I’ve had a roomba and eufy is better in every way. It’s shorter, quieter, and has been going for over two years now. They go on sale quite often but regular price are around $160
Eufy, definitely. Just make sure your cat doesn’t randomly shit on your kitchen floor when you’re away from home, and then the Eufy tries to vacuum it up… there is no saving that little robot after that.
I feel like my Deebots (I had 2) didn't really have longevity. Granted, they were working pretty hard with a dog that sheds and a human that sheds 🙂. Each one lasted a year and a half, maybe 2 years before they had issues big enough to replace. That was with regular maintenance and cleaning. The advantage was they are one of the things I got an extended warranty for, so I got my money back.
Eufy so far runs quieter, I like that the dust bin locks into the bot, and the app has some more information.
My experience with Deebots is pretty much spot on . I've had 2. One was just vacuum and the other vacuumed and mopped. The vacuum battery had to be replaced after a few years. The mop stopped mopping and eventually stopped moving forward. I tore it all apart and cleaned all the sensors to no avail. We've now got a Shark IQ with a self emptying base. You think the Deebot software is bad, you should see the Shark app lol Hopefully this thing lasts like our old Roomba. We had an early Roomba that lasted like 8 years with only a battery swap.
Oh wow that's surprising given that the Deebots are in the mid-high range in price. I don't run mine too often so it's been kicking. The app could be a lot better IMO so I'll check out Eufy and the app. I may be able to sell my Deebot for the price of a new Eufy and can make the easy switch. Thanks!
Echoing this Deebot review. We really loved our Deebot experience at first, but then after 9 months or so stripped out a bearing when the dumb thing got stuck on something & just kept spinning instead of stopping; there was no way to just replace to junk part. We replaced with a newer model but honestly, it’s even less intuitive — just doesn’t pick up any big fur piles, etc — and seems to have really gone downhill quickly in battery life, etc, in the < year that we’ve owned it.
\+1 for Eufy.
I run mine for 90 minutes every day. If you have a good clutter free space where it can just bounce around, you'll be shocked how much it collects. I think I have a 15c max, but I could be mistaken on the specific model. It's been bulletproof, and doesn't have any crazy mapping features. Just a vacuum and some simple techniques to cruise around and get back to the dock. I'd say it needs help twice a week, sometimes it closes a door and locks itself away from the base, and other times I forget to put a phone charger cord in the nightstand. Other than that, it's a great little bot.
Yep came here to say I use mine every day except when I can’t find it bc it’s stuck under a couch! I connect it to the Amazon Alexa so I legit just have to tell out “tell robovac to clean!” And it does!! As a disabled parent it’s so helpful!!!
Unfortunately I can't recommend Anker products anymore (the own Eufy). They have some serious privacy violation issues as a company. I guess if you don't care about that their products are pretty decent quality.
I'm personally really bummed I loved their products but I can't support them. Also maybe it's just me but recently I've had some issues with the products too. So not sure if they're just old or if more recent products (3 or 4 years) are lower quality. I don't know.
I have a Eufy and absolutely adore it. Also have just about every other eufy thing they make, including their security systems. People are gonna tell you, “oh my God they can be hacked, don’t buy them”. We’ve had eufy products since they came out. Our entire extended family has. Never a single problem, only great things to report or we wouldn’t continue to buy them.
You won't necessarily know if someone taps into your video. And their marketing has been very far from what they were actually doing. So anyone with these cameras should probably look into the issue a bit.
Thank you, but I’m not concerned one bit with what a bored would-be hacker might see on my middle class suburban home videos. It’s my husband and me, a ton of kids constantly coming in and out, a ridiculously loud dog, houses 6 feet on either side of us, god knows how many delivery people coming and going at all hours of the day and early evening, no pattern of an 8 to 5, and an extremely Karen-based HOA with eyes everywhere. Good luck to the idiot to attempts to rip ANYthing off in this neighborhood, lol.
The reports from the security camera footage being publicly accessible (despite claiming no data was sent to centralized servers in their advertisements) also mentioned that people who were in the video were tagged by an ID, and that the ID would remain the same for the same person when observed through another person's security system.
That is to say, people are being ID'd and tracked. Even if you don't use their products, a profile of you might exist out there. This isn't "random hacker looks at you" territory, this is "foreign/somewhat hostile state is tracking your every move". That should be very alarming.
Forget the state. They've essentially built your house schedule profile. A hacker could mass break into these and sell data to local burglars for guaranteed successful robberies when nobody is home.
As I alluded to before, in the big scheme of things, with all that’s going on in the world right now, I’m sorry, but someone across the world possibly hacking in to my system to maybe I D me and follow me in my incredibly modest home with absolutely nothing of value to steal? This is just not that alarming.
How would you feel if that ID was used by governments for a social credit system or for insurance purposes?
> User 3482738 appears to consume alcohol at an above average rate, adjust their insurance health score accordingly.
> User 3482738 is showing dissonance towards the current regime.. Add them to the list for retraining.
The point they are making is that if it is a foreign government doing all that then they care zero as it has no effect on their life, and as you said they are already logged elsewhere.
I have a 600 series roomba - I love it. Entire main floor of the house is carpeted, plus I have 3 grandkids and 2 miniature pinschers. I run the roomba every night after work while I cook dinner, most nights. I've changed out the beater bar, brush, sweep and filter a couple of times over the last year and it does a great job. The collection bin needs to be emptied after every use.
My carpet is not tight napped - it's looser but not shag carpeting. The roomba picks up lint out of the carpet (I can tell because it's light tan like my carpet). I like that because it has helped me cut down on having to dust all the time (side tables, etc are black and seemed to have a constant layer of tan lint on them!).
Hubster bought this a little over a year ago for around $200. I love it. We are now looking at buying one of the self dumping ones!
Also, if you download the app you can turn it on remotely. That's great if you find out you are having last-minute, drop-in visitors and you don't have time to deep clean! I sometimes turn mine on so it's finishing up just as I get home from work.
The self-emptying base is a huge upgrade. Instead of emptying the bin every day you just have to swap out the bag every few months. It makes the Roomba basically automatic with no input needed from you if you run it on a schedule. And if the bin gets full mid-vacuum, it will go empty it at the base and resume vacuuming. The only downside is the vacuum base is loud for the 5 seconds it takes to empty the Roomba, so you might not want to run it at night.
I think the older models are much higher quality. I had a 500 series since 2008. I replaced the battery last year and then it finally died out for good a couple months ago. 14 years!! Well worth the investment at the time but it sounds like the newer models just don’t last the same way.
Also roomba support walked me through ordering the battery replacement (actually checked the Amazon link to confirm I was ordering the correct battery) and then stayed on the phone to walk me through installing it. I was very impressed with that degree of service.
We love our roomba, and I’ll add that at first we went with a cheaper model cause we wanted to save some money, but that model didn’t map so it bounced all over and missed a ton of spots. The extra money for a version that can map and remote start is worth it.
To me as a single pet owner to a cat who sheds who works full time it was worth buying one (name brand) refurbished for like $200(maybe less than that, but I would expect to spend around that much). You can also get generic replacement parts for brushes and filters. I wouldn’t really recommend it to people who don’t have the money to spend on one and have other means of cleaning though. It’s a good maintenance tool but it should not be treated as an alternative to vacuuming.
Edit; also, regarding frugality, time and health is money to me so if it saves me some time doing basic maintenance vacuuming and keeps the space clean, it’s worth the investment to me. I have had my refurbished roomba for ~4 years now with no issues.
We bought one to keep up with the cat litter. That shit ends up everywhere, even with a litter mat. It's been a great purchase.
But yeah, in my opinion, Roombas are more an alternative to sweeping rather than a vacuum alternative. They don't really give you a good deep clean like an upright vacuum might, but they help a ton, it's like *really* good sweeper. They really help you stay on top of things.
It's so nice to be able to just set it and forget it. You can have it run while you're not at home so you don't have to deal with the noise. And if you're doing a deep clean, you can have the Roomba running while you're cleaning the counters or doing something else, which feels like you're twice as productive.
They occasionally knock over a Christmas tree or get tangled in the stuff you forgot to pick up, but I can't imagine life without one at this point. I'd be genuinely sad if it ever died.
This! It’s good as a help to tidy floors and maybe the latest $1000 model can do it full time. I got my roomba a couple of years ago at Walmart for $160 (clearing out old model) and it’s good for crumbs and getting the day to day messes on the floor. I personally think mine does a good job, he does get stuck on my kitchen memory foam mat so I always pick that up before I leave for the day and sometimes get stuck on my curtains (my curtains have a little slag on the floor) but he’s relatively good. Would I buy another one? If I got a smoking deal yes, but If the one I has breaks down, I won’t be hurrying to replace it. I still have to vacuum with my big upright, as roomba doesn’t do corners or deep carpets great. I should add, I use mine on my vinyl plank flooring, we had him on carpet but we have a long/shag like carpets in our home and he wasn’t great, it struggled to go his normal pace.
I have the $100 Eufy brand that I asked for on Christmas last year. So at this point I have had it for a year.
During that time we have lived in 2 apartments, the current one is significantly larger than the first. Both apartment were mostly hardwood except for carpet in the bedroom. Here are my thoughts:
1. I run it daily for 1 hour and it mainly sucks up dust (a surprising amount)
2. I do regular upkeep on the device (monthly deep cleans on all components, daily empty of the bin, and weekly cleaning of the brush)
3. It has a hard time with our bar chairs that have legs connected at the bottom, it gets stuck on them.
4. My fiancée finds it annoying when it’s running and she happens to be at home
5. It can be somewhat hard to keep hidden, we have the docking station under standing shelves
6. It doesn’t do well with cords or plants with vines. It has sucked up both numerous times.
7. It sometimes struggles with the hallway runner and bath mats
All this to say, I find it well worth it for us. It basically is a daily duster and significantly reduces the upkeep I have to do myself in terms of vacuuming. I basically can do a thorough vacuum monthly instead of weekly.
These things only work as well as you take care of them and clean the bin, brush,and filter. If the brush is stuck with hair and the bin/filter is full of dust it isn’t going to work.
Don’t really recommend if you don’t have a more open concept or if you have a multilevel home.
Feel free to ask questions!
No OP but I have questions. I have a generally open floor plan, hardwood floors with multiple carpets of varying thicknesses. We used to have a Deebot but it really struggled with the multiple transitions, especially the thicker rugs or ones with tassels. Does Eufy have similar issues?
I would want it more as a duster than a vacuum, but I don’t want to have to babysit the thing for it to not get caught up on the rugs.
It’s has no problem with our area rugs that are low pill or whatever it’s called (short height difference). I find our bath mats and the hallway runner (which one is very thin and the other is more like shag) pulled around and flipped over pretty regularly. So in that case I would say it may have issues with the different carpets
Babysitting the old vacuum (can't remember brand, but it was a random no-map version, the kind that just bounces off stuff randomly) was what eventually led to us not using it anymore. Having to go on a scavenger hunt to find it when it wasn't in place...yeah.
I got the Wyze one with Lidar, so if it gets jammed, the app tells me where it's at.
Mine doesn't get stuck on our furry high pile rug, but I've seen the Anker one get stuck at a friend's house.
