If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know about my longstanding love affair with Bertie, my iRobot Roomba robot vacuum. If there’s one thing I recommend over and over again to busy mums, it’s one of these. I mean, that smug feeling of someone (ok, thing) else doing the vacuuming while you work/go out/do something fun is hard to beat.
It’s no secret I’m a bit of a neat freak, which can be challenging in a house with two young boys. The sand! The crumbs! The dirt! Shame robot vacuums can’t do anything about the random rocks that appear everywhere but that’s another story…
But I’m afraid I’ve started cheating on Bert with my new friend, Ernie! You see iRobot let me try one of their newer models. I’ve had Bertie (the iRobot 980) for about four years and he still does a cracking job and several times a week. But Ernie! Well, Ernie goes one further by emptying himself! I KNOW! It’s a dream.
And I have one to give away (worth $1,899) to one of you lucky lot so keep reading until the end.
Ernie (I’m not weird because everyone names their robot) is the iRobot Roomba i7+ model. No more emptying the machine’s bin into the rubbish yourself (which always makes a bit of a mess). This model can empty its own bin for up to 60 days into an AllergenLock bag. This also means a lot less of what might happen before, where I’d be out and the robot would stop because the bin was full and take itself back to the docking station.
And while we’re talking about efficiency, Roomba i7+ runs continuously for up to 90 minutes, then automatically recharges and resumes cleaning to complete the entire job. When it has a low battery, the robot will intelligently recharge for the amount of time needed to continue cleaning and get the job done. Gosh, how I love this! No wasted time!
The only downside of this (and it’s small) is that the docking station is much bigger (that dirt has to be emptied into something, right?!) which may just mean you have to think a little harder about where to position it (near a good WiFi signal) if you’re fussy about things being out of sight!
Everything else about Ernie is so much better though (sorry Bert!). There’a a lot more tech in the iRobot HOME app and from a user experience perspective this just means it’s even easier to get it to go exactly where you want it to!
Imprint Smart Mapping allows you to control which rooms are cleaned and when, for vacuuming that works around you and your schedule. Plus, you can tell your robot to stay away from certain areas or objects with customisable Keep Out Zones. Patented iAdapt 3.0 Navigation with vSLAM technology allows the robot to map its surroundings to seamlessly clean an entire level of your home. The robot creates visual landmarks to keep track of where it’s been and where it has yet to clean. So clever, right? But super easy to control yourself from your smartphone.
Our playroom, for example, needs vacuuming most days, so I love being able to tell Ernie to do just that. The back of our house, where the bedrooms are, tends to get less dirty than the communal living, kitchen and dining areas at the front, so when Seb goes back to school, I’ll be putting the robot on a schedule to automatically clean those areas when I’m doing pick-up every other day. The best feeling!
While we don’t have pets (unless you call two small boys animals), the i7+ is a great choice if you do, or if you suffer with allergies. Its premium three-stage cleaning system cleans the dirt and pet hair you see, and the allergens and dust you don’t.
I also find this model a lot quieter so I don’t mind having it on even if I’m home working.
If like me, you have the iRobot Braava jet m6 mop as well (or are thinking about investing, especially if you win the vacuum in our competition!), the Roomba i7+ even tells it to start mopping when vacuuming is complete. Now that’s what we call teamwork! I will definitely be setting up this function!
After a week of trialing the i7+ I am super impressed. It is quieter, has a longer battery life, more smart features, and (my favourite) the self-emptying function is THE BEST. I’d love you to have one too! Make sure you enter the competition by completing the below form. Open to Australian residents only.
If you’re not lucky enough to win, stay tuned for a generous discount code next week!
Disclosure: I was gifted the iRobot Roomba i7+ for the purposes of an honest review.
We're sorry but this competition has now closed.
The winner was Craig Burtenshaw from ACT. Get 20% off selected iRobot vacuum and mop models until the end of Sunday 24 October 2021 with the code JEN20 at https://www.shopirobot.com.au Excludes bundles and accessories.
