Roomba 650 and 619 review – the best robo-vacuum cleaner is still the best

Roomba 650 and 619 review – the best robo-vacuum cleaner is still the best

This review was originally written in the summer of 2017 after buying the Roomba a few months earlier. Now after 3 years of ownership, I can say it still works as well – the only maintenance I’ve done is to wipe down the sensors with a wet napkin and clean the brushes every 3 months. Also I just read the Wirecutter and they said the best Roomba models as of 2020 are still the Roomba 619 and Roomba 650. The only change – they’re now cheaper than ever with a price at just around $200.
Okay, back to the original review…

It’s crazy to think that Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners have been around for 15 years now. But this probably explains the reason why they are still considered the best, even though competition is increasing (and arguably getting closer). This is a Roomba 650 review.

The working mechanism is quite simple – omnidirectional (i.e. can see 360 degrees) infrared sensor on top, this acts as the eye(s) of Roomba, a sidespinner brush on the side and two spinning brushes at the bottom that lead the dirt up to the vacuum. This feeds dust into a easily removable container.

When I unboxed my own Roomba 650 and set it loose in my house, then after an hour I was really surprised. Not how much better my house looked, but it had managed to get almost a full canister of dust. And I thought my place was totally clean when it started. Being slightly allergic to dust, this has made my life so much easier.
Roomba

Can I sell my old vacuum now?

Short answer (and the one that can deter you from getting a Roomba) is “no”. Roomba still has weaker suction and can’t reach behind the couch and other hard to reach places. But using it means you can use your old-school vacuum less – a lot less. In my own case I used to vacuum once or twice a week, about 6-8 times a month.
With Roomba this has fallen to once per month or every other month and using Roomba about every other day.

Other things I was worried about – small container for dust, getting stuck, leaving random spots uncleaned, tangling into cables, falling down stairs, not getting to the carpet or over doorsills – in all cases I have been proven wrong.
Another concern for myself was how it’s going to handle larger rooms or whole floors. Turns out the solution is quite clever and simple at the same time. Whenever Roomba gets low on battery while cleaning, it just goes to charger, gets a full charge and continues where it left off. For some reason no Roomba 650 review that I read before purchasing mentioned this fact.

Which model to get?

Before getting my own Roomba I researched all its different models (and competition) quite thoroughly and didn’t really find a good reason to go for the top end models. Other users claimed that suction/performance between base model and top end model was very similar, if not the same. Given the price difference of up to 3 times, this made choosing easy and I’ve been using my 600-series ever since. About a year in I couldn’t be happier with it. If remote start, integration with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and other added features are essential to you, then you might also consider Roomba 890 (at around $400) or Roomba 980 (at around $800).

Competition

Neato Botvac
Neato Botvac

As I mentioned already competition is definitely heating up, but there’s only one that folks at iRobot (Roomba’s parent company) have to worry about. It is the Neato Botvac series, which has slightly better algorithm for going over the room and slightly better suction, but downsides are that the increased suction comes with increased noise, higher price tag and Roomba just definitely looks better and has proven track record of being extremely reliable.
Our recommendation – go for the cheapest Roomba and you won’t have to worry for the next 10 years.

BUY IT

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