Honestly, I hate cleaning.

I've always thought that vacuuming is troublesome and endless, but if you skip it, dust and allergens will pile up, and I hate it.

Five years ago on my birthday, my husband gave me an iRobot Roomba 680 robotic vacuum cleaner.

My Roomba (older model)

Life with a robot vacuum is awesome to say the least.

Since I left Roomba to clean the most dirty LDK, I only have to vacuum once a week. My house is a small detached house, so I need to clean the stairs and narrow spaces by myself, but even so, having Roomba help me save a lot of time and stress.

However, there were some complaints. "Rumba 680" sometimes hits the furniture with a sudden rush, so I couldn't leave it to clean while I was away. Also, it's a bit disappointing that the movement is random, so it sometimes cleans the entire floor area on the second floor, and sometimes it doesn't.

At that time, the latest model "Rumba i3+" was released. How much has evolved compared to "Rumba 680"? I was curious, so I borrowed the "Rumba i3+" from iRobot for about two weeks and compared various things.

“i3+” is fully automatic, including garbage disposal!

The biggest advantage of the "Rumba i3+" is that it comes with a clean base.

The clean base is a god function that sucks up the dust accumulated in the dust container of the Roomba and stores it for up to 60 days. Until now, it was only added to the high-end models "Rumba s9 +" and "Rumba i7 +".

When replacing the paper pack, the mouth of the pack can be closed by pinching the handle and pulling it up. It is devised so that the garbage inside does not flow backwards, so dust does not scatter.

On the other hand, the old Roomba 680 had to empty the dust container every time it was cleaned, and sometimes it was necessary to clean the dust container itself. It's troublesome and dusty, so looking at it now, it's a bit of a minus.

The best way to prevent hair from getting tangled in the brush

Rumba's unique 3-stage cleaning system is also installed in the "Rumba 680", but the suction power of the "Rumba i3+" is 600 series. 10 times as much.

The dual-action structure, in which two rubber brushes scoop out dirt and dust, may seem sturdy, but it's actually designed to be quiet as well. Hair, pet hair and lint are less likely to get tangled, so it is also attractive that it is difficult to get stuck while cleaning.

I'm sorry if it looks unsightly, but this is my Roomba's brush. I'm entwined with all sorts of things... It's quite troublesome to clean this one by one. That's why I don't clean it much (sweat).

Okay, let's stop with the preface and see how the Roomba i3+ works.

Sophisticated Movement

The Roomba i3+ cleans efficiently with a single stroke. Every time I cleaned the room, I understood the structure of the room and followed a set course, so it was obvious how much cleaning had been done. Also, since it makes regular movements, it also has the advantage that people can easily avoid Rumba.

As a drawback of unicursal writing, there were times when it was not possible to collect the scattered garbage because it only passes through the same place once. In order to cover that, we were able to switch to a careful cleaning mode that performs "two runs" in one cleaning. When I tried it, it took twice as long, but the amount of garbage left behind was almost zero.

Furniture is soft like this.

Since it gently touches the antique furniture and plants that I cherish, and the electric guitar that is placed directly on the floor, I felt safe even if I was remotely controlling it when I was out.

Can be operated with a smartphone or smart speaker

Speaking of remote control, this is it. If you install the "iRobot HOME" app on your smartphone, you can give a dispatch order to the "Roomba i3+" anytime, anywhere. You can set a recurring schedule or set the number of minutes to clean.

You can check the cleaning history in the "Clean Map Report" in the app.

This is the layout of the second floor of our house, but there is a bedroom in the back of the LDK, and it is actually divided into two rooms. Actually, when I ran the "Rumba 680" in this space, I often didn't try to enter the bedroom from the LDK, and the cleaning was often insufficient. On the other hand, the "Roomba i3+" cleaned the back room thoroughly, so I didn't have to do it twice. I think the biggest difference was the range of motion.

Old and new Roomba showdown

From here, I hope you can see the difference in driving between "Roomba i3+" and "Roomba 680" in the video.

The Roomba i3+ prefers linear motion and is efficient. On the other hand, the "Rumba 680", which runs diagonally, has an impression that there is unevenness in areas that can be cleaned and areas that cannot be cleaned.

Also, the "Roomba 680" hits furniture hard, so if it hits a plant or something, it's going to make you nervous, but the "Roomba i3+" hits relatively easily. When I was short on time, I was able to run the Roomba without having to "evacuate" my chair, guitar, etc. I didn't have to move the furniture before and after cleaning, so I was able to give orders more easily.

Next, I threw a ladleful of tea leaves (about 24g) in the middle of the living room and observed each movement.

"Rumba i3+" cleaned so efficiently and carefully that I couldn't help but praise it as "clever!".

While maintaining the basics of single-stroke writing, it properly detects dust and performs spot cleaning. The glowing blue is probably a sign that it's in "Dirt Detect" mode. I also felt that it was reliable that it seemed to stop and think for a while.

On the other hand, the Roomba 680 also detects dust with its dust sensor and cleans it thoroughly, but it took a long time to clean because of the many random movements. If the electricity bill is so high, the Roomba i3+, which cleans efficiently in a short time, will be the winner.

The joy of forgetting about cleaning

It's been two weeks since the Roomba i3+ arrived at our house. During that time, I didn't use a vacuum cleaner at all, but rather, I was able to keep it cleaner than usual by having the Roomba i3+ clean it every day.

However, the area around 30cm radius from the clean base was not cleaned because the sensor was working, so there was dust. In order to have it cleaned more neatly, there are some ideas such as sweeping around the clean base in advance before the Roomba is dispatched, removing dust from the top of the furniture with a duster, and scraping out the garbage from under the sofa. I think it is necessary. However, it was great to be able to forget about cleaning because Roomba was basically left to me.

I'm not good at cleaning parts

Finally, about the weak point of "Rumba i3+".

The i3+ doesn't have an optical sensor, so it uses floor tracking and gyro sensors to figure out where you are relative to the clean base. That means that if you pick it up and move it to another place while driving, you will get lost and get stuck.

Since cleaning is also an "all or nothing" principle, there is only an option that will clean all over. If you say, "I only want you to clean this place," or if you say, "I don't want you to clean only this place," then I can't help you. If you want to specify the room to be cleaned or set a no-entry area, you will need a higher grade "Rumba i7+" or "Rumba s9+".

However, with this performance, this beautiful design. I think it's a very good robot vacuum cleaner.

The Roomba i3+, which makes you forget about cleaning cleanly, costs 99,800 yen, which is a reasonable price if you consider that you will use it almost every day for at least the next five years. Also, if you hesitate if it is a little expensive, there is also an option called subscription. For "Robot Smart Plan+", see the iRobot website.

But if, at this price, iRobot's Braava Jet, a floor mopping robot, comes with it, it's a great cleaning set! ! Even though I'm greedy, I thought that if I was a lazy person, I would definitely buy the "Rumba i3+" next time.

99,800 yen