iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus review

Roomba Combo J7 Plus: two-minute review

The Roomba Combo J7+ is a combination robot vacuum and mop from one of the most well-respected robovac brands. This clever machine comes armed with a full gamut of exciting smart features, including object and dirt detection. These are powered by built-in AI that can spot the most common items cluttering your home, and your pets, cleaning around them without incident. Mapping is superb, and as the robot learns more about your home, it will suggest areas that might need more attention.

The robot itself appears sturdy and well-built with thoughtful touches, including a very clever retractable mop pad that sits on top of the robovac when not in use, removing any danger of damp carpets. The excellent companion app is also worth a shout-out. It puts you in the driver's seat, managing cleaning sessions, home mapping, room-based tasks, and smart home system integration. It also allows you to set scheduled cleans.

On test, cleaning performance was good, but not perfect. The J7+ handled general cleaning very well, and the dual rubber rollers did a great job of preventing hair from becoming tangled up in the mechanism. Once the mop pads had saturated, this function was very effective too, removing surface dirt from my hard floors and leaving them shiny and clean. However, I found it the vacuum could struggle with larger dry spillages, and the self-empty bin function is excessively loud.

You'll have to take care of emptying and refilling the water tanks, and cleaning the mop pads; tasks that some of today's best robot vacuums can automate. If you don't need the mopping function, there is a vacuum-only version, which you can read about in our iRobot Roomba J7 Plus review.

At time of updating this review, the J7 Combo Plus is no longer the newest or best Roomba around. That has its benefits: you're still getting a very capable robovac, bolstered by this brand's considerable expertise, but you're more likely to be able to avoid paying full price. I've spotted some big price-drops on this model, and if you score one of those, it can be incredible value for money. That's the short version – read on for my full iRobot Roomba J7 Plus review.

iRobot Roomba Combo J7+: price, range & availability

• List price: $1,099.99 / £999 / AU$1,499
• Launch date: September 2022

The Roomba Combo J7 Plus robot vacuum and mop is available to buy direct from iRobot, as well as at a range of third party retailers. Direct from iRobot, it comes with a list price of $1,099.99 in the US, £999 in the UK and AU$1,499 in Australia. Because it's no longer the newest model out (it originally hit the market in 2022), there are deals to be had – at time of updating this review, it was almost half price in the UK.

At full price, this is firmly a premium purchase. It's still far from the priciest model on the market – many brands' range-topping models push into four figures these days – and still isn't bad value considering the smart features you're getting (although the absence of self-cleaning and automatic water tank refilling is a little upsetting at this price). If you manage to snag a deal, it can be incredibly good value for money.

If you don't need the mop function, you could opt for the vacuum-only J7 (no '+' or 'Combo'), or the J7+, which has a self-empty base. These can be a little harder to find, and again, discounts are common. In the US, the J7 has a list price of $599.99 (but can be found for under $400), while the J7+ is $779.99 (but can be found for under $500. In the UK at time of update, the J7 is £599, and the J7+ is £899 (but can be found for around half price). Neither seem to be available in Australia.

There are some ongoing costs to consider. You’ll need to replace the self-emptying base station’s vacuum bags if you intend to use this feature regularly, and if you want a deeper clean with the mop pad than just using water, you’ll want to pick up some of the iRobot-approved cleaning solution, too. On the plus side, it's reassuring to see that iRobot has a wide range of replacement parts available to purchase, which should extend your J7+'s lifespan.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

iRobot Roomba Combo J7+ specs

iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus review: design

• Robovac is on the larger, heavier side
• Retractable mop pad sits on top of the vacuum when not in use
• Self-emptying bin, but all mopping maintenance is manual

The iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus is an all-black robovac, with matte black casing and a gunmetal disc on its top. Here, you’ll also find its very minimalist control system: one button you can press to pause and start the vacuum, or hold for five seconds to send it home.

Weighing in at 7.49lbs and with a diameter of 13.3" / 33.8cm, the Roomba Combo j7+ robot is on the larger and heavier side. This size allows for a slightly larger-than-average capacity and coverage but can also limit its movement in tight spaces. The weight also contributes to general noise levels as the vacuum moves from room to room. With a height of 3.4" / 8.6cm tall, the robot has relatively good clearance but will struggle with some lower-down furnishings.

The big difference compared to the vacuum-only version (the Roomba J7 Plus) is the retractable mop pad. Many robovacs have mops that lift up when the robot is moving over carpet, but iRobot has gone one step further in its quest to avoid soggy carpets here. When not in use, the mop pad sits on top of the vacuum at the rear. Then, when called upon, it lifts and tucks beneath the unit in an incredibly satisfying, smooth motion – it's a real feat of design. You can attach the mop pads to the arm easily by sliding and clicking in the snap-fit attachments.