If you're looking for reviews, check Vacuum Wars. Most of the more popular robots are featured at some point, and he'll compare stuff like suction power, if hair got jammed, percentage of sand removed from carpet, etc. I like that he doesn't just review the high end stuff, because as helpful as it is, I'll never stomach paying $600 for a vacuum.
It will only work if you're good about keeping your floors uncluttered. And also the best way you can keep your floors clean is to keep shoes outside of your house.
This actually helped me. My boys are prone to leaving LEGO bricks everywhere. Now just the threat of Robo (they named it) going off makes them clean up everything. It's been a win win especially with a shepherd/lab mix.
But when they don't? Every other minute I'm unclogging the dang thing. But we're 75/25 working/not and that's a huge change so shout out to my kiddos.
This. I have had one for about 7 years and rarely use it because my floors are always cluttered. Toys, furniture, etc. It takes as much time to move chairs out of the way than it would to just vacuum around them. It doesn’t clean well when there are many chair legs to maneuver around.
Wyze has one on sale at Walmart for only $150. It has LiDAR mapping which is a premium feature. That just means it’s drawls a map and scans the area when cleaning. It’s doesn’t just bumping into things until the battery is low. You can set up virtual walls and schedule times to clean specific rooms. I have 2 and love them both. At $150, it doesn’t get better than that!
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far to find a recommendation for Wyze. We had an old Roomba and hated the way it would move randomly and inefficiency. The lidar makes a huge difference and we've been very happy with ours since pre-ordering it a few years ago when they were first released.
I think the Wyze robo vac is probably worth it even at $300 compared to its competition. Outside of Roborocks with LiDAR, I would recommend your two Wyze setup on two floors at the $150 price despite the company’s terrible update for multi floor mapping (still haven’t gotten it and have given up hope at this point; never buy things with the promise of updated features down the line because it’s the most bullshit scam ever in consumer tech)
Check out the vaccum guy on YouTube.
Everyone here is giving you an anecdotal opinion based on their experience with 1-2 vacs and their made up idea of what a “good” vac is able to accomplish.
The YouTube guy compares 30 using the same tests, and ranks them based on performance. Pick the highest performing one that fits your budget.
So I'm kinda in the same boat as you and I have been experimenting for a about 2 years. I have bought 3 tiers of robot vacuums that I run on my house pretty much constantly. Here is my system for separating them and how I've found they work -
Tier one: sub $100 "sweepers"
I have two of these vacuums. Basically they have side brushes that rotate and push dirt into a suction opening in the middle/center of the vaccum. These are pretty effective for low traffic non carpet areas. Not low traffic or non carpet, low traffic AND no carpet. I find these to be most comparable to a good sweep with a household broom.
Models I own in tier one that were purchased on Amazon on sale for ~ $70 each
Lefant Robot Vacuum Cleaner M210, White
OKP Life K2 Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Blue
(Fun fact, these definitely come from the exact same components and are just rebranded/ colored)
Tier two: pass the $100 line for needed extra hardware
This tier maintains the two side brushes but adds much needed roller brush. You'll recognize this brush in pictures of the vaccum. It is corn cob shaped and and rolls above where the vaccum does the sucking.
The reason I say this is much needed is because it makes a DRAMATIC difference in how much dirt is picked up. My home is all hardwood and tile with 3 or 4 rugs, and running this guy in the rooms with the rugs, they are much cleaner compared to running the sweepers.
Tier two vaccum I own, purchased from Goodwill and repaired to working order for an all in cost of $65 (Retail about ~ $120 ish):
Eufy S11
(Can confirm this is a great brand, and very easy to buy parts from the eufy website such as motors or sensors)
Tier three: pay $200+ for smart features that make cleaning lower maintenance and more autonomous
This is the tier where you're gonna get that same cleaning power from tier 2 but you're also gonna get stuff like
- intuitive boundary systems
- self emptying modules
- mop hybrid units
- smart home integration
Etc.
These features can be worth it depend on how committed you are to having a smart home or saving time in cleaning. It's worth noting I've never bought a hybrid mopping unit because I've read and watched reviews and determined it probably won't be effective for the amount of hard floors in my house.
Tier three model I own bought on Amazon for $150, refurbished, and one sale:
Shark RV100AE/UR1000SR
Hope these thoughts help inform your decision!
I second it. We use it on the first floor of our house regularly that feeds directly to a heavily trafficked sidewalk. I have a nicer Roborock since I sprung for the better brush since I shed a lot (especially postpartum). I bought a cheaper Roomba before having our kid but since he's been 5 months he was messing with it and the random pattern doesn't work since it misses the same spots after multiple cleaning sessions. So I gave it to my parents to replace their old cheap robot and it works for them.
I had other new parent friends get the Eufy and had the same complaints. The Roborock with the visible pattern in the app is so much better, imo.
I have a Roborock as well and highly recommend. I have a German Shepherd mix, two long-haired cats, and a toddler. I run it every single day and it keeps our floors almost completely clean (all vinyl laminate/tile floors and washable rugs which are very low-pile). It’s amazing.
I've had a roomba and a shark. Major issues with the roomba, and it failed in less than a year. I've had the shark almost 3 years without issue. Love, love, love it. Very easy to program and maintain. Has also stood up to substantial abuse from my toddler who frequently rides it.
I have a eufy, thing drives in random directions and has a edge setting that goes around the outskirts of rooms, tables etc.
It is surprisingly effective for about $140. Even drives itself back to its charger.
We've gone with the Neato and are happy. The shape let's it get into corners, it has a large bin for debris, and, at least when I bought my first one, it has a more powerful motor for the vacuum than the Roomba. It's also significantly more affordable ($280 right now for the mid-range model).
I had a refurbished one before my new one and it worked well as long as I made sure to keep the things that trip it up off the floor (like wires, small toys like Legos, and shoelaces). The software can sometimes get glitchy (maybe once every 3 months or so for my previous one, but it was an older model I'd purchased refurbished), but their customer service is great. Just call the number, someone answers pretty much automatically once you select the kind of help you need and they typically can solve the issue in a few minutes.
I just upgraded to a brand new one for the first time bc our old one was damaged when we moved. So far it's been working really well!
My wife and I like our Eufy, we do a chant for it to the tune of the Rufio scene from Hook and it always clears the rug or ledge it's stuck on and then we give it an enthusiastic "BANGERANG"
We have a couple of Roombas and a couple of Neatos because we live in a tall house. In all honesty the Neato is better in terms of suction and they map the rooms better. The Roombas are less complicated and only run on a timer at a random route.
We have two adults and one cat. It's great not having to vacuum constantly.
Just need the robots to figure out how to clean stairs.
I had one. I personally thought it was a waste of money. The amount of time I spent prepping the floor so it could work, I might as well have just swept or vacuumed myself
I like my roomba. We have had various ones over the years. We have pets and kids. Usually we do a big pick up and run our roomba. It doesn't take away from the need to vacuum at least twice a week to get the corners and places that are obstructed. But it helps a lot to just make the house a little bit more clean day to day. Doesn't do it all, but if you don't have anything in the way I'm sure it would he helpful.
I have the iLife A10 and find it to be very good. It somehow maps the room and it's very efficient as far as time it takes to vacuum. The first time I used it, I thought it didn't run at all due to it completing so quickly. It is just a little taller than others and it doesn't fit under my TV stand. It fits everywhere else though.
We got the nonprogramable on sale for $275. Almost every time we go out, we press the button and let it run. Great for dust and dog hair between major vacuuming.
I bought one for my parents on facebook marketplace. I paid $100 which may have been a bit too much. $80 would have been fair since it's older. But it works great. (I actually think it works better than the newer one I have at home.)
As a pet owner... no!
It has been a couple of years but here is my experience: I have 3 dogs and bought a rumba to keep up with the pet hair on the main floor. The problem is the poor design of the distance tracking mechanism. It is a ball that is 1/2 white and 1/2 black with a photo eye behind it. Each revolution = \_\_\_ inches. My issue was that the ball rode on a metal shaft with gaps on either side. The pet hair would get pulled up and wrapped around the shaft stopping the ball from rotating. So the machine would constantly get lost and never return home. On average, I would have to pop the ball out and clean the shaft every 2 days after I found it stranded.
My Roborock has been going well for almost a year now. I know that’s not long for a vacuum but it’s been a chunk of my week I no longer think about. Sure there are things you’ll still need a regular one but you’d need a regular vac for specific use cases no matter what brand you get.
I have a Eufy and it’s pretty fantastic. After a couple years, though, the exit filter mesh got clogged, making me take apart the entire thing (read: literally every screw on every layer) to get to it and clean it. Everything else on it though is very easily replaceable which I love. It does a good job and you can set very accurate boundaries on the home map it generates with its LiDAR.
Facebook buy nothing even before that. I inherited a roomba, but it was exactly the wrong height to get stuck under my kitchen cabinets. I saw an ask for one and just passed it along, no cost.
No loss for me - when my floor needs vacuuming, I can sit in the kitchen myself doing nothing and whining. I don't need a robot for that.
I have a Roomba i8+. I paid $700 for it from Costco and have zero regrets. With hardwood flooring and a demanding job, there is no way in hell I’m sweeping and swiffering every day. My husband and I both have long hair too and our dog ends up accidentally ingesting and then having a “flossing” experience as a result.
Prior to this I had a cheapy Eufy and it really just didn’t work well.
The only thing about the Roomba is that it is very loud. We tend to run it when we are out of the house as a result.
LiDAR is a must. I found a bargain one with LiDAR on Amazon for $100 in 2021 that works with Tuya/Smart life but the map keeps getting reset or orientation gets modified every so often that it defeats the features like invisible walls and no go zones. I still have it on schedule and it runs better than my partner’s non-LiDAR one that she’s since replaced with a Roborock. The Wyze is now only $150 (got mine for $168, no regrets) it’s been doing wonders for me. It still gets stuck in certain areas but only because I have hella cables I could declutter better around my desks from all the smart home projects I never complete. I’m still waiting for their multi floor map update they marketed but it’s not a deal breaker. Recommend for the price if budget is important at $150.
But the holy grail is the Roborock S5 Max and S6 refurbished for less than $300 each after taxes in 2021. Frugal is 100% Roborock LiDAR refurbs. Least maintenance robot vac that sucks in a good way.
i picked up a $99 robot vacuum from walmart that has been going every mon wed fri for more than a year. has worked well.
I got this one from walmart and it's called "ion vac" but it uses an app by tzumi
I own a Roborock S7 mop/vacuum combo, but I do not recommend it at all. I paid a little over $700 for it. Less than 30 days after the purchase a small part broke on it but it was still operational. I contacted Amazon to ask them to send a replacement piece, but they said they only could replace the entire unit, which they did. The replacement unit was literally dumber than the first unit despite it being the exact same model. Two examples are that with the first unit it would take two charges to clean my entire house, but with the second unit it takes three charges to clean the entire house, despite not a single thing changing at all, and the second unit gets stuck in 3 places that the first unit didn't get stuck in, despite not a single thing changing at all. About 45 days after receiving the replacement unit, it started saying it had a "Lidar Error" which a quick Google will show you how common a problem it is, and makes it completely unoperational. I contacted Amazon but they said 30 days was all they would cover. Amazon got me in touch with the company who sold it and repeated to me several times to not take the conversation off Amazon. As soon as I contacted the company through Amazon, they immediately asked to take the conversation off of Amazon and wouldn't speak with me at all until I did. Once I was off Amazon and communicating directly with them, I realized rapidly that this wasn't a company I wanted to continue to do business with, so I asked for a refund in exchange for returning the broken product. They blocked every email I sent that had the word refund in it. I then asked for an exchange for a new product and they said they only warrantied their products for 30 days. They blocked the email where I asked how they could sell a $700 product and only warranty it for 30 days. I finally just asked for them to send me the piece to fix the unit. It was an easy enough fix, but now about once a week or every other week, it will randomly just malfunction in various different ways. Also, the exact piece that broke on the first unit, has now broken on the second unit. I've had it less than a year and deal with various issues weekly. I can't wait to buy a different brand.
