iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ Self-Emptying & Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop – Multi-Functional Base Refills Bin and Empties Itself, Vacuums and Mops Without Needing to Avoid Carpets, Avoids Obstacles​

iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ Self-Emptying & Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop PROS: Product shipped and arrived very quickly - that's the best part of this review. Nice basic features like NO MOP zones and NO GO ZONES, decent object detection. CONS: You can return it within 30 days, but don’t expect a refund on the return for about 3 weeks. In my case, this is on, not iRobot. Wasn’t a big deal to me, but if you are low on cash and want to purchase a different one it’ll be a while. Device rams everything in your house and tries to push walls and furniture 3 or 4 times before it continues onward. Literally bounces off once, then twice, then three times. By the time the Roomba was finished mapping my house it looked like it was 4 years old; was scratched and scuffed up all around. I thought maybe this was limited to mapping, but it turns out it did it all the time, no matter what. It couldn’t find the base ½ the time and I would have to pick it up and put in the base unless I wanted some humor and I’d let it run for 30 minutes missing it’s ramp by 1/3 of an inch and then driving in circles and trying repeatedly just to fail. This robot could get lost in the packaging it was sent it. All my major issues started with communication errors on the base and off the base. After those settled down came the major issues as it told me the suction system was clogged. I checked it and it was a little dirty, but nothing obstructed it completely. After that the final death error was filter clogged and need to be changed. Changed the filter and nothing, reset everything same error. I believe the code was error code 30, but not 100% sure as it has been a bit. Mopping is horrible - it's like taking a wash rag and mopping your whole house while spraying cleaner down. The floor had streaks all over it and numerous missed spots and trails. Vacuuming was pretty good when it would run which wasn't very long, but not the best. Final thoughts: I have researched many vacuuming and mopping robots. I have concluded that even though they are the same make and model, some of them are great and some of them are total flops and pieces of junk. So, you may have the same Roomba I just wrote about, and it is running perfectly and doing a great job. You may decide to purchase one and it works great, or you may decide to purchase one and it’s just like mine. Roll the dice? Just remember the refund period is long. If you research other manufacturers, you’ll see the same results. Some say theirs is EXCELLENT and some say theirs are total pieces of junk. I think all the companies need a better QA or something.

The J9+ Combo is one of the only two robots currently on the market that purport to be able to keep medium-pile carpets/rugs dry. The other is the Dreame L20 Ultra. I got both and pitted them head-to-head. The J9 is the only one that succeeded in this goal. Note, others, like Ecovacs and Roborocks can't lift their mop pad high enough to clear medium pile carpet. I've been using the J9+ daily for 2 months now, and it has performed fantastically; and I've been using top-end robots from several manufacturers for many years. Unlike others, it created a perfect map on the first try, has never gotten stuck, detects/respects rugs, and avoids objects well. Pros: • Great mopping performance. Got off stubborn stains in less passes consistently in numerous mopping tests of different substances, such as dirt, sauce, milk, batter, cocoa, etc. (see measured test for example) • Great vacuuming performance. In my embedded rice test on shag rug, Roomba J9+ picked up 64%, compared to 42% from the L20. • Great mapping (see pics) and navigation. Just detects and handles rugs properly. Efficient pathing, never misses a spot. I don't recommend doing a mapping run. I just did an initial "Clean Everywhere" with only vacuum, and that produced a perfect map, and did so just as fast as when the map is already in place. Tested and compared mapping on a total of 5 floors across 2 homes. • More conservative object avoidance, probably owing to the P.O.O.P. guarantee. I don't need this and prefer more aggressive, but might be important for some users. • Less obtrusive dock. • Can clean under drapes and bed skirts, and not befuddled by glass doors and mirrors, like LiDAR-based bots. • Quick and easy to replace pads. Stored in dock. Recommend buying 12 more for ~$40 then only need to wash once a month. • Less long-term maintenance. Changing a pad on the top of the bot, from a stash stored in the dock, seems less work than: dumping dirty water, cleaning bottom of dock, refilling clean water 4x as often, and replacing pads every 1-3 months, as with L20. • Less complex, less mechanisms to break down (LiDAR, self-cleaning, self-drying). • Runs immediately, doesn't have to take time to wash pads first. • Cleans faster. • Quieter when not running (no dryer hum). • Simple procedure to clean unknown room: 1) Carry to target room and press button; 2) it will immediately clean whole room and return to where it started. • Can co-exist with active family. You can walk around it while it works, and it's quiet when it's not working. • App is better designed and efficient. Can do everything in less steps. No limited combinations of settings. Can clean favorites, zones, custom rooms, everything, with Google Assistant voice control. • Works on 5GHz Wi-Fi. • Good object detection of cords and backpack straps (even low-contrast), as long as they are not stretched out in a line. Cons: • Would not mop bathroom unless I removed mats. No indication of why. Guessing there needs to be a certain amount of available hard floor to deploy mop. • Doesn't mop within 2" of edges. • More frequent bumping. Doesn't bother me, but can be disconcerting to others. Doesn't do any damage. • Doesn't navigate well in the dark, however does work reliably in some cases, such as cleaning my kitchen. • A little louder, both bot and base. Measured 65db for base empty, vs 60db on L20. • Eats stretched out cords (no matter the contrast) • Leaves too wide of a berth around obstacles, typically 1'. • Each time switching to the app takes about 5 seconds to connect. • No spot clean button! • Mop arm elbow sharp and close to ground. When on a side angle due to one wheel on fireplace hearth, possibly ripped off piece of my floorboard that might have been sticking up a bit. Resolve by no mop zone around raised areas. • No Android widget. • Recommended to change mop pad after each use.

