iRobotRoomba 960 Robot Vacuum Cleaner, WiFi Connected and Programmable via App, Silver

I pondered the purchase of a robot vacuum for a long time, thinking it'd be a gimmick at best. Decided to go for the market leader and hope for the best.I'm very impressed, Roomba finds corners and bits under furniture that frankly I tend to miss and with two messy kids, coming down in the morning to a clean floor is worth every penny spent.Depending on the level of mess, he cleans a 25sqM kitchen and living room floor in 30-40 minutes, and finds his way back to the charger with half a charge or more to spare. He's only got stuck once, on a cable that was accidentally left on the floor, but in unsolvable situations he just gives up and pops a message on my phone.The dirt detector I thought was going to be a gimmick, but actually if you look at the reports after the clean it seems totally accurate, always finding the most mess near the kitchen bin or near entrances, or trapped in our rug. Watching him carefully circle the base of the Christmas tree when we set it up and pick up every dropped needle was almost worth the purchase price alone. The 971 isn't even top of the range in terms of intelligence, but it's amazing how well he works.He jumps on and off our fluffy rug with ease and even manages to get onto the recessed back door mat. In terms of suction he is no Dyson but actually picks up things from hard and soft floors alike as well as my cordless vax.Once a week we pop him on the upper floors where he does equally well, If you start him off away from the charging station he just finishes up where he started. So aside from anyone making a total mess, that's the vacuuming done for a 3-story house aside from the stairs.Build quality is super impressive, and with two long haired girls in the household I was thankful to see the rollers not pick up loads of hair (and if they did then they are super easy to remove and clear). I'm an engineer at heart, and it pleases me to see that iRobot still support the very first versions from 20 years ago, so that's massively reassuring when rollers and brushes or batteries do wear out.In summary, if you think Roomba is going to be more hassle than it's worth then stop worrying. This is a quality product obviously designed by a rare company that's still led by engineering. I'll make it even more clear....if Apple made robot vacuums, they'd buy iRobot.One little tip, the bin full sensors do need a little wipe over when you empty the bin, forget to do this, and it's likely you'll get the bin full light on very quickly. Wipe the sides and the tops of the two square bits on the lid you open to empty the bin each time and all will be well. It's a small bin but Roomba is designed to operate little and often, I find he can manage about 3 cleans of that 25sqM floorspace before needing to be emptied, but the first time you use him in a room expect him to find a lot more and fill up quickly.

Whilst waiting for our new Roomba to charge, we immediately named it Boris - couldn't resist!Introducing Boris to Alexa was really easy and only took a couple of minutes to set up. Now when we need the floors cleaning, we either let Alexa give him his instructions, or we use the iRobot app, or we simply press his buttons!It couldn't be easier and there are no difficult instructions to follow.We use Boris downstairs to clean a kitchen, two rooms and a hallway; upstairs he cleans three bedrooms, a bathroom and a landing.Our flooring is 80% vinyl 20% carpet and he handles everything perfectly and without complaint. It took him three to four goes to work out the best pattern of cleaning but he gets cleverer (and a little faster) each go.When he's on the ground floor, he returns to his charger when the clean is finished; upstairs he stops when he's done and gives a beep to let you know he needs feeding again!He's very easy to keep clean and emptying his bin is a 'doddle' and he's much more efficient than I expected him to be!When we first discussed getting a robot cleaner I have to say I was very sceptical, however what a great decision it's been. We researched many different brands and decided on the Roomba.Boris is extremely efficient, well behaved, surprisingly quick to re-charge and hasn't yet run out of energy on a clean. And when he's done he quietly goes back to his charger and shuts down.Really pleased with this purchase! 5*

This is the second robot vacuum cleaner I have owned, the first being an LG Hombot and there are both good and bad points in comparison to my last one.The good points;- it has good suction and copes well with the dog and cat hairs. I have 2 large very hairy German shepherds and 3 cats which is why I bought it. That means a lot of mud in the winter. I also have pets in the garden and the mess eg pet bedding always seems to find it's way into the house the Roomba copes well will all of this.- it's easy to maintain, the filters are easy to clean and replace and the rollers are easy to clean.- because it's round it turns around in tight spaces. My Hombot was square and got stuck more often but it got into the corners better.- it seems very robust I've had it 6 months and it's vacuumed every day without any major problems. And in my house that is a lot of pet hairs and dirt.Could do better;-the bin is awkward to pull out and if it is full it makes a mess on the floor as you do so. The Hombot had the bin on top so you lifted it out which was much easier and less messy.-if it gets stuck and you have to restart it it seems to forget where it's already been and start again, or it will go straight back to where it got stuck and get stuck again.- it does not seem to have a predictable or logical route, it will do half a room then go and do another then come back and carry on where it left off. which seems a bit ludicrous and is very annoying when I am trying to keep the dogs out of it's way.- it's a bit of a shame it doesn't learn the places to avoid but perhaps you need a more expensive model for that feature.- when you send it back to the base it often doesn't make it.- when the battery is low it often seems to keep going until it's flat rather than going back to recharge.Despite the 'could do betters' (which are annoying but don't detract from the overall performance) it does the job well and I wouldn't be without it. My house looks so much better for having a thorough vacuum every morning before I even get up!.