The iRobot Roomba 960 robotic vacuum cleaner is easy to use. It is effective at removing pet hair from hard floors and carpets in large rooms.
Roomba 960: Overview
The Roomba 960 can navigate and clean multiple rooms. It can clean for up to 75 minutes before automatically finding a charging dock when its battery runs low. The Roomba 960 recharges and then resumes cleaning in order to reach all the rooms.
You can start the robot, create a daily schedule and keep an eye on its cleaning activity with a Wi-Fi connection and the iRobot Home App for smartphones. It can also work with Amazon Alexa voice control devices.
The Roomba 960 might miss a few spots, even though it has an advanced iAdapt 2.0 navigation system with visual localization. Its debris bin might be a little too small for the amount of hair and dirt it picks up from the floor. Some people might think it is noisy, but most vacuum cleaners are loud. The Roomba 960 model has five times the air power when compared to the Roomba 650.
The iRobot Roomba 960 is recommended for busy pet owners who do not have the time to sweep up all the hair and fur that pets shed each day. Its single spinning side brush, counter-rotating rubber extractors and suction power combine to harness the hair. The dust bin stores the hair and debris. The air is expelled though a primary and HEPA filter to remove fine particles and allergens.
What is in the box?
- Roomba 960 vacuum cleaning robot
- charging station (1)
- line cord
- dual mode virtual wall barrier (1)
- AA batteries for virtual wall (2)
- extra filter
- extra side brush
There is a one-year limited warranty on the robot vacuum and a six-month limited warranty on the robot’s battery.
Does Roomba 960 pick up pet hair?
Yes, it has two counter-rotating brushing rolls with a rubber tread design. The brush rolls extract the hair while remaining mostly free from hairy knots.
The only downside is that the dust bin is small. You will need to empty the dust bin a few times before the all the floors are clean. This says a lot about how much pet hair is actually hiding away underneath furniture or beds, where we do not sweep every single day. Get the Roomba 960 to do the dirty work of crawling beneath the furniture to find the fur balls and the dust mice. Yes, dust mice!
Does it clean carpets?
It can clean thin, low-pile carpets, but not thick carpets. Thick area rugs will also present a problem, since the Roomba will not be able to climb onto very thick rugs. Nonetheless, it will remove most of the pet hair from thinner carpets with its tangle-free extractors.
What happens when its dust bin is full?
The Roomba 960 will shut down automatically when it senses that its dust bin is too full to continue. However, you can configure the robot vacuum to continue cleaning even when its dust bin is full, by using the iRobot Home App. Even so, it is probably better to let it shut down and then to clean the dust bin before setting it to work again.
Does it clean multiple rooms?
It cleans all the rooms it has access to on a single level. However, it cannot climb stairs, so you need to carry it up to the next level and set it to work. Its cliff-detection sensors will prevent it from falling down the stairs to the bottom level.
Can the Roomba 960 clean without the app?
Yes, you simply press the CLEAN button on the top of the robot to start its cleaning cycle. However, you need to download and set up the smartphone app in order to access advanced features.
The Roomba 960 does not have a remote control, it uses the iRobot Home App. You can use this smartphone app to set up a cleaning schedule or to choose a specific cleaning mode such as single pass, double pass or edge clean.
The iRobot Home App also gives you information on the status of the robot’s cleaning job and if its dust bin is full. You can remotely start the robotic vacuum cleaner even when you are not at home! Of course, you need to have a Wi-Fi connection in your home, so you can communicate with the vacuum robot.
Roomba 960 vs. 880 and 980
The Roomba 880 does not have the Wi-Fi connection and iRobot Home App. It also does not resume cleaning after recharging itself.
The Roomba 980 shares most of its features with the 960. Both models are self-charging and resume cleaning once the battery is fully charged. They can navigate multiple rooms and clean the entire level of a house. Both vacuum robots can be scheduled to clean every day with the iRobot Home App from a smartphone. They use the same AeroForce three stage cleaning system with a single side brush, dual rotating extractors underneath the suction port and HEPA filtration.
Still, the Roomba 980 also has a carpet boost mode for more suction power on carpets. It seems like it also has a longer run time of up to 120 minutes.
Conclusion
It seems like the Roomba 960 is a great robotic vacuum cleaner. Its smartphone app does the job of a remote control, and you do not even have to be in the house to monitor and control the Roomba! It cleans well on wood, tile, thin carpets and rugs. Its responsive navigation system, with its iAdapt mapping camera, is less random than the Roomba 860 robotic vacuum cleaner.
The Roomba 960 picks up a lot of pet hair from the floor and from underneath furniture. It will clean an entire level of the house and recharge itself every 60 to 70 minutes before resuming its hunt for dust bunnies. Nevertheless, you might have to clean its small dust bin between cleaning cycles if you have lots of pets in the house. Still, the Roomba 960 will shut down if its dust bin is too full to continue vacuum cleaning.
To conclude, the Roomba 960 is worth its high price tag because of its adaptive navigation system, its counter-rotating rubber tread extractors and its smartphone app. It is a high-end robotic vacuum cleaner for homeowners and apartment dwellers with large rooms and many pets.