iRobot Combo Review

Combo is the first mop-and-vacuum robot, and it's also the most attractive model of the company. Its aluminum top piece brushed and irobot robot vacuum logo are more elegant than the blaring designs of competitors.

You can use the iRobot Home app to set up and guide your robot. The app collects usage data and maps of your home, which include obstacles and furniture. Maps and images are only shared if you have signed up.

It's not a mop.

The Combo irobot is a very clever mopping robot that combines all the smarts of the great best roomba vacuum cleaner J7+ and includes an onboard water reservoir, a small mopping pad, and a handy robot arm that lifts and lowers the pad. It can complete a large amount of work in only 111 minutes before it is power-depleted and returns to its base station to recharge.

The combo model includes the irobot for hardwood floors Home app, so you can initiate or stop cleaning runs. The robot also looks attractive, with matte black material that does not show dust or fingerprints and a brushed aluminium top piece with the tiny iRobot logo.

It does a great job of vacuuming and has no issue traversing large area rugs or transition strips between flooring surfaces. It can even pick-up fine dust that other robotic vacuums fail to pick up. However, it's not so good at mow. It won't remove dried milk stains unless you send it at least four or five times.

IRobot's dedicated Braava jet M6 mopping robot cleaner, which is usually available as a bundle with the J7 Plus for less than the price of the combo Combo is a better job at this and other tasks that are difficult. It can even clean up ketchup and wine spills, though I'd advise against sending it after any type of liquid with a high sugar content.

It's an air vacuum

It's also one of the most attractive robot vacuums, with a smooth and sleek top piece that doesn't display dust and fingerprints as easily as competitors. The tiny water tank and dustbin of this vacuum are easy to open, but they're not the biggest. The Combo j7+ also has the smarts you are used to from iRobot including maps and obstacle avoidance maps that work effectively and swiftly. However, it's the mopping arm that makes this model stand out in its class. It keeps the mop pad tucked behind the vacuum, but when it spots a surface that needs mopping, it lowers the pad underneath and behind the robot. This is a huge upgrade over other robot vacuums that require you to manually remove the mop pad in order to mop hard floors and carpets or even turn the entire unit off to mop.

It's an electric charging station.

When you're ready to charge your Combo Irobot, simply place it on the charging station and align its metal contacts with the ones on the base. The charging station is easy to set up and works well. In my tests, it took the robot just a few minutes to charge and then make an audible sound when it was completed. When the Combo robot is fully charged you can begin mapping runs on the app to help the robot understand your home. The app also lets you to mark certain objects as permanent avoidances, like lamp cords. You can also connect your robot to Alexa or Google Assistant, so you can use voice commands to guide it around your home.

It's a smart device

Combo irobots use acoustic and onboard sensors to learn about the type of floor they're navigating, as well as the objects in your home. This information is combined with images taken by the robot's onboard camera as well as maps of your home to make an individualized plan to clean every room. This allows it to be smart enough to stay clear of your sofa, lamp cords and other objects you wish to keep intact. Of course, like any other connected device, there are concerns about the security of this data. irobot mopping robot however, states that it will never sell any customer data and no images are captured without the permission of the customer.