iRobot Roomba s9+ Robot Cleaner Review
Robot cleaners offered the world a new way of cleaning and the proposition to save time. Nowadays the novelty has more or less worn away due to the vast adoption of these autonomous companions in our homes. A flagship name within the field is iRobot and they’ve been iterating on the robotic formula to unleash their latest and most powerful £1299/$999 iRobot Roomba s9+, automating more of the cleaning process as this is a self-emptying robot vacuum.
Design
iRobot introduced the rounded robot cleaner shape into the world and have now somewhat ironically banished it in favour of a D-shape design, which most of the industry seem to prefer these days. Having spent years with both types, we’d probably lean in favour towards the D-shape as it's a better shape to go along skirtings and get into corners. Whilst the circular image may have gone, the shimmering gold accented top plate, with LED lighting to signify status and notifications, doubling as an entrance door to discover the all-in-one bin and filter unit, remains a homage to the past iRobot circular design flare and spreads a little sophistication. This gold trim also glimmers along the Clean Base docking station where the iRobot Roomba s9+ will spend most of its time. In fact, the uncomplicated black design of both is rather refreshing, with the base having no onboard controls; it's just supposed to be automatous. The same can be said for the cleaner, with only a home, clean & sensor button positioned on top - and that’s all we need in truth; any function more arduous is better served via the app, which we will get onto.
If we flip the s9+ over it reveals one user-replaceable side brush incorporated into the design, humongous dual multi-surface rubber brushes which vacuum all surfaces (30% larger than previous model), spring loaded wheels with rubber tread and an automatic dirt disposal slot. Pleasingly, its plastic body seems to withstand the daily grind of routine cleaning, and we cannot so far see any notable scratches or wear as it does not slam into doors and furniture. It’s quite a gentle mover, with even light scrapes posing no issues. The top copper lid is lipped higher than the remainder of the cleaner, making it a bit of a collection area for hair and dust to gather as it travels throughout our living environments, so somewhat ironically we occasionally have to vacuum the vacuum.
Self-emptying?
As already explained, that shiny top plate flips up to reveal a blissfully simple and well engineered combined filter and bin on the iRobot s9+ cleaner itself. This single removable unit with handle is a doddle to lift out of the cleaner for maintenance purposes. We generally clean out the filter every month and at the same time give the bin a quick inspection to check for any blockages, which it has so far not succumbed to.
You see, this is where the dirt actually collects whilst it cleans floors, until the point where it docks itself onto the iRobot Clean Base charger station which has its own much larger debris collection bag installed. Upon landing, the base effectively sucks all the dirt out of the iRobot internal bin in what only takes a few seconds, freeing the user from needing to empty, which is great for fellow germaphobes! Using this method, where actual waste disposal goes into a bag, means you don’t even need to see the waste; and it will store up to 30 bins of dirt from the iRobot. It just works, with no intervention needed until that bag is full!
iRobot Home App
Available for both iOS and Android devices and just like the bObsweep PetHair SLAM Robot Cleaner we recently published a review of, the iRobot App has all the functionality we’d expect, without being overwhelming. This very easy to use app allows us to adjust suction (low, medium, high), how many times you want Roomba to cover floors (once or twice per session) and the most curious of all the modes, that isn’t enabled by default, 'careful drive’. This basically means the cleaner will attempt to get as close as possible to walls and objects without touching them. General cleaner health is reported within the app, giving notice of the life cycles of all replaceable parts; these being the edge cleaning brush, the dual multi-surface brushes and the filter. Plus all replacements, as well as some additional accessories, can be ordered within the app.
