Roomba Review: The Pros and Cons

Eight months ago, we purchased an iRobot® Roomba for our home. I was on a steep learning curve of how to manage a home and two kiddos while working full-time. Sawyer was 3 months old and starting to spend a lot more time on the floor, and the dog was in full shedding mode. Needless to say, I was struggling.

Before buying it, I did some research. We only have hardwood floors, so I wasn’t too concerned about how it worked on carpet. My main concern was if it could handle the overabundance of dog hair.

If I was going to spend that much on a vacuum, I needed it to make my life easier. After reading a heap of positive reviews, Justin gave me the green light to buy one. I didn’t know it when I ordered it, but it would be the biggest effing game changer of my life.

This post is not sponsored by iRobot. This review is based solely on our experience with a Roomba, which has been fan-freaking-tastic. This post does contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more but we may receive a small commission, which helps keep us running. For more information, see my disclosures here.

We ended up going with the iRobot Roomba 690. It’s definitely not perfect, but boy has it made my life easier. Here are the pros and cons of the Roomba:

Pros

• Time & stress – Time is definitely the biggest pro for us. I’m not vacuuming our house every day anymore. I’m not completely embarrassed when someone stops by and there are small tumbleweeds of dog hair floating everywhere. I can spend that time on the clean floor playing with my kids.
• The app – The Roomba app is so handy! You can control the vacuum remotely from your phone. You can start it, pause it, stop it, send it back to its home base, and easily set up a cleaning schedule for it. Ours is set to run every day at 10:00 while we are at work.
• Pet hair – My biggest concern was if it could handle all of our dog’s hair (he’s a Heinz 57, but has long hair like a Golden Retriever). It handles it like a champ! Before I ran it for the first time, I did go through the entire house with our regular vacuum and sucked up all the clumps of dog hair (I didn’t want to overwhelm it the first time it ran 😂). Since it runs every day, it doesn’t get overfilled. Even if we skip a couple days, it can handle all the hair just fine.
• Capacity – I was pleasantly surprised with how much dirt, hair, and god knows what else the Roomba could hold. Realistically, I can go a few days without emptying it. 
• The battery life – Our Roomba runs for one hour every day, and it doesn’t burn through the whole battery in that one hour. This is perfect for a home our size. An hour may not sound like a long time, but it actually is. 
• Cleans under furniture – Our Roomba can squeak in hard-to-reach places, like under a bed. The only furniture it doesn’t fit under is our couch (sad face…the most disgusting place in our house, I’m sure). I’m considering buying risers for it.
• Doesn’t affect the dog – This probably won’t apply to everyone who has a Roomba and pets. Our dog got used to it very quickly. We made sure to run it the first few times while we were home with him, just in case he freaked out. Now he just hangs out on his dog bed while it runs, knowing it can’t get him there.
• Forces me to pick up – I consider this a huge plus because I was terrible at picking stuff up off the floor. The Roomba really got me in the habit of making sure everything is picked up before I leave the house. Now, my living room isn’t cluttered with unfolded blankets, baby toys and dirty laundry. I love it.

Cons

• It gets stuck – Unfortunately, the Roomba isn’t perfect. It gets stuck quite often. Sometimes it’s under our recliner, or sometimes it’s wrapped up in a long shoelace. It’s just the nature of the beast. The app always lets me know if the Roomba is stuck or needs my attention.
• It’s pricey – The Roomba is not cheap, but vacuums, in general, aren’t really cheap. The replacement parts for it are pretty reasonable, though.
• Clean out the accessories – A couple times a week, I pull all the brushes and small wheel out to remove all the dog hair wrapped around them. It’s not really fun getting your hands dirty, but it’s really easy to take it apart and put it back together (which also makes it easy to replace parts).
• It’s noisy – The Roomba is definitely quieter than your typical vacuum, but it’s still noisy. This is why we tend to run it while we are gone. Though, I do run it on the weekend when my son is taking a nap and it doesn’t bother him.
• It can’t reach tight places – Like behind the toilet.

In conclusion…

For me, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I can honestly say the Roomba was the best money we’ve ever spent. If we ever live in a two-story house, I will be purchasing another one to house on the second floor. If you’re seriously considering one (espeically if you have pets and/or kids), just do it! Save the money and do it!