Roomba Combo j5+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum & Mop – Identifies and Avoids Obstacles Like Pet Waste & Cords, Empties Itself for 60 Days, Clean by Room with Smart Mapping, Works with Alexa​

I bought my third IRobot IRoomba vacuum last December 13, 2024 and it was delivered December 15,2025. I have had a lot of functional issues with it. I paid $426.93. On December 12, 2025 I realized my warranty was about to expire in a few days. Since I am elderly and on limited income, I waited to buy the extended warranty until the original warranty was about to expire. I called to extend it on December 12, 2025, before expiration. IRobot told me that I had not bought the extended warranty in the 11 months following the purchase, so they would not sell it to me. No exceptions. The original warranty was for 12 months and my product was still under warranty. I was never told about the 11 months and I never found that allegation written on their website or my original receipt. I was also never notified at any time that my warranty was about to expire. I asked to speak to a member of their Management Team and they provided no help. Allegedly, his name was Alex C. After a long conversation, I was told to call Amazon and they could sell me the extended warranty. I think they just wanted to get rid of my call. Amazon said no, that it had to be purchased only through IRobot. My advice is to buy other vacuums whose company is willing to support their long time customers. Giving customers 11 months to buy an extended warranty, when the original warranty was 12 months, is wrong.

I really really want to like my robot vacuum cleaner. I was an early adopter when iRobot started and have bought 4 of these in my lifetime. But honestly it isn’t doing a good job. It chokes on carpet fuzz, see pictures of it just dragging fuzz balls to the edge of the rug where it leaves them, or they roll out the back. Thinks it’s full even when it’s just pushing stuff around because the narrow throat is full of fuzz. Has a 0/100 record on collecting live oak leaves. Frequently curls the corner of flat rugs up then high centers itself. Then bangs and clatters around trying to get unstuck. It frequently gets lost. The little dirt collectors are a pita to empty. This one is supposed to mop. More like dragging a dirty damp rag behind it. It does a mostly decent job in the spare bedroom which has no rugs, just tile. Just all in all not worth the $$. Well now it randomly senses the mop bin versus the actual installed vacuum bin. Which then solves the fuzz issue. Because it won’t vacuum the rugs. Is increasingly having more difficulty mounting its base unit. After 15-20 minutes of listening to it bumble around the laundry room I just picked it up. So now about 9 months into ownership and it’s just an expensive piece of technotrash. It can’t find its way out of the room it is stored in 9/10 times. It can’t decide if it’s got its mop hopper on or dirt hopper and defaults to mop. The mop function is a complete failure, and frankly its inability to vacuum properly is ridiculous. It’s a tile house with the occasional floor rug. It tosses junk around rather than pick it up due to its spinning edge cleaning mechanism. It can’t pick anything up thicker than dust. The edge of any carpet is where it dumps the junk it’s just pushing around. It isn’t worth the effort of owning. I paid extra for the automatic emptying bin, it almost never automatically empties its bin. I paid extra for a mop system. The system is to dribble fluid into a rag it drags around under it. It’s not even a decent damp mopping. And it senses the mop thing all the time. We have a rug with tassels, it said it has an anti get stuck in the tassels feature. I’m finding the arms for the edge brush tangled in the tassels and torn off. My fav is the thing likes to get close to the wall and gets stuck in the drawstring for the curtains. So it’s down to one star and wish I hadn’t wasted my time and money supporting this company since it’s inception. I emailed multiple times for support, got one generic reply and zero follow up to asked questions and the last email I sent directly before end of warranty was just ignored. Useless.

This is my very first Roomba, and it has both exceeded and fell short of my expectations in different ways. Overall, I'm very impressed with the vacuum. I'm underwhelmed by the mop. And I'm very glad I got the base. First, the vacuum is wonderful. It picks up everything I've seen it run over, and it's pretty good about getting everywhere even if you move things around. If you have pets, it will definitely pick up the hair (my long haired border collie sheds a ton and it has no problem keeping everything tidy). The vacuum itself is really quiet (sounds like a loud fan), while emptying into the home base sounds like a rocket taking off. My biggest gripe with the vacuum is that it takes SO LONG to vacuum. I wish I could speed it up in settings, even if it sacrificed quality of the vacuuming a bit. Sometimes I just want it to do a quick pass for dog hair and not deep clean everything, you know? The mop is a different story. After using the vacuum, I was hoping the mop would be equally good. However, it basically just lightly drags a damp cloth around on the floor behind the vacuum. And it insists on vacuuming while mopping, so it still makes noise. The floor doesn't seem to get very wet, and it's more work to refill the reservoir, wash, and replace the cloth than it is to just Swiffer the floor. Plus swiffering is way faster and more effective. Imagine the mop as just typing a wet rag behind the robot, except worse because it reduces the vacuum bag size. For anyone relying on the "keep out zones", they do seem to work reliably, however you need to draw them much bigger than you think in order for them to work. My Roomba is a bit... optimistic about the boundaries haha. I went back and forth on whether I needed the base or not, and I decided to get it. I'm glad I did, as the Roomba empties itself midway through every vacuuming job and then again at the end. I was a bit wary of how small the bags looked for the base, as they surely couldn't hold that much. However, it must be able to hold quite a bit since I haven't had to replace the bag all week. If you have kids or pets, you should definitely get the base. My impressions: 10/10 on vacuuming job 2/10 on mopping job 6/10 on speed 9/10 on intelligence 8/10 on keep out zones It would be greatly improved with a "quick clean" option, or speed settings. The mop could be removed from the package to save money, as it seems like a gimmick to me. However, the vacuum is solid and does a great job on pet hair and household dirt

A bit confusing to use and takes some time to understand the set up, but it does work.

