iRobot Roomba i6 (6150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum – Light Silver
Original price was: $549.99.$357.99Current price is: $357.99.
Last updated on September 17, 2024 3:31 am Details
Photos: iRobot Roomba i6 (6150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum – Light Silver
8 reviews for iRobot Roomba i6 (6150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum – Light Silver
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iRobot Roomba i6 (6150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum – Light Silver
Original price was: $549.99.$357.99Current price is: $357.99.
Harrkev –
This is my first robot vacuum, so I will be reviewing it “in a vacuum” (bad dad joke). This thing is impressive. Once you set it up for the first time, it wanders around trying to figure out the layout of the floor that it is on. The app (iPhone, but also available for Android) shows you the map of what it figured out, which gets better the more times the robot does its thing. You can use the map to label different rooms, and set a schedule for the robot to process certain rooms at certain times. I know that the earlier versions used to use a random drunkard’s walk, but this unit works very intelligently. You can see it methodically go back and forth, almost like a farmer driving a tractor over the corn rows. It was interesting to see the robot practically follow the slats of our wooden floor. Once it is done or the battery is nearly dead, it will return to its base and dock.
While the Roomba is great, it is not perfect. First, you cannot have it run overnight while you are sleeping. There is actually a camera on top of the unit looking forwards and up. So when the lights are turned off, it cannot do its thing. Mildly annoying, but understandable. It also makes a bit of noise. It is a LOT quieter than a real vacuum, but it takes a while to process a room, and the noise can be mildly annoying if you are in the room at the time. Given that ts DOES have a vacuum in there, that is just to be expected. Also, sometimes it does seem to get stuck too easily. If it runs over a small stuffed dog toy, the toy may get stuck under one of the wheels. Also, all cords should be kept off of the floor, as it can get tangled in those too. It is also just the right size to occasionally get between the legs of a chair, and have a difficult time finding its way out. Finally, the dust container gets full rather quickly: our fault for sure, since we have two dogs (one of them quite large), and three cats. This means that you need to empty it frequently. However, this is a balancing act between keeping the unit small and giving it storage capacity. iRobot did a great job in this regard, but it should be mentioned, as it means more maintenance if your house has pets.
But overall, I am very impressed with how far the technology has come. It is expensive, but it really does exhibit intelligence in how it handles mapping and navigation, and it does a fantastic job of keeping the pet hair cleaned up.
mkcar1 –
I have been lucky to have tested several robot vacuums the last few years, (Roomba 690 – 7/2017, Ecovacs DM81 – 10-2017, Samsung R7065 – 09-2018, Neato D6 – 09-2018 and Shark AI – 11-2020). While each one had its good and bad points none of them had this mix of software and cleaning power right out of the box.
This I6 does everything well. Software is great, set-up was as simple as could be connecting to 5Ghz, designed nicely fitting under all my furniture, quick and measured cleaning (no wasted motion), simple to empty dust bin (although a tad small), long run times between charges, charges quickly, very accurate in creating map of the house, easy editing of map with ability to create very detailed no-go zones (avoiding areas with wires, etc._ and what I consider to be its biggest plus(!) I moved docking station from one side of house to the other, after map had been generated – and it updated units position within the map/house – no need to remap!!! What’s not to like – so yes I recommend adding it to your Christmas shopping list, especially given its on sale right now!
Actual use;
Unpacking was easy with minimal packing material which is recyclable.
To get started I followed the minimal instructions provided – plugging in base and docking unit to it. I left it overnight to charge before proceeding further.
I downloaded the app and started setup the next morning. I already had an account from prior iRobot so just signed in. Unit connected to my Wi-Fi 1st try and as I mentioned it connected using 5Ghz.
