In the world of robotic vacuum cleaners, the Roomba and Ecovacs brands have become household names.
Their latest models, the Roomba J7 Plus Combo and the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni, are both highly advanced and boast impressive features. But how do they stack up against each other?
In this irobot Roomba J7 Plus Combo vs Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni review, we will compare the two robot vacuums side by side, evaluating their performance, cleaning capabilities, and unique features.
Whether you’re a busy professional, a pet owner, or someone who simply wants to make their cleaning routine more efficient, this comparison will help you make an informed decision about which robotic vacuum cleaner is the best fit for your needs.
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At a glance
Last update on 2024-04-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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The quick answer
In the home gadgets’ industry, iRobot is certainly a bigger name than Ecovacs. But a comparison between the iRobot Roomba J7+ Combo and the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni tells a different story.
Roomba J7+ Combo is no doubt a good robot vacuum, especially for multistory homes with pets and plenty of carpets. But it doesn’t quite measure up to the more impressive Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni.
Side by side, the X1 Omni beat the Combo J7+ in almost every aspect. It has better navigation, better mopping function, better battery life, more quiet operation, better base station with automated maintenance features and it doesn’t get stuck.
I still love that the iRobot Roomba has a cleaner and more attractive design (can’t say the same for the Deebot). Plus the tiny robot arm that retracts the mopping pad to the top of the device, preventing even the smallest amount of water from getting on carpets.
Product overviews
Roomba Combo J7+
The Roomba Combo J7+ is built to simultaneously vacuum and mop large homes with both carpets and hard floors. It effectively sweeps up pet hair and dirt particles using dual multi-surface rubber brushes, an edge-sweeping brush and a powerful suction force.
For intelligent navigation, this robot is equipped with iRobot OS Technology and PrecisionVision Navigation to recognize and avoid common objects in its way. To improve cleaning efficiency, the Imprint Smart Mapping enables you to manage and schedule when and which rooms are cleaned, while also saving several maps for simpler cleaning on every level of your house.
It’s powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that never runs out of juice with the ‘Recharge and Resume Feature.’ Roomba J7+ is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant voice controls and a user-friendly mobile app for extra-easy control.
- Vacuums and mops in one go
- Good obstacle avoidance
- Lifts mop pad with robot arm
- Free replacement if it goes over pet waste in the first year
- Battery life can be improved
- Mopping pad is small
- Water tank is small (needs regular refills)
Last update on 2024-04-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni
The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni is an advanced hybrid vacuum and mopping robot with impressive cleaning capabilities. Deebot delivers excellent cleaning on both hard floors and carpets, thanks to the combined action of a center sweeping brush, 2 side brushes, a large 5200 mAh battery, and a powerful 5000 Pa suction.
For intelligent navigation and better cleaning performance, this robot-mop combo uses LiDAR technology and a front-facing camera to avoid obstacles on its path and create maps of your home.
The ECOVACS DEEBOT X1 OMNI has a very powerful docking station that not only automatically empties the dustbin when it is full of debris, but also separates clean and dirty water in the mopping reservoir and then quickly cleans and dries the mopping pad to prevent bacteria growth and foul smell.
Deebot has an app for remote control and a built-in voice assistant named YIKO, which has more commands than Alexa or Google Assistant.
- Exceptional navigation performance
- Great cleaning performance
- Impressive docking station
- Excellent battery life
- Expensive robot vacuum & mop
- Poor edge sweeping
- Mop function is average
Last update on 2024-04-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Side by side comparison
Size and look
These two robots don’t look very different at first glance. They both have the basic circular shape of most other robot vacuums, with a black and silver finish. The major difference is that the Ecovac Deebot X1 Omni is bigger than the irobot Roomba J7+ Combo because the former is wider with an obvious protrusion at the top.
The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni is 4.1 inches tall and 14.3 inches in diameter. While the smaller Roomba j7+ measures 13.3 inches in diameter and 3.4 inches tall.
Navigation and obstacle avoidance are two features that greatly contribute to how well a robot cleans. Most vacuuming and mopping robots use laser sensors to find their way around the home, but some also have cameras for better vision.
The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni and Roomba Combo both have integrated RGB cameras that help identify and avoid objects in the home. These robot vacs also use AI and sensors for navigation, and are able to smartly navigate the floors with a high-level of accuracy.
