New iRobot j7+ robot vacuum review

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For this bot to work effectively, you need it to first map your space. Essentially your Roomba will go out all over your house and use its cameras and sensors to draw an accurate floorplan of your home. Then you can use that to do room-specific cleaning.
Creating the smart map will take several passes. You can make this happen all in one day by repeatedly sending the bot out on suction-less mapping missions, or you can just instruct it to go out and clean over a few days. The app will tell you when it's had enough time in your house to generate the automatic map.
View the map, make adjustments and label rooms
Next up you'll have to view the map and label rooms. This will involve essentially putting dividers between rooms or spaces, and assigning each room a label, and I can say my bot did a very accurate job of mapping my space.
New iRobot Roomba vacuum: Meet iRobot Roomba j7+
The Roomba j7+ is a self guided robot vacuum. It has all of the features of the existing iRobot vacuums, but it does have some subtle differences and some new tricks.
The navigation camera is now located on the front of the unit, rather than the top. This helps the j7+ steer itself more accurately according to iRobot, as well as provide photo information (more on that later).
Design of iRobot Roomba j7+: What’s New?
The new j7+ boasts a shorter Clean Base disposal unit, designed to fit under a table and keep it out of sight. This will be welcome news for Roomba fans, as the older style of Clean Base it much taller and tends to stick out in the home or apartment. Fluted panels give the design a bit more interest and a leather pull tab on the base lid also softens the look.
The bags used inside the clean bas hold all the dirt from the robot, so you never need to touch the dustbin to empty it. Each bag should hold up to 60 bin-emptyings before needed to be swapped out.
New Features: iRobot Roomba j7+
iRobot has made some improvements to the Roomba, most of them focused on how and how well it cleans-and a significant part of the development budget went to improving hazard recognition.
Hazard recognition and poop avoidance
The j7+ features upgraded hazard recognition, and the engineers spent a lot of time and energy training Roomba to both identify and avoid commonly dropped items like headphones, phone cords, socks, and underwear. More importantly for pet owners, iRobot promises that the j7+ will avoid solid pet waste, so no more poop-op-floor-art upon arriving home.
iRobot tells me this will soon be followed by more object recognition objects such as shoes and socks via a software update in the near future, and that as time goes on, iRobot will continue to add more objects to the list of items that tend to prevent a Roomba from completing its work.
Luckily I have well trained younger dogs, so the poop thing was not some thing I got to try first hand. But we do have plenty of situations where a dog toys, cords and cables, and yes underpants will end up on the floor. In my experience using the new j7+ the hazard recognition seemed to work. I left some cords deliberately in its path and it didn’t get tangled.
Photo alerts of obstacles
If the j7+ finds an unknown obstacle, it will take a photo of what it sees, send it to your phone, and let you decide whether it should register this as a permanent or temporary hazard. If you just forgot your undies that morning, mark it as temporary and Roomba will just clean that area next time. If it’s something permanent, like a new potted plant, you can steer your bot permanently away.

Geofencing
The new iRobot Roomba j7+ will also recognize when you’re not in the space, through your phone’s location services and geofencing, and can clean when you’re away, and stop when you return.
Cleaning time estimations
Another new and handy feature is estimated cleaning times.
Using Roomba vacuum and mop together
iRobot j7+ will also work in tandem with iRobot’s m6 mop.
How well does it clean?
I put all my vacuums through the same tests; I get them to sweep up finer things like flour or sugar, middle sized bits like rice or oatmeal and bigger cracker pieces, on both carpet and hard floors.
The robot does a pretty good job at vacuuming and what it might miss on one pass, it usually gets on another.
I sent it out to clean and it seemed to zero in on oatmeal crumbs, backing up and taking a couple of runs at the area like it was targeting it for a deeper clean. Reading up I learned this is the Dirt Detect mode. When the robot detects an especially dirty area, it will engage Dirt Detect mode, moving in a forwards/backwards motion to clean the area more thoroughly. The light ring indicator will flash blue. It was pretty cool to see it in action.

[@dannggg]

Damn that was the most detail review ever. Straight to the point and answered all my questions. Definitely getting one for my new apartment

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Oh wow, thank you so much! And glad to help!

