iRobot - Roomba 960 Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum - Gray

So far so good. This thing far exceeded my expectations. The mapping is awesome. It did my entire first floor of a large home and didn't miss a spot. It goes in nice neat straight lines and really seems to know exactly where it is going. It is like a little autonomous vehicle running around my house. I bought this over the i3 since it supposedly has a larger dust bin (600ml vs i3's 300ml) and I did't want to spend the extra money on the automatic dirt disposal system and have to buy Roomba bags all the time. This one also includes the IR virtual wall, which the i3 doesn't ($50 item). If you want the option to pick and choose individual rooms, you have to upgrade to the i7 or higher end models. I have only had mine for a week, but very impressive. I just ordered a second one on sale to leave on my second floor. I love how it goes under the beds and dressers. I would have bought one for the basement too, but the wife looked at me like I was crazy. lol The only bad thing about it is that it needs some light for the mapping, so either lights need to be on or use during the day. The i3 doesn't need light, but I still think this is a better value. It also gets stuck on our small bathroom rugs, so I just set them on the tub before vacuuming or use the IR sensor so it skips the bathroom. The i3 is supposed to have more suction, but there is not a lot of reviews since it was just released. The 960 is no longer going to be produced, since the i3 is the cheaper replacement. I did a lot of research on this before purchasing. You can't argue with all the positive reviews. I hope my review helps :)

This is what I'm talking about. This is the future where robot vacuum like this is going to make your life easier. I have a very packed one bed apartment so it's a bit challenging for the irobot to get around and get the job done, but it gets it done in around one and half hours to two hours. At the end of each cleaning cycle you just have to clean out it's bin and also clean the rollers for any hairs that gets stuck in between. You can schedule to run how many times a week you want it to run and when to run through the mobile app. At the end it's a very helpful bot which cut down a major responsibility of mine. But I am scared for that day when it runs over me and will join forces with other irobots to dominate human race, must save Sarah Connor......just kidding

The Roomba 960 has been cleaning the bottom floor of my house nearly daily since late July. So far I’m very satisfied with the job it’s doing. My wife was skeptical about the value of the robot, but once she saw how much dust and dirt it was picking up from a floor that appeared to be clean, she now uses it daily. We have a dog who sleeps inside the house in a crate and the Roomba has kept the pet dander to a minimum. This has helped a lot with my wife’s allergies as she is allergic to pet dander. Couple of notes from my use - Battery lasts just long enough to complete a cycle through my bottom floor (see picture) - After each cycle I empty the dust bin, remove the filter, rollers, clean all sensors and blow off dust from the robot using a dataVac electronics blower. This takes me about 3-5 minutes as I’ve got my routine down. I usually do this after getting home from work since Roomba runs during the day - I put my couch up on blocks to ensure the entire bottom floor is accessible by the bot. This was the dirtiest place in our house until we started using the Roomba. - 42 completes cycles and the Roomba has found the base station every time - Dust bin full sensor is very delicate regardless of my maintenance routine so I turned on the option to force the Roomba to finish a cleaning cycle regardless of the bin. - After setup on WiFi I can’t seem to get the app to connect until I get off WiFi and onto the cell network then the app runs just fine. I imagine it’s an issue with my router but I haven’t taken the time to trouble shoot why the app is getting blocked - I’ve ran the bot on carpet upstairs a few times and it did a great job, I may get a second bot to clean upstairs. I’ve owned the BotVac connected before and I remember it had issues getting stuck and finding its base station. I don’t know if the new model is any better, but I don’t think I’ll find out because I’m happy with the Roomba. I’m pretty sure the Roomba 980 has the more powerful carpet mode so that will most likely be my next purchase so it can clean the upstairs. The price is a lot considering vacuuming can be done by hand for a lot less, but this Roomba can clean places I can’t and it does the work while I focus on things I need to get done around the house. The extra time saved makes it worth it.

I did a lot of research before deciding on buying the Roomba 960. iRobot sells parts for it's units so they are repairable if needed. The comparisons I read also gave it high marks on suction and pickup. While it isn't the quietest on the market it is no where near the noise a traditional upright vacuum makes! Then the WiFi connectivity, mapping, self-charging & resume, Google Assistant compatibility and grid pattern features all had me sold. I had to attempt to set up the WiFi feature 3 times, even moving it near the router, before it worked but no problems once it's done. I love my 'Little Honey' so much, I'm going to get him a friend to do the mopping!

