I tested Roomba’s new flagship robot vacuum cleaner – it’s super stylish, and will leave your hard floors sparkling

When you think of robot vacuums, you likely think of Roomba. And while iRobot (the manufacturer behind the Roomba) has primarily dominated across the pond, they've also established themselves in the UK over the years - and the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum Cleaner and Mop is the brand's newest flagship model.

And as it's my job as Ideal Home's Certified Expert in Vacuums to test all of the latest and (hopefully) greatest new additions to the market, I was eager to take it for a spin. But do I think it's worthy of a place on my best robot vacuum cleaners guide? Well, it's complicated. This is everything you need to know.

In a nutshell

On paper, the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop - which is the brand’s newest addition to the fleet - offers a lot. It has 13,000Pa of suction power (which is '175x stronger' than previous ones in its range and above industry average), impressive roller mopping and an AutoWash Dock that should take the hassle out of floor cleaning.

And it does… in a way. During testing, the Roomba Max Combo proved to me that it thrives on hard flooring specifically. The extendable roller delivers sparkling results and detailed edge and corner cleaning, while its carpet cover protects your soft flooring. I also found the obstacle avoidance to be more than satisfactory, and the cleaning customisation options to be extensive.

However, this isn’t a robot vacuum cleaner for everyone. Due to the large size of its bot and (admittedly very stylish) docking station, the Roomba Max Combo will only really suit larger, open-plan homes. And the challenges I encountered during carpet testing suggest that individuals with long hair or pets may not achieve the results they’re seeking.

When I take into account these limitations and the price tag that sits just shy of £1,000, I just can’t justify giving it more than a 4-star review - especially as there are so many other cheaper (and equally as capable) options out there. That’s not to say it’s a bad robot vacuum and mop, as I believe it’ll suit mop-focused customers well. However, it’s not the all-rounder I was hoping for.

Specifications

• Max. run time: Not supplied
• Suction power: 13,000Pa
• Bin volume: 3L dust capacity (up to 75 days of debris)
• Mop function: Yes
• Charge time: 1.5 hours
• Noise levels (tested by us): 70dB
• Dimensions: 45L x 34.4W x 47Hcm
• Weight: 5.72kg bot, 8.47kg docking station
• Compatible with: Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

At this point, I’ve tested more robot vacuums than I can count, so I’m used to boxes of all shapes and sizes arriving on my doorstep. However, at 19kg, the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop was definitely one of the biggest I’ve had to contend with. I struggled to carry it into my home, so just be warned that you may need extra hands to help when it’s delivered.

Everything inside the big box was then separated into smaller boxes - with the spare side brushes, filter and charging cable in one box, the bot in another, and the docking station wrapped in sometimes-recyclable LDPE 04 plastic (depending on your local authority).

Everything was neatly packaged and didn’t require too much assembly either. In fact, all I had to do was attach the side brushes, fill up the clean water tank, and position the docking station before plugging it in. There was also a dust bag already fitted into the auto-empty docking station (and a spare for when that one fills up).

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Unfortunately, as I was loaned a press sample to test, my iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo didn’t come with the brand’s designated cleaning solution - but those who buy new will be able to take advantage of a 30 mL sample bottle of cleaning concentrate, which will be auto-dispensed before use.

Then, with everything set up and assembled, I downloaded the Roomba Home app and connected it to the robot vacuum cleaner. This took all of two minutes, and couldn’t have been easier thanks to the on-screen step-by-step instructions.

I then allowed the robot vacuum cleaner to create maps for two areas of my house that I regularly use robot vacuums in - my entire downstairs floor, including my dining room, living room and kitchen, and my bedroom upstairs. Creating these maps was easy enough and took less than 10 minutes for both areas.

But before I used the Roomba robot vacuum for the first time, I took a step back to assess the overall design and look of the appliance. My first impression was that the docking station was big - perhaps a bit too big for my cosy house - but that the design was incredibly sleek and stylish.

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The white colourway makes it relatively unassuming, and I loved the addition of the wood-effect frontage. And if you don’t like the white colourway, you can also buy the exact same model in black with a similar wood-effect design.

However, I was a little dubious about the size of the bot itself. It looked a lot wider than other models I’ve tested, and I was curious to see how it would cope with chair and table legs in my dining room (which has become an unofficial test I include as part of my reviewing process) - especially as the last robot vacuum I tested was the world’s smallest robot vacuum cleaner and was a lot more compact.

Ease of use

Controlling the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop is done entirely through the Roomba Home app, and I must admit I had a love-hate relationship with it throughout the testing process.

On the plus side, I loved the information provided with the maps, and the fact that it intelligently created a 3D map of my home - complete with 3D furniture that was incredibly (and a little bit scarily) accurate.

