The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

robot vacuum with self empty vacuums sweep pet hair, dust and lint off floors before they can settle. They also can avoid obstacles like stairs and other obstructions such as furniture that is tippy.

Most robotic vacuums require maintenance, like self emptying robot vacuum (and occasionally, rinsing) the bin, and wiping cameras and sensors. Also, they need to be connected to a power source. Many come with smartphone apps for scheduling, setting up settings and more.

Roomba 960 from iRobot

The iRobot Roomba 980 is the most recent in the series of top-of-the-line robot vacuum cleaners that are an essential part in any modern home. This model is equipped with a HEPA-filter that will assist those who suffer from allergies. It also comes with a large battery that can clean for two hours before returning to its dock automatically once the bin is full.

It also comes with the feature of smart mapping, which makes use of multiple sensors to help it determine the areas of your home that need attention and then create a clean path around them. We've seen this technology in action and it does a good job of moving around toys that are placed on the floor, or furniture legs that are sticking out from under the furniture. Roomba also has a sensor that will snap Roomba back to reality when it begins to move away from its original location.

iRobot also added the option of rolling rollers under the Roomba which do not have bristles which makes them more likely to avoid the tangles that previous models. These rollers are also taller and can be tucked under low couches or beds. They're designed to make this model more movable on various flooring types.

What sets the Roomba 980 apart from other models with a higher-end price tag, though, is its integration of the new dirt detection feature that uses cameras to identify particles of dirt embedded. This is a nice improvement over the previous version, robot vacuum with self empty which relied on the sensor-driven pseudorandom coverage method to bounce around a room and clean at minimum three times from various angles.

The Roomba 980 performed well in our tests on carpets and hard floors. Its score on low pile carpet was very good and it also scored a excellent score on mid pile too. It did a decent job of removing pet hair, but it had a difficult time with extremely thick and long pet fur that was clumped together.

Despite these slight limitations, the Roomba 980 remains one of our most efficient robots, and it's not even nearly as expensive as the other top-of-the-line models on this list. It's got plenty of features we'd expect to see in a flagship model however it lacks all the fancy apps or smart home integration that are found in other top contenders.

The iRobot Roomba is simple to set up and start running right away. After you have removed the pull tab for the battery and the yellow bin insert from its undercarriage, all you have to connect it to its Home Base docking station or an outlet on the wall, press its large "Clean" button, and let it get to work. It will automatically return to its dock when it has run out of battery or is full of debris. There are also indicators at the top of the bin that let you know when the bin is empty, when it requires recharging, or when it loses Wi-Fi.