Background information
Dust and mangled condoms – my visit to the iRobot service centre
by Simon Balissat
Roomba Max 705 in an everyday test: good idea, weak implementation
19/12/2025
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Lorenz Keller
The iRobot Roomba Max 705 does some things better than the dominant competition from China. However, the robot hoover also makes massive mistakes. A difficult situation for the pioneer.
iRobot has been developing robot hoovers for over 20 years. But the pioneer from the USA is in crisis. Unfortunately, this is evident in the everyday test of the Roomba Max 705.
First impression: an interesting deal
At first glance, iRobot's current flagship is an interesting offer. With a price of around 700 francs or euros, it is hundreds of francs below the competition's top models.
The feature list is quite impressive. The Roomba has a self-cleaning mopping roller that is raised on carpets and protected by a cover. It even cleans itself with warm water, which only a few competitors can do so far.
The roller is hot-washed and dried in the base station. It also features modern lidar navigation with AI and obstacle detection. The suction power of 13,000 pascals is fine, even if other top models now have twice as much power.
Installation: fast mapping, slow app
Before starting, I first have to mount the two side brushes - I haven't had to do that for a long time, everything is already screwed on with the competition. I simply press the brushes on as before. The Roomba Max 705 has a brush on each side, which is unusual. It's a shame that they can't be extended and don't reach all the way to the edge.
The installation runs smoothly. I have to create a login in the app. I can then set up the robot with just a few clicks. However, an update then blocks it for over an hour. Confusingly, it is not clear to me whether the app has crashed or whether something is still happening in the background. A condition that occurs repeatedly during the test, which lasted several weeks.
Now I can create the map of the flat. After 12 minutes, the Roomba Max 705 is finished. That's a good result. Faster than the Roborock and Ecovacs models, but not quite as fast as Dreame or Mova.
The rooms are displayed on the map in a simplified form, which is fine. It's a shame that the rooms are not colour-coded. The app looks a bit bleak. Very plain and simple - sometimes poorly translated into German.
The system has recognised the division of the rooms perfectly. However, I still want to rename them and connect the «room3» with the «corridor» because both belong to the entrance. Unfortunately, this is a pain. It takes several minutes for each correction to be saved. The little clock turns endlessly. I need around 20 minutes for the minimal adjustments.
After that, I can finally start testing. I tested the iRobot Roomba Max 705 for five weeks. I experienced some positive surprises, but also some negative ones.
Clean cleaning, quick start
The Roomba vacuum and mops convincingly. The floor is clean after the basic cleaning, the edges and corners are sufficiently cleaned. However, only when it vacuums and mops at the same time. The extendable roller reaches right to the edge. The fixed wiper, on the other hand, does not reach the edges. So if I choose pure vacuuming, dust and particles can remain directly on the wall or furniture.
The iRobot recognises the carpet in the bathroom, stops cleaning there with the damp roller and automatically covers it so that the textile on the floor does not get wet or smeared.
Obstacle detection also works well. The robot avoids cat toys and does not get tangled up in power cables. However, this is standard with modern robots.
I like how I can quickly start a cleaning tour in the app. I simply press on the rooms I want cleaned - and the Roomba starts cleaning straight away. With many other manufacturers, this takes one or two more clicks.
The support is exemplary. There is a separate menu item in the app. iRobot has thought of every detail. I can call the Swiss hotline directly via the contact page. The serial number I need for support is displayed directly. Really cleverly done. The local service centre is a great strength anyway. The Community regularly reports that spare parts are available for older devices for years to come.
I like the menu item «Robot status», which I can find at «Robot». Here I can see when I should replace parts and can order them directly. I can also have the dock cleaning system and the wiper roller cleaning system cleaned at the touch of a button. Here, too, the app notifies me when this is necessary.
Weak points of the app
These are all good approaches, but the system repeatedly fails when it comes to the basics. For example, I am supposed to carry out a mop roll cleaning. But when I press the button «Clean», nothing happens. Maybe because the robot is still drying the roll? I don't know. I keep pressing «Cleaning» with no response. Apparently it just doesn't work.