Switching between maps was also easy, and I liked that the main page offered me all of the information I could want to know about the robot’s health - including the number of hours I could use the edge sweeping brush before it needed to be replaced and even how many washes the dock washing system had left in it. On this page, you can also quickly order replacement parts, which is always a nice touch.

When you turn the robot vacuum on for a cleaning session, you can also choose your cleaning requirements on the app - choosing between vacuum only, mopping only, or vacuum and mop simultaneously. You can also change the intensity of the cleaning session, opting for lighter cleans or deeper cleans, which is a handy option to have if you have a big family or pets in the home.

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On the ‘automations’ tab, you can also set up schedules to clean specific maps at specific times to suit your requirements. And while I work from home and don’t run my robot vacuums at night as my dog sleeps down there, I did use this scheduling setting to have the Roomba run while taking the dog for a walk. Then, I could ensure that my floors were clean by the time I returned home.

But while I appreciated how customisable the Roomba app was, I did find it a little clunky, and it took me almost an entire week before I felt confident navigating my way around all of the different settings and options. It’s definitely not as user-friendly as other models I’ve tested, even though you do get used to it the more you use it.

I also find the app to be a little glitchy, and there were many occasions where the app lost connection with the Roomba robot during cleaning. Strangely, it still continued to clean the areas I’d selected when this happened, but I couldn’t follow the process or see any information about the cleaning process on the app.

Performance

I must admit that I was very excited to test out the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop, as it’s the first robot vacuum I’ve tested that has an extendable mop roller. This feature is becoming increasingly common in new models, and I was eager to see how it would fare in terms of edge cleaning.

So, I decided to first use the Roomba in the downstairs of my home, which is a mixture of hard flooring and rugs. In the kitchen, the PowerSpin Roller Mop - which spins at 200 RPMs and applies consistent pressure - proved itself to be seriously effective, leaving my kitchen tiles and laminate wet but not too wet.

The roller knew intuitively when to extend itself to clean right up to the edge of my baseboards and skirting boards, and the side brush also swept up any loose debris at the same time. So, I felt confident that my floors were receiving the best wet-and-dry cleaning treatment.

This was also the case on my laminate flooring in my living room and dining room, but I must admit that the cleaning wasn’t quite as effective on my rugs or my carpets upstairs in the bedroom. And despite offering 13,000Pa of suction power, I found that the Roomba Max 705 Combo struggled when faced with hair on carpets - both my own long hair and my dog’s hair.

In fact, I began to notice that when used on my rugs and carpets, the robot vacuum seemed to bundle the hair together and leave hairballs in its wake. I looked online as to why this would be happening, and most of the comments stated that either the filter was dirty or the dust bin was blocked.

As it was only the second time I had used the robot vacuum, the filter wasn’t dirty and didn’t need to be cleaned (yes, I checked). I then checked the dust bag in the docking station, and saw that it was completely empty - even though it was my second time using the robot vacuum, and it had supposedly already auto-emptied itself.

So, I checked the on-board dustbin on the bot itself and saw the whole thing had become blocked with pet and human hair. This isn’t something I’ve encountered before, and while I appreciate that I malt like a dog and my dog actually malts like a dog, I found it to be a little disappointing as robot vacuums should offer hands-free cleaning.

The fact that I had to either walk behind the robot vacuum to pick up hairballs or ensure the onboard dustbin was emptied properly before cleaning has made me think that those with pets would also struggle. However, I do appreciate that some animals (and humans) don’t shed as much as my house does, so this probably won’t be an issue for most people.

On hard flooring, though, I really can’t fault the Roomba 705 Combo. This was proven when I put the Roomba through our specific testing process, which involves putting different types of debris on the floor and assessing how well it picks it up on hard flooring and carpets. For this test, I used flour, coffee, rice and pet hair.

On carpets, the Roomba struggled a bit with the smaller debris, but didn’t have any problem with the rice or, strangely, the loose pet hair that hadn’t embedded itself into the carpets. It picked the larger pieces up in one pass, but took a few passes to pick up all of the flour and coffee.

On hard flooring, the results were also fairly instantaneous. In vacuum and mop mode, all of the debris was picked up in two passes - and although the flour was wiped around a little bit during the vacuuming process, the mop dealt with the aftermath and left the floors spotless. The rice also got thrown about a bit by the edge brushes, but was eventually picked up.

To test the mopping process further, I then squirted some tomato ketchup on the floor, and once again, it did a stellar job. So, I moved on to the obstacle test, which assesses a robot vacuum cleaner’s ability to both detect and avoid obstacles. And as this model uses PrecisionVision AI Technology, I had high expectations.

