Roomba 690 Review

The Roomba 690 is an affordable robot vacuum designed to provide a convenient and effective cleaning solution for homeowners looking to maintain clean floors without breaking the bank. Equipped with powerful suction, smart navigation, and app control, the Roomba 690 offers solid performance for those seeking a reliable and budget-friendly robot vacuum. In this review, we’ll explore its key features, performance, pros, cons, and overall value to help you determine if the Roomba 690 is the right vacuum for your home.

Introduction to the Roomba 690

The Roomba 690 is part of iRobot’s budget-friendly line, offering essential features like strong suction, efficient navigation, and compatibility with the iRobot HOME app at a more accessible price. While it doesn’t have advanced features such as self-emptying or mopping, it still delivers a high-quality cleaning performance with minimal maintenance. The Roomba 690 is ideal for those looking for an entry-level robot vacuum that gets the job done effectively without the premium price.

Let’s take a closer look at the key features and performance of the Roomba 690 to see how it stacks up against other robot vacuums on the market.

Key Features of the Roomba 690

1. Powerful Suction The Roomba 690 is equipped with strong suction power that effectively picks up dirt, debris, and pet hair from both carpets and hard floors. Its multi-surface brushes work with the suction system to ensure a thorough clean across various floor types, making it an excellent choice for homes with pets or high-traffic areas.

2. iAdapt Navigation The Roomba 690 uses iAdapt Navigation, which allows it to clean your home efficiently by following a systematic cleaning pattern. While it lacks advanced mapping, the vacuum uses its smart navigation system to move around obstacles and cover all areas of your floor without missing spots.

3. iRobot HOME App Compatibility The Roomba 690 is compatible with the iRobot HOME app, which allows you to control, schedule, and monitor your vacuum’s cleaning sessions from your smartphone. The app provides remote control, making it easy to manage cleaning sessions even when you’re away from home.

4. Edge Cleaning The Roomba 690 features a side brush that ensures thorough cleaning along edges and corners. This helps the vacuum pick up debris from baseboards, walls, and other areas that are often overlooked by traditional vacuums.

5. Self-Charging The Roomba 690 automatically returns to its charging dock when the battery is low. Once fully charged, it resumes cleaning from where it left off, ensuring a continuous and uninterrupted cleaning experience without requiring manual intervention.

6. Affordable Price Point The Roomba 690 offers great value for its price. While it doesn’t come with premium features like self-emptying or advanced mapping, it provides solid cleaning performance and app control at an affordable cost.

Performance and Efficiency

The Roomba 690 delivers reliable cleaning performance, especially for an entry-level model. Its powerful suction ensures that dirt, dust, and pet hair are effectively removed from both carpets and hard floors. The multi-surface brushes work in combination with the vacuum’s suction to ensure a deep clean, even in high-traffic areas or homes with pets.

The vacuum’s iAdapt Navigation system ensures that the Roomba 690 moves efficiently around your home, cleaning in a systematic pattern. While it doesn’t have advanced mapping or room-specific cleaning, its smart navigation ensures that the entire floor is covered. The side brush is effective in cleaning edges and corners, ensuring that no area is missed.

Battery life is sufficient for smaller and medium-sized homes, offering up to 90 minutes of continuous cleaning on a single charge. When the battery runs low, the vacuum automatically returns to the charging station, recharges, and resumes cleaning from where it left off, ensuring uninterrupted performance.

Battery Life and Charging

The Roomba 690 comes equipped with a lithium-ion battery that provides up to 90 minutes of cleaning time on a single charge. This is ideal for smaller and medium-sized homes. When the battery gets low, the vacuum automatically returns to its charging dock to recharge. Once recharged, it resumes cleaning from where it left off, ensuring a continuous cleaning experience without interruption.

Pros of the Roomba 690

• Strong suction: Effectively picks up dirt, debris, and pet hair from both carpets and hard floors.

• Affordable price: Provides excellent value for homeowners looking for a budget-friendly robot vacuum.

• iAdapt Navigation: Moves systematically around your home to ensure that all areas are cleaned efficiently.

• Edge cleaning: The side brush ensures thorough cleaning along baseboards and corners.

• Self-charging: The vacuum returns to its charging base when the battery is low and resumes cleaning once recharged.

• iRobot HOME app compatibility: Schedule, monitor, and customize cleaning sessions from your smartphone.

Cons of the Roomba 690

• Basic navigation: The Roomba 690 lacks advanced mapping or room-specific cleaning features, which means it may take longer to clean larger or more complex spaces.

• No self-emptying bin: Unlike higher-end models, the Roomba 690 does not have a self-emptying dustbin, so you will need to empty it manually after each cleaning session.

• Limited battery life: With a runtime of 90 minutes, the Roomba 690 may require recharging for larger homes or more demanding cleaning tasks.

• No mopping functionality: The Roomba 690 is a vacuum-only model and does not offer mopping capabilities like some other models.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Roomba 690

To maximize the performance of your Roomba 690, consider these tips:

1. Set regular cleaning schedules: Use the iRobot HOME app to set daily or weekly cleaning schedules to keep your floors consistently clean.

2. Clear obstacles: While the Roomba 690 can navigate around furniture and obstacles, it’s helpful to remove larger items like cords or toys to ensure it can clean more efficiently.

3. Maintain the brushes: Regularly clean the side brush and main brushes to prevent debris buildup and ensure optimal suction.

4. Empty the dustbin regularly: While the Roomba 690 doesn’t have a self-emptying feature, emptying the dustbin after each cleaning session will help keep the vacuum running smoothly.

Conclusion

The Roomba 690 is an affordable and efficient robot vacuum that delivers reliable cleaning performance with strong suction, smart navigation, and app control. While it lacks advanced features like self-emptying, advanced mapping, and mopping capabilities, the Roomba 690 offers great value for homeowners seeking an entry-level robot vacuum that can handle basic cleaning tasks.

If you’re looking for a simple, budget-friendly robot vacuum that provides solid performance and convenience, the Roomba 690 is an excellent choice. With its strong suction, edge cleaning, and self-charging capabilities, it offers a convenient and effective cleaning solution for homes of various sizes.