7 easy). I also downloaded the iRobot App onto my Android SmartPhone. The dog, Bo Frank, (sort for Beau Frankenstein - a Jack Russel Terrier mix) went nut!! He thought he was protecting us from some kind of invader I guess. I guess he figured it out after a while when Morty ignored him and just want on its merry way cleaning the floors. Lots of settings to customize and it builds a map in memory and you can see it slowly progress into a full map on the app. Then ID the rooms by name and you can later just say, "Alexa, ask Morty to clean the kitchen." etc. My wife hated it... cause it cost about $550. She thought that was a lot but we got new hard wood floors throughout the house and she was overheard bragging to one of her friends on the phone, "Now I got a Roomba and I don't even have to worry about keeping the floors clean!'" LOL It does a good job... .it does a better job once mapping is complete. It also works over time so what is may miss on one pass it picks up on another or you can set it to do multiple passes. All the bedrooms are upstairs so I run it at 3am in the morning and it hadn't disturbed anyone thus far. They can't hear it. I can watch TV while Morty works around my chair -- it isn't that loud. When it goes back to the docking station for recharge it first sucks out Morty's storage bin and that is the noisiest part but lasts only 5 seconds or so. Good purchase for sure. No clue on how long the battery lasts over time but it vacuums 53 square meters of hard wood floor in 58 min before going back for a recharge - recharges in less than 2 hrs. 2 hrs and 38 min to do my whole main floor which is 150 sq meters (1660 square feet). Hope that helps. I do go under things and get dust with a swifter dust magnet thingy.