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Roomba J9+ Review: This Roomba Prioritizes Your Dirtiest Rooms
At a glance Expert's Rating Pros With its navigating smarts and superb cleaning capabilities, the self-emptying Roomba j9+ delivers a truly automated cleaning experience that should be welcome in any household.
Price When Reviewed$899.99
Best Prices Today: Roomba j9+With its new flagship, the Roomba j9+, iRobot has taken the best features of its predecessor and added a new superpower: the ability to identify and prioritize the dirtiest rooms in your home. The result is our new Editor's Choice for robot vacuums.
The Roomba j9+ is the successor to the Roomba j7+, which itself was a pretty substantial upgrade to its predecessor. The j7+ arrived with a camera that had been moved from the top of the robot to the front to widen its viewing field, thus enabling the robot to see obstacles on the floor.
The iRobot Roomba j9+ successfully builds on past Roomba improvements, and its enhanced intelligence and superb cleaning ability set it apart from virtually all its competitors.
The Roomba j7+ also introduced iRobot's PrecisionVision navigation technology, which allowed the robot to recognize and avoid obstacles in its path, including pet poop (hence the company's famous P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise) guarantee). Finally, the j7+ came paired with a smaller, more furniture-friendly self-emptying Clean Base.
We mention these j7+ features because they've all been carried over to the j9+, which comes with its own innovation: the room-prioritizing Dirt Detective, a trick that makes the new Roomba j9+ a welcome upgrade to its predecessor, not to mention our new Editor's Choice.
This review is part of TechHive's in-depth coverage of the best robot vacuums.
Setup & mappingThe iRobot Home app makes it easy to get the j9+ up and running quickly. Once you plug in the Clean Base and set the robot into its slot to charge, you run the iRobot app to connect the robot to your Wi-Fi network.
The j9+ can automatically detect floor type and adjust its cleaning power accordingly.
Michael Ansaldo/Foundry
The j9+ builds a map of your home the first time you run it. The map it produced of mine was accurate and the rooms were correctly labeled. It also populated the map with various icons indicating the type of floor surfaces and suggestions for where to set clean zones, such as around high-traffic like my couch. You can edit the map to correct any layout inaccuracies and manually add clean zones and no-go areas.
Once the j9+ has patrolled your space, it provides a "dirt detective overview" in the app that uses a green color gradient to indicate how dirty each room is—the darker the green, the dirtier the room.
From this overview, you can simply press the "clean dirty rooms" button to dispatch the robot to your dirtiest rooms in the prioritized order. If you'd rather control the robot yourself, you can select Vacuum Everywhere from the app's home screen or tap New Job and choose individual rooms or clean zones.
Cleaning performanceThe vacuum uses a three-stage cleaning system with dual rubber brushes, and it can automatically detect floor type and adjust its cleaning power to sweep up dust, dirt, and pet hair.
iRobot doesn't divulge the suction power details of its vacuums, saying only that the j9+ has "100% more suction power" than its Roomba "i"-series robots. That said, the j9+ did an excellent job on the laminate floors and area rugs in my home, sucking up some pretty heavy pet hair without said hair getting tangled in the rollers.
The j9+ Clean Base includes a compartment for an extra dust bag.
Michael Ansaldo/Foundry
With a couple of teens in the household, my home is rarely showroom clean, but the j9+ did a stellar job routing itself around shoes, socks, charging cables, and other hazards.
If you opt into image review (the app presents the option during setup), the j9+ will also take a picture of the detected obstacle and the surrounding area and push it to you for review. You can mark the object as a temporary obstacle, not an obstacle, or add a Keep-Out Zone around it. Based on this feedback, the robot can adapt its cleaning of your home as needed.
After completing a cleaning job, the robot docks, and its contents are automatically emptied into the Clean Base's dust bag. Each dust bag can hold about 60 days of dirt, but the actual capacity will depend on your cleaning frequency and how much dirt is on your floors.
The iRobot Home app keeps a history of every cleaning job, which you can access from the home screen. Recorded details include the square footage your Roomba covered, the duration of the job, the number of obstacles it encountered, and how the cleaning was initiated. It also displays the cleaned areas on the map, so you can plan future cleaning jobs accordingly.
The j9+ can suggest clean zones, provide "dirt detective intelligence," and snap pictures of obstacles it encounters for you to review.
Michael Ansaldo/Foundry
Should you buy the Roomba j9+?The iRobot Roomba j9+ successfully builds on past Roomba improvements, and its enhanced intelligence and superb cleaning ability set it apart from virtually all its competitors.
You likely won't have to spend much time tending to the robot thanks to its AI-powered obstacle avoidance, and it only gets better at navigating your home and cleaning according to your preferences the more it runs. That's enough to award the Roomba j9+ our Editor's Choice.
Deal Alert! Roombas Are Secretly Up To 50% Off At Amazon Right Now
If you want to knock out your list of household chores more efficiently, invest in a cleaning gadget that does the hard work for you.
Amazon quietly dropped a sale on iRobot Roomba robot vacuums — and a handful of models have Black Friday-level discounts. Right now, you can score up to 50 percent off robot vacuums and smart mops from the brand. And if you want to save even more time and energy, there are also deals on robot vacuum and mop combos as well as self-emptying models.
There's no end date listed for these impressive deals, so be sure to grab the best Roomba for your household while it's in stock and on sale.
