If you’re looking for the best robotic vacuum cleaner on the market, then there’s no better place to start than at iRobot models. Today, we’re going to examine the iRobot Roomba Combo 111840 Robot Vacuum & Mop, an affordable vacuum and mop hybrid bot that’s designed to making floor cleaning a breeze. Read our review to see if the R11840 is the right Roomba for your home.
Powerful Vacuum Action
This Roomba sports a beefy motor that provides more than enough power to extract fine debris from medium-pile carpets. It uses a V-shaped brush that digs deep into carpet fibers while also doing an excellent job at drawing in debris from the sides and corners.
While it’s not the most powerful robot vacuum out there, even compared to its Roomba cousins, it does an excellent job at removing most kinds of common floor debris, such as pet hair, dust, and tinier bits of cereal.
Mop Module
What sets the R11840 apart from most robotic vacuum cleaners is the mopping module. If you want, simply attach the water reservoir and microfiber pad onto the bottom of the robot and watch as it wipes your floors clean.
However, “mopping” is a generous term—in truth, it simply wipes your floors clean, but it works incredibly well at removing microscopic dust and dirt particles that the side brushes push away. There are three available mopping modes, each of which determines how much or how little water from the tank saturates the microfiber pad.
Two Vacuuming Modes
The R11840 has two vacuuming modes: auto and max. On auto mode, it’ll automatically switch between its two suction power gears depending on what surface it’s currently cleaning, which can save battery power as it hops back and forth between carpeted and smooth floors.
On max mode, it’ll use its carpet-boost suction power regardless of where it’s currently cleaning. This, however, drains the battery nearly twice as fast as auto mode.
60-Minute Runtime
Speaking of the battery, the R11840’s rechargeable battery pack isn’t too spectacular, but it’s not something to scoff at, either. A single charge, which can take anywhere from two to three hours, supplies around 60 minutes of nonstop cleaning action. On max power mode, the runtime lasts anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, per user reports.
It has an auto-recharge function, so it’ll make a beeline for its floor charging dock when its battery falls to 10 percent or less. Sadly, it doesn’t have auto-resume, but considering its price tag, you shouldn’t have expected it, anyway.
Learns Your Habits
Another thing that makes the R11840 stand out among the sea of vacuum cleaners out there is how adaptive it is to your habits. After running the Roomba for several sessions, it’ll automatically pick up your habits.
It’ll know when you typically start vacuuming and mopping sessions and will stop when you normally want it to. This “clean around your life” feature also recommends extra cleaning sessions during allergy season, which you might not always keep track of.
Expert Navigation
The R11840 can travel around floors with expert precision, despite not having high-tech sensors or navigation software. It doesn’t have mapping capabilities, so it’ll set up its own cleaning path automatically every time you turn it on.
For the most part, the R11840 doesn’t get stuck in obstacles very often, according to customers, but it does tend to fail to reach its charging station on a low battery. This means you might have to manually find and recharge the robot on occasion.
iRobot Home App
Just because this is a budget-friendly robot-mop hybrid doesn’t mean it’s inconvenient. The robot can pair with your smartphone via the iRobot Home app, which allows you to check cleaning reports, start and stop the robot at will, send it to the charging station, and even set up cleaning schedules.
Best of all, because it connects using Wi-Fi, you can send instructions from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a stable internet connection.
Voice Assistant Compatibility
Or if you’re at home and don’t want to fiddle with your smartphone, just yell at your Alexa or Assistant devices to relay commands to the R11840. It can receive basic voice prompts—start, stop, vacuum, mop, and recharge—but you’ll have to set up the cleaning schedule on your phone manually.
Verdict: The iRobot Roomba R11840 Is One of the Best Budget-Friendly Hybrid Robots
For what it costs and what you get, it’s fair to say that the iRobot Roomba Combo 111840 Robot Vacuum & Mop is one of the best in its price category.
While it’s missing some premium features, which typically don’t come with robots of this price bracket, it performs just as well as any Roomba. Just make sure to keep your mopping expectations within reason.
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