Roomba With Home App Recharge and Continue and Mapping
One of the best innovations in the robot vacuum space in recent years has been the development of models that can empty their own dustbins. Aside from offering more convenience than traditional models, they significantly limit your exposure to dust, a big plus if you suffer from allergies. Vacuums with this feature typically cost around $1,000, however, which is a lot more than most people are able or willing to spend. That makes the Roomba i3+ EVO especially appealing; at $549.99, it's iRobot's most affordable model with a self-emptying dustbin. Its battery life isn't spectacular and its smart mapping capabilities are limited to a single floor, but depending on your needs and budget, it might be the right model for you.
Editors' Note: In March 2022, iRobot changed the name of this vacuum from Roomba i3+ to Roomba i3+ EVO, added smart mapping capabilities, and lowered the price from $599.99 to $549.99. We've updated our review to reflect these changes.
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Design and Key Features
The Roomba i3+ EVO is iRobot's third model with a self-emptying dustbin after the $799.99 Roomba i7+ and the $1,099.99 Roomba s9+. Like its predecessors, the i3+ EVO comes with a Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal dock, which charges the robot and holds around 60 days' worth of debris in its AllergenLock bag (depending on how often you vacuum and the cleanliness of your home). When the robot docks after cleaning, you can hear the Clean Base's blower motor kick on as it sucks the contents of the dustbin into the bag.
The debris travels from the dustbin through an evacuation tube in the Clean Base before depositing into the bag. The Clean Base comes with a preinstalled bag and you get an extra one in the box. When you run out, you can get a pack of three(Opens in a new window) for $19.99. iRobot says the bag is constructed with four layers of allergen-blocking material, which allows it to trap 99 percent of pollen and mold. The trade-off is that the Clean Base is a bit of an eyesore. At around 19 by 12 by 15 inches (HWD), it's much larger than a standard robot vacuum docking station.
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(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
The i3+ EVO is on the tall side, too; it measures 13.26 inches in diameter and 3.63 inches high. If you're looking for a short vacuum that can pass under low furniture, Eufy makes a few solid, sub-3-inch models, including the $220 RoboVac 11s, the $300 30C, and the $350 G30. None of those models can empty their own dustbins, however.
The i3+ EVO has three buttons on the top: a large Clean/Power button in the middle, flanked by Home and Spot Clean buttons on either side. Around the Clean/Power button is a Light Ring Indicator, which stays off most of the time, but pulses white when the robot is charging, shines solid white when it's fully charged, pulses red when the battery is low, shines blue when it's searching for the Clean Base, and flashes blue when it's in Dirt Detect mode (more on this below).
(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
While some robot vacuums have shiny mirrored covers that show dust, the i3+ EVO sports a textured, matte, gray finish on top that looks almost like fabric and minimizes fingerprints. It also has a Room Confinement (RCON) sensor on top that allows it to detect its Clean Base as well as a Light Touch sensor on the front that detects walls and other obstacles.
On the bottom, the i3+ EVO has two long multi-surface brushes that work together and one edge-sweeping brush. It has four Cliff sensors that prevent it from falling down the stairs as well as a Floor Tracking sensor to help it clean in neat rows instead of in a bumper car-like fashion. The dustbin uses a high-efficiency filter that iRobot says captures 99 percent of pollen, mold, dust mites, in addition to cat and dog allergens. It comes with one filter preinstalled and you get an extra one in the box.
(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
Before sending your robot out to clean, iRobot recommends picking up cables, cords, and toys so the i3+ EVO doesn't get tangled or stuck on them. The company also advises you to open all interior doors before the robot's first pass, so it can explore your home.
In the iRobot Home app (available for Android and iOS), you can start a new cleaning job, create a cleaning schedule, view a history of your robot's cleaning, update its settings, and get help. When you create a schedule, you can select which days of the week you want the Roomba to clean and at what time. The device also supports IFTTT event-based automations, which means you can, for instance, program it to automatically start cleaning when your August smart lock engages or MyQ-equipped garage door closes.
