Comparing Roomba models in 2026: What is the best Roomba? Are Roombas even the best at all?

Is iRobot ready for a redemption arc?

Amazon and iRobot called it quits with their pending acquisition back in 2024, and things have only gone downhill for iRobot from there. Soon after that, iRobot randomly overhauled the Roomba lineup in March 2025 — an interesting deviation from its usual release schedule, in which the biggest Roombas of the year typically come out in August. It felt like a last-ditch effort to keep the company afloat after struggling to profit in 2024.

As someone who tests robot vacuums for a living, I’ve been saying for a year now that Roombas were struggling to stay relevant in a sea of smarter, stronger, more fairly-priced robot vacs from the likes of Roborock and iRobot’s biggest Google search competition, Shark. Like sure, it’s great to finally see a mopping Roomba with spinning mopping pads or a Roomba self-washing and -drying mopping pad dock that’s relatively affordable. But the best robot vacuum mop combos from other brands have been on top of that for years.

iRobot recently announced its first line of vacuums under Picea ownership, and I’m in the process of testing them to see if they bring a level of innovation needed for iRobot to stay relevant. I’ll update this guide accordingly.

How to tell the difference between the Roomba models

The iRobot Roomba 105. The Roomba Combo i5+. The Roomba Combo j7+ (not to be confused with the Roomba j7). The arbitrary numbers and letters of the Roomba family tree are confusing at face value, but we can teach you.

When shopping for a Roomba, you’ll choose from what I call iRobot’s core lineup: the group of three to five Roomba series sold on iRobot’s website. Any Roomba whose title includes a letter and a number (like j9+ or i5) or the word Max is more advanced than a Roomba with just numbers in the title (like 105, 205, or 692) or just words (like Roomba Vac or Essential).

A plus sign (like j9+) denotes that the model comes with a self-emptying dock, and Roombas that mop will have “Combo” in the title. “Max” is a new Roomba term introduced with the Roomba Combo 10 Max — it refers to the ability of a hybrid Roomba to wash and dry its own mopping pad within the self-empty dock. On the other end of the spectrum, “Essential” means “most basic” in the Roomba family, meaning no smart mapping.

Other Roombas I’ve tested

I’ve tested several Roombas that are no longer main players in the Roomba guide for 2025. The Roomba Combo j9+ doesn’t wash or dry its mopping pad, and is simply too expensive to be worth buying over its siblings like the Roomba Combo 10 Max, Roomba Plus 505. or Roomba Max 705. Plus, the j9’s increasing obsoleteness has pretty much halted its ability to get a noteworthy discount nowadays.

I have also removed any 600 series Roombas from this guide for a similar reason: They just can’t compete with the newer cheap Roombas that have stronger suction and smart mapping. When I tested the Roomba 694, it pissed me off more than it impressed. The Roomba 694 and Roomba 692 are hard to find in stock, anyway, and it’s rarely for less than the Roomba 105 (my new top pick for the best cheap Roomba).

Click here to read more >> https://mashable.com/roundup/best-roombas-2026