Roomba 104 Review — Powerful, Smart & Easy Cleaning
The Roomba 104 Vac Robot brings automated, app-driven floor cleaning to U.S. homes, ideal for busy households needing hands-off maintenance. It features 3-Stage Cleaning with a Multi-Surface brush and Edge-Sweeping brush, and includes a Charge Only Dock for simple setup.
Key Features & Benefits:
- Enjoy targeted spot cleans for up to 5 minutes to tackle concentrated messes.
- Get deeper pickup with 3-Stage Cleaning using Multi-Surface and Edge-Sweeping brushes.
- Navigate efficiently with ClearView LiDAR mapping and obstacle-avoidance sensors.
- Control conveniently via the Roomba Home app, voice assistants, or robot buttons.
- Resume cleaning automatically after recharge to finish interrupted jobs.
- Connect easily using 2.4GHz Wi‑Fi for setup and ongoing operation.
Original price was: $249.99.$157.49Current price is: $157.49.
The Roomba 104 is an entry-level robot vacuum designed to automate everyday floor cleaning with smart navigation and app-based controls. It combines a 3-stage cleaning system, dual brushes, and ClearView LiDAR mapping to cover rooms efficiently and avoid obstacles.
Who it’s for: busy households that want a hands-off way to maintain floors between deeper cleanings — especially homes with mixed hard floors and low- to medium-pile carpets. Quick verdict: the Roomba 104 is a capable, budget-friendly option for routine cleaning that emphasizes mapping and targeted passes over advanced extras.
What’s in the Box
- 1 Roomba 104 Vac Robot
- 1 Charge-Only Dock
(If you’re expecting extra brushes, filters, or a remote, those are not listed in the manufacturer’s included contents.)
Design & Build
The listing does not provide exact materials, weight, or dimensions for the Roomba 104. What is clear from the specification set is that this is a compact, disc-shaped robot intended to move under furniture and through doorways, and it uses the same outward design language as other Roomba units (Not specified: exact size and weight).
Ergonomics and practical form factors you can expect:
- Low-profile, circular chassis designed to get under couches and beds (exact clearance not listed).
- Top-mounted controls for simple onboard operation; app and voice control reduce the need to touch the unit frequently.
- The included charge-only dock is a basic home base; the listing doesn’t specify whether it includes a side brush spare or extra filters.
If you need exact dimensions or weight for storage or compatibility with furniture, those figures are Not listed in the manufacturer’s summary.
Key Features
70X More Power-Lifting Suction
Benefit: The Roomba 104 advertises “70X more power-lifting suction” compared to the Roomba 600 series, which indicates a significant bump in raw suction force over that older baseline (source: listing, checked 2025). In real life this matters when you want quicker pickup of pet hair, dust bunnies, and tracked-in dirt — fewer passes required to see visibly cleaner floors.
Where it helps: Homes with pets or heavier foot traffic will notice the difference on hard floors and low‑pile carpets; suction helps pull debris into the bin rather than pushing it around.
ClearView LiDAR Mapping & Navigation
Benefit: ClearView LiDAR builds a detailed map of your home and steers the robot with more deliberate, efficient paths. Compared with random or purely sensor-driven patterns, LiDAR-based navigation generally improves coverage and reduces missed spots.
Where it helps: Large or multi-room homes where methodical cleaning prevents wasted battery and overlapping passes. The mapping also enables features like room-targeted jobs and keep-out zones.
3-Stage Cleaning with Dual Brushes
Benefit: The Roomba 104 uses a 3-stage cleaning system paired with a Multi-Surface brush and an Edge-Sweeping brush. The three stages typically mean agitation, extraction, and suction — the brushes loosen debris and direct it to the suction path.
Where it helps: This setup is useful for mixed-floor households — sweeping along baseboards and edges with the edge brush while the multi-surface brush handles transitions between floors.
Fully Custom & Targeted Cleaning
Benefit: Through the mapping capability you can schedule cleans by room, select the number of passes, and adjust suction levels. That lets you prioritize high-traffic areas for more frequent or intense cleaning while leaving lesser-used rooms on a lighter schedule.
Where it helps: If you want morning cleans in the kitchen and evening touch-ups in the living room, targeted scheduling reduces run time and keeps the battery focused on what matters most.