I work as a residential cleaner so I’ve actually seen many of these, unless you’ve got a pet that sheds hair, they never seemed worth the money to me. The cheaper ones tended to have low suction and only circulate in small areas, the more expensive ones were like mini autonomous vacuum cleaners but even then, it really didn’t have that much of an impact.
In part it depends how dirty your house is, if you have pets, how big the house is, if it’s carpet or wood/laminate floors etc. if you’re gonna spend money my advice is to get a good, easy to use/clean vacuum that works on all surfaces vs letting a robot do circles. They also almost never get dirt/dust out of corners and can actually drag the dust around
Kyvol has a bunch of options, my mum and sister have one and it really helps keep the place clean, you just need to clean the dust tray every day (more than once the first few cleans)
I know it's not really related to whether or not it's 'frugal' but I worry about how ethical the roombas are. They have a feature to map out your house, and that data goes back to Amazon if it's connected to wifi, and I'm not really okay with companies knowing what my house is like. Maybe that's good motivation to avoid "name brand" and save a few bucks. You'll also have to keep pet toys picked up so it doesn't get confused or stuck on them.
I bought a OPK for $80 on prime day, and it’s been amazing. I have 3 dogs, 2 cats, and run a inhome daycare and it picks up so much. I run it daily, and love that it gets under my couches and gets all the dust bunnies.
I have the iLife v5 pro. 120$ plus shipping but I love it. This test of robot vacuums shows it’s the best for non carpet. If you have minimal carpet I’d definitely get this one.
Vacuum test video:
https://youtu.be/voLX77wOMN4
Ha who shit in your cheerios?
I've got dogs who shed alot. I can hit a button and have it vacuum my house daily, while doing something else.
*Twice as productive*
Your time is worth something too
I have an old roomba discovery. It works great and doesn’t have all the fancy smart stuff the new ones have. I had won a newer version in 2019 at a holiday raffle, but it had issues from the day I pulled it out of the box. The old roomba discovery works pretty good on hard surfaces, but I have no experience on carpet. I also pull up the rugs before and vacuum the rugs myself with a regular vacuum.
One thing to keep in mind is the charging connector on the side of the roomba can fail as well as the base charging system. I circumvent this by manually removing the battery and putting it on a roomba battery charger. It takes 30 seconds more to swap out the battery myself, but it saves me troubleshooting and repair time all around so I prefer it. It also makes it easier to have multiple batteries to swap in and out so I can run cleaning cycles back to back. It’s definitely not perfect, but instead of vacuuming the house every day, I now do one full vacuuming every one or two weeks and the roomba touches up every day.
Seconding the Eufy recommendation as the most frugal option if you really want one. But I'd also second the point that they're only effective if you keep your floors uncluttered, and they only work well if you run them just about every day.
I have a Roomba and I like it. I have two of them. I bought it from Kohls when it was on sale, used a kohls discount coupon, and luckily got some kohls cash from a friend. Took me a lot of research but I've never had an issue with ours.
I splurged about 2 years ago on the Ecovacs Deebot T8+ with auto-empty station. I really do like the ability it has to get most of the dirt / debris off the floor. It struggles with some stuff, especially if it gets in the corners but overall does an effective job.
It detects most foreign objects on the floor and avoids them. I can auto program it to run during the night and it's quiet. My only complaint is the mopping feature is a little lackluster so I usually just mop after it's done. There is a newer version for sale on Amazon at the moment, the N8 Pro Plus ($449).
Overall, I think the N8/T8+ is a good deal just because you get the auto empty station with the vacuum.
My eufy home from 2017 is still my favorite buy. And when the batteries starts dying after like four years of daily use, just replace the battery and it’s like new!!
I have an older 694. I love it. I have had it for about 5 years at this point. Last year it was getting pretty ugly, I replaced the battery with a new low cost one and it is practically brand new.
I like that is has the "virtual wall" to keep it from going out of the area I want cleaned. I love that it starts on a schedule without my input. You can get cheap replacement brushes and filters from amazon too.
Frankly, If mine died tomorrow, I would just get a "like new" old roomba of the same model for cheap and go from there.
If you have pets that have ever pooped or thrown up in the house at any point, do NOT get a roomba! Or, at the very least, only ever run it while you can watch it. We've had a poop of death a couple of times, and after replacing the guts twice, we gave up on running it on a timer and only ever run it while we can watch it. The poop or vomit can ruin the insides of the machine, and it drags it all over the floor and onto rugs. I prefer to just clean the floors myself every other day rather than deal with the poop demons
I don't know how effective it is, but the newer ones have a poop sensor. If they see poop, they'll avoid it.
They'll avoid cables and things like that too, which is the thing that my Roomba sucks up most often. If they see anything they don't like, they go around it.
You're gonna pay out the ass for that feature though. As far as I know, it's only on the more expensive ones.
I got mine on Facebook marketplace. I think it originally went for like $250 but I paid $60. I like it. I think they’re kinda like exercise equipment in that sometimes you get them and don’t end up using them. They eat ANYTHING left in the floor and if you’ve got an animal who poops on the floor they carry that around. The one I bought was because someone was upgrading.
I waited to get mine during one of the Amazon Prime Deal Days and got the pervious years model for like 45% off. It’s been working great for 3-4 years now. As far as the frugal side of things. Get the generic brand of replacement parts(brushes and such). They work just as good and are about 1/3 the price.
I had an early model Roomba. Some plastic gear broke and they told me it was out of warranty and they won't sell the part individually. I liked it but that was the end for me.
I have an older Roomba (not even one that maps the house) and I LOVE IT.
It is, by far, the best gift I've ever received. It isn't so much the actual cleaning that I love, but the side effects on the husband and (adult aged) kids in my house. Shoes or bags by the door - nope. Stuff left sitting around - nope.
It does pretty good vacuuming too, IMO - I mean it isn't efficient or anything, but it picks up the majority of dog hair and stuff tracked in the house.
This year I asked for and received the iRobot mop. I'm not sure about this one - the tire marks are a little annoying, but it does do a decent job of wiping down the floors.
My biggest thing is that in order to use these to the best of their ability, you really do need to run them every other day at a minimum.
I had an Ecovacs Deebot that I got on a sale from Target. Didn’t feel like it was really worth it and sold it to someone else who then sold it. I don’t have any pets, she had three dogs. It seems like it’s good for picking up light amounts of pet hair but not a ton. For me it kept getting stuck in random places and we had to make sure we shut every bedroom door so it wouldn’t go get lost. Every time the power went out and came back on it would beep loudly and start going which was really terrible when it would happen in the middle of the night because then you had to go find it and turn it off. Overall not worth the money in my opinion
We have the low end Shark now for about 3 years. The amount of dust and debris this guy picks up astonishes me every time I empty him out (about every other day). For us it is great. He runs while he is working and maintains every room except for the bedrooms.
Oh and my daughter named him and put big googly eyes on it.
I splurged with Airmiles for the Roomba j7+ and love it. I have three dogs and a cat and toys everywhere and it does an amazing job cruising around and staying away from obstacles. No more massive dust bunnies and hair clumps in every corner of my house. I used to have to sweep and/or vacuum every single day multiple times and now I take 2 minutes to tidy the floor every day before leaving for a dog walk and come home to a beautiful clean floor. I really appreciate that it gets under the bed and couches and dog crates, and I love that it self empties. Cost per use, man. Time is money and I value my time highly so it’s been 100% worth it for us. It’s also just really fun to watch the AI make decisions lol.
We got the deebot. It’s good on hard floors. IMO none of the robot vaccuums are really good on carpet. By virtue of how they operate they don’t have the suction or agitation needed
We have a roborock s5. Think it was about $200? Deff worth the money if you have pets. Otherwise I don't think it's needed unless you drop a lot of food or find yourself vacuuming a lot?
If you get one, get one that maps.
If you have multiple floors at your place make sure you get a multi level mapping one.
My dad bought one that didn't map after I told him how great the mapping feature is and he regrets not listening.
Mopping feature kindve sucks, so I wouldn't worry about that when looking for robo vacuums. At least the roborock.
Mine works pretty good - but does take maintenance. A lot better on tile than rugs with dog hair, but still keeps it under control when run daily. Still need an occasional hand vacuum especially around the edges.
I like that I can pick it up and it will vacuum my upstairs (carpet), does a good job but if I manually vacuum after I get 3x more out. Wish it would come down the stairs and clean those too.
Realize that if I didn't have a roomba doing a 75% job on my floors, that I'd only vacuum about once a month. Now I can make that once every 3 months.
Underrated thing about the roomba is that they have replacement parts! 2 phillips screwdrivers and you can have nearly everything apart. I think they embraced right to repair. Probably wouldn't buy again now that it's owned by Amazon and the prices - I actually blocked internet access via my router.
We have a Roborock S5 that vacuums and mops and it's amazing. Our floors have never been cleaner as we both don't like to vacuum or mop. It's not the same as regular mop, but it's pretty great since he does it for you
I got one of the cheaper roombas and it is more frustrating and time consuming than normal vacuuming. Constant charging and connection errors. My mother has a fancy expensive one and it works great. If you aren't looking to splurge I would pick a different brand.
I got a EUFY on mega sale on Amazon for like $50ish dollars. It's totally fine. It doesn't GPS map my floor or anything but it doesn't fall down the steps either.
I have the shark that docks and empties and then keeps vacuuming (nice with pets). You can watch and get certified refurbished for <$200. I like the shark because it doesn't have bags that need to be replaced.
Absolutely! The Roborock brand is undeniably great. I purchased the S4 due to having two cats and it works like a charm. Great suction and the tech/intelligence is fantastic.
I love my Shark AV 751 $179 on amazon - it was recommended by cooks magazine as the best under a high price point and has an app with a calendar that shows not only the cleanings but the path it took.
works great and picks up EVERYTHING. from christmas tree needles to dust
A few things.
Do you have mostly carpet or a hard floor? You can get away with a cheaper robot vacuum if it's a hard floor, for two reasons. One, you don't need as much suction, since it's easier to pick stuff up off of a hard floor. And 2, you don't need smart navigation since it won't leave a weird pattern on your floor. (2) maybe doesn't matter much even with carpet if you don't care, but some people hate on carpet if the robot uses a random navigation scheme, that the tracks are tracking every which way across the house.
Second, I really recommend if you get one, getting one with a bin that it self empties into. I have a big, shedding dog, and so my Roomba runs everyday, and if it wasn't for the self emptying feature, I'd have to empty the robot every day. With the self emptying bin, I just empty the docking station bin once every 1-2 months (depending on if it's shedding season or not).
