I tested Roomba’s most functional robot vacuum yet, and it’s worth every penny

Key points of ZDNET

• The iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max vacuuming and mopping robot costs $1,400.
• This multi-function Roomba vacuums thoroughly, leaving behind virtually no debris or pet hair; it cleans very well and keeps your carpets dry by lifting the mop pad completely above the robot.
• Although iRobot is a famous robot vacuum brand, its applications are not as intuitive as those of other robot vacuum manufacturers.
• The Roomba Combo 10 Max can also leave some streaks when mopping, and the Auto Empy base is very loud when emptying the trash can.

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What’s up?

new one Combo iRobot Roomba 10 Max The robot vacuum and mop is usually priced at $1,399 but is 30% off for $979, just in time for the holidays.

As a robot vacuum tester, my home is filled with the constant buzzing sounds of robots buzzing around, and I’m convinced that nothing can surprise me. My nervous dog has become surprisingly familiar with the robot intruders in his home while his shed fur continues to challenge each one. Pet hair is a problem for most dog and cat owners, as well as for me, so I always monitor how each robot vacuum performs against it.

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I’m happy to report that Combo Roomba up to 10 Robotic vacuuming and mopping have eliminated this tedious task. I’ve tested many robot vacuums, from Eufy to Eureka, Dreame to Yeedi, Ecovacs to Roborock — but the latest flagship Roomba was the best at removing pet hair from both my carpets and hard floors.

The Roomba Combo 10 Max is so powerful that you can see it suck up a very short pile on my entryway rug, which is also my dog’s favorite napping spot. This robot left carpet lines on the carpet where I rarely saw carpet lines, even after cleaning it with my traditional upright vacuum. This efficiency is the result of iRobot’s dual rubber brush rollers and – according to the company – 100% stronger suction than the previous flagship product.

Then the Combo 10 Max left the carpets hair-free, making it the best product I’ve seen at removing nuisances from carpets. This is a hard tradeoff for robot vacuum cleaners. If the robot vacuum’s suction is too strong, it will get stuck on the carpet. If you’ve ever pushed a vacuum cleaner vertically across a carpet at very high suction levels, you may have realized that it takes a significant amount of force to push it forward and backward. Robot vacuum cleaners do not have people pushing them, so they must balance the suction force with the push force.

Getting the Roomba Combo 10 Max up and running took me a while. Although I’ve been using robot vacuums daily for over five years, I only started testing them seriously two years ago and had never used a Roomba before. The iRobot app has many customization options but isn’t overly intuitive, which became clear after testing at least 10 competitor apps.

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I encountered many errors during the first two weeks of using the Roomba Combo 10 Max. The app kept telling me that the dirty or clean water tank was not installed properly or that the dust collection bag was clogged. After successfully saving the map and running the robot vacuum only a few times, the Roomba Combo 10 Max and I finally agreed.

Since then, I’ve run it several times at home and run it automatically on a schedule every other day.

The robot expertly avoids obstacles and objects on the floor, such as tissues and toys, to avoid getting the brush roller jammed. It has suction power strong enough to remove pet hair from carpets. It keeps carpets dry by lifting the mopping pad above the robot. It offers a hands-free cleaning experience by self-cleaning and washing the mop pad.

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The mopping feature is one of the few reasons why this is not the best device on the market. While I like the robot mechanism that lifts the mop pad above the robot to keep my carpets dry, I noticed that the robot leaves streaks after mopping, possibly due to the pump dripping water onto the mop pad .

The Roomba Combo 10 Max also doesn’t seem to follow its map effectively. I’ve had other robots, like the Eufy S1 Pro and Dreame X40 Ultra, vacuum and mop in rows and follow a neat pattern when cleaning each room, but not this Roomba, as you can see in the picture below. below. That said, I believe it still cleans very well and wipes better than the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra.

This machine produces great results, is precise and has strong suction. You can tell that iRobot thought of every detail when crafting the Roomba Combo 10 Max, such as making the mop basin for the self-cleaning mop out of antibacterial plastic and turning the docking station into a side table with an opening door. front instead of lid.

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I can confidently say that this is one of the best robot vacuum and mop combinations I’ve tested, but it does have somewhat high maintenance requirements by multi-function robot vacuum standards. Yes, the Combo Roomba up to 10 automatically empties the trash and automatically washes and dries the mop, but my mop constantly requires my intervention and maintenance. I had it running for about a month and had to do more maintenance than required for other models in three months — such as cleaning the trash sensor and checking why it showed an error in dust bag, water tank location or blockage in dock.

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Roomba Combo 10 Max is a top product when it comes to no intervention required. It also has an increasingly rare attribute in the robot vacuum market: It appears to be worth every penny. This vacuum performs better than more expensive models and is a robot you can trust to not get tangled in every small object or cable on your floor. This is especially true when the 10 Max Combo is on sale, of which there is one right now Negotiable price $97930% off.