Easy-to-Use Roomba Home App
Benefit: The Roomba Home app enables tap-to-start cleaning, delivers time estimates for jobs, shows filter status, and allows you to set keep-out zones. Managing maintenance (filter life) and scheduling from your phone keeps the robot working reliably without frequent manual checks.
Where it helps: Households that prefer to control cleaning remotely, receive job feedback, or set geo/timed schedules. The app-centric approach simplifies day-to-day management.
Spot Cleaning for Extra-Dirty Areas
Benefit: Spot cleaning lets the robot focus on a small area for repeated passes for up to 5 minutes (source: listing, checked 2025). Instead of running a full cycle, the robot intensively cleans a localized spill or a high-dirt cluster.
Where it helps: Quick response to tracked-in dirt at an entryway, a small kitchen spill, or concentrated pet activity areas.
Voice Control & Simple On-Device Buttons
Benefit: The Roomba 104 works with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, plus you can control it via onboard buttons if desired. That gives you three straightforward ways to start, stop, or direct a clean.
Where it helps: Voice-enabled homes and users who enjoy hands-free control — e.g., “start cleaning the living room” without opening an app.
Recharge & Resume
Benefit: When the battery runs low mid-clean, the robot returns to the dock, recharges, and picks up where it left off. This avoids incomplete jobs and improves final coverage compared to robots that stop when the battery is low.
Where it helps: Larger floor plans or complex layouts where a single battery charge might not cover every mapped room in one go.
Wi‑Fi Ready (2.4 GHz)
Benefit: The robot uses a 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi network for setup and operation. After setup it continues to use 2.4 GHz while your phone can switch back to 5 GHz for other tasks.
Where it helps: Houses with mixed-band routers need only ensure a 2.4 GHz network is available during setup and operation.
Performance & Use
Practical setup tips
- Place the charge-only dock on an open stretch of wall with a few feet of clearance on each side so the robot can find and align with it easily.
- Create keep-out zones in the Roomba Home app for areas with cords, fragile décor, or concentrated clutter.
- During the first few runs allow the robot to fully map your floor plan so subsequent cleans use targeted paths and avoid repetitive re-mapping.
Maintenance & care
- Check the app for filter status and empty the bin frequently—full bins reduce suction efficiency (filter life monitoring available in the app).
- Inspect and clean the multi-surface brush and edge-sweeping brush regularly to prevent hair-winding and keep performance steady.
- If the robot reports navigation errors, clear the area of small obstacles and re-run a mapping pass.
Real-world expectations
- The unit is designed for routine maintenance cleaning rather than deep, once-a-week cleanups. Expect it to keep floors tidy between manual vacuums.
- Spot cleaning lets you respond quickly to concentrated messes without a full cycle.
- The claimed 70X suction boost relative to Roomba 600 series suggests stronger pickup but doesn’t replace a full-sized vacuum for deep carpet pile or heavy soiling (source: listing, checked 2025).
Pros vs Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Strong suction claim (70X vs Roomba 600 series) for better debris pickup (source: listing, checked 2025). | Exact runtime, battery capacity, and physical dimensions are Not listed — hard to compare with competitors. |
| ClearView LiDAR mapping gives consistent coverage and allows room-targeted cleaning. | No spare accessories listed in the box (only charge dock included). |
| 3-stage cleaning with multi-surface and edge brushes handles mixed floors and baseboards. | Advanced features like auto-empty bin or HEPA-certified filters are Not listed. |
| App-based scheduling, filter-life monitoring, and keep-out zones simplify maintenance. | Uses 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi only — setup requires that band available on your router. |
| Recharge & Resume avoids incomplete cleans on larger floorplans. | Listing doesn’t specify noise level or exact cleaning power in measurable units. |
Who Should Buy
- You should buy this if:
- You want automated, map-driven cleaning that can be scheduled by room and adjusted for multiple passes.
- You live in a mixed-floor home with pets or daily foot traffic and want improved suction over older Roomba 600-series models.
- You prefer app and voice control for start/stop and spot cleans.
- You shouldn’t buy this if:
- You need exact runtime, dimensions, or weight before purchasing (those specs are Not listed).
