The iRobot Roomba 980 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums remove pet hair, lint and dust from the floor before they can settle. They also can avoid obstacles such as furniture that is slippery and stairs.

Most robotic vacuums require regular maintenance. This involves emptying the bin (and sometimes, rinsing it) and wiping the cameras and sensors. Also, top 10 Robot vacuums they need to be plugged into an electrical source. Many have smartphone apps to schedule, adjust settings and more.

Roomba 980 from iRobot

The iRobot Roomba 980 is the latest model in the line of top-of-the-line robot vacuum cleaners that are a staple of any modern household. This model is equipped with a HEPA-filter that will aid those suffering from allergies. Additionally it also has a powerful battery which can clean for up to two hours, and it automatically returns to its dock when it is full.

It also comes with an option called smart mapping, which makes use of multiple sensors to suss out the areas in your home that require attention and make a tidy route around them. This technology is very effective at navigating around toys left on the floor, or furniture legs that are sticking out from underneath things. Roomba also has a sensor that snaps Roomba to its real-world location if it starts to drift away from its initial location.

iRobot has also introduced a new set of rollers underneath the Roomba's bottom, which don't have bristles and, therefore, tend to resist tangles more than previous models. They are also taller and can be placed under beds or couches that are low. They're designed to make this model more movable on various kinds of floors.

What makes the Roomba 980 stand out from other models with a higher-end price tag however, is its integration of the new dirt detection feature that utilizes cameras to identify tiny bits of dirt. This is an improvement over the previous model which relied on a sensor-driven pseudorandom cover method to bounce around the room and scrub the area three times, at different angles.

The Roomba 980 performed well in our tests on both carpets and hard floors. Its score on the low pile carpet was very good and it scored a excellent score on mid pile too. It did a great job collecting pet hair, but had a difficult time with the long and thick pet hair that was stuck together.

The Roomba 980 is still one of the top performing robots we've reviewed despite the minor drawbacks. It's also not as expensive as top 10 robot Vacuums-of the-line models. It still has a lot of features that we'd like to see in a top-of-the-line model however it lacks all the fancy apps or top 10 robot Vacuums smart home integration that you might find in other top models.

The iRobot Roomba can be set up quickly and is available for use as soon as you are ready to. After removing the pull tab for the battery and the yellow bin insert from its undercarriage, all you have to do is plug it into its Home Base docking station or a wall socket, press its big "Clean" button, and let it go to work. It will automatically return to its dock when its battery runs out or it's stuffed with debris. It also has indicator lights on the top of the device to indicate that the bin is full, it requires recharging or if its Wi-Fi signal is lost.