Design, Layout and Appearance

Roomba 880 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

Both Roomba robots are classically designed as circular-shaped vacuums having flat surfaces and bottoms and a very simplistic and minimalist layout. The flat surface of the Roomba 880 has five handy buttons strategically placed on a simple circular faceplate. With these buttons, users can start a cleaning job, spot-clean dirt-filled areas, dock the vacuum for recharging purposes and automatically schedule cleaning jobs as they wish.

The Roomba 980 on the other hand eschews the 880’s circular faceplate on its flat surface for a rectangular framework housing a camera and just three buttons. The few buttons on the vacuum’s surface is simply due to the fact that the 980 comes with a smartphone-compatible app which can be used to access other desired functions. The surface of the vacuum also displays a Wi-Fi connectivity indicator.

Colors

The Roomba 880 comes in a combination of dark gray and black colors and is highlighted with silver accents. The 980 has a different color scheme as it is mostly brown with hints of black and gray.

Size and Weight

Apart from noticeable differences in their design, layout, appearance and color schemes, these robotic vacuums are very similar in terms of size and weight. They have similar heights, equal weight and the same diameter.

Cleaning Technology

Both Roomba robotic vacuums are designed with a powerful AeroForce 3-stage cleaning system that has become the latest technology in the recent iRobot robotic vacuums. The three stages (agitation, brushing and suction) of the AeroForce system ensure that your floors and carpets are effectively cleaned.

Unlike most vacuums, the AeroForce ditches the bristled brush system and instead makes use of two counter-rotating rubber extractors. The design, shape and movement of these extractors work in such a way that dirt and debris are churned and efficiently picked up from your carpets and bare floors. The dirt and debris are then suctioned via a funneling method into the dust bin. The vacuums are also designed with an airflow accelerator that helps to create a concentrated airflow via a sealed channel. This helps the machines to suck in more debris.

Cleaning Power

While the 880 delivers up to 5 times the standard cleaning power of the AeroForce system, the 980 doubles that amount with an impressive cleaning power 10 times that of the standard.

Carpet Boost Feature

The Carpet Boost is an additional feature that comes designed with the most recent iRobot model: the Roomba 980. This feature is equipped with one of the most powerful motors in this technological era and as a result, effectively suctions and cleans carpets and rugs far better than the Roomba 880.

Once the Roomba 980 senses that the floor area being cleaned consists majorly of carpets and/or rugs, the Carpet Boost feature is immediately activated. When cleaning bare floors, the feature is instantly deactivated. The ability to switch this feature on and off serves a very important purpose: it helps to preserve the battery life of the machine. This is because once this feature is activated, the aforementioned powerful motor immediately starts working and as a result, consumes power and affects the battery life of the vacuum. Keeping the Carpet Boost feature on for as long as the vacuum is in operation regardless of whether carpets are being cleaned or not will eventually weaken the battery and reduce its life span.

Several customers report that the Carpet Boost Mode is actually quite loud and very noisy during operation.

Edge Cleaning Feature

The Roomba vacuums are designed with a side spinning side brush for effectively cleaning wall edges, carpet corners and hard-to reach spots.

Filtration

The Roombas 880 and 980 are outfitted with an AeroForce HEPA-style filter that captures even the smallest dust and dirt particles. They are highly recommended for users with allergies or those prone to asthma attacks.

Run Time and Auto-Recharge Feature

When fully charged, the Roomba 980 has a run time of 2 hours. For the 880, a large percentage of users report that the machine has a run time of 1 to 1.5 hours. Once the battery power gets too low during use, both vacuums are designed to return to the Home Base and automatically recharge themselves.

However, the 980 has an edge over the 880 in the self-charging department. After recharging itself, the 880 lacks the ability to resume cleaning. Users have to either manually restart the cleaning process by pressing the ‘Clean’ button or wait for the next cleaning job already scheduled on the machine. On the other hand, if while cleaning, the need arises for the Roomba 980 to recharge, it docks, self-charges and once the battery is full, resumes cleaning from where it left off.

Battery

The reason for the Roomba 980’s longer run time is due to its lithium ion battery. This type of battery is also designed to offer a longer battery life than the Roomba 880. The 880 on the other hand is designed with a nickel metal hydride battery and as such, has a shorter run time and battery life.

