iRobot's new Roomba does something no other robot vacuum can
iRobot has unveiled a new range of Roomba robot vacuums, set to launch in the UK later in March. Starting at £499, the refreshed line-up features improved cleaning technology, with new features like a mechanical dust compactor to extend emptying times, rotating mop brushes and a self-cleaning docking station.
The announcement is billed by iRobot as the company's largest and most comprehensive product launch in its 35 year history.
In recent years, Roomba has faced tough competition from rivals like Eufy and Tapo, whose robot vacuums generally offer more advanced features at cheaper prices. With the launch of five overhauled vacuum cleaners, however, Roomba is hoping to reestablish itself as the leading innovator in the market it invented.
To complement the new bots, the Roomba companion app is also getting a complete refresh, promising improved controls, easier scheduling and the ability to monitor your device's progress in real-time.
'The launch of these robots represents more than the consistent progress of our exceptional innovation team,' said iRobot CEO Gary Cohen. 'They underscore the return of iRobot as the category creator and our leadership position that was established more than three decades ago.'
Here's a breakdown of the two headline Roomba devices arriving in the UK this March. They'll make up the new 2025 range alongside the entry-level Roomba 105 and the top-of-the line Roomba Plus 505.
The standout feature of the mid-range Roomba 205 is a new, onboard debris-compacting system, a first for robot vacuum cleaners. By physically compressing debris in the bin, iRobot claims the robot will be able to run autonomously for up to eight weeks without being manually emptied. That means there's no need for a bulky collection bin above the charging dock – a feature seen on some of the best robot vacuums.
The Roomba 205 will be available in a vac-only model or a combo model that adds a mopping function. Both get improved navigation and significantly more powerful suction than existing Roomba models.
A more premium Roomba, the Roomba Plus 405 is all about 'intense suction' – iRobot claims this model is 70 times more powerful than the Roomba 600 series. The 405 also uses more effective dual-spinning mop heads rather than the basic mopping pad found on other Roombas. We've seen similar spinning mop heads on our top-rated robot vacuum, the Eufy X10 Pro Omni (£799, Amazon.co.uk), but their inclusion here is a first for the brand.
The Roomba Plus 405 comes with an 'autowash' docking station, as seen with the existing Roomba Comba 10 Max. Once the cleaning job is completed, the vacuum automatically empties itself, then dutifully cleans and dries the mop heads with hot air and charges its batteries for the next run.
Prices will start at £499 for the Roomba 205 series and at £699 for the more premium Roomba Plus 405. Both go on pre-sale at select retailers later in March. We'll bring you our review once we've had some testing time with the new models.
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The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
I've finally tested a robot lawnmower that hasn't annoyed me
Design and setup If anything screams don't judge a book by its cover, it's the Eufy E15. This thing is kind of ugly. It gives Robot Wars more than Tesla Bot. It's chunky and awkward with a grey and black body that looks like a toy tank. There's a handle on the front for lifting it, a small LED display and a few physical buttons on the top as well as that big emergency stop button. I love that its charging base is like a little garage with a roof, so your lawnmower is protected from the rain (it is waterproof, IPX6 rated), and sun, which is bad for batteries in general. But while it won't be winning any design awards anytime soon, the Eufy E15 is by far and away the easiest robot lawnmower I've ever set up. You don't have to lay a perimeter wire around the garden, and there's no GPS RTK satellite antenna to faff around with. Some robot lawnmowers have such tall antenna, that it looked like I was trying to communicate with aliens. The bit that probably took the longest was securing the charging station to the ground. It comes with some chunky screws and an Allen key, and you just need to push them through the holes to keep the base in place. It's simple enough. Once that's all done, you turn the robot on using the switch underneath, and continue setup in the app. The robot needs access to wifi, so hopefully you've got a router close to your garden (or a wifi extender). If you're out of coverage, the Eufy E15 also comes fitted with a 4G SIM, but you have to pay an extra fee to activate it. I recommend placing the charging base on a solid surface like concrete or paving, mainly because it can't mow underneath itself. Leave it on the lawn like I did and you'll end up with a scruffy patch of grass growing up around it. That said, the included screws are meant for soil, so you can't fix it in the usual way. If you're placing it on concrete, you could either drill in some anchors or screw it into a bit of treated wood or decking first, though I doubt it would not budge if you just propped it up with some bricks. Once it's all turned on, you just tap the auto map button in the Eufy app and watch as the E15 use its camera system to scan the lawn and figure out what's grass and what's not, driving around your lawn like a controlled car. It generates a map exactly like a robot vacuum cleaner, all without ugly antennae or perimeter wires. It's the most seamless setup process I've ever experienced. It felt like a relief after testing such time-consuming models. Performance and features Before you get going, ensure your lawn is freshly-mown first. After that and it's all set up, the Eufy E15 will just roll out of its dock, do its job and head back home when it's done. It's fitted with a rain sensor, so if it starts raining at any point, it'll abandon the job and return home automatically. You can set a delay in the app so it waits a few hours before heading back out. Most of the controls live inside the app. You can adjust the cutting height (from 25mm to 75mm), tweak how close it gets to the edges, set the overlap between each pass and even change the mowing direction by rotating the angle on the map. There's also a setting for travel speed and blade speed. It's much more detail than most people will ever need, but great if you like to tinker with how your lawn looks and want total control. As a lazy person who still wants the lawn to look good, I set mine to 8cm path spacing, -15cm edge spacing and 25mm cutting height. The tighter path spacing means it overlaps more with each pass, so there's less chance of missing patches. The –15cm edge setting helps it get closer to borders, and the lowest cutting height keeps everything looking trim for longer. Basically, I wanted to do as little as possible if I ever had to get the big boy lawnmower out – I wanted the robot to do most of the hard yards. In terms of cut quality, I've been really impressed. It moves in straight, clean lines, never lost signal and never spun in confused circles like some others I've tested. It often looks like someone's professionally mown your lawn, with faint wheel stripes that make it look super neat. The mulching blades also chop the grass finely enough that there's nothing left to collect. But while the general cutting quality is good, it misses patches. One thing I would say is that even with the edge setting pushed to the max, it still doesn't do a great job at trimming some of the sides of the garden. There are huge patches of grass that it hasn't touched, despite not being super close to a fence. While, sure, it doesn't happily bounce off skirting boards like a robot vacuum, the Eufy E15 just misses patches near the fence entirely. 