A few years ago, I was on a flight to London and, in the manner of a 1970s television commercial for Vanish that depicted several women doing gardening or going for a walk, turned to a colleague on the plane and said, “I’m vacuuming my living room floor.
My colleague, knowing I was reviewing the iRobot Roomba 560, immediately understood the reference. Fast forward to last year, when iRobot introduced the latest and greatest in its army of robot vacuums, the Roomba 980.
Compared to Hazel, the name we affectionately bestowed on the first Roomba to arrive, Hazel 2.0 has additional and smarter sensors, a camera, a lithium-ion battery, Wi-Fi support, and a choice of iOS or Android apps with which to control it.
USING THE IROBOT ROOMBA 980
The new Hazel looks similar to the old Hazel. She’s round, has two rotating brushes, a spinning side brush, a removable dust bin, and a simple user interface. The large Clean button is used for starting and stopping – something that can also now be accomplished with the app – and the Home and Spot buttons work just like old Hazel’s, returning her to base or concentrating on a small area respectively. Pressing Clean while Hazel is running will pause her activities.
Once fully charged, the Roomba 980 will vacuum for up to two hours and will return to its charging dock when it’s almost out of juice or when its bin is full.
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