Shark IQ vs Roomba i7 vs Roomba 960

Shark IQ

Unlike earlier models, the Shark IQ aimed for a premium look this time. There are brushed silver accents on the faceplate and a glossy black plastic around the sides that complement the matte black components. All in all, the design and color scheme of the Shark IQ closely resembles the Roomba i7 right down to the oversized bumper.

You will also find a camera on the faceplate of the robot. A Clean button and Dock button sit atop alongside the battery and Wi-Fi indicators. Several sensors also line the front and sides of the robot vacuum.

Flipping the Shark IQ over reveals the bristle brush sandwiched between two chunky rubber wheels. There is also a small caster wheel upfront. Instead of one spinning side brush, the Shark IQ has a single-spoke brush that spins on either side of the robot vacuum.

As with the majority of robot vacuums, the Shark IQ comes pre-installed with all the accessories it needs to perform its duties. All I needed to do was to snap the two front side brushes, and the robot is ready to go!

Shark seems to be a little bit frugal when it comes to providing spare parts and accessories. Aside from the robot itself, I only got the self-emptying base and a mat for putting the unit on a carpeted area.

Roomba i7

At the front of the chassis is the touch-sensitive bumper, while the waste bin and filter sit back at the opposite side. That tiny circle you see on top of the robot is the RCON (Room Confinement) sensor, which detects the Home Base® and Virtual Wall® barrier. If you wish to make an upgrade and purchase the Clean Base®, the RCON sensor will enable the Roomba i7 to communicate with the self-emptying base.

There are three buttons on the faceplate of the Roomba i7. At the center is the Clean button, where I would press to initiate or end a cleaning job manually. There is also an LED indicator ring around it. To the right is the Spot Clean button. Pressing this button sends the robot to boosts its vacuum power as it cleans a localized area about three feet. Then there is the Home button for sending the robot back to its dock.

The first thing that caught my eye when I flipped the robot over is the neon Dual Multi-Surface Rubber Brush System between the treaded wheels. Also, there is the three-spoke side brush that gets into areas where the main brushroll cannot reach. There is a caster wheel at the bottom front for easy maneuvering.

To clean and replace these brushes, I only need to pull up the latches on each side of the brushroll. Around the edges, I found six cliff sensors that detect stairs or steep drops.

Aside from the robot vacuum itself and the Home Base®, the Roomba i7 package includes:

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 shares many similarities with the Roomba i7 in terms of design.

Although this model has a different layout, everything else looks the same as the Roomba i7.

The 960 has the same primary control options: Clean, Spot Clean, and Home. You will also find the onboard camera on the faceplate of the robot. A touch-sensitive bumper also runs along the front of the robot vacuum.

Aside from the robot vacuum itself and the Home Base®, the Roomba 960 package includes:

Shark IQ

First, you will want to place the base in an open space that your robot can easily access. Ideally, the area should be 3 x 5 feet.

Then take out the cord wrapped behind the dock and shorten it as needed. Don’t forget to attach the two side brushes before you charge the robot vacuum. While the robot is charging, the two LED indicator lights will blink blue continuously until it completes the charging cycle.

The last thing you want to do before the Shark sails through your home is to download the SharkClean™ app and set it up. While I can use the primary controls to start a cycle, I prefer the convenience and versatility of the app.

Initiating a cleaning cycle, setting a schedule, and customizing cleaning modes are just a few of the things I can do.
The Shark IQ also supports Smart Home Integration.

Roomba i7

The setup is a piece of cake as the iRobot Home app guided me through personalizing my Roomba’s name, as well as connecting to my Wi-Fi. After all, Roomba is the most user-friendly robot vacuum! By the way, you need to make sure you have the latest firmware, and this will take a couple of minutes to complete.

To start a cleaning cycle, I can either press the Clean button on the robot itself or hit Clean on the Roomba app. From there, I have two options to choose from: clean all rooms or choose rooms. This convenience is another benefit of the Imprint™ Smart Mapping.

I also have the option to create a schedule, as well as tackle rooms in different ways. The robot likewise sends me notifications via the app and shows me a map of the areas it cleaned. Through the use of the app, I can see status events such as the location of the robot, how long it has been cleaning, what it has left to clean, and more.

Understandably, I also want to take full advantage of the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa with the Roomba i7, given the hefty price I paid for this unit.