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Annoyingly though, you can't actually control it while it's mid-mow, so if you spot a patch it's missed, you can't just drive it over there. The remote's really just for helping it out of tight spots, though mine never got stuck once, so I just ended up playing with it like a toy. Also, big props to Eufy for including some really decent anti-theft technology in its mower, too. The mower is linked to your Eufy account, so if someone tries to nick it, they won't be able to pair it with a new device or app. It also locks itself and can sound a loud alarm if it's taken outside its mapped area. There's built-in GPS tracking, and if you activate the optional 4G SIM (which requires a subscription), you'll still be able to locate it even if it's out of range. Sure, someone can still pick it up and take it away from your garden, but it'll turn into a brick if they try and use it. The other that lets it down slightly is zone management. 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Metro
11-06-2025
- Metro
Rich people ‘will have robot butlers by 2030′ – but there's a major flaw
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Metro
08-06-2025
- Metro
Rich people ‘will have robot butlers within five years - with one major flaw'
We've all had fears about it, right? That one day robots will come in and takeover the world? Well we could be getting that much closer, as one expert has predicted robotic butlers will be a common toy for the super rich by 2030. Right now, humanoids are making great strides (or sometimes, falling over), but are still not quite ready for mass adoption. The chief executive of a company which makes robots used in warehouses across the world says this is about to change, however. Romain Moulin, the founder of Exotec, told Metro that within five years, those with enough money to spare will have robots to wipe their floors and maybe even fold their laundry. It won't be because they are so good at the job, though: 'It's mostly for bragging to your friends,' he said. They will be an expensive novelty at first, and will work for far less time than Jeeves could before taking a break. 'I think the first one we'll see will be like a Roomba,' Romain said. 'It will be sitting in a corner of the room. You will have some friends over and you will tell that humanoid robot, 'Please clean my floor.' 'It will pick up a broom and start cleaning, and then will go back and sit on his chair charging, because he has ten minutes of autonomy. That stuff has high power consumption.' At a push, developments in battery tech might let it keep going for 20 minutes, but ultimately it's not going to last longer than a cordless vacuum. Romain's company makes the Skypod robot, a functional piece of tech serving companies including Gap, Carrefour, Uniqlo and Decathlon. He thinks that when it comes to warehouses, humanoid robots are destined for the scrapheap. 'Nobody has a convincing answer on why you would have legs instead of wheels for an industrial environment,' he said. 'Why would you want legs on a flat concrete floor? You will save half of your robot price by removing them.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video He isn't convinced that humanoid robots are the answer for companies trying to be more efficient. By replicating the shape of a person, they're optimising something 'to run in the bush and pick apples in the trees' because humans were built for prehistoric survival, not packing parcels. But he does admit they are more useful in places where humans tend to be, such as hospitals, restaurants, or houses. Bringing a robot home isn't simple, though, as it's a much less regimented environment. 'Payload, autonomy, and safety are the biggest challenges,' Romain explained. 'If you increase the performance of your robot and you want it to lift heavier things, you are creating more chance to hurt someone.' He said that for a robot to be able to stand and walk around, its legs would have to weigh some 40kg, which is already enough power to do damage. Do you want a robot housekeeper? Humanoid robots are becoming more and more high profile, made by companies such as Tesla, which says their Optimus model will be 'capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring'. This robot is expected to cost around $20,000, but Romain guessed that fully functioning humanoid robot capable of doing household tasks independently would be more like $200,000. While we're fascinated by robots that look like us, they are more complicated to programme than a box on wheels. Balancing is a particular issue, and if it goes wrong it can lead to disturbing scenes like this robot 'going berserk' in a Chinese workshop. Romain says this is likely to have been down to its sensors realising it was still not stable, so making bigger and bigger 'crazy' moves to try and fix the problem in a feedback loop. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video AI has allowed big advancements in robotics, as it is used to power their independent navigation. This is how Evri were able to test out a robotic dog to deliver parcels, and UK farmers have also embraced the tech with robot fruit pickers. You may not interact with them much yet, still, but they could become as commonplace as touchscreens for food orders soon. More Trending He said that he is concerned about the changes that are coming to the jobs market, with humanoid robots able to take on most unskilled work within 20 years, and computers just 'working alone' in offices. 'One human then will do the job of five humans now,' he said. Even though Romain works with robots them every day, though, he won't be putting a butler on preorder. 'I prefer human relations,' he said. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Why so many young Brits are being 'manipulated' into smuggling drugs MORE: 9 best BBQs and pizza ovens from Dunelm ideal for this bank holiday weekend MORE: Uber says it's ready to put robotaxis on UK roads by 2027
