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The Roomba i7+ robot vacuum returns to its all-time low price
Of note is the Roomba i7+ for $699, which is $100 off its normal price. The standard Roomba i7, which does not come with a Clean Base, is also $100 off. Buy Roomba i7+ at Wellbots - $699 Buy Roomba i7 at Wellbots - $499 We reviewed the Roomba i7+ when it came out and gave it a score of 87.
Robot vacuums and smart home gadgets get big discounts for Prime Day
These are the best deals on robot vacuums and smart home gadgets you'll find for Prime Day 2020.
iRobot's Roomba i3+ is its cheapest vacuum with a self-cleaning dock
You can control the Roomba i3+ with the redesigned iRobot Home app for iOS and Android that’s powered by iRobot Genius.
iRobot's Roomba gets a huge intelligence boost
iRobot is unveiling a new software platform that lets its Roombas and Braava mop work with other smart devices, and learn from your behavior.
This week's best deals: Amazon Echo devices, iPad mini and more
This week's best deals include Amazon's latest Echo device and Fire TV device sale and $50 off Apple's iPad mini.
iRobot's high-end Roomba i7+ vacuum is back down to its lowest price
It’s hard to get around the former, but Wellbots’ sale makes it much easier to recommend the i7+.
iRobot's Root rt0 is a $129 coding bot for kids and curious adults
iRobot's Root rt0 is a cheaper and more accessible way to learn how to code.
What to buy for new grads who need help "adulting"
The first few months (or years) after college can be hard. Here are the best gadgets and tools you can buy for new grads who need help "adulting."
This week's best deals: Fitbit Inspire HR, the Apple Watch and more
This week's best deals include $100 off the Apple Watch Series 5, the Fitbit Inspire HR fitness tracker for $70 and $300 off the Roomba i7+ robot vacuum.
Save $300 on the Roomba i7+ vacuum robot at Best Buy
Typically, you have to spend $1,000 to get the Roomba i7+, so this is compelling sale on an otherwise expensive device.
iRobot suspends plans to launch its robotic lawn mower
iRobot suspends plans for its robotic lawn mower, Terra, due to COVID-19.
iRobot's IFTTT support lets smart home devices talk to your Roomba
iRobot's IFTTT support is about to become much more useful if you're a fan of smart home tech. The company has formed a partnership with IFTTT that will let you integrate smart home gadgets directly inside iRobot's Home App, effectively giving those devices control over your Roomba vacuum or Braava mop. To start, iRobot's IFTTT page already has five recipes for common devices and apps.
What's the best vacuum for pet hair?
By Tim Heffernan This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide what's the best vacuum for pet hair? As any pet owner (I have a cat) knows, even if you own a good vacuum (I have two of our picks, a Miele canister and a cordless Dyson V7), there still always seems to be some pet hair around. So instead of asking what's the best vacuum for pet hair, we asked ourselves something more to the point: What's the best way to keep pet hair to a minimum in your home? Any good vacuum—upright or canister, corded or cordless—will do an excellent job of picking up pet hair, on both hard floors and carpets. We've tested all these styles, using bagfuls of genuine cat and dog hair, and all our picks excelled at the task. The reason you're seeing pet hair around is that pets shed constantly, so no matter how good your vacuum is, you're unlikely to keep up—unless you have a vacuum that can work constantly. In other words, a robot vacuum is the best vacuum for pet hair. For most pet owners, our top pick, the iRobot Roomba 614, is the best choice among robot vacuums for pet hair: It's a sturdy, repairable robot that doesn't sacrifice cleaning power for affordability. The cleaning capacity of our recommended Roomba models can easily clean a multi-pet household, as well as spaces with a lot of pile rugs and carpet. The iRobot Roomba 675 has the same cleaning power, but also connects to Wi-Fi (if you want it to) and can be controlled from an app or with Alexa voice commands. Our budget pick, the Eufy RoboVac 11S, has the advantage of being the quietest robovac we've tested, but is better suited to a single-pet house with its low-powered cleaning. To date, we've tested more than two dozen models for our guide to robot vacuums. Below, five pet-owning Wirecutter staffers describe their experiences when using a robot vacuum for pet hair in depth. In short, we have found that robovacs work great, keeping hair under control automatically and leaving pet owners free to focus on other tasks. But we've also found that a manual vacuum is still occasionally necessary for tough jobs and deep cleaning.
Engadget readers can save on iRobot Roomba i7 vacuums
If the price of vacuum robots has kept you away from the tech, we may be able to help. We've partnered with Wellbots to provide Engadget readers with an exclusive discount on iRobot's high-end Roomba i7+ and i7 series vacuums.
