What testers say about the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+
The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is a vacuum-and-mop Roomba whose mop pad gets out of the way completely: on hard floors two stainless-steel arms lower the pad so it vacuums and mops in the same run, and when it senses carpet it lifts the pad right up onto its back, so rugs stay dry. It navigates with a front camera that also recognizes obstacles such as pet waste, cables, socks and shoes, cleans with iRobot's two-brushroll design and one edge brush, and docks on the Clean Base Auto-Fill Dock, which empties the bin into a bag for up to 60 days and refills the robot's water tank for up to 30 days. The dock does not wash or dry the pad.
Vacuum Wars bought one and was very impressed. In its pickup tests it did as well as or better than any robot vacuum on the market, from fine to extra-large debris on hard floors and carpet, it confirmed iRobot's claim of twice the suction of the Roomba i series, and its carpet deep-clean score was the second best Vacuum Wars had recorded. The mopping stood out too: it handled dried-on grape juice very well and wet stains better than most robots, which tend to spread them around, and the Smart Scrub mode, a mopping pattern iRobot calls twice as effective, surprised the testers on dried stains. Obstacle avoidance scored about the same as its main rivals, good though not perfect, and the app offers keep-out zones, Clean Zones for spots that get dirty, multi-floor maps and control through Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant.
The drawbacks: the pad has to come off and be washed by hand after every mopping run, where rival stations now wash pads themselves (iRobot argues that washing pads in the same dock as the dust bag is less hygienic). Navigation was a little less efficient than the competition, taking about 10 minutes longer on the test area on average and some 25 minutes to draw the first map. For a home with rugs and hard floors that wants the cleanest floors a Roomba can deliver, and does not mind rinsing a pad, it is a strong choice. Anyone who wants the mop washed as well should look at a robot with a washing station.