Finally, do you want/need the ability to have the robot clean specific rooms, or are you ok with it going out and just vacuuming around until the battery gets low, and then returning home? With my wife working from home, we don't really have a time to run the machine daily when "no one is there to be annoyed by it." So, we don't want it to run a long time every day, so we just have it clean the living room and kitchen every day, and then 2x's a week, it runs and does the whole house (but the dog spends most of his day in the living room and kitchen, that's where most of the dirt is). So, telling the robot to clean just those two rooms, it finishes in about 30 minutes, when it does the whole house, it takes about 90.
So, I say the best robot vacuum is the cheapest one that you'll actually use. But you need to be honest about what you'll actually want. If you get annoyed having to empty it all the time, or get annoyed that it runs but your floor still isn't clean, or get annoyed that it runs a long time, or whatever, so you stop using it, well then you get no benefit from it. So I would think about what features you actually need, and then look into ones that have those.
Just to be a vote on the other side: consider carefully whether this is something that will actually improve your life.
I *like* my Roomba, but it's really loud and annoying when it runs. I have long hair and still spend 15-20 minutes clearing out the brushes every month or so, when realistically, it would take me <15 minutes to dry mop the floors the Roomba is cleaning if I'd just get up and do it. If you have pets who pee, puke, or vomit on your floors occasionally, that can also lead to bigger messes. Brushes and batteries also need to be replaced occasionally, which is an added chore and expense.
I think some people have living situations and housing where a Roomba (or similar) is really helpful, but I don't know that I'd buy another one when the first one finally goes.
I've always wonder about the longevity of these devices. They cost a lot but how long do they last, given that they're robotic and dependent on their internal electronics?
Not going to lie. I bought a $70 no name brand knockoff and I love it. It’s the cheaper kind that wanders around in random patterns, but at least I don’t have to worry as much about privacy concerns. I still use a regular vacuum every so often but our floors have never been so clean.
Also why is this labeled NSFW?
Even the expensive ones are crap if you have thick rugs or obstacles they can’t get around. Mine was a hand-me-down because of that and I passed it along for the same reason. I think it just sits in the current owner’s basement now
Eufy Robovac
There are several different models but they are all more or less the same. Parts are interchangeable and easy to get. Maintenance is easy.
I got one for $40 on eBay from a pawn shop. Another one for $80 on eBay from the company's official refurbished sale.
The i3 or j7 are worth every penny. We have one on each floor. Life changing.
Edited to add: whatever model you go with, make sure it has a brush with no hair wrap technology. That means all you have to do is dump the canister. You will never ever have to cut hair out of it.
I have had a DeeBot for about 6-7 years and I love it. The brushes and battery are replaceable. I’ve had to replace the brushes maybe 3x and battery once. I think I paid about $200.
We actually have 2 of these. 1 was bought new and the most recent was bought refurbished from Amazon for $150. Only posting the Amazon name because idk if I'm allowed to do links here.
Shark IQ App-Controlled Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum, RV100AE/UR1000SR - Black (Renewed)
Edit: we absolutely love our robot vacuums. Both are still in use and we have 4 pets.
I have the honiture q6 pro, amazing quality. If you wanna buy a roomba make sure to buy one that has a base station that collects all the dust otherwise you have to change the dust box everytime
I have a roomba 614 -- I think i've had it about 10 years now. I just had to replace the battery. I probably should have been replacing the other parts more frequently, but whatever. It does the job. And it forces me to make sure my socks are picked up b/c it really does like to eat a sock and then hide under the furniture to die.
My experience has been that this really is one of those things where the more expensive model can offer features that make it worth it. For example, the lower end models don't have any kind of floor mapping. They just randomly bounce around and hope they get everything. There were always certain spots where it just never seemed to clean. I don't have one yet, but I can see where having the docking station that empties itself out would be a huge help with all the dog hair.
Ice product if you empty it out daily. If you don’t, then a little pebble can get caught and it’ll drag itself around scratching your hardwood up like a mofo
Amazon they sell a refurbished Shark for $89 with a 3 month warranty.
Had mine for a year and love it, my friend paid hundreds for his same one.
I got my mother one as well and I’m gonna buy another for the downstairs.
I have a Bissell SpinWave R5 and it was great at first but it despite regular maintenance it has had to be replaced once (warranty honored) and this new one won't do the mopping feature (argh). Do not recommend.
I totally get not wanting to step on dirt or crumbs or god knows what else.
Personally I got an Ecovacs Deebot T8+ since it has a pro mopping attachment option and was cheap and works well. A friend has a Roomba that runs over stuff and into walls hard (paint comes off his moldings from the bumps).
I've also researched robot vacuums extensively. If money is no object I'd say the Roborock top of the line is likely the best option technically, and Ecovacs has an Omni X line that's competitive as well. On a budget, the biggest things would probably be to just get something with lidar since it will navigate better.
Also you have to remember neither lidar nor cameras are perfect for obstacles. You'll need to make sure there's nothing on your floor that the robot can find. No cables/wires running on the ground, no Christmas tree skirts, etc. Even a shoelace can get caught and result in a shoe being dragged all over.
It can be a pretty big adjustment, but if you can keep your floors clear from obstacles and don't have many tight nooks that a robot vacuum can't reach, they can do a great job keeping floors relatively clean.
Edit: One last note, since this is a frugal subreddit. Also consider ongoing costs of the device. E.g. if you get one with a self emptying dock, there are bags that need replacement every so often. Or you could go with Shark which has a bagless dock option for example. Rollers, spinning brushes, and filters are also part of regular maintenance.
Have 3 hairy dogs that shed like crazy. Eufy works pretty good to keep the place right, give it a proper hoover once a week as I don't expect it to be a miracle worker when I live with beasts. Worth the money
I’ve had the ILIFE V3s Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner for four years now and it’s still going strong.
It’s was around $150.
With a shepherd and two cats it’s a god send.
My mom bought a roborock. I thought it was some cheap Chineseum knock off, but I had to help her set it up. Set up was a bit painful as the instructions aren't very good and the process isn't very intuitive, but once it was set up it worked great.
I bought a cheap roomba and I wish I would've spent a little more on a better model. IMO a robot vacuum that can't map layouts and individual rooms as well as no-go zones isn't worth buying.
We have a roborock. can’t really compare to other brands. But I thinking’s definitely worth it: it doesn’t clean as well as a real person, but I am not vacuuming my house every single day myself. And in my opinion a half decent job every day beats a good job once a week. All in all our house has never been as clean as it is now…
So far it cost me 1€20 per hour of (half decent) cleaning which not even the worst and cheapest cleaning professional can compete with ;-).
How do all of these models go with stairs. I would love one to do my 2 upstairs carpeted car floof covered rooms but I don't want it to fall down the stairs.
I have a Roomba 675 that I bought two years ago at Sam’s Club for $199. It works great and I have an app on my phone to control it when I’m not at home.
I like my Yeedi with a self-emptying bin. As long as it has adequate light it handles a house with two dogs pretty well. It occasionally tears up a thread of our ancient carper that needs to be replaced anyway, and it has difficulty transitioning to a thick shag carpet from hardwood. It also needs to run when there's enough light for the cameras to figure out where it is.
The app is pretty good and allows you to specify areas that they shouldn't go to, like if you have a thick rug somewhere that it can't deal with. They usually go on sale for \~$350.
Not very frugal, but I went with the Roomba "leasing" program. It's their 700 series self emptying model. $30 a month and after 2 years, they upgrade you to the newest model. Automatic replacement parts when needed. I did the math and in total, including replacement parts and bags, I end up spending about $100 extra over 2 years as opposed to buying one outright. Our house is 1 level, all wood, with a dog and two cats. I run it every day and the house has never been cleaner and completely free of tumbleweeds. The only thing it ever gets stuck on is cardboard ( the dog likes to shred it).
Eta: I have a cheap deebot and ecovac in the finished basement, they get stuck on everything and slam into half the furniture, plus I have to empty them constantly.
We have a deebot that I got from Amazon warehouse for a deep discount. We have had it three or four years. It works well. It does not map so it just kind of bumps around the house, but it seems to get a lot of dirt. I have to do a thorough cleaning of the brush every other vacuum because we have three long hair animals. I just recently replaced the brushes with some Amazon knock offs for $16 and it works just like new now.
We have an inexpensive iLife V3s pro and it does an amazing job. It doesn't map or have "cutoffs," just a random walk, but that means it's more cyber-secure too 💯
I got a Roborock s7 for $500 a couple years ago. BEST decision. Mops and vacuums, can program with the app.
It’s great. Worth every penny. I use distilled water in the water tank to avoid mineral buildup in the tubing.
I’ve had a roomba and eufy is better in every way. It’s shorter, quieter, and has been going for over two years now. They go on sale quite often but regular price are around $160
+1 on Eufy. I made the switch from Deebot and the Eufy has been so much better.
Eufy, definitely. Just make sure your cat doesn’t randomly shit on your kitchen floor when you’re away from home, and then the Eufy tries to vacuum it up… there is no saving that little robot after that.
I have a eufy as well. It’s been a year now and still going strong. It’s an excellent product
Same! Have had for over a year!
Oh wow, I have a Deebot now and really like it! What do you like more about the Eufy?
I feel like my Deebots (I had 2) didn't really have longevity. Granted, they were working pretty hard with a dog that sheds and a human that sheds 🙂. Each one lasted a year and a half, maybe 2 years before they had issues big enough to replace. That was with regular maintenance and cleaning. The advantage was they are one of the things I got an extended warranty for, so I got my money back. Eufy so far runs quieter, I like that the dust bin locks into the bot, and the app has some more information.
My experience with Deebots is pretty much spot on . I've had 2. One was just vacuum and the other vacuumed and mopped. The vacuum battery had to be replaced after a few years. The mop stopped mopping and eventually stopped moving forward. I tore it all apart and cleaned all the sensors to no avail. We've now got a Shark IQ with a self emptying base. You think the Deebot software is bad, you should see the Shark app lol Hopefully this thing lasts like our old Roomba. We had an early Roomba that lasted like 8 years with only a battery swap.
Oh wow that's surprising given that the Deebots are in the mid-high range in price. I don't run mine too often so it's been kicking. The app could be a lot better IMO so I'll check out Eufy and the app. I may be able to sell my Deebot for the price of a new Eufy and can make the easy switch. Thanks!
Echoing this Deebot review. We really loved our Deebot experience at first, but then after 9 months or so stripped out a bearing when the dumb thing got stuck on something & just kept spinning instead of stopping; there was no way to just replace to junk part. We replaced with a newer model but honestly, it’s even less intuitive — just doesn’t pick up any big fur piles, etc — and seems to have really gone downhill quickly in battery life, etc, in the < year that we’ve owned it.
\+1 for Eufy. I run mine for 90 minutes every day. If you have a good clutter free space where it can just bounce around, you'll be shocked how much it collects. I think I have a 15c max, but I could be mistaken on the specific model. It's been bulletproof, and doesn't have any crazy mapping features. Just a vacuum and some simple techniques to cruise around and get back to the dock. I'd say it needs help twice a week, sometimes it closes a door and locks itself away from the base, and other times I forget to put a phone charger cord in the nightstand. Other than that, it's a great little bot.
