iRobot Roomba j7+ Self-Emptying Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Renewed)

Update 7/12/25So if you are debating whether you need a robot vacuum here are some thoughts after buying and using two of these for a year.I'm not convinced it actually saves any work. These do have decent obstacle avoidance, but by avoiding obstacles they also avoid a significant part of your house, unless you prep the house for the vacuum cleaners to clean. This is not Roombas fault but it is the reality.Second forget about running these with kids or dogs around it becomes a moving target... Literally like flies to .... it will be harassed until it stops or you stop it.3rd after prepping the house for vacuuming it takes 30-45 minutes to do an area that might take ten minutes with a regular vacuum. It does a good job but it's noisy enough that you don't want it running if you are using the space for other stuff, so really just doing a quick regular vacuum after picking up everything is not a big deal.4th there is a lot of stuff it doesn't get very well, ie. corners under or around stuff etc. so you have to vacuum those by hand anyway.Summary after a year, good vacuum, Amazon renewed worked great, but I think if doing it again I would just "stick" to a normal vacuum, pun intended. I'm not sold that these really save much work.Maybe without kids and dogs and clutter this could just run in the background, but that is not the world I live in.Still five stars because it does everything it claimed and still functions perfectly.Original ReviewSo I will post an update after some use. However I will address the renewed since that is most likely what people are interested in on this particular item.I paid $300 for the Roomba j7 with clean base #7550. It was renewed excellent condition. It came in a box that clearly stated refurbished. With irobot tags on it. And model number. The robot, base, and cord were separated in plastic with cardboard strategically holding everything in place. With the exception of everything being clearly identified as refurbished, stickers and permanently typed text on box, it was obviously professionally packed and sealed. It had a card talking about irobots return policy as well.The unit looked brand new upon removal and set up. No obvious scuffs or stains, bin was completely clean (which is amazing if anyone actually ran a cleaning cycle with it).It connected immediately and executed a smart map on the app over the first hour of use.I have vacuumed my downstairs twice since than and everything appears to work flawlessly.This is my second experience with Amazon renewed and I will see initially I am impressed, this may as well be a new product. I also appreciate the extended return window and of course most of all the price being approx 50 percent of new.The Roomba j7, is an addition/replacement of a 4 year old Roomba 675. It is night and day smarter than the 675, with mapping, obstacle avoidance and self emptying bin. I wanted a robot that got stuck less often and I definitely got it with the j7, it effortlessly deals with furniture, cords, baby toys etc. and the map is also fairly good.I will definitely update once I have some use on this unit. But my initial thoughts are that Amazon renewed is awesome and so is this robot.

It was great on arrival. Didn't have to factory reset it, was able to connect to my Wi-Fi just fine, and was able to build it into my schedules with my other Roombas. Worked great for the first 30 days, then suddenly, the base stopped working entirely. Wouldn't charge the Roomba at all. Wouldn't self-empty. I was able to charge the Roomba itself by using another basic Roomba base station (again, I already had another Roomba), and it continued to work just fine. So, I was able to confirm that the self-emptying base station itself failed. So, I unplugged it, left it off for a bit hoping there was just a bad capacitor or something. Plugged it back in and... nothing. So, I contacted Amazon support (who were basically useless, except telling me to try putting my Roomba on the base station and cleaning the contacts [again, I already tried these things because I own another Roomba], and sending a message to Woot [who still has yet to respond]). If they don't have a different base station here in 48 hours, I'm returning this junk and reordering from the iRobot refurbished store. Great vacuum, but really let down because I hoped everything would work.

General Review - I was hesitant about buying a robot vacuum being a first time buyer however I love it so far! I had done some research before buying one and out of all of them the iRobot seems to have the best reputation. I found this one on sale during Prime Day as a refurbished from factory for HALF OFF its normal price!! Worked and looked brand new!PROS:- Does really well at cleaning on our high pile carpet- Excellent cleaning on hardwood flooring (pet hair included)- Self empties into its base- Can be setup to clean when you leave your home- Can be set to clean in certain areas of your home and even around certain objects by creating a zone.- Can place no-go zones to where the robot will not goto (had to do this with our closet because there were too many things in the way for me to want it to attempt to vacuum around)- Sends a notification to your phone with pictures when its done cleaning if it detects any objects in the way that allow you to tell it if its a temp object or if it should create a no-go zone automatically for you.CONS:- VERY NOISY when its emptying into its base station (only lasts a few seconds but be weary if running it at night with the base station near a bedroom!)- Replacement parts are kinda expensive if not bought on sale! Gives you an estimate of hours remaining on said part (which seemed kind of low in my opinion, making cost of ownership more expensive that you may realize. Example: Filter will last around 50 hours which will add up to around 2 months of usage if you run multiple times a week, filters cost about $30 for a 3 pack if you buy authentic ones)- Does OK at navigating around things but has caused scuffing on the body from where it bumps into things (there are 3rd party scuff guards you can buy off here that will help this issue (ie: foam pads, covers))- Sometimes doesn't clean around certain areas too well that tend to have more objects in the way (such as dining tables and near some living room furniture)OVERALL I would highly recommend this robot for first time robot vacuum buyers! Especially if you get a steal of a deal like myself!