Roomba Plus 504 Vac Robot Vacuum with AutoEmpty Dock - Superior Power-Lifting Suction, Anti-Tangle Dual Rubber Brushes, Perfect for Pet Hair, Self-Empties for 75 Days, Avoids Obstacles, LiDAR

This is my second Roomba. Things to know about my household: 2 x 80lb working dogs 2 x boys under 10 years And a dirt yard because we play hard out back! At any one given point, I dog sit the brothers of my dogs. So there is a lot of hair that if not swept daily or every other day, I have a 3rd dog I didn’t know about. I must say … this was fairly easy to set up. Literally … open the box, three pieces: the Roomba, the canister/charging base and brush. The device does not have to roll up onto the base to dock. Only has to back up to the device and have the metal contacts touch to dock and charge/connect. This allows for cleaning all the way up to the dock/base. No more cleaning under the unit. After installing the brush, we were ready to go. This unit is significantly bigger than my other unit, by 2-2.5” in circumference. Don’t ask me to math … I’m not doing it. :-) The unit came charged at 40%. Starting charging the unit at 8:47am. By 10:15am it was at 73% and it was fully charged by 11:07am. Before mapping my house, I picked up any loose strings, networking cables, nerf darts, dog toys. Because I already had a Roomba, downloading the required app “Roomba Home” , it was able to remember my SSID for my wireless network and I only had to provide my password. The device needed a software update straight out of the box. Honestly, expected. Stated 14 minutes until downloaded and installed. Based on 2GB Fiber, took 6 minutes to download and install over Wi-Fi. Afterwards, it was ready to map the house. Mapping my house thanks to the LiDAR was significantly faster than my other unit. Mapping took approximately 26 minutes. I mapped my house twice with my other unit at approximately 40 minutes a piece. While mapping, it was slightly louder than my other unit. I mapped without the brush installed. I installed the brush only when we were ready for the first clean. Once, fully charged and mapped, I did my first deep clean. I did not have to specify the amount of passes. The unit circles the edges of a room and the rotates back and forth in that area before moving on. This took three bin empties and 1 1/2 hours to need a charge. Had 9% left and docked itself to charge again. Upon charging back to roughly 25% to finish its final pass in the dining room (chairs lifted on top of table) and emptied its bin and docked. Emptying the bin is quieter than my other unit. Still had some “dog hair bunnies” left over but that’s because, in my opinion, the brush can’t get in between some tight areas. And honestly, it’s not supposed to. I really like this unit. The LiDAR is AWESOME. It’s fast. It’s bigger and less of a docking footprint. This allows for less manual cleaning. Would absolutely recommend to someone with a very active family like myself.

I’ve tried a few robot vacuums over the years, and this Roomba 504 has easily been the best by far. The suction is powerful enough to actually lift pet hair and dust instead of just moving it around, and the LiDAR mapping is spot-on. It navigates neatly around furniture, doesn’t slam into walls, and somehow manages to cover every inch of the floor without missing spots. The self-emptying dock is a total game-changer. I used to have to empty my old robot’s bin almost daily, but now it just empties itself and keeps going. It really can go weeks without me touching it, which makes it feel like I’ve outsourced cleaning altogether. The obstacle detection is smarter than I expected, too — it avoids cords, shoes, and even my dog’s toys without getting tangled up. Setup was quick, and the app makes it super easy to customize cleaning schedules or target certain rooms. For the cost, this thing is honestly the best value I’ve found. It performs like a top-tier model, keeps my floors spotless, and saves me a ton of time. If you’re looking for a robot vacuum that actually delivers on what it promises, this is the one to get.

