The Roomba 980 is an expensive, high-end robotic vacuum cleaner with a long run time of up to two hours that cleans hard floors and carpets effectively. It even cleans underneath furniture where pet hair and allergens might collect every day.

Roomba 980: Summary

The Roomba 980 might be the best robotic vacuum cleaner for pet owners because it has a powerful cleaning system. The vacuum cleaning robot automatically boosts its suction power when it senses a carpeted surface underneath its body. Its rubber tread extractors then get to work at getting the pet hair and dirt out of the carpet or rug.

The hair and fur end up in the vacuum robot’s dust bin, while the air is expelled through its high-efficiency particle filter. This HEPA filter removes allergens such as pollen, dander and dust mites from the expelled air. A clean floor and cleaner air equals fewer problems with allergies and a healthier atmosphere in the home.

What is included with the Roomba 980?

• Robotic vacuum cleaner with dust bin and battery.
• One home base charging station.
• One line cord.
• Two dual mode virtual wall barriers (with batteries).
• One extra filter.
• One extra side brush.

Why is it a smart robot vacuum?

The Roomba 980 has a smart navigation system with visual localization, which uses a camera in addition to its other sensors. It can navigate the entire level of a home safely and efficiently. It can map areas and keep track of where it has cleaned and where it still has to clean. However, the robot cannot clean in complete darkness due to its use of the iAdapt mapping camera. Leave a light on if you want it to clean late at night or very early in the morning.

The Roomba 980 also senses when it runs onto a carpeted floor. It automatically increases its suction power for better cleaning performance. It reduces its suction power to normal levels when it returns to a hard floor surface, such as wood or tile. The carpet boost feature uses more battery power than its normal vacuum setting.

The Roomba 980 uses a Wi-Fi connection to communicate with the iRobot Home App. You can start or schedule this vacuum cleaning robot with your smartphone. The smartphone app replaces the need for a remote control. The 980 model can also be paired with an Alexa device for voice controlled commands.

Cliff-detection sensors keep the Roomba from running down the stairs. However, there is a good chance that black floors or black carpets might trigger its cliff sensors. The cliff sensors read the color black as a drop-off and quickly reverses direction. You might have to cover the robot’s cliff sensors with sticky tape and put a virtual wall at the top of the stairs if you have black carpets or black tile floors.

Does the Roomba 980 use virtual walls?

The Roomba 980 comes with two virtual walls that have dual mode functions. Virtual wall mode prevents the robot vacuum from crossing a certain line. Halo mode prevents the robot vacuum from entering a circular area around things such as pet bowls and cables.

How do you enable the app?

First, download the iRobot Home App onto your smartphone. The app is compatible with iOS and Android operating systems.

Second, you have to put the home base charging station in a spot that has both a strong Wi-Fi signal and a power outlet connection.

Third, put the Roomba robot onto the home base and check to see if it has power. You now need to confirm the Wi-Fi network that you want to use for the Roomba 980. Enter the necessary information to complete the setup process (we are not going into the all details here).

The most important thing is to get a good Wi-Fi signal. The home base charging station needs to be within 5 feet from a Wi-Fi hub, with no furniture around it, in order to get a good signal.

What can you do with the app?

• Press CLEAN to start the vacuum robot from a remote location.
• Choose a custom cleaning setting.
• See report on the robot’s cleaning coverage and duration.
• Create a weekly cleaning schedule.

Can it vacuum without the app?

You can still use the Roomba 980 even if you do not have the smartphone app. However, you will not be able to set up an automatic weekly schedule. You will have to press the CLEAN button on the robotic vacuum to start it. Nonetheless, many pet owners prefer to be at home when they run the robotic vacuum cleaner to prevent it from getting stuck on things abandoned on the floor, such as pet toys or even worse: pet poop!

How well does it vacuum pet hair?

The Roomba 980 gets rid of pet hair. It has counter-rotating extractors without any bristles, which stay tangle-free for longer. It has an automatic carpet boost feature which gives it superior suction on carpeted floors where pet hair creates problems. This might be the best robotic vacuum cleaner for hairy pets and pet owners (who might also be shedding a few hairs).

The only downside is that its dust bin has a finite size. You will probably clean out its dust bin after every cleaning cycle. It gets filled to the brim within an hour or two of vacuuming, which shows you how much hair cats and dogs really shed onto the floor.

How much noise does it make?

The Roomba 980 is not as loud as an upright vacuum cleaner, but it still makes the vacuum cleaner noise. Its noise might be annoying if you are in the same room and trying to watch television or talk on the phone. It will be at its loudest when on carpets because of its automatic carpet boost. The Roomba 980 is quieter than most manual vacuum cleaners, but do not expect it to be as quiet as a broom.

Roomba 980 vs. 960 and 880

The Roomba 980 has more suction on carpets due to its automatic carpet boost. It also has a longer run time of 120 minutes. However, carpeted rooms will decrease its run time due to the increased power consumption when in carpet boost mode.

The Roomba 980 is more expensive than the Roomba 960. The rest of the features are the same.

The Roomba 880 does not support a Wi-Fi connection or the smartphone app. Instead, it uses an ordinary remote control. It also does not resume cleaning after recharging. This not a big issue since you probably need to check and empty its dust bin before sending it off on its next cleaning mission.

The Roomba 880 shares many other features with the 900-series Roomba robots. It is self-charging, it navigates many rooms, it can be scheduled, it has tangle-free debris extractors and the AeroForce 3-stage cleaning system with HEPA filtration. It might be a less pricey alternative to the 960 and 980 vacuum cleaning robots.

Conclusion

The biggest drawback of the Roomba 980 is its expensive price. It might also be noisy while cleaning carpets, but it is still quieter than an ordinary vacuum cleaner. Its dust bin is small and needs to be emptied after every cleaning cycle. The robot vacuum finds its charging station by itself and recharges without a problem.

The Roomba 980 does not have a remote control. It uses its home base station and a Wi-Fi connection to communicate with the iRobot Home App on your smartphone. Use this app to schedule the vacuum robot for up to seven days. The app provides other features such as setting the performance mode, a maintenance section and a cleaning history section. Even so, it does not alert you if the robot’s dust bin is full.

In conclusion, the Roomba 980 is expensive, efficient, powerful, noisy and great for removing pet hair from carpeted rooms and hardwood floors. However, you might not be able to buy this model anymore, seeing as there are now more recent models available, such as the Roomba i7, or even the Roomba s9 (click links to read my reviews of these models).