iRobot Roomba Vacuum 2 Essential Robot with AutoEmpty Dock, 3 Suction Levels, Latest Floor Tracking Sensors, and Compact Design (Black)

This was my first robot vacuum. I moved into a 1100 sqft apartment with not carpet (yay!) and wanted something for daily cleaning so I wasn't constantly walking on dog hair. It works. No fancy features like mapping, but it does a great job generally vacuuming.Pros:-great price point-does a great job of basic cleaningCons (these could apply across the board, I don't have a basis for comparison):-this guy rammed one of my bikes hard enough to knock it over-don't leave clothes or bath mats on the floor, it can get caught on them/jammed

The media could not be loaded. I decided to replace my old Roomba as it was beginning to have some parts that pieces were breaking off. I was excited to get this one and ordered it on Prime Day in October at the sale price. It was one of several robot vacuums in my wish list since I had done lots of research and gone through lots of reviews. I had tried a combo vacuum/mop unit before and it was awful, but it was a different brand and did worse than this thing.Right out of the box it would not connect to Wi-Fi or Alexa. I had to perform a factory reset to get it to connect. You do that by holding down all three buttons on the top, simultaneously, for about 10 seconds until you hear a series of sounds. You are then required to let it charge for best results, so I let it charge almost 24 hours. The app never would show the “Product Health”, even after using the vacuum. I would only get the notice in the screenshot shown. I did use the app to start the first vacuuming. I felt I was off to a good start as the robot began vacuuming in the grid pattern as shown in the ad. Once that pattern led it into my living room, things changed dramatically, for the worse. It should be noted that I do not have a bunch of clutter. I lost my fur baby soulmate, but still have not removed his bed (seen in the movie). There is really not a lot of difficult navigation. I included the movie because it was at the start of the vacuuming, and I was pleased with the low noise level. It was less noisy than my old one at least. Once in the living room, it got stuck under the chair. I got it unstuck and restarted it. It was not 45 seconds later, and it got stuck in the exact same place. It actually had to force its way into the location that it kept getting stuck in. I got it free and completely moved it to a different area. It wasn’t long and it returned, but this time I moved it again before it got stuck. Then it would go into an area by my dog’s bed and would just stay in that area, going to and fro as if stuck in a large box. It would spin, it would go backwards, it would go forwards, and it would spin some more. I thought perhaps it was due to the small AC/Heat vent in the floor, so I covered that vent with the dog’s bed. But this was to no avail. It was bound and determined to stay in that 3x3 feet area. I moved it again. It stayed in the room that it started in (adjacent to my living room where it kept getting stuck) for a few minutes and then came back into the living room. This was an hour and 14 minutes, it did less than 400 square feet of vacuuming, and I used the app to send it home to its base. It picked up some dirt (shown). I liked the size of the dirt bin and the ease of emptying it. The noise level and the size of the dirt bin were the only things I liked about this Roomba. I realize that it is on the cheaper end of the scale for a Roomba, but I expected more! I returned this vacuum. I will wait until Prime Days for Christmas and order something different, and probably not a Roomba!

I live in an apartment with vinyl floors and was shocked at how quickly dirt, dust, and debris piled up. Sweeping felt like a full-time job. Enter the Roomba Essentials, my new cleaning buddy. It’s definitely not perfect, but it sure beats sweeping every. single. day.I picked up the Roomba Essentials as an introduction to the world of Roomba, fully intending to upgrade later. As long as you know this isn’t the most advanced Roomba, you’ll manage your expectations and won’t be too frustrated by the occasional hiccup.First off, its main job is to relieve you from daily vacuuming or sweeping duties, and it does just that. It connects to your smartphone, allowing you to start it, set a schedule, and send it home. It also gives you a handy map of where it’s been, so you can keep tabs on whether it missed a certain spot. It also comes with Google and Alexa functionality, so you can talk to your voice assistant and have it begin a job at your command.But it won’t learn your home’s layout like the pricier models. You’ll still need to do a little prep work by clearing the floors: cords, shoes, or anything it might mistake for a light snack need to be hidden. Trust me, it has a weird appetite for power cords and phone chargers. . . .It mostly manages to avoid big things like baseboards, doors, and anything low enough for it to sense directly in front of it. But when it comes to low hanging edges like the underside of the kitchen cabinets, or a piece of furniture with too low of clearance while still being strangely high enough to avoid its sensors? It’s more of a ‘bump and hope for the best’ kind of strategy. I’ve watched it play demolition derby with all sorts of different pieces of furniture or obstacles more times than I can count. But it's never aggressive enough to mark anything up or cause any damage.Despite the occasional confusion, it handles my 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment pretty well, and the battery lasts plenty long enough to finish the job on the highest suction level, assuming it doesn’t get stuck in some bizarre nook and cranny...On the plus side, it’s quiet – much quieter than your standard upright vacuum. The only time it really raises its voice is to let you know it’s stuck or when it’s taken up that new hobby as a furniture boxer.iRobot makes maintenance super easy. There are guides and repair manuals in the app, which is great. But replacement parts aren’t exactly cheap. The app will also tell you when something needs replacing, so you’re not guessing when to switch out a part.If you’re expecting miracles, this little guy might fall a bit short. It’s the slightly more clumsy, budget-friendly cousin of the Roomba family. . .But if you’re looking for a reliable assistant to cut down on your daily sweeping and vacuuming, the Essentials does the job, quirks and all. Just be prepared for it to have a few "learning moments" along the way. . . .

The media could not be loaded. This budget friendly iRobot is great! I have a more expensive one as well and this seems to work exactly the same. We have dogs and live on a land, so our floors always are extra dirty. I run our robot twice a day and it does a great job keeping it clean. We have carpet as well that my regular vacuum gets stuck on and the iRobot is able to clean it no problem. I love being to run the robot from the app when I’m not home. It does a great job not getting stuck due to the lower profile. Super easy to use and does a great job!