I very rarely write reviews, but I feel that this is necessary for anyone who has used, or has been using, older model Roombas, and is considering a newer model (or, specifically, this one), and expecting a product that is going to perform as well as their old one, because I can promise you that this won't be the case. I love my i4, and I love it even more after experiencing the 504 for the past 25 days. I owe my i4 a nice dinner and a day of pampering for even logically thinking that the much more expensive, updated, and modern 504 could ever replace it. How silly of me. I am uncertain if this is just how this product is designed to work, or if my unit is defective. However, some of the cons are definitely not due to defective behavior and are still incredibly valid. PROS: - CLEANING When it DID clean, the cleaning seemed well done. Suction was good for our laminate floor, and our area rugs seemed to get cleaned up just fine. I have zero complaints about its functionality as a vacuum, and was impressed with the job it did. - AUTO-EMPTYING DOCK It exists. This is not really a pro over similar models that also have self-emptying docks, but as I was coming from an i4 with no auto-emptying feature, it was a big plus for me. CONS: - BUGGY, LIMITED NEW APP The 504 can only run using the new Roomba Home app (older models use the iRobot Home app), and it cannot be connected to the iRobot app despite the app recognizing the device if you try to add new devices. Whether this is due to compatibility issues - which I'm less likely to believe because, again, the iRobot app DOES SEE the device, it just can't be added/controlled - or whether they are just forcing their new app for arbitrary reasons, I can't say. Regardless, they took the iRobot Home app and removed almost every feature that was good from it, and called it Roomba Home. I can't set quiet times where I want the vacuum to skip vacuuming for the day, I can't save multiple maps (you can only save ONE!), when the vacuum encounters an issue - which is insanely frequently - trying to get anywhere in the app and do anything is impossible because most functions are just replaced by a notification that says there's an issue, which often gives little to no information on what the issue is and the actual best way to fix it. - MAPPING WAS A NIGHTMARE This may just have to do with the terrible app again, but it took me 4 tries to map the first floor of our house. It's not a huge space, maybe 1000sqft or so, but the mapping failed over and over. I eventually found someone on Reddit who said they got the mapping to work if they made sure their phone stayed awake (i.e. screen didn't turn off) and on the mapping setting of the app for the entire duration of the mapping process, meaning you can't use your phone while it's mapping, and you have to make sure the screen never sleeps. Once I did this, it seemed to finally save a map. This honestly should have worried me more than it did at the time, considering this was the first thing you do after unboxing. Yeah, by the way, you cannot run this vacuum unless it has a map saved. It's not possible. So when my map kept failing, I was stuck in this non-cleaning limbo because it refused to do a single thing, vacuum-wise, until it had a map. Something this supposedly smart should be able to wing it without a map if it needs to, and it shouldn't have an app gatekeeping that ability. - NEW LiDAR IS TERRIBLE (OR MAYBE IT'S JUST DEFECTIVE?) The 504 gets lost or stuck a lot. A LOT. For something that's supposed to have some of the latest navigation technology in it, I am extremely disappointed. This thing could probably get "stuck" (and by stuck, I mean it tells the app to throw you a "I'm stuck" error even though it's not stuck on anything) in the middle of a completely empty basketball court with no walls. The number of times the vacuum said it was stuck or blocked by an obstacle, only for me to go downstairs and find it in the middle of the floor, not surrounded by anything, was incredibly frustrating. I got the 504 because I wanted to be more hands-off with my robot vacuum (not having to manually empty it all the time, etc. - I just wanted to set it and forget it until I needed to change the vacuum bag) but not only was I more hands-on than ever, it was a struggle just to get it to finish the cleaning job. At least my i4 did the job (well) and when it said it was stuck, it was legitimately stuck. - IT'S LAZY I know this sounds bizarre, but hear me out. Because of the new LiDAR navigation, it "sees" obstacles before bumping into them, unlike my i4, which bumper cars itself around my house with reckless abandon. However, this sight means that it looks at an obstacle, such as a chair leg, does some weird internal risk assessment calculation, and determines that this obstacle has an incurable infections disease and it cannot go anywhere near it, even though if it would just go around the stupid chair leg, it would see that it could clean under the chair no problem. This resulted in spaces under my chairs and tables not being fully cleaned. It didn't even want to TRY any amount of problem solving to see if it could clean around the obstacle; it just chose not to. It's the laziest thing I've ever seen. Meanwhile my i4 is out here busting its butt to gently ram into every possible surface it can find in an attempt to clean every inch around it like a cleaning demon with a singular purpose. I will be returning the 504 and, honestly, probably avoiding the iRobot brand altogether moving forward if this is the trajectory on which their vacuums and support apps are going to continue. If you can find an older unit with the older technology, and that uses the iRobot Home app, then I can't recommend iRobot enough, but these new products are a huge disappointment. My i4 will be reprising its role as the primary first floor vacuum like the absolute queen it is.

Very convenient and relatively easy to setup and use. Has a bit of trouble cleaning on dark colored rugs, tricks the robot into thinking it’s “falling”, so it takes a while to clean those areas. That said it has a surprising amount of power! Pulls pet hair out of rugs I didn’t even know were full of it. Self emptying is definitely handy for as large of a space the robot cleans for me. Love that I can control exactly where it cleans, and schedule for when we are out of the house.

