A Roomba 595 Review – My Take on this Budget Roomba

The Roomba 595 is one of the more affordable pet-oriented Roomba vacuum cleaners in the iRobot lineup. Although it’s no longer actively promoted on the iRobot website, the 595 remains a popular model, particularly among budget-conscious consumers.

This robot vacuum cleaner is designed to remove pet hair along with dirt and other debris through a three-stage cleaning system. As with other iRobot vacuum cleaners, it cleans surfaces from carpets to tile, hardwood, and linoleum floors. When it needs a recharge, the Roomba heads back to its charging station.

Overview of the 595

It’s not as robust or powerful as its bigger siblings, but the 595 has a lot to offer. Aside from having the ability to clean various floor surfaces, this Roomba avoids off-limit spaces thanks to handy features such as cliff-detection sensors and virtual walls.

An array of sensors allows the Roomba to successfully navigate throughout any room in your home, ensuring that the vac makes its way around furniture and tricky wall edges, where dust and dirt frequently collects.

The 595, part of the iRobot Roomba pet series, comes with a user-friendly design that many users praise.

Key Features of the Roomba 595

It may not be as feature-rich as some of the pricier iRobot Roomba vacuums, but you’ll still get a lot of bang for your buck. From convenience to extra cleaning power and performance, here’s a closer look at features that stand out the most on the 595.

• Multi-stage cleaning – A powerful three-stage cleaning system with AeroVac technology ensures that this robot vacuum cleaner will pick up as much pet hair, dirt, and other debris as possible as it makes its way around your home. The AeroVac system allows the vacuum cleaner to pick up lots of debris while automatically adjusting to different floor types. From carpets to linoleum and hardwood floors, this ensures that the vacuum cleaner will thoroughly clean each room as it moves from one room to the next.

• Navigation sensors – iAdapt sensors allow the Roomba to successfully navigate around the home. The sensors alert the Roomba to possible obstacles in its path, including furniture legs. This enables the Roomba to successfully navigate around furniture and get into tight spots, such as the spaces around furniture legs, without getting stuck. The sensors also help the 595 get as close to the wall as possible without bumping into it or getting stuck — a feature that earns it plenty of praise for its ability to grab as much dirt and dust along wall edges as it can.
• Cliff-detection technology – This technology ensures that your Roomba won’t go tumbling down the stairs during a cleaning session. Special cliff-detection sensors help the Roomba avoid stairs and any other potentially dangerous drop-offs around the home.
• Automatic scheduling – If you’ve ever dreamed of having a vacuum cleaner that can take over even if you’re not home, you’re in luck. The Roomba 595 offers various convenient scheduling options. For example, you can opt to have it clean the entire house when you’re away, or set a weekly cleaning schedule to have it run at specific times during the week. You can schedule your Roomba to run up to seven times per week.

Pros of the 595

The Roomba 595 has a lot going for it, especially when you consider all that it offers for the price. Let’s take a look at some of its pros.

• Automatically recharges – Not only does this Roomba head out for a cleaning session on its own, but it will also return to its charging base when its battery is running low. All you need to do is set up the base on the floor so that the Roomba can find its way back.

• Virtual walls – A valid concern among many potential consumers is that the Roomba will venture into off-limit areas when it’s going around the room. This could be everything from a closet full of shoes to a couch that’s just low enough so that the Roomba might get stuck underneath. Whether you want to keep your robot vacuum cleaner out of a particular place in the room or you want it to avoid a room altogether, iRobot’s virtual wall feature really comes in handy. Having these virtual walls in place gives you peace of mind knowing that you can schedule a cleaning even when you’re not home, and the vacuum cleaner will stay out of forbidden spaces.

• Single-touch operation – Some robot vacuum cleaners require you to press a number of buttons or scroll through an array of options on a screen just to start a regular cleaning session. However, the 595 works a bit differently. A convenient one-touch operation makes it easy for you to get the vacuum going with just the push of a button. Having a single-touch operation gives you the freedom to take care of other chores as the 595 makes its way around the house, or start the vacuum in a room then clear furniture out of the way as needed to ensure that the Roomba has a clear path that enables it to pick up as much dirt, pet hair, and debris as possible.

Cons of the 595

While this iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner is a pretty solid robot vacuum cleaner, it doesn’t come without a few drawbacks. Here are a few of its cons:

• Confusing cliff detection technology – While the 595’s cliff detection technology is generally helpful, it can cause moments of confusion for this Roomba. For example, several owners complain that if they have dark carpet or a darker area of a room, the vacuum cleaner may very well end up avoiding it altogether, as it believes that it’s about to go over a cliff. Later models (600 series and up) fixed this issue.
• Requires regular cleaning – The 595 will gladly run around one room after the next, but it does require routine cleaning to keep it running properly. This is due in part to the relatively small dust bin, which needs to be emptied frequently. Pet hair and lint tends to collect around the bases, an issue that’s especially concerning for pet owners who want to run the vacuum daily or several times per week. Some owners note that the bin may need to be cleaned after every cleaning cycle in really dirty homes.
• Random cleaning plan – When it runs loose around the house, the 595 tends to clean in a rather sporadic pattern. Some competitor units map out a specific cleaning pattern before they begin, but the 595 does not. As a result, it may clean certain areas more than once while skipping others altogether.

Video Overview of the 595

Here’s a good video showing the 595 in operation and the results (dust collected) after just a short usage

Features Comparison – Quick Look

Here is a quick glance at some of the most notable features the 595 has to offer for a very affordable price tag relative to other robot vacuums.

Setup/Operation	Performance	Technology	Additional Features
Simple one-touch operation	Three-stage cleaning system for optimal use	Cliff detection sensor keeps it from falling down stairs	On-board scheduling
Comes pre-assembled and ready to use	Ideal for households with pets	Virtual walls block off-limit areas	Returns home to its base charging station when battery is low
User-friendly controls	Works well on a number of floor surfaces	iAdapt sensors keep it from bumping into objects as it makes its way around a room	Arrives with extra filters and brushes

Should I Buy It Now?

If you’re in the market for an affordable iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner, the 595 model is an idea budget choice. A (see here) makes it one of the more wallet-friendly Roomba vacuums.

It’s marketed as being a great vacuum for households with pets (or those who suffer from allergies). With a three-stage cleaning system and powerful brushes, the 595 lives up to the hype.

In fact, most owners specifically purchase the vacuum to help clean up after their pets. The vacuum can pick up a surprising amount of dirt and pet hair in just one run.

Another big perk of this vacuum cleaner is that you can schedule it to automatically clean up to seven days per week. This gives you the freedom to set up cleanings even when you’re not home. If you want it to avoid certain areas, simply set up the virtual walls that come with the vacuum cleaner.

You can still find the 595 for sale, although iRobot is no longer promoting this particular model. This is great news for consumers who don’t really care about having the latest and greatest technology, and who don’t mind having an
older unit.

However, some of the newer models are equipped with more and better features. In particular, some of the 600 series, like the 630 (see review here) or even the 650 (check it out here), are frequently available at comparable or even lower prices.

They typically have a bit more power to help clean up even the dirtiest of homes.