iRobot Vacuum and Mop Combo Review

iRobot's new Combo J7+ robot is the first combination vacuum/mop. It's similar to a Roomba and comes with similar rug-avoiding smarts, but the mop's self-filling feature makes it compatible with more cleaning solutions.

If you ask it to mop using the iRobot Home voice assistant or app, a tiny robot arm will emerge of the base. The robot will only deploy the mops when it is aware of an un-porous surface. They avoid dragging over carpets and rugs.

Features

A robot vacuum mop and broom can be a useful device to keep floors clean, without having to rely on a broom and a Swiffer. It cleans up sticky messes and helps keep dirt at bay, meaning you don't need to worry about the mess building up in areas that are heavily used, such as kitchens or mudrooms. It also does a better job cleaning hard floors using an air-tight vacuum than a regular vacuum by itself.

Most irobot vacuum and mop combos are designed to work on both hard floors and carpeting, so they're the best choice if have a variety of flooring types in your home. The best models include features that allow you to control how often the robot cleans and how powerful it is. Certain models also feature automatic emptying and can be controlled by voice.

iRobot's most popular robot vacuum and mop combo is the J7 Combo+, which can be transformed into a fully-featured robot cleaner by pressing one button. Its features include the same advanced obstacle avoidance as the j7 plus new onboard acoustic sensors that assist in determining the floor type. When in mop mode, the mop will only be activated when it detects hard flooring like tile or wood It does not go over area rugs or carpeting. I've tried numerous times to trick the J7 Combo+ into deploying over the rug, but it always backed up and then returned to where it had left off.

It's not as fast at picking up fine particles of dust that a vacuum could be unable to, but it's perfect for removing dried milk stains. It has a mopping pad which is easy to refill.

The J7 Combo+ is a little cheaper than other robot vacuum and mop combinations however, it's still quite expensive for a basic one. It's limited in terms of battery capacity and life, so it must return to the dock to recharge between cleaning sessions. You'll also need to manually move the machine to a new room after each cleaning session. Its small size and absence of an option to schedule it means that it can only clean 200 square feet.

Design

The app lets you schedule and track cleaning tasks and also create "clean zones" and "keep out zones". You can also control robots using the app or via voice activation using the smart speaker of choice. They have a variety of options for power and can detect obstacles to aid in navigation.

The Combo J9+ is a great mop and vacuum. It does a fantastic job in both. It picks up dirt, crumbs and fur. It also uses SmartScrub to scrub the floor with consistent pressure for deeper cleaning of stubborn messes such as coffee and grime. Dirt Detective, which learns from previous cleaning mission, prioritizes the rooms with more dirt to ensure they receive an extensive cleaning.

In addition to the features found on iRobot's regular robotic vacuum that include an extension telescopic and dual rubber brushes, the Combo J7+ comes with an intelligent mopping system that raises the pad when it comes into contact with carpet or area rug. This prevents Shop the IRobot Roomba j7 with Dual Rubber Brushes carpets from getting wet, and makes cleaning simpler. It is the first robot that is able to mop and vacuum any type of floor which makes it a great alternative for people with floors that are a mix of soft and hard floors.

The Combo J7+ is like the regular Roomba J7 robot vacuum, with a sleek black plastic body and brushed aluminum circular top piece bearing the iRobot logo. The water reservoir is in the rear, with the mop pad is at the bottom. The app informs you when the tank has to be emptied or filled.

The Combo J9+ is connected to the Wi-Fi network in your home and features onboard sensors for obstacle avoidance and navigation. It tracks usage data, including the frequency it moves around the house and also maps and image data, but it does not use this information to sell or share it with third-party companies without your permission. The company's Privacy Principles are available on its website.

Cleaning Performance

A good robot vacuum and mop will save you a lot of time and keep your floors in a fairly well-maintained condition for the majority of time. It's still necessary to pull out a traditional mop when you have difficult stains or spots that are extremely dirty however this is much less often than you'd otherwise need to do with a standalone vacuum cleaner or a standard bucket of water and a brush. It's a great option for areas that are prone to traffic or that are extra dirty, like bathrooms, kitchens and bathrooms and mudrooms.

If you need more advanced cleaning capabilities, consider a dedicated mopping robot. These are made of a microfiber an empty reservoir filled with clean water and a scrubbing motion to remove dirt. They're more efficient than a vacuum. Some of these models, like our upgraded pick, Braava Jet M6, even sprays detergent into the pad to give it a more thorough clean.

The biggest drawback to mop-only machines is that it can't do anything with carpets or area rug. If a robot comes across these surfaces while in mop or vacuum modes it will lower its pad to prevent getting the surface wet. This also means that it won't be able to navigate around them unless you set up separate 'clean zones' as well as 'keep out zones' in the app.

Combination robots can do better in this regard, and we particularly recommend our top choice, the iRobot Braava j7+ Combo. It works much like a normal j7 vacuum but it also comes with a wet mop that it deploys when it spots hard flooring. It is more aggressive than other robots when it comes to crossing rugs and thresholds. However, it is able to back off when it encounters these obstacles, instead of trying to mop them.

If you really want to be hands-free with your cleaning, you'll need a robotic vacuum that can learn your floor layout and navigate between rooms without assistance (our upgrade choice is the iRobot Braava Jet M6) or a model that uses the lidar navigation system (like the Roborock S5 Max). You may also need to set up clean zones and 'keep-out zones in the app to make sure it knows where furniture is.

Cost

A robot vacuum that also acts as a mop is excellent way to keep your floors. It's more expensive than a stand-alone robot mop or a separate vacuum. The cost will depend on whether you're looking for a premium model that has mapping technology that lets it understand the structure of your house and clean every room without running out of battery power. This feature is a must-have for those who have rugs and carpets in your home, and the more recent Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni or Roborock S8 Pro Ultra are the best models that come with this capability.

You should also consider the dimensions of your floor and the number of rooms that need to be mopped and vacuumed. Smaller rooms require smaller robots. It is possible to make do with a device that can vacuum or mop but not both. irobot Near me Combo J7+, for example, is a great upgrade that bundles a dedicated mop for robots with its top-rated Roomba, and costs less than what a standalone mop like the Braava jet M6 costs.

The Combo j7 Plus also includes the iRobot Clean Station, which auto-empties the dirty mop water from the tank that is full. The base isn't available in the standard version of the j7 and has to be purchased separately. This is partly why the combo robot is priced at $1,099, as it's not part of the standard model.

The j7+'s design is sleek and modern and is almost exactly like the fad Roomba i7 vacuum. This is what makes it such an attractive choice for vacuum-mop hybrids. However, it does lack certain key features that other mop-only bots have. For instance, it does not have the same powerful 8,300Pa suction that iRobot's vacuums have. It does not have the automatic mop pad washing feature which is becoming more commonplace in high-end mop robots. You can purchase an add-on that washes your mop pad when not in use. This will stop the pads from drying out and becoming messy. The j7+ is excellent value and is among our top robots to clean your floors.