iRobot Roomba Plus 505 + White

Of all the iRobot machines I have had, this is by far the best. I was allowed to test this machine to give my honest opinion. I was skeptical because iRobot has stood still in terms of development for a while and has been surpassed on all sides in the meantime. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised and this machine does its job well, a lot better than my current Roomba i8 and Jet m6 combination. What I especially like is that you don't have to worry about it. I empty the dirty water tank every day and fill the fresh water tank and that's about it. I do notice that this 505 uses quite a lot of water because the tank is not very small but is still empty every day in a space of ±90m2.

Other plus points are certainly that this Roomba finally uses Lidar navigation, which means that it can also do its job in the dark. My old machines cannot do this, for example, because they rely on a camera to navigate and this one cannot see much in the dark. After cleaning, the mops are cleaned in the base station and then dried with warm air, which is also very nice and the mops stay reasonably fresh.

The only thing that really disappointed me is the new iRobot app. Getting the Roomba 505 to run its first lap requires a lot of patience and in my household with 4 children and a dog it is impossible to get it to make a map properly first. I finally did this once when we were all gone, after that it went well. Later I also discovered that you can set per room how the Roomba should treat it (clean twice, vacuum first and then mop, etc.). However, you only see this when you scroll down when you want to press the cleaning button. These are points that could be improved, in addition to the totally failed time indications of 10,000+ hours and English texts mixed with Dutch. Last downside of the new app in my case; you cannot operate your old Roomba and Braava models with it.

The Roomba Plus 505 Combo is a premium robot vacuum from iRobot with powerful suction, a mopping function, and smart obstacle detection. Its design is similar to the 405 and is available in black and white. Due to its LiDAR unit and camera, it is slightly taller, making it challenging to navigate low furniture. The AutoWash dock empties the dust bin, cleans and dries the pads, and supplies the robot with fresh water. The transparent reservoirs are less aesthetically pleasing, but functional.

In use, the robot navigates accurately and reliably detects obstacles such as cables and shoes. Up to 7,000 Pa of suction effortlessly removes dirt and pet hair. Only deep-pile carpets are challenging. The rotating mopping pads with PerfectEdge reach right up to the baseboards and clean effectively, but can sometimes be too wet—the water level is not adjustable, despite marketing promises. The app lacks integration with older models and is slow and sometimes error-prone. You can, however, see live where the robot is and what it's doing. Settings aren't always logically placed, and some features like No-Go Zones are missing.

In short, the 505 Combo offers plenty of comfort and technology, but it also has some quirks. Those who can live with those will get a smart and powerful robot that's especially well-suited for busy households.

She is a very precise lady who vacuums the place. The mopping function is not quite what I had hoped for. The rotating pads are really nice, only the vacuum cleaner itself does not have a water reservoir so the pads are quickly "dry" and then it continues mopping. It would be nicer if she would always go back to the base station after mopping a piece to moisten the pads again. A nice design though. A clean and dirty water reservoir.