The Roomba J7+ features a mode that enables the robot to photograph objects it comes into contact with, give you the image, and ask you to identify it to improve the robot’s object recognition abilities.
The irobot Roomba combo does a reasonable job of avoiding obstacles in general, but not great. The Deebot X1 OMNI also performs admirably (even better than the J7+, thanks to its 3D structured light) and will avoid every object in its path during cleaning.
Cleaning performance
The real test here is how effectively these robots will clean. You wouldn’t expect the cleaning performance of these high-end robot vacuums to be anything less than fantastic, would you?
These robots are excellent performers and will effectively clean your house. Both of these robots work great on low pile carpet and hardwood floors.
On a closer look, we found that Deebot X1 OMNI struggled a bit on high-pile carpet floors, this is no surprise since robot vacuums are not particularly great with high-pile carpet. However, the cleaning performance of the X1 OMNI was outstanding overall, with a dirt removal rate of about 96.5%.
The irobot Roomba J7+ also does a great job, but several cleaning tests show that it doesn’t perform as well as the Ecovacs. Plus, it’s not the best performing Roomba.
Smart mapping
Creating smart maps that help with navigation and cleaning efficiency is a common feature in high-end robot vacuums. Most robot vacuums use LiDAR to scan and map the floors of a house, and their apps let you view and edit the maps.
Both the Deebot and Roomba vacuums will determine the general layout, identify furniture, and create multiple smart maps that give you a visual layout of every space in your home. From the respective app of each robot, you can see a real-time 3D map of your house while the robots clean and vacuum your floors. Also, the maps let you designate no-go zones and target clean specific rooms.
App & voice control
Both the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni and the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus feature smartphone controls for both iOS and Android devices.
The apps provide similar controls and use Wi-Fi to connect to your robot vacuum. From the app, you can edit the maps to include new rooms, set no-go areas, or instruct your robot to clean particular rooms.
Roomba Combo J7+ can be connected to Siri, Alexa, or the Google Assistant to provide voice-activated cleaning, while Deebot X1 Omni has a voice assistant built into the robot. You have access to more commands with the assistant (named YIKO) than you would typically have with Alexa or Google Assistant.
On-device control
While these two robots are majorly controlled from their mobile apps, they still have few buttons on the device for basic controls.
There is a single button at the top of the irobot Roomba Combo j7+ for starting, pausing, or resuming a cleaning cycle. You can also send the robot home by holding the button down. Similarly, the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni has a single touch button at the top of the device to start/stop a cleaning cycle or send the robot home. Plus, a small red switch for turning the robot On/Off.
Key Differences
Mopping performance
The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni performs exceptionally well when mopping. It actually scrubs, instead of just dragging the damp cloth across the floors. It uses a dual-spinning mopping pad to mop up dirt and debris off the floor. The mop pads’ rotation and vibration effectively imitate the scrubbing motion.
In contrast, the irobot Roomba J7+ simply drags a damp mopping pad across the floor, it doesn’t even attempt to do any real scrubbing. The one impressive thing about the mopping function of the Roomba J7+ is its ability to completely remove the mopping pad completely from the floor when it detects a carpet.
When the J7+ senses a carpet, the robot arm lifts the mopping pad and places it on top of the robot, this works very well and not even a drop of water will get on carpets.
The Deebot X1 Omni also avoids carpets by raising the mopping pad a few inches off the ground, but it doesn’t have a robot arm to completely lift the mop off the floors, so a few droplets of water may get on the carpets.
Automated maintenance
Now, this is where the Deebot X1 Omni truly shines. While the irobot Roomba J7+ Combo has a base station with the basic auto-emptying and recharging function, the Omni station goes even further to automate certain maintenance functions. In addition to recharging the robot’s battery and emptying the bin, it will also;
- Empty and refill the water tank
- Wash and dry the mop pads
The Omni station has two 4L tanks, one for clean and the other for dirty water. The clean water tank in the dock station supplies clean water to the water tank in the robot for wet mopping, while the dirty water tank collects the dirty water from the robot after each mopping.
This removes the need to constantly refill the much smaller water tanks in the robots, and you only have to occasionally fill and empty the 4L tanks in the dock station.
