iRobot Roomba 694 Review 2023

An iRobot robotic vacuum has been on my wishlist considering the fact that the working day I established foot in my first apartment. The thought of a very little equipment easily whirring close to my flooring picking up dog hair and dust was far too fantastic to be accurate. While there’s a time and a place for a stick vacuum, I excitedly approved this assignment for a Roomba 694 evaluation to set the gadget to the take a look at working with popular messes discovered in my property.

As the mom of a 17-thirty day period-outdated newborn female and a 3-yr-previous German Shepherd blend, there’s no scarcity of messes in my household, so I preferred to see if Roomba’s most cost-effective robotic vacuum was up to fundamental, each day cleansing tasks. I wished to examination how very well this robot vacuum could keep away from cords, sneakers and laundry with out having tangled in a mess, overheating and providing up.

I set this vacuum cleaner to work about the system of six months and observed how it cleaned carpets, wood floors and tile. However the Roomba 694 isn’t the smartest or most sophisticated selection from iRobot, it is the most economical, and it is a terrific way to stay on top rated of regimen vacuuming. I now rely on it to preserve my floors totally free of what employed to be ubiquitous piles of dog hair. It is an economical and effortless-to-use gadget, and it is a fingers-off way to preserve cleaner carpets and hardwood floors. If you are debating which Roomba to get, read through my entire piece on how to shop for the best Roombas for you.

Roomba 694 Options

Simple To Established Up And Use

The iRobot Roomba 694 is an economical robot vacuum that can independently clear huge, open up spaces, but it will not uncover and pick up unique messes. It did a excellent work navigating via doorway frames and was ready to changeover simply from hardwood to carpet to tile, even while it didn’t have some of the more highly developed attributes like the potential to understand and map my residence or self-vacant.

Unboxing and established-up is effortless thanks to straightforward instructions—just plug in the charging station, down load the application and let it charge. Anything is controlled utilizing the iRobot application, so you can explain to Roomba when to start off, how prolonged to clean up for, and when to return “home” to its charging station.

In contrast to some other Roomba products, the 694 model does not have the capacity to map your household and understand precise areas. That indicates you cannot give it instructions like “clean below the eating room table,” which makes concentrating on particular messes tricky. I like that it independently maneuvers as a result of the home for each day maintenance, and it’s notably helpful if you have a dog who sheds (like mine does). Having said that, there are specified areas in my property in which it generally will get stuck—like below my couch or on the lip of my sliding door—so I can see how owning a far more intelligent robotic vacuum would be beneficial. While I like acquiring a hands-off remedy to very easily preserve cleaner floors, I continue to needed to use my handheld vacuum when cleansing specific messes like piles of crumbs or spilled cereal.

Sturdy Ample Suction To Vacuum Pet Hair

Throughout screening I located the suction to be powerful—it lifted puppy hair out of carpeting and very easily picked up grime from hardwood and tile. Nevertheless, it isn’t as effective as my stick vacuum or typical upright vacuum, and I absolutely see that some particles receives left at the rear of, and due to the deficiency of mapping technological innovation, there are occasions when it misses messes absolutely. The Roomba 694 takes advantage of WiFi and Roomba’s patented “DirtDetect” engineering to detect dirtier places of the home and clean up them a lot more completely. I uncovered this to be genuine in my tests—I observed that when Roomba did stumble on some dirt, it invested additional time cleansing that specific spot. Via a 3-stage cleaning process it takes advantage of twin multi-area brushes to loosen, carry and suck, which allows seize dirt and pet hair from carpets and hardwood flooring.

A spinning corner brush aims to sweep up corners and edges. Nevertheless, I didn’t locate the brush to be efficient. In truth, when the robot arrived on the pile of chips in my take a look at, the corner brush scattered the chips across the flooring, which really produced it additional messy.

The Roomba 694 is intended to very easily changeover from hardwood flooring to carpet to tile, and I was astonished to discover that it did so seamlessly. In truth, it even climbed above thresholds and very easily made its way by the numerous doorframes of my home, quickly maneuvering by means of different rooms through the cleaning course of action. However this design does not have the “Cliff Detect” characteristic that the Roomba s9+ does, I observed that for the most section, it avoided staircases—with only one particular or two situations the place it fell down my kitchen action. Maintain in brain that this design is not appropriate with more-plush carpeting. It wasn’t equipped to proficiently climb over the edge of my sheepskin rug, and each and every time it came in speak to with the surface of the rug it stopped and noted an mistake information.

Overcomes Obstructions, But Crystal clear Clutter Initial

The Roomba 694 quickly maneuvered by means of my aged, Colonial-type, two-story house that has initial wood flooring boards, twists and turns, and a bit raised thresholds involving each door body. It had no problem navigating by means of the distinctive rooms, and I was surprised at how conveniently it climbed from hardwood to carpet. However, there are particular areas of my home where by it can get tripped up, so I’ve discovered to make confident my sliding glass doorway is generally shut so it doesn’t get trapped on the ledge, and I’ve manufactured a habit of closing my bathroom doorway so it does not consider to climb up the 3-inch tile lip in the entryway. Nevertheless it worked nicely in my intricate dwelling, this would be a far better choice for another person with an open flooring system seeking to retain thoroughly clean floors every day.

This model is not best for cluttered homes that could be scattered with cords, sneakers and kids’ toys. In my testing, it has sucked up phone chargers and even dragged down a specially-lengthy hanging plant from my mantle. For that reason, I found that it labored most efficiently when I picked up any clutter beforehand. Throughout the check runs that I did not clean up beforehand, it obtained tangled on shoelaces and lamp cords, which intended I had to halt and untangle it.

Not Self-Emptying, But A Cinch To Clear

Finally, I loved how uncomplicated it is to vacant. Some of the a lot more sophisticated Roomba products have a self-emptying aspect, which implies the Roomba will vacant any dirt and particles into a bin just about every time it returns to the charging station, and the bin can hold debris for up to 60 times. Even so, the 694 is so uncomplicated to empty manually it doesn’t experience like a necessary aspect. Simply press down on the vacant button, slide out the bin, dump into the trash and slide it back on.

In general, this is an efficient, robotic vacuum that can take care of various surfaces and has served me maintain cleaner floors. Even though there are Roomba styles that boast a lot more bells and whistles—like wise mapping and hazard detection—this is a easy and affordable solution that did a superb work at preserving my floors clean. It’s very best for uncomplicated homes or apartments that never have too a great deal muddle.

Diminished Charging After Months of Use

After a lot of months of applying the device and the accompanying application, I recognized that the vacuum had a more complicated time locating its charging station than it did in the beginning. I often uncovered myself having to decide on up the machine and go it manually to the charging station. With a little bit of investigation I discovered that finding it up can confuse the WiFi sensors, creating it more and more complicated to locate its property.

I also observed that the charging receptacle is not as responsive as it was when I very first begun utilizing it. As soon as the device returns dwelling, the charging pad on the vacuum lines up with the charging port on your ground, and the equipment lights up and dings to let you know it is charging. Even so, soon after a couple of months, it became more challenging and harder to line up, and the equipment would usually ding and then report an error, so I would have to frequently jiggle the equipment a very small little bit to make guaranteed the elements have been lined up particularly. It’s crucial to take note that if you have a difficult home like mine, opting for a Roomba model that delivers mapping and the ability to master your dwelling may possibly be a much better resolution for you.

My Expertise

I’m a foods and life-style author who has penned thoughtful, analytical item assessments for Foods & Wine, Serious Basic, Much better Households and Gardens, and other trustworthy retailers identified for merchandise testing. I have composed articles or blog posts about vacuums and iRobot Roombas precisely, including a deeply investigated piece for Forbes Vetted that identifies which Roomba is the greatest for different demands. With a diploma in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Training and yrs of expert culinary practical experience, I’m an skilled at screening and reviewing kitchen area and household merchandise to help viewers make informed getting selections.

How I Examined The iRobot Roomba 694

For this piece, I analyzed the simplicity of use, cleaning ability and versatility of the Roomba 694 for use in the typical house. Around three weeks, I assessed the machine’s capability to correctly clean carpet, hardwood flooring, and shag carpeting.

Robot vacuums ought to make cleansing your flooring much easier, so I to start with seemed at how convenient the Roomba 694 was to use. I regarded as how prolonged the battery lasted amongst charges, and how straightforward it was to vacant the vacuum when complete. iRobot also has an application, and I evaluated how easy the smart technologies was to use. I’m not a major tech person—I resist downloading further apps if I really do not have to—so I will acknowledge that I rolled my eyes when I realized I desired to obtain the iRobot application to manage my Roomba. Nevertheless, I was delighted to see how uncomplicated it was to use. I utilised it to timetable cleanings and nudge my robot to return “home” any time cleaning was comprehensive.

To check in general overall performance, I permit the device run by means of my house—it’s not straightforward to clear, so I designed observe of how the Roomba taken care of the difficult flooring prepare. To check versatility, I noticed how easily the device could changeover amongst surfaces, and took notice of whether or not it received tripped up when climbing from hardwood to carpet to kitchen area tile. To test operation, I scattered damaged potato chips and grime on three surfaces—hardwood, carpet, and shag carpet—I then recorded how properly it could pick up particles on just about every area.

What About The Roomba 692?

The Roomba 692 is equivalent to the 694, it just does not come with an more filter—and it’s also generally on sale for a lessen value (correct now, it’s 40{6b977529af4b490fe19a3f85472c6203ccfa467a56646e317a890c6580e8b827} off for Amazon Primary Working day). The 692 is only available on Amazon, also. If you’re eager to purchase additional filters separately, you could be equipped to get the complete very best deal on a Roomba with the Roomba 692.

Can You Software the Roomba 694 in Progress?

Yes, employing the iRobot app you can set particular cleaning schedules. That signifies you can agenda the Roomba to start off cleansing each Sunday at 6PM, and the app will advise cleansing schedules centered on your practices.

How Do You Vacant the Vacuum?

However it is not self-emptying, the Roomba 694 is incredibly straightforward to empty. Just press the bin release tab, slide it out, and dump any debris in the trash. It will come with one particular replacement filter. You can get substitute filters and other pieces from iRobot.

Can The Roomba 694 Pair With The Braava Jet m6?

No, this device cannot connect with iRobot’s robot vacuum mop, the Braava Jet m6, and will not explain to it when to start mopping.