Spain is one of the countries with the highest acquisition rate of robot vacuum cleaners of the Roomba type, the pioneer, although in recent years many other brands have entered into direct competition. The Roomba has always been the great reference, although in the current market there are numerous relevant competitors, so the fight to win the customer’s favor has led to an improvement in the products in all areas. As a result of this competition, robot vacuum cleaners have experienced great evolution in recent years. Even the environment in which the device “lives”. It not only has technical improvements, but also aesthetic ones.
With the new Roomba Combo j9, iRobot has provided its most complete system with features that were unthinkable until a few years ago. The use of automatic emptying systems, which largely eliminate unpleasant manual cleaning tasks, has meant that this type of device has a charging base of a certain volume that is usually incompatible, for example, with the decoration of most of salons. The launch of the new model, which also integrates a large water tank to charge the device so that it moistens its mop, has increased its size. And if you can’t hide something, the best strategy is usually to make it blatantly obvious.
In that spirit, the charging base of the Roomba Combo j9, larger than that of the Combo j7, is no longer intended to hide in a corner, for example, of the kitchen. It aspires, however, to be able to be placed somewhere in the main living room of the home, with a (plastic) lid that really imitates the wooden top cover of a designer coffee table. Being larger, the robot vacuum cleaner itself is also more hidden at the bottom of its base. It is no longer necessary to hide it. On the contrary. It can be displayed.
The Roomba Combo j9 has that retractable mop and an intelligent scrubbing system. A program called Dirt detective, which in addition to prioritizing cleaning in each room of the house as necessary, warns if there is a stain on the floor and is applied so that the robot passes over and over again to try to eliminate it. . Like the previous generation, the new iRobot floor-mopping vacuum cleaner has a water tank to humidify the mop, but it is not necessary to fill it practically with each mop, as is the case with its predecessor. Every time the water supply runs out, the robot returns to its base to charge and, instead of positioning itself in the emptying position, it positions itself in the opposite way. The operation of the system is impeccable. A full tank lasts approximately one month.
The base of the Combo j9 also contains the emptying bag, which fills up in approximately two months, and a couple of practical drawers in which you can store the spare mop (they are washable). It is a base-table, larger in size but contained enough not to cause rejection in anyone who wants to place it in an area of ??the house where it is highly visible. In fact, just place a small decoration on top to camouflage it in a living room.
The changes to the Roomba Combo j9 compared to the j7 generation are also performance-related. The new model is capable of detecting the dirtiest areas of the floor and uses the combined effect of its rubber rollers and wet mop to rub intensely on the dirt and remove it completely. Roomba robots that also use floor mopping can use a product that, together with the water tank, helps with cleaning, although in the tests only water was used and the results were very good.
Compared to its predecessor j7, practically identical on the outside, there are some improvements that make everything faster and more precise. iRobot has greatly refined the operation of the floor mopping vacuum cleaner. The cleaning is deeper not only because the new Roomba j9 is capable of rubbing in the places where it detects the most dirt, but also because its passes seem to be more precise, less hesitant. This robot does not “get lost” between chairs. You better control your environment and your own position.
The new j9 has, like its predecessor, the mechanism that makes a part of its cover a kind of visor under which there is the mop used for scrubbing. This part is raised and stored like a kind of convertible using two metal arms automatically. If the floor mopping vacuum cleaner is on firm ground and the user has chosen vacuuming and mopping, the wet mop will be in contact with the floor. As soon as the device detects a carpet, for hygienic reasons, it raises and stores this part so that they do not come into contact.
An essential element to optimize the results of iRobot’s most advanced cleaning system is its app. By having a map of the home, you can not only send the Roomba to clean at a certain point, but you can also specify things such as the use of the smart scrub function, the number of passes, the intensity of the cleaning. suction or the degree of humidity of the mop. It is comfortable and easy to use, although there are those who prefer the original method of pressing a button and leaving the robot working.
The Roomba Combo j9 is the best vacuuming and mopping model developed by iRobot, which has solved the shortcomings of previous models and represents a good option for those people who do not have much time to clean the floors at home. Its base is larger in size, but at the same time it is more integrable into any space, because the robot fits in for the most part and adapts well to current decorations. Its price is high (1,399 euros), but for what it offers, it is a very complete and versatile system.
