Buy Once. Buy Well. Live Beautifully.
Before you buy a Roomba j7+, there’s something more important than specs: iRobot, the company that makes it, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2025. That’s not a scare tactic — it directly affects how confident you should be that the app-based features you’re paying for will keep working five years from now. Here’s the full picture.
Quick Verdict
The j7+ is still a genuinely good vacuum at obstacle avoidance, and it’s still sold at $799.99. But it’s now priced above newer competitors that outperform it on raw suction, and it comes from a company that just emerged from bankruptcy under new foreign ownership. That’s a meaningfully different risk profile than “safe legacy brand,” which is how most reviews still frame it.
What Actually Happened to iRobot
The Bankruptcy, in Numbers
iRobot’s revenue collapsed from $1.6 billion in 2021 to $681.8 million by the end of 2024, driven by the failed 2024 Amazon acquisition (blocked on EU antitrust grounds), supply chain disruption, and intensifying competition from Chinese robot-vacuum makers. By Q3 2025 the company had just $24.8 million in cash reserves and had already warned investors of “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operating. It filed Chapter 11 on December 14, 2025.
What Happened Next
iRobot was acquired through the bankruptcy process by Shenzhen Picea Robotics, a China-based contract manufacturer that held a $98.9 million secured claim — existing shareholders were wiped out entirely. The bankruptcy formally closed in January 2026, and iRobot is now privately held, wholly owned by Picea, with CEO Gary Cohen remaining in place. To address data-privacy concerns about foreign ownership, iRobot set up a US subsidiary called iRobot Safe Corp, run by an independent board of American citizens with its own data security officer. During the bankruptcy proceedings, reporting warned that a failed deal could have shut down the cloud servers your Roomba’s app depends on for mapping and scheduling — the Picea deal averted that specific risk, but it’s a real illustration of how a smart vacuum’s “smarts” depend entirely on a company staying solvent.
Is the j7+ Actually Still Worth Buying?
What It Still Does Well
The j7+’s PrecisionVision navigation — identifying and avoiding cords, socks, and pet waste — remains one of the better-regarded features in its class, and it doesn’t require a subscription to function (unlike iRobot’s now-discontinued “iRobot Select” program, which stopped accepting new members in 2024 and remotely deactivated canceling members’ robots — worth knowing as a lock-in red flag even though it’s no longer being sold).
Where Newer Competitors Have Passed It
At $799.99, the j7+ is now priced above rated competitors like the Roborock Saros 10R ($999.99, but frequently on sale, and RTINGS’ current #1-rated robot vacuum overall) and the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni — both offer meaningfully higher suction and more advanced obstacle avoidance tech than the j7+’s aging hardware. If obstacle avoidance and self-emptying are the features you actually want, it’s worth pricing these against the j7+ before assuming the established brand name is the safer bet.
Roomba j7+ vs. The Competition
| Product | Best For | Price Range | Key Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roomba j7+ | Subscription-free obstacle avoidance | $799.99 | PrecisionVision navigation with no required subscription |
| Roborock Saros 10R | Best overall per RTINGS | $999.99 (frequently on sale) