After a tumultuous 2024, by which iRobot misplaced its founder and CEO, Colin Angle, Amazon deserted its acquisition plans, and the corporate laid off a big portion of its employees, iRobot is again with a significant shake-up of its robotic vacuum line.
This week, the corporate that invented the robotic vacuum over 20 years in the past introduced eight new fashions which are undoubtedly not the Roombas you’re used to. Not solely do they appear completely completely different, however additionally they work in another way, due to a new-to-Roomba characteristic: lidar navigation and mapping.
iRobot has began publishing suction energy specs for its robots
The brand new lineup begins at $299 and goes as much as $999. It options the entry-level 105 collection of vacuums and vacuum mops with the choice of an auto-empty dock, the 205 collection with a brand new onboard mud compactor, and the higher-end 405 and 505 fashions that deliver twin spinning mopping pads to the iRobot household for the primary time. The brand new bots are available black and white and might be accessible to preorder on March 18th at iRobot.com within the US and choose European markets.
In accordance with the corporate, that is the most important product launch in iRobot historical past. However that’s not the largest shock. iRobot lastly including lidar navigation and room mapping — a know-how utilized by most opponents — is a large change that ought to deliver sooner mapping and extra options to Roombas. The corporate can also be launching a brand new iRobot app that provides a real-time cleansing view aided by lidar and it has began publishing suction energy specs for its robots.
All the brand new fashions characteristic 7,000Pa and 4 suction ranges, based on iRobot’s product administration lead, Warren Fernandez. Whereas he factors out it’s not all about suction energy, that is considerably decrease than the competitors. Roborock’s latest mannequin, the Saros 10, has 22,000Pa (however prices $1,600).
Dealing with rising competitors from Chinese language producers, iRobot has gone again to the drafting board with this new line. That includes a very new industrial design, the Roombas have been redesigned from the bottom as much as accommodate the shift from camera-based vSLAM navigation to lidar.
In an interview with The Verge, Fernandez stated that iRobot made the change now after evaluating the know-how for a while as a result of they imagine lidar is lastly mature sufficient and inexpensive sufficient to suit into their product roadmap.
The principle good thing about lidar is smarter mapping for the lower-priced Roombas, together with room-specific cleansing and the flexibility to create clear zones and keep-out zones within the app. For the higher-end fashions, it ought to imply sooner mapping and extra agile navigation.
Additionally new is an ultrasonic carpet detection sensor on all Roombas, so the robots can intelligently keep away from carpets when mopping. The mopping fashions now all have three ranges of water circulate and iRobot’s distinctive SmartScrub option. Beforehand, most of those options had been reserved for higher-end Roombas, which began at $500.
Most fashions now have a lidar tower on high, and the auto-empty docks have a complete new look. Total, the brand new Roombas look much more like fashions from iRobot’s main opponents: Roborock, Dreame, and Ecovacs.
The fanciest mannequin within the new line is the $999 (€799) Roomba Plus 505 Combo Robotic Plus AutoWash Dock (sure, the naming has gotten worse). That is the primary Roomba with twin spinning mop pads for scrubbing onerous flooring. It could actually additionally prolong its proper mop outward to wash alongside edges and raise its mops 10mm to keep away from low-pile carpets. Roborock and Dreame have had variations on these options for some time.
The 505 comes with a brand new multifunction dock that washes and dries the mop pads, refills the mop tank, and empties the bin. It additionally provides heated drying, one thing the Combo 10 Max, iRobot’s top-of-the-line robotic vacuum / mop that launched final summer season, doesn’t have. Like the ten Max, the 505 has AI-powered impediment detection, due to an onboard digital camera, so it ought to acknowledge and keep away from issues like cords, socks, and pet waste.
Fernandez says the ten Max stays the present flagship mannequin, because it has higher cleansing energy than the 505, however he declined to offer suction specs for it. It makes use of a unique mop — a retractable system that places the mop on high of the bot to keep away from carpets. In accordance with Fernandez, the 505 is the one Roomba among the many new fashions that may assist the Matter good dwelling commonplace, which the ten Max additionally does. All the brand new fashions will assist present integrations with Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google House.
The Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robotic Plus AutoWash Dock is a step down in value to $799 (€699). It retains all the identical primary performance — a combo vacuum and mop with spinning mopping pads and a multifunctional dock — however it differs from the 505 in just a few methods. It could actually’t prolong its mops, doesn’t have AI-powered impediment detection (as there’s no digital camera), and lacks heated mop drying. It additionally has iRobot’s commonplace ClearView Lidar navigation, whereas the 505 has a Professional model, which Fernandez says is extra correct and might see smaller objects.
The funds lineup can also be getting a giant bump up. The brand new Roomba 105 and 205 collection have the identical lidar-based mapping, 7,000Pa suction, digital keep-out zones, computerized carpet detection and avoidance, and object sensing and avoidance capabilities because the 405, all options unavailable on the entry-level Roomba i5 and Combo Important line.
Each new fashions are available a vacuum-only or a combo choice that provides a detachable flat microfiber mopping pad. The 105 works with an auto-empty dock, however the 205 makes use of the brand new mud compactor know-how. “It’s sort of like a miniaturized model of a trash compactor,” says Fernandez. He says it will possibly final two months earlier than emptying, in comparison with 75 days on the auto-empty dock. You don’t want to search out area for an auto-empty dock, which suggests you’ll be able to stick your robotic below a sofa or mattress, and he added that there isn’t a loud emptying noise or a necessity to purchase bin baggage.
Each collection are priced the identical: $449 for the 105 Vac Robotic Plus AutoEmpty Dock; $469 (€449) for the 105 Combo Robotic Plus AutoEmpty Dock; $449 for the 205 DustCompactor Vac Robotic; and $469 (€449) for the 205 DustCompactor Combo Robotic. (That is dearer than Roomba’s Combo Important line with auto-empty dock, however these don’t have lidar.) Should you’re high-quality with emptying a bin as soon as every week or so, you’ll be able to go for the 105 Vac Robotic for $299 or the 105 Combo Robotic for $319 (€299).
Picture: iRobot
There are some improvements right here; the mud compactor will attraction to those that don’t like the additional muddle of these large auto-empty docks. I’ve seen one thing related on the Narwal Freo X Extremely and located it to be superb. However total, this lineup represents iRobot capitulating to the competitors.
What folks really need is spinning mop pads, lidar towers, and suction specs, in order that’s what you’re getting
For years, below founder and CEO Colin Angle, the corporate stood agency in its perception that its superior cleansing means and smarter robots had been simply higher. It seems that the brand new CEO, Gary Cohen, took a take a look at the aggressive panorama and determined that what folks really need is spinning mop pads, lidar towers, and suction specs, in order that’s what you’re getting. “Final yr, we reinvented our iRobot Analysis and Growth Labs, and these robots are the results of our world-class engineers’ and designers’ brilliance,” he stated in a press launch.
This “when you can’t beat ’em, be a part of ’em” strategy is clearly designed to save lots of the struggling firm. The pricing is aggressive, and mixed with the Roomba title, it’s a method that might work properly, assuming the merchandise are nearly as good and as dependable as Roombas have historically been.
I’m trying ahead to testing the brand new robots to see how they stack as much as the present Roombas, which have lengthy been a few of my favourite robotic vacuums. However for immediately, I’m barely unhappy to see many years of innovation and enterprise at iRobot get trampled in what seems to be a boring race to the center.