6-Month Review: Disappointing Experience with the Roomba Combo j9+ I purchased the Roomba Combo j9+ Self-Emptying & Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum & Mop with high expectations, but unfortunately, my experience has been nothing short of disappointing. After only six months of use, the vacuum stopped working entirely. Performance: Initially, the vacuum performed well, offering decent cleaning on both hard floors and carpets. The mop feature was a nice touch, but not as effective as I had hoped. However, the excitement was short-lived, as the device began to malfunction. First, it started missing spots, then the cleaning power seemed to weaken. Despite resetting the unit and troubleshooting, it completely stopped working before the 6-month mark. Issues with Features: The self-emptying and auto-fill features, which were major selling points for me, worked only intermittently. At first, the vacuum would empty itself into the bin, but soon this feature failed. Additionally, the auto-fill function for mopping stopped working properly after a few uses, making the mop less effective and more of a hassle. Durability: The fact that the product failed within such a short period is deeply concerning. For the price, I expected better durability and longevity. I’ve had multiple issues with connectivity, and it often gets stuck in corners, which leads to even more frustration. Customer Service: I contacted customer support, hoping to resolve the issue, but the process has been slow and unhelpful. I’m still waiting for a resolution, and I am left with a product that no longer functions as advertised. Overall, I am extremely disappointed with the Roomba Combo j9+. It didn’t live up to expectations in terms of both performance and reliability, especially for a high-end model. I would not recommend this product based on my experience, as it simply didn’t last long enough to justify its cost.

Got this shortly after it was released. I’ve had many versions of the iRobot over the years. It was a bumpy start with this one in the beginning, but everything seems resolved and since I bought it 9 months ago. Within a month or two of getting it: 1) It stopped refilling. TS had me reset it to fix that. 2) Then the arm stopped working and I returned it. A) the dock was broke on the return, they had to resend a new one. Since then the robot is much more reliable, seldom gets stuck and returns to the dock at least 95 percent of the time. The good. 1) It cleans well. It’s not a deep clean. But since I have it mop 5 days a week in high traffic areas and 2 days in low traffic, I only do a manual mop and vacuum once every month or two at the most. 2) love the autofill option 3) The phone ap and navigation work well and remind you when it’s time to replace or clean items. What could be improved? 1) The refill tank opening is a bit small. Its a pain to refill, but that only needs to be done maybe once every 6 weeks or so for me. 2) A mop only option would be nice. 3) The refill options available from manufacture make more sense on the other robots. Why can’t I get a roller package that includes filters for this one. I have started getting 3rd party replacements because of this 4) The pad maintenance reminder is way too far apart. IMHO opinion this should be cleaned every few mopping uses. Unrelated note on latest release of product: I’m not sure why they released a self cleaning model. The mop pad just goes in the wash machine and it’s good to go. It only takes 30 seconds to remove the old one and put a clean one in. Unless you have kids or dogs that drag in mud regularly I don’t see this as being a necessary feature. I haven’t noticed that the dock itself gets dirty so I don’t see why the dock needs self cleaning.