However, iRobot made a recent upgrade to the battery design of the Roomba 880 vacuums being manufactured presently, providing them with a lithium ion battery rather than the usual nickel metal hydride one. This has helped to increase the battery life, that is, the life span of the 880. However, its run time remains the same.

Auto-Navigation Capabilities and Camera Feature

Both robot vacuums are designed with a handy iAdapt Navigation technology enabling them to move from one room to the other without manual direction from the user. Just like the previous models in the iRobot Roomba vacuum lineup, the 880’s iAdapt Navigation system consists of optical and acoustic sensors which detect areas with extra dirt, pet hair or allergens. Once these areas are detected, the Roomba 880 begins to navigate the room, cleaning along the way and spending more time on those areas with more dirt. These sensors also help the robot in detecting and avoiding stairs and prevent collision with furniture and other household items.

Click here to get more details on the Roomba 880

Click here to get more details on the Roomba 980

The Roomba 980 on the other hand is equipped with an upgraded iAdapt technology termed as iAdapt Navigation 2.0. The iAdapt 2.0 offers an even smarter way of detecting dirt and mapping out its cleaning route. This is because not only does it have the usual sensors synonymous with iRobot robotic vacuums, it also has visual localization and an in-built camera sensor located on top of the vacuum. The iAdapt camera feature of the 980 gifts it with the ability to accurately navigate your rooms and adapt to changing environments by continuously constructing and updating maps of rooms within your house as necessary. The camera creates visual landmarks so that the vacuum does not lose track of where it is and allows it to remember the area it last cleaned before docking. As a result, unlike the 880, the Roomba 980 has less tendency to clean a spot twice.

Cleaning Method or Pattern

Due to the Roomba 980’s ability to ‘see’ the room and visually navigate from one room to the other for a better cleaning experience, it shows a methodical and orderly approach to cleaning as it moves in straighter lines and systematic patterns.

The Roomba 880 lacks the camera feature of the 980 and only depends on its sensors to navigate and clean the room. As a result, when cleaning, the Roomba 880 moves around the room in a random or zig-zag manner and has a sporadic cleaning pattern.

The ‘random’ cleaning pattern of the 880 has led to a lot of criticisms from a decent amount of customers.  They claim that its erratic movement leaves them uncertain as to whether the vacuum has truly and completely cleaned the room before going on to the next one. Others felt the cleaning pattern was too unsophisticated for a ‘robot’ and the process took more time than was necessary.

Simply put, lots of customers preferred the predictable back and forth movement of the 980 and claimed it took a shorter time cleaning a room than the Roomba 880.

Navigation Control or ‘Virtual Wall and/or Lighthouse’ Mode

The Roomba 880 comes with two Virtual Wall and Lighthouse devices. These serve as containment devices and perform a definite function of marking boundaries. A Virtual Wall and Lighthouse device has two modes: ‘Virtual Wall’ and ‘Lighthouse’. When the Virtual Wall mode is activated, the device creates or erects ‘virtual walls’. These walls are actually invisible lasers extending to about 4 feet and they serve to prevent the vacuum from navigating or entering into certain rooms.

The Lighthouse mode also serves to restrict the vacuum’s movement until a particular condition has been met. It keeps the vacuum in a room until the room has been thoroughly cleaned.  Then, it permits the vacuum to move on to the next room.

The Roomba 980 comes with two Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers. These standalone devices serve a dual purpose. They can create virtual walls when needed and block an open doorway, preventing a vacuum from leaving or entering a room. They can also serve as Virtual Wall Halos by restricting the vacuum from entering a particular area or section of a room.

Remote Control

The Roomba 880 comes with a remote control to help users manipulate and direct their vacuums from a considerable distance without having to touch the machine itself.

Wi-Fi Connectivity and iRobot Home App

The iRobot Roomba 980 does not come with a remote control. It however offers users something even better: Wi-Fi control from your smartphone. Once connected to Wi-Fi, you can command or control your Roomba 980 from any location. Coupled with the iRobot Home App exclusive to the Roomba 980, users can conveniently schedule cleanings, begin a cleaning job, select specific cleaning details on the machine such as edge cleaning or carpet boost, increase the number of cleaning passes, as well as access live progress updates and information regarding the status of the vacuum’s cleaning process regardless of whether they are at home or not.

In other words, while users of the Roomba 880 can control their vacuums with the remote control unit as long as they are in the same room as the robot, 980’s users can command their vacuums from anywhere in the world.

