What you can expect from the iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo
What testers say about the iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo
The iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo is the first Roomba generation with spinning mop pads, lidar navigation and a station that empties the bin into a bag lasting 75 days, washes and dries the pads, refills the water tank and drains the dirty water. Tom's Guide tested it at home and wrote that it replaced the stick vacuum: it reached deep into corners, has built-in lights, coped well with pet hair and genuinely scrubbed the floor clean.
The reviewer praised the fast mapping, the simple controls and the mop pad that extends along edges. The station takes almost everything off your hands, from emptying to washing and refilling, and the quoted run time is three hours. Obstacle recognition works with a camera and lighting.
The criticism: the app was glitchy at times, spot cleaning did not convince, the station is loud when emptying and the robot only works with certain floor cleaners. Against the Asian competition the 7,000 Pa of suction is modest, the station washes without warm water and doses no solution, the robot is tall at just over 3.9 inches and thresholds stop at 0.8 inches. Anyone wanting a Roomba that finally mops by itself and looks after itself gets the complete version here; on price and equipment the competition is sharper.
