Roomba Plus 405 Review: A Reliable Vacuum-Mop Combo with Some Handy Features

If you're tired of spending your weekends sweeping and mopping, the Roomba Plus 405 might catch your interest. I gave it a shot over two weeks and it seemed to handle everyday cleaning tasks pretty well.

iRobot has been in the business for over three decades, and they bring that experience to the table with this model. The 2-in-1 feature of vacuuming and mopping promises convenience, but is it really up to the task?

In this review, I'll break down my experience with its design, performance, and value, and tell you where it excels and where it might fall short.

Overall, if you're looking for something that reduces your weekly cleaning load, this could be worth considering, but let's dive into the details.

Let's talk about value. The Roomba Plus 405 isn't cheap, and while it does offer a decent range of features, it might not be for everyone. It is priced higher than some competitors, but you are paying for the convenience of less frequent manual intervention.

If you're a busy person who hates the hassle of vacuuming and mopping, this might be a worthwhile investment. The self-emptying and cleaning features are particularly handy and save time.

However, if you're on a tighter budget or don't mind manual cleaning as much, there are less expensive models that offer similar performance minus the bells and whistles.

In essence, it's a good value if you're looking for convenience and are willing to pay a bit extra for an easier cleaning routine.

The battery life on this thing is pretty solid. I got about 120 minutes of cleaning time, which is decent for a medium-sized apartment. It was enough to cover my entire living space with some juice left over.

One thing to note is that it automatically returns to the dock when the battery is low, which is standard but appreciated. The AutoWash dock is also a nice feature, as it handles a lot of the maintenance without much user input.

Charging takes a while, though. You're looking at a few hours before it's ready to go again, which means you might want to plan your cleaning schedule around it if your place is large.

Overall, while the battery performance is competent, there's always room for improvement in charging speed.

When it comes to performance, the Roomba Plus 405 packs a punch with its 70X suction compared to previous models like the Roomba 600 series. I noticed it was pretty good at handling both fine dust and larger debris like crumbs from the kitchen floor.

One interesting feature is the self-emptying and self-cleaning dock. It does take the hassle out of maintenance by emptying up to 75 days' worth of debris, which means less for you to worry about. The mop pads also get rinsed during the cleaning cycle, which is a neat touch, keeping things more hygienic.

The LiDAR navigation is efficient, and it seemed to avoid obstacles well without needing much intervention. I set up some keep-out zones, and it respected those boundaries, which is always a plus.

However, on the downside, it sometimes struggled with very tight spaces and occasionally couldn't navigate back to its dock, needing a little nudge from me.