iRobot Challenges Competitors With Its New J9 Roomba

iRobot's latest Roomba might be its best yet.

The Amazon-owned company recently introduced its new flagship Roomba, the j9+ robot vacuum, to the world, allowing customers to know what it offers before it officially launches.

iRobot's new j9+ robot vacuum will become available for pre-sale at select retailers on Sept. 12.

Double Cleaning

iRobot's j9+ robot vacuum comes with many features absent from its predecessors. According to the company's announcement, its new Roomba comes in two versions: the standard vacuum-only j9+ and the Combo j9+, which offers a vacuum-mop combination.

Colin Angle, chairman and CEO at iRobot, said that the company's new j9+ lineup is designed to tackle the shortcomings its competition presents thanks to its "superior engineering."

Both versions feature a 4-stage Cleaning System and unique Dual Rubber Brushes, which provide more powerful suction and pressurized scrubbing action than their competition. Meanwhile, the Combo j9+ comes equipped with iRobot's Dry Rug Intelligence, which prevents the robot vacuum from getting dry rugs wet with its mopping pad - a problem iRobot solved with a hardware tweak with its Roomba Combo j7+ offering.

According to Tech Crunch, a Roomba Combo j7+ also came with iRobot's Dry Rug Intelligence system. It uses a mechanical arm to move its (wet) pad out of the way of dry rugs, preventing it from getting its user's rugs wet.

Both j9+ Roombas also have iRobot's Dirt Detective software, which helps the robot vacuums anticipate and customize their settings for the cleaning needs of every room in the house. This software makes the j9+ Roomba lineup more autonomous than those under the j7+ lineup.

To help this software do its job, iRobot also gave its j9+ Roomba lineup with its advanced OS technology. This helps it capture an accurate map of its user's home seven times faster when compared to the company's previous mapping technology.

As a result, the Combo j9+ and its standard version can name the house's rooms autonomously and even recognize and maneuver around clutter and even solid pet waste.

Because of their design to "thoroughly clean and freshen larger homes and those with furry pets," iRobot gave its j9+ lineup with a longer-lasting battery along with its more powerful suction and more pet features. It even has Carpet Boost technology, a 3-stage Cleaning System, and Dual Rubber Brushes, allowing it to automatically detect a room's floor type and adjust its cleaning power accordingly.

Last but not least, users of either j9+ version can order them to do specific cleaning tasks through voice commands - ordinary and complex alike. To do so, users must pair the device with Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri first.

A Roomba With Better Software

With better features comes better software, and iRobot understands that well with its new iRobot OS 7.0 software. With this update, Roombas can utilize iRobot's Dirt Detective, which makes them more autonomous and reliable.

iRobot's Dirt Detective comes with three main features. Its Cleanliness Assessment Map allows the j9+ Roombas to determine which rooms need more attention based on past events, while its Dirty Room Prioritization has them prioritize where to clean based on which rooms were last cleaned and the frequency of dirt events.

Last but not least, Dirt Detective also provides Smart Cleaning Preferences, which creates a customized cleaning plan based on room and floor type. It also gives customers a deeper clean in higher trafficked rooms and a lighter clean in less demanding areas automatically.

"This level of intelligence lets customers forget about planning their cleaning mission entirely, knowing that their robot will clean exactly like they would," Angle stated.