iRobot Roomba j7+, the vacuum cleaner that empties its own container

The iRobot Roomba j7+ is a robot vacuum cleaner with some very useful functions and in this review we show what makes this Roomba so special!

Review iRobot Roomba j7+

If you hate vacuuming and could use some extra help around the house, you should definitely take a closer look at the iRobot Roomba j7+. It is incredibly easy to use and even has some extra functions that other robot vacuums don’t have.

Installation iRobot Roomba j7+

The installation of the Roomba j7+ was a snap. My two cats watched with great interest, but quickly decided that the box the Roomba j7+ came in was actually a lot more interesting to them. The box contains the Roomba from iRobot and a large charging station (Clean Base). This contains a special container in which he sucks up the dirt after his cleaning round, but more about that later. A nice detail: the vacuum cleaner bag (in the charging station) was immediately in the right place.

After installing the app and making a WiFi connection, the first real challenge comes: you get to name the robot. After much deliberation, we chose ‘Consuela’. After that, you have to put the robot on the base station for a while to charge.

Explore and visualize a home

Once you’ve done that and the Roomba is sufficiently charged, the real work begins. To get a good picture of the rooms in your house, you have to open the doors and put away all loose items (such as shoes and laptop cables) as much as possible.

When you instruct the iRobot Roomba j7+ to clean for the first time with the app, two things happen. The Roomba starts buzzing on its first scout/cleaning round and your cats (if you have any) fly out of the room.

That does not mean that the Roomba is noisy, that is not so bad. You can hear the Roomba well, but the sound is not nearly as loud as a regular vacuum cleaner. But in the long run it becomes annoying if you are working in the same room. Fortunately, the Roomba is also easy to set up remotely, so that the vacuum cleaner robot can do its jobs when you’re not at home.

Obstacles and awkward places in the house

The first few times you use Roomba j7+, it does not yet know all the ins-and-outs of your home. So it regularly happens that the robot vacuum cleaner makes some strange routes. For example, ‘Consuela’ found the spot behind the couch quite interesting and returned to it regularly. She also liked the chair legs at the dining table too much to stay away from for long. Still, the Roomba never got stuck, and the robot squeezed past all the obstacles.

Even with a deep-pile carpet, the robot seemed to have some difficulty in the beginning, but after some wiggling and turning (it looked like a dance) it finally managed to get on the carpet and clean.

Incidentally, the Roomba cleans well. Especially when you have pets, it is a godsend for all dog and cat hair. The carpet was also no problem. The only thing that sometimes happened was that small hard crumbs were launched by the brushes and ended up in the corner of the room (or in places where the vacuum cleaner had already been). But that only happened very sporadically.

Emptying the receptacle: a bit of noise for a while

When Roomba has completed its cleaning cycle and returns to its charging dock, hold on tight. Then the dirt is sucked out of the Roomba and deposited in the container. However, this is done with such a noise that it seems as if a plane is taking off nearby. Fortunately, that is only for a while and it is very easy that you do not have to worry about the Roomba.

Set rooms for specific cleaning

After cleaning two or three times, the Roomba knew the entire layout of the house and the vacuum showed that on the map in the app. On this map you can then indicate where the robot is not allowed to go and give the individual rooms a name. From that moment on you can also have the Roomba clean specific rooms.

You will immediately notice that the Roomba finds its way into your home much faster and is a lot more efficient. The vacuum cleaner also keeps track of if things change. Furthermore, the Roomba j7+ gives a message in the app when the vacuum cleaner gets stuck, but that never happened during this review.

Of course, you also have to clean the rollers and wheels with this Roomba every now and then. But in the weeks that we had the Roomba j7+ for review, we only had to do it once. Besides, that’s how it happened.

Automatic detection of obstacles (and ‘accidents’)

A super handy function of this Roomba j7+ that we could really appreciate during this review was the automatic detection. For example, when the robot vacuum cleaner encounters a cable or a pair of slippers that were not there before, it takes a picture of it. He then drives around it and continues cleaning. You will then see a photo in the app on your iPhone and you must indicate whether it is a temporary obstacle or whether the vacuum cleaner should avoid this place from now on.

This also works (fortunately!) with a cat hairball or an ‘accident’ in dogs, something that other robot vacuum cleaners sometimes fail with. A nice touch: iRobot will replace any Roomba j7+ that has not shied away from solid pet feces.

Create cleaning schedules in the app

With the app you can easily create cleaning schedules so that you don’t have to worry about the iRobot Roomba j7+ anymore. You indicate the time, day and which rooms need to be cleaned and … that’s it. Don’t have set days to clean? Then you can even choose to have the robot start automatically when you leave the house. Of course you can also indicate in the app when a room needs to be cleaned at the moment.

It is a pity that there is no automatic support for Apple’s HomeKit yet. You can get started with IFTTT or Apple’s own Assignments app, for example, but you have to dive into that. The Roomba j7+ does have support for Google Home and Alexa.

iRobot Roomba j7+ prices

The iRobot Roomba j7+ from this review has a suggested retail price of 999 euros. You can buy it (among others) at the webshops below. The Roomba j7, without the Clean Base, has a suggested retail price of 749 euros.

Conclusion iRobot Roomba j7+

The iRobot Roomba j7+ is an excellent robot vacuum. It is easy to use and maintenance-friendly. In fact, you hardly have to worry about it and that is very nice. The collection container for the dirt in the charging station is a welcome addition, just a pity that it is (for a while) quite noisy when the dirt is sucked up.

Another drawback is that the housing of the Roomba j7+ is somewhat scratch-sensitive. During this review, the vacuum cleaner suffered a few (very minor) damage due to the bumps. There is also no automatic integration with Apple HomeKit (yet), which is a shame. You can get it working reasonably well with some sidesteps such as IFTTT and Assignments, but that is a bit more difficult. There is support for Google Home and Alexa.

The Roomba j7+ is one of the better robot vacuums on the market right now. Especially if you’re looking for a vacuum cleaner that you don’t have to worry about anymore, the Roomba j7+ is definitely recommended!