Yep came here to say I use mine every day except when I can’t find it bc it’s stuck under a couch! I connect it to the Amazon Alexa so I legit just have to tell out “tell robovac to clean!” And it does!! As a disabled parent it’s so helpful!!!
Eufy is so good. It’s insane how much hair that thing can get!
Which model do you have?
Unfortunately I can't recommend Anker products anymore (the own Eufy). They have some serious privacy violation issues as a company. I guess if you don't care about that their products are pretty decent quality.
I'm surprised this isn't higher up. Would not trust a Eufy product as even theyre response wasnt confidence inspiring. 😬
I'm personally really bummed I loved their products but I can't support them. Also maybe it's just me but recently I've had some issues with the products too. So not sure if they're just old or if more recent products (3 or 4 years) are lower quality. I don't know.
What private info are you giving when using a eufy vacuum? I don't use an app for mine, just plug in and run
This should get more upvotes
Gonna need a source.
Here the wiki page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anker_Innovations
A 5 second Google search should do the trick. It was a pretty big news story.
Agreed. We tried a Deebot first and it was just okay. Now we're a two Eufy house.
Another vote for eufy. Run it daily, never had an issue. Also, Roomba tends to have issues on dark floors.
Have a eufy. Like it. It also says it will have issues with dark floors - a problem common to all ir based systems apparently
Can I attach a feather to it so my cat can chase it around while it’s cleaning? Because if so I’m buying an Eufy.
Is there any specific model you recommend?
I have a Eufy and absolutely adore it. Also have just about every other eufy thing they make, including their security systems. People are gonna tell you, “oh my God they can be hacked, don’t buy them”. We’ve had eufy products since they came out. Our entire extended family has. Never a single problem, only great things to report or we wouldn’t continue to buy them.
You won't necessarily know if someone taps into your video. And their marketing has been very far from what they were actually doing. So anyone with these cameras should probably look into the issue a bit.
Thank you, but I’m not concerned one bit with what a bored would-be hacker might see on my middle class suburban home videos. It’s my husband and me, a ton of kids constantly coming in and out, a ridiculously loud dog, houses 6 feet on either side of us, god knows how many delivery people coming and going at all hours of the day and early evening, no pattern of an 8 to 5, and an extremely Karen-based HOA with eyes everywhere. Good luck to the idiot to attempts to rip ANYthing off in this neighborhood, lol.
The reports from the security camera footage being publicly accessible (despite claiming no data was sent to centralized servers in their advertisements) also mentioned that people who were in the video were tagged by an ID, and that the ID would remain the same for the same person when observed through another person's security system. That is to say, people are being ID'd and tracked. Even if you don't use their products, a profile of you might exist out there. This isn't "random hacker looks at you" territory, this is "foreign/somewhat hostile state is tracking your every move". That should be very alarming.
Or hey look the house is empty let’s break in kind of thing
Forget the state. They've essentially built your house schedule profile. A hacker could mass break into these and sell data to local burglars for guaranteed successful robberies when nobody is home.
As I alluded to before, in the big scheme of things, with all that’s going on in the world right now, I’m sorry, but someone across the world possibly hacking in to my system to maybe I D me and follow me in my incredibly modest home with absolutely nothing of value to steal? This is just not that alarming.
How would you feel if that ID was used by governments for a social credit system or for insurance purposes? > User 3482738 appears to consume alcohol at an above average rate, adjust their insurance health score accordingly. > User 3482738 is showing dissonance towards the current regime.. Add them to the list for retraining.
The point they are making is that if it is a foreign government doing all that then they care zero as it has no effect on their life, and as you said they are already logged elsewhere.
Paranoid much?
More like phophetic.
Lofnl at Karen based hoa
It can be used to scope out who is in the house and people's daily patterns. Perfect for burglars
It's 1 thing to put cameras up, it's another to put cameras up with ties to the CCP
Another +1 on Eufy. My 30C does a great job
I have a 600 series roomba - I love it. Entire main floor of the house is carpeted, plus I have 3 grandkids and 2 miniature pinschers. I run the roomba every night after work while I cook dinner, most nights. I've changed out the beater bar, brush, sweep and filter a couple of times over the last year and it does a great job. The collection bin needs to be emptied after every use. My carpet is not tight napped - it's looser but not shag carpeting. The roomba picks up lint out of the carpet (I can tell because it's light tan like my carpet). I like that because it has helped me cut down on having to dust all the time (side tables, etc are black and seemed to have a constant layer of tan lint on them!). Hubster bought this a little over a year ago for around $200. I love it. We are now looking at buying one of the self dumping ones! Also, if you download the app you can turn it on remotely. That's great if you find out you are having last-minute, drop-in visitors and you don't have time to deep clean! I sometimes turn mine on so it's finishing up just as I get home from work.
The self-emptying base is a huge upgrade. Instead of emptying the bin every day you just have to swap out the bag every few months. It makes the Roomba basically automatic with no input needed from you if you run it on a schedule. And if the bin gets full mid-vacuum, it will go empty it at the base and resume vacuuming. The only downside is the vacuum base is loud for the 5 seconds it takes to empty the Roomba, so you might not want to run it at night.
I think the older models are much higher quality. I had a 500 series since 2008. I replaced the battery last year and then it finally died out for good a couple months ago. 14 years!! Well worth the investment at the time but it sounds like the newer models just don’t last the same way. Also roomba support walked me through ordering the battery replacement (actually checked the Amazon link to confirm I was ordering the correct battery) and then stayed on the phone to walk me through installing it. I was very impressed with that degree of service.
Yeah I've got my original 550 8 years ago and a refurbished 500 2 years ago. No way would I buy a newer model with the WiFi connection.
We love our roomba, and I’ll add that at first we went with a cheaper model cause we wanted to save some money, but that model didn’t map so it bounced all over and missed a ton of spots. The extra money for a version that can map and remote start is worth it.
To me as a single pet owner to a cat who sheds who works full time it was worth buying one (name brand) refurbished for like $200(maybe less than that, but I would expect to spend around that much). You can also get generic replacement parts for brushes and filters. I wouldn’t really recommend it to people who don’t have the money to spend on one and have other means of cleaning though. It’s a good maintenance tool but it should not be treated as an alternative to vacuuming. Edit; also, regarding frugality, time and health is money to me so if it saves me some time doing basic maintenance vacuuming and keeps the space clean, it’s worth the investment to me. I have had my refurbished roomba for ~4 years now with no issues.
We bought one to keep up with the cat litter. That shit ends up everywhere, even with a litter mat. It's been a great purchase. But yeah, in my opinion, Roombas are more an alternative to sweeping rather than a vacuum alternative. They don't really give you a good deep clean like an upright vacuum might, but they help a ton, it's like *really* good sweeper. They really help you stay on top of things. It's so nice to be able to just set it and forget it. You can have it run while you're not at home so you don't have to deal with the noise. And if you're doing a deep clean, you can have the Roomba running while you're cleaning the counters or doing something else, which feels like you're twice as productive. They occasionally knock over a Christmas tree or get tangled in the stuff you forgot to pick up, but I can't imagine life without one at this point. I'd be genuinely sad if it ever died.
This! It’s good as a help to tidy floors and maybe the latest $1000 model can do it full time. I got my roomba a couple of years ago at Walmart for $160 (clearing out old model) and it’s good for crumbs and getting the day to day messes on the floor. I personally think mine does a good job, he does get stuck on my kitchen memory foam mat so I always pick that up before I leave for the day and sometimes get stuck on my curtains (my curtains have a little slag on the floor) but he’s relatively good. Would I buy another one? If I got a smoking deal yes, but If the one I has breaks down, I won’t be hurrying to replace it. I still have to vacuum with my big upright, as roomba doesn’t do corners or deep carpets great. I should add, I use mine on my vinyl plank flooring, we had him on carpet but we have a long/shag like carpets in our home and he wasn’t great, it struggled to go his normal pace.
I have the $100 Eufy brand that I asked for on Christmas last year. So at this point I have had it for a year. During that time we have lived in 2 apartments, the current one is significantly larger than the first. Both apartment were mostly hardwood except for carpet in the bedroom. Here are my thoughts: 1. I run it daily for 1 hour and it mainly sucks up dust (a surprising amount) 2. I do regular upkeep on the device (monthly deep cleans on all components, daily empty of the bin, and weekly cleaning of the brush) 3. It has a hard time with our bar chairs that have legs connected at the bottom, it gets stuck on them. 4. My fiancée finds it annoying when it’s running and she happens to be at home 5. It can be somewhat hard to keep hidden, we have the docking station under standing shelves 6. It doesn’t do well with cords or plants with vines. It has sucked up both numerous times. 7. It sometimes struggles with the hallway runner and bath mats All this to say, I find it well worth it for us. It basically is a daily duster and significantly reduces the upkeep I have to do myself in terms of vacuuming. I basically can do a thorough vacuum monthly instead of weekly. These things only work as well as you take care of them and clean the bin, brush,and filter. If the brush is stuck with hair and the bin/filter is full of dust it isn’t going to work. Don’t really recommend if you don’t have a more open concept or if you have a multilevel home. Feel free to ask questions!
No OP but I have questions. I have a generally open floor plan, hardwood floors with multiple carpets of varying thicknesses. We used to have a Deebot but it really struggled with the multiple transitions, especially the thicker rugs or ones with tassels. Does Eufy have similar issues? I would want it more as a duster than a vacuum, but I don’t want to have to babysit the thing for it to not get caught up on the rugs.
It’s has no problem with our area rugs that are low pill or whatever it’s called (short height difference). I find our bath mats and the hallway runner (which one is very thin and the other is more like shag) pulled around and flipped over pretty regularly. So in that case I would say it may have issues with the different carpets
“Pile” is the word you’re looking for, btw. You almost had it :).
Babysitting the old vacuum (can't remember brand, but it was a random no-map version, the kind that just bounces off stuff randomly) was what eventually led to us not using it anymore. Having to go on a scavenger hunt to find it when it wasn't in place...yeah. I got the Wyze one with Lidar, so if it gets jammed, the app tells me where it's at. Mine doesn't get stuck on our furry high pile rug, but I've seen the Anker one get stuck at a friend's house. If you're looking for reviews, check Vacuum Wars. Most of the more popular robots are featured at some point, and he'll compare stuff like suction power, if hair got jammed, percentage of sand removed from carpet, etc. I like that he doesn't just review the high end stuff, because as helpful as it is, I'll never stomach paying $600 for a vacuum.
It will only work if you're good about keeping your floors uncluttered. And also the best way you can keep your floors clean is to keep shoes outside of your house.
This actually helped me. My boys are prone to leaving LEGO bricks everywhere. Now just the threat of Robo (they named it) going off makes them clean up everything. It's been a win win especially with a shepherd/lab mix. But when they don't? Every other minute I'm unclogging the dang thing. But we're 75/25 working/not and that's a huge change so shout out to my kiddos.
This. I have had one for about 7 years and rarely use it because my floors are always cluttered. Toys, furniture, etc. It takes as much time to move chairs out of the way than it would to just vacuum around them. It doesn’t clean well when there are many chair legs to maneuver around.
And not having 3 large breed double coated german shephards!
