Roomba 880 vs 980: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Life is moving forward faster than ever, and technology is improving like never before. So it’s hardly surprising that, in today’s fast-paced world, people are investing in devices that can take on the time-consuming task of vacuuming. 

One of the most onerous aspects of housework is cleaning floors, especially as it’s a task that needs doing regularly – perhaps a few times a week. Fortunately, companies spotted a market opportunity here and decided to create robotic vacuums that could automate a sizeable portion of, if not all, floor cleaning tasks.

Since the launch of the first robotic cleaner in the late 1990s, lots of companies followed in its wake, manufacturing smart floor cleaners which they labelled as industry-leading products.

Sadly, 90% of those statements were false, and people got nonfunctional robotic vacuums in exchange for their money. As a result, robotic floor cleaners got a mixed reception for quite some time – some consumers didn’t want to take a risk on the product, and some just weren’t into buying such gadgets.

Since then, things have moved on. Well-renowned manufacturer iRobot created several robotic vacuums that changed the whole industry. iRobot has been manufacturing the best smart floor cleaners for several years now.

They’ve created some notable floor cleaners that have proven popular, been well reviewed and bought by thousands of people. Today, we’ll be comparing two of the most popular robotic vacuums, Roomba 880 and 980.

These smart floor cleaners are two of the best-rated and best-selling products on the market. And we can vouch that Roomba 880 and 980 are two of the most advanced and complete robotic vacuums.

Roomba 880 vs 980: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Today, Roomba 980 and 880 are considered two of the most advanced smart floor cleaners with first-rate features and sensing ability, flexible mobile applications and the smartest AIs.

1. Set Up Process

The first thing we should write about is the setup process of Roomba 880 and 980. It might not be the most crucial aspect of our comparison article, but it’s kinda cool when a device is user-friendly.

Roomba 880

Setting up Roomba 880 is a piece-of-cake process and it takes just 5 minutes to have a fully functional robotic vacuum. I won’t waste your time by presenting a step by step guide.

The setup process is so simple and intuitive that it’s highly unlikely you’ll go astray.  If somehow you do get lost, you can just check the user’s manual that comes with the Roomba 880’s package. Another option is reaching out to Roomba’s support team and explain the issue you’re facing, and they’ll be sure to help.

Roomba 980

Like Roomba 880, setting up Roomba 980 is super easy. I own this smart floor cleaner, and it only took me 10 minutes to figure out how to activate, schedule and set the Roomba off to clean the house. Roomba 980 comes with a detailed user’s manual that is pretty clear and explains everything in plain English.

I’ve spoken to other Roomba 980 owners and read many reviews written by Roomba 980 owners, and I’ve never come across anyone having a problem with the setup process for this model.

Suggested Read: iRobot Roomba 960 vs 980: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Frankly, the setup process of Roomba 980 is a no-brainer and can be completed by a novice user like me in the shortest period. So rest assured, the setup doesn’t need any kind of expertise.

2. Design

The second topic we should discuss is the designs of our robotic vacuums. These smart floor cleaners are quite pricey, and every buyer wants to purchase a product that, as well as being functional, looks attractive.

Just think about it, who buys ugly products these days? Everyone tries to purchase something that’ll be an excellent addition to their homes and draw admiring comments from visitors.

Besides comparing their visual aspects, knowing the dimensions of these smart floor cleaners is essential since it plays a significant role regarding cleaning your house (vis-a-vis fitting into hard-to-reach places).

Roomba 880

Roomba 880 is a good-looking robotic vacuum. The 880 has changed its design quite alot compared to the predecessor Roomba 790. Roomba 880 weighs 8.4-pounds and has a height of 3.6 inches and a width of 13.9 inches.

Roomba 880 has removed the blueish finish and completely changed its colour to black. Roomba 880 has new buttons on its surface offering more features and flexibility. It’s pretty clear that iRobot wanted to maintain the robotic vacuum’s minimalistic look and they’ve succeeded in doing so.

Roomba 880 looks more attractive than iRobot’s previous models. Roomba 880 is a smart floor cleaner that begs for attention. It’s beautiful, charming, black, minimalistic and quality-made.