The app keeps hanging. I can't do anything for minutes. I have no idea what's going on. Has the app crashed? Is something being saved or processed? This is especially the case after starting a cleaning process and at the very end. Eventually everything works again, but these interruptions are completely illogical.
And once the system actually hung up. Because I accidentally closed the bathroom door, the robot was unable to clean the room, even though I had instructed it to do so. The Roomba returned to the base station and displayed an error message.
I can neither click this away nor confirm it. Worse still, it is no longer possible to programme a new cleaning, the Max 705 has blocked. A restart doesn't help. I have to disconnect and reconnect the Roomba, only then can I use it again.
Flaws in many details
What is immediately noticeable: The Roomba is very loud when vacuuming. I measured over 67 decibels. That's ten decibels more than the quietest models - that's double the perceived volume for the human ear.
If you primarily use the robot when you're not at home, then it doesn't really matter. But as soon as you're in the next room, the noise is annoying. It's not just the volume that's annoying, the noise itself is unpleasant.
For the first time in over two years, a robot hoover got stuck in my flat. The Max 705 got stuck under the bathroom furniture and couldn't free itself. At 10.5 centimetres high, the iRobot is one of the bulkier models on the market. It also happened at least twice that the cleaner simply left rooms empty.
Cleaning takes a long time. The Max 705 takes 20 to 30 per cent longer than all other robot hoovers tested in recent months. This is partly due to the fact that it travels to the base station every 20 square metres or so to empty the dust bin.
I'm struck by how quickly the base station gets dirty. I have to clean it after just two weeks. With the competition, I only need to do this every four or six weeks. Also not ideal: long hair gets wrapped around the brushes, which I have to remove by hand. The competition offers anti-tangle brushes that prevent this from happening.
How high is the standby consumption?
Inspired by the otherwise not-so-convincing cash register crash test, I measured the standby consumption for the first time. This is said to be far too high for robot hoovers. I don't yet have a self-measured comparison, but I do have some initial indications.
I measure 2.7 Wh per hour in standby mode. That's around 24 kWh per year, which would be six francs at the Swiss electricity price of 0.25 francs per kWh. This puts the robot hoover in the range of typical household electronics such as soundbars, smart speakers or TV boxes. A value below one watt would be nice - for all devices.
However, the robot needs a lot of power immediately after cleaning. It then has to clean the roller with warm water and then dry it with hot air. This takes around four hours, during which the consumption rises to 50 Wh. Only then does it drop to the lower value of 2.7 Wh.
What about the future of iRobot?
I don't want to hide the fact that the manufacturer itself has massive problems. After the failed takeover by Amazon in 2022, iRobot had to restructure massively. The robots are now all produced in China, the company is massively smaller and financial stability is not assured, even under new management.
In November, iRobot had to announce that revenue was falling far below expectations and reserves were dwindling. Gary Cohen, CEO of iRobot, announced in a press release: «<aref="»">This deficit increased cash burn and impacted profitability as we were unable to fully cover our fixed cost base. </aref="»">
In the meantime, iRobot had to file for bankruptcy in the USA. The manufacturer has been taken over by the Chinese company Picea Robotics. For the time being, this ensures that operations will continue without restrictions in terms of app functionality, customer service, spare parts availability and product support. The robot hoovers will therefore continue to work. However, it is still unclear how Picea Robotics intends to make the iRobot brand successful again.
In view of these circumstances, you have to decide for yourself whether you want to take the risk that it might be over in a few years. For me, the Max 705 in this version would not be an alternative to the competition from China.
In a nutshell
Good approaches, some weaknesses
The iRobot Roomba Max 705 is one of the cheapest robots with the new roller mopping technology. The overall cleaning performance is solid, even if the edges are not vacuumed quite as well as on models with an extendable brush. The damp mopping is really good.
Unfortunately, the robot repeatedly has problems in everyday use: it gets stuck, the app is very slow and occasionally hangs up. Overall, I had a lot more to do than usual with a good robot hoover. As these problems are fundamental, even positive points such as the exemplary service don't help much.
Pro
- inexpensive
- Good wiping performance
- Simple operation in the app
- Comprehensive support
Contra
- No extendable brush
- Software problems
- Uncertainty about the future of the company
- Loud during cleaning
- Many weaknesses in detail
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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