iRobot Roomba i4+ EVO (4552) Robot Vacuum with Automatic Dirt Disposal - Empties Itself for up to 60 Days, Wi-Fi Connected Mapping, Compatible with Alexa, Ideal for Pet Hair, Carpets

First, full disclosure: we have 2 medium size (25 lb) dogs and yes. They shed. The i4 was our solution to cleaning up after them daily. We figured it would be a step up from our Dyson which has maybe a 15 min battery life. We were wrong. I occasionally unplug the base so I can plug something else in for an hour or two. The unit loses roughly 50% of its charge. So the solution to that is…. NEVER unplug the base/charger. It does a great job of cleaning up standard dirt/dust. But it typically just gathers up dog hair and leaves small clumps that I then have to walk around and pick up. The real kicker is, it’s maybe 5-6 months old and we suddenly get an error message. We followed the troubleshooting steps on iRobot’s site and even took the unit apart to ensure NOTHING under the hood was blocked, stuck, not functioning, etc.. We cleaned out the dust bin, replaced the air filter, ensured the cleaning module had zero obstructions, etc.. Nothing fixed the issue. So iRobot’s solution is to replace the cleaning head module for $65-$70…. despite the fact that there is NOTHING wrong with the one currently in the unit. It’s entirely possible the one we got was just defective. And that happens. But In the end, I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with dogs (or cats). It just doesn’t seem cut out for dog hair.

This is my first robot vacuum and I was surprised that, for as long as robot vacuums have been around, the lack of suction on this vacuum, we’ll, sucks. There are several little pieces of leaves or grass that are still there after this vacuum goes over and over and over. Also, it didn’t really occur to me how antiquated it is to use vacuum bags again. I think we’ve moved on from the vacuum bag era. to offer a container that can be emptied once full seems like a better value to me. I would not recommend buying this vacuum.

I’ve only had it plugged in for a day, and when I hand carry it to an area for it to clean, it does a pretty good job. When I first plugged it in, it cleaned the same 3 ft.² of my kitchen four times. There was nothing blocking it, it just kept doing the same area over and over. Vacuums are always going to be loud, and the Roomba itself is relatively loud. But when it empties the receptacle, it sounds like a plane taking off. As suggested from the app you have to download, I’ve been trying to get it to make a smart map of my house, which has four bedrooms. It never gets past the living room, before it just stops with a red light error. I wish the manual explained what all the errors are. It will just say error 69. Or error 99. I just hit the clear the button, and it will start again. Without the map, I can’t set it up like I intended. Hopefully in the next few days, I can get it working as I hoped it would work.

I love Roombas...Ive had 3 over the years, and they are great if you have the right setup for them. Doesnt eliminate vacuuming entirely but really spreads it out, especially in main areas. My problem with this one is that I bought the base that empties itself, and had no idea it requires disposable bags! They are expensive! I would never have bought it had I realized that - I hate dealing with disposable bags, and its completely unnecessary. I would rather dump it out myself. They could definitely design this with something you wouldnt have to replace when you empty it. This just seems like a money grab to me. Save your money and get the version without the self-emptying bin that requires expensive refills every time.

Oh My Lanta I dont think Ive been this happy about a vacuum ever! The whole time it was mapping my house and cleaning at the same time just made my day! I cant stop smiling! It did a fantastic job cleaning and mapped my house pretty impressively! The app is really easy to use too! Best Purchase EVER!!!! Adding an Edit: I also wanted to point out that I do have hardwood floors, that do have runner rugs all throughout the house and my Roomba does great with transitioning from hardwood to carpet. I didnt have a problem with it connecting to my WIFI or with the App. It does say that it takes a couple times cleaning to map out your house just right. But after the first time my Roomba cleaned it had mapped out my house pretty nicely. If I could Id give my Roomba 10 stars!!

