Roomba S Series Vacuum – The King of Clean

Running the vacuum is high on most people’s list of household chores they do their best to avoid. The Roomba S Series Vacuum from iRobot makes the dreaded chore of vacuuming the house a thing of the past.   

With the iRobot Roomba S Series vacuum on the job, the frustration of vacuuming the floor with your heavy old fashioned vacuum and then, immediately after you put it away, spotting that errant fuzzball in the corner that you missed.

The Roomba S Series vacuum, with their high tech sensors and their superior cleaning capabilities, can help end the frustration and effort of vacuuming in your house.

Bring in the Robots

Enter the robotic vacuums.  The first robotic vacuum was introduced in 1996 by the Electrolux company but never caught on.  The concept had outpaced the current technology.  Along came iRobot with their version in 2006.  The world has not been the same since for housekeepers everywhere.

Technology has progressed rapidly in the robotic vacuum arena but iRobot has continued to lead the way with innovation after innovation in the field.  Their current top of the line model, the S Series, is the pinnacle of robotic vacuum technology on the market today.

As the market for robotic vacuums has grown, there have been many new entries into the market.  iRobot continues to dominate and lead the market in the United States. 

The Roomba S Series Vacuum

iRobot released the S Series vacuums to the market in May 2019.  Billed by iRobot as the “smartest, most powerful robot vacuum yet,” the S Series is a departure from the classic iRobot circular designs and features a D shaped body.

The newly designed S series incorporates the best of the previous iRobot features and delivers some astounding new technologies to the robotic vacuum market. A list of the features of the Roomba S Series vacuums is impressive.

The iRobot S Series Features

• 40 times the suction power as compared to the Roomba 600 Series Vacuums
• Automatic Docking, Recharging and resume features
• Dirt Detect™ Technology – Automatically detects heavy concentrations of dirt and provides more cleaning in those areas.
• Edge Sweeping Brush
• Intelligent Navigation
• Programming and scheduling via smartphone apps
• Multi-surface capabilities
• High-efficiency filters
• Mapping options to show cleaning patterns and time
• Smart Mapping capabilities allows room by room programming
• WIFI Linking with other smart home apps and devices
• Automatic Bin Emptying
• Power Boost capability for deeper cleaning on carpets
• Anti-allergen system

Inside the S Series

iRobot has always led the market in innovated features and design upgrades.  The Roomba S Series marks a departure from their previous models that fine-tuned versions of previous models with a bit of new technology and engineering tossed into the mix.  The Roomba S Series is a complete and radically different design from previous models of iRobot vacuums.

Maybe you want to know the previous Roomba series:

• Roomba 600 Series
• Roomba 860 vs 890 Comparison
• 850 vs 880 Detailed Comparison

Simply flipping the Roomba S Series vacuum on its back tells a lot of the story.  The first thing you notice is that the S Series vacuum is no longer round like every previous model of iRobot vacuum.  The Roomba S Series is now D shaped, a design feature that allows the S Series vacuum to more thoroughly clean edges and corners.

Looking at the underside of the iRobot S Series vacuum reveals further enhancements.  The D shape of the body allows a much wider cleaning brush to be positioned further forward in the chassis.  The D shape of the chassis allows the edge brush to be moved forward for more effective movement of dirt and debris into the roller brush path. 

iRobot touts a new 3D sensor located at the front edge of the Roomba S Series vacuum as allowing much better wall detection.  This feature means the S Series can work closer to walls and improves the iRobot S Series ability to navigate effectively in environments with many obstacles.

A stronger motor and enhanced pickup design give the Roomba S Series vacuums up to 40 times the suction power of previous Roomba vacuums.  This improved pickup capability has several advantages. 

1. Fewer passes in a given area to pick up the same amount of dirt and debris
2. Better cleaning of hard to handle debris such as pet hair.
3. Fewer passes mean more efficient cleaning and longer run-time per charge.

The Driving Technology

iRobot didn’t neglect the technology side of the innovation theme in favor of engineering innovations.  There are as many new advanced technology features as there are engineering advances.  These technology enhancements all focus on making the Roomba S Series the most advanced robotic vacuum on the market today.

The Roomba S Series vacuums employ a state of the art learning system.  After the initial setup, the first few times the vacuum runs through the home, it is charting and mapping objects and locations.  You may notice that the vacuum hesitates at times and may bump into a few objects until it has learned its way around its new environment.

