iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: A clever self-cleaning robot that mops and vacuums

The iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max is the latest Roomba flagship robot vacuum and sits at the top of the manufacturer’s range. The robot itself is similar to previous models, with the usual combination of both vacuuming and mopping, to help keep your hard floors and carpets spic and span.

What’s new here is an extra function on the base station. There are already Roombas that can empty the robot’s collection bin and keep the clean water tank topped up. This model goes one step further, also cleaning its own mop pads. This is done while the robot is parked, and the dirty water is whisked away into its own tank.

iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: What do you get for the money?

There’s been little reinvention when it comes to the appearance of the robot element of the iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max; it’s superficially a clone of the Roomba Combo j9+ that preceded it. The manufacturer says it delivers the same vacuuming power, but it doesn’t go into any specifics. It’s significantly heavier than its predecessor, though, gaining nearly a kilogramme of weight over its predecessor, and weighs 5kg.

Both vacuuming and mopping functions are essentially the same as before. The vacuum uses that classic Roomba system of two green rubber-jacketed rollers, spinning in opposite directions, which skim up dirt and debris from carpet and hard floor and send it into the path of the vacuum’s suction system.

The mop is on a retractable arm the robot deploys when it detects hard flooring, and stows away on top when it moves back to carpeted areas. The water it needs to dampen the mopping pad for cleaning is contained in a small tank within the body of the robot itself.

The dock is larger than before, however, measuring 510 x 401 x 446mm (WDH), but that’s because it has an additional tank for the dirty water that comes from the mopping pads when the robot cleans itself.

iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: What is it like to use?

The iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max uses the same setup process and app as most of the recent models I’ve looked at. This is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the initial setup process is smooth and assured, and gets you going in no time. On the other, iRobot hasn’t eliminated any of the foibles I’ve complained about in the past.

In particular, it’s very slow to complete the first clean, because it uses cameras and physical sensors to map your space. Robots that use LiDAR (light detection and ranging), such as the Eufy RoboVac X8, barely have to enter a room to get an exact idea of its size and shape.

Once the map is created, though, the Roomba does a good job of guessing which room is which room via the information it collects through its camera. You can tweak its guesses easily enough, too. You can set areas you might want cleaning more often, assign no-go areas that it should never visit and no-mop areas that should only be vacuumed. Setting up schedules and different programs for different types of cleaning jobs is a cinch.

Where it loses marks is when it’s actually out cleaning. While most robot cleaning apps show your robot’s progress on a map, the Roomba app keeps this information to itself. It only tells you which room it’s in, not where it’s been nor how far through the job it is.

When the robot returns to its base station, the vacuum bin is emptied into a bag and the mopping pad is rinsed in clean water from a tank you fill from a tap. The dirty water is collected in a second tank that needs emptying when it gets full. The bags for the vacuum emptying function cost £22 for three if you buy them direct from iRobot, but there are third-party bags available for less if you shop around.

iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: Is it good at finding its way around?

There are two stories to tell about the navigation of the iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max. The first we’ve already touched on. The lack of a LiDAR system leaves the robot navigating by touch and its front mounted camera, which is less efficient and slow.

I’ve mentioned that this takes its toll during mapping, but it has an impact on general navigation, too. The Roomba simply isn’t as quick to find its way around. As you can see from the chart below, which compares the Roomba to three other robot vacuum cleaners I’ve reviewed recently, the Roomba Combo 10 Max took around twice the time to cover the same area.

I wouldn’t have a problem with that if it provided outstanding cleaning performance as a result, but that isn’t the case either.

Where this robot comes into its own is avoiding hazards. The camera on the front of the Roomba is particularly effective at spotting objects that shouldn’t be there. I tested it with a dropped sock, a USB-C cable and a convincing-looking fake pet poo. The Roomba expertly avoided them all.

It also appeared to be good at recognising carpet. Because it has a mop it can lift out of the way when it’s not needed, this is a useful function. While I witnessed a small amount of corner cutting when mopping around a rug, it largely kept its damp apparatus to hard surfaces only.

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iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: How well does it clean?

As usual, I tested how good the cleaning power of the iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max was with two trios of tests. For vacuuming I pitted the robot against rice, flour and pet hair, on both hard floor and short pile carpet.

To test the mop, I spilled small amounts of ketchup, blackcurrant squash and wet mud onto hard floor and let them all dry for a few hours before sending the robot out to clean them.

In vacuuming tests the Roomba was better on hard floor than carpet. With rice and pet hair it performed well on hard floor, with above average performance, while it fell slightly under the average when cleaning flour. The tables turned when it came to carpet. Here, its rubbery rollers didn’t seem to get as much purchase on my spills as rivals with brushes and fins.

It excelled as a mop, however. Here one trip out from the base station was enough to remove the squash and the mud. Traces of ketchup were left behind, but we’ve yet to meet a robot mop that can clear dried-up ketchup in one visit. A second pass, however, was all it needed.

iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max review: Should you buy it?

The iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max is playing catchup in some respects, with rival robots beating Roomba’s comparatively slow path to labour-saving elements such as automatic mop rinsing. This latest model has everything lined up, though, with a docking station that includes all the latest mod cons.

Where it falls behind is speed and navigation. iRobot is sticking to its guns when it comes to LiDAR, continuing to eschew the technology in favour of cameras and bump sensors. This works in its favour when it comes to avoiding obstacles, which it is excellent at, but means the robot is very slow.

If you live in the type of household that’s unlikely to keep the floor clear between jobs then the Roomba Combo 10 Max is ideal and while this top of the range model doesn’t clean any better than its older siblings, its self-cleaning facilities does mean you don’t have to get your hands dirty as often.