The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot vacuum mop robot Cleaner

Robot vacuums nab pet hair, Heavy duty lint, and dust from floors before it can settle. They also can avoid stairs and other obstacles such as furniture that is tippy.

Most robotic vacs require some maintenance, like emptying (and occasionally rinsing) the bin and wiping sensors and cameras. Additionally, they must be plugged into an electrical source. Many have smartphone apps to schedule, adjust settings and more.

iRobot Roomba 980

The iRobot Roomba 980, the most recent in a line of top-of the-line robot vacuums, is a staple for every modern home. This model is incredibly powerful suction as well as an HEPA filter that will assist anyone suffering from allergies. It also comes with a powerful battery which can clean for two hours before returning to its dock automatically when the bin is full.

Smart mapping is a different feature that allows it to identify areas in your home that require attention, and then creates an easy path to get around them. We've seen this technology in action and it does a good job of maneuvering around toys placed on the floor, or furniture legs that are sticking out of the ground. It also comes with a sensor that can snap Roomba back to reality when it starts to drift away from its original position.

iRobot has also added an additional set of rollers beneath the Roomba that don't have bristles and therefore are more likely to withstand tangles than previous models. They are also taller and can be tucked under beds or couches that are low. They're designed to make this model more adaptable to different flooring types.

The Roomba 980 is distinguished from other high-end models due to its latest dirt detection feature, which uses a camera in order to detect dirt embedded. This is a great improvement over the previous version which relied on the sensor-driven pseudorandom cover method to bounce around the room and clean everything at least three times from different angles.

In our tests of its performance it was found that the Roomba 980 did well on both hard flooring and carpets. Its score on low pile carpet was impressive, and it got a very excellent score on mid pile, too. It was successful in collecting pet hair, but struggled with long and thick pet hair that was stuck together.

Despite these minor shortcomings, the Roomba 980 remains one of our top-performing robots, heavy Duty and it's even far from being as costly as the other top models on this list. It's still packed with a variety of features that we'd expect to see in a top-of-the-line model however, it doesn't come with all the fancy apps or smart home integration you'll find in other top models.

The iRobot Roomba is simple to set up and start working immediately. After removing the yellow bin insert and pull tab from its undercarriage it is simply connected to the wall socket or one of its Home Base docking stations, click the "Clean button" and let it do its work. It will automatically return to docking station when it has run out of battery or becomes full of trash. There are also indicators on top that show the bin is empty, when it is in need of recharging or if it loses Wi-Fi.