I decided to have it clean while also mapping the house (3200 sq ft single story) and it ran for over 12 hours (around 6 hours cleaning and 6 hours charging – docking 3 times). But the map was still not complete with app stating it needed more info to finish – so this time I decided to continue mapping but not clean – and it ran an additional 4 hours (but didn’t require docking), and this time map was completed. The total of 16 hours to create the map seems a tad extreme but the robot went through several rooms multiple times. The upside to this is once completed the map was 99% accurate, I only needed to make small adjustments to a couple of “walls” to finish. I named all the rooms; you can use pre-programmed names or add your own if you want. Also, a BIG plus was adding no-go zones. Under my office desk against a wall is a jungle of wires – I was able to zoom in on the map and add an area 8 inches wide and 4 feet long to avoid robot getting tangled in those wires and added a larger area in the master bedroom around treadmill. I would suggest naming your rooms as that allows you to designate specific room(s) to clean or just select all – using the app. Just select “New Job” and it will bring you up a list of rooms. I tried it out and this worked great. Nice to be able to pinpoint your cleaning.
Another benefit of naming the rooms is app will tell you what room it is cleaning and how long it has been there.
As far as cleaning it was a perfect time for me to try it out as my 6- and 3-year-old grandsons had come over for Thanksgiving and they did what little boys do, they left a trail of crumbs around the house, particularly under the dining table. No problem for this unit as it picked up the smallest particles on up to a quarter of a cracker. This unit is the 1st I have encountered that has 2 rollers – which I am sure helped. It has only 1 side brush for sweeping against walls/corners, but it positions itself to use that side if necessary. I did my due diligence before running making sure doors were open, things picked up and it did not get stuck on initial run nor in any following runs! Can’t say the same for other units I have used.
You can also add carpet zones, but I didn’t try this, nor can I think of why I would.
Noise while running is comparable to other robots I have used. I did have to turn up the volume of the TV while it was cleaning that room but only a couple of degrees.
History option in app gives detailed account of each run – such as total run time, highlights areas cleaned, charging time, sq ft cleaned. It is very useful to determine what rooms you have or have not cleaned recently when not cleaning all.
Has a “find my robot” function where unit makes a sound or indicates where it is.
Remote access works well. I ran it remotely from my son’s home. To help check that it was cleaning room specified I selected room that had a security camera that I could monitor live.
You can create a schedule for robot to run. By using “favorites” you can name and setup multiple schedules. I didn’t try this yet.
It seems you can add a hands-free dust bin stand. Not sure how well this works and probably cheaper to buy as a package. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/irobot-clean-base-automatic-dirt-disposal-compatible-with-roomba-i-series-robot-vacuums-only-charcoal/6300421.p?skuId=6300421
1-year limited warranty.
Even though unit is near perfect there are few quibbles.
Small filter on dust bin.
No replacement parts included, such as side brush, filter. You can purchase a “replenish” kit for about $55 – https://www.bestbuy.com/site/irobot-roomba-e-and-i-series-replenishment-kit-green/6300422.p?skuId=6300422
I could find no way to change suction of unit. You can set “room-size clean” (smaller rooms get cleaned 2/3 times and large only once) or “Daily Clean” – one pass per room or “Extra clean” – 2 passes each room.
Room names are not alphabetized, nor could I find a way to accomplish that. Would make it easier than scrolling through room list, I think.
Overall, a very well thought out unit made better by app software that works as advertised (other manufacturers please take notice)!
If you are in the market for a robot vacuum, this would be a welcome addition to any home, and I highly recommend.
DickieUK –
Robot vacuums have been very hit and miss in my experience – they either have great navigation but you spend your life cleaning the thing, or they do a good job of cleaning up but you are constantly guiding it home like a lost pet.
I’ve had previous experience with the Shark ION robots, which seem to fall foul of both these problems – the brushes are constantly getting clogged and you eventually find it sleeping under a distant cabinet.
This is my first Roomba and I have to say I’m happily impressed with it.
After bouncing around on the discovery run, this thing navigates like its lived here for years. Even at the far end of the house , it navigates directly back to the base to charge, straight as an arrow.
