iRobotRoomba j9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum – Powerful Suction, Identifies and Avoids Obstacles Like pet Waste, Self-Empties for 60 Days, Best for Homes with Pets, Smart Mapping, Works with Alexa​

I have had a J7 for my main floor for 3 years and am really happy with it. I decided it was time to get something for the upstairs so I bought this J9. I have had it for a couple weeks and am also very pleased. It is a little louder than the J7 but I suspect that is because it has better suction power. I have 3 cats and, even though I vacuumed regularly, the first run of the new Roomba took over an hour because it needed to empty the bin 3 times and I needed to unclog it once. I ran it daily for 4 days until it would complete a run without filling the bin and now it cleans twice a week.

One star is being overly generous. I don’t write reviews, one way or the other, but this was too large of an expense not to. If it helps just one person, it will be worth my time. I purchased this unit in Dec. ‘23. I used it maybe 10 times within the first year because I found that moving all the obstacles before vacuuming was a bit of a hassle, and also it just didn’t compare to my push vacuum in performance. I did like the fact that it was able to get in difficult spots, such as under the beds. A couple weeks shy of its one year warranty date it lost its suction. After some degree of difficulty in reaching customer service, a lengthy amount of time on the phone, and photos sent via email, diagnostics were run remotely and they determined that there was an issue with the base. A new base was sent in a timely manner and they offered to extend my warranty by three months.After setting up the new base I ran a quick run of one bedroom. The robot would not seal adequately enough to the new base to provide enough suction to empty the bin and I got an error message. Again, I went through the same lengthy process with customer service and it was determined that the entire unit needed to be replaced. My warranty on the original robot was now within a couple days of expiring so I asked if they would still honor the three month extension. After checking with supervision they informed me that since they were replacing the entire unit they would not be able to honor any further warranty on the new unit. Ok. New unit. It should last a while, right?The new robot arrived, again, in a timely manner. It set up easily and I mapped the house and vacuumed without difficulty. A month later I went to vacuum and I got a message that the unit was unavailable because the software was being upgraded but would be available shortly. Three days later it was still displaying the same message. I rebooted several times. Nothing. I finally resorted to a factory reset and now I can’t connect to the robot at all. I’ve since done some online research and there is a definite trend here with issues occurring during software upgrades. Folks are being run through hoops via customer service only to be told that there is no fix, but…get this…they are offering 50 whole dollars toward a new unit. No joke. Check Reddit. I call b.s.Save yourself the aggravation, time and expense and vacuum the old fashion way. This thing has not been worth it, IMHO.

This will clean your floors 90% of the time, everytime. This robot vacuum works fantastic. The app is easy to use and interface with and gives you lots of information. It maps your house very thoroughly and gives you information on how much dirt is in whatever location. This is like the terminator of robot vacuums. Yes of courses we all know you still have to do some slight cleaning by yourselves because the robot cannot get into tight corners and what not but I would say that it does a very thorough job. Now there are different settings on it like the suction, so it is noticeably quieter when you have it set the lower suction setting, but the higher suction setting actually vacuums better. But then at the same time sacrificing battery life. I prefer to use the higher setting because the robot will go back home and recharge and the cleaning once it’s charged and keep doing that until it’s finished with the entire floor of your house. This works fabulous especially if you have pets. This model is designed for that. So you can say “hasta la vista” to dirt. The dog is occasionally mildly amused by it, and the cat completely ignores it. I was kind of hoping the cat would ride around on it like a speeder on Endor, but he seems to consider it more of an irrelevant nuisance. I highly suggest this product and it works great. Very satisfied.

Edit 6/5/24: This model is advertised as being able to avoid pet waste, IT DOESN'T! One of my cats vomited a significant amount of freshly eaten dry cat food. It was a pile as big as or bigger than a pile of poo. This robot ran right over it. It was a disgusting mess to clean out of the rollers and dust bin. Also, the camera is so low resolution that you can't make out what it took a picture of when reviewing its activity for avoidance training. The camera requires a good amount of light so I've had to resort to programming my smart home lights to turn on during scheduled cleaning times (in the middle of the day) so the robot can "see" where it's going.I have been a Dyson person for the last 10 years and I really wanted the new Dyson Vis Nav but it’s currently unavailable and the price is astronomical. That got me looking at Roomba. All the positive reviews can’t be wrong and I got mine for $300 below MSRP right here on Amazon. I like how well it mapped my home! It’s really accurate. I have not had it long enough to comment on all of the features such as Dirt Detective but there are a few things I can comment on. I feel it could use stronger suction. I’m using it on hardwood floors and I want it to get stray cat litter. It picks up most cat litter but a lot of granules get left behind in the roller chamber. Also when the Roomba docks and attempts to empty itself it never fully gets all the litter out of the dust bin in the Roomba. It seems to get all the cat hair and regular dirt/dust with no issue though. Battery life is also very good. It is able to vacuum my entire house on one charge. Run time seems a bit long (2 hrs) but that may improve as it learns more about my house. I don’t really care too much about run time as I have it set to do it’s thing while I’m at work and it’s done by the time I get home. I plan to keep my eyes on Dyson though. As they improve their robot and add features I’ll probably jump ship. Theirs has the power of an upright vacuum and it has a permanent washable filter. Also no bags to deal with. For now this is a good machine to get my feet wet in the robotic realm.