Without any doubt, the Roomba 980 is the top-of-the-line robot vacuum cleaner by iRobot and it belongs to the 900 series that holds most advanced robot vacuum cleaners by Roomba. But, the Roomba 690 with fewer features is still the best-selling robot vacuum, why?
That’s what I am going to explain in this guide…
Roomba 980 comes with a handful of latest technologies like wifi-connectivity, Recharge & Resume feature, Memory mapping and so on. These features come at a great price which a lot of people cannot afford. Similarly, the Roomba 690 comes with fewer features but still equipped with wifi-connectivity allowing you to control the robot remotely, voice controlling and comes at very small price tag compared to the Roomba 980.
So, What is the major difference between both robotic models and which one you should pick, let’s figure that out?
Roomba 980 vs Roomba 690
Table of Contents
Here’s a quick summary of what makes the Roomba 690 different from the Roomba 980:
Larger Floor Plans: If you live in a larger home that consists of 2500 square feet or greater than that, Plus has various flooring types and rooms to cover, the Roomba 980 is the right choice because it has the highest run time of 120 minutes. It’s self-sufficient means it can clean on a schedule, it can recharge itself, Plus, the intelligent navigation helps the robot to avoid obstacles efficiently and you can also view a digital report of all the paths Roomba 980 has visited and cleaned in your home.
For Everyone Else: If you live in a small apartment and would love to have a robot vacuum that you can control using your smartphone and also put it on schedule so that your home gets cleaned automatically when you leave for office or shopping. Then Roomba 690 is an ideal choice for you.
Side by side comparison: Roomba 980 vs 690
Have a look at the side-by-side comparison of the features of Roomba 980 and Roomba 690
Roomba 690 |
Roomba 980 |
|
| Navigation | iAdapt | iAdapt 2.0 |
| Cleaning | AeroVac technology | AeroForce technology |
| Entire level cleaning | N | Y |
| Connects to your Wi-Fi network? | Y | Y |
| Filter used | AeroVac | HEPA |
| Carpet boost mode | N | Y |
| Edge cleaning mode | N | Y |
| Full bin indicator | N | Y |
| Full bin action control | N | Y |
| Built-in camera | N | Y |
| Debris extractor | N | Y |
| Scheduling | Y | Y |
| Cleaning passes control | N | Y |
| Auto recharge | Y | Y |
| Manual docking | Y | Y |
| Spot cleaning mode | Y | Y |
| Lithium ion battery | Y | Y |
| Remote control | App-based | App-based |
| Works with Amazon Alexa | Y | Y |
| Dimensions (d x h, inches) | 13.0 x 3.7 | 13.8 x 3.6 |
| Weight (lbs.) | 7.8 | 8.7 |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
| Price | Check Price | Check Price |
Roomba 980
The Roomba 980 is an intelligent vacuum, thanks to the iAdapt 2.0 technology, it uses several sensors and performs visual localization to map out a series of small areas, cleaning them efficiently, one at a time. This cleaning pattern helps Roomba figure out which areas it has and has not been cleaned to ensure complete coverage.
Built-in Camera
The onboard camera allows the Roomba to see objects using vSLAM technology. This way the Roomba 980 not only avoids the obstacles but go around or under furniture and remembers the sections it has already cleaned.
Recharge & Resume Feature
Similarly, the Roomba 980 is equipped with the Recharge and Resume feature that allows the robot to automatically recharge and as it runs low on the battery, it leaves the task in between and runs back to the docking station for recharging. Once fully charged, it starts again from the exact same point it left to finish the cleaning cycle resulting in your entire home cleaning.
Carpet Boost Feature
The Roomba 980 offers carpet boost technology, which allows the robot to put more suction power over carpeted floors to suck the hidden dust and dirt beneath the carpet fibers.
I am not stopping here…
Three-stage cleaning
The Roomba 980 uses a three-stage cleaning system, which agitates dust and dirt, extracts them from the debris extractor, and then suck them in. Similarly, you get multiple options for when the robot should start cleaning.
Wifi-connectivity & Voice controlling
As it is equipped with wifi-connectivity, allowing you to connect the robot with your smartphone and control it using the mobile app to start/stop the robot and set cleaning schedules regardless of your existence. You can also pair the robot with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to control the robot using your voice and finally, there’s a button at the top which you can use to start the vacuum manually if you are not planning to use the app or voice commands.
Keep reading…
Tools and Accessories
The Roomba 980 also brings a handful of accessories that makes it more versatile to cleaning your home more conveniently. Other Roomba models are equipped with side brushes to clean wall edges, the 980 comes with a separate edge cleaning mode, which allows it to pay close attention to wall edges and the edges of furniture legs.
The robot will only clean wall edges if you turn this mode on.
Full Dust Bin Indicator
The best part? The Roomba features a full bin indicator that makes the Roomba user-friendly enough that when the dust bin is full, you will get an indication by the robot and the Roomba 980 will also allow you to specify if you want it to pause immediately or to continue with the full dust bin.
For detailed cleaning, you can program the robot to make two passes over an entire area.