Roomba 980

If we directly compare the designs of Roomba 880 and 980, there isn’t much of a difference. They’re both circular, both of them are black with minimalistic designs, and the dimensions are quite similar.

Roomba 980 is 13.8 inches in diameter and 3.6 inches high; it weighs 8.7 pounds. 

While there are no significant shifts regarding design, there are still some noticeable differences. Roomba 980 now has fewer buttons on its surface because iRobot wants its users to navigate the robotic vacuum through its mobile application.

What I can say for sure is that Roomba 980 is the best-looking robotic vacuum today and it surely won’t let other models take this well-deserved spot. As for the cleaning process, Roomba 980 fits easily into every hard-to-reach place in your house, including the areas under beds, stands, sofa, etc.

3. Performance

Gauging the performance capabilities is the most critical aspect of our comparison article. After all, the main reason why people buy smart floor cleaners is for their ability to clean.

These robotic vacuums are quite pricey and what good is a smart floor cleaner if it has a weak performance rate and costs quite a lot? So it’s important to know the capabilities of Roomba 880 and 980 and determine if they indeed are worth the investment.

Roomba 880

Back in the day, the first generation of Roombas had random cleaning patterns. In other words, Roomba wasn’t smart enough to navigate itself in a more advanced and intelligent manner. That was problematic since the first-generation robotic vacuums weren’t cleaning rooms properly.

Roomba 880 does hit the walls and obstacles at the first launch because it needs to adjust to the room you’ve placed it in. Sadly, after understanding what’s where Roomba 880 will continue to hit some obstacles – sometimes even at high speed.

Must Read: Roomba 860 vs 880: Pros & Cons and Verdict

If you have fragile objects placed on tables and stands, that might be problematic. If your Roomba 880 hits at high speed, those delicate objects might fall and break.

iRobot has stated that: the Roomba 880 is better at suctioning and vacuuming, it can now remove 50% more dirt, and the dustbin can hold about 50% more dirt in it. On top of this, Roomba 880 is said to be 5x more powerful than the previous models.

Roomba 880 is pretty good at cleaning too; we’ve tested it on different surfaces and every single time Roomba 880 finished cleaning, its dustbin was full of dirt.

If you have a pet that sheds, don’t worry, Roomba 880’s new brushless system will take care of it. In addition to this, Roomba 880 was able to clean my apartment, which consists of a bathroom, two bedrooms, kitchen, hall, and a living room, in an hour or so.

What I don’t like about Roomba 880 is that it might need some babysitting. Since there’s a possibility of it hitting tables and stands, you need to keep an eye on it to avoid such disasters.

Roomba 980

Let’s jump straight to the point. Roomba 980 is the best smart floor cleaner on the market and has the most advanced cleaning abilities.

Roomba 980 has also upped the cleaning patterns and ditched the ineffective random cleaning style. What’s cool about Roomba 980 is that it now has a built-in camera helping the robotic vacuum to navigate itself throughout the house.

Roomba 980 never collides with walls, tables, stands and will never fall down the stairs. Roomba 980 uses a virtual wall technology (Roomba 880 has it too), and it helps the floor cleaner to navigate both walls and objects.

Suggested Read: Scooba vs Braava: Pros & Cons and Verdict

As for the actual cleaning process, Roomba 980 is advanced, and you’ll very likely be amazed when you see it in action.

If you take a look at the way Roomba 980 cleans the room, you’ll notice that it uses a system. It ensures that it cleans every part of the room, and as soon as it finishes the work, Roomba 980 will return to its docking station.

Another notable thing about Roomba 980 is its longevity. Roomba 980 is one of the rare robotic vacuums that have lithium-ion batteries, and it’s a vital component for increasing the device’s lifespan.

On top of this, Roomba 980 has a feature called “carpet mode” that increases the power of the floor cleaner. It does decrease the battery life, but if you have something that needs a serious clean, you should activate it.

If the battery gets drained during the cleaning process, Roomba 980 will return to its docking station, it’ll get a full recharge, and after getting charged, it will automatically resume cleaning your house.

Roomba 980 also has a feature called “block-off”. It might sound confusing at first, but I’ll explain what it does and how to use it. For instance, if you have a pet’s water/food bowl, you don’t have to pick it up. After all, the cleaning process can take a while and, in the meantime, your pet might need a drink or a snack!

