We test out the iRobot Roomba 965 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner to let you know if it's worth the investment.
The iRobot Roomba 965 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner at a glance:
With an impressive 75 minute run time, this bagless robot vacuum cleaner from iRobot cleaning has an intelligent navigation system that remembers where it’s been in your rooms, meaning it’ll pick up every inch of dirt. Controllable from your smartphone with the free iRobot Home App, you can start the vacuum from your sofa, or schedule a specific cleaning schedule.
Product specification:
Dimensions: (H)9.1 x (W)35.0 x (D)35.0
Full Charge Time: 2 Hours
Maximum Run Time: 75 Minutes
Weight: 3.9 Kg
Available from AO.com
RRP: £699
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How did this product make your life easier?
A robot vacuum is one of those things that is most definitely a luxury, there's no doubt about it. But it undeniably made our life easier.
We all know how long it takes to do a thorough job of vacuuming your home and the ease of putting that (admittedly mundane) job in the hands of something else's hands is just brilliant and makes such a difference to how our home looks and feels. We made sure to inspect our floors for stray crumbs or debris after the robot vac had finished and we were in no doubt that the robot vac had done a much better job than my partner or I ever did. It had picked up everything.
Our (pretty vocal) miniature dachshund was very suspicious of the vacuum to begin with and took to barking, which was one of my initial concerns, but even she has gotten used to it and lets it get on.
Would you recommend this product?
Most definitely - and we already have. Right from day one we were gleefully sending videos to our friends and family.
Despite being simple and straightforward to run, the features this little guy (fondly named Rupert) has is seriously impressive.
We have wooden floor, tiled floor and carpet and the robot works well on all of them, automatically adapting to clean whatever your flooring is, the side spinning brush collecting dirt, dust and dog hair.
The Roomba 965 has 75 minutes of run time which for us was enough to do two floors of our townhouse. When it runs low on power, it automatically returns to the included charging base and if it's midway through a cleaning cycle, it will resume and then complete the job once it has enough charge. So you really can set it to work and get on with your day without a second thought.
One of our favourite features was being able to schedule the robo-vac through the free app which you can download to any smartphone. You can set the robot vacuum to work straight away from the app, even when you're not home, or you can choose specific days and times when you want the house hoovered. It really is effortless.
We also loved checking on the app to see our floor plan mapped out where Rupert had cleaned and it got every corner. Just don't forget to leave your doors open!
It has bagless cleaning, making it super easy to empty, simply shake into a bin, give the filters a good wipe and that's it!
Would you choose this product above all others on the market?
Having never tried any other robot vacuums before, this is a tricky one to answer. All I can say is that I can't think of what else you would possibly need the Roomba 965 to do other than perhaps a mop function, which I'm aware is something other robot vacuums do offer. That said, I don't personally see the need.
What changes would you make to this product?
Honestly? Not much. If it could climb stairs, that would be pretty incredible and save us carrying it up two flights of stairs but frankly, that's just me being lazy!
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Watch the Roomba 965 in action:
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