Thankfully, these expectations were met, and the robot vacuum managed to traverse the dumbbell I had placed in its path with ease. It detected the obstacle before it hit it, and then adjusted its navigation to clean in a tight circle around it.

Throughout the entire testing process, I also found that it navigated everyday obstacles like cables and furniture with ease - and the app even adds little orange traffic cones to the map when it encounters any obstructions. Because of this, I was seriously impressed with the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo’s obstacle avoidance.

However, I will say that my concerns about the size of the bot from earlier were warranted, as the Roomba Max 705 Combo was just too big to get between the legs of my dining room table and chairs. This is the first robot vacuum cleaner I’ve tested that hasn’t been able to do this, so I had to go over that area with my regular vacuum cleaner when the robot had finished.

It’s also worth noting that iRobot doesn’t provide a runtime for the Roomba Max 705 Combo, as they say it depends on the size and cleanliness of your home. For reference, though, I was able to successfully vacuum my entire downstairs and bedroom on one charge, and I didn’t ever see it drop below 50%. And with a charge time of just 1.5 hours, you don’t have to wait too long for it to charge if it runs out.

Cleaning and maintenance

Although robot vacuums do require some cleaning and maintenance, they’re still relatively hands-off - and that’s one of the things I really appreciated about the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop.

Before each session, the roller mop is washed, the dock is rinsed, and the bot is filled with clean water (and cleaning solution if you use it). After each session, the dust bin on the bot is auto-emptied, and the self-clean cycle washes and heats the roller to dry it quickly.

The 3L dust bag in the docking station can also store up to 75 days’ worth of debris, so there’s no need to empty this regularly. In fact, most of the maintenance is performed on the bot itself.

iRobot suggests cleaning the filter regularly with the cleaning brush provided (and located on the inside of the docking station lid), and replacing it every 3-6 months for continually effective cleaning. You should also clean the castor wheels, multi-surface rollers, dirty water tank, roller mop and ducts. However, there’s detailed information on how to do this within the user guide, which can also be found on the app itself.

How does it rate online?

The iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo is a new addition to iRobot’s lineup, so reviews are pretty scarce. In fact, there are only 24 reviews on the website - all of which are in either Spanish or Portuguese. Out of those reviews, 23 customers gave it a 5-star review. The other customer gave it a 4-star review.

At first glance, it also looks like it has a 4.1-star rating on Amazon. However, when I looked closer, most of these reviews were from 2018, so they aren’t representative of the new model.

How does it compare to similar models?

In terms of performance and features, the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo is comparable to the Eufy Robot Vacuum Omni E25, which is currently the number-one rated model in our best robot vacuums guide. Both offer a sleek design, both have an auto-empty and auto-refilling dock, and both have roller mops for enhanced mopping.

I would say that the Eufy is a better all-rounder, though. It offers 20,000Pa of suction power compared to the Roomba’s 13,000Pa, and both the dock and the bot are smaller, which makes it suitable for smaller homes that are more prevalent in the UK. It’s also slightly cheaper at £899.

Where the Roomba shines, however, is in the heated mop drying process, as this isn’t something that the Eufy model offers. It’s also significantly quicker to charge, so if you have a large house and want to use it multiple times a day, the Roomba will suit you better.

In terms of price point, the Roomba Max 705 Combo is similar to the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI+ 3-in-1 Robot Vacuum Cleaner, which our tester gave a 4.5-star review. Both of these models offer enhanced mop cleaning, with the Samsung offering steam-powered sanitisation.

The Samsung model also uses enhanced AI for obstacle avoidance, but it doesn’t have the extendable arm roller for edge cleaning. So, both could be suitable if you’re willing to pay a bit extra.

Verdict: Should you buy the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop?

If you have a large, open-plan home and want a robot vacuum cleaner and mop that thrives on hard flooring, then there’s certainly a lot to love about the iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo Robot Vacuum and Mop. The mopping quality is excellent, and the extendable roller delivers exceptional edge cleaning along skirting boards and baseboards.

Because of this, I think many people would benefit from scheduling it to clean their kitchens and hard-floored living spaces when they don’t want to get out the vacuum or mop. After all, I was happy with the state of my hard flooring once I got the hang of the app.

However, I do think the customer pool for this model is limited - and for such a high price point, I did expect it to be more universal. The size of both the base and the bot itself means that it’ll struggle in smaller, cosier households, and it won’t be 100% hands-free in households with pets if you experience the same issues that I did.

Ultimately, if you have primarily hard flooring in your house, I think it’ll be a worthwhile investment. If you have a large amount of carpet and want to ensure an efficient clean every time, I’d consider an alternative.