Battery
The Roomba 980 comes with a lithium-ion battery that allows the robot to achieve maximum suction power and gives a run time of 120 minutes which is enough to clean a big home. Plus recharge and resume features make it easy for the robot to recharge itself without bothering you to put it on the charger.
Virtual Wall Barriers
Furthermore, the Roomba 980 brings two units of virtual wall barriers allowing you to restrict the robot in particular areas like near the pet food or near other important stuff. This navigation control device can be used to block off an entire doorway as well.
Roomba 690
Let’s first discuss the similarities of 690 with the 980 model.
The Roomba 690 is a budget-friendly robot vacuum that is equipped with advanced features like wifi-connectivity and voice control.
Like the flagship Roomba 980 mode, you can use the 690 by connecting it with your smartphone using a wifi connection or pairing it with your Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant devices to control it using voice commands.
The Roomba 690 also comes with a single virtual wall barrier unit to cordon off certain areas in your home. The Roomba 690 also comes with a lithium-ion battery that gives a run time of 60 minutes.
Let’s look at 690 versus 980 differences
The Roomba 690 uses iAdapt navigation technology that delivers efficient cleaning pattern by working with acoustic sensors to clean your floors. These sensors not only avoid bumps but avoids the Roomba falling off stairs as well.
The Roomba 690 lacks onboard camera and vSLAM mapping technology but can efficiently avoid obstacles and go under furniture to suck up all the dirt, dust, and debris.
AeroVac technology
The Roomba 690 uses a three-stage cleaning system but a bit different than the Roomba 980. The counter-rotating brushes agitate the dirt, side brushes clean edges and corners and directs the dirt into the path of the central brush, and suction captures all the stuff and throws it into the dust bin.
Lithium-ion battery
The Roomba 690 comes with a Lithium-ion battery which is an upgrade over the Roomba 650 nickel hydride battery, and with the Lithium-ion battery, Roomba 690 delivers run time of 60 minutes.
The Roomba 690 is capable to recharge itself when running low on battery by moving back to the charging base, but unlike the Roomba 980, it is not capable to resume the cleaning cycle where it left off. So you have to manually start the cleaning cycle again when Roomba 690 goes back to charging.
Due to the lower price tag, the Roomba 960 lacks some advanced features like:
Entire-level cleaning: The Roomba 690 is not capable of entire-level cleaning for bigger rooms and floors because unlike the Roomba 980 the Roomba 690 cannot recharge and resume from the exact same point repeatedly.
Carpet boost mode: The Roomba 690 does bring spinning brushes for cleaning edges but the cleaning is not thorough compared to the Roomba 980.
Full bin indicator and full bin action control: The Roomba 690 also lack full dust bin indicator which requires manual emptying of the dust bin frequently and the robot won’t stop even when the dust bin is filled.
Debris extractor: The Roomba 690 comes with counter-rotating brushes rather than brushless debris extractor and these brushes get tangled with pet hairs so require maintenance.
Cleaning passes control: The Roomba 690 performs cleaning in one pass for every cleaning.
What makes the Roomba 690 a best-selling robot vacuum is the lower price tag and advanced functionalities.
Does Roomba Learn the Floor Plan?
Keep reading to know the answer to the question “Does Roomba Remember Room Layout”?
The answer is “No”.
Roomba vacuums use advanced room mapping technology called iAdapt and it’s the latest version is 2.0. If Roomba remembers your room layout, what if you move your furniture, or change the room setting. If Roomba remembered the previous layout, it simply is going to hit the things coming in its way or will get confused by it.
But, Roomba vacuums are constantly improving and with the latest improvement, Roomba vacuums can learn the floor pattern and remember of to 10 layouts to clean the room more efficiently and thoroughly.
Final Words of Roomba 690 versus 980
The Roomba 690 and 980 both are convenient robot vacuums allowing you to operate your robot machine using your smartphone or voice commands. It’s good to get a high-end robot vacuum if you live in a big home and don’t want to get involved with the robot more often then Roomba 980 is a solid option for you.
The Roomba 980 not only brings powerful cleaning technologies but also features a 10 times more powerful motor than the Roomba 650 that allows the Roomba 980 to achieve strongest suction power to deal with carpeted floors or wood floors. The best combination of this autonomous machine is that you can put it on schedule and the longer run time combined with the Resume & the Recharge feature allows the robot to clean your entire house without even bothering you to look after for it. Plus, you can get a notification when the dust bin is full.
On the other hand, the Roomba 690 is another great option that allows you to clean your home while sitting on your couch or put it on schedule while going out for shopping. The best part? Without spending big bucks you can have your very own robot vacuum that takes care of dust, dirt, and debris for you across any floor types.
In a nutshell, larger homes need a vacuum which is more self-sufficient like the Roomba 980 and small apartments and homes can get the job done with Roomba 690 without breaking the bank.
Some people use upright vacuum cleaners to clean their homes weekly and get a robot machine to make sure their floors stay clean until the next vacuuming season.
That’s all for this Roomba 690 and 980 comparison. When searching for a Roomba vacuum both these models will get the job done. Until next time, happy vacuuming!
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