I have owned iRobot Roomba since the year it was introduced. I have only added to my collection over the years or bought for others as gifts. Last year, I bought this J5 that was supposed to be fantastic. Perhaps the reviewers have never owned any of the original models, but I’ll tell you what I have found since owning original versus “new technology“ For starters, the new Roombas use a specific line pattern as opposed to the random pattern that was used in the beginning. You also have to choose whether it does one pass or two passes in the room it’s cleaning. You might as well take a leaf blower and blow off part of your floor. If you only use one pass. From experience,I can tell you that if I take one of my old models, specifically the 600 series, ( my favorite) I can set it out after the J5 just cleaned and it will pick up just as much dirt as the J5 did; and this is immediately following the J5 cleaning the same area. I don’t know what brilliant young engineer thought that the line pattern would be better than the random Cross pattern that used to clean every square inch of a room. The line pattern often misses a lot of dirt. It’s insane. The obstacle aversion feature is a joke. It has such a broad avoidance that it misses so much and it doesn’t notice things it should notice. I don’t need my vacuum cleaner to send me pictures of couch legs for me to know that it’s an obstacle. Just to reiterate, the J5 does not clean nearly as well as the older models. Additionally, when it returns to base, any fine dirt will get knocked out of the waste bin as it’s climbing into its docking station. The docking station will not charge when the metal charging arms get any dirt on them. Sometimes you’ll get an alert that they need to be cleaned other times it will just not do a job and tell you the batteries is too low until you figure out what’s wrong. The old Roomba‘s used to have a handle so you could pick it up easily. Apparently that was too costly to include in the new versions. Again, the difference between the old versions and the new are like night and day. I will tell you, the old units are noisier… But they are way more efficient and do a much better job. The only reason I can give this model one star is because the scrubbing part of it isn’t half bad as long as you cleaned the floor with one of the older models first. I wish they would bring back Scooba, whose only job was to scrub the floor. Again, the old Roomba, when finished cleaning wood or a wood look or a tile floor, the floor looked like it had been mopped. It was so good!

I have 2 dogs and thought a robot vacuum would help keep the hair problem down without quite as much work. Here are some points after owning the j5 combo for my over a year: 1. The rollers are fantastic, but can’t handle excessive hair. I usually have to manually sweep a little before running the j5. Maybe related to point 3 below. 2. The combo option causes issues. I have laminated hardwood floors, so I would never really use the mop option anyway. If the built-in container gets too dirty, the j5 thinks the mop is installed and will not auto-empty while docked. Only cleaning the sensors will fix this. Happens often. 3. The vacuum suction itself is almost nonexistent. The brushes make up for this somewhat, but the unit still needs more suction. I believe this is possibly fixed on newer models. 4. The filter built into the vacuum itself has to be replaced fairly often. Due to design, when the j5 empties at its base, the built-in filter does not get cleaned; I.e. suction is not applied to clean out the filter. Therefore it gets clogged quickly with dust and has to be replaced. I’m sure this is by design so you have to buy the the filter often. Luckily , the cheaper off-brand filters work just as well. The vacuum works fairly well but requires more maintenance and cleaning than you probably think it will. Update after 2 years of ownership: Do not buy. There are better options at the same price.