I am changing my review of this product from a 1* to 3*. The company has been very responsive to my concerns since I left a 1* review. They sent me a replacement, and an American contact. iRobot has replaced the original unit, and is now replacing that one. So, I would give them 5 stars for caring, at least about 1* reviews! Still, the product itself does not warrant 5 stars. The two units I have tried, so far, have each had battery charging issues. I will re-edit this review after using the 3rd one for a month. The battery on both units have been difficult to recharge after a full job, or often when completing a job. Sometimes, the app shows that the unit is charging, but it stays at “critical low” for hours. I regularly wipe down the contacts with a melamine pad and that often helps, but the charge time is still several hours. Though it will return to its base to recharge during a cleaning, it only tries to recharge for a fixed period of time, then if any juice is available, after that time elapses it will try to try to finish the job, unless the battery is at “critical low.” Because the battery is not fully charged it does not run very long after restarting the job, and must return to recharge soon. I still have serious issues with customer service reps. First of all, they are usually very difficult to understand due to English not being there primary language. The “wait time” to speak with a rep has improved significantly from the often 1 hour that was happening in January. However, the company does not allow the customer reps to think, but requires them to go through a checklist even when it doesn’t apply. For example, if I call to ask about the battery taking a long time to recharge, they want me to go through the steps of ensuring that my electric outlet and WiFi are working properly. This occurs even when I have connectivity with the app, the app shows that the unit is charging, the rep can see from their end that it is charging, which, of course, it would not be charging if not gettting power! They are not allowed to start troubleshooting after the steps confirming that the unit is getting power. The reps might as well be robots! Also, it is impossible to speak with someone with a higher level of understanding of the product than a first level person who only knows how to answer rudimentary questions, and can read the documentation. I have asked for more detailed information about many aspects and get incorrect answers, rather than admitting that they just are not familiar with this model. I get different answers from different reps, many assuming “operator error” as the main cause of any issue! When the unit runs it does a decent job of vacuuming and mopping. The pad for the mop is very small, especially for a 1800 foot space. The unit is usually successful at refilling its on-board tank from the base unit. The tank on the base unit is large and will last for several weeks, even when used several times per week. The second unit came with a misaligned door on the base. Instead of believing that the rep insisted that it was just new and the door would open/shut more easily over time. Time does not remedy a misalignment, and there is no way to just take off the door or replace it. Hopefully, they will really look at this issue when I return the unit. I hope to be able to give this product a more favorable review after using the 3rd iteration for a month. I encourage anyone purchasing this product, to also buy an extended warranty!

Pro’s -Base is compact and looks nice. -Once it’s done 2 mapping runs and the keep out zones are adjusted you can pretty much just let it do its thing and not worry about it. -Vacuum and mop performance is very good, even with a shedding Golden Retriever in the house. -Obstacle avoidance is really really good. -I know it’s manufactured in China, but it’s an American company, and that makes a difference to me. -Changing the mop pad is no more work than emptying the dirty water, and I know the mop pad and base are always clean. -My 4th Roomba and the best so far. Con’s -You have to be pretty obsessive with it for the first 2 days. You need to unclutter the house, let it do 2 complete mapping runs, and spend some time creating and adjusting keep out zones. -Bathroom Mats are a problem. Keep out zones haven’t been the answer for me. I don’t know if the answer is taping them down, picking them up before each run, or just letting them get moved around by the robot. It’s not a completely frustration free process to get the J9+ Combo set up, but once it is set up, it’s nearly perfect. It cleans very well, picks up dog hair, mops well and consistently finishes every job without getting stuck. Auto empty vacuum and auto fill mop functions are great. I really don’t mind washing and changing the mop pad, I think it’s probably better than hoping the machine cleans the mop, and then having to empty the dirty water and clean the base. Everything seems to be made in China, but buying from an American company appeals to me. Roomba’s are really easy to replace parts when needed. I Really like this robot, I’m glad I sent back the Roborock Q-Revo and bought this. The Q-Revo had all the bells and whistles, but the vacuum performance was terrible, obstacle avoidance was awful, and the build quality wasn’t great. I think this is the best Roomba yet. It’s not perfect and is a little frustrating for the first couple days, but the effort has been worth it. It works flawlessly every day. I hope Jarvis will continue working well and be my new helper for many years.