Spacial awareness is where the most advancement has been made within the robot cleaning space and the s9+ is on the cutting edge, hosting multiple sensors to analyse your home floor layout after a few cleans and then generating its own map. This map can then be interacted with to label into rooms, block specific areas with virtual dividers so the cleaner shouldn’t roam, and even send the cleaner off to vacuum specific areas/rooms. iRobot also have a smoother implementation than the bObsweep room mapping when it comes to multi-floor homes; in fact it can remember up to 10 floors. All of this functionality is referred to as ‘smart maps’. Often the notion of ‘smart’ prefacing a word can be attributed to marketing enthusiasm, but in this case iRobot have created an analysis tool which we think is deserving of the ‘smart’ term. The app allows you to visually see the cleaning history via the Dirt Detective feature, which offers a detailed home cleanliness map and allows the iRobot OS to track cleanliness on a room-by-room basis, considering past cleans, dirt events, and floor types. We think this is absolutely fascinating and certainly enables better utilisation of the cleaner to prioritise the messiest areas when we schedule cleans within the app. Additionally, the s9+ can be controlled using voice commands via Siri, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
Battery Life & Charging
It finds its way home to its dock with no trouble, even if it’s many rooms or many metres away. Battery life is rated at 50 minutes in high power mode and 120 minutes in low power mode, and in medium power mode it ventures between the two to achieve around 90 minutes under our usage. If it becomes depleted whilst out cleaning, it will top up and return to finish off.
Manoeuvring
A distinct advantage in terms of manoeuvrability offered by the s9+ is its advanced mapping technology and we’re familiar with the theme of this particular tech as we recently reviewed the bObsweep PetHair SLAM. The iRobot creates a similarly detailed map of our indoor spaces and uses this information to navigate efficiently, which has seen it avoid collisions and covers almost every centimetre of our floors. Amazingly it also understands the relationship with temporary objects such as packages or humans/pets standing in a floor plan. It won’t immediately redraw the area to include these, but instead integrates them if found routinely, like it would with a new piece of furniture.
Upon studying the movements of the s9+ we noticed that it goes backwards and forwards as a human would, but resists trickier areas which aren’t clear so it can just brazenly keep going in lines, then it returns to focus under and around things like tables and chairs, utilising its adept object awareness. One of the standout features of the iRobot s9+ is its ability to manoeuvre around obstacles, navigate tight spaces with utter ease and even understand how to detangle itself from a curtain or cable; it's just fun to watch. Additionally, the s9+ has a low profile that allows it to fit under our tighter furniture - as low as 9cm. It finishes all this off with an edge cleaning before returning to its base.
Cleaning Performance
Throughout all of our testing the iRobot Roomba s9+ has excelled on both carpets and hard floors. Its versatility and precision shine through as it effortlessly tackles dirt and debris on various surfaces. We think in part this is due to the 30% longer (compared to previous model) and improved design of the dual multi-surface rubber brushes which enact a grippy approach to the surface travelled. On carpets, for instance, it exhibits powerful suction to lift our cat's hairs, larger debris like cereal, and embedded dirt, revitalising the fibres, leaving the carpets looking refreshed with more of an equivalence to high-end Dyson cordless cleaners than a robot cleaner.
Meanwhile, on hard floors, its ability to navigate and clean in orderly lines, which is also the case on carpets, ensures thorough and streak-free cleaning, effectively removing dust and particles. It’s claimed to collect dust particles as small as 10 microns. We can confidently say that it is the most powerful robot cleaner we’ve yet to review, but with that power comes noise at around 60-65 decibels when it's toing and froing in medium-high modes. Low power mode is certainly the quietist, but medium mode seems the most comprehensive for our mixed surfaces. Nevertheless, no jiggling of these settings allowed for one particular surface, which is that of thick pile and shaggy rugs, that will stop the iRobot s9+ in its tracks, and it then sends an app notification to embarrassingly reveal it has become stranded. Whilst the app allows us to easily designate surface areas like this to be avoided by the Roomba s9+, it’s disappointing that we have to still manually clean these shaggy rugs with our Dyson V11.
Verdict
The iRobot Roomba s9+ is a richly feature-packed robot cleaner that has few flaws and an abundance of positives. The volume of technology packed into this top of the line iRobot entry clears the way to pay witness to a high level of competency from its flawless self emptying design, companion app functionally, and AI that delivers a robot cleaning experience which has a humanistic approach in the way it cleans in lines and around the swathes of objects in our homes. Of course, most importantly this routine cleaning of our carpets and hard floors has consistently demonstrated exceptional deep level cleaning effectiveness, making it a leader in the robot cleaning pack. The only potential downside is its high price tag.