Roomba update tells your robovacs to steer clear of trouble spots
iRobot's Roomba vacuums just got an update that improves their cleaning prowess by telling them what not to do. Roomba i/s and Braava jet M6 models now have Keep Out Zones that outline specific areas they're not allowed to visit. The company suggests this for keeping robots away from your pet's food bowls, but it could also be helpful for problematic rugs or cords. You can set them up in iRobot's Home app.
The best Alexa-compatible smart-home devices for Amazon Echo
By Rachel Cericola This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to Alexa-compatible smart-home devices for Amazon Echo. Imagine walking into your home at night, arms overflowing with groceries. Even if you've installed smart lights, you'd need to put the bags down, pull out your phone, unlock it, open the app, find the control for the lights you want, and then tap the icon—might as well just stick with a plain old wired switch. But with an Alexa, you simply say, "Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights." And it's not just lights; Alexa is capable of controlling everything from basic smart plugs to garage doors. All three smart-speaker platforms (Alexa, Google Assistant, and to a lesser degree, Siri) can control a variety of smart-home devices and add an extra level of convenience to your smart-home system. We think Amazon's Alexa has a slight edge over the others because it works with more devices, and the wider family of Amazon Echo products makes it easier to fit them everyplace in your home. However, if you already have a Google Home speaker, the differences aren't large enough for you to need to switch platforms. We have guides for the best devices to use with Google Assistant and Siri/HomeKit. The Amazon Echo (or Echo Dot) offers a convenient interface for your smart home and provides functionality that an app on your phone can't. If you already have some Alexa-compatible devices or one of the three major smart-home hubs (SmartThings, Wink, or Insteon), adding an Echo can make accessing those devices more interesting and convenient. Taking advantage of its near-instantaneous response time and reliable voice-recognition processing is significantly faster than pulling out your phone and opening an app just to turn the lights on or off. Some products, such as Philips Hue lights and Nest thermostats, have native Alexa support, while others require you to enable a third-party skill. We tested plenty of both varieties to come up with the best-performing and most reliable recommendations, which we're continually testing to ensure that each new firmware and app update meets our high standards. Over the past several years, Wirecutter's editors and writers have tested just about every smart-home device of consequence. As more people end up buying smart speakers and platform support gets more and more important, we wanted to provide one place where you could access all of our picks that are compatible with the devices you already own, across all of our smart-home recommendations. Because these devices receive regular updates with additional compatibility and new features, we are continually testing and reevaluating our picks in our own homes to confirm that they still meet our recommendation standards. We'll update this guide as we learn new information, but be sure to read the full reviews if you'd like more details and test notes. If you don't yet have an Alexa-enabled device, or you want to learn more about what Alexa is and what you can do with these things, check out our full guide to Alexa and Amazon's Echo line of smart speakers.
iRobot enters the classroom with acquisition of Root Robotics
iRobot, the company behind the Roomba, is about to do more than vacuum your house, mop your floors and mow the lawn. Today the company announced that it's acquired Root Robotics, and it will add the Root educational coding robot to its lineup.
iRobot's new Roomba and Braava mop can clean together automatically
Where can iRobot go next after giving us a Roomba that can dump its own dustbin? How about a Roomba that can also tag team floor cleaning with a robot mop? The new Roomba s9+ and Braava jet m6 work in tandem: Once your floors are vacuumed, the mop automatically wakes up and gets to work. The Roomba s9+ ($1,299) is even more powerful than the previous version, with a new design that finally lets it clean walls and corners better. The Braava ($499) is the company's largest robot mop yet, with the ability to clean around 1,000 square feet at once. Together, they're iRobot's biggest play yet to keep your home sparkling.
Clean freaks: Share your thoughts about the iRobot Roomba i7+
People have been arguing about the utility of robot vacuums for as long as there have been robot vacuums. Some feel they're just expensive gadgets with extensive limitations, while others see them as important steps toward a real-life Rosey from The Jetsons. While reviewing the Roomba i7+, Engadget's Devindra Hardawar thoughtfully weighed the pros and cons of iRobot's latest model, the i7+. It's quieter and offers a much-requested self-emptying feature, but it's also quite expensive and requires proprietary bags. Despite these trade-offs, it still earned a solid score of 87.
iRobot Terra mower cuts your lawn with Roomba-like smarts
If you took a look at newer Roombas and wondered why that clever mapping couldn't be used to cut your lawn... well, you're not alone. iRobot has unveiled the Terra, a robotic lawn mower that uses the company's mapping tech to trim your grass with minimal fuss. Instead of marking your lawn area with boundary wires as you do with many existing robomowers, you place wireless beacons (shown below) and drive the bot once around the perimeter. After that, it's largely hands-off. Like a Roomba, the Terra will automatically make the rounds and return to a charging base whenever it's low on power.
