When I first started reviewing robot vacuums, iRobot's Roomba series was so far ahead of the pack it seemed impossible that any other company could catch up.
They were incredible, with pinpoint navigation and standout features like Dirt Detect, which lets the vacuums sniff out dirty spots on your carpet with unnerving accuracy. Not to mention proprietary rubber rollers that were 1,000 times less gross than any other carpet roller. Once iRobot introduced a self-emptying bin, it was game over.
I was excited to review the Roomba i3+, a more affordable incarnation of our top-of-the-line pick. But over the years, other robot vacuums have improved exponentially. This one now seems obsolete. It lacks features even midrange vacuums have, like mapping capabilities. And its navigation software is behind the times too. It has iRobot’s Reactive Sensor navigation tech but nevertheless kept tripping up. I’ve had to rescue it multiple times over the two weeks I’ve been testing it—it even fell off my kitchen step. Watching the i3+ tip over the edge was my version of standing on the deck of the Titanic as it sank.
Like earlier models, the Roomba i3+ has the 19-inch-tall Clean Base tower to empty the bin automatically. You won’t be able to hide it discreetly under a couch. The vacuum itself is also big, beefy disc (3.63 inches tall and about 7.5 pounds), but I like heavier vacuums, because they help apply pressure when vacuuming dirty rugs.
Pairing the i3+ (or Rainbow Kitty, as my daughter named it and as it shall henceforth be known) to the iRobot app is easy. You can also connect it to Google Assistant or Alexa. The app is clutter-free and easy to use, and the customizations are pretty simple. Set a schedule and choose how many cleaning passes to make—one, two, or automatic cleaning—or whether to pause the cleaning to empty the bin.
You can set how many passes the vacuum will make, but you can’t change the setting. For example, you can’t switch from an Eco energy-saving setting when you’re doing a daily clean to a Max setting for when the kids have been crafting all day. The software is so much simpler than what I’ve slowly become accustomed to.