iRobot Roomba i3+ with Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal Review

The automated dust collection system does mean that you don't have to empty the collection bin every time - something that makes this vacuum much more convenient to use than many of the other options out there.

Navigation

This robot off to a great start, successfully navigating around all of our test pieces of furniture without getting stuck. This robot could essentially drive wherever it can fit but it did occasionally take a little extra time to figure a way out if it wanders into a particularly cluttered area.

This robot also did very well in our docking test, immediately locating and driving straight towards the dock regardless if it was in the same room as the charging base or not. The edge-detection sensors also never had any false-positive from high-contrast areas of our floors.

Home Coverage

This robot systematically maps your home as it cleans, making it great for cleaning your entire home. However, it does have a slightly smaller spot clean area than average, covering just a bit more than 12 square feet. It covers this area by spiraling out and in from wherever you start the robot.

This robot can use iRobot's virtual barrier system, though it wasn't included in the package. It also will automatically pause cleaning, locate its dock, recharge, and then resume cleaning if the robot's battery level drops too low.

The iRobot Roomba i3+ did very well in our room cleaning test, easily reaching just about every nook and cranny

Carpet Cleaning

This vacuum got off to a good start in our edges test, doing slightly better than average. It left a strip of uncleaned floor that measured about 3.5" across along the edges of our test robot pen. However, this area expanded to about 5" across in the corners, as this round robot couldn't quite fit, though the spinning side brush does help with this a bit.

This robot continued its solid performance in our flour test, getting the bulk of the flour we spread out and delivering another above-average performance. However, it did considerably better with the rice, picking them all up from both the low-pile and only leaving a few grains behind on the medium-pile carpet. It seemed like the Dirt Detect feature engaged on the low-pile carpet, causing the iRobot Roomba i3+ to complete a second pass.

This vacuum also did very well in our oat cleanup test, leaving just a few flakes behind on both types of carpet. We also were impressed that this robot has sufficient clearance to successfully clean all of the mini-wheats in our large items test.

Hard Surface Cleaning

The iRobot Roomba i3 performed a little bit worse on the hard floor, leaving a slightly larger area of uncleaned floor than on the carpet.

The iRobot Roomba i3 did a fantastic job in our flour cleaning test, with this robot cleaning up all of the flour on the surface of the floor. However, it did leave a little residual flour in the cracks between boards.

However, the performance of this robot rebounded when it came to rice and oats. It easily collected the vast majority of the grains while only flinging one or two to the side.

Unfortunately, the clearance is too low for this robot to collect any of the mini-wheats

Pet Hair

This robot only collected about 8% of the hair we spread out on the fluffy carpet. It improved a bit with the low-pile carpet, but not by all that much, only increasing its cleaning yield to 14%.

Smart Connect

We found this robot to be quite reliable when it came to maintaining an internet connection, as we never really had to reset it to fix a dropped connection. Its companion app has most of the basic features, such as letting you locate the robot if it's stuck, track its cleaning history, and see a cleaning map. You can also adjust the number of cleaning passes the robot does and create a schedule. We like that the scheduling option is quite versatile as well.

This iRobot Roomba i3+ can integrate with Alexa and Google Home smart home systems, as well as with IFTTT. It has onboard controls to start it cleaning, send it home, or spot cleaning.

Value

Unfortunately, we don't think this product is a great bargain option, as it is one of the pricier options out there and didn't score amazingly well.

Conclusions