I was also pleasantly surprised how well the rubber rollers work compared to the brushes I’ve used before – they do an awesome job of picking up debris, but dont seem to get anything tangled in them.
This model also detects when its on carpet or hard floors, and adjusts to clean them both equally well.
So what’s to complain about? In all honesty, not much. As you can see from the photos the dust bin is pretty small – our downstairs floorspace is about 1500sq ft, so if I don’t run it every day you need to empty the bin more or less after every pass. You can change a setting to force it to keep cleaning when it thinks the bin is full, but that seems like a false economy to me. This might not be an issue for you if you have a small apartment of if you are using this one to ‘fill in’ on your regular cleaning schedule of course.
In terms of noise volume while its running , its on par with every other robot vacuum I’ve used. Its definitely not silent, but not so loud that you can’t ignore it – just to be safe, there’s a do not disturb setting so you can prevent it cleaning during certain times (handy if like me you are still working predominantly from home).
All in all I’d say this is a great vacuum – the Roomba name has been around since the start, but does tend to demand a higher price point over its competitors. Based on my experience though with this, and the cheaper priced competitors – you get what you pay for. In you’re on the fence because of the price, I’d say just accept that all those years of experience and reliable software come at some price – but this vacuum could be the last one you need to buy,
I received this unit as part of a technical evaluation program. however all comments and opinions expressed here are exclusively based on my own personal experience.
Kelby –
—– SUMMARY —–
Verdict:
The Roomba i6 is a solid robot vacuum with a great app. Its standout feature is mapping the layout of your home so that it cleans efficiently instead of wandering around aimlessly. The smart mapping also enables you to control where it cleans. These features and others like scheduling cleaning jobs and voice control are nice to have. Its features are backed by powerful performance, and households with pets will especially benefit. I am a bit disappointed in the average battery life and forceful impacts on walls and furniture, but that’s not enough for me to not recommend the Roomba i6. Overall, you get a lot of useful features and powerful performance at a good price, in comparison to the competition. If you’re in the market for a robot vacuum, the Roomba i6 is one to consider.
Pros:
– Quick and simple setup process
– Cleaning jobs can be scheduled in the app
– Maps your home for controlled and customizable cleaning
– Navigates in neat, efficient rows
– Cleans multiple surface types, like tile and carpet
– Voice controllable with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
– Picks up pet hair and debris very well
Cons:
– Forceful impacts on walls and furniture, despite obstacle avoidance tech
– Average battery life (not enough to clean ~1200 sq. ft in one pass)
—– DETAILS —–
Setup & Design:
Unboxing and setting up the Roomba i6 was very straightforward. Thanks to the visuals and steps in the quick start guide, it was ready to go in about five minutes. All that’s required is positioning the charging station, plugging its power cord into the wall, and placing the robot on the charging station. Downloading the iRobot Home app and connecting it to the Roomba only took a few additional minutes. I was pleased with the quick and hassle-free setup. You can start the first cleaning job right away since the Roomba comes with a partial charge, but iRobot recommends charging it for three hours. The Roomba i6 has a disc-shaped design with sensors on the front, a camera, buttons, and indicators on the top, and a dust bin in the back. The bottom has additional sensors for floor and ledge tracking as well as the brushes and wheels. It’s a basic design compared to the more premium and nicer-looking iRobot j Series and s Series, but this i6 model gets the job done at a more affordable price.
Features & Performance:
The Roomba i6 is a powerful robot vacuum with several handy features. The feature I’m most impressed by is complete control over where it cleans. Since the Roomba maps the entire level of your home, you can tell it where to clean by using the iRobot Home app or your voice (when connected to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant). The map is made after the Roomba has had a chance to do a couple of cleaning jobs. Once it’s made, you can view it in the app, add room dividers, room labels, and even “keep out” zones if there are areas you don’t want the Roomba to go. I like that it doesn’t just wander around aimlessly. It knows where it is in your home and where it has already cleaned. Additionally, it navigates in neat, efficient rows. If the battery is running low, the Roomba returns to the charger and recharges enough to resume and finish what’s left of the job. There’s also the ability to set schedules (like every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:OO AM), or you can set it to start cleaning when you leave home. These smart features make using the Roomba effortless.