We didn't know what to expect as we've had both positive and negative experiences with the iRobot brand, but Roomba Plus 504 exceeded our expectations. It took just a few minutes for it to map our 1200 sq ft apartment and the vacuum quickly went to work. The setup was quick and intuitive, and the app is simple and easy to navigate. The software map allows to add, merge, or divide rooms quickly, and programming start times was a breeze. Wifi connectivity was also easy, something we've had trouble with on older models. The vacuum is much quieter than I expected, and the self-empty function is a great improvement from manual emptying and getting dust everywhere (albeit the self-emptying is a bit loud). Battery life is so far so good; will need to give it more time to see how long it lasts. Another surprise is the aesthetics of the unit; it is quite handsome and appears to be quality built. It is good value for your money, especially if you pick it up on sale. This unit seems less expensive than similar models from other brands.

I was hesitant to spend the money, but the iRobot Roomba Plus 504 has absolutely been worth it. I run it a few times a week and it keeps up with pet hair, dust, and daily crumbs better than I ever could. The AutoEmpty Dock is the real hero — no more stopping mid-clean to empty the bin. It sucks everything right into the base and I only have to change the bag maybe once a month. It maps my space really well (even tricky corners and under furniture), and I love that I can start it from the app while I’m out. The suction is strong, it transitions easily from hardwood to rugs, and it always finds its way home. The setup was quick — about 10 minutes — and it’s surprisingly quiet compared to older models. I named mine “Rosie” and honestly, she’s part of the family now. If you’re tired of sweeping or vacuuming constantly, this is 100% worth the investment. My only tip: give it a clear path and tidy up cords before its first run — it’s smart, but not that smart.

It has been years since we owned an earlier generation Roomba and we couldn't be happier with this purchase. They really have advance their technology from the earlier generations! Super easy to unpack and set-up. Having the wi-fi connection and app to program it or make it clean the floors whenever we want is game changer for us. We mostly have hardwood floors with a couple rugs here and there and "Roomie" (my daughter gave it that name) has been doing a great job on both. I really like the app feature and impressed with how it mapped our entire first floor on its own and updates you on which room it is in (picture attached)! Again, very impressed with how advanced they have gotten from the earlier generations and completely satisfied with the purchase!

I owned the Roomba Plus 504 with the AutoEmpty dock for 30-days. I just returned it. I bought as an addition to other Roomba’s we own so we would daily have the entire house vacuumed. Background: I have 3 older model Roomba’s and love them as if they were part of the family. They do a great job cleaning, run daily and are trouble-free. I know the network connections all through the house support Roomba’s requirements because they all use it daily. Pro’s • Cleans wood, tile and carpet floors equally well. Successfully cleaned the intersections of the vertical edges (base molding, vanities, etc.) and horizontal edges (the floor). Pick up every small spec of dust, food particles, etc. • Successfully mapped out the entire area of one level of the house and could figure out how to spot clean (select specific rooms to clean) or all the space on that floor of the house. • Successfully navigated all and any obstacles such that it didn’t drag power cords, suck in the edges of bathroom throw rugs, fall over the edge of stair entrances, bang into the legs of furniture. • The Evacuation Dock, the emptying of debris from the Roomba into a bag, works flawlessly. When the bags get full you must purchase bags as replacements. The system works great. Con’s • You had to invest time in almost every instance you used this Roomba in troubleshooting why sometime during its vacuuming run the Roomba would just freeze in place, despite the Roomba app showing that “Vacuuming” was occurring. The app would show a spinning 8-sided graphic. The Roomba would be quietly sitting in the middle of some room with LiDAR Detector Spinning away, the Edge-Sweeping brush spinning but the Roomba stationery. Many days it would stay there in that state, if I let it, until it ran low on power. Putting it back on the docking station did not guarantee that you could reengage it to start cleaning again. Occasionally if I powered it off and on it would move but only to go back to the docking station. Magically the Roomba might respond to the request from the app to start cleaning, sometimes the same day, sometimes not. This is not generally how a Roomba should work. I know because the three others I own just work. I would then deploy one of the older Roombas we have and it would clean the same area as expected. • iRobot’s support documentation and keyword search facility is not useful. The premise of finding useful information in the Knowledge Articles is based upon Error Code value. This Roomba has never given me an error code (verbally or in the app). I wanted it to work out but it requires too much troubleshooting every time it try's to run. It defeats the purpose of using it.