[@robbell4784]

“ Patience, Grasshopper” . Funny Erin. Good review as always.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@RayPaganJr]

Ordered the J7+ this morning. Early Christmas present for myself. Looks like it has the features I need. Hope it’s everything it is advertised to be.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Hope you like it!

[@RayPaganJr]

@@ErinLawrenceTV So far I love it. I keep a clean house J7 is maintaining it nicely. It doesn’t take away or replace an upright, which now I can do weekly instead of three times a week, but my floors look great and free of all the hair my little Frenchie sheds.

[@reggie2803]

Thanks for a great review. I went ahead and ordered mine, so I will see if it lives up to expectations.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

[@garrywright3380]

Great, no nonsense and complete review…

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thank you so much, glad it was helpful!

[@KP-sg9fm]

Sounds like a news segment lol, great job narrating

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks!

[@billfong7861]

Very detail review. Thanks Erin

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@CyberProfe]

Great video! I returned the i7+ because there was no way to tell if it was charging and I'd go to use it and it would be dead; and, because there wasn't a bin access on the vacuum like in older versions, if it swept up something I needed I'd have to wait for it to get sucked into the big container and then go through that (yuck). Have either of those issues been fixed? Can you tell when this one is charging and is there a door on the vacuum itself that I can open to remove an item, a hair tie for instance?

[@marybethfrain7165]

Excellent review p

[@polacosan]

Good review. Could you tell something about how exactly works with Alexa, and how it works with the specific voice orders? Thank you so much.

[@Coco-qz7fn]

Going to give it a go based on your review, TY!

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

You’ll have to let me know what you think. Thanks for watching!

[@chiomasmith8516]

Does it clean stairs? Great review 🥰

[@amycard9395]

Thanks Erin !

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

You bet!

[@davidperry4013]

My parents have a 900 series and the lack of later technologies causes it to get stuck on thresholds so I moved it upstairs and it works fine apart upstairs afterall. So the J7+ plus will be a great channukkah gift for my parents and be the downstairs robot vacuum.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

That's great!

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Erin.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Hi Ron, thank YOU!

[@chainscdmc]

Does this vacuum have issues with solid black rugs? Our rugs have a 3” strip around the outside perimeter keeping our 600 series from vacuuming on the rugs. Hoping this one with the camera wouldn’t have that issue

[@klausnielsen7102]

If you don’t need all the “features” will the i3/4 do just as well cleaning ?

[@llewodcm20]

Does it bump into everything? Baseboards, furniture legs, dog toys?

[@melissajomama7815]

Thanks for review but it doesn’t get into tight corners or go around chair unless it bumps into it so will use it for small jobs. I still need to use my Shark.😢

[@bonniedenlinger4909]

Thank you for a great video and review! Contemplating between the S9+ and the J7+ which one would you recommend? I have a small space that is primarily hardwood floors.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I'm loving the j7 for the new recognition features and the smaller profile.

[@bonniedenlinger4909]

@@ErinLawrenceTV Thank you so much for the great advice! Just ordered the J7.

[@AJeepADroneAndAnOldMan]

my J7 plus is not showing obstacles in the app after a run, in the area that they should appear it says "something went wrong" I have rebooted several times as well as doing 3 factory resets to no avail, any ideas?

[@rastaozzie4076]

HI Erin - Great review. I have an older 960 model and looking to upgrade. My 960 lives in my office which I don't want it to clean so I move the base and bot just outside my office door and press the clean button. If I get the J7+ and start a mapping run will it find its way out of the office door to map the rest of the house. Thanks in advance.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Hi Rasta. I’m not certain I understand the question. If you get a new machine, you can place the base station anywhere you like and it will map your entire house. If you would like to move your older robot to a different location, you would simply delete the old map and ask it to remap

[@bootini1]

Are you sure it doesn't have a mop function, Wayfair as well as Roomba says it does.

[@odelyalevy]

Thank you so much for sharing. I got it this week and i was never able to connect it to the app whatever I did. I have Brava and wanted to add it up. I have 5G internet. Could you tell me if you have 5G as well. I’m considering to purchase another one, the same J7-+.

[@tfwang5649]

It works with my 5g wifi.

[@jls1337]

I hope they add 'cat barf avoidance' soon.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Haha, yes!