These extra features are not available on the iRobot Roomba J7+ Combo, since it has the basic auto empty charging base station. Which means that it will require a lot of user input for daily maintenance.
The integrated water tank, for instance, needs to be filled up before each mopping session because it holds just 210 ml. And the mop pad will have to be manually cleaned after each mopping run.
It’s worth mentioning that the Deebot still needs some maintenance, but it’s certainly more hands off than the Roomba. Because the 4L water tanks in the Omni station will still need to be filled and emptied as needed, which is not very often. Also, the robot and station should occasionally be cleaned, and the dust bag needs to be changed when full.
Brush rolls
The Deebot X1 Omni has a primary sweeping brush and two side brushes for edge sweeping. While the Roomba J7+ Combo has a side brush and a dual brush roll design as the primary brush. The twin rubber brush rolls are found in only iRobot vacuums and contribute to the excellent sweeping ability of the robot.
With their unique brush rolls, both robots will effectively sweep up pet hair, shed fur and long hair strands without much trouble.
Battery life
The iRobot j7+ Combo’s battery performance is great overall. The 2210 mAh battery capacity can last for about 85 to 100 minutes on a single charge. But the Deebot X1 Omni has an even better battery capacity of 5200 mAh which can last for up to 180 minutes in the most energy-efficient mode.
Suction power
The Ecovacs Deebot X1 OMNI has a very strong suction rating of 5000 Pa, which impacts how well it picks up debris from carpets and hardwood floors. And we know that more suction results in better cleaning performance, particularly on a low pile carpet. But the irobot Roomba doesn’t disclose the suction rating of its robots, so we can’t be certain if it is equal to or higher than Deebot’s.
Operating noise
Vacuuming noise can be quite loud in some robots, but the Deebot is not a loud robot. Deebot has a wide noise range (33 to 46 dB), depending on the cleaning mode you set, and 61.0 dB for self emptying. While the Roomba J7+ is much louder with a noise rating of 69.3 dB for normal cleaning and 85.4 dB for self-emptying.
FAQs
Is Roomba better than Deebot?
iRobot and Ecovacs are two of the largest names in smart home technology, with their flagship products, Roomba and Deebot. Roombas are among the most popular robot vacuum cleaners, but the Ecovacs’ Deebots offer comparable technologies and cleaning performance.
A direct comparison between the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni and Roomba Combo J7+ shows that the Deebot is quite ahead of the J7+, because it offers better navigation and cleaning on all surface types.
Does Roomba j7+ have smart mapping?
The j7+ will map out the rooms in your house and then memorize its arrangement, just like other Roomba models. Besides that, it can keep track of individual rooms and clean according to your preferences.
When using the iRobot Home App or a voice assistant device, you can choose which rooms are cleaned because the Roomba Combo j7+ can learn a home’s floor layout thanks to iRobot’s Imprint™ Smart Mapping.
Does the mop actually scrub, or does it just drag it?
The Roomba just drags a wet mop pad across the floors. But the Deebot uses rotating mop pads to mimic scrubbing floors, and does a better mopping job than the Roomba.
How long will the Deebot robot vacuum last?
Most robotic vacuum cleaners will last for about 3 to 7 years, with an average lifespan of 5 years, and the same applies to the Deebot.
The actual lifespan for individual robot vacs will depend on the build-quality of the model, frequency of use, how much wear and tear the robot suffers, and how well it’s maintained.
How many square feet can the Roomba J7+ combo mop on one tank of water?
Since the water tank is small (only 210 ml), I’d say it can mop 400–600 square feet on one tank.
Final thoughts
After evaluating both models, we can confidently say that the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni outperforms the Roomba J7 Plus Combo.
While both models offer impressive cleaning capabilities, the Deebot X1 Omni’s advanced mapping and navigation technology, combined with its superior battery life, make it the better choice.
Furthermore, the Deebot X1 Omni’s varied cleaning modes and ability to clean a range of surfaces makes it a versatile solution for any home. Don’t get me wrong: the Roomba J7 Plus Combo is a good robot vacuum and mop, but it pales in comparison to the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni.
If you have dogs and a lot of carpets, the Roomba j7+ is the better pick; otherwise, the Deebot X1 Omni is the better option.