You can just enable the “block-off” feature to restrict Roomba 980 from cleaning certain places. That’s another feature that increases your comfort and raises the overall score of Roomba 980.

Frankly, Roomba 980 is a robotic vacuum that is reliable, powerful, efficient and effective. It doesn’t need babysitting, and you can be sure that the device will deliver quality work that’ll exceed your expectations.

4. Features

Besides the performance rate, we should write about the features of our robotic vacuums. It’s essential to know what the most vital features of Roomba 880 and 980 are.

We need to know how they differ, what they have in common and if these smart floor cleaners have something unique to offer.

Hence we’ve created a lovely chart showing the essential features of these robotic vacuums.

Roomba 880	ROOMBA 980
iAdapt Multi-Room Navigation	Visual Navigation
Room-to-Room Cleaning	Automatic Recharging
AeroForce 3-Stage Cleaning System	AeroForce Cleaning System
High-Efficiency Filters	Carpet Boost
Recharge and Resume	Auto Schedule
Virtual Wall Technology	Multi-Room Navigation
Auto Schedule	Recharge and Resume
2x Battery Life	Flexible iRobot Home App
5x More Power	10x Stronger Power

That’s pretty much everything we need to know about the features of these smart floor cleaners. As you see from the chart above, Roomba 880 has an impressive set of features and can boast being one of the best on the market.

But the Roomba 980 takes the top spot since it offers more freedom, flexibility and comfort. For example, 10x stronger power, home app and carpet boost is enough to charm and satisfy any buyer.

5. Cleaning Capabilities

Knowing the cleaning abilities and discussing this topic is important since people have different types of floors and every person wants to use their robotic vacuums to meet the particularities of their own house.

Roomba 880

Roomba 880 has good cleaning abilities. It has 2x battery life, 5x more power and cleans your home in a more intelligent manner.

When you turn on your Roomba 880 and hit the “clean” button, it’ll go straight ahead until it hits the first obstacle. We’ve tested Roomba 880 on several surfaces, and it handled the job pretty well.

Firstly, we’ve tested Roomba 880 on a dusty, dirty rug. Roomba 880 finished cleaning it in 20-30 minutes, and when we checked the dustbin, it was full of dirt.

The cleaning process was close to perfect. I’d give it 10 out of 10 if it hadn’t missed 1-2 spots. That was because Roomba 880 is more of a random-cleaning robotic vacuum and can’t determine whether some places need extra cleaning.

Roomba 880 did a good job cleaning fine powder from hard floors. We should note that other robotic vacuums find it hard to remove powder “stains”.

Roomba 880 does a great job cleaning the edges of rooms since its side brush works pretty well and delivers satisfying results. As for the battery life, you need to recharge the Roomba after an hour and the battery consumption rate may vary since every floor type requires different amounts of power.

Roomba 980

You might’ve heard people saying that Roomba 880 is better at cleaning than Roomba 980. That’s a colossal “fiction,” and please don’t listen to such rumours.

Roomba 980 delivers sharp results and cleans your home perfectly. Roomba 980 has the smartest AI today, and it knows what it should clean and when it should do it.

Thanks to the built-in camera, unlike Roomba 880, Roomba 980 doesn’t have problems with navigating itself and hitting the walls.

One more thing I’d like to write about is the Carpet Mode. Admittedly, it’s somewhat loud, and it can be a bit disturbing. But if you need Roomba 980 to deliver the best cleaning experience, the Carpet Mode will impress you.

We’ve tried cleaning carpets using this mode, and when Roomba 980 finished cleaning, WOW! It cleaned thoroughly, and there were no signs of stains or missed spots.

We’ve also tested Roomba 980 on mid-pile & low-pile carpet and hardwood floors. We did the same with Roomba 880, and every time, Roomba 980 did a better job cleaning the mess up.

Lastly, the only thing Roomba 980 couldn’t clean well was sand. For some reason, both Roomba 880 and 980 left some unpicked sand on the floor.

6. Advantages and Disadvantages

Before we jump to conclusions, we’d like to cover a few more useful topics, including the advantages and disadvantages of Roomba 880 and 980.