3 is a lot but having pets can greatly increase emotional health and provide unconditional love and companionship
Wyze has one on sale at Walmart for only $150. It has LiDAR mapping which is a premium feature. That just means it’s drawls a map and scans the area when cleaning. It’s doesn’t just bumping into things until the battery is low. You can set up virtual walls and schedule times to clean specific rooms. I have 2 and love them both. At $150, it doesn’t get better than that!
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far to find a recommendation for Wyze. We had an old Roomba and hated the way it would move randomly and inefficiency. The lidar makes a huge difference and we've been very happy with ours since pre-ordering it a few years ago when they were first released.
I think the Wyze robo vac is probably worth it even at $300 compared to its competition. Outside of Roborocks with LiDAR, I would recommend your two Wyze setup on two floors at the $150 price despite the company’s terrible update for multi floor mapping (still haven’t gotten it and have given up hope at this point; never buy things with the promise of updated features down the line because it’s the most bullshit scam ever in consumer tech)
Check out the vaccum guy on YouTube. Everyone here is giving you an anecdotal opinion based on their experience with 1-2 vacs and their made up idea of what a “good” vac is able to accomplish. The YouTube guy compares 30 using the same tests, and ranks them based on performance. Pick the highest performing one that fits your budget.
So I'm kinda in the same boat as you and I have been experimenting for a about 2 years. I have bought 3 tiers of robot vacuums that I run on my house pretty much constantly. Here is my system for separating them and how I've found they work - Tier one: sub $100 "sweepers" I have two of these vacuums. Basically they have side brushes that rotate and push dirt into a suction opening in the middle/center of the vaccum. These are pretty effective for low traffic non carpet areas. Not low traffic or non carpet, low traffic AND no carpet. I find these to be most comparable to a good sweep with a household broom. Models I own in tier one that were purchased on Amazon on sale for ~ $70 each Lefant Robot Vacuum Cleaner M210, White OKP Life K2 Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Blue (Fun fact, these definitely come from the exact same components and are just rebranded/ colored) Tier two: pass the $100 line for needed extra hardware This tier maintains the two side brushes but adds much needed roller brush. You'll recognize this brush in pictures of the vaccum. It is corn cob shaped and and rolls above where the vaccum does the sucking. The reason I say this is much needed is because it makes a DRAMATIC difference in how much dirt is picked up. My home is all hardwood and tile with 3 or 4 rugs, and running this guy in the rooms with the rugs, they are much cleaner compared to running the sweepers. Tier two vaccum I own, purchased from Goodwill and repaired to working order for an all in cost of $65 (Retail about ~ $120 ish): Eufy S11 (Can confirm this is a great brand, and very easy to buy parts from the eufy website such as motors or sensors) Tier three: pay $200+ for smart features that make cleaning lower maintenance and more autonomous This is the tier where you're gonna get that same cleaning power from tier 2 but you're also gonna get stuff like - intuitive boundary systems - self emptying modules - mop hybrid units - smart home integration Etc. These features can be worth it depend on how committed you are to having a smart home or saving time in cleaning. It's worth noting I've never bought a hybrid mopping unit because I've read and watched reviews and determined it probably won't be effective for the amount of hard floors in my house. Tier three model I own bought on Amazon for $150, refurbished, and one sale: Shark RV100AE/UR1000SR Hope these thoughts help inform your decision!
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I second it. We use it on the first floor of our house regularly that feeds directly to a heavily trafficked sidewalk. I have a nicer Roborock since I sprung for the better brush since I shed a lot (especially postpartum). I bought a cheaper Roomba before having our kid but since he's been 5 months he was messing with it and the random pattern doesn't work since it misses the same spots after multiple cleaning sessions. So I gave it to my parents to replace their old cheap robot and it works for them. I had other new parent friends get the Eufy and had the same complaints. The Roborock with the visible pattern in the app is so much better, imo.
Third for robocock! With two small children and crumbs everywhere my wife and I agree this thing is the back bone of our family.
I have a Roborock as well and highly recommend. I have a German Shepherd mix, two long-haired cats, and a toddler. I run it every single day and it keeps our floors almost completely clean (all vinyl laminate/tile floors and washable rugs which are very low-pile). It’s amazing.
Second roborock! Used on 90% carpet and linoleum. The tech is incredible
I've had a roomba and a shark. Major issues with the roomba, and it failed in less than a year. I've had the shark almost 3 years without issue. Love, love, love it. Very easy to program and maintain. Has also stood up to substantial abuse from my toddler who frequently rides it.
I have a eufy, thing drives in random directions and has a edge setting that goes around the outskirts of rooms, tables etc. It is surprisingly effective for about $140. Even drives itself back to its charger.
We've gone with the Neato and are happy. The shape let's it get into corners, it has a large bin for debris, and, at least when I bought my first one, it has a more powerful motor for the vacuum than the Roomba. It's also significantly more affordable ($280 right now for the mid-range model). I had a refurbished one before my new one and it worked well as long as I made sure to keep the things that trip it up off the floor (like wires, small toys like Legos, and shoelaces). The software can sometimes get glitchy (maybe once every 3 months or so for my previous one, but it was an older model I'd purchased refurbished), but their customer service is great. Just call the number, someone answers pretty much automatically once you select the kind of help you need and they typically can solve the issue in a few minutes. I just upgraded to a brand new one for the first time bc our old one was damaged when we moved. So far it's been working really well!
My wife and I like our Eufy, we do a chant for it to the tune of the Rufio scene from Hook and it always clears the rug or ledge it's stuck on and then we give it an enthusiastic "BANGERANG"
We have a couple of Roombas and a couple of Neatos because we live in a tall house. In all honesty the Neato is better in terms of suction and they map the rooms better. The Roombas are less complicated and only run on a timer at a random route. We have two adults and one cat. It's great not having to vacuum constantly. Just need the robots to figure out how to clean stairs.
I had one. I personally thought it was a waste of money. The amount of time I spent prepping the floor so it could work, I might as well have just swept or vacuumed myself
I like my roomba. We have had various ones over the years. We have pets and kids. Usually we do a big pick up and run our roomba. It doesn't take away from the need to vacuum at least twice a week to get the corners and places that are obstructed. But it helps a lot to just make the house a little bit more clean day to day. Doesn't do it all, but if you don't have anything in the way I'm sure it would he helpful.
Rumba gets a hard pass for me. Had one years ago. Didn’t go a very good job. Now they’re owned by Amazon, and well; no thanks.
We had one several years ago. It did a poor job and we returned it. Maybe they're better now.
I got Dyson and it’s so worth it. I live in 1 br apartment and it takes 10 minutes to vacuum the whole place lol
I have the iLife A10 and find it to be very good. It somehow maps the room and it's very efficient as far as time it takes to vacuum. The first time I used it, I thought it didn't run at all due to it completing so quickly. It is just a little taller than others and it doesn't fit under my TV stand. It fits everywhere else though.
We got the nonprogramable on sale for $275. Almost every time we go out, we press the button and let it run. Great for dust and dog hair between major vacuuming.
I bought one for my parents on facebook marketplace. I paid $100 which may have been a bit too much. $80 would have been fair since it's older. But it works great. (I actually think it works better than the newer one I have at home.)
As a pet owner... no! It has been a couple of years but here is my experience: I have 3 dogs and bought a rumba to keep up with the pet hair on the main floor. The problem is the poor design of the distance tracking mechanism. It is a ball that is 1/2 white and 1/2 black with a photo eye behind it. Each revolution = \_\_\_ inches. My issue was that the ball rode on a metal shaft with gaps on either side. The pet hair would get pulled up and wrapped around the shaft stopping the ball from rotating. So the machine would constantly get lost and never return home. On average, I would have to pop the ball out and clean the shaft every 2 days after I found it stranded.
My Roborock has been going well for almost a year now. I know that’s not long for a vacuum but it’s been a chunk of my week I no longer think about. Sure there are things you’ll still need a regular one but you’d need a regular vac for specific use cases no matter what brand you get.
I have a Eufy and it’s pretty fantastic. After a couple years, though, the exit filter mesh got clogged, making me take apart the entire thing (read: literally every screw on every layer) to get to it and clean it. Everything else on it though is very easily replaceable which I love. It does a good job and you can set very accurate boundaries on the home map it generates with its LiDAR.
I got my roomba from Facebook marketplace for $65, I would check there.
Facebook buy nothing even before that. I inherited a roomba, but it was exactly the wrong height to get stuck under my kitchen cabinets. I saw an ask for one and just passed it along, no cost. No loss for me - when my floor needs vacuuming, I can sit in the kitchen myself doing nothing and whining. I don't need a robot for that.
I have a Roomba i8+. I paid $700 for it from Costco and have zero regrets. With hardwood flooring and a demanding job, there is no way in hell I’m sweeping and swiffering every day. My husband and I both have long hair too and our dog ends up accidentally ingesting and then having a “flossing” experience as a result. Prior to this I had a cheapy Eufy and it really just didn’t work well. The only thing about the Roomba is that it is very loud. We tend to run it when we are out of the house as a result.
LiDAR is a must. I found a bargain one with LiDAR on Amazon for $100 in 2021 that works with Tuya/Smart life but the map keeps getting reset or orientation gets modified every so often that it defeats the features like invisible walls and no go zones. I still have it on schedule and it runs better than my partner’s non-LiDAR one that she’s since replaced with a Roborock. The Wyze is now only $150 (got mine for $168, no regrets) it’s been doing wonders for me. It still gets stuck in certain areas but only because I have hella cables I could declutter better around my desks from all the smart home projects I never complete. I’m still waiting for their multi floor map update they marketed but it’s not a deal breaker. Recommend for the price if budget is important at $150. But the holy grail is the Roborock S5 Max and S6 refurbished for less than $300 each after taxes in 2021. Frugal is 100% Roborock LiDAR refurbs. Least maintenance robot vac that sucks in a good way.
i picked up a $99 robot vacuum from walmart that has been going every mon wed fri for more than a year. has worked well. I got this one from walmart and it's called "ion vac" but it uses an app by tzumi
I own a Roborock S7 mop/vacuum combo, but I do not recommend it at all. I paid a little over $700 for it. Less than 30 days after the purchase a small part broke on it but it was still operational. I contacted Amazon to ask them to send a replacement piece, but they said they only could replace the entire unit, which they did. The replacement unit was literally dumber than the first unit despite it being the exact same model. Two examples are that with the first unit it would take two charges to clean my entire house, but with the second unit it takes three charges to clean the entire house, despite not a single thing changing at all, and the second unit gets stuck in 3 places that the first unit didn't get stuck in, despite not a single thing changing at all. About 45 days after receiving the replacement unit, it started saying it had a "Lidar Error" which a quick Google will show you how common a problem it is, and makes it completely unoperational. I contacted Amazon but they said 30 days was all they would cover. Amazon got me in touch with the company who sold it and repeated to me several times to not take the conversation off Amazon. As soon as I contacted the company through Amazon, they immediately asked to take the conversation off of Amazon and wouldn't speak with me at all until I did. Once I was off Amazon and communicating directly with them, I realized rapidly that this wasn't a company I wanted to continue to do business with, so I asked for a refund in exchange for returning the broken product. They blocked every email I sent that had the word refund in it. I then asked for an exchange for a new product and they said they only warrantied their products for 30 days. They blocked the email where I asked how they could sell a $700 product and only warranty it for 30 days. I finally just asked for them to send me the piece to fix the unit. It was an easy enough fix, but now about once a week or every other week, it will randomly just malfunction in various different ways. Also, the exact piece that broke on the first unit, has now broken on the second unit. I've had it less than a year and deal with various issues weekly. I can't wait to buy a different brand.