- You require an auto-empty base or specialized filtration explicitly stated in packaging (Not listed).
- You rely exclusively on a 5 GHz-only home network for all IoT devices — the robot requires a 2.4 GHz connection.
Simple Specs
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Model | Roomba 104 |
| In the box | 1 Roomba 104 Vac Robot; 1 Charge-Only Dock |
| Navigation | ClearView LiDAR mapping |
| Suction claim | 70X more power-lifting suction vs Roomba 600 series (source: listing, checked 2025) |
| Cleaning system | 3-Stage Cleaning |
| Brushes | Multi-Surface brush; Edge-Sweeping brush |
| Spot cleaning | Up to 5 minutes focused cleaning (source: listing, checked 2025) |
| Voice assistants | Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant |
| Wi-Fi | 2.4 GHz network required |
| Auto empty base | Not listed |
| Battery runtime | Not listed |
| Dimensions / Weight | Not listed |
| Filter type / HEPA | Not listed |
Closing — Should you consider it?
If you want a dependable, map-aware robot vacuum that focuses on practical cleaning features — room scheduling, LiDAR mapping, strong suction compared with older Roombas, and simple app/voice control — the Roomba 104 is a practical choice for everyday maintenance. It’s best as a complement to periodic deep cleaning rather than a full replacement for a heavy-duty upright vacuum. Check that your home network supports 2.4 GHz and be aware the listing does not include certain physical specifications or accessories sometimes found with higher-tier models.
If you need help comparing the Roomba 104 to specific alternatives or want to know what replacement parts and consumables you should buy with it, tell me which models you’re considering and I’ll outline differences and recommended add-ons.
Specification: Roomba 104 Review — Powerful, Smart & Easy Cleaning
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85 reviews for Roomba 104 Review — Powerful, Smart & Easy Cleaning
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WCR –
This Roomba runs so quietly that I barely know it’s doing its job! Love it! Worked perfectly right out of the box. Set up was a breeze! Before I even knew that I was almost finished setting up the app, Alexa recognized and set the Robot to work with the Routine that she had already prepared! Im ABSOLUTELY pleased with this item so far! It ALWAYS pays to go with the name you know and trust … and iRobot was a Pioneer in this market!
Jimmy meeks –
Other than it being tall, best roomba yet. Love that the charging points are on the back and not the bottom. I’ll buy another soon
Amazon Customer –
Me encanta.
Pros: Vengo de una versión 600 es más silenciosa y golpea menos contra muebles lo cual es mejor.
Negativos: los cepillos de las 600 son muy superioires, limpian mejor los modelos anteriores de doble cepillo.
La pila, dura muy poco va los modelos anteriores mi modelo anteriores puede estar 3 a 4 horas de uso y está los 40 o 50 min tiene cargar y tarda una hora o más en regresar a terminar de limpiar.
La consideraría solo si no tienes una o ya requieres cambiar, si tienes una versión anterior mejor quédate hasta que mejores los cepillos y la batería.
Maggie Mae –
So far so good. Replaced my last iRobot that lasted 9 years. I have a small place and low shedding small dog. I love the mapping, last one was random all over the place. This one is very quiet, seems to clean very well. No need for the self emptying, I can clean that myself.
Charleston, SC –
You need this vacuum. My home has hardwood floors with a large area rug, and this iRobot vacuum cleans both with no problem. I’m especially impressed with how well it performs along baseboards, table legs, and chair legs — no dust or debris remains. The only problem I encountered was with a smaller rug that has a fringe, but I simply went in the app and told it to avoid that rug. If you’ve looked at the prices of more expensive robot vacuums, you know that this one is a bargain, and it performs exceptionally well.
WChadwick Reed –
This Roomba runs so quietly that I barely know it’s doing its job! Love it! Worked perfectly right out of the box. Set up was a breeze! Before I even knew that I was almost finished setting up the app, Alexa recognized and set the Robot to work with the Routine that she had already prepared! Im ABSOLUTELY pleased with this item so far! It ALWAYS pays to go with the name you know and trust … and iRobot was a Pioneer in this market!
