iRobot - Roomba Combo j5
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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:
305
140
"significantly worse object avoidance than than the Dreame x40 and L40 ... The best feature of the L40/X40/p10 pro ultra is that they have class leading object avoidance so you don't have to pick up your cat's toys or prep your house every time you want to run the robot meaning you can run it on a daily schedule which will keep your house cleaner. ... I run my X40s daily and they never get stuck on cables, cat toys and other random junk that ends up on the floor."
"The obstacle avoidance is also very good and I only have the pet in house setting on for pet messes and it recognizes my fake dog poop all the time and drive around it."
"The unit was an upgrade from a Roomba S9. That unit did a good job of vacuuming but was very prone to having problems with obstacles. For example, it would launch itself up onto the circular rod -like bases of several of my chairs and become stuck there. They Roborock 10R correctly recognized all of the bases as something to avoid. Some of them get labeled as chair bases and others simply as wires. It has avoided every obstacle."
491
132
"significantly worse object avoidance than than the Dreame x40 and L40 ... The best feature of the L40/X40/p10 pro ultra is that they have class leading object avoidance so you don't have to pick up your cat's toys or prep your house every time you want to run the robot meaning you can run it on a daily schedule which will keep your house cleaner. ... I run my X40s daily and they never get stuck on cables, cat toys and other random junk that ends up on the floor."
"I can basically always trust my X40 to finish a midnight cleaning session in the dark and wake up to find it sitting in its dock and have clean floors in the morning."
"i have had the BlackVue DR970x Plus which proved bulletproof during the hottest Summer on record last year. my credit cards and ID’s all had to be replaced because they melted and warped, but the BlackVue keeps running without issues."
488
50
"I absolutely do not regret buying the robot vacuum. ... My room is a lot cleaner and dust-free now, and I can tell just by wiping my floor with a wet toilet paper and seeing barely anything picked up. ... I've been getting allergens a ton less, most of which not even in my room. ... All this for the commitment of a weekly emptying is miles more convenient than vacuuming traditionally, as opposed to making a few taps on my phone. ... looking back it was definitely worth the investment."
"My cat has very bad mite allergies, and this vacuum is a must have for us for keeping the floors clean of all dust, dander, and dirt."
"The second floor of my house is all carpeted, and I used to clean with a Dyson V8, but since I got the E28, I haven't vacuumed myself."
477
102
"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."
"With three they can just make it to a full week for emptying. ... Life changing."
"The roborock cleans the carpet so well I haven't seen or felt any litter anymore."
9
8
"omfg the hair and dander is pulled up is insane. ... apparently, the roomba is so so so much better."
"it works wonders ... We have a husky, a husky mix, and a long haired supermutt and it's a trooper"
"j9+ since it’s very good for pet hair."
Disliked most:
39
101
"it is also way more prone to tracking pet messes about, that happened once with a pile of cat vomit and I was a little traumatized."
"if you take if off the dock yourself it loses the mop function unless you restart it literally 10 times"
"for the love of God please don get a roomba combo model. They don work… ever."
0
7
"I got this system last week and could not and still can’t connect my phone or iPad to the app."
"its slow to connect to from your phone via wifi"
"The app's a little clunky"
0
7
"both broke after they got the drive wheel caught on something. ... Both were barely stuck on anything and then tried to map over and over making nonsense maps."
"I have a roomba we named homewrecker because it leaves a trail of destruction behind it. ... It always knocks over something or gets tangled up in wires."
"They don't seem to have enough traction while mopping even on their lowest setting and using plain water, it'll just start sliding and not go in a straight line. Then it'll give up and be in the middle of a room."
1
1
"They don't seem to have enough traction while mopping even on their lowest setting and using plain water, it'll just start sliding and not go in a straight line. Then it'll give up and be in the middle of a room."
"the brushes pull up some of the moisture from the mop and then dust will clump up along with pet hair and clog before getting into the bin."
0
4
"the Roomba left little crumb piles everywhere."
"If it’s a few days of fur it creates nests I just hand pick up."
"the Roomba doesn't have the strongest sucking function in the world"
CourageHistorical100 1.0Combos from iRobot aren’t that great, to be honest. The i5 as a vacuum isn’t bad at all. It’s the lower mid level but no less cleans decent. J5 and j7 are great mid to middle upper levels. I have limited experience with a combo and I wasn’t a fan. The vacuuming aspect of things is great.
dfordium 1.0Agreed, I had to have my j9+ replaced once because of several issues and the replacement dock they sent me doesn’t even work! The J5 has been great though, these combo robots are not very good IMO
Nomad-66 1.0I bought Roomba j5 vacuum/mop combo few years ago. It’s not bad and does good job. The reason I love it’s the only one that will get under the beds and couches. I have hardwood floors, no other vacuumed is that low. It keeps my floors clean. It’s easy to get part off the app. The only thing I don’t like is that it disconnects from the wifi ogten
No-Net246 1.0The Ecovac Deebot T50 Pro is awesome. I just got in a week ago. I ditched my iRobot Roomba J5 which sucked. Always got lost and stuck. The T50 has honestly been so much better and was only $650. I have 2 other iRobots that I’ll get rid of because they’re all god awful.
