What testers say about the iRobot Roomba 981
The iRobot Roomba 981 is a Roomba from iRobot's 900 series that maps a whole floor with a camera: iRobot's vSLAM navigation lets it clean in neat back-and-forth rows. It cleans with two rubber brushes that iRobot built not to tangle with pet hair, raises its suction by itself on carpet (Power Boost), and has a filter that iRobot says traps 99 percent of the allergens in cat and dog dander. It works with Alexa.
RTINGS tested it and found it impressive on hard floors: it cleared pet hair, sand and cereal with ease, and kept its suction as the bin filled up. It is a strong choice for pet hair, which it removed from hard floors and low-pile carpet without trouble and in good amounts from high-pile carpet. It manoeuvres well, cleans in an organised pattern and has excellent battery performance, and RTINGS calls it well built, with brushrolls that come out so hair wraps are easy to remove.
Carpet is where it falls short. On low-pile carpet it struggled with fine debris such as baking soda, and on high-pile carpet it left sand behind as well. Like many robots it needs a lot of routine maintenance, with several parts to replace regularly, so the running costs add up. For a home with mostly hard floors and a pet that sheds, it does the job well.