These robotic vacuums might be good, but they sure aren’t perfect. Like any other product, they have their flaws, and it’s our job to find those weaknesses.

For this, we’ve created a helpful chart that shows the pros and cons of Roomba 880 and 980. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages can have a significant impact on the buyer’s decision-making.

Roomba 880

PROS	CONS
High-Efficiency Filters	Weak Navigation
Tangle-Free Debris Extractors	Weak Sensors
AeroForce 3-Stage Cleaning System
2x Battery Life
Concentrated Cleaning
Long-Lasting Battery
iAdapt Multi-Room Navigation
Smart Schedules
Room-to-Room Cleaning
5x Stronger Power	Purchase Roomba 880

Roomba 980

PROS	CONS
Smart Schedules	Loud Carpet Mode
10x Stronger Power	Pricey
Carpet Mode
Built-in Camera
Flexible Mobile App
Long-Lasting Batteries
History Page
Efficiency
Recharge & Resume
Multi-Room Navigation	Purchase Roomba 980

That’s all we can say about the advantages and disadvantages of Roomba 880 and 980. If we take another look at the charts presented above, it’ll become clear that Roomba 980 is a superior robotic vacuum.

To pinpoint the main reasons why Roomba 980 is superior, this model has:

• 10x stronger power
• A mobile application that makes navigation and usage easier
• A better navigation system with a built-in camera
• More freedom and flexibility

Besides the enhanced capabilities and features, Roomba 980 has a better rating on Amazon and a lot more satisfied customers.

7. Support

The support team of iRobot is superb. I’ve reached out to them several times and, on each occasion, I was always given professional answers and tips. You don’t have to wait for an operator to answer you. If you call them, you’ll get answered in seconds, and the live chat is pretty good too.

So if you have any questions or concerns about your smart floor cleaner, you can reach out to them and ask anything you think is relevant.

Comparison Chart: Roomba 880 vs 980

Before we conclude our comparison article, the final thing we should do is compare Roomba 880 and 980 directly. We’ve rated the designs of these smart floor cleaners, talked about their features and performance, written about the setup process and listed the pros and cons.

So before concluding, the last thing we want to present is a detailed chart where we compare these two products in every critical aspect.

NAME OF THE ROBOTIC VACUUM	ROOMBA 880	ROOMBA 980
Robotic Vacuum Name	Roomba 880	Roomba 980
iOS & Android Compatibility	No	Yes
Wi-Fi Support	No	Yes
Smart Cleaning	Yes	Yes
Energy Usage Reports	No	Yes
Cleaning Style	Random	Organised
Modes	None	Carpet Mode
Sensing Qualities	Average	Very High
Mobile App	No	Yes
Noisy	Average	High
Battery Life	Average	High
Power	5x Stronger Power	10x Stronger Power
Dimensions Of The Product	13.9 x 13.9 x 3.6 inches	13.9 x 13.9 x 3.6 inches
Problems	Weak Navigation	Noisy
Unique Feature	None	Carpet Mode
Warranty	1-year	6 Months
Check Price

Roomba 880 and 980 are two of the most popular and complete robotic vacuums on the market. They have exceptional features, enhanced capabilities, look great and work flawlessly.

Roomba 980 is the newest robotic vacuum released by iRobot, and it’s pretty evident that it’s the superior model. It boasts being the best-selling, highest-rated floor cleaner that has incredible features and flexibility.

Roomba 880 is also a powerful robotic vacuum that has a good set of features, works great and has thousands of satisfied customers. Roomba 880 is well-priced and is one of the best robotic vacuums on the market.

Bottom Line

Roomba 980 is iRobot’s best vacuum yet. As we already said, it has remarkable features and enhanced capabilities. If you want to buy yourself the best robotic vacuum, you should go for the Roomba 980 without a second thought.

Roomba 880 is a wonderful robotic vacuum that has some nice features, works well and can meet, or even exceed, the expectations of the buyer. Roomba 880 is widely regarded as one of iRobot’s best creations and can boast being a best-selling smart floor cleaner.

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So to wrap this up, Roomba 980 is the best robotic vacuum released by iRobot, and there’s no sign of a smart floor cleaner that can compete with it.

Robotic Vacuum Name	Roomba 880	Roomba 980
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