Roomba 960

Setting up the Roomba 960 is also a cinch. All you need to do is to remove the robot from its box. I can likewise use the robot vacuum right off the bat because it already has 50% juice. There is no assembly required. But I do recommend that you charge your robot vacuum. A maximum battery life ensures your robot vacuum can map out more spaces in its first run.

You will most likely be using the iRobot Home app to connect your Roomba 960 through your home’s Wi-Fi and smartphone. Even if I’m away, I can create and edit schedules, initiate or end cleaning cycles, send the robot back to its base station from my phone. I also have the benefit of Smart Home Integration.

As with any Wi-Fi enabled Roomba, it will let you know if there is something wrong with your robot by flashing a red exclamation point via the app. Clicking the exclamation will lead you to a set of common problems, solutions, diagrams, and such.

The bottom line is that the Roomba i7 and Roomba 960 have the same control options, including local controls, smartphone integration, and voice commands. Push notifications for the robot and the Clean Base® will only work with the Roomba i7. But that aside, everything else is similar.

Shark IQ

If the Roomba i7 has iAdapt technology, the Shark has IQ Nav. The Shark IQ scans its surroundings and learns the floor layout using a suite of sensors and an onboard camera. This feature also helps the robot avoid obstacles to make sure the entire room has been cleaned.

The Shark IQ is a far cry from previous Sharks because it learns the layout of your home. After the Shark IQ maps the spaces, you can use Room Select on the app and send your robot to tackle one or two rooms. Like a little lawnmower, the Shark IQ zigzagged around my house and left beautiful carpet lines.

But based on my experience, the Shark IQ took a week before it finalized the map. The Shark IQ sometimes had trouble heading back to its station, and I could not send the robot to clean a specific room during this time. All in all, it took about nine runs for the Shark IQ to develop a complete map of my humble abode.

I admire this robot for correcting itself to ensure it was following the right path, though. However, it might be best to run the Shark IQ during daytime or with the lights on because optical sensors do not navigate well in low-light areas.

Roomba i7

iRobot coined its navigation tech “iAdapt 3.0” with vSLAM® Technology. The Roomba i7 uses this patented tech and an integrated camera to capture thousands of precise measurements that will further enhance its coverage. As the clever bot scanned my home, it created visual landmarks to help itself identify and differentiate one room from another.

The Roomba i7 began to learn my floor layout after three runs. But if you have a large home with plenty of furniture, it may take five runs for the robot to achieve a complete map. As soon as the robot is done, I can create a label for each room. This feature is handy when I only needed to clean my daughter’s messy bedroom.

The best thing I love about high-end Roombas, such as the i7, is that you can use the robot vacuum for multiple floors. Once the robot has detected a new layout, I can make use of the Imprint™ Smart Mapping to identify different rooms and floors.

Moreover, I was curious to see how the Roomba i7 would handle detecting a drop. Happy and relieved, the robot vacuum turned away from the stairs when its sensors detected the edge of the step. Likewise, I tested the ability of the robot to distinguish dark floors from drops. Again, the Roomba i7 passed my test.

On a side note, I like that the camera used to map floors is obscure, not a protruding turret. But by having a camera-based system, the Roomba i7 may not operate well in the dark. As a result, you would want to turn on the lights while the robot cleans.

Roomba 960

The i Series and s Series no longer use the iAdapt 2.0 with vSLAM® Technology that the Roomba 960 has. iRobot may find this technology outdated, but the Roomba 960 is still a few steps ahead of its competitors in terms of navigation. Yup, that’s right! If you compare the Shark IQ and Roomba 960 in this department, I will choose the latter as the clear winner without further hesitation.

The Roomba 960 uses infrared and camera navigation the same as the Shark IQ, but its ability to create a map of my home is a lot quicker and more accurate than its competitor. I likewise appreciate how the Roomba 960 cleaned in parallel lines as a human would use an upright vacuum cleaner. My only complaint is that the Roomba 960 struggles with differentiating a black rug or dark-colored floor from a drop-off. The robot would move away and ignore these surfaces.

Nevertheless, moving the Roomba 960 upstairs is not an issue. While this model does not memorize up to 10 floors, it would figure out how to clean a new area and remember the coverage map from session to session. Therefore, you should have no issues changing the floors, too. The robot will adapt to the arrangement changes of the furniture and obstacles. However, you should also relocate the charging base.

Shark IQ

The Shark IQ comes equipped with a self-cleaning brushroll, which consists of yellow rubber fins and bristles.