The i3+ EVO cleans across the center of rooms first, then tackles the edges. When it finds an especially dirty area, it automatically goes into Dirt Detect mode and moves over the offending spot multiple times until it's sufficiently clean. When you tap the Spot clean button, the robot spirals outward about three feet and then spirals inward to end where it started.
(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
When its battery runs low, the i3+ EVO automatically returns to its base to recharge. If it doesn't complete a job, it returns to where it left off on its next run.
At launch, the robot didn't support smart mapping, but iRobot's March 2022 Genius 4.0 update added that feature. The i3+ EVO can now generate a customizable map of your floor plan in the iRobot Home app. You can label each room on the map, then send the robot to specific rooms by phone or voice for targeted area cleanings. Unlike the i7+, the S9+, and the j7+, all of which use visual simultaneous localization and mapping (VSLAM) technology to map your home, the i3+ EVO doesn't have a camera. Instead, it creates a map by feel, going around the edges of a room to trace the walls and other landmarks.
It's also worth noting the i3+ EVO can only remember only a single floor. Its more expensive siblings, on the other hand, can remember multiple floors, which is useful if you have a multi-level home.
For an extra $59.99, you can get a virtual wall barrier(Opens in a new window) accessory that lets you block off certain rooms or areas, so the i3+ EVO won't clean there. It bars off openings of up to 10 feet and has a Halo mode that creates a four-foot keep-out zone around fragile items. If you're fine with the i3+ EVO cleaning everywhere or can block off certain rooms by simply closing the door, you probably don't need to spend the extra money for a virtual wall barrier.
Seamless Setup Process
When you open the box, a Getting Started guide sits on top; it walks you through the setup process. To start, place the charging station against the wall in a location near an outlet, with good Wi-Fi coverage, and at least one-and-a-half feet away from other objects. You then manually place the robot on the charging station, making sure to line up the metal charging contacts. After about a minute or so, you should hear a sound to let you know the robot is awake and changing.
Next, download the iRobot Home app and create an account if you don't already have one. When you first sign into the iRobot Home app, it asks for permission to find and connect to devices on your local network; press OK. The app then takes you to the Add a Robot screen; here, select Roomba. You can name your robot or go with the default option.
Next, the app prompts you to connect the robot to your Wi-Fi network and enter your password. After that, it instructs you to press the robot's Home and Spot buttons simultaneously for two seconds until you hear a sound. When you hear the sound, check the box next to where the app says "I pressed the buttons" and tap Continue. Finally, the app starts to activate the robot, a process that took only about a minute in testing. After that activation step, the app takes you through a quick tutorial of your Roomba's capabilities.
During the activation process, an Amazon Alexa notification automatically appeared on my phone saying it found the new robot, and my Echo speaker said I could control it via commands such as, "Turn on Roomba."
Reliable Performance
Most companies in this space advertise their robot's suction power in pascals (Pa), the metric unit of pressure. iRobot doesn't make this information easy to find but says the i3+ EVO offers 10 times the suction power of the Roomba 600 series, just like the i7+. The pricier S9+ offers the deepest clean of any iRobot vacuum, with 40 times the suction power of the 600 series.
The i3+ EVO works quickly and efficiently, but like other iRobot models, it can be a bit loud. When working over the carpet in my office, for example, it made a disruptive, almost shrieking sound. If you're sensitive to loud noises like me, schedule the i3+ EVO to clean when you're out of the house.
In testing, the i3+ EVO cleaned for almost 90 minutes before its battery ran low and it navigated back to its Clean Base. That's better than the i7+ and s9+, both of which lasted just 60 minutes in testing, but it's short of the Roomba 675, which ran for up to 104 minutes on a charge, as well as several other models we've tested that cross the 100-minute mark.
Though the i3+ EVO doesn't have the best battery life, its ability to return to where it left off is a nice feature. For instance, on one test run, it only cleaned for about an hour before returning to its base. The app said the robot would pick up where it left off in about 77 minutes and, indeed, after recharging, the vacuum resumed the job for another 24 minutes until the task was complete.