The features don’t disappoint, and neither does the performance. My home is a combination of carpet and tile, and the Roomba cleans both surface types quite well. I’m a cat owner, and I’ve been impressed by how much hair and litter gets picked up. Even when I don’t notice debris and hair on the carpet, there’s a significant amount in the bin after each cleaning job. While it doesn’t pick up everything, I would say it has a respectable 90%+ pickup rate. It’s not going to beat the high performance of a corded, upright vacuum, but that’s not the purpose of a Roomba. With its hands-free cleaning and smart features, owning this Roomba is a great supplement to my normal cleaning routine.
What I think could be better about the Roomba i6 is its forceful impact on furniture and walls, and its average battery life. Although it seems to approach furniture and walls more gently after mapping out the floor, the initial force made it look and sound more like a bumper car than an intelligent, obstacle-avoiding robot. I have a bar cart with margarita glasses, and while the force would not be enough to tip them over, it’s enough to make them rattle back and forth on impact. What’s disappointing about the battery life is that it doesn’t last enough to cover my whole floor (~1200 sq. ft with two bedrooms, one bath, a halfway, and a living room). It’s nice that it automatically returns to charge and then finishes the job after recharging, but that adds a significant amount of time to the process. When I timed it, about 70% of the floor was complete in an hour, then it returned to the charging station for 45 minutes, and it finished the rest in 30 minutes. Altogether, that’s about 2.25 hours. If the battery could last longer, taking out the charge time in the middle of the job would reduce the time to about 1.5 hours. The forceful impacts and average battery life aren’t significant enough to make me not recommend the Roomba i6, but they make it less than a five-star experience.
Other features I haven’t been able to use but are nice to have available include “Imprint Link Technology” which syncs the Roomba i6 with a Braava Jet m6 to vacuum then mop in sequence and compatibility with the “Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal” so your Roomba i6 can empty its own bin. Overall, this Roomba model provides impressive performance and useful features which have made it a positive experience for me.
Care & Maintenance:
To keep the Roomba running at peak performance, there are several care and maintenance procedures that iRobot advises. Those include: washing the bin as needed, cleaning the filter once a week (or twice a week if you have a pet), cleaning the full bin sensor every two weeks, cleaning the front caster wheel every two weeks, cleaning the brushes once a month (or twice a month if you have a pet), and cleaning the sensors and charging contacts once a month. It seems like a lot when those procedures are all listed out, but since each only takes a few minutes, and some aren’t necessary for two weeks to a full month, I still consider the Roomba low maintenance. As for replacing parts, iRobot advises that the filter be replaced every two months and the front caster wheel, as well as the brushes, be replaced every year. The care and maintenance information is well documented in the online owner’s guide (www.irobot.com/i6ownersguide).
—– WHAT’S IN THE BOX —–
1 x Roomba i6 Robot Vacuum
1 x Home Base Charging Station (with Power Cord)
1 x Quick Start Guide
1 x Warranty Information Pamphlet
1 x Safety Information Pamphlet
dustinw –
After owning and using several other robot vacuums, I can without question say the Roomba i6 is easily the best I’ve used. It easily navigated our house, including the transitions from hardwood to carpet or tile. Other robot vacuums I’ve tried would often get stuck navigating past the transition piece, or maybe get stuck on the shag-type rug we have in our living room. It would require a lot of planning to set up by placing boxes or something else down to create a barrier for the robot before it created a map to have any sort of success. The Roomba had none of these problems. It didn’t get stuck on the shag carpet, easily navigated the transitions, and has always found its way back to the charging base.