Good Things: -the app is reasonably full featured -makes automating tasks easy -I do honestly like the concept of the dock. It gives the roomba a home, a place to put all the accessories. -dock station empties the Roomba so there is almost no need to refill the robot -I do like the mop. It's very limited in ability, but even just a small wet layer helps every so often to keep dust down. -enough battery to hit my entire apartment ~1000sf -mapping of the rooms works pretty well Bad Things: -80% of the time does not dock. This is the real deal breaker. It will roll into the dock, but be 1 inch off and never charge. Then fail to work later. Forums say it's a sensor or contact issue and I've cleaned it many times. -10% of the time it will get stuck. A chair, a bump, anything with string will destroy it (shoes, shorts, bags). It will also get stuck on tile. Moisture will cause the wheels to lose traction and it will just spin in circles until it gives up. I swear every other day the roomba is missing and it has found a way to hide itself somewhere in my apartment. I actually will not run it in my bedroom unless I am physically home to monitor it since it will 99% of the time find something to get stuck on. -it will never avoid obstacles. it just hits them. -Baseboards destroyed. All my baseboards have heavy scratches from the roomba. The roomba itself also is totally scratched. It doesn't do anything smart, it just collides at full speed over and over again. -Roomba prioritizes selling you things, not making updates. I don't think I have seen a single meaningful software update. Only popups trying to sell you brushes and more roombas. -minor but it keeps squeaking. not the normal vacuum noise, but some part keeps falling apart and making a strange noise. unable to diagnose. -Dock electronics are useless. There is a button on the top that is supposed to start and stop the roomba. 99% of the time does not work. Honestly I'm really sad, I really wanted to like this and happily paid full price. Because it won't dock, it's basically useless as an automated device. You're better off with a swiffer and a normal vacuum cleaner. TLDR: -Horrible docking -will damage your home and scratch walls -will not avoid obstacles -do not buy unless there is evidence of a software update that changes the navigation behavior

I have a 1600 square foot house. On the positive side it works and you can program the order it does the rooms or you can let it decide. With the current software download it will go back to the base and get more water to clean the floor. If you move the base to a different spot the program will figure that out. I move it to a different room and it figured it out. Once it stopped trying to go through the wall to go back to the base. And you can setup multiple programs like do the bathroom and the kitchen every day. And do bedroom 1 another time as long as it finishes the early job. However I have a few issues The dirt auto super scrub will not detect a small spot. I had a spot on the kitchen floor that was the size of a penny. It never super scrubbed that area. And it will super scrub an area that is not dirty. Or at least I did not see anything. The current Roomba cleaning liquid does not say how much liquid to use for the huge water container the base has so you have to guess and nothing on the website. The suction is good and maybe a little too good because if you have chips on your laminated floor this will suck them up and you have to get out the floor markers to fix the areas. I have an i8 self emptying model and it works great and never lifted out parts of the laminated floor. The filters on the ARE different in size to other models so make sure you get the right ones. I have i8 filters that do not fit this model. The avoidance feature, where it’s supposed to avoid stuff on the floor works if the item is tall. It still bumps into the wall like the i8 does and it does scratch the baseboards around the house. Good thing I have paint to fix the black scratches it leaves on the baseboards. Another thing that I have noticed is this one gets stuck in narrow spots like next to the next to toilet and my i8 never has done this. And it likes to hop over low furniture and then get stuck. I have a table that has a metal bar that goes across the bottom. It will hope over it and gets stuck about 1/2 the time. I found an easy solution is you can make a zone off limits. Weird when I don’t recall the last time my i8 has gotten stuck in either area. Lastly the battery life is poor, using low suction and high water expect 10+ hours for one pass on a 1500 square foot place and you want everything cleaned. I went out for the day came back about 10 hours later and it was in the base and about 15 minutes later it started up cleaning. It will clean for about 2 hours then go into this charge for 90 minutes and clean for 30-40 minutes and then charge for 90 again clean for a bit and charge. I’m not sure how to get past this I guess I can create multiple jobs and have them schedule on different days but if you say clean the kitchen every day at 7am you can schedule another room at 8 but if the kitchen is not finished the next job does not start. It would be nice if it had start after if another job is running. Lastly the maps will crash and you lose your changes,