Firing up your robot vacuum away from home makes a novel party trick, but the Roomba 980 isn't worth its $200 premium without more robust control.

Easy to use; Good for pet hair; App controlled; Good mapping capabilities

App doesn't have a ton of features; Imperfect cleaning; Loud; Expensive

The name Roomba may be synonymous with robot vacuums, but that doesn't mean every model is the cream of the crop. That's not the say that the Roomba 980 isn't a dutiful vacuum. Like its predecessors, this device is a meticulous little helper that keeps the house spot-free, and the companion app...

Extremely user-friendly companion app; Very good at finding its way back to its charging station; Comes with HEPA filters to grab errant dust particles

Often piercingly loud; Circular shape hinders vacuum from thoroughly cleaning corners; Not the best for pet owners looking to clean up fur

Does everything you need it to do, foes not miss spots usually, really helpful if you have a busy life. However, stops working if placed on a black carpet as it recognizes it as stairs/ fall , and officially no way to disable this sensor, frustrating because about 30 squares of my house is black...

iRobot's Roomba vacuums have always been easy to use, but the new Roomba 980 introduces an even easier way to clean your home without getting off the couch: app control. The Roomba 980 connects to your home Wi-Fi network, so you can control it remotely from an app on your smartphone.

Powerful; Good on rugs; Wi-Fi-enabled

Very expensive; Noisy

Since the advent of smart AI-assisted speakers, the concept of smart homes has been widely adopted and even implemented around the world. The idea of leaving most household chores, even the basic ones, to a computer, has captured the imagination of people, unlike anything.

When the robot vacuum cleaner craze kicked off, iRobot was the name at the forefront, but I haven't seen many models from the firm recently. With the iRobot Roomba e5, the company is back on form, with a solid mid-range robot that ships with a battery-powered virtual barrier system to stop the...

Excellent carpet cleaning; IFTTT channel; Brilliant connectivity

Additional virtual barriers are expensive; Left deeper dirt on wooden floors

Between seriously powerful suction, a HEPA filter, and the two-hour battery this is one of the best robot vacuums around for sheer cleaning - except in the corners where the round design won't reach.

iRobot's Roomba vacuums have always been easy to use, but the new Roomba 980 introduces an even easier way to clean your home without getting off the couch: app control. The Roomba 980 connects to your home Wi-Fi network, so you can control it remotely from an app on your smartphone. It's iRobot's best 'bot yet, but $899.99 is a hefty price to pay for app control. The Neato Botvac Connected ($299.99 at Amazon) gets you similar Wi-Fi functionality for less, making it the better buy. And though it lacks Wi-Fi, our Editors' Choice remains the Neato XV Signature Pro for its much more reasonable balance of performance and price. Design and Features The Roomba 980 looks a lot like its most recent predecessor, the Roomba 880 . It's about as big, measuring 13.8 inches in diameter and 3.6 inches high, and weighing in at 8.7 pounds. For comparison, the Neato Botvac Connected, which uses a more corner-friendly "D"-shape instead of a circular design, measures 3.9 by 12.7 by 13.2 inches (HW...

The Roomba 980 is iRobot's best robotic vacuum yet, adding Wi-Fi and app control for even easier home cleaning, but the price for convenience is higher than ever.

Powerful; Good on rugs; Wi-Fi-enabled

Very expensive; Noisy

iRobot sells everything from gutter- and pool-cleaning gadgets to commercial-grade military, security and HazMat robots -- a recent FCC waiver even suggests automated lawnmowers are in the works -- but the brand is best known for its fleet of Roomba robot vacuum cleaners.

iRobot gives its $900 Roomba 980 a brain power boost with a lithium ion battery; additional sensors; a camera; and Wi-Fi and app connectivity on Android and iOS devices

It didn't perform as well as the $700 Roomba 880 we reviewed in 2013; We also want to see features like a remaining battery life readout, push alerts and third-party integrations added to the iRobot Home app

No more stress over dirty floors and needing to drag the vacuum out - just tell 'Alexa' to get Roomba to clean and it's done! Emptying the small dustbin and pulling hair out of the wheels (easy) are the only maintenance tasks to do.