Sulucion –
My home alternates between carpet and tile across the main area, and this little unit struggled to climb onto my rugs and transition from tile back to carpet. It has a lot of nice features, many of which can be personalized. After an okay performance at my place, I tried it at my girlfriend’s house with flatter floors — it performed better there, though dog hair clogged it quickly and it needed frequent cleaning. The battery life is disappointing: on standard mode it required three charges to cover about 1,600 sq ft. Overall it’s still a good product that I’ll keep using for years, and I’ll update if it stands the test of time.
Nolan Hensley –
This does an excellent job — the LiDAR makes a real difference. I come home to clean floors; it cleans in neat rows and does great edge cleaning around every room. I couldn’t be happier.
D. C. Johnson –
This great! It maps out your house, then vacuums the rooms you tell it to vacuum. When the battery gets low, it returns to the charging station, charges, then lets you know when it’s ready to finish the task. I was really surprised at how much it got done on a single charge. It does great job too.
Lenny LaFleur –
Performs exactly as described.
Nolan Hensley –
It does a great job and the LiDar actually helps it. I come home after work and the floors are clean. And it does do neat rows of cleaning as well as edge cleaning around each room. I couldn’t be happier.
KARIN MILNER –
So far so good. Goes up on our rugs and cleans all the floors. Filled the bin with dog hairs and it’s easy to empty. Nice to see on the app how it cleans the areas .
Steph –
This little dude does an amazing job!! My i2 finally died, and I was so sad! But the 104 does not disappoint. It’s quieter than the i2 and works much faster. I was worried when it only had one roller, instead of 2, but it’s been great.
It also has a better dust bin. It stores a lot of dog hair and cat hair before you have to empty it, vs the i2 that I had to empty daily.
Combustion Instability –
I’ve used four different brands of robot vacuums, and this is by far the best — and the most expensive. The quality is obvious as soon as you open the box. The included manuals are mostly safety and warranty information and say nothing about operating the robot; the start-up instructions are actually printed on a piece of packing cardboard and point you to the QR code.
I’m not big on downloading apps, and the account creation/verification process is the usual hassle, but stick with it — you really need the app to get the most out of this iRobot Roomba. It has noticeably stronger suction and is larger; you can hear the difference. The LIDAR on top means it bumps into things far less, and the mapping was amazing — it mapped my rooms in under 30 minutes, the most accurate mapping I’ve seen.
I set an everyday schedule in the app and mostly forget about it; I just need to empty the bin every couple of days. The unit has a built-in cleaning brush and cutter that help clean dust and the filter and cut strands that get tangled. After a single run the dust bin was full — we have two dogs and two cats and were also using another robot vacuum, yet this Roomba did an excellent job picking up dust and hair.
STUMPWC –
Works great — just keep it clean and you won’t have any problems.
Greg –
I love it.
Pros: Compared to the 600 model, this one is quieter and bumps into furniture less, which is an improvement.
Cons: The brushes on the 600 are much better and clean more effectively than the newer dual-brush design. The battery life is very short — my previous model lasted 3–4 hours, while this one only runs 40–50 minutes before needing to charge, and it takes an hour or more to recharge and resume cleaning. I would only consider this if you don’t already own one or need to replace it; if you have an older version, stick with it until they improve the brushes and battery.
Andrew M. –
I’m extremely impressed with the iRobot Roomba 104. It delivers powerful yet quiet suction that picks up pet hair, crumbs, and dust in a single pass and transitions smoothly between carpet and hard floors. The mapping and navigation are excellent — it learns my home quickly and cleans in tidy, efficient rows. The app makes scheduling and targeting specific rooms effortless, so it feels like a personal cleaning assistant. Maintenance is minimal thanks to the self-emptying bin, and the battery easily covers my whole house. While it’s more of an entry-level model and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of pricier units, it’s a reliable, high-performance robot vacuum that’s worth every penny. Highly recommend!
Michael G Wachtel –
Far superior to our old Roomba 614.
Combustion Instability –
Setup was quick and straightforward and the instructions were easy to follow. It talks when you start, stop, or change settings — you can’t change the voice itself but you can change the language or accent (I set mine to a British female). You can also give it a name, which is a fun touch.
It drove around the house and mapped the layout, and you can view the map and run it again if it missed spots. Keep in mind objects that block its path during mapping won’t be included on the map and therefore won’t get vacuumed. Once mapped, it vacuums well. You can stop it at any time and send it back to its charging base, and it reliably does so. Very handy — saves me a weekly chore.