[@melg4660]

Great review, I have a large parrot that makes a daily mess with bird seed and shells. Do you think this will be effective in cleaning the seed and shells.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I do!

[@MrBlueCreeper]

I noticed the side brush looks faster on your unit than other J7 video reviews. Are you going to try the Dreame L10 or Z10 Pro?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I'd love to try those! I'll put them on my review list.

[@MrBlueCreeper]

@@ErinLawrenceTV Ok! Hopefully, you will have a better time with these Dreame's

[@jorgethompson286]

Great review. would you recommend this or the Yeedi max vac? For a house with 3 trained dogs and a 7yo boy... i.e. poop is not an issue, but shoes, underwear, toys and cables all over the floor are. I dont necesarily need the moping feature, but cool if it comes. I'm more interested in cleaning up hair and fur, especially off the carpet.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Great question. I think if you’re not worried about the mopping but there is plenty of stuff on the floor, this robot would be ideal.

[@David_Polak]

IRobot is the best vacuum robot for carpets. It always ends at #1 at tests.

[@CodeXana]

I have this model, and I cannot believe how bad it is on carpet. With pet fur and small crumbs, all of it will remain on the carpet, even with two runs. It’s so so disappointing… and idk what would be a better option

[@shanew7361]

This or the Roborock S7 plus? Nice review by the way 👏 💥🖐😎

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Oohhh... Good question. I think for the additional mopping ability, go for the Roborock S7

[@bretshivers8352]

I am torn between this and the shark ai. What you think is a better choice?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Do you have a busy home with kids and pets? If so you want the intelligent object recognition of the iRobot. If there’s less clutter around the house you’d probably be satisfied with the shark

[@Wellspring604]

Hi there, would you recommend the j7, i3 or m6? Thanks!

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Go for the newest technology and get the J7 plus if you’re leaning towards iRobot. If you are looking for some thing that can do even more, I do like the Ecovacs x1 Since it can mop, vacuum, and clean itself too.

[@rosarioescobar8255]

👌🏽

[@thepersianpapi]

Hey, how is the J7+ for pet hair on hardwood floors?

[@desireesmith4754]

I just got one - it's great!! I have two corgis that are shedding for their winter coat.

[@ovrxpsd]

 @Desiree Smith thanks! i have a corgi and shiba. they both shed so much!!

[@philipwagner9169]

What's the difference between the J7+ and the J7 without the plus? There's almost a £300 price difference!

[@macofda2026]

Can it go over thresholds?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

It’s been handling the ones in my house quite well.

[@jamescarlos8642]

Hi everyone What is cleaning passes mean in iRobot j7+ What’s the difference between one clean passes vs two clean passes

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Hi James. A cleaning pass is the number of times the robot passes over a spot on your floor. More than one pass simply means it cleans more than once.

[@Desideratapoem]

Did you say anything about the noise level? I watched your video all the way thru. We have been using one of these for about 40 days. It is extremely loud, I think. Our house is a combination of carpet & hardwood floors. It is loud on both, but really loud on hardwood floors. It is hard to carry on a conversation in that room. I can't find any KZbin videos so far saying what normal or what is not, maybe mine is defective.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I believe I did…? I did not find it overly loud. I have reviewed dozens of robot vacuums and the noise level of this one was about average.

[@pklemm1]

With camera based navigation I always wonder how well it cleans in the dark.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I haven't tried it.. good question.

[@David_Polak]

It's doesn't work well in the dark. For that you need a laser based robot.

[@mleibold]

Just gets lost and ends job quickly.

[@69memnon69]

After having to throw out an m6 and an i7+, I wouldnt touch an iRobot product if they paid me. If you want a product that gets worse over time after each software update by randomly cleaning rooms not on its schedule, develops cliff sensor and docking issues then an iRobot may be perfect for you.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Sorry to hear about your experience :(

[@MotionMark]

4:09 oh I bet

[@andersonjray]

Will this really only work with $29 monthly subscription?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I’m not sure I understand the question…? What subscription?

