Roomba i3 Plus EVO: A Quick Hands-on

There is no doubt the Roomba j7 is currently the best robot vacuum for luxury Vinyl plank floors and other types of hard flooring. It comes with all the bells and whistles that you can expect from a high-end model. However, the steep price can be a bit much for most people.

The i3 Plus EVO is a cheaper alternative for those with a tight budget. But how can it compare to the flagship robot vacuum of iRobot? Let’s find out.

The First Look

iRobot doesn’t equip the i3 Plus EVO with all the advanced functionalities. There are no keep-out zones, app-enabled clean, or obstacle avoidance. However, it does have smart mapping. You can still control where and when the i3 Plus EVO cleans.

It even comes with a physical cleaning button, allowing you to start spot cleaning manually. You can have plenty of customizations with the i3’s mapping feature. The latest update allows users to choose specific rooms and arrange a schedule for them, according to experts from The King Live.

This map can also be used when you need to clean your living or kitchen room at any point, for instance, resulting in more flexibility. Most of us don’t need a robot vacuum to clean the whole house every time. But since a robot can only follow a predefined order, we can only select supported cleaning programs.

If a robot vacuum has no means to divide the house into different areas, people are less likely to start it when there is only a small room to clean. The mapping feature thus makes cleaning with a robot vacuum less intrusive with the right schedule.

Just remember that the i3 Plus EVO typically takes a long time to map the whole house. This is a big downside that iRobot hasn’t succeeded in dealing with.

The main culprit is the proprietary navigation technology that Roomba machines use. It is different from Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) – a common detection tech that most other robot vacuums use.

Among all the iRobot models that have the self-emptying feature, the i3 Plus EVO is the most affordable. It costs much less than the j7 while still offering powerful suction and impressive battery life.

On many other fronts, the i3 Plus EVO also possesses the same features. Using the iRobot mobile app, you can control it via Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa. If your home is equipped with smart devices, you can integrate them with the i3 Plus EVO and schedule a cleaning session whenever you go out.

The physical appearance is a big similarity between those models as well. They both have multi-surface roller brushes to improve the ability to pick up dirt. Those rubber brushes are less likely to get tangled by the air than bristles brushes.

But from our testing, the i3 Plus EVO seems not to be able to match the j7’s smart navigation. Without a camera, it bumps into stuff more often. This can cause some small troubles, such as a toppled chair. If you have plenty of delicate items, think twice about getting this model.

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Conclusion

The i3 Plus EVO provides the biggest bang for the buck when self-emptying is what you are going after. But make sure you are aware of other downsides of this affordable model. If you decide to stick with your current machine and have a problem with emptying, check out the guide on “How to Dispose of Vacuum Cleaner: The Best Way to Deal With an Old Vacuum”