Robot vacuums have become ridiculously powerful over the past few years, but iRobot thinks simply adding more suction isn’t enough. Its new flagship Roomba Max 875 Combo, shown off at IFA 2026, takes a rather different approach – it physically seals itself against your carpet to help suck out the dirt hiding between the fibres.
It’s still got plenty of suction, mind. The Max 875 produces 35,000Pa along with 20L/s of airflow, making it iRobot’s most powerful robot vacuum to date. There’s also some equally interesting tech on the mopping side, including heated mist for tackling dried-on stains, and a huge roller that continuously cleans itself as it works.
Oh, and when the Max 875 encounters a rug or carpet, it can tuck that wet roller away behind a protective shield to keep everything dry – a rather neat trick. And there’s plenty more where that came from:
Why seal a robot vacuum to your carpet?
Rather than relying on suction alone, the Max 875 lowers a skirt underneath its chassis when it reaches carpet, forming a tight seal against the fibres. This concentrates the airflow through the carpet instead of allowing it to escape around the robot.
iRobot calls the technology SealForce, and claims that it results in three times deeper carpet cleaning compared with using the vacuum without the seal.
The robot also has a hair-cutting main brush and an anti-tangle spiral side brush, while ClearView Pro dual-line LiDAR handles navigation. PrecisionVision AI can recognise and avoid more than 300 common household objects, and it can also store up to three maps for different floors.
Despite all that, the body is just 9.98cm tall and can climb thresholds up to 3.5cm, making it rather agile and nimble, on paper, at least.
The mop gets some serious upgrades too
For dried-on messes, iRobot’s new ThermaMist system uses 60°C ultrasonic heated mist to help soften stains, while the PowerSpin Max roller uses 60°C hot water as it mops. iRobot claims the combination delivers twice the stain removal performance compared with mopping without ThermaMist.
The roller itself spins at 300rpm and applies 18N of downward pressure while scrubbing the floor, and iRobot claims this delivers 3.75x deeper scrubbing than the Roomba Max 775. It also describes PowerSpin Max as the industry’s largest roller mop, with a roller that’s 44 per cent larger than its standard PowerSpin version, and extends up to 45mm towards walls and skirting boards.
Elsewhere, things get particularly clever when the Max 875 encounters carpet. Its AI-powered DriLift system lifts the wet roller and lowers a protective shield around it, preventing it from brushing against your rugs as the robot drives over them.
Once cleaning is finished, the Max 875 returns to its AutoWash Dock, which empties the vacuum, deals with the dirty mop water, washes the roller with water heated to 80°C, dries it with 55°C air, and automatically dispenses cleaning concentrate. Dust and debris are emptied into a carbon AllergenLock bag, and iRobot says you can go for up to 90 days without emptying it yourself.
It all sounds very impressive, though I’d have to see how it tackles the daily chaos in a regular house before passing my final judgement. Naturally, you’ll pay handsomely for all this, too. The Roomba Max 875 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock costs $1199 in the US and £1099 in the UK, and it’s available now directly from iRobot, with wider North American retail availability coming later this month.
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