The front half of the vacuum is surrounded by a plastic bumper, with a window through which the robovac’s sensors can detect surroundings and obstacles. On its underside, there are two bidirectional wheels and one swivel wheel, a three-armed side brush to flick debris out of corners and away from walls and into the robovacs suction path, and dual rubber brush bars. These bars are designed to be flexible, working across floor types without damaging them, and preventing hair from becoming tangled (we rate this one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair).

On the rear half, there’s the 14oz / 0.4L dust bin, which can be ejected by pressing the tactile panel next to it. This is also where you’ll find the water tank – and, unlike some other robot vacuums and mops, the Roomba Combo J7 Plus is cleaning solution-compatible, arriving with a sample bottle of iRobot cleaning solution.

As with previous models, the Combo J7 Plus comes with plenty of swish features, designed to make life easier. This clever robovac can detect dirtier areas and increase power as needed, which has the added benefit of conserving battery if you want thorough cleaning but can’t supervise the vacuum to adjust its suction settings in dirtier rooms. There is no option to set suction power manually, which will frustrate those who prefer to have more control.

The built-in camera helps the robot navigate intelligently, but also detects obstacles and hazards – from socks to stairs. And, of course, this model comes with iRobot’s Pet Ownership Official Promise – also known as P.O.O.P – to detect and avoid pet messes, thus preventing nasty clean-up jobs.

This model includes iRobot’s Clean Base dock with automatic dirt disposal. Unfortunately, it can’t clean your mop pads or refill the water tank, as some models in this price bracket can. The dock measures 12.55 x 13.39 x 15.35 inches / 31.9 x 34 x 39cm and needs clearance of 1.5ft / 0.5m on each side and 4ft / 1.2m in front. It has a nice shape and finish – all black except for the brown leather tab that helps you open the top and access the vacuum bag.

Under the base hood, there’s a pre-fitted cleaning bag and one spare in a neat little compartment that reduces the need for extra external storage space – although additional space to house a spare mop pad and side brush would have been welcome. Annoyingly, iRobot does not provide an actual capacity for the dock's dust bags (making comparison with other models tricky), only stating that it'll hold up to 60 days of dirt. The LED indicator on the front of the canister will turn red when the dirt bag is full. Taken as a whole, the design comes across as sturdy and well-built with some thoughtful touches.

Setup

Almost all of the Roomba's packaging is cardboard, and smaller boxes contain additional parts, including mopping cloths and replacement brushes. This makes identifying everything nice and simple, and is especially useful if you're new to robot vacuums.

After this, getting the vacuum up and running is very straightforward. Initial steps include unboxing, downloading the iRobot app, and creating an account to link to. The device must then map your home for navigation later, which takes a couple of tries for ultimate accuracy. If you want to use the mop function, you'll need to fill the tank with the solution provided and attach a mopping cloth.

The app is required to control the vacuum. You can initiate cleaning sessions, view and edit your home map, and set specific room-based cleaning tasks from here. You can also hook it up to your chosen smart home system, as I did with my Google Home hub, making it possible to include the vacuum in routines and automation. You can also set scheduled cleans in the iRobot app.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus performance

• Automatic suction adjustment based on dirt – no option to control manually
• Decent vacuuming, but struggles with large spillages and not great at edges
• Mop takes a while to soak through, but then performs well

On test, the J7 Combo Plus performed well, but not perfectly. During a regular clean, it was very systematic and successful at sucking up general household dust and dirt, both fine and chunkier. During my specific cleaning tests, performance was a little more hit-and-miss.

When I tested it on a large spillage of flour and biscuit crumbs, it tracked it across the floor, and then became a little overwhelmed by such debris, and began throwing some of it back on the ground when making its way to the charging station to unload. To its credit, it did then clear most of its own mess when it returned to the floor to finish the job.

To see how it handled larger debris, I spread dry white rice across a hard floor and carpet. This proved similarly overwhelming to the J7 Combo Plus, and it retreated to empty itself four times before it completed the job. After flitting around the lounge for an hour, a significant amount of debris was still pushed up against the edge of the rug.

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The Combo J7 Plus automatically adjusts its suction depending on how dirty the floor is (there's no manual option). The bot will maintain a winding route around your home while cleaning, but if it detects a messier space, it will pause to go over it before resuming on its path.

Obstacle avoidance – which uses PrecisionVision Navigation – is fairly successful, but not perfect. While the manufacturer's promise that the vacuum will intelligently avoid clothing, shoes, and pet droppings is upheld, curtains and small cat toys have been less lucky in my home. If there is a pile of laundry on the floor, a dangling wire, or you are standing in the vacuum's way, it will avoid the object, but my drapes still get eaten once a week.