A family member got a less expensive, off-brand robot vacuum, which was tempting, but with two German Shepherds, we knew we needed something that could keep up. As they say, German Shepherds shed twice a year for six months. This model of Roomba has exceeded our expectations. We set it up — with ease — just a couple of hours after the entire house was vacuumed with a Dyson Ball Animal vacuum. As the Roomba passed through the house, it passed under dog beds and brushed along baseboards, sweeping and sucking up dog hair, dust, and fluffy fuzz from who knows what. Our already-vacuumed 2204 sq ft house* filled up the Roomba bin three times on the first run. We were shocked — and thrilled! Check out the photo, attached. *About 900 sq ft of carpet with the rest being hard surfaces, all of which we vacuum The things its done that have pleasantly surprised us most: -Incredible "cliff" edge detection has prevented it from falling into the one room that's sunken down in our house (about 4"). -It's 100% mindful of the boundary device that's included with the Roomba, which we placed in the kitchen to keep it away from our breakfast table and the dogs' bowls (and towels that catch water bowl dribbles). -It gracefully crosses from carpet to luxury vinyl tile to throw rugs without getting stuck or just turning around. -It picks up random pieces of Feline Pine (cat litter) that sometimes makes it way out of the litter box. -It picked up a baffling amount of dog hair, and no doubt dust, from under beds and other places that don't get attention every time we vacuum. There have been only a few mediocre moments. The Roomba didn't have enough charge to get back to home base twice in the past three weeks. One time it got caught up a drawstring to a small bag (it got wrapped around one of the wheels). It's so nice to be able to have clean floors most of the time, instead of fretting every time a guest, neighbor, or family member come by on short notice. We're sure it's helped with allergies and whole-house freshness, too. It is definitely proving itself worth the investment.

Purchased this thinking it would outperform the 805 I've had for three years. I had another Roomba before that I was happy with but gave away when I moved. The 805 cleans fine but is prone to get stuck from time to time in hard-to-find places. I've said "where's Roomba?" to myself once too often! Well, "where's Roomba?" is preferable to the statements I've made about the 960 (AKA Ethel) and all of its troubles. It does crash into things more gently than the 805 but, for Ethel at least, that's the only benefit. It's only had one good cleaning day in the past month. The pictures show some of the issues, but here are the highlights: It has one problem or another more days than not. I've had to take it apart for cleaning twice already because error messages erroneously say the bin is full when it's empty. The battery doesn't last. It ends up taking all day to clean the entire area (& charge in between), that is provided it doesn't have another problem before it finishes. I ran the 805 weekdays and I run this one daily but the floor isn't as clean. I have cement floors and am always barefoot in the house. With the 805 I rarely felt anything on the floor, now I feel stuff left behind after cleaning frequently. I still have time to return and probably will if they will take it back without the original box. Maybe I just got a bad one?

After seeing these for years and being skeptical, I finally bought this to replace a Dyson upright that died painfully in my front yard. Backstory: We vacuumed the entire upper level of our home with the Dyson upright. When we lifted it by the handle, due to the way it's over-engineered, the weight of the vacuum made the frame flex, which ejected the canister at the top of our stairs. It then tumbled down and about 4 stairs from the bottom, it exploded in a cloud of dust and dog hair. At that point, I was at my wits end with Dyson products (useless attachments, dead batteries, inop functionality, etc). As the smoke settled and my blood temp reduced to slightly below a boil, I took the Dyson and sent it on it's way. 9 pieces later, it was in the trash. I used another Dyson to clean up the previous Dyson's death mess then began my vacuum search. Onto the Roomba. I decided to just do it. So glad I did. I had no idea this thing was so awesome! We have 3 dogs (1 lab, 2 german short hairs) and some cat that hangs around for free food. 2 hours after I cleaned with my other Dyson, I turned the Roomba loose for the first time and WOW it picked up so much hair, dirt, and dust that I felt ashamed of my previous work. See attached pic. No, it didn't pick up the Sbux cup, that's just for reference, which is a "grande". If you're on the fence, just buy it. The waste bin doesn't hold much but enough to fill that cup! Quality is good, noise level isn't bad - I still work and take calls while it's running. If you have pets, don't schedule it to run in the middle of the night as the beeps and running noise will set off your dog alarms. I use it on hardwood floors, area rugs, and a cow hide. It does great on all the surfaces it's traversed thus far.

Summary: The Roomba 960 is not as advanced as the marketing suggests. The hardware is upgraded, but the core navigation firmware still feels old. Pros: - The app is convenient. - The waste bin is easy to empty. - The rollers are surprisingly good at picking up debris like cat litter. Cons: - The "visual guidance system" is not very smart. It is constantly ramming into my furniture. - The device has trouble finding its way to the charging station in a 2 bedroom apartment. - It does not provide a way to manually remote control the unit like previous generations. - It gets stuck under and on top of furniture a lot. It is really good at climbing onto things, but it can get stuck on a 1" table or chair stand.