Robot vacuums are nothing new, they’ve been around since the late 90s and early 2000s but one of the most recognizable brands is iRobot and their Roomba series.
I’ve been using the Roomba i7+ for a number of weeks and while it’s not the best, it does do a good job overall.
Design & Hardware
At first glance, the Roomba i7+ looks like other robot vacuums with its circular design. On the top, there’s the RCON sensor, Light Touch Sensor, camera along with some buttons and indicators.
The buttons include a Home Button (which sends the robot to its charging station), Clean/Power button (which has a light ring indicator around it) and Spot Clean button. All the buttons on the Roomba i7+ are touch-sensitive and not actual buttons like on some other robot vacuums.
While the buttons are nice to have on top of the Roomba i7+, I wish the device came with an external remote or have a remote control function within the iRobot app.
The bottom of the vacuum has the dust bin, multi-surface brushes, edge-sweeping brush, cliff sensors and much more.
Since this is the Plus model, the vacuum comes with the Clean Base, meaning the Roomba i7+ will automatically empty itself into the AllergenLock bag (which iRobot says can hold up to 60 days of dirt and debris) in the Clean Base.
The AllergenLock bag is kind of like those vacuum bags you would find in old upright vacuum cleaners. A 3-pack of these bags costs $19.99 CAD, which can quickly add up over the lifetime of owning the Roomba i7+.
While the self-emptying feature works well, the whole emptying process is fairly loud and almost sounds like a jet engine going off.
The Clean Base is also where the Roomba i7+ will charge itself. Typically the Roomba i7+ can run for around 90 mins to 2 hours and it takes about 3 hours to fully charge the vacuum.
Overall, the Roomba i7+ does a good job of cleaning a mix of different floors, especially the ones in my house. But there were a few times where the vacuum would avoid some dirt on the ground or just clean in the same spots over and over, leaving some areas missed.
The vacuum is on the louder side when it’s cleaning and going around your house, compared to other robot vacuums.
The iRobot Roomba i7+ typically retails for $999 CAD but can be found on sale for $799 CAD.
The current $200 CAD savings is on until May 6th at 11:59pm ET.
If you prefer the standard Roomba i7, without the Clean Base, that will set you back $549 CAD on sale but normally $749 CAD.
The Roomba i7+ is available from the following retailers:
- iRobot
- Best Buy Canada (i7 only)
- Amazon.ca
Software
To get set up with your Roomba i7+, you’ll need the iRobot app on Android or iOS. From there, the app will take you through the setup process, including connecting your vacuum to Wi-Fi.
One nice thing is that, unlike some cheaper robot vacuums, the Roomba i7+ supports 5GHz Wi-Fi networks in addition to 2.4GHz ones, which is especially if you have your network split by frequency.
After connecting to Wi-Fi, the app will update your Roomba which takes around 10-15 mins to download and upload to the device.
Once that’s done, you’ll be taken to the main screen of the app. It shows a New Job button at the top, so you can choose a specific area of your house to clean. During the first few cleans of using the Roomba i7+, the vacuum will try to map out your house and then you can name various rooms.
I found the mapping feature to be somewhat accurate but it could be better. And you can add your own labels and dividers to your map.
Below that, you’ll see an Empty bin button, favourite cleaning jobs, schedule options, history of cleaning jobs and settings for the robot.
The Roomba i7+ is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. To connect your robot vacuum to your smart home, press the hamburger menu at the top, tap Smart Home and choose Connected Accounts.
From there, you’ll see a number of apps and services that work with iRobot from voice assistants to ecobee, MyQ, August Smart lock and more.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the iRobot Roomba i7+ is a good robot vacuum that does the job, has lots of smart features and sensors but is also on the expensive side.
Pros
- Great smart home integration
- The mapping feature makes it easier to clean certain areas
- Picks up most dirt and debris
- The self-emptying feature is cool
- Good cleaning time
Cons
- Clean Base is very loud
- Expensive
- AllergenLock bags are an added cost
- Overall cleaning could be better