About 17 minutes into its first test run, the i3+ EVO got stuck under one of my dining room chairs, an area that has proven challenging for some other robot vacuums too. If you have this issue, consider flipping your chairs upside down on your table like they do at restaurants, if possible, when running your vacuum. This helps prevent the vacuum from getting stuck and allows it to more easily collect the crumbs under your table. In any case, the iRobot Home app alerted me that the Roomba got stuck, so I set it free by hand and it finished the job without issue.
(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
I have laminate, tile, and carpet in my home, and the i3+ EVO had no problem passing over thresholds from one type of flooring to another. When its battery ran low, it successfully navigated back to its Clean Base.
After its first test run, my floors looked a lot cleaner. It left neat vacuum lines on my carpet, but a few visible specks of debris remained. After a second full test run, all visible dirt was gone.
The automatic dirt disposal feature worked perfectly, successfully sucking the contents of the robot's dustbin into the AllergenLock bag. The robot automatically empties its bin after docking, but there's also a button in the app that lets you do it at any time. When it's emptying the bin, the blower is pretty loud for 30 seconds or so—about the volume of an old-school standing vacuum. After several full test runs, I checked the bin and it was completely empty.
(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
The scheduling feature also worked well in testing and I had no problem controlling the robot with Alexa voice commands. When I said, "Alexa, ask Roomba to start vacuuming," it got right to work. You can also say, "Alexa, ask Roomba to stop vacuuming," and "Alexa, ask Roomba to go home."
In the History section of the app, you can view a list of the robot's cleaning jobs, and click into each record to see how long it cleaned, how many square feet it covered, how many times Dirt Detect mode engaged, and a basic map of the cleaning area.
Several times over a two-week testing period, the robot lost its connection to the app, with the message, "The cloud cannot talk to Roomba. Try again later." Each time, I was able to fix the problem fairly easily by rebooting the robot and the iRobot Home app, as recommended in the app's Help section. When this occurred, I was running a beta version of iOS, which an iRobot spokesperson says may have caused the problem.
Easy to Maintain
All floor-cleaning robot vacuums require some maintenance, but the i3+ EVO isn't as needy as most, because of its ability to empty its dustbin automatically. When you need to replace the AllergenLock bag, an LED indicator on the Clean Base turns solid red.
iRobot also recommends cleaning the robot's filter once a week (or twice a week if you have a pet) and fully replacing it every other month. To keep your robot running in tip-top shape, you should also clean the Full Bin sensor and front wheelx every two weeks. About once a month, you need to remove any hair that's wrapped around the brushes and wipe down all of the other sensors.
The app lets you know when the robot needs maintenance and even shows you how to remove the brushes and clean them, which makes the process simple.
Affordable, Automatic Bin Emptying
At $550, the iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO isn't exactly a budget-friendly robot vacuum, but it's reasonably priced for a model that can empty its own dustbin. This feature significantly cuts down on maintenance requirements and your exposure to dust. It's a particularly compelling option if you suffer from allergies, because it also uses a high-efficiency filter to capture allergens in the air as it cleans. And with its new single-level smart mapping abilities, the i3+ EVO is an excellent alternative to iRobot's more expensive models.
In this price range, you should also check out the Proscenic M7 Pro, which you can purchase with an automatic dirt disposal base for less than the i3+ EVO at the time of this writing, and it doubles as a robot mop for small spaces. For an even deeper clean, the $999.99 Roomba S9+ sports a D-shape design that allows it to get farther into corners and offers the strongest suction power of any iRobot model. The $849.99 Roomba j7+ is another premium option; it offers iRobot's most advanced obstacle avoidance technology for cluttered homes. Finally, if you don't have allergies or you're new to the world of robot vacuums, the $300 Roomba 675, iRobot's most affordable model with Wi-Fi, works just fine.
The Bottom Line
The iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO is the company's most affordable robot vacuum that can empty its own dustbin for truly hands-free cleaning.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/irobot-roomba-i3-plus
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