Thanks to the high suction power and D shape, the robot vacuums more dirt from your carpets and corners.
The robot empties its dust cup in the charging dock, where dust enters a vacuum cleaner bag.
You can control the robot via an app on your phone and via Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
When the robot empties its dust cup, this briefly makes a lot of noise.
Description
The iRobot Roomba s9+ thoroughly cleans your floors and carpet thanks to its high suction power. Because the robot has a D shape, it also reaches dirt along baseboards and in the corner. When its dust cup is full, the robot automatically empties it in the emptying station. Via the iRobot Home app, you can set exactly how you want the robot vacuum to clean your floors. You can set cleaning zones in different rooms, so you can decide exactly where your robot cleans and where it doesn't clean. Are there crumbs below your kitchen table? Tell your voice assistant where the dirt is and the robot cleans it. Thanks to Careful Drive, the robot drives extra carefully, so that it doesn't tip over your favorite vase.
The iRobot Roomba s9+ thoroughly cleans your floors and carpet thanks to its high suction power. Because the robot has a D shape, it also reaches dirt along baseboards and in the corner. When its dust cup is full, the robot automatically empties it in the emptying station. Via the iRobot Home app, you can set exactly how you want the robot vacuum to clean your floors. You can set cleaning zones in different rooms, so you can decide exactly where your robot cleans and where it doesn't clean. Are there crumbs below your kitchen table? Tell your voice assistant where the dirt is and the robot cleans it. Thanks to Careful Drive, the robot drives extra carefully, so that it doesn't tip over your favorite vase.
First of all I have to say that we used to be very skeptical about vacuum cleaner robots - I couldn't imagine those things could do a good job. That was a year and a half ago and now we have two.
In our house, vacuuming is necessary almost every day and we don't always have enough time for that. So I bought a robot last year. That was the Roomba 980, iRobot's top model in mid-2018.
Once in the house I was very pleasantly surprised at how much dust that thing picked up from the floor. With kids and cats you can expect a lot of dust and hair all over the floor, but as much as the Roomba could get off the floor I didn't think. The coarser mess such as papers, cat litter or handkerchief wads go without any problems. Even whole pens are picked up. ;-)
Eventually there was an almost daily living room/floor work schedule for the Roomba. With a relatively large floor area, that still saved over an hour of manual vacuuming. There is now remarkably less dust on the furniture than before. And then the power consumption is also much less than when using a regular vacuum cleaner. In short, it turned out to be a very good purchase despite its price.
But a few months, 1 problem emerged, the container was full every 1-2 days. The 980's receptacle is not too small, but certainly not large either. But with a full box, the Roomba no longer starts its schedule, and you soon forget to empty that box in advance.
After a year, we looked at the new models i7+ and S9+ with the extra collection container. Opted for the Roomba S9+. As advertised, this one is indeed just a bit better and comes better in the corners. The large collection container on the charging station is certainly a godsend. The only drawback is that its size means that you really have to give the Roomba its own corner in the room or, as with some other people, in a storage room in the hallway (see youtube: "Roomba garage"). You can also easily park the Roomba 980 under a high cupboard.
An advantage and also disadvantage of the S9 is that it must first "learn" the floor/room. The Roomba turns the floor into a digital map. The advantage is that after learning the different rooms/zones of the floor can be named. Then you can then programmed specific parts to suck. This is not possible with the Roomba 980, it simply does everything the thing can come to at that moment.
The disadvantage of "learning" with the S9 is that the entire learning process takes several hours depending on the shape, obstacles and number of square meters of the entire floor. You also have to remove almost all objects that are not always in the same place, such as chairs and/or separate tables. If you don't do this, the spot where a chair or other obstacle stood may be completely ignored. Our cats also kept walking around the new Roomba, which disrupted the learning process. The result was that part of the corridor was not mapped and was therefore not included in the cleaning round. The device "measures" distances between obstacles and a sitting cat in the hallway is often also seen as a permanent obstacle.
Anyway, the entire learning process can take about 3 to 6 rounds (1 to 3 hours), depending on the shape of the rooms, number of fixed obstacles and of course the total number of square meters. The standard method takes the longest: scanning while cleaning - it is faster to use the separate train option.
Once the floor has been mapped, this is more or less permanent. The part where the S9 was not driven during learning is also permanently ignored afterwards. You can provide the map with "no-go" zones, but you cannot supplement/enlarge/correct it. Since the latter is a wish of other i7 and S9 users, I hope that this functionality will eventually be added to the software.
As soon as the created card is correct, the cleaning round goes faster than with the 980, which has to "discover" everything again and again.
Then the cleaning itself. In terms of size, the S9 is slightly narrower and slightly lower, so that it can better be hidden under chairs. Compared to the 980, the S9 has a wider and lower brush. It cleans just a little faster and better. The disadvantage is that the slightly lower position also ensures that the S9 can not or only with difficulty drive up some thresholds and thick carpets. Small thick carpets on smooth floors, if they can slide, can still be moved by a Roomba. So you may have to adjust those places or you should opt for the Roomba i7+ that is a bit higher on its wheels.