I bought this Roomba i4+ because Amazon was having a sale and I was curious if it would freak out my dog. When it arrived, I set it up according to the very simple instructions contained in a booklet included in the box. The instructions may have been a bit too simple, though, because they neglected to explain - for example - that Roomba cant connect to 5Ghz wifi networks. They wait to let the mobile app tell you that after the robot has failed to connect to wifi three or four times and you finally click on the (tiny) Help Me icon at the bottom of the screen. Anyway I finally got it set up, but for $400 it was not nearly as smooth a process as it should be. Once everything was finally working, I pushed the button in the app to make the little robot go clean my apartment. It rolled off the charging deck with a cute little chirp, looked around for a moment, and then made a beeline directly for my fireplace. The fireplace is closed off by a cover, but the floor around it is lower than the floor in the rest of the room. The Roomba app assured me that this would not be a problem, because Roomba can handle slight elevation changes like that. Well, maybe some Roombas can handle it, but my little guy could not. It threw itself into the fireplace and immediately got stuck there, whirring around in noisy little circles for approximately fifteen minutes until it finally gave up and sent a notification to my app that it needed help. I picked it up and repositioned it away from the fireplace. It thanked me with another happy little chirp and whirled around it what I took to be a little dance of joy at its newfound freedom. Then it turned and threw itself directly back into the fireplace. It did this six more times. Finally, I wised up and put a bunch of heavy objects around the fireplace so it would not be able to get back in there (despite several of its best efforts). The Roomba then decided to clean under my coffee table. Finally, it was working as intended! But then I got a notification that, with less than a quarter of the room vacuumed, my Roomba was done. It was returning to its charging station. Only instead of returning to its charging station, it repeatedly slammed itself into a wall approximately six feet away from its charging station. I assumed it would eventually figure out it was in the wrong place, and I let it do its thing while I went into another room. When I came back an hour later, it was powered down in more or less the same place, apparently having died in the middle of an effort to climb up the wall itself. I put it back on flat ground, turned it back on (the battery wasnt dead after all - not even close, actually), and watched as it tried again. It did a 180, went to the exact opposite side of the room, did a few circles, and then finally seemed to figure out where it was. It then, at long last, returned to its charging station, having successfully cleaned perhaps 25% of my small living room. It was all kind of funny to watch, and Ill probably use it again just for laughs. But as a cleaning product it is definitely not worth $400. Oh, and also - the dog didnt show any interest in it at all.

We use this unit in our upstairs with 3 carpeted bedrooms sitting area. I gave it a 3 on the noise level because it is LOUD when it empties. It is reasonably quiet while vacuuming. Battery life is not great, but given all the moving parts, this is probably expected for the size of the area it has to clean. As other comments indicate, it will get hung up on area rugs. I would not recommend it if area rugs have tassles or fringe, or are particularly thick. I bought another one from a big box retailer. Slightly different model but works the same and has the same parts. Ive had no problems with connectivity, or reporting with either. The mapping feature works great and keeps it from taking a dive off the steps.

What a waste of money. I thought I was upgrading from a much cheaper off brand, but definitely not. We have a very simple ~2000 sq ft first floor and this device couldn’t handle it. After over 5 hours of mapping, where it couldn’t find its way through four foot passage ways to the other side of the house, this pile of junk canceled the mapping and disregarded all the data it had collected on its own. Wtf?? It cancelled itself? Disregarded all mapping data it had collected?? How is that possible? And watching it, I can’t believe the way it went about itself. It always made the wrong choose of direction. It was like a child was driving it. I started it at 5pm and found it the next morning dead and half on its base. Makes no sense. It literally couldn’t even align itself to the charging pads. Every time I run it since, it gets lost and can’t seem to make it home. Even when I explicitly send it home. I’ve even gone so far and closed all doors in our house so it has a smaller space and it still doesn’t return home.

This product is probably good for the average user, however, for me, it just doesn’t work. My American Eskimo shed so much that the vacuum can’t pick it up.

I have two dogs and wood floors. I use it everyday to clean up the dog hair