Once this initial mapping and learning phase, the iRobot Roomba S Series vacuum continually updates its internal maps to stay abreast of changes in the environment to maximize its efficiency in your home.  The apps available for your smartphone allow you to tweak these maps, setting up no-go zones.  The Roomba S Series vacuum is one of only a handful of robotic vacuums that can map and store information on multiple level homes.

Taking the Drudgery out of Housekeeping

IRobot has gone the extra mile to make the onerous job of vacuuming your home a thing of the past.  From the time you open the box until you watch the Roomba S Series vacuum take off across your floors is quick and painless.

Out of the box, the Roomba S Series set up is almost effortless.  The smartphone app, once paired with the vacuum, leads you through the basic startup procedures.  Get a drink, sit down in your favorite chair, and, in minutes, the S Series vacuum will be ready to start to work.

The smartphone app allows you to manage the S Series vacuum easily.  You can program cleaning schedules and program the system to clean specific areas or rooms on a special basis or a separate schedule.  If you have areas that need extra cleaning, create a special cleaning schedule just for those areas.

The beauty of robotic vacuums is the end of the most hated part of cleaning with a standard vacuum, the time you must spend performing the job.  The robotic vacuum takes care of that for you, releasing you to make better use of your time while technology does the vacuuming for you.

Some maintenance issues still require your attention from time to time.  The automatic emptying features still require the debris and dust bag in the docking station to be changed occasionally.  Any mechanical device needs a certain amount of cleaning and care needs to keep the machine operating at peak efficiency.

The iRobot Roomba S Series Offerings

The Roomba S9 Vacuum

The Roomba S9 Vacuum comes with

• One iRobot S9 vacuum
• One power charging cord
• One extra high-efficiency filter cartridge
• One extra corner brush
• One owner’s guide
• One documentation package. 

The Roomba S9+ Package

The Roomba S9+ package includes:

• One iRobot S9 Vacuum
• One Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal docking station
• Two dirt disposal bags
• One power cord
• One extra high-efficiency filter
• One extra corner brush
• The owner’s guide
• One documentation package

So how does the S9 Stack up Against Its Competitors?

There aren’t many other robotic vacuums that compare feature-wise with the iRobot S Series vacuums.  Neato offers its Botvac D7 Connected model, which is the closest thing on the market to the iRobot S Series Vacuum.

A feature by feature comparison shows how the S Series vacuum, the Neato D7 vacuum, and other brands of vacuum cleaners stand in the feature factor.

Overall, the iRobot S Series vacuum has an edge in features over the Neato D7 vacuum.  What the comparison chart doesn’t show is the difference in cleaning capability and convenience factors.  Anecdotal evidence gives the edge in cleaning capability and ease of maintenance and uses to the iRobot S Series because of the rubber extractors and the self-dumping features.

What Do the Users Say

Across the board, a survey of online comments from users of both the Roomba S Series vacuum and the Neato D7 show favorable reactions.  Customer reviews on Amazon compare favorably between the two, with most of the negative comments related to issues with the sellers of the machines rather than the machines themselves.

iRobot and Neato seem to be responsive to customer issues. Resolutions to customer problems were handled quickly in most cases.  When the issue was with the machine itself, both companies were quick to respond with offers to resolve the issue in the customer’s favor. Positive reviews far outnumber the negative reviews on the websites surveyed. 

iRobot bundles the S Series vacuums in several packages designed to fit the needs of any user.  The individual accessories are also available allowing you to start with purchasing just the vacuum and then adding accessories at a later date.

The Big Issue

For most people, the big issue with the Roomba S Series vacuum is the price.  The Roomba S9+ vacuum is probably the most expensive robotic vacuum on the market.  To purchase the complete system, including the docking station and the accessories, expect to pay well over $1,000.00.  The price of the iRobot S9 vacuum is close to twice the price of any comparable robotic vacuum on the market.

However, price is not always a good determining factor in purchasing decisions.  You should also consider product quality and features when making the decision.  The adage, “you get what you pay for” still holds.  Over the lifetime of the iRobot Roomba S Series vacuum, the quality of the vacuum and the time and frustration savings alone could be worth the extra cost.

In the End

Don’t let price be the only motivating factor in your decision.  iRobot has been the leading innovator in the robotic vacuum market since it introduced its first model.  iRobot continues to set the mark for features and innovative technology and design in the industry.  Overall, The Roomba S Series vacuums and the accessories are at the pinnacle of robotic vacuum technology.  If you intend to enjoy years of trouble-free operation and the best in robotic housekeeping assistance, the iRobot Roomba S Series vacuums should be on top of your shopping list.