It will come as a shock to extra individuals than you assume that “roomba” is not the common time period for a robotic vacuum. It’s, in reality, a capital “R” that denotes Roomba as a correct noun slightly than a generic trademark, although the Band-Help stage interchangeability actually does exemplify simply how iconic iRobot has turn out to be on the planet of automated flooring cleaners.
That may be attributed to the truth that iRobot has constantly delivered a number of the most dependable robotic vacuum fashions for twenty years. Greater than 20 Roombas have come out for the reason that first one hit properties in 2002, however monitoring the very best Roombas is not so chaotic when you think about that solely a handful of these fashions are literally related on the time of your procuring.
Proper now could be a very good time to maintain your eye out for a reduced Roomba, as a result of Amazon Prime Day 2024 is on the best way. This yr’s large procuring occasion is on July 16 and 17, and we’re already seeing early Prime Day offers on loads of robotic vacuums, together with Roombas and self-emptying robovacs. There are actually extra robotic vacuum offers to return, and we’ll hold you up to date on all issues Prime Day main as much as the occasion and past.
Learn how to inform the distinction between the Roomba fashions
The arbitrary numbers and letters of the Roomba household tree are complicated at face worth, however nothing that may’t be informed aside after studying just a few tremendous basic classification themes.
When purchasing for a Roomba, you may actually solely be selecting from what we name iRobot’s core lineup: the group of three to 5 Roomba sequence which might be actively offered on iRobot’s web site. Any Roomba whose title features a letter with a quantity (like j9+ or i5) is extra superior than a Roomba with simply numbers within the title (like 692).
The j Collection is iRobot’s most superior proper now, adopted by the s Collection, i Collection, after which the 600 Collection. A plus signal (like j9+) denotes that the mannequin comes with a self-emptying dock. Roombas that mop could have “Combo” within the title, and there are a number of Roombas that may be bought with or with out mopping skills.
You will not have to memorize any nuances previous these overarching guidelines. We’ll cowl the high quality print, like which Roombas have sensible mapping or small impediment detection, in our deep dive under, noting crucial variations between every present Roomba.