iRobot - Roomba 694
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
1004
376
"The roborock I have kicked and smashed with my foot so many times out of anger when it doesn't collaborate, and still he rocks 4-5 yrs later and no broken parts"
"they are extremely durable. ... I’ve got well over 1000 miles out of a pair and they still have grip and the uppers are in great shape"
"I've used them for 1500 miles of multi-day hiking with no issues!"
106
34
"On hard floors it was as exceptional and never left a piece of cat litter in between the wood planks."
"And my dust bag was full the first month. ... We have 3 highly shedding dogs and the roborock qrevo master does well but evidently the p50 does better. The roborock bag wouldn't be full the first month like this."
"I’ve seen on the camera the poor guy making multiple trips to self empty while in one room but it’s cut the hair buildup tenfold."
132
8
"Get one with the emptying station and you can leave it untouched for months."
"splurge for the self emptying because if you have to empty it every time you're less likely to use it. We only have to empty ours like once a month and I have a 14mo and a 3yo who drop crumbs everywhere. ... we have a Shark with a large self emptying bin and that thing is great for the price point."
"It saved me so much anxiety and time because I was constantly fighting to make my floors feel clean. ... Now I just have to spot clean and vacuum the corners where the robot can’t reach."
12
1
"But it’s easily taken apart and repaired once you get the hang of it and parts are readily available. ... Probably around $200? Not a great deal, the parts are fairly cheap even genuine and there are also aftermarket available. ... The first time I took it apart it took a couple of hours whilst watching YouTube, now I can completely disassemble and reassemble under an hour ... I did both motors at the same time and put all new brushes in it and it was like new again."
"Same here the i3 is awesome. ... I bought a parts kit on amazon for super cheap and it has really come in handy. ... I replaced the roller, even though it didn't need it after 3-4 years of use. ... The brush up front I've had to replace twice."
"Every part is easily replaced ... It's still robust and serviceable"
88
1
"2nding this, nothing else beats them for the price. ... I got em for $10 during Target sales"
"for under 30 ... Price more than makes up for it tho"
"Moondrop Spacetravel are extremely hard to beat in that category, and price is so low you would be STUPID not to at least try them."
Disliked most:
50
98
"I also have to be careful to pick everything up or it will get stuck after destroying my kids toys."
"Not only does it stop and turn every couple of minutes, but in almost every run through my flat, it missed something. ... sometimes it didn go underneath my table, sometimes it missed a corner, . this was actually the main point why I returned it eventually. ... You need to be able to trust your robot vac to clean everywhere. ... these were not impossible to reach places, and there was no feedback at all why it didn go there."
"The amount of times it got stuck on regular furniture is maddening. ... tries to go under furniture it is clearly too tall for and wedges itself stuck ... randomly ignores “no go” zones i set up in the app such as high pile carpet and gets stuck ... gets stuck pushing against an ottoman for no apparent reason?? ... tries to run over the thin metal horizontal base that connects the legs of the chairs of my bistro set and gets stuck ... The whole point of a robo vac is to be autonomous so having to move or fix it every time it runs is useless."
18
7
"Hal (main floor roomba) needs maintenance every few days."
"I have a Roborock Q5 but want to upgrade as I don’t have a dock and emptying it every other day is tedious."
"And if it's been more than a day, I have to empty the bin multiple times per cleaning."
2
4
"their tech features just aren't as advanced as some of the newer brands ... If you want something with great mapping... you probably want a Roborock"
"their tech features just aren't as advanced as some of the newer brands ... If you want something with... auto-empty... you probably want a Roborock"
"Doesn’t empty its self"
1
5
"their tech features just aren't as advanced as some of the newer brands ... If you want something with... auto-empty... you probably want a Roborock"
"Once a week I have to pull all the hair off the bristle brush and the cat fur from around the spindle ends"
"Doesn’t empty its self"
80spizzarat 1.0If it's just one room, get one of the old random bounce around Roombas with the bristle roller. 500 or 600 series. They're great at picking up litter and combing embedded pet hair out of carpet. I have a 692 I keep just for that. They're also super cheap because everyone wants the self-emptying models now. I see the older ones pretty often at thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for under $30.
