iRobot Roomba 790 Review

The Roomba 790 is the newest robotic vacuum in the 700 series and perhaps the last Roomba to use a bristled brush.

Their latest product, the New 880 (still not available on Amazon) uses rubber “extracts” instead of bristles.

Update: Roomba has several new robots in its line that are worth a look. All are better than Roomba 790. There Roomba 860, 960, 980 And the last of them – Roomba I7. Verify Best roomba guide To find out which one best suits your needs.

It has received fairly good grades from many tech sites such as CNET, Wired, and PC Mag.

They all agree it cleans reasonably well, its high price tag is not for everyone but if you absolutely want your homes to be clean but I do not have the time Or you are too lazy to pick up a vacuum cleaner, then this will work for you.

What is the difference between the 790 and its predecessors?

This device has a so-called “radio control center” that allows you to operate the robot from another room (its range is 25 feet) using radio frequency. But is the $100 difference worth?

Learn more in this review.

This is radio frequency control also known as radio control center…

Image courtesy of Engadget.

Features at a glance

• Comes with two virtual beacons
• HEPA filter
• Extra set of brushes
• Round & Flat Brush Cleaning Tools
• The full container indicator lets you know when to empty
• Can be scheduled once a day up to 7 times a week
• Anti-rolling brushes can pick up pet hair, dust and various other debris
• New power management system enables it to run 50% longer than older Roombas

Positives

• Good performance on hard floors
• Radio control uses radio frequency with a range of up to 25 feet
• Comes with an extra brush
• Let’s know if it should be emptied
• HEPA filter is used

Negatives

• Costs more than the top of the line Dyson in portrait mode
• Long hair will curl up on the bristles
• Likes to bump into things that may damage furniture
• Because of the randomness, it takes a long time to clean the room compared to the more efficient Neato
• HEPA filters are expensive
• Doesn’t hold much dirt

What to expect from the iRobot Roomba 790?

This control center is the main reason why this command costs a hundred dollars, and it has 5 main functions:

1. Cleaning – Instead of getting up and pressing the clean button, you can do it from the comfort of your sofa
2. clean spot
3. Schedule
4. Return to the charging station
5. Use remote controls to manually control the robot

Full specifications can be found here.

CNet First Look

How to schedule

Mobility

All Roomba 700 and 600 . series robot vacuums use The same set of sensors to draw the cleaning path around the room.

The main difference with the 790 is that it uses virtual beacons as a door that keeps the robot in the room until the cleaning is finished, and the robot will send a signal to the virtual beacon asking it to turn off its infrared wall. You can move to another room.

Just in case you’re curious about how the Roomba gets around, take a look at this infographic:

This is a great picture I found on the web on Roomba’s cleaning style.

Image credits: http://signaltheorist.com/?p=91

Are you going to clean the stairs?

no.

scheduled cleaning

All Roomba 700 series vacuums can be scheduled to clean once per day (even at different times each day) 7 days a week.

You can schedule using the RF remote control or do it on the robot itself.

Shipping time

Charging takes about 3 hours.

cleaning robot

In order to maximize the service life of any iRobot Roomba, you need to address three main areas – brushes, anti-rollers, wheels and sensors. These three areas must be cleaned regularly, especially the hair so that it does not break prematurely. Sensors should be wiped with a clean microfiber cloth.

I’ve found two videos to help you figure out how to do this process.

This is a demo on cleaning the 760/770/780 and it’s basically the same as the 790

the show length

In a test done by RobotShop (they tested the 780 which basically had the same features as the 790), it took about 22 minutes to clean their room and it took about 4 hours to charge…

Guarantee

All iRobot vacuums come with a 1 year warranty on the robot and 6 months on the battery.

Executing floor cleaning

Based on the review by PC Mag, it performed very well on hard floors Beats Neato on sawdust/sand mixture and rice test.

She has kept herself in the pet hair test, too.

Reviews on Amazon said it did a good job on hardwood floors but one consumer complained that it didn’t on tiled floors.

Carpet cleaning

A: In a test by CNet, it did fairly well on a carpeted surface. In the rice test, pick up 2.32 out of a potential 2.5 ounces on a short pile rug and about 2 out of 2.5 on a medium pile rug.

In our sand/sawdust test, it didn’t do well to pick up 0.3 and 0.23 ounces from 1.25 ounces on medium and short pile rugs, respectively.

Spot cleaning a cup of rice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCpjDOZpuPg

Spot Clean 125p

carpets

You will have no problem moving from carpet/hardwood floors to carpet but be sure to remove any long tassels so they don’t get stuck.

Pet hair removal

Again, referring to testing by CNet, it picked up more pet hair on the hard floor than on carpet.

On hardwood, it was up 0.17 from 0.2 ounces while those numbers fell to 0.047 and 0.05 on medium and short pile carpets.

product specification

Battery Type	undefined
charger type	charging station
Shipping time	3 hours
the show length	4 hours
Door Crossing	up to 1.5 cm
net weight (with battery)	8.4 pounds
Purchase Weight	14.4 EGP
Diameter	13.9 inches
Height	3.6 inches
multi room
self docking
remote control
HEPA filtration
Detecting cliff
self-control
Edge brushes
bin full indicator
drawer cleaning
Cleaning sessions per week	7
Extra filter	1
containment	2 virtual beacons
brush cleaning tools	2
Accessories included	1 robot battery charging base AC adapter Remote control (AA batteries not included) 2 extra whisking brushes 2 extra side brushes 3 virtual beacons (requires 2 C batteries not included) Wireless Command Center (Needs 4 AA batteries not included) 3 additional dual HEPA filters 2 cleaning brushes 1 pcs screwdriver 1 accessory storage box 1 Instructional DVD
Voltage	110 volts
Made in	China
Guarantee	1 year on Android 6 months on battery

Customer Reviews

On Amazon, it has a rating of close to 5 stars despite its premium price.

Consumers say this has a significant impact on their purchases. The cleaning performance is very good because it is completely independent.

Even the 3 and 2 star reviews said it works well, but problems like a small cup of dirt, long cleaning times, very high price, and difficulty finding the charging station drove the rating down.

Reviews from other sites

computer mag

Alex Colon says that while it’s effective at cleaning and the RF control adds a lot of convenience, the price is a bit hard to swallow, as it costs more than a top-of-the-line Dyson, but for those who want their floors clean but too lazy to pick up Vertical, this may be the vacuum cleaner for them.

cnet

CNet provided one of the most comprehensive reviews as they performed 3 separate tests comparing the performance of the 790 against competing brands LG, Neato and Infinuvo.

The results were mixed, it did its best on a hardwood surface picking up more sand and sawdust than the Neato and tested cedar and pet hair on hardwood, on carpet although it didn’t do the same we would.

Where can I buy this?

You can buy this robot from Amazon for about $500 but it’s not new anymore.

Please check my article on Best Roombas where I introduce the latest variants that have better navigation and that will be more efficient and run longer.

Conclusion

This high quality robotic vacuum cleaner is suitable for pet-free homes with mostly wood floors where you will have some trouble picking up fine debris such as powder on a low to medium pile carpet.

One consumer said they also had trouble picking up tiled floors, so you’ll also have to take that into account.

The RF remote control is a great addition because you can reach the robot even if you are not in the same room. It has a range of 25 feet which is much longer than a standard infrared remote control.

The price you pay for convenience.

If you don’t mind the lack of touchpad controls, RF remote control, and a full container indicator, the Roomba 760 would be a better deal around $450 since it basically has the same features as the 790 and saves $250.