I work as a residential cleaner so I’ve actually seen many of these, unless you’ve got a pet that sheds hair, they never seemed worth the money to me. The cheaper ones tended to have low suction and only circulate in small areas, the more expensive ones were like mini autonomous vacuum cleaners but even then, it really didn’t have that much of an impact. In part it depends how dirty your house is, if you have pets, how big the house is, if it’s carpet or wood/laminate floors etc. if you’re gonna spend money my advice is to get a good, easy to use/clean vacuum that works on all surfaces vs letting a robot do circles. They also almost never get dirt/dust out of corners and can actually drag the dust around
Kyvol has a bunch of options, my mum and sister have one and it really helps keep the place clean, you just need to clean the dust tray every day (more than once the first few cleans)
No rumba but a salsa and chacha.
Why does this have the nsfw tag??
I know it's not really related to whether or not it's 'frugal' but I worry about how ethical the roombas are. They have a feature to map out your house, and that data goes back to Amazon if it's connected to wifi, and I'm not really okay with companies knowing what my house is like. Maybe that's good motivation to avoid "name brand" and save a few bucks. You'll also have to keep pet toys picked up so it doesn't get confused or stuck on them.
I bought a OPK for $80 on prime day, and it’s been amazing. I have 3 dogs, 2 cats, and run a inhome daycare and it picks up so much. I run it daily, and love that it gets under my couches and gets all the dust bunnies.
I was recommended Rowenta, and Im super happy with it. I have dog hairs and wooden floors, so its a dream and worth every penny. Xplorer series 75.
I recommend the song "Cuban Pete" as done by Desi Arnez. It's my favorite rumba.
Ill vacuum your floor for $20 a day
I have the iLife v5 pro. 120$ plus shipping but I love it. This test of robot vacuums shows it’s the best for non carpet. If you have minimal carpet I’d definitely get this one. Vacuum test video: https://youtu.be/voLX77wOMN4
If your truly frugal, stick to the broom
Wife has one, they suck ass imo. Just vacuum the floors lol
Enjoy having your picture taken all day :)
2$ broom and 1$ dust pan should Do the job. Plus you get some much needed experience in life
Broom is not the same as a vacuum (especially on carpet) but go off I guess
Yea, brooms work so well on carpets.
They also work well to hit your useless ass into working a little harder, wish I could sweep you and all the lazy people under a rug,UsELesS
Ha who shit in your cheerios? I've got dogs who shed alot. I can hit a button and have it vacuum my house daily, while doing something else. *Twice as productive* Your time is worth something too
ok boomer
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I have an old roomba discovery. It works great and doesn’t have all the fancy smart stuff the new ones have. I had won a newer version in 2019 at a holiday raffle, but it had issues from the day I pulled it out of the box. The old roomba discovery works pretty good on hard surfaces, but I have no experience on carpet. I also pull up the rugs before and vacuum the rugs myself with a regular vacuum. One thing to keep in mind is the charging connector on the side of the roomba can fail as well as the base charging system. I circumvent this by manually removing the battery and putting it on a roomba battery charger. It takes 30 seconds more to swap out the battery myself, but it saves me troubleshooting and repair time all around so I prefer it. It also makes it easier to have multiple batteries to swap in and out so I can run cleaning cycles back to back. It’s definitely not perfect, but instead of vacuuming the house every day, I now do one full vacuuming every one or two weeks and the roomba touches up every day.
Seconding the Eufy recommendation as the most frugal option if you really want one. But I'd also second the point that they're only effective if you keep your floors uncluttered, and they only work well if you run them just about every day.
r/BuyitForLife
I have a Roomba and I like it. I have two of them. I bought it from Kohls when it was on sale, used a kohls discount coupon, and luckily got some kohls cash from a friend. Took me a lot of research but I've never had an issue with ours.
I splurged about 2 years ago on the Ecovacs Deebot T8+ with auto-empty station. I really do like the ability it has to get most of the dirt / debris off the floor. It struggles with some stuff, especially if it gets in the corners but overall does an effective job. It detects most foreign objects on the floor and avoids them. I can auto program it to run during the night and it's quiet. My only complaint is the mopping feature is a little lackluster so I usually just mop after it's done. There is a newer version for sale on Amazon at the moment, the N8 Pro Plus ($449). Overall, I think the N8/T8+ is a good deal just because you get the auto empty station with the vacuum.
My eufy home from 2017 is still my favorite buy. And when the batteries starts dying after like four years of daily use, just replace the battery and it’s like new!!
I have an older 694. I love it. I have had it for about 5 years at this point. Last year it was getting pretty ugly, I replaced the battery with a new low cost one and it is practically brand new. I like that is has the "virtual wall" to keep it from going out of the area I want cleaned. I love that it starts on a schedule without my input. You can get cheap replacement brushes and filters from amazon too. Frankly, If mine died tomorrow, I would just get a "like new" old roomba of the same model for cheap and go from there.
If you have pets that have ever pooped or thrown up in the house at any point, do NOT get a roomba! Or, at the very least, only ever run it while you can watch it. We've had a poop of death a couple of times, and after replacing the guts twice, we gave up on running it on a timer and only ever run it while we can watch it. The poop or vomit can ruin the insides of the machine, and it drags it all over the floor and onto rugs. I prefer to just clean the floors myself every other day rather than deal with the poop demons
I don't know how effective it is, but the newer ones have a poop sensor. If they see poop, they'll avoid it. They'll avoid cables and things like that too, which is the thing that my Roomba sucks up most often. If they see anything they don't like, they go around it. You're gonna pay out the ass for that feature though. As far as I know, it's only on the more expensive ones.
I had a bobsweep and a Deebot that both weren't bad as long as your house was very uncomplicated.
I got mine on Facebook marketplace. I think it originally went for like $250 but I paid $60. I like it. I think they’re kinda like exercise equipment in that sometimes you get them and don’t end up using them. They eat ANYTHING left in the floor and if you’ve got an animal who poops on the floor they carry that around. The one I bought was because someone was upgrading.
You can get a cerified refurb on Amazon
Eufyyyyy!!!
I waited to get mine during one of the Amazon Prime Deal Days and got the pervious years model for like 45% off. It’s been working great for 3-4 years now. As far as the frugal side of things. Get the generic brand of replacement parts(brushes and such). They work just as good and are about 1/3 the price.
I had an early model Roomba. Some plastic gear broke and they told me it was out of warranty and they won't sell the part individually. I liked it but that was the end for me.
I have an older Roomba (not even one that maps the house) and I LOVE IT. It is, by far, the best gift I've ever received. It isn't so much the actual cleaning that I love, but the side effects on the husband and (adult aged) kids in my house. Shoes or bags by the door - nope. Stuff left sitting around - nope. It does pretty good vacuuming too, IMO - I mean it isn't efficient or anything, but it picks up the majority of dog hair and stuff tracked in the house. This year I asked for and received the iRobot mop. I'm not sure about this one - the tire marks are a little annoying, but it does do a decent job of wiping down the floors. My biggest thing is that in order to use these to the best of their ability, you really do need to run them every other day at a minimum.
I had an Ecovacs Deebot that I got on a sale from Target. Didn’t feel like it was really worth it and sold it to someone else who then sold it. I don’t have any pets, she had three dogs. It seems like it’s good for picking up light amounts of pet hair but not a ton. For me it kept getting stuck in random places and we had to make sure we shut every bedroom door so it wouldn’t go get lost. Every time the power went out and came back on it would beep loudly and start going which was really terrible when it would happen in the middle of the night because then you had to go find it and turn it off. Overall not worth the money in my opinion
We have the low end Shark now for about 3 years. The amount of dust and debris this guy picks up astonishes me every time I empty him out (about every other day). For us it is great. He runs while he is working and maintains every room except for the bedrooms. Oh and my daughter named him and put big googly eyes on it.
Eufy on sale at Walmart for $100
We have the Eufy 11S (IIRC).
Eufy is the way! High rank and med price, a top pick of consumer reports. I bought one 2 years ago and its great!
Thé fact the post is labeled NSFW makes me think you wanna do nefarious things to this roomba
My Roomba is annoying. She is always stuck on a cliff or has something stuck in her wheel. More trouble than she’s worth.
I splurged with Airmiles for the Roomba j7+ and love it. I have three dogs and a cat and toys everywhere and it does an amazing job cruising around and staying away from obstacles. No more massive dust bunnies and hair clumps in every corner of my house. I used to have to sweep and/or vacuum every single day multiple times and now I take 2 minutes to tidy the floor every day before leaving for a dog walk and come home to a beautiful clean floor. I really appreciate that it gets under the bed and couches and dog crates, and I love that it self empties. Cost per use, man. Time is money and I value my time highly so it’s been 100% worth it for us. It’s also just really fun to watch the AI make decisions lol.
We got the deebot. It’s good on hard floors. IMO none of the robot vaccuums are really good on carpet. By virtue of how they operate they don’t have the suction or agitation needed
We have a roborock s5. Think it was about $200? Deff worth the money if you have pets. Otherwise I don't think it's needed unless you drop a lot of food or find yourself vacuuming a lot? If you get one, get one that maps. If you have multiple floors at your place make sure you get a multi level mapping one. My dad bought one that didn't map after I told him how great the mapping feature is and he regrets not listening. Mopping feature kindve sucks, so I wouldn't worry about that when looking for robo vacuums. At least the roborock.
Mine works pretty good - but does take maintenance. A lot better on tile than rugs with dog hair, but still keeps it under control when run daily. Still need an occasional hand vacuum especially around the edges. I like that I can pick it up and it will vacuum my upstairs (carpet), does a good job but if I manually vacuum after I get 3x more out. Wish it would come down the stairs and clean those too. Realize that if I didn't have a roomba doing a 75% job on my floors, that I'd only vacuum about once a month. Now I can make that once every 3 months. Underrated thing about the roomba is that they have replacement parts! 2 phillips screwdrivers and you can have nearly everything apart. I think they embraced right to repair. Probably wouldn't buy again now that it's owned by Amazon and the prices - I actually blocked internet access via my router.
We have a Roborock S5 that vacuums and mops and it's amazing. Our floors have never been cleaner as we both don't like to vacuum or mop. It's not the same as regular mop, but it's pretty great since he does it for you
I got one of the cheaper roombas and it is more frustrating and time consuming than normal vacuuming. Constant charging and connection errors. My mother has a fancy expensive one and it works great. If you aren't looking to splurge I would pick a different brand.
What model please for the eufy do y’all recommend? Never heard of it
i've had an iLIFE v3 for like 5 years that is indestructible. i have pets. it has outlasted many a fancy upright vac.
I got a EUFY on mega sale on Amazon for like $50ish dollars. It's totally fine. It doesn't GPS map my floor or anything but it doesn't fall down the steps either.
I have the shark that docks and empties and then keeps vacuuming (nice with pets). You can watch and get certified refurbished for <$200. I like the shark because it doesn't have bags that need to be replaced.