The features and capabilities of the i6 are excellent. First, the map it created is very accurate and the speed and ability of its cleaning is much improved from any other vacuum I’ve tried. It has an option to do a faster first-time mapping that doesn’t worry too much about vacuuming as well that worked great for our first time setup. Also, once the map has been created, it will do its best to create rooms for you house. In our case, these were a little all over the place with some odd angles, but I was able to edit the map and name them more appropriately for our needs. That part took a few minutes, but it was still easy to do, and I haven’t touched it since. When the vacuum is running, you can also see what room it is currently cleaning by checking its status in the app. You also get a nice overlay of your map showing where the vacuum has cleaning once the job is complete.
The app itself is very well designed. It’s clear that this has been carefully refined and it shows. It’s easy to set up jobs, check the status of the vacuum and get everything set up so you don’t really have to touch it. It just works. This is the way I think these should be!
This is the only robot vacuum that I’ve used that consistently cleans every room we ask it to on a consistent basis. It does so without getting stuck, and returns to its charging base to continue or complete the job without issue.
While the i6 still makes a reasonable amount of noise while it’s working (it is a vacuum after all!), it is the quietest that I’ve used.
Overall, I can’t say enough good things about the i6. It’s an excellent robot vacuum that you can set up, and just let it work.
Pros: Easy setup, excellent app, consistent cleaning and operation without issue, faster and quieter than other robot vacuums I’ve used
Cons: The room generation during the initial mapping created quite a few dividers that were kind of all over the place. Though this was easily corrected by moving/removing the excess dividers that were created.
DSPARKA –
Package Arrival:
The i6 iRobot vacuum was neatly and packaged with enough protection to make it to my doorstep without any damages. Inside contents was simply the i6 iRobot vacuum, the docking station, power cable and safety instructions. It was basically just what I needed to get the iRobot vacuum setup before I downloaded the iRobot home app.
Setup:
All I did was plug the docking station where I wanted and placed the i6 iRobot on the station to charge it. After I download the app I opened it and the instructions to complete the setup was given step by step using the app. I had the connection to my home wifi quickly and a quick update after my i6 iRobot was connected to the internet.
iRobot 1st Run:
I personally think the first run should be a mapping run and later follow up with a clean run. The mapping run will help the i6 iRobot when it’s navigating through your home. I had to do 2 map runs to have a great map for my robot vacuum to use. The i6 by iRobot continues to learn as it cleans.
Navigate:
The i6 iRobot still bumps into the wall and furniture so I already have plenty of scuff marks on my shiny new robot vacuum. I do have to say it moves around the rooms better than my other company robot vacuum.
iRobot App:
The app is also simple to use and allows me to do many changes that will help with my cleaning.
In the app I can set my cleaning schedule(s) but I choose to run the robot vacuum when I want and not by a schedule.
I can also edit the map and name the rooms. This comes handy for when I want to use my Google assistant to command cleaning to a specific room/location.
Cleaning history is available in the app and can be used differently to determine how to set cleaning schedules. I have pets or if it’s pollen season I will have the vacuum run more often than most people.
Cleaning Results:
The i6 iRobot pick up a lot of dirt and pet hairs. It clean close to the wall and corners so do expect the scuffs on the bumpers.
Suggestion for iRobot:
I think including a starter kit that have an extra brush and filter for your customers. I know I would of been happy to see a bonus that will be useful after a few months.
My 2 Sense:
iRobot is one of the original robot vacuum creators and you can tell they are ahead of the competition. I like that the i6 is built to accept updates to use future features. Now how long will iRobot stand behind that I don’t know. Overall I have a great vacuum by iRobot and it really cleanup. Check out the pictures I posted.
gtdad –
The Roomba i6 is a high quality powerful robotic vacuum with excellent mapping ability.
In the box you get the vacuum, a relatively small dock and the shortest quick start guide I have ever seen.
Set up is as simple as charging the vacuum in the dock, downloading the Roomba app, connecting to 5g wifi, naming your vacuum and indicating whether you want to connect to Google or Alexa.
