There are plenty of robot vacuums, depending on what you will want to achieve from the appliance such as Shark IQ Robot Vs iRobot Roomba i7+ that are not only capable of cleaning effectively but also conveniently due to their additional features. These robots are highly rated for the ability to clean the flooring properly, easy to use, and coming with interesting features yet, are not the same as well. If you wonder which will be the better choice, let’s see what they can offer below.
In this comparison, we are going to talk about:
- How Robot Vacuum Works
- What are Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+
- How are the Design of Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+
- How are the Performance of Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+
- How are the Navigation System in Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+
- What else Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ can offer
- Shark IQ Robot Vs iRobot Roomba i7+
Contents
Robot Vacuums Sensors
In this day and age where our smart device can be used for almost anything from productivity to entertainment and even helping you to deliver items through tons of delivery services, it is difficult to imagine how our life before all of these advanced in technology. People live to strive so it is almost natural to always demand more and want to be better, including for convenience. In the past we had to vacuum everyday to keep the house dust free but now the robot can do it for you.
When it comes to robot vacuums, we are sure some people still wonder about how they work since the appliance is almost independent in certain areas. The basics for robot vacuums is not about how fancy they are designed but about how they navigate around and this is all thanks to sensors. Without a sensor, the robot won’t be able to decide where it should move or whether it should go to a certain area without knowing that it is a staircase.
Sensors initially are not like human eyes which we can visually use to determine information but more to detect obstacles and other similar hazards. These sensors are also working to measure by how far they have travelled and discovering the new area to clean or to avoid something if they are advanced enough to do so.
The basic sensors in almost every robot vacuum cleaner are obstacle sensors, cliff sensors, wall sensors, and wheel sensors. Obstacle sensor is the one that when bumping into something will tell the robot to navigate away from the spot such as when nudging coffee tables, chairs, the pet’s body sleeping on the floor, or other typical obstacles. Cliff sensors use infrared technology that is constantly sent to the surface so when the signal doesn’t bounce back immediately, the vacuum will know there is a cliff there.
This is necessary and more of a safety feature rather than a navigation system which is why every robot has it to prevent damage and related accidents. Wall sensors, as the name suggests, still use the infrared to detect whether there is a wall in front of them and if so, the vacuum can move along it to optimize the edge cleaning. It also helps them to bump less often to the wall as well as useful to help them discover new areas such as room to clean. Wheel sensors on the other hand measure the wheel rotation to determine how far the vacuum has traveled.
| Shark IQ Robot | iRobot Roomba i7+ | |
|---|---|---|
  |   |
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| Product Dimensions | 38.9 x 26.3 x 49.6 inches | 13.34 x 13.34 x 3.63 inches |
| Shipping Weight | 5.87 pounds | 7.44 pounds |
| Best offer | Check price | Check price |
About Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+
As fancy as they may look, robot vacuum is not a new tech anymore and they are actually very easy to use so we do think almost everyone can take the advantage from the system, including elderly people to help them around the house by reducing the frequency of vacuuming with upright or stick vacuums. Because they are more common, the brands that offer the product increased as well and we now have plenty of alternatives than the most popular Roomba by iRobot.
This brand is probably the one who popularized robot vacuums so many of us still call the robot as Roomba despite being from a different brand. They do carry some of the most capable robots in the market but also one of the most expensive to buy from so this is why we also recommend to consider other options like Shark or ILIFE. The latter especially have many very affordable, basic robots such as the ILIFE V3S Pro Vs V5S Pro while Sharks have richly featured vacuums at far more affordable price than Roomba.
If you wish to have a robot vacuum that is not only easy to use, effective in cleaning but also convenient as well in maintenance, the Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ are two ideal options to consider. The IQ Robot we are comparing here is the RV101AE and there are some similar alternatives to this model but the capabilities will be the same. Both of them are often compared because with the same set of interesting features, your Roomba i7+ is almost twice as expensive initially.
What makes the Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ interesting is because the two can use an automatic dustbin emptying system which means the vacuum can clean or empty the dust canister automatically without assistance. It doesn’t affect the efficiency in cleaning unless the bin is clogged but improves the convenience by a lot. What many of us often complain about robot vacuums is due to their small dust collector and with this feature, we will only need to empty the base once in a while or not as often.
Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ Design
As you can see, when purchasing these vacuums, you will get a special base to work with and these docks are taller than typical charging ports for most robot vacuums because the upper portion is where the dust will be stored. Instead of emptying the dustbin on the vacuum, we can remove and clean the bin in their dock. In terms of vacuum’s design, the two are very similar and about 3-inch tall from the ground to make them able to slide below the furniture with higher clearance.
The vacuum itself houses basic cleaning functions so we can use them without the app but to access most of the features, we do recommend using the smartphone’s app. When you flip the vacuum, we can see one rotating thin brush on i7+ and two of them on the IQ Robot RV101AE. What’s prominently different is the rolling brush located on the suction path because Roomba use solid brush while the Shark vacuum uses both solid and regular brittle brush.
Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ Performance
Now for the most important part, let’s see what Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ can offer to you and for starters, let’s focus on the performance since this is the most important point. In this part, Shark is one of the strongest in suction power compared to many others, including the i7+. It is also not only about raw power but how the mechanism is not falling behind because we know Roomba uses a double rolling brush while Shark only has one.
In testing, both of them are seem to work really well on hard floor by keeping the small and large debris away but, when it comes to floorings with crack or small gaps where fine debris usually reside, i7+ suction power is not adequate to clean most of them in which Shark has almost no problem doing. In the deep cleaning for carpet, Roomba’s lower brush is very effective but Shark much stronger suction made up for it and capable of showing an incredible cleaning result as well.
As for the navigation, the vacuums are featured with a camera to help with mapping so they are not only using sensors here. What’s great about camera mapping is the Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ will be able to move from side to side or like snake movement in the popular game instead of randomly bumping into objects in the room. But, in practice, the Shark seems to cover more spots and finish faster than i7+ which misses quite a spot near the charging dock.
Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+ Features
Lastly, on the additional features of Shark IQ Robot and iRobot Roomba i7+, they all come with the self-empty dock which makes the two very convenient. The systems are the same for both vacuums since they will automatically empty the bin when going back to the dock. The difference is Roomba uses a bag system which means we have to replace it every time emptying the content unlike Shark that uses a bag-less system so we can just remove the canister and dump the dirt on the trash can.
But, for the app, we do think Roomba is doing a better job here because besides mapping the house, it has a no-go zone which is like a virtual barrier and used to decide which area the vacuum should be avoiding in its cleaning process. It is very simple, the user can just draw a spot in the app and it will be followed by the appliance.
Shark IQ Robot vs iRobot Roomba i7+
Both of them are good vacuums if you want the best convenience. The difference is Shark has the stronger suction power so when it comes to working on hard flooring with cracks or small gaps, it will be more effective at eliminating the small debris. But, for the overall hard floor and carpet, the two are almost on par with each other with Shark having the upper hand on powerful suction. What we do think i7+ does better is on the app and setting up no go zones.
Conclusion
There is no bad option between the two but if you want to save some, we do highly recommend the Shark IQ Robot or the RV101AE because it is very effective in cleaning the flooring as well as convenient and easy to use.