The iRobot Roomba 770 vacuum is designed with pets in mind. In this Roomba 770 review, we’ll look at the pros and cons of this model. There are also a few observations that potential buyers should know before they decide to buy a Roomba 770.
Pros of Roomba 770
- The Roomba 770 has dramatically improved battery life over the 2012 and prior models.
- You can now get a remote control for the Roomba to use it to spot clean the house the way you could direct a remote control car, although the Roomba is far more useful.
- The Roomba 770 has more advanced software that allows you to schedule cleanings. For example, set it up to run at nine AM after you’ve left for work Monday through Friday but not to bother until after noon on Saturday and Sunday.
- This Roomba model has two separate HEPA filters. It cleans the air while it cleans your floor.
- The Roomba 770 is no longer as random as its predecessors when cleaning a room. It can actually follow along a wall now, ensuring that the edges of the room are as clean as the middle. The side brushes ensure that the debris and dust in the corners are caught and captured by the Roomba.
- Roomba uses virtual wall light houses to indicate which areas are off-limits to the Roomba. These virtual wall lighthouses are easier to put in place than the magnetic tape used by Neato. The only downside is that the lighthouses need batteries, whereas tape is permanent.
- Roomba’s 770 uses an infrared eye to find large clumps of dirt, seeks them out and sucks them up. In that regard, it may be more keen to clean than your elementary school aged children.
- The Roomba is quieter than the Neato robot vacuum.
- Roomba has a sensor to detect ledges so it doesn’t fall down your stairs. One of the problems this creates is that it may mistake dark patches of carpet or black tiles as a drop-off and not vacuum them.
- Roomba has good customer service compared to Neato. They are eager to help new customers who discover that the battery in their new unit has died or have inexplicable errors.
Cons of Roomba 770
- This robot vacuum is around $450 new. You can get a refurbished one for just under $400.
- Roomba’s warranty is limited. The robot itself is covered by a limited twelve month warranty. The battery is only covered for six months. If you need to buy a new battery on your own, it will set you back thirty to fifty dollars, depending on whether you want a brand name battery or one with extra capacity.
- The Roomba has a history of getting stranded. The round robot can go under many pieces of furniture, but it often gets stuck under recliners or confused in a maze of kitchen chairs.
- The Roomba 770’s brushes sometimes suck up power cords and wires it rolls over. It is a hassle to untangle them.
Observations
This Roomba 770 review wouldn’t be complete without a few observations potential buyers should know about before deciding to buy this vacuum.
Replacement filters are going to cost you $20 for a 3 pack of replacements for the dual filters. If you have several shedding pets, you’ll want to change the filters every month. A brush kit, used by the entire Roomba 700 series, is $27. You’ll probably need to replace the brushes every year.
Charge the Roomba’s battery completely before its first use. Then you must take care that you don’t let the Roomba battery completely discharge. If the battery completely discharges too often, the battery’s “memory” is decreased, so the overall capacity of the battery when it recharges will fall to a fraction of what it was before. Now the battery will only recharge to 80% or 50% or even 20% of the charge it could hold before. If the battery completely discharges and then seems to die too soon after charging, you’ll probably need to replace the battery. And because you let it discharge completely, the replacement battery won’t be covered by the warranty.
The Roomba 770 is not maintenance free. You will need to clean out the bin and brushes periodically, and this is best done with a standard vacuum cleaner. This takes about five minutes to do, and needs to be done after a dozen cleaning runs.
Virtual walls and parts from older Roomba models may not work with the Roomba 770. Take care buying older parts for the Roomba 770.
The Roomba 770 has a one year warranty. If you do end up with a new, replacement Roomba under the warranty, you still have a one year warranty – and that countdown is based on the purchase date of the original unit, not the replacement robot.
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