In my case I connected to my Google Home app, which was quick and easy. I can now control the vacuum by voice, from the app, or manually by pressing the buttons on the vacuum.
I have an apartment with 1850 square feet, 2 bedrooms, a den, living room, kitchen, 2 hallways, an entryway and 3 bathrooms. All of my floors are tile.
My first run was to map and clean simultaneously. It took less than 2 hours and completed this without having to recharge. The app indicated that I would need 1 more mapping run to complete the map.
The next day I did mapping without cleaning. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to complete and at this point a very accurate and detailed map of my house appeared in the app.
You can then name all of the rooms and change room boarders if you feel that the Roomba was not accurate. I did not have to change any boarders, the mapping was that good.
Naming the rooms will allow you to tell the Roomba which rooms to clean if you don’t wish to have it clean the entire house.
The Roomba was able to navigate its way around furniture legs very precisely.
I was replacing another brand robotic vacuum which did not have mapping ability so it just randomly changed direction and would never effectively clean the entire house. What a tremendous difference as I could not find a single spot that was missed by the Roomba.
The Roomba has 1 rotating brush to grab dirt, a double roller system and a filter.
The Roomba i6 is very powerful and picks up hair without getting stuck in the rollers.
So the basic functions, cleaning and mapping, are pretty much as good as it gets.
There are a couple of negatives.
The dust bin is surprisingly small and difficult to clean as compared to the much cheaper vacuum it replaced. Also, very surprisingly, Roomba does not give you any extra filters or brushes which are provided by most other manufacturers even on less expensive models.
Overall, this is an excellent vacuum that excels at the most important functions of a robotic vacuum, cleaning and mapping. The battery is more than adequate for my purposes. The vacuum knows when to go back to the dock and will continue vacuuming after charging The app is intuitive and easy to navigate. The negatives are relatively small annoyances.
I would recommend this product to anyone who needs a robotic vacuum.
RedScorpion –
This is my first Roomba. I’ve had a few robot vacuum and smart devices over the last few years, but this is my first Roomba. And, I have got to say, the iRobot set up process is the easiest of any robot vacuum I have ever used. The Roomba i6 is the most thorough robot vacuum I have used. It’s the most careful around wiring and obstacles. It’s one of the fastest robot vacuums I have used. And, it sucks up quite a bit of a debris over the course of its cleaning run. For those reasons, I highly recommend the iRobot Roomba i6 (6150).
Setup was pretty simple. Download the Roomba iRobot app from the Google Play or Apple App Store and follow the instructions. I had no problems getting my robot up and running. Connecting to the home wifi was a breeze.
My first cleaning run went totally fine. The robot didn’t stumble down stairs, wrap itself up on cables, or somehow wind up on its side. (Other robots were not so lucky….)
Tip: Run a mapping run before your first cleaning run so that you can set up barriers, rooms, cleaning zones, and keep out zones. The vacuum will map as it runs, but it can take a few cleaning runs to finish a map. I found it better just to run a mapping run up front.
As for cleaning, I found that the vacuum will run for about an hour on a full charge. The waste bin filled up after its first cleaning run. If your vacuum picks up as much as mine did, I recommend emptying the waste bin after every run. My vacuum covered roughly 400 square ft in an hour. Your mileage may vary depending on obstacles and other settings.
If I had any complaints with the Roomba i6, it would probably be limitations to the mapping software. There is no way to follow your robot on a moving map. The software will tell you what room your robot is in assuming you have labeled your map, but it doesn’t show you on a map where your robot is. The map you get is also very simplistic. I’ve seen robot vacuum maps that look detailed enough that they could be house blueprints, and these aren’t quite up to that level.
Still, that’s really just a nitpick. This is one of the best experiences I have had with a robot vacuum. It works well. Was easy to set up. The cleaning zones, Google and Alexa integration, and overall vacuum performance make the iRobot Roomba i6 (6150) very easy to recommend.
5/5