Shop Roomba Deals iRobot Roomba Combo j5 Robot Vacuum with Optional Mopping, $299 (Save 50%) Amazon Thanks to a $300 discount, this Roomba device is slashed to its cheapest price ever. The smart cleaning gadget has powerful suction and built-in sensors that detect dirtier areas and automatically ramp up cleaning power. Unlike standard robot vacuums, it avoids obstacles like pet waste, furniture, and cords. Plus it can convert into a smart mop by a swap of a bin. In the customer review section, one of the thousands of users who gave it a five-star rating raved, "It cleans meticulously and makes my carpets look new again," while another shared, "I was surprised it didn't get jammed or stuck anywhere and returned to its charging base without any help." They also called out that it "collected so much cat hair." iRobot Roomba 694 Robot Vacuum, $160 (Save 42%) Amazon More than 10,000 shoppers recently picked up the Roomba 694, which is 42 percent off right now. Equipped with a three-stage cleaning process, the vacuum sucks up dirt, crumbs, dust, and other debris from hard floors and carpets. One of its standout features? The iRobot Home app allows you to schedule cleanings — even when you're not at home. The ever-popular vacuum has earned more than 14,200 five-star ratings from shoppers who call it a "game changer" for "impeccably clean" floors in their reviews. "I was shocked (and horrified) at how much human hair, pet hair, and dust was collected just two days after I vacuumed manually," wrote one pet parent. iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum and Mop, $349 (Save 37%) Amazon If you want spotless floors without thinking about vacuuming or mopping for weeks, consider investing in this self-emptying robot vacuum and mop combo while it's $201 off. When the multifunctional device's bin gets full, it automatically returns to its bin and empties the debris it collected. The bin can hold up to 60 days of debris, meaning you won't have to empty it for two months. One shopper who awarded it a five-star rating and called it "life-changing" shared, "I've got three hairy dogs, and this is like magic." They also noted that it "cleans hardwood and carpet and even sneaks behind my couch with ease." Keep scrolling to shop more Roomba deals happening at Amazon. iRobot Roomba Combo i5 Robot Vacuum & Mop, $299 (Save 35%) Amazon iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum & Mop, $500 (Save 38%) Amazon iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum & Mop, $699 (Save $401) Amazon iRobot Braava Jet M6 Ultimate Robot Mop, $249 (Save 45%) AmazonBest Roomba Deals: Top Robot Vacuums From As Little As $160
iRobot iRobot's Roomba is probably the most recognizable brand of robot vacuums in the market right now, and that's because it offers a wide range of models starting from budget-friendly devices to premium all-in-one machines. If you need one to help clean your home, you should take a look at the Roomba deals that we've gathered below. We're not sure how long these discounts will last though — in fact, some may disappear at the very next moment — so if any of these bargains catch your eye, you're going to have to push through with the purchase immediately.
iRobot Roomba 694 — $160, was $275The iRobot Roomba 694 is an entry-level model for the brand's robot vacuums, but it won't fall short in keeping your floors clean with its three-stage cleaning system that loosens, lifts, and suctions dirt and debris, and dual multi-surface brushes that work on all floor types. You can schedule when you want the robot vacuum to clean through the iRobot Home app or your preferred voice assistant, and once it's done, it will return to its charging station where it will wait for the next session.
iRobot Roomba Combo i5 — $229, was $350The iRobot Roomba Combo i5 is an affordable way of getting both a robot vacuum and a robot mop in one device. It will simultaneously vacuum and mop your floor, with its four-stage cleaning system with dual multi-surface rubber brushes that can adjust to different floor types and a specialized microfiber pad that can remove dirt and dust. You can pair the robot vacuum and mop with the iRobot Home app so you can give it instructions through your smartphone, or through your smart home devices iRobot Roomba j7 — $299, was $369 John Velasco / Digital Trends / Digital Trends
The iRobot Roomba j7 comes with Roomba's standard features on its robot vacuum, including its three-stage cleaning system with dual multi-surface rubber brushes and an edge-sweeping brush, and compatibility with your smartphone through the iRobot Home app or your favorite digital assistant. This robot vacuum, however, is a smarter one than the others, as it can easily avoid other objects on the floor, including pet waste, and it uses Imprint Smart Mapping to allow you to control and schedule where and when it will clean.
iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ — $499, was $800The iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ is featured in our roundup of the best robot vacuums as the best budget pick if you want a robot vacuum and robot mop in one device. You'll have to manually swap out its bin to switch it between vacuuming and mopping, but it's powerful at both functions. It will unload the dirt and debris that it picks up into its vacuum bin, which you won't have to empty for up to 60 days, and you can fill the combo bin with water or a compatible cleaning solution of your choice.
iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ — $985, was $1,399The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is among the brand's top-of-the-line models for a robot vacuum and robot mop combo, as its Clean Base Auto-Fill Dock can hold debris that it picks up for up to 60 days, and water or solution for up to 30 days of cleaning. It also features a retractable mopping system that lifts itself to the top to prevent getting certain surfaces such as carpets wet. For tough stains such as muddy paw prints and intense spills, you can activate the SmartScrub option for back-and-froth scrubbing until your floor is spotless again.
More Roomba deals we loveWe've come across many more robot vacuum deals that feature devices made by iRobot's Roomba, and we've highlighted more of our favorites below. There's always high demand for discounts on Roomba robot vacuums though, so don't expect these offers to last for a long time. If you want to enjoy the potential savings, you're going to have to choose the model that you want to buy and proceed with the transaction quickly — any delay will increase the likelihood that you miss out.
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