Is it worth buying? The iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum comes with option to map and clean individual rooms of their home. Last but not least, the ability to have the Roomba automatically empty itself into the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal. It is also a great option for those who want to create customized “clean zones” and “keep out zones”. Get details iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum review.
In the box
- 1 Roomba® i6+ Robot Vacuum
- 1 Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal
- 1 Dirt Disposal Bag
Pros & Cons – iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum
Pros
- 10x suction power is great for pet hair
- Map memory for 10 floor plans
- Self-empties dustbin
- Smart home integration compatibility
- Customized cleaning schedules
- Personalized cleaning suggestions
- Clean Base station holds up to 60 days of dirt and debris
- Recharge and Resume feature
Cons
- Not much different vs the i7+
- Lacks accessories compared to i7+
Specifications – iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum
Retail box Dimensions: 16.52 x 19.63 x 15.75
Box Weight: 26.5 lbs.
Robot Weight: 7.44 lbs.
Robot Dimensions: 13.34 inches width x 3.63 inches high
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal: 12.2” W x 15.1” D x 19” H
iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum review
Build
The unit is built low to fit under furniture, and in fact it goes under my sofa with no issues at all. Color does separate the i6+ and i7+ here. The i6+ is gray on top, while the i7+ is black. I prefer the black myself, but others might like the slight contrast of the gray on top.
Design
The Roomba i6 plus size dimensions: 13.34 inches width x 3.63 inches high. The i6+ weighs 7.44 lbs, so it’s just a tad, 0.16 lbs, heavier than the i7+. If you have a house with multiple floors, it’s not heavy enough to be an issue.
Brushes
The edge-sweeping brush is specially designed at a 27-degree angle to sweep debris away from edges. It also corners dirt into the cleaning path of your Roomba i6+. Instead of bristles that bend missing lots of dirt, the unique, flexible, rubber brushes of the i6+ will work on different floor surfaces to stay in close contact with wood and carpets.
Filter
The mesh on this filter trap can trap particles as tiny as 0.3 microns in size up to 99 percent of the time. The i6+ uses a high-efficiency filter trap instead of standard filters or sponges you’d find in many competing models. This means stuff like hair, dust mites, dust mite droppings, and dander all get suctioned up and stored inside of the dust bin
3-stage cleaning
TheiRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum comes with a tri-stage cleaning system that is comprised of a main brush on its belly that helps loosen debris from carpets and in between floorboards and tiles, as well as a side brush with long bristles that get hard-to-reach corners and wall edges.
SmartMaps
SmartMaps is a neat feature which allows the robot to map your home. Once mapped, you can open the app and divide the map into rooms. Then you can say “ok google, clean the living room/dining room/kitchen/basement/whatever”, and the robot magically turns on and heads precisely to the room desigated and cleans ONLY that room, then returns home. You can also set a schedule (e.g. clean the kitchen M/W/F, and the living room T/Th, basement every sat and dining room every sun). My 960R and my i6+ don’t have this SmartMaps feature, so I consider them ‘dumb’ (even though they are advertised as ‘smart’).
Suction and dirt disposal
The motor delivers ten times the suction power compared to the older 600 series, leaving absolutely no crumbs or dirt in its wake.
The suction power of the base to collect and compress the dirt/hair is really amazing. The bag was not even full, but when hand emptying the bag, I could not believe how much hair it fit in that bag. That much hair would have filled up my previous Hoover upright vacuum probably 3 times. So, while originally I didn’t think I really needed it, now I am a believer in the “+” with the automatic emptying.
The dirt disposal from the vacuum to the base is really loud. It seriously sounds like a jet engine starting on a plane when you are seated right next to the engine. But again, it does such a great job of emptying and compressing the contents, I will take the noise with the power.
