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iRobot invented the Roomba, so is its newest floor bot, the iRobot Combo j9+ still a market leader? The company has made some possibly curious choices about how this bot works, so in this hands-on review I’ll try it out, show you what it’s good at and what it won’t do. And I’ll explain why this mopping miss isn’t actually anything to worry about.

Plus I talked to iRobot about this bot and they gave me some interesting insight about why it does —and doesn’t—include some popular features.

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What you get

iRobot has been taking its time advancing in the robot vacuum world. As the de-facto inventors of the robot vacuum, making Roomba as synonymous with floor cleaning as Asprin, Jello and Kleenex are with their own product categories.

This is iRobot’s first foray into a fully automated vacuum and mop combo unit. The company is several years behind competitors Roborock and Ecovacs, but in my opinion if they've taken their time developing the product in hopes of making it the best it can be, this may have been worth the wait.

The Roomba Combo j9 robot itself has a very unique design where the mopping plate actually lives on top of the robot on a set of articulating arms. When the robot detects that it needs to begin mopping, it lifts the mop and plate off its own back and settles it under its backside.

The Roomba Combo j9+ comes with an automatic dustbin emptying and water-refilling station that can manage some of the maintenance for you (the Plus in the name denotes it has that auto-empty base). I will say the base station is both compact and extremely well-designed, using what appears to be a wood grain top to help it blend into your space a little better; you could even use this as a small side table, and that's exactly what iRobot intends.

(By the way the iRobot j9+ is the vacuum-only version of this bot, in case you’re wondering. ‘Combo in the name indicates the Roomba can mop, while the ‘+’ denotes an autoemptying base station.)

What you won’t get

It is worth noting what you will not get with this unit, particularly because these features are extremely common on robot competitors. The base station is smaller because it has a more limited feature-set: The mopping plate is not going to be cleaned or dried by the dock. It’s up to you to keep the mopping pad tidy.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to iRobot team about this new floor robot. iRobot tells me this is for a few reasons; primarily that it feels self-cleaning base stations become nasty and dirty themselves after a few days or weeks of self-cleaning and the company is trying to figure out if it can do better.

iRobot says the company has been prioritizing dirt and dust pick-up and making their robots the absolute best at vacuuming. They developed some impressive vacuuming and dirt detection features, and even improved object recognition and hazard avoidance (Roombas can detect and avoid pet poop, by the way), something the company was already extraordinarily good at.

The question I have is does the hyper-focus on vacuuming mean the robot will not be as adept at mopping? We will find out in my cleaning tests.

Something you should know: no mopping-only option

There is something you should know before we get too much further. This robot has only two settings; it will vacuum, and it will vacuum and mop together. There is no mop-only setting. Within a few days I found this extremely disappointing… But we will get to more on this and why I think it's a problem coming up.

Set up

Setting up your Roomba is going to be a really easy process. I've set up quite a few floor cleaners from iRobot and have always found the experience quick and easy.

You'll power the robot on by plugging it in, and ensure that it's got a little bit of charge. Then use the iRobot app to connect to your home Wi-Fi network. The app is easy to follow and takes you through the process step-by-step. I was online and ready to roll in about five minutes. The first thing your robot will need to do is create a virtual map of your home. It does this by going out on an initial vacuuming run, and using its array of cameras and sensors to map your space. I had a very accurate virtual map on the very first day.

With the virtual map you can schedule room specific cleanings, find your robot at any time, or even create no go zones and the app makes this easy even for newbies.