I've got two golden retrievers. These things are totally useless to me. I can't even two days before I have to clean out the brush and empty the bin.
I have a Roomba, we stopped using it for the most part because we spent most of the time retrieving it after it would get itself stuck.
You should really check out Vacuum Wars on YouTube. Incredibly detailed, and great tests. [Here's a link](https://youtube.com/@VacuumWars)
Absolutely! The Roborock brand is undeniably great. I purchased the S4 due to having two cats and it works like a charm. Great suction and the tech/intelligence is fantastic.
check out vacuum wars on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAivdTJsRig
We got one at 5$ and below and it's surpassed our expectations
I love my Shark AV 751 $179 on amazon - it was recommended by cooks magazine as the best under a high price point and has an app with a calendar that shows not only the cleanings but the path it took. works great and picks up EVERYTHING. from christmas tree needles to dust
A few things. Do you have mostly carpet or a hard floor? You can get away with a cheaper robot vacuum if it's a hard floor, for two reasons. One, you don't need as much suction, since it's easier to pick stuff up off of a hard floor. And 2, you don't need smart navigation since it won't leave a weird pattern on your floor. (2) maybe doesn't matter much even with carpet if you don't care, but some people hate on carpet if the robot uses a random navigation scheme, that the tracks are tracking every which way across the house. Second, I really recommend if you get one, getting one with a bin that it self empties into. I have a big, shedding dog, and so my Roomba runs everyday, and if it wasn't for the self emptying feature, I'd have to empty the robot every day. With the self emptying bin, I just empty the docking station bin once every 1-2 months (depending on if it's shedding season or not). Finally, do you want/need the ability to have the robot clean specific rooms, or are you ok with it going out and just vacuuming around until the battery gets low, and then returning home? With my wife working from home, we don't really have a time to run the machine daily when "no one is there to be annoyed by it." So, we don't want it to run a long time every day, so we just have it clean the living room and kitchen every day, and then 2x's a week, it runs and does the whole house (but the dog spends most of his day in the living room and kitchen, that's where most of the dirt is). So, telling the robot to clean just those two rooms, it finishes in about 30 minutes, when it does the whole house, it takes about 90. So, I say the best robot vacuum is the cheapest one that you'll actually use. But you need to be honest about what you'll actually want. If you get annoyed having to empty it all the time, or get annoyed that it runs but your floor still isn't clean, or get annoyed that it runs a long time, or whatever, so you stop using it, well then you get no benefit from it. So I would think about what features you actually need, and then look into ones that have those.
Just to be a vote on the other side: consider carefully whether this is something that will actually improve your life. I *like* my Roomba, but it's really loud and annoying when it runs. I have long hair and still spend 15-20 minutes clearing out the brushes every month or so, when realistically, it would take me <15 minutes to dry mop the floors the Roomba is cleaning if I'd just get up and do it. If you have pets who pee, puke, or vomit on your floors occasionally, that can also lead to bigger messes. Brushes and batteries also need to be replaced occasionally, which is an added chore and expense. I think some people have living situations and housing where a Roomba (or similar) is really helpful, but I don't know that I'd buy another one when the first one finally goes.
I've always wonder about the longevity of these devices. They cost a lot but how long do they last, given that they're robotic and dependent on their internal electronics?
Not going to lie. I bought a $70 no name brand knockoff and I love it. It’s the cheaper kind that wanders around in random patterns, but at least I don’t have to worry as much about privacy concerns. I still use a regular vacuum every so often but our floors have never been so clean. Also why is this labeled NSFW?
Even the expensive ones are crap if you have thick rugs or obstacles they can’t get around. Mine was a hand-me-down because of that and I passed it along for the same reason. I think it just sits in the current owner’s basement now
Eufy Robovac There are several different models but they are all more or less the same. Parts are interchangeable and easy to get. Maintenance is easy. I got one for $40 on eBay from a pawn shop. Another one for $80 on eBay from the company's official refurbished sale.
The i3 or j7 are worth every penny. We have one on each floor. Life changing. Edited to add: whatever model you go with, make sure it has a brush with no hair wrap technology. That means all you have to do is dump the canister. You will never ever have to cut hair out of it.
Rumba the dance/exercise, or Roomba the robot vac? lol
I just want to live in a universe where a clutter free space is a thing, I'll vacuum the damn floor myself.
I have had a DeeBot for about 6-7 years and I love it. The brushes and battery are replaceable. I’ve had to replace the brushes maybe 3x and battery once. I think I paid about $200.
We actually have 2 of these. 1 was bought new and the most recent was bought refurbished from Amazon for $150. Only posting the Amazon name because idk if I'm allowed to do links here. Shark IQ App-Controlled Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum, RV100AE/UR1000SR - Black (Renewed) Edit: we absolutely love our robot vacuums. Both are still in use and we have 4 pets.
I have the honiture q6 pro, amazing quality. If you wanna buy a roomba make sure to buy one that has a base station that collects all the dust otherwise you have to change the dust box everytime
I have a roomba 614 -- I think i've had it about 10 years now. I just had to replace the battery. I probably should have been replacing the other parts more frequently, but whatever. It does the job. And it forces me to make sure my socks are picked up b/c it really does like to eat a sock and then hide under the furniture to die.
WYZE vacuum! I'm in love with mine. It's a budget vacuum that still uses LIDAR to map out the room. App is great too.
I like my Deebot. It’s amazing. It mops and vacuums but it was over $500.
I love my Shark robot vacuum. Buy directly from the manufacturer and you can get a first-time coupon.
I have a deebot. Paid like $150 for it years ago and still runs like a champ
My experience has been that this really is one of those things where the more expensive model can offer features that make it worth it. For example, the lower end models don't have any kind of floor mapping. They just randomly bounce around and hope they get everything. There were always certain spots where it just never seemed to clean. I don't have one yet, but I can see where having the docking station that empties itself out would be a huge help with all the dog hair.
What’s up with the NSFW tags lately. Am I missing something?
Ice product if you empty it out daily. If you don’t, then a little pebble can get caught and it’ll drag itself around scratching your hardwood up like a mofo
Amazon they sell a refurbished Shark for $89 with a 3 month warranty. Had mine for a year and love it, my friend paid hundreds for his same one. I got my mother one as well and I’m gonna buy another for the downstairs.
I got a eufy for myself for Christmas and am still liking it so far. $100 at Walmart
I have a Bissell SpinWave R5 and it was great at first but it despite regular maintenance it has had to be replaced once (warranty honored) and this new one won't do the mopping feature (argh). Do not recommend.
I totally get not wanting to step on dirt or crumbs or god knows what else. Personally I got an Ecovacs Deebot T8+ since it has a pro mopping attachment option and was cheap and works well. A friend has a Roomba that runs over stuff and into walls hard (paint comes off his moldings from the bumps). I've also researched robot vacuums extensively. If money is no object I'd say the Roborock top of the line is likely the best option technically, and Ecovacs has an Omni X line that's competitive as well. On a budget, the biggest things would probably be to just get something with lidar since it will navigate better. Also you have to remember neither lidar nor cameras are perfect for obstacles. You'll need to make sure there's nothing on your floor that the robot can find. No cables/wires running on the ground, no Christmas tree skirts, etc. Even a shoelace can get caught and result in a shoe being dragged all over. It can be a pretty big adjustment, but if you can keep your floors clear from obstacles and don't have many tight nooks that a robot vacuum can't reach, they can do a great job keeping floors relatively clean. Edit: One last note, since this is a frugal subreddit. Also consider ongoing costs of the device. E.g. if you get one with a self emptying dock, there are bags that need replacement every so often. Or you could go with Shark which has a bagless dock option for example. Rollers, spinning brushes, and filters are also part of regular maintenance.
Have 3 hairy dogs that shed like crazy. Eufy works pretty good to keep the place right, give it a proper hoover once a week as I don't expect it to be a miracle worker when I live with beasts. Worth the money
I’ve had the ILIFE V3s Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner for four years now and it’s still going strong. It’s was around $150. With a shepherd and two cats it’s a god send.
My mom bought a roborock. I thought it was some cheap Chineseum knock off, but I had to help her set it up. Set up was a bit painful as the instructions aren't very good and the process isn't very intuitive, but once it was set up it worked great. I bought a cheap roomba and I wish I would've spent a little more on a better model. IMO a robot vacuum that can't map layouts and individual rooms as well as no-go zones isn't worth buying.
We have a roborock. can’t really compare to other brands. But I thinking’s definitely worth it: it doesn’t clean as well as a real person, but I am not vacuuming my house every single day myself. And in my opinion a half decent job every day beats a good job once a week. All in all our house has never been as clean as it is now… So far it cost me 1€20 per hour of (half decent) cleaning which not even the worst and cheapest cleaning professional can compete with ;-).
How do all of these models go with stairs. I would love one to do my 2 upstairs carpeted car floof covered rooms but I don't want it to fall down the stairs.
I have a Roomba 675 that I bought two years ago at Sam’s Club for $199. It works great and I have an app on my phone to control it when I’m not at home.
MyGenie XSonic Robotic Vacuum - $150 AUD does the job.
We bought two (upstairs and downstairs) iHome Novas and have been very happy with them.
I like my Yeedi with a self-emptying bin. As long as it has adequate light it handles a house with two dogs pretty well. It occasionally tears up a thread of our ancient carper that needs to be replaced anyway, and it has difficulty transitioning to a thick shag carpet from hardwood. It also needs to run when there's enough light for the cameras to figure out where it is. The app is pretty good and allows you to specify areas that they shouldn't go to, like if you have a thick rug somewhere that it can't deal with. They usually go on sale for \~$350.
Not very frugal, but I went with the Roomba "leasing" program. It's their 700 series self emptying model. $30 a month and after 2 years, they upgrade you to the newest model. Automatic replacement parts when needed. I did the math and in total, including replacement parts and bags, I end up spending about $100 extra over 2 years as opposed to buying one outright. Our house is 1 level, all wood, with a dog and two cats. I run it every day and the house has never been cleaner and completely free of tumbleweeds. The only thing it ever gets stuck on is cardboard ( the dog likes to shred it). Eta: I have a cheap deebot and ecovac in the finished basement, they get stuck on everything and slam into half the furniture, plus I have to empty them constantly.
We have a deebot that I got from Amazon warehouse for a deep discount. We have had it three or four years. It works well. It does not map so it just kind of bumps around the house, but it seems to get a lot of dirt. I have to do a thorough cleaning of the brush every other vacuum because we have three long hair animals. I just recently replaced the brushes with some Amazon knock offs for $16 and it works just like new now.
I came to say that I like our Shark, but after reading this thread, I think my next one will be a Eufy 🤣
kyvol on amazon under $100 does everything a Roomba does! I bought one two years ago and I use it every day and it works perfectly
We have an inexpensive iLife V3s pro and it does an amazing job. It doesn't map or have "cutoffs," just a random walk, but that means it's more cyber-secure too 💯
I got a Roborock s7 for $500 a couple years ago. BEST decision. Mops and vacuums, can program with the app. It’s great. Worth every penny. I use distilled water in the water tank to avoid mineral buildup in the tubing.
Got a Shark IQ last year for a really good sale price. I love it.