iRobot's Roomba Combo j9+ Takes A Smarter Approach To Mop Drips & Pet Mess

Your current combo robot vacuum and mop may not be the cleaning whiz you think it is, but iRobot is hoping to replace it with its new Roomba Combo j9+. Combo models — which pair a vacuum cleaner with a deployable wet mop system — have been sailing up the robo-vac sales charts in recent years because of their flexibility to clean just about any room in the house. For anybody who grew up watching The Jetsons in eager anticipation of their own robot maid, though, the sad reality is that most robotic home help falls well short of the promise.

As iRobot tells it, the robot honeymoon period can come to a very abrupt ending faster than you might think. Owners are reluctant to map their home even once; the second time they're asked to do so can be a dealbreaker. The rise of dual-mode robot vacuums, which promise to mop as well, can lead to smelly docking stations, wet carpets from dripping mop pads, and — perhaps least appealing — the dawning realization that what the robot mopped up from the bathroom floor is now being smeared across rugs and carpets.

iRobot's new Roomba Combo j9+ robot vacuum and mop doesn't just hike up its mop pads a tiny amount when it hits carpet; it lifts them onto the top of the robot to avoid drips. When deployed, the new Roomba features SmartScrub to apply extra downward pressure and back-and-forth motions on the mop for what iRobot says is twice the scrubbing impact. Meanwhile, dual rubber brushes apply additional pressure, and iRobot claims 100% more powerful suction than the Roomba i Series.

iRobot

The new hardware works with iRobot OS 7.0's Dirt Detective feature that analyzes the cleaning requirements of each room. It'll prioritize which rooms to tackle first depending on which are likely dirtiest or most recently cleaned. It knows to do two passes in kitchens and bathrooms, ramp up vacuuming strength on carpet, and use less liquid on hardwood floors. Dirt Detective will also leave the bathroom for last so the Roomba doesn't track messes into other rooms.

iRobot

Mapping is done up to 7x faster than before, iRobot says, with support for automatic room naming. Manual override of settings is supported in the iRobot app, and the Roomba itself can spot more than 80 everyday household objects — including wires, socks, and (perhaps most importantly) pet waste — and then circumnavigate them accordingly. iRobot's Pet Owner Official Promise (P.O.O.P.) guarantee, launched on the Roomba j7+ in 2021, guarantees the company will replace any robot that doesn't skirt around solid pet waste.

The Roomba Combo j9+ comes with a new docking station design, too, larger but intended to fit in as a piece of furniture and a robot garage. The new Clean Base Auto-Fill Dock looks like a side table — it even has a wood-grain-finish top — but inside has enough liquid for 30 days of cleaning top-ups and can empty up to 60 days of debris. It's iRobot's quietest Clean Base dock so far and has space inside the door for spare supplies like the easily swapped mop pads; it's also designed to be more modular for easier repairs later on.

iRobot

iRobot will also offer the Roomba j9+ robot vacuum, which effectively keeps the Combo version's dry vacuuming abilities but skips the mopping. It comes with the smaller, existing Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal station, which can hold up to two months of debris, and supports the same Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri voice control.

The Roomba Combo j9+ is up for preorder now, priced at $1,399, while the Roomba j9+ is $899. As for iRobot OS 7.0, that's currently rolling out to existing Roomba owners, though exactly which features each gets will depend on factors like hardware. Smart Scrub, for example, is expected to land on the Roomba Combo j7+ before the end of the year.