C. Ritchie –
This is my second one. I bought my first one over 15 years ago. My first one my cat would ride it. Lol. This one my dogs don’t mind it. Great vacuum.
Maggie Mae –
Outstanding and loving this roomba,ease of setup and use, love the mapping feature
Meg P –
We had 4 roombas, and bought this one as our 5th for our bedroom. Our first 4 roombas are on one app, and this roomba requires a separate app. Also, the voice of the roomba is not the same as the other roombas. It’s not a robotic voice. It sounds like just some random woman. It cannot roll up onto our area rug and only vacuums the hardwood. Very disappointed and do not recommend this product, which seems like it could potentially be a knock off.
Vanessa –
Best investment ever! While I get to do other things around the house i just let it do its job. So far so good. Cleans well enough. Easy to use.
C. Ritchie –
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I’d like to think of myself as something of a robot vacuum expert. We early adopted a clunky old iRobot vacuum six year ago, and it get demoted to the upstairs when we get a new fancy LIDAR-based vacuum/mop downstairs. The old iRobot didn’t have the laser sensor, so it was forever bumping into things and required separate “keep out” sensors to prevent it from wandering off. So when this small, just-the-basics robot came up for review, with room mapping, I jumped at it.
Our upstairs is where the cat litter box is, so I really didn’t need a fancy mop/vacuum unit – I just needed a simple vacuum that could pick up litter. This unit is perfect for that. After some set up trouble and mapping trouble, it finally mapped out the upper floor. It has some very basic room segmentation tools, so I was able to set it up to ignore the carpeted bedrooms and just vacuum the hardwood foyer/hallway. And it has scheduling features in the app, so now it runs away happily M/W/F, and there is no cat litter crunching underfoot!
Its not perfect. First it is as bare bones as it gets. No auto empty, just a charging station. And the dust bin isn’t huge so you’ll need to empty the bin regularly. Getting the bin off isn’t super intuitive either. I guess the brush doesn’t have an auto-hair cutting feature either so it gets tangled with hair, and after the first filter cleaning, I noticed some of the foam gasket had already fallen off… Hmm.
Set up was just ok. It required a new iRobot app, and then the add to wifi didn’t work the first two times through. Got it to connect, then the instructions about rebooting/resetting were unclear, and right in the middle of it it told me it was getting a SW update that hosed everything up. Then I finally got through all that and sent it out to map the floors and it sort of got confused and tried to drive through our railing (see the video) until it just shut off and I had to go pick it up and start again. Second mapping time around, it worked great – see the map pic – and it was done in about 15 minutes.
So after all those hiccups, it works for what I need. Just understand that it doesn’t empty itself, nor does it mop. But its also about half the price of units that do that. So a good choice if you just need simple vacuum for a not-too-dirty area.
David G. –
Me encanta.
Pros: Vengo de una versión 600 es más silenciosa y golpea menos contra muebles lo cual es mejor.
Negativos: los cepillos de las 600 son muy superioires, limpian mejor los modelos anteriores de doble cepillo.
La pila, dura muy poco va los modelos anteriores mi modelo anteriores puede estar 3 a 4 horas de uso y está los 40 o 50 min tiene cargar y tarda una hora o más en regresar a terminar de limpiar.
La consideraría solo si no tienes una o ya requieres cambiar, si tienes una versión anterior mejor quédate hasta que mejores los cepillos y la batería.
RJ –
VERY SATISFIED with this Roomba! I have owned one in the past- this one by far exceeds! I love all the programming and it has a lot of attention to detail. I’ve already used it. I have two cats. I will run this Roomba three times a week. But no further the price & quality can’t be beat!
Ryan S –
I had an old Roomba I4 and wish I had just bought another one instead of this thing. I’ve had it for about ten days. About 90% of it’s scheduled runs end with it being stuck on a thin carpet. This morning it attempted to start a run but would rotate in place saying obstacle detected, then shut down. I moved it to the center of an open living room, same outcome. Additionally the lidar scanner on top seems to contribute nothing aside from making it 3/4 of an inch taller which hits furniture. Overall, a waste of time and money.