iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum

It's mixed. Room mapping and obstacle avoidance on the Combo j5+ work well in some homes, while in others it builds bad maps, leaves jobs unfinished, bumps into furniture or avoids things so cautiously that it skips whole areas. A tidy, stable layout gives it the best chance.

It's split. In some pet homes the Combo j5+ keeps floors clean and handles dust bunnies, but a common complaint is that it pushes debris around, misses dirt and lacks suction. Results are clearly better on hard floors than on carpet.

Not especially. The Combo j5+ does much better on tile, vinyl and other hard surfaces, while on carpet and rugs it often leaves fuzz and embedded dirt behind. If carpet is most of your floor space, that's a real limitation, and you'll still want a regular vacuum for the rugs.

Lightly. The Combo j5+ drags a damp pad across the floor, which is fine for light messes on hard floors but won't shift dried-on stains. You swap in the combo bin with water or cleaning solution to mop. Some units also misread the vacuum bin as the mop bin until they're reset.

Not always. Going weeks without emptying the robot is the appeal, and it works for some, but in other homes the base often fails to clear the robot's bin, so it gets emptied by hand. The base is also very loud for a few seconds each time it empties, even though the Combo j5+ is fairly quiet while cleaning.

The vacuum returns to its charging station automatically when the battery runs low.