Title: Roomba is the only robot vacuum that actually empties itself, and nobody talks about why

Everyone trashes Roomba like it's the flip phone of robot vacuums. I've owned four different ones over the years, and Roomba is the only one that has never failed to empty its own bin reliably or at least tell me when it’s clogged.

Turns out iRobot has a patent on the actual full bin sensor. Every other brand markets "self-emptying," but their sensors are guessing. My other three vacuums would claim the bin was fine, then I'd find them stuck spinning on a pile of dog hair, bin half full, because the sensor had no clue. I’ve also used a shark (worst) Roborock (meh) and most recently a dreame (disappointing) I still keep my old roomba upstairs and it empties reliably. Other 3 have not.

And every "best robot vacuum 2026" listicle ranks Roomba near the bottom for being outdated. Nobody tests the bin sensor. They run suction numbers on hardwood for 90 seconds in a sponsored video and call it a day.

This is the video game magazine scene from the 90s all over again. Everything gets a 9/10 because advertisers paid for the issue, real functional differences get ignored, and you don't find out which product actually works until you've already bought it.

I'm not an iRobot fanboy, see the other 3 brands I’ve fallen for, the wcammy reviews worked on me. I'm just tired of reviewers gaslighting me into thinking I bought the wrong vacuum when it's the only one that does its one job right.