[@jasonriccoboni5931]

My experience was vastly different. My experience: Mapping is terrible and because the mapping is so bad, that renders the no-go zones useless since I can't make heads or tales of the map it created...looks nothing like my floor plan. iRobot needs to start incorporating Lidar into their vacuums. Cameras are a way of the past and are too antiquated to be any good. iRobot recommends turning on all lights and opening up blinds just for this thing to see and map. Obstacle avoidance?? What obstacle avoidance? J7+ bumps and slams it's way into everything and anything. After two days of owning, the front of mine is all marred up already. iRobot was once at the forefront of the robotic vacuum industry and now they trail way behind companies like Roborock & Ecovacs. Even companies like Eufy & Dreamtech, the budget vacuum companies of the world, are starting to close in on iRobot. Only two days of ownership and mine is already packed up and returned.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Sorry to hear that, but thank you for sharing your experience.

[@stlwrx]

This was my experience as well... literally everything you just said happened to me and it was just an awful experience.

[@annettemackey6247]

I'm not using my phone for this. Can 't get it to charge most of the time. \

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

That's not good.

[@girish325]

Does it climb stairs?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Noooooo. That type of technology does not yet exist in any robot vacuum

[@fuzzyjem3]

Didnt know deandra from Its Always Sunny In Phillidelphia did robot reviews

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

;)

[@jasonriccoboni5931]

@@ErinLawrenceTV Except Deandra from this video is much better looking...personal preference I guess.

[@adawong84]

Mine got caught in bed sheets in the floor, other than that so far so good

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Excellent!

[@GeorgeFlorian12]

I got an iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ to vacuum and mop and I can't recommend it at all. It arrived defective and it spend a moth being fixed. It's mapping is awful, it doesn't cover my whole house and it bumps into everything. It's literally a 1000$ device that behaves like a 200$ one. There is no point in spending the extra money. I can't return it now, because the 14 days return policy expired because it arrived defective. I regret spending that amount of money.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

That must be very disappointing! It’s not unheard of to get a dud right out of the box. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it can completely ruin the experience.

[@johnwilson7680]

You lost me at the point where you said you were surprised that they didn’t put mopping functions within the vacuum. That seems like a ridiculous request.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂. Good one. 😉

[@Ransomed77]

How about cat fur balls? I guess that might "look like" waste?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Ah, likely it would.

[@lumendex1900]

How do I know if it’s chatged

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Check the app

[@kchigley5309]

Since this is a review, I'd assume you haven't had the unit for long....yet look how completely scuffed up the bumper has gotten. I've been searching reviews of numerous robot vaccuums and iRobot is the only "smart" featureset vaccum that slams into walls and objects constantly regardless of model. iRobot needs to up their game if they want to continue charging a premium for their products. Not particularly interested in a product that destroys itself and my baseboards.

[@tfwang5649]

I have the same issue and I am going to put $10 bumper guard on it.

[@chopping_board]

basically the reason behind this is irobot refuses to use a LIDAR based navigation system, and instead opts for a camera based vSLAM system, which isnt ever 100% sure if something is in front of the camera, because thats hard with cameras, so it still has to touch it to double check. iRobot really does need to up their game as LIDAR maps better anyway

[@markanders250]

Roombas are so behind Roborock. I just returned this as it is terrible compared to my 2 year old Roborock. It's much slower and doesn't clean as well. It also took forever to do the initial map whereas the Roborock took only about 5 minutes to do so.

[@Melbournelost66]

I'm very disappointed with my J7 plus combo. It's navigation is inconsistent and at times lost. VERY DISAPPOINTING FOR SUCH AN EXPENSIVE ROBOT. Never have such issues with my other ECOVACS machine.

[@dianab9688]

I would guess that 50% of these gadgets aren't working after three years.

[@backtosleep]

Do not buy it. Rugs are good but hard floors with cat hair is awful. It leaves the hair behind. It just won't pick up hair on hard floors.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

That sucks that you had a poor experience with this robot.🙁

[@monicawilson2303]

This thing is a piece of crap. Don’t waste your money on it.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Tell us more….

[@monicawilson2303]

@@ErinLawrenceTVit worked for 5 months then just quit. We called customer support, they got it to working. It went thru a single clean the quit again. Same issue. The iRobot sits on the doc and the home button just spins. I open the app and get the message “unable to connect”. Can’t manually start it either. Nothing but a headache. Don’t waste your time or money on this thing