iRobot Roomba Plus 508 Combo Robot Vacuum & Mop + AutoWash Dock

Description

The ServiceBot Verdict

The Plus 508 Combo is the Roomba where the dock does the unpleasant part. It empties the bin, keeps refreshing the mop pads while the robot is still mopping, washes them and dries them with heat when it finishes, then runs a cleaning cycle on itself.

The mopping is the reason to pick it over a cheaper Roomba. The DualClean pads push out past the body so the robot gets closer to skirting boards than it otherwise could, and PrecisionVision AI is what keeps it off cords and pet mess rather than dragging them around the room.

Who it suits

Homes with a lot of hard floor, and anyone who has had enough of rinsing mop pads in the laundry sink. The pads lift when the robot senses carpet ahead, so a mixed floor plan doesn’t need supervising.

You get four ways to run it: vacuum only, mop only, both at once, or vacuum first and then mop. The last one is the setting worth knowing about, because mopping over dry crumbs is how you get streaks.

It replaces the Plus 505 Combo, which iRobot’s Australian site now shows as unavailable. Amazon lists this machine as the Roomba Combo Plus 508, which is the same robot under iRobot’s other word order.

Technical specifications

• Suction: 7,000 Pa
• Navigation: ClearView Pro LiDAR, with PrecisionVision AI obstacle avoidance
• Mopping: DualClean pads with PerfectEdge, extending 18% closer to edges, plus SmartScrub deep mode
• Carpet: mop pads auto-lift when the robot senses carpet ahead
• Dock: 75 days of auto-emptying, 4 weeks of mopping and pad washing, continual pad refreshing, heated pad drying and self-cleaning cycles
• Cleaning modes: vacuum, mop, combo, or vacuum then mop
• Model number: N188000

Every figure here is iRobot’s own, published on its Australian site.