I’d highly recommend the Ecovacs T50 pro. I just got that after having a Roomba J5 which was awful. The Ecovacs does an absolute awesome job mopping and vacuums pretty well too. It has 2 spinning mopping pads which extend to get corners and close to the walls. The mapping is really good and it always finds its way back to the base, which the roomba never did.
OaksInSnow 1.0I bought a mid-to-upper model Roborock a little over a year ago, after having tried my daughter's (somewhat old) Roomba. I ended up returning it because it did stupid stuff like drop its rollers out when it went over a floor vent. (??!?) And because after I ran it and found very little in its bin, I ran my daughter's six-year-old Roomba and it sucked up a LOT of hair. Maybe the Roborock I got was a lemon, since I'm hearing that other people think it does just fine. I loved its app - iRobot's app is not very user-friendly. But the goal is cleaning, not playing with an app, so I got a Roomba J5. Good cleaning. Added a J7 later on because I didn't want to tote the J5 to different levels of the house. I'd say the J5 is smarter than the J7, for some strange reason. J7 gets stuck at the top of a "cliff" (stairs) from time to time, and the J5 never did. Maybe the J7's camera is less capable. Heads up on Roombas: they require enough ambient light for their cameras to work. They're not into LiDAR navigation, which would allow them to do their job at night with all the lights off. Just in case that makes a difference to you. I haven't had a chance to personally compare performance between the i and the J models of Roombas, but went with J because I wanted the greater suction power that is advertised to come with them. Edit - PS re blow dryer for undercoat. I've found the best tool for GSD undercoat issues is an old-fashioned, low-tech undercoat rake. My present girl has a pretty short coat for a GSD, but wow that rake can really pull it; and she feels the difference. Something like this: [Amazon undercoat rake link](https://www.amazon.com/Coastal-Pet-Undercoat-Designed-Undercoats/dp/B0083TSC64/ref=sr_1_9?crid=J4X43SSVX9PI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2GaHbloLLXTdo2hjKm_oN6gb_cbIKNYd7UFh9e43Q6ogcCWKCY9vL4O1MdIff7VBUMbvZMfahjPK6CoBQH3wjXji1drTidQ5tYydwaw2GdFLCqMkElUijPLNAu_O0rPCbMTNI5Xa4gg137VrHl2elQH8Qf6DdGDMkdfOpMBbIK77IK_kRb98iO-COLDsb9L-Rgzc0HW1fcDDjEBQjylfrqXGAkNGH1i7I70Pypgpt87dqHzSUkzm2Smkw1zGclbo2pqp8XlX7lXGnZSkMFT0cVRtxg7XGTAOOWV3ID_VMMs.jA93VyAAfUBWBT-szQymuBvblJC8wB55Q0eCgTBf6js&dib_tag=se&keywords=dog%2Bundercoat%2Brake&qid=1751840435&sprefix=dog%2Bundercoat%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-9&th=1) No need to spend a fortune.
Searwyn_T 1.0I have the Roomba J5 and it works wonders. We have a husky, a husky mix, and a long haired supermutt and it's a trooper
slain2212 1.0A roomba. We have a J5. You can run them every day with minimal effort, and they do a pretty good job, and then just go over once a week with your regular vacuum. We have tiles, and it does a great job. But this week, through a series of unusual events, I ended up using my roomba on medium pile carpet that is original to our late 90's home, and omfg the hair and dander is pulled up is insane. I'm disgusted. We vacuum it once a week with an upright bissel, but apparently, the roomba is so so so much better. For the couch, I have a handheld pet bissel and a reusable lint roller which work amazing. I have 2 blue heelers and a cat.
The_Viking-22315 1.0I see so many positive reviews of it. I want the e25, but I really want it to go on sale before pulling the trigger to upgrade from my roomba j5
TrifleNext9884 1.0Hi, I live in a condo two floors. 2 bed 2 baths I recently got the Roomba J5 at first I was skeptical about it since some people have horrible experience with it. But I’m really happy with it, it works just the way I wanted it to. Now maybe because I have no kids and no pets only me and my spouse it’s probably more suitable for me. I just wanted it to maintain my floors cleans and that’s exactly what it’s doing. Hope my experience helps you decide 😊
victoriabug 0.4We have a j5 I think which has been fine then actually bought the Braava mop which was great, whilst it worked… it stopped working within warranty and they won’t replace it or refund me as it’s a discontinued product. They only said I can have the most basic combo model which I don’t want. Have been arguing with them for a while now. If it’s a discontinued line and no replacement can be offered then please just give me a refund not something useless to me!
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