The side brush model of the S9 is fine for smooth floors and picks up the (>90º) corners very well, but not with deep-pile floor coverings. The 980 and i7 are just better at that. However, the brushes are replaceable and perhaps there will be a modified version in the future. It is in any case advisable to order an additional package of spare parts: filters, side brushes, etc. Enough choice via the internet.
Then construction. Here, the S9 is slightly less than its predecessors in terms of exterior. Where the Roomba 980 and the i7 have a somewhat thicker edge with rubber bumpers, that is completely missing from the S9. The completely plastic housing has a bit more of a scratching property. And that's more likely to happen if the Roomba is under a heater or cabinet that it just barely fits under. On top of a Roomba there is usually an excellent sensor part and it still wants to snag on low parts.
Incidentally, I have not yet experienced the Roomba scratching/damaging the furniture itself. Of course you should not put down very delicate furniture; for those objects you have to set the no-go zones.
For us, the S9+ is a welcome addition. The S9 now does the ground floor almost daily where most of the dust can be removed. The 980 now does the upstairs a few times a week; bedrooms also have the usual dust nests.
Incidentally, the S9 is also somewhat quieter than the 980. At the weekend, the living room can be cleaned quietly at 7 o'clock in the morning, while sleeping on a floor higher. Only the emptying of the collector makes a lot of noise. However, that only takes about 5-7 seconds, we don't really notice that much when we are at the top.
Pbe
12 October 2019
Written for: iRobot Roomba s9+
Automatically translated from Dutch
6,4/10
Beautiful device, with (in my specific case) some flaws.
design
Automatic hopper emptying
Problems with docking
A double feeling. The machine is really beautiful. Design is really great. The LED ring is a nice gimmick and looks futuristic.
I also have a Roomba 980 and in comparison the 980 is quieter and, as far as I can judge, faster. The 980 is also under a cupboard, out of sight. That is not possible with the S9, because of the home base, which is quite high.
Result of a cleaning round is good, gets into the corners a bit better than the older round variants. (Which the competitors were already behind; read Neato).
Not having to empty the collection bin, which was really necessary every day with animals in the house with the old models and then makes a robot a bit redundant since you have it for your convenience, is ideal.
The costs for the vacuum cleaner bags are in my opinion quite high (plus minus 18 € for 3 pieces). But I haven't had to replace it after about 4 weeks of use.
Learning took some time here, about 5 cleaning sessions. I had a bit of hope that everything could be set up then. That bothered me a bit afterwards.
We have a Christmas tree in our bay window. A cord runs across the floor and the Roomba has a lot of trouble with this. It does come loose (again), but struggles with it for more than a few minutes. It would be nice if specific (preferably measured) no-go areas could be set.
In the dark, the Roomba gives up pretty quickly. A light is really necessary. If you don't have smart lighting and turn on the Roomba when you go out in these dark days, you will still have to leave the light running.
You can set a task for the day, but if, for example, you have cats and they leave a hairball once, you can imagine that the Roomba will not be happy.
Once again; it really is a beautiful device. I think I only had a Monday morning model. There has never been a single time, without exception, that the S9 has ended up on its home base. I always get a notification when I'm at work that Roomba has "finished the stuck task"
Moved the home base 3 times before, but unfortunately no success.
It's also not that we are housed in a small house and that we hide the base somewhere. Even on an "empty" wall with sufficient space (2m left, 2m right and more than 4 meters in front of the base) the Roomba does not come up to its dock. He finds the dock, partially rides on it, and then goes back again, until the task is finally finished after about 20 tries.
Also (in my delivered model in any case) the flap on top (for access to the dust bin) is “lame”. It comes loose with every collision. This seems like a design flaw to me. The mechanism is plastic and doesn't look like it was made to be opened and closed often.
Contacted the supplier, they respond quickly, but am still waiting for any action.
The basis and the idea, the design and functions are really genius, machine with potential. Unfortunately I haven't been able to fully utilize it yet.
Jl_77
13 December 2019
Written for: iRobot Roomba s9+
Automatically translated from Dutch
5,6/10
Crashes regularly. This makes vacuuming yourself easier.
Cleans fairly well.
Empty itself. (But so does shark IQ)
Keep crashing for no reason
Cleans quite well on its own. I found it odd that the Roomba doesn't handle elevations well. You have to buy threshold aids for it. And the angled foot of a chair can't clean Roomba. Something my 8 year old neato can do. The most annoying thing about the thing is that it gets stuck in random places very regularly. For example, in the middle of the room. It doesn't want anything anymore. Sometimes I can continue via the App, but then the Roomba does not work again after 2 minutes. That goes on indefinitely. This makes the Roomba certainly not worth its money.
I'm looking forward to the new Shark IQ that works for a fraction of the money without expensive pockets.