I have three shorthair cats and live in an apartment that is mostly medium pile carpet. In my experience vacuums that have rollers with combination rubber and bristles do better at combing pet hair out of carpet fibers than ones with all rubber rollers. A lot of reviewers do pet hair tests by scattering small clumps or individual strands of hair on top of carpet and that's not the whole story in real life. The hairs work their way down into the carpet and it takes aggressive agitation and strong suction to get them out. If carpet performance is paramount, get the Dyson Visnav or if you don't mind used, the Roomba S9+. Older Roombas that bounce around randomly and have the dual rollers with a separate rubber and bristle roller are also great at carpet combing. I keep a 690 around just for that reason even though I also have had newer vac and mop combo robots.
AWF_Noone 1.0Such a shame. My old 690 is STILL kicking and on garage duty. They just don’t die. And if they do, their older designs were modular and trivial to repair. The good old days…
BassCharming7816 1.0I’ll match your golden and raise you a Berner. Our 690 is still going strong and runs daily to keep up with her.
Blackat 1.0Loved my roomba for a year until I realized it was slowly destroying all of my previous rugs at their corners and edges 😭
HorrimCarabal 1.0First bought iRobot 770 in 2015, worked great but died in 2020. Replaced it with roomba 692 hoping for an upgraded experience…so much disappointment; stuck constantly, poor performance, loud , etc. now it is just decorative. Not sure I’ll ever get another robot vacuum.
Informal-Ad542 1.0I love mine so far, got it slightly cheaper on black Friday. Maps really well, follows no go zones, mops good as well. Empties, dries mops without fail. No worries so far, no complaints. Had a low end roomba 690 before, this is far better, but it does have more tech, so it can't compare. Don't have experience with any other models.
Agree, my 35a is really really good. Does a great job, i have not experienced any mapping errors, or confusion, it mops where I want it vacuums where I want, minds no go zones. It's predictable, efficient, and dependable. I had a roomba 690 without the brains, and it was OK, but this is a new level. Nothing wrong withe the roomba, it was an entry level bot with no mapping. Cant agree more. Yes it's only 3 months for me, but damn it's good, at this point, I would get another if it shit the bed and out of warranty. Yes, some folks have bad bots, but not me. Fingers crossed. 1 floor house, 1 small non shedding dog.
rightMeow20 1.0This prob isn’t what you want but I’m very happy with the old roombas. I have a 675 and 690 from goodwill for $20 and they both clean very well. They are very repairable and parts & filters are cheap for them from Amazon. I dunno… 1800… 1200… just so they map the place and empty themselves? Takes me 12 seconds to empty the bin after it cleans. The random navigation works really well. I’ve learned where to keep things and how to arrange the chairs / barstools so they don’t get stuck very often. I have 4 cats and every day they pick up all the fur. For mopping I have an old scooba 5900 which actually mops by sucking up the grime… something about dragging around a microfiber towel while spraying water just doesn’t seem effective to me. My house is a 1300 square foot row home though so maybe you have different needs than me.
I came here to say this. Goodwill prices roombas without the base for $12 and $20 with base. I found a 675 and 690 there. Parts are available and cheap on Amazon. They work very well. Might need to check the stores regularly until you find one.
675 or other 600 series model from a thrift store. $20. Doesn’t empty its self but if you want that you prob need to buy a new one or from someone off marketplace. Honestly emptying the bin yourself after it’s done takes 30 seconds :)
As proven by the roomba 600 series time and time again suction isn’t always the most important factor in how a robot vacuum cleans but it’s sweeping mechanism is. Suction is also a metric easily manipulated by these companies.
robmox 1.0I’m not disagreeing with your experience, but I’ve been on my current Roomba for like 5 years with no issues.
scouttech54 1.0Strange, I have a J7+, i5+, 985, 980, 770, 694 and Discovery that all perform correctly and other then standard maintenance and replacing consumable parts have been running without issue since their initial launch year purchase. I’m about to try out my new 505 combo this week.
Shponglenese 1.0I have 2 older roombas and 1 bissel that’s also a mop. Just basic roomba do great with daily upkeep and great with hair- but it’s dependent on layout of your home. Roomba get stuck and can’t go over any door thresholds. You’ll still need to map/vacuum weekly tho [link to the old roombas in your budget](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08SP5GYJP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title)
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