Run time
It vacuums 53 square meters of hard wood floor in 58 min before going back for a recharge – recharges in less than 2 hrs. 2 hrs and 38 min to do my whole main floor which is 150 sq meters (1660 square feet).
iRobot app
This Roomba comes paired with the IRobot app. Through the app, you can start cleaning, set schedules for cleaning, and choose specific spots to clean. It can even connect to Alexa and Google devices. Something very convenient about this Roomba is that it can release the garbage on its own to a garbage disposal that should be emptied after a couple of weeks/months(depending on the size of the house and how often you clean).
iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum performance review
We have a large home. About 2000 square feet on both floors. These Roombas do a great job on the areas they vacuum, but will only do about 1/2 of each floor before they run out of battery and return “home”. Thus, they have never found the rest of the floors and therefore will never map them to be included in the cleaning. I’ve avoided placing them in those areas to clean for the first week thinking it would mess up their mapping, but finally gave in and have them both cleaning the “lost” areas now. Kind of defeats the purpose of the whole mapping process.
iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum video review
iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum customer review
Love the little guy
OK, we are Roomba novices. Just received the i6+ as an early Christmas gift and we LOVE it. Supposedly, this is Amazon’s version of the i7+, but we wish there was more info specific to the i6+ model. It does have smart maps and allows us to schedule cleaning of specific rooms at specific times. It does self-empty. Those are great features. BUT – can it store “up to 10 smart maps”, as the i7+ info says? I don’t think so, but can’t find specific info. The i7+ apparently has a mapping feature that you can use before cleaning. The i6+ didn’t – it just created the maps as it cleaned the first time.
The i7+ has the ability to program Keep Out zones. This one doesn’t seem to, although we can determine where a room ends. Maybe that is the same thing. ??? The i7+ says you can tell the Roomba to clean in front of the couch. I don’t think we have that ability. (Maybe we can, if I set up a separate zone called “in front of the couch”.) BUT – again – I can’t find much specific info for the i6+ – and the manual wasn’t very helpful. What replacement pieces will we need? Will the i7+ brushes, bags, etc, work in the i6+? No way to tell.
No info in the manual and no info about accessories / replacements for the i6+ on the iRobot website, like it shows for the i7+. IMO, if you’re going to market a separate model number, then make sure your product info is inclusive. Given that we have no previous experience with Roomba, we weren’t sure what to expect. This little guy does much more, though. He cleans thoroughly on carpet and hard surface floors (and we have a basset that sheds a LOT.) Setting up the cleaning zones and schedules was easy (even for us non-tech, 70+ folks.) So – 5 stars for the vacuum and 3 stars for the iRobot company’s info = 4 stars overall.
By Grifs From SoCal, Reviewer in iRobot Store
Alternate of iRobot Roomba i6+ (6550) robot vacuum
Eufy Boost IQ 11S
At less than 3 inches tall, this super slim robot vacuum beats out bulkier models and can easily slip under furniture.
- Run time: 100 minutes
- App Connectivity: No
- Alexa & Google Assistant: No
The Eufy Boost IQ 11S is one of the slimmest and sleekest robot vacuums on the market, but don’t let its small size fool you. This device is still packed with the cleaning power you need to combat messy floors and carpets. Unlike bulkier models that may have trouble sliding under furniture or in corners, this vacuum is especially made for hard to reach places and measures less than 3 inches tall.
With this robot vacuum, you’ll no longer have to rearrange furniture and risk sacrificing your home’s carefully arranged #aesthetic in order to get the perfect clean.
The Eufy Boost IQ 11S is one robot vacuum you won’t have to babysit. Other vacuums may have trouble when coming into contact with corners, furniture, or other hard-to-reach places, however this device is equipped for any obstacle.
With combined slim build and quiet mobility, most customers say you’ll even forget that you own this robot vacuum. (But chances are you won’t forget how clean your floors are.)
Neato BotVac
- Run time: 120 minutes
- App connected: Yes
- Alexa and Google Assistant: Yes
Instead of bumping around aimlessly, the BotVac D7 uses laser mapping to scan rooms and plan out its plan of attack. It can decide on its own how much suction is necessary, but you can draw boundaries on the app to designate a space for more concentrated cleaning or to leave out a corner that can’t be vacuumed (like a kid’s toy room).
The corner-friendly shape isn’t the only feature to tackle shedding: The opening port is shaped specifically to combat hair clogging, and the included combo brush is uniquely designed to snatch up clinging pet hair. It works hard for sure, but with the BotVac that hard work doesn’t come quietly.
We can’t scientifically back this, but we’re pretty sure pet hair gets up and crawls into corners when we’re not looking. The Neato BotVac D7 was designed in a “D” shape specifically to squeeze itself perfectly into 90-degree areas where hair seems to collect — and where circular bots may miss.
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