Pets are great. Pet hair? Not so much. It’s important to keep your fur babies’ shedding in check unless you don’t mind leaving the house all covered in hair. Getting yourself a pet hair vacuum ought to do the trick. We’ve scoured Amazon and found a couple of great robot vacuums that are specifically designed to tackle pet hair: The iRobot Roomba E5 and 960. Aside from eliminating your pets’ frequent sheddings, these robot-vacs will help keep your house virtually free from dirt and dander – and you don’t even have to leave your couch! Save as much as $201 when you get them on Amazon today.
IROBOT ROOMBA E5
– $299, was $380
Roombas are virtually indistinguishable from one another in appearance, as they all have the same puck shape, which is understandable as the design works in getting underneath furniture and other hard-to-reach places. On top of the Roomba e5 are three buttons: The prominent Clean button in the center which acts as both a power button and an automated cleaning button, the Home button to make the robot return to its charging base, and the Spot Clean button for thorough cleaning of a targeted area. Flip the robot over and you’ll find two rubber brushrolls, three wheels, a spinning brush, a detachable dustbin, and the battery.
This robot vacuum comes with a battery-powered Virtual Wall Barrier, a device which creates, well, a virtual wall, so that you can keep the Roomba within a room. When used in Halo mode, the robot vacuum will avoid going near the device. This comes in handy when you don’t want it to knock over a tall table with a fishbowl on top. This robot vacuum also has a full suite of sensors to help it intelligently navigate its surroundings. It doesn’t have a built-in camera, unlike more expensive Roomba models, like the Roomba 960 below, but it’s good enough at steering clear of obstacles.
When it comes to cleaning performance, the Roomba e5 is impressive. It can pick up dirt and debris of any size on any floor type. Pet hair, kitty litter, cereal, fine powder, whatever it is, it’s as good as gone. We marveled at how well it was able to make a dirty carpet look spotless. Even the filth that’s stuck in between tiles and floorboards stands no chance.
Setting up this robot vac is quite easy. Just plug it in, wait for it to fully charge, and then it will be able to clean for 90 minutes at a time. When it’s about to lose power, it will automatically return to its charging base. You can manually press the Roomba for it to start cleaning or use the smartphone app or Alexa, whichever you prefer.
The iRobot Roomba e5 is nearly flawless in its cleaning performance. Plus, the Virtual Wall Barrier is a remarkably convenient feature. Best of all, it doesn’t cost nearly as much as other Roomba models. Get your own Roomba e5 today for $299 on Amazon, $81 off its normal retail price of $380. What’s more, if you order via the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and get approval, you’re entitled to an additional $60 off instantly. You can get the iRobot Roomba e5 for the much lower price of $239.
IROBOT ROOMBA 960
– $449, was $650
The iRobot Roomba 960 looks nearly identical to the Roomba E5 and the rest of the Roomba family, but differs in terms of features, button layout, and its front-facing built-in camera. You can see a prominent “clean” button on top, right between the “spot cleaning” and “home” buttons. You press these buttons to manually control the robot, or you can program the Roomba 960 to regularly clean on its own. The camera on the front helps it map out your floors and intelligently avoid obstacles (most robot vacuums solely rely on sensors, including the E5), paired with the iAdapt 2.0 Navigation technology.
Underneath the Roomba 960 is a pair of roller brushes that do all the dirty work, lifting tiny particles and large debris with relative ease. There’s a side brush that the robot uses to clean along walls, baseboards, and furniture. It also has a built-in sensor that detects high concentrations of dirt for a more thorough cleaning.
You can set up this robot vacuum in three ways: Manually pressing the clean button, using the mobile app, or operating via voice command through Alexa or Google Assistant. It has three cleaning modes: One-cleaning pass, two-cleaning pass, and automatic. The first mode makes the Roomba 960 pass over an area once, the second twice, and the third gives the robot autonomy to decide how many passes it will make, depending on the mess and the room size.
With a patented AeroForce Three-Stage Cleaning System and suction power that’s five times greater than the Roomba 600 Series, dirt and debris won’t stand a chance. It also has a high-efficiency filter that can capture 99% of particles as small as 10 microns. This robot is capable of cleaning for up to 75 minutes when fully charged and will automatically return to its charging dock to juice up and do even more cleaning.
The iRobot Roomba 960 usually comes with a hefty $650 price tag but take advantage of Amazon’s deal today and get it for $449 — that’s a staggering $201 discount. And if you pay via the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and get approval, you’ll get an additional $60 off instantly, reducing the price even further to $389.
The iRobot Roomba E5 and 960 are both class-leading robot vacuums that are guaranteed to rid your floors of pet hair and all sorts of dirt. For $150 more the Roomba 960 provides better navigation around your home courtesy of its front-facing camera.
For more options, visit these pages for our best robot vacuums, robot vacuums for pet hair, and cordless vacuums. And click here for more awesome deals from our curated deals page.