What you can expect from the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+
What testers say about the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+
For anyone whose small home is mostly deep carpet, the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+ works as a carpet vacuum first and a mop for light wiping second.
When the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+ reaches carpet, an arm swings its mop pad up onto the robot's back, a lift of 30 millimetres when most robots with a self-emptying bin cannot raise theirs at all. Vacuum Wars tried to make it wet a carpet and could not.
Under that pad sits a strong vacuum. Vacuum Wars placed the vacuuming well above its median and credited the twin rubber rollers for its deep carpet cleaning. The body is 86 millimetres high, against 96.5 millimetres for its peers, so it gets beneath lower furniture.
The mopping itself disappointed. It earned 0.21 of a possible 5 from Vacuum Wars, far beneath the 2.58 at the middle of that lab's table, and weeks-old dried stains outlasted many passes. TechRadar adds that filling the tank and washing the pad are done by hand, because the station only empties the bin. A small home suits it because a charge lasts 75 minutes, well short of the 175 minutes its peers run.
Pros
- Excellent at deep cleaning carpet with its twin rubber brushes Vacuum Wars ↗
- Handles heavy debris on hard floors that many robots struggle with Vacuum Wars ↗
- Avoids cords and fake pet mess well, though not flawlessly Vacuum Wars ↗
- Maps rooms accurately and learns where extra cleaning is needed TechRadar ↗
- Leaves hard floors shiny once the mop pad has soaked through TechRadar ↗
- Rubber rollers stay largely free of tangled hair TechRadar ↗
Cons
- Struggles with old dried-in stains even after many passes Vacuum Wars ↗
- Some water gets into the brush housing and makes debris stick Vacuum Wars ↗
- Vacuuming everything before mopping makes combined runs slow Vacuum Wars ↗
- Emptying into the base is startlingly loud TechRadar ↗
- Gets overwhelmed by big spills and pushes debris to the edges TechRadar ↗
- All mop upkeep, from refilling to washing pads, is by hand TechRadar ↗
Where the testers disagree
- Pickup: Vacuum Wars: Handles heavy debris on hard floors that many robots struggle with against TechRadar: Gets overwhelmed by big spills and pushes debris to the edges
- Mopping: TechRadar: Leaves hard floors shiny once the mop pad has soaked through against Vacuum Wars: Struggles with old dried-in stains even after many passes
- Navigation: TechRadar: Maps rooms accurately and learns where extra cleaning is needed against Vacuum Wars: Vacuuming everything before mopping makes combined runs slow
Each point sums up, in our words, the review of the test it names, and its link leads to that review. We do not summarise RTINGS or Wirecutter: their lists are linked above.
