Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Roomba 980 is my 2nd robot vacuum, with the first being the Roomba 655 that I got at Costco. This is clearly the better vacuum, but it is also much more expensive, but if you can justify the cost the vacuum is an amazing luxury item that adds convenience and eliminates the daily chore of vacuuming manually. The AeroForce bin is extremely durable, made of thick plastic and much sturdier than the 655. However, I do find the AeroForce bin in the 980 more difficult to remove than the 655. Due to the design of the bin, it's actually also a bit more difficult to empty out the bin as the dust stays stuck in the plastic housing of the dust bin. Instead of quickly being able to dump it, you may be forced to pry out some of the dirt bunnies or to tap the bin against the trash multiple times to empty it. In the 655, the bin has no cover so that when you remove the dust bin from the robot, the dust falls onto the floor. However, it is much easier on the 655 to remove that cover and emptying the bin is extremely easy. I believe this may be due to the lack of the HEPA filter in the 655 that the dust may adhere to. The design looks a lot more modern and sleek than its predecessors. However, the cover is a magnet for fingerprints, but this doesn't concern me too much as I don't expect a vacuum to look immaculate. There are multiple LED icons that light up, just like in the older Roombas. The color of the icons indicate things like low battery and errors. The loudness is honestly not something that concerns me so much, as I run this generally when I leave the house or before I wake up (I'm a "medium" sleeper). My room is on the second floor with thick walls and the robot is loud enough to hear even with the AC on, though it isn't too noticeable. If you have neighbors and thin walls, the loudness is definitely something to be concerned about when running the robot late at night. It is certainly louder than the 655 and about as loud as a full-sized upright vacuum. This robot has picked up a lot of sand particles as well as large layers of dust and lint, even though I run my 655 downstairs at least 3x a day for the past 4 weeks. The cleaning effectiveness is much more powerful than my uprights, but what I was using before was a cheap Dirt Devil stick as well as a handheld vacuum, which is still necessary for cleaning corners. The 980 cleans in a grid like fashion vs the random, frustrating paths that the 655 goes on, and is much more reminiscent of human cleaning, performing almost a depth first approach. The cleaning on the 980 is so much more efficient than the 655, my longest job taking 53 minutes vs 2 hours on the 655 allegedly for 400 sqft of space. While the 980 is much more efficient, the 655 does multiple passes over the same areas which also allows for a deeper clean. The 980 uses machine learning and its built in camera to avoid running into obstacles, and uses this information to map out its surroundings and to avoid obstacles it has learned. Whenever it bumps into something, it pauses and updates its memory of the cleanable map. The first time you run this robot will not be the most efficient, as it still needs information about its surroundings to be able to determine the most efficient paths within a furnished room. Unfortunately, due the iRobot's design using the camera and computer vision to map out the cleanable area, the Roomba will not work in total darkness. However, I hope that a software update will allow the robot to continue cleaning despite the lack of light. In contrast, the Neato Connected uses lasers to determine where the robot should traverse which allows the Neato to be operable even in darkness. The Roomba effectively finds the base even though I have housed it underneath furniture to save more room. Unlike the 655, which I would often find lost somewhere in my home with dead batteries, the 980 always makes it to its home charger, and the signal from the upstairs home charger never interferes with it docking properly. The 980 navigates in front of its base as usual in other Roombas and positions itself at the center to charge. Thus far, I have never had any issues with the 980 recharging itself on its own. The 980 also requires an app to be able to create schedules as well as operate the cleaning and includes a bunch of different features you can access from the convenience of your phone, vs a physical remote. I am bothered that there isn't just an option to specify the amount of passes your Roomba takes, and you are only limited to two passes max. I wish there was an option to run until the Roomba runs out of batteries for smaller apartments. However, I set the Roomba on Performance mode to ensure very deep cleaning. When the cleaning mode is set on automatic and you have a carpeted home with area rugs, the Roomba will get confused and switch into Eco-mode even while its still on carpet. I believe it is because it detects the transition in the different flooring heights and adjusts based on that disparity of heights vs always using sensor information to detect the actual texture of a surface. Pairing your robot with your phone is extremely easy, you have to hold down two buttons on that actual robot that will broadcast a wifi network that you can connect to, which detects your home wifi and then connects to it. The roomba itself has some audio feedback and beeps whenever a setting is changed; the option to turn this off would be nice, as the beeps are not a necessary feature and is more annoying than useful. The app also has a "Care" section that will recommend when maintenance should be performed. I don't think the progress bars actually use sensor information but instead pulls information about time spent cleaning and total area cleaned and calculates when it is time to replace parts. However, this feature is definitely nice as it makes it easy to determine what needs to be fixed and when. The "History" page helps you see the total time spent cleaning, the total area cleaned, and the number of jobs done at any date and time. I think this information helps the user understand how effective their robot has been over the span of time that they've owned it. Unfortunately any Roomba errors will not send your phone any push notifications, so you will have to open the app or go examine your Roomba to see exactly what the issues are. For example, you will not get a notification if the bin is full, you need to manually check the app or your Roomba. As a software engineer, the mobile app has left a lot to be desired. In the Neato Connected bot, you can actually control the robot to move to a specific place for a spot clean. While this feature isn't necessary, it still is a nice added bonus that I think would be cool to see implemented. Also, it annoys me that there aren't more settings for cleaning modes. It would be cool to have access to different navigation algorithms (i.e. random paths) when you are using the Roomba in a dark area. You should also be able to specify the number of passes you desire to ensure a thoroughly cleaned area. There is also a handle that you can use to carry your Roomba 980, though the design makes the handle a bit difficult to find. Still, it is sturdy enough to support the weight of the Roomba when carrying it to another area of your home. The rubber rollers, like in the 880, prevent hairs and long fibers from tangling and is much easier to clean than the 655. They are also said to allow much more suction and airflow than the brush rollers of the 655 due to their design. Overall, this is a luxury item that adds much more convenience to keeping your home pristine and tidy. However, I do not believe that the convenience justifies the expensive price tag at this time until much more functionality is added to the mobile application. But because the software can indeed be updated, including the cleaning-navigation algorithms of the 980, this robotic vacuum is essentially future proof and a good buy if you have the disposable income to burn. As an avid Amazon shopper, I rely heavily on reviews to research before purchasing items. I purchased this item with my own money after doing extensive research on what was available. I want to help others make more informed purchasing decisions by providing reviews that accurately describe the product and my experiences with it. 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