The Combo J7 Plus treats carpets with care, giving them a thorough clean before moving on to any mopping. I tried to see if I could trick my review model into mopping my bathroom rug, by moving it around before and during a cleaning cycle. However, the clever little bot was more than capable of identifying the change in texture and storing away its mop so as to not damage or dampen the carpet.

Mopping

On the subject of mopping – this is the Combo J7 Plus' standout feature. I was concerned that the mop pad wouldn’t dock neatly below the unit, or that its arms would be too delicate to deliver the pressure required to mop floors well. On the contrary, the Combo J7 Plus gave my floors a lovely shine-up, especially when used with the cleaning solution sample included with the vacuum.

In the app, you can decide for each of your favorite cleaning modes whether you’d like to use a minimal, medium or maximum dose of water. There are a few drawbacks to the mopping function. First, the mop pad takes a while to soak through. In my test, I had to sit through about five minutes of cleaning before I could see consistent, non-streaky results. If the water tank is full, it can also sometimes leave the odd drip mark. Overall, though, I was very impressed with the mopping here. Once it got going, the mop left my floors shiny and mark-free, and did a great job of tackling surface-level dirt.

If you’re planning to use the mopping function regularly, note that you’ll lose some of the hands-free perks of the self-emptying base station. All of the mopping features, from replacing and cleaning the mop pads to refilling the liquid, are entirely manual. (If this is a deal-breaker, there are other premium robovacs that come with automatic tank emptying and refill, and docks that can clean the mop pads. However, these do-it-all docks do tend to be fairly bulky.)

Noise levels, battery and maintenance

In general, the Combo J7 Plus was fairly quiet as it made its way around my home, registering a maximum of 68dB on my decibel meter – generally, it’s even quieter, but the volume rises by around 5dB when the vacuum natively boosts its suction. However, I had a nasty shock when it returned to base for the first time. The noise of the self-emptying function scared the living daylights out of me, registering a stressful 90dB. While it lasts for only a few seconds, it’s loud enough that I'd strongly recommend against using it in any circumstance where you need to be noise-conscious.

The battery specs of the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus are something of a beautiful mystery; there’s no official word from iRobot on the length of the battery life, but on test it lasted over 120 minutes on a vacuuming and mopping task.

The vacuum will automatically return to its base between jobs, or if it runs out of battery during a task, the spinning circular light around the button on its lid will let you know when it has finished charging, shifting to illuminate just the lower half of the button. It does use a “very small amount of energy” when docked, says iRobot, but it’s possible to change its settings in the app to reduce this further.

After several months of use, the J7+ only needed two major cleaning interventions: removing the main rubber brushes to clear them of hair and ensuring that the side brush was free of obstruction. You should also give the vacuum a general wipe-down to clean its sensors. The amount of hair you're dealing with will vary from home to home, but my experience is that the anti-hair wrap promise holds up where many have failed.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus app

• Easy-to-use interface
• Accurate and customizable mapping feature
• Works with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant

The iRobot app exists to make owning the Combo J7 Plus as easy as possible, guiding you through the initial mapping phase, all the way through to voice assistant setup and map customization.

Since the physical control buttons are basic, the app plays a huge role in managing this robovac. It’s always preferable to give customers the option, but it makes sense to push people towards the app when you consider how many of those price-inflating features depend on user interaction.

The iRobot app offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to schedule cleaning sessions, instruct the robot to clean a specific room, view your map, and customize cleaning preferences. You can view real-time updates of the vacuum's progress, and it'll provide you with an estimated time frame for task completion. For instance, I asked it to clean the kitchen for my pick-up tests, and it completed the job in four minutes before returning to the charging base. There are tips and reminders, you can check the lifespan of the vacuum’s components, and you can even name your vacuum (I called mine Buttercup).

Mapping is excellent, and it doesn’t end after your robot’s initial mapping task; the Combo J7 Plus continues to learn. It can detect different surface types and provides estimations in the app of where different rooms start and end (these room dividers are adjustable). Even in larger, open plan rooms, it was able to identify where the living room space ended and where the kitchen/dining room began. It also noted the area in my kitchen where I most often stand to cook as a cleaning zone that requires more attention, notifying me in the app that it had a new recommendation.

The zoning feature also helped me solve a particular challenge I tend to face with robot vacuums: doorstops. Living in an apartment with heavy fire doors that close without a doorstop isn’t the best setup for a robot vacuum that can’t open doors, and the bot doesn’t yet recognize doorstops as an obstacle, so it frequently dislodged them. However, with the zoning tool, I was able to fence off the area where my door is and stop the vacuum from imprisoning itself.

• App score: 5 out of 5

Should I buy the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

• Re-review with updated tests: August 2024
• First reviewed: November 2022