[olivierlacan]

If you've used any non-iRobot vacuum alternatives in the last 5 years and ever owned a Roomba in the past there should be nothing surprising about this headline.

It's shocking to me how good Roborock mop-vacuums are for example, Eufy vacuums are nice as well. They still run into unavoidable issues, but they're: much quieter even at their highest setting; show you how they map out the space; allow you to easily customize routes or focus on specific rooms; do a shockingly good job at self-emptying; and best of all you don't have to rescue them from the exact same sliding door track every single time you run them.

[teyc]

I read a story about Dreame. The founder worked in aerospace, but wanted to make a mass-produced motor with aerospace standards. So he modelled air flow using aerospace tools, built the motor to tight tolerances. Conventional vacuum motors run at 30k rpm, his runs at 100k rpm. Then he standardises on a single motor, for all his devices, robovacs, stick vacs etc, so he gets scale.

[4gotunameagain]

Yeah that's marketing. There's no such thing as aerospace only CFD, and all tolerances are subject to cost/benefit trade offs.

They might be great designers and talented engineers, sure.

[IshKebab]

Dyson's stick vac motors have been above 100k RPM for almost two decades.

[NetOpWibby]

Well now I’m sold

[nrhrjrjrjtntbt]

Dont be. Source: tried roborock and dream. They are both useless because you spend so much time troubleshooting it dealing with stuck issues you may as well get the cheap vac out.

[JoshGlazebrook]

Datapoint: I've used my Roborock s7 max ultra in three different households (2 houses, 1 apartment) and have had zero issues with this.

It actually was night and day compared to the $1000 equivalent roomba I had at the time. lidar is the game changer in this space, and roomba was complacent with their technology.

[locallost]

I've had a few issues, but they're far from useless. The issues are, e.g. a sofa has tapered legs so the end part is very low to the floor and basically invisible so the vacuum gets stuck there. I've placed a rag that stays there above the leg and nobody sees it or cares except the robot.

[delfinom]

I have used Roborock for ~7 years and now own 3 of them (different floors/areas). Absolutely no issues.

[binkHN]

Largely the same here; as long as do regular maintenance on them to keep them relatively clean, clean out hair and related, they just run.

[arnvald]

I had a Roomba+Braava Jet for a few years and I constantly had some issues with both devices, but the worst part was that in theory they should be working well together. There's this function "linked cleaning" where Braava mops the floor right after Roomba finishes vacuuming. But in practice it often didn't work, either the automation didn't trigger, or Roomba got stuck somewhere, cancelled the cleaning, and then Braava started mopping floor that hadn't been vacuumed.

Eventually I moved to Roborock with vacuum+mop in a single device. It still has its issues, but it is ten times better. It's able to lift the mop on the carpet, the mop is self-cleaning, and it has a large tank so that I only have to refill the water once a week instead of every other day. Day and night. Roomba eventually introduced a similar model, but it's been years after competitors had them.

[whatsupdog]

I second your option about Roborock. Also Dreame. Although I use both of them after rooting with Valetudo and connecting to my home assistant.

[fransje26]

Just out of curiosity as I don't own a vacuum robot: do yo loose any key functionality by rooting your device with Valetudo, compared to what the manufacturer offers?

[whatsupdog]

Yes, they put that on their website. That if you are looking for features, stick with the original firmware. Valetudo is for privacy. That being said, they still support most of the features and honestly I don't miss anything.

[binkHN]

Which one do you like better and why?

[tobyhinloopen]

Absolutely. I bought a new Roomba after my old one died and was surpised to learn it's basically unchanged and still just as stupid as the old one. Returned it, got a Dreame X40. Much better, night and day difference.

[josefresco]

I have a second-hand "dumb Eufy" and it's great. No cameras, no microphone, no Wi-Fi, no app, no calling home to mommy. It just spins, sucks and bangs (gently) around my house and I don't get mad when it gets stuck. It cleans under things I can't reach easily with a vacuum, and it cost me almost nothing.

[hawthornio]

Yea same here, it’s great

[RGamma]

Currently looking to make my living space robot friendly, I wonder: can they clean hard to reach spots behind doors or under the ledge of a sofa (I can't remove every obstacle)?

[jryb]

Doors no, couch yes (if it fits). I wouldn’t get one unless you see value in having 80% of your home vacuumed once a day. For me that’s still a huge improvement and spending a few minutes spot vacuuming every two weeks or so is all I need to handle the corner cases.

[jack_tripper]

>can they clean hard to reach spots behind doors

Robovacs aren't a drop-in replacement for a maid, they aren't a fire and forget cleaning solution for a house that's already dirty and messy or have constant spills and stuff left on the floor, but more for regular maintenance of an orderly place that still gets cleaned or maintained in the tough to reach places every now and then.

But if your place resembles a crack house, a robovac won't magically clean it.

[mlrtime]

The newest ones have arms to pick up objects on the floor. Your comment is still valid, but it may pick up that crack vile ;)

[IAmBroom]

"vial".

Certainly "vile", but that's not a noun.

[tguvot]

i got roomba less than year ago, because it was hard to find well reviewed non-mop vacuum with docking station that sucks all the dirt out.

[jader201]

The common solution is to just buy the cheapest Roborock that does a great job at vacuuming, even if it has a mop (that you never have to use).

I got a Q7 M5+ for this exact reason, for $265 shipped. (And yes, that includes a self-emptying bin.)

For the vacuum function, it seemed to be highly rated.

[dzhiurgis]

> non-mop vacuum

Such a good point. Vacuum wars website has no way to filter out vacuums without mop (my house is mostly carpet, I do want a good product but they are all with mops nowadays).

It's such a common issue with sites like this. It's either all products or products WITH this feature. No way to find products WITHOUT this feature.

Anyway quite happy with my Mova which is a rebranded Dreame.

[torh]

I have a Roborock S5, and when I don't use the mop, I just remove the mop AND the water tank. And without the water tank it never gets stuck in doors.

[tguvot]

it feels like getting instead of pickup track minivan, removing 2 rear seating rows and then chopping off parts of roof and doors

[tguvot]

my house is actually mostly tiles/hardwood (at least areas that are accessible for roomba). but i want it just to be vacuumed.

polished tiles will always have some water marks after washing and require pass with floor buffer to buff it out. i also don't want to deal with with clean/dirty water (yeah, i know that are now few models that you can hookup to drain/water supply. but it's not exactly trivial to arrange in convenient way).

what i really want, is dock integrated with central vacuum.

[jgilias]

I have a pretty old Roborock, and I can just not attach the mop and have it in vacuum only mode.

[IAmBroom]

> what i really want, is dock integrated with central vacuum.

I have two dogs that shed HEAVILY. I fear to even turn my robovacuum on, since getting them.

I NEED THIS!!!

[tguvot]

i bypassed this specific problem by getting dogs that don't shed (frankly, i shed more than both of them).

i contemplated getting spare dock for my roomba and modding it. but one thing I didn't figure out yet it's a how to close opening into central vacuum piping when it's not actively engaged. probably possible to do something with servos/etc, but it feels like too complicated/messy

[Saline9515]

You can avoid water marks by using distilled water.

[tguvot]

water marks in this case will be because water mixes with dirt and it's not 100% wiped off and polished off

[Saline9515]

You fix this by doing a cycle of vacuuming first. Robots allow you to clean frequently to prevent large buildups. It's the same as if you were cleaning by hand. I have tiles as well and no dirty water marks.