Roomba Combo 10 Max Review: A Letdown for iRobot Fans

The Roomba Combo 10 Max is iRobot’s first venture into the vacuum-mop combo space with a dock that washes and dries its mop—a long-awaited step toward a more fully featured robot vacuum and mop combo from the brand. As long-time supporters of iRobot, one of the few domestic manufacturers in the robot vacuum market, we were excited to test the Combo 10 Max. We even went the extra mile by delaying our review and purchasing a second unit to ensure some disappointing findings that we came across were accurate.

While the Roomba Combo 10 Max has some notable strengths, such as excellent carpet deep cleaning and pet hair pickup, it also falls short in key areas. In this review, we’ll explore both its redeeming qualities and its drawbacks to help you decide if it still could be the right fit for your needs.

A Bit of History First

iRobot wasn’t the first company to enter the robot vacuum market, but it quickly became the industry leader for the first two decades. However, as new features emerged, iRobot seemed to lag behind competitors, particularly because it resisted adopting LiDAR navigation, which is now the industry standard.

More recently, iRobot made a significant bet on its unique mopping system, which lifts its mop pad up and rests it on top of the robot vacuum’s body when not in use. In our view, this design choice limited the engineers’ ability to develop an effective mop-washing dock—a feature that has since become a must-have in robot vacuums.

Pros of the Roomba Combo 10 Max

iRobot’s vacuums have consistently excelled at core vacuuming tasks, and the Combo 10 Max is no exception. In key performance areas such as pet hair removal, carpet deep cleaning, and surface debris pickup, the Combo 10 Max demonstrates the solid vacuuming fundamentals that iRobot has built its reputation on.

Outstanding Pet Hair Pickup

We’ve been developing a new pet hair test that evaluates how well robot vacuums remove pet hair embedded in carpets. Although the test is still in development, preliminary results show that the Combo 10 Max was one of only two robot vacuums to achieve a perfect score. For context, the average pet hair pickup across 17 models tested so far is just 66%, so the Combo 10 Max is a standout performer in this area.

Strong Performance on Deep Cleaning

The Combo 10 Max also excels at picking up deeply embedded debris. In our deep clean test, it achieved one of the best scores on record, tying for sixth place out of over 100 robot vacuums tested.

Excellent Debris Pickup

Additionally, it was excellent with picking up surface debris from hard floors and carpets, consistently picking up nearly all debris types and sizes.

Above-Average Obstacle Avoidance

The Combo 10 Max features an obstacle avoidance system that combines an RGB camera with an LED light. While it isn’t the most advanced system on the market—lacking technologies like structured light—the results were certainly above average in our tests. It performed well overall, although not perfectly.

Cons of the Roomba Combo 10 Max

Outdated Navigation

Unfortunately, the Combo 10 Max’s navigation system seemed outdated. It uses a combination of camera data and floor tracking sensors to map the space, but the entire process feels sluggish. It took four times longer to create the initial map compared to most other vacuums. In regular use, the Combo 10 Max takes longer than average to complete a cleaning job, despite having slightly above-average battery efficiency. Its coverage score was also below average, likely due to these navigation limitations. Additionally, the robot struggled with interruptions—it often got confused when moved mid-task.

Limited App Functionality

The iRobot app is another area where the Combo 10 Max falls short. In contrast to many current robot vacuum apps that offer granular control, the iRobot app provides limited options. We also found it buggy during my testing, though to be fair, it has above-average ratings in both the iOS and Google Play stores, so perhaps our experience was an outlier.

Mopping System and Dock Issues

The mopping system is where the Combo 10 Max really falls behind. Most brands have adopted spinning or vibrating mop pads that lift slightly to avoid wetting carpets. In contrast, iRobot’s design lifts the mop pad all the way to the top of the robot, aiming to prevent carpet contact entirely. While this approach may have seemed innovative initially, it quickly became obsolete with the rise of removable mop pads and software-based cleaning modes that tackle carpets before hard floors.

The lack of spinning or vibrating mop pads also reduced the effectiveness of its mopping. In our tests—part of a newly developed mopping test protocol to determine the Best Robot Vacuum Mop—the Combo 10 Max scored an 86, which is slightly below the average.

The new docking station is another area of concern. While it attempts to wash and dry the mop pads, the process feels poorly executed. The dock requires the robot to lower the pad and move back and forth over a spinning roller, which is inefficient and leaves too much water in the mop. The system creates a mess and feels like an afterthought. Moreover, the dock was louder than average, and its dustbin-emptying capabilities were subpar compared to other high-end docks.

Long-Term Concerns

Given the complexity of the mop-washing system, we are also concerned about potential quality control issues down the road. The sheer number of moving parts may have the potential to increase the likelihood of malfunctions over time.

Our Conclusion

In summary, while the Roomba Combo 10 Max has some redeeming qualities—such as excellent pet hair pickup and strong deep-cleaning performance—its outdated navigation, limited app functionality, and underwhelming mopping system drag it down. The docking station that was intended to be a key feature actually feels like an afterthought, which for us, further diminished the value of the product.

So in the end, we think that the Roomba Combo 10 Max is a decent product for those who prioritize vacuuming over mopping, but there are better options available for consumers seeking an all-in-one solution.

iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max Specs

Vacuum type	Robot vacuum & mop
Self-emptying	Yes
Self-refilling (mop tank)	Yes
Mop cleaning	Yes
Mop drying	Yes
Obstacle avoidance	Yes
Avoids pet waste	Yes
Max run time	120 min
Colors	black
Battery Type	Lithium Ion