Roomba vs Roborock: Best Robot Vacuum Showdown

Robot vacuums have come a long way from randomly bumping into furniture. The two names you'll hear most are iRobot's Roomba line and Roborock — and they take pretty different approaches. Roomba's been in the game forever and has the brand recognition. Roborock showed up from China a few years back and started offering premium features at lower prices. Both make solid vacuums, but which one deserves your money? Roomba's biggest strength is obstacle avoidance. The j7+ uses a front-facing camera to dodge pet toys, shoes, and — yes — pet accidents. It's the vacuum you buy if you have a dog and don't want to come home to a disaster. Roborock's advantage is raw value. The Q7 Max+ gives you vacuum and mop combo plus a self-emptying dock at a price that's hard to argue with. And if you want the absolute best, the S8 MaxV Ultra is ridiculous — it mops, vacuums, washes its own mop pads, and empties its own dustbin. We've included a couple other contenders too because this space is competitive. The Shark AI Ultra and Dreame L20 Ultra are both worth a look depending on your budget.