Robot vacuums · Roomba
Owners keep the 505 for a price well under pricier robots and for cleaning that copes with pet fur and rugs, with reliability the trade-off some of them run into.
Price is praised: owners say the 505 costs far less than robots in the class above it. One owner paid about half what a Dreame X50 costs, and another got what they treated as a $1,000-class machine for about half that on Amazon.
Reliability is a clear concern: most owners who raised it described faults. One said iRobot has sent a third replacement in under a year, and the robot still wanders off, half cleans and ignores its mapping.
The Roomba Plus 505 Combo is an iRobot robot that vacuums and mops in one run. It comes with a dock that empties its bin and washes and dries its mop pads. It's for people who want both floor jobs done with little hands-on upkeep.
| Suction | 70x the suction of Roomba 600 series (maker's comparison; Pa figure not stated) |
|---|---|
| Battery run time | |
| Mopping | Yes, two spinning mop pads (200 RPM) that lift on carpet; dock washes and heat-dries them |
| Self-empty dock | Yes, AutoWash dock, up to 75 days of debris; 1 extra bag included |
| Navigation | ClearView Pro LiDAR mapping with PrecisionVision AI obstacle avoidance |
| Dust bin | |
| Weight | 9.44 lb (robot) |
| Warranty |
From the maker's spec page, checked October 5, 2026. A blank row means the maker does not state it.
You only need to empty the dock's bag about every two and a half months. The mop pads come up when the robot reaches a rug, so carpets stay dry, and the dock cleans and dries the pads so they don't start to smell. LiDAR lets it map your rooms and clean in neat rows, and the camera helps it go around cords, socks and pet mess. At about 9.4 lb, it's easy to carry to another floor.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What owners keep coming back to is that it cleans without much fuss. One owner who uses it in two work labs and at home says it climbs onto every rug, marks wires and steers around them, and leaves no drips, streaks or smears. A cat owner with fur everywhere calls it a decent job for the home, though it sometimes vacuums poorly on the lower settings. Overall satisfaction is positive across the owners who spoke to it, and it is the main reason people say they are glad they bought it.
Some things have to be learned or accepted. Mopping is divided: more owners are positive than negative, but a good share are mixed. The app is a concern, with owners mostly negative about it. Obstacle handling is also divided: one owner finds it steers well around objects like shoes, while others are lukewarm. Battery life and build quality split opinion too. Value for money is divided as well. Some owners have since moved to a Mova or a Dreame and call those better at a similar price.
Durability is praised overall, and several owners say the 505 has held up. The comments behind that are thin, though. Most 505 owners wrote after a short time with it, one after about two weeks. Few describe years of use, so there is little detail on what wears out first. Build quality is divided, with owners split evenly between praise and complaint.
Where it fails, the faults are about navigation and docking. One owner took the robot apart down to the wheels, cleaned it with microfibers and canned air, and it still would not leave the dock properly or find its position. Remapping did not help. Owners usually go to iRobot, and customer support is praised on balance: replacements get sent, and one owner has had good physical support over the years. Support is not a sure fix, though. One owner got a reset trick that worked for a session before the fault came back.
Long-term accounts of the 505 are thin. We cannot say from these comments how it behaves after two or three years.
Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
53 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in robot vacuums: Neato D7, Neato D8, Ecovacs X1.
Among the 3 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 2 described a failure. Parts named most: wheel/roller error causing stuck/getting stuck.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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