Automatic Scheduling Feature

Despite the fact that the Roomba 880 lacks the Wi-Fi feature, users can still automatically schedule it to clean the house in their absence via the ‘Schedule’ button on the vacuum’s flat surface or on the remote control unit. With the Roomba 980, scheduling can only be done via the iRobot Home App.

For both vacuums, cleaning jobs can be scheduled for up to 7 times in a week. Once the scheduled time is reached, the vacuum starts cleaning automatically.

Dust Bin Design, Size and Control

The dust bins in both vacuums are removable. However, the Roomba 880’s dust bin is smaller than that of the 980. The 880 does its cleaning job quite well, as it rapidly suctions dirt, pet hair and other debris from the ground. But the small size of the dust bin puts a damper on the cleaning process as users have to frequently empty the bin before the cleaning process comes to an end.

Apart from having a slightly larger bin size, the Roomba 980, via the iRobot Home App, provides users with a couple of options in the event of the dust bin getting filled up during cleaning. Users can stick with the default ‘Finish Job’ option which ensures that even when the bin is full, the vacuum finishes the entire cleaning job before the dust bin is emptied. The second option directs the machine to ‘Pause Immediately’ once the bin is full and resume from where it left off once the bin is emptied.

Range and Area of Use

Roomba 980 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

Both vacuums can be used on all floor types. Whether you have sealed hardwood floors such as tiles, or your floors are covered with carpets and rugs, the Roomba 880 and 980 can conveniently cater to your needs. However, the 980 is the perfect choice for users that have lots of carpets due to its Carpet Boost feature. It gives an exceptional performance on carpets and rugs than the 880.

Both vacuums can effectively cater to the needs of pet owners as well, as they effectively get rid of lingering pet hair.

The Roomba 880 is capable of sufficiently cleaning 3 rooms in one go. The Roomba 980 on the other hand is designed to seamlessly clean an entire floor level at once thus making its cleaning range wider than that of the 880.

Convenient Features

The rubber extractors in both machines are reputed to be tangle-free. They help to break down large clumps of debris and pet hair into smaller particles and thus, prevent the vacuums from getting clogged. The lack of bristled brushes in the cleaning systems of both vacuums reduces the need and frequency of maintenance and replacement of brushes. Both machines also come with a full bin indicator, battery level indicator, as well as troubleshooting and dirt detect indicators.

When a particular spot in the house requires intense cleaning, the spot-clean feature of both vacuums enables them to solely concentrate on that spot and effectively get rid of all stains and dirt. The Home button on each vacuum is used to send the robot back to the Home Base to dock once a cleaning job is done. The robots also automatically go to the Home Base to recharge once their batteries are low.

The low profile design of these robotic vacuums makes it very easy for them to clean under furniture and other upholstery. They are both equipped with a molded soft-touch bumper for cushioning the contact made between the vacuums’ bumpers and walls, furniture or other household items. This helps to prevent the machines from damaging the walls and furniture pieces.

Performance

Even though it is a previous model, the 880 still stands out for its great performance and cleaning capabilities. At regular price, it is the cheapest between the two and gives its money worth. For potential Roomba customers with budget concerns, the 880 would be a better option.

At the time of this writing, the Roomba 980, on the other hand, is the most current robotic vacuums from the stables of iRobot and as a result has more smart features than the Roomba 880. Due to a more powerful AeroForce cleaning system and the additional Carpet Boost feature for great suctioning, the 980 is hands down the better iRobot model of the two when it comes to effective cleaning.

Warranty

Both vacuums have a 1-year warranty on the robot themselves and a 6-month warranty on their batteries.

Pros and Cons of the Roomba 880

Pros

• Cheaper than the Roomba 980
• Has a remote control unit
• Can clean multiple rooms at once

Cons

• Lacks the Carpet Boost feature
• Lacks Wi-Fi connectivity and the iRobot Home App feature
• Doesn’t resume cleaning after self-charging
• Lacks the camera sensor for better navigation

Pros and Cons of the Roomba 980

Pros

• Comes with a Carpet Boost feature for carpets and rugs
• Greater cleaning power and better navigation
• Can clean an entire floor level at once
• Self-charges and resumes cleaning
• Has Wi-Fi connectivity and the iRobot Home App feature

Cons

• Carpet Boost feature is noisy
• Quite pricey