For initial summary, this product is extremely disappointing. I'd barely call this a vacuum it has such little suction power. And the features are woefully lacking, some very obvious nice to have features are just not even there. I would not recommend this to anyone that wants to actually keep their house floors vacuumed. For more details, lets start with the setup process. It was an absolute nightmare for me. I don't know why, I have a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. And this thing would simply not connect correctly to my phone and fail the setup process. No matter how many times I went through the process and rebooted it and such. It was something to do with when it tries to switch between wifi and bluetooth connections while getting the roomba to connect to wifi or something. I don't know the details but I fought with it for a long time before finally getting my tablet and getting the setup done on it without too much more trouble. This should not be that big of an issue with a mainstream phone... After setup, initial mapping. It's slow and unintelligent. I thought this thing was supposed to have sensors on it to detect objects and such, it doesn't it just bumps into things. If you have cords or anytype of low profile item at floor level, it will just completely miss them and try to run over them. Even after mapping, when this thing goes out to clean it runs into the kitchen table leg, every single time... I don't understand that. If it knows there is something there and runs into it, how does it not save that in it's mapped data and avoid it next time. It has an option to put no go zones on the map, but it's hard to do that when it doesn't show where the roomba is on the map to know exactly where the spot it should not go on the map is at. It also doesn't seem to be very precise in knowing where it's at in it's mapped data because it will quite often try to turn to early at a door way and run into the door frame or wall. Now lets talk about the actual "cleaning". It's absolutely pathetic. It will pick up surface debris and that is about it. It has no capability at all of pulling up anything actually in between carpet fibers. The rollers are flat rubber type material with a few ridges, and the suction power is so weak it can barely pick up small bits of leaves that my dog tracks in. Speaking of a dog, if you have any kind of log haired furry friend (or even human), just give up now. It will get it's rollers clogged at least once per cleaning and you have to go take it apart and cut the hair out. You would think a vacuum designed for automated cleaning and emptying would've designed some way of removing hair wrapped around the rollers as well. So, already this product is almost worthless for it's intended purpose. But lets talk about the software features as well. I've already expressed how poorly it handles mapping and such. One of the things I really don't understand is why they didn't add a way to see where the roomba currently is on the map. It seems like such a simple concept to add (this is coming from a software engineer that knows a little about this type of stuff). Would help when this thing inevitably gets it's rollers clogged while under a bed to know where it's at instead of having to go hunting for it (cause it will sit there for like 1.5 hours before returning home in that situation). Additionally, there should be a simple option to remap a specific room and not the entire home. Rooms get reorganized, why do I have to spend 2 hours undoing every little bit of learning it has done in the entire house? Lastly a mention of battery life. It's pretty awful. I have a fairly small house at 1425 SQ ft. Actual floor space requiring vacuum is far small that that. It can only handle about half the house (around 45 minutes of run time) before having to go charge for 1.5 hours.

I purchased the iRobot Roomba i5 during a discount deal, and I absolutely don’t regret it. After using it for about a year, I can confidently say it’s one of the best small home investments I’ve made. The vacuum quality is excellent it picks up dust, debris, and especially pet hair with no problem, even in corners and under furniture. I have two dogs, and thanks to this vacuum, there’s not a single hair left anywhere. It’s been a total game-changer for keeping the apartment clean. I don’t use the mopping function much; I mainly rely on it for vacuuming, and the results speak for themselves. You can clearly see and feel the difference between a cleaned floor and a dirty one. In terms of durability, it’s held up great after a year of use. No issues with the wheels, brushes, or sensors. It covers my one-bedroom apartment thoroughly, typically running for around 45 minutes, sometimes a bit longer if there are obstacles that confuse it during its mapping process. The functionality is solid. It maps the apartment effectively and adapts over time. The app is very simple and intuitive, giving you all the basic information and control you need without being overly complicated. Noise level is reasonable not silent, but quiet enough to run while your home without being annoying. The sensitivity of the sensors is generally good, though sometimes it struggles with new obstacles or small cords, but nothing major. Overall, if you're looking for a reliable, efficient, and easy-to-use vacuum especially if you have pets the Roomba i5 is highly recommended. Great performance, solid build, and very convenient for small apartments or homes.

"The vacuum cleaner is defective and does not work properly. Every time I start a cleaning job, it stops after just one minute and returns to the charging dock, showing an error message on the app that says (Return to base: Error). Additionally, the self-emptying system is not working and constantly gives a false alert that the 'Clean Base is clogged' even after thoroughly cleaning it. The device is faulty and has sensors/software issues."

Roomba cleans well but often it gets confused and will reclean areas it has already done. Also, some minor problems docking and emptying vacuum bag.

Buen producto, llego cerrado, hace su función y es recomendable por los mapas que se pueden configurar

Muy mal producto, dejó de funcionar en menos de 1 año de haberla comprado, la envié a garantía con la empresa Servitec Global Service y su reparación duró 2 meses… ahora me quieren cobrar la revisión y reparación de un trabajo mal hecho. Pésimo producto y pésimo servicio de garantía.

Absolutely horrible purchase, waste of money. The performance is not up to par... low suction, it bumps into everything, no object detection, no avoidance, dropped connectivity, never understands commands... overall a poor product...for the exorbitant price paid... I'd like to have a refund and return the item, but it's past the return window of 30 days. I'm honestly very disappointed with the iRobot brand... I expected an upgrade from my entry-level Roomba but it's worse...Competitors in the market come in with a cheaper price and 4 times as much suction power. It's so noisy too. It almost seeks you out to come bump into your foot all the time. They removed the spot cleaning button, why? So dumb. There is no docking button, why? so dumb. They should spend less time on AI mapping (useless) and more time focusing on the basics, sucking up stuff. the mopping feature is basically a microfiber cloth wiping the floor lightly, no motion, streaky finish, it LEAKS, omg it leaks everywhere, so dumb. you have to manually take it out and clean it, so what is the point of paying extra for a "Self empty bin". so dumb!!! I'll never buy an iRobot roomba again. I want a refund on return, but no-one, roomba support or amazon support is willing to do this.