Likewise, it has a spinning side brush for each side of the robot vacuum. Since the main brush has fewer bristles, it helped lessen tangles inside the main brush.

Roomba i7

Among the best features of the Roomba i7, which its competitors find it difficult to compete against, is the new and improved Dual Multi-Surface Rubber Brushes. These counter-rotating rollers deliver excellent work at digging debris out of the carpet.

If you compare the Shark IQ and Roomba i7 in terms of resistance to tangles, the latter is a lot better. Unlike the traditional brush-and-blade design that the Shark IQ has, the cylindrical rubber brushes are much more resistant to tangles. Regardless, I would rate the two equal in terms of hair pick-up.

However, strings, shoelaces, and the like could still wrap extensively around the rollers. If this happens, the Roomba i7 will turn off with an error until the debris is removed.

Lastly, the Roomba i7 has a three-spoke edge-sweeping brush.

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 also uses the old version of the Dual Multi-Surface Rubber Brush System. As you can see, the extractors are black and grey, not the neon ones you see from the Roomba i7.

This model likewise has auto-adjusting wheels, so that the cleaning head remains in contact with whatever type of floor it is currently cleaning. There is also a three-spoke edge-sweeping brush to the Roomba 960.

Shark IQ

I wished there was a dustbin sensor to the Shark IQ. I had no way of telling whether or not the dustbin had reached its 600 mL capacity. Nevertheless, the robot uses pre-programmed proprietary algorithms that send it back to its self-emptying base and unload its contents.

One of the major highlights of the Shark IQ is the self-emptying base. When the Shark IQ completes a cleaning cycle, it will automatically navigate back to its base. From there, the base will suck out the contents from the onboard dustbin and into the larger waste disposal inside the station itself.

According to SharkNinja, the base can hold up to 30 loads of debris. There is also a small window for you to check. On a side note, I think the Shark IQ looks like a toilet bowl when the robot parks to its station.

As for the filter used, SharkNinja claimed that it is a HEPA filter.

Roomba i7

The Roomba i7 comes equipped with a High-Efficiency Filter, which collects particles down to 3 microns in size.

With my one-kid and one-dog house, I have to empty the 460-mL dustbin every three days or after I make a full-floor cleanup. Note that the frequency may vary depending on your household activities and the size of your abode. If you have a large home, you may have to clear out the dustbin more at shorter intervals.

Nevertheless, you have an option not to empty your robot vacuum. iRobot offers the Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal. The Clean Base® will suck out everything from the dustbin and store the contents inside the base. No mess. No fuss whatsoever.

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 also uses a High-Efficiency Filter that effectively traps allergens up to 10 microns in size.

The dustbin has a 600 mL capacity, which is of standard size in robot vacuums.

Shark IQ

SharkNinja boasts that the Shark IQ has an impressive suction power, but they did not mention specifically how much. Using an anemometer, I did measure the Shark IQ at 23 CFM. Know that Roomba’s current flagship model, the s9+, has an airflow of 22 CFM.

Roomba i7

The Roomba i7 has a powerful motor that generates 1,700 Pa of suction power, which is 10x more compared to earlier Roombas from the 600 Series.

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 has 5x the suction power compared to the 600 Series. But at 900 Pa., it isn’t much compared to the Roomba i7.

Shark IQ

I am not impressed with the BotBoundary® strips that came along with the Shark IQ. This magnetic marker, which looks exactly like a roll of black electrical tape, is an eyesore compared to the infrared Virtual Wall® barrier and digital Keep-Out Zones the Roomba i7 offers.

What’s more, the adhesive backing of the strips is not strong enough to stay in position for long. While the BotBoundary® strips come in eight feet, which you can later cut into shorter pieces, it can run out quickly.

A little bird has told me that Shark will make a software update, giving its users the ability to create virtual boundaries via the SharkClean™ app. However, there is no specified date.

Roomba i7

The Keep-Out Zones are useful when I want the Roomba i7 to avoid certain areas. In my case, I don’t want the robot vacuum to bump into my dog’s works of art (if you know what I mean.) But to utilize this feature, you need to make sure the robot has already achieved a complete and accurate floor plan beforehand. Otherwise, you will need a Dual-Mode Virtual Wall® barrier.

You can place the Virtual Wall® on the outside of a doorway to prevent the robot from entering a specific room. By activating the Halo mode, you can also create a circular barrier that will extend 24 inches around the device that the robot will stay away from.

Roomba 960

The added Keep-Out Zone feature in the last app update back in 2019 was a Christmas gift to Roomba 960 users. Because originally, this model did not support Keep-Out Zones and only had one Virtual Wall® barrier for each purchase.

Shark IQ

The Shark IQ has a longer battery life, offering 90 minutes per charge. This model also has a “recharge and resume” feature so that it heads back to its base when it is running low in battery.

Unfortunately, I had to wait almost five hours for the robot to charge from 30% to 100%.

Roomba i7

The battery life for the Roomba i7 is less than you would expect with robot vacuums in this price range. Although the manufacturer claimed that it lasts for about 75 minutes per charge, it may decrease if the robot spots several areas with concentrated amounts of dirt. High-traffic areas, such as the kitchen and dining room, will often trigger the Dirt Detect™ feature of the Roomba i7.

Nevertheless, the LED ring indicator will glow red to indicate that the robot vacuum is running on juice. Then the robot will head back to its station to charge. Since the Roomba i7 has a “recharge and resume” feature, it will continue cleaning where it left off.

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 has an average battery life of 75 minutes, and it arrived at my doorstep already 50% charged. Regardless, I had to charge the unit for at least an hour to make sure that it has enough juice for its first run.

Shark IQ

If the name isn’t obvious enough, the Shark IQ is a smart navigation robot vacuum that knows where to go and avoid. If you watch this robot clean, you will think it has missed a few places. Give it some time, and you will see that this clever shark will swim back to the areas it missed before it ends its cleaning cycle.

SharkNinja announced that the Shark IQ brushroll is tangle-free, and as a pet owner, I was excited to try it out. I tested the self-cleaning brushroll by scattering 10 grams of debris and a handful of shredded cotton balls. The first thing I noticed was the side brushes.

Unlike the edge-sweeping brush that Roombas have, these sweep nice and slow so that they don’t scatter debris. To my delight, the Shark IQ picked up the hair without causing tangles in the brushroll.

When comparing the Shark IQ vs. Roomba 960, I would say that the Shark IQ has better pick-up ability. After all, the Shark IQ cleared the grit off my patio, which is something impossible for the Roomba 960 to do.

Roomba i7

When transitioning from one type of floor to another, I am impressed that the Roomba i7 maneuvered from hardwood to carpet to mats without a problem. The robot navigates around my home in a straight cleaning path, and it makes swift obstacle avoidance decisions.

Due to its self-adjusting cleaning head, I witnessed a marked improvement from the Roomba i7 when I used it to deep-clean low- and medium-pile carpets. The robot vacuum picked up fine debris to pet hair to extra-large debris. The only time the robot had a difficult time was with the shag carpet. Regardless, the Roomba i7 finished the given task with flying colors.

The robot vacuum also went over thresholds with ease. However, the Roomba i7 can only handle thresholds around 1.6 cm tall. A clever way to fix this problem is by placing a doormat on the edges of the doorway threshold.

The only thing that bothers me is that the Roomba i7 tends to throw away light debris when cleaning hard floors. Nevertheless, the robot vacuum managed to clean up everything after its full run.

I tested the hair pick-up of the Roomba i7 using 10 grams of synthetic hair and a handful of shredded cotton balls. There was no hair caught in the brushes. Although I found a few strands in the axles, they weren’t much of a concern, and I could take them off easily.

Roomba 960

The Roomba 960 is well above average in terms of navigation efficiency, thanks to iAdapt 2.0. Although this robot lacks many of the exciting features that the Roomba i7 offers, I find most of its cleaning abilities satisfactory.

I used the Roomba 960 to clean my 130 square feet office, and it finished in 15 minutes. The robot vacuum also delivered similar results when I started a cleaning cycle in my 215 square feet living room.

While the Roomba 960 does not need a robust motor to clean low-pile carpets, its lack of suction power does show when it tackled hard floors. Due to the lack of airflow, there was still a visible amount of sand in the patio to the hallway.

Don’t get me wrong, though. The Roomba 960 is almost as good as the Roomba i7 when picking up large debris from the surface of hard floors. Then again, the Roomba 960 will have trouble picking up debris from floors with crevices. The robot vacuum was also losing so much battery life while dealing with medium- and high-pile carpets.

In the end, I had to raise the white flag and take away my defeated robot. Lastly, I frown upon this Roomba’s ability to identify black rugs. As mentioned earlier, the Roomba 960 tends to avoid dark-colored surfaces and consider them as drop-offs.