iRobot Roomba j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum – Uses PrecisionVision Navigation to Identify & Avoid Objects Like Socks, Shoes, & Pet Waste, Smart Mapping, Self-Empty for Up to 60 Days

This was an upgrade from the original i3 that I used to use, I didn't realize how much I would grow to love the self-emptying feature, the onboard camera, and it's ability to alert me of items in the way, being able to set up off-bounds, places to avoid, or places to clean more on the map feature.I have found the following:The camera originally identifies allot of things as obstacles at first, this is easy remedied by going on the app and marking what was, and wasn't an obstruction, obstacle, and what was.The self emptying feature is great, but small rocks, pieces of sticks/grass longer than one inch won't clear the flap and get's stuck in the bin, or in the flap itself.The robot still gets stuck sometimes, I figured with the camera this would be less of an issue, it doesn't happen all the time, and it is less than my old one, but it happens from time to time.The robot will fail to dock sometimes; I am not sure why, this happens occasionally - it will be within inches from the dock.It misses poop, but not pee - this isn't that big of a deal for me as it has happened only once and my dog is usually house-broken and very good about using the doggy door, but I just kind of hoped it would have avoided it.Overall, I am very happy with it, I found that still turning it upside down every week to clean the contactors, emptying out the bin from any small rocks or debris, and removing hair from the rollers and the front wheel maintains better function (it won't tell you if there's an issue until it stops charging. The charging base/self emptying canister is pretty impressive, I have already had to change the bag, and was impressed on how easy it was to remove and re-load the new one, the process only takes one hand, and the filter/bag assembly includes a handle that seals the opening shut when you remove it, so not to spread dust on the floor/air.I am very happy with this robot, and can't imagine going back to a non-self emptying featured vac again.

Within 3 weeks of purchase, started to have problems. Robot would suddenly decide to stop during a cleaning run, state it was blocked (nothing there) and die on the spot. Lots of reboots and resets for weeks. Robot refused to work.Along the way, the robot would not clean stating the bin was full. It was empty. Discovered via Google search (since iRobot doesn’t provide real answers) that the problem had to do with the bin sides not being clean which did not allow the full bin sensors (long black bars on the robot along the bin’s location) to transmit a beam. If the beam did not make it through from one side to the other, regardless of the bin’s actual empty/full status, the robot would assume (incorrectly) the bin was full.The bin needed to be cleaned often if it had accumulated lite amounts of dust on the side. If not, the errors took place. Didn’t matter if the continue to clean if bin is full option was selected. Robot would ignore the selection and just not move. This is a very poor engineering and software design. Other manufactures, according to others and manufacturers don’t use the same design as iRobot due to such false errors taking place.Getting service folks to provide service and solutions is a goat rope indeed. Have to jump through hoops in order to get attention and then, have to start all over again because service folks just follow a script and don’t listen/pay attention to the problems taking place in the real world.After 5 months of trying to get the robot to work properly, having 3 replacement robots and 3 replacement clean bases, it appeared the 2 finally were communicating with each other and worked. Nah, just an iRobot mean joke. Within a week of the 3rd round of replacements, the clean bin issue came up. No matter how many times the bin was cleaned, no matter how many reboots, and changing bins, the robot refused to work.Too late to return to Amazon and iRobot will not refund money due to having purchased the robot system via Amazon and not directly from iRobot. The iRobot punishment for purchasing via Amazon? No refund and just provide (maybe) another (4th) dumb robot and clean base.Had enough of the robot and iRobot. Got so frustrated I provided the robot and the clean base a new home where the two can live together in peace and not mess up ever again. The home – the landfill.No more iRobot robots. As time has gone by, have gone through several models. Progressively they have gotten more technologically “advanced” but not smarter. They run into things more often, forget where they are, forget where the base is and are not consistently reliable. The engineers don’t have regular people test the robots before they are sold. Theory and reality don’t mix at the robot factory.They sure have gotten more expensive. Have noticed they go on sale often; guess iRobot can’t sell them due to problems along with competition getting more sales.Awaiting my new Roborock. Has lidar (iRobot doesn’t believe in it thus need to have lights on for the robots to find their way) which allows the robot to work without lights. I had to buy lamps and timers so the Roomba could work. An added expense. iRobot never disclosed prior to the sale light is a requirement for the robots to work. The light near the camera does not provide enough light for the Roomba to work properly. Even with lights, the Roombas get lost or don’t work properly.I hope the Roborock works. While all the robot brands have problems (ratings are about 4.3-4.5), crossing fingers this one excels over the Roomba.Thus, after over a decade of using only Roombas, we have parted ways permanently and do not recommend to anyone that wants value for their hard-earned money when purchasing a floor robot. I’m sure the Roomba and its base now have plenty of dirt covering them from the hot sun in the landfill – where they belong.UPDATE: 8/25/2023The second J7+ began failing more often a few days after the first J7+. Gets lost, stops all of a sudden and dies. Sometimes it said it is stuck, it's not, sometimes is said out of power, yet about 2-3 feet from clean base and sometimes just stops, ends job without a reason.Have had to replace the battery (robot about 2 months old). It sometimes forgets to clean per the clean map guidance.Speaking of clean maps, it has lost the maps several times which forces me to remap the entire floor. It, like its twin, no longer provide a means to add favorites to the routine. iRobot technical support have no idea how to get the feature back even with all of their "research". What I have been able to determine is that this same issue has occurred and is occurring to others.iRobot is busy lowering machine prices but not as busy fixing existing problems.The Roborock we purchased to replace the J7+ has been great. Not only does it vacuum very well, it mops too. All in one machine. The machine is quieter, doesn't have problems and gets the job done in about 40% less time (the robot uses more intelligent algorithms to move to clean). I no longer have to go around turning on lights to help the (Roomba) robot find its way. The Roborock uses lidar which does not require lights and is much more efficient and effective in its journey.We should have tried out the Roborock instead of the falling apart and unreliable Roomba. Would highly recommend to those who want to spend their money wisely to try the Roborock with the features they need and not look at the Roomba. The Roomba was a pioneer back in the day of robot cleaning but those years (ag0) have long past. All of the competition proves the Roomba is no longer as good as it used to be. Now, just lots of marketing/advertising to make the it sound and look good but from the real world of a purchaser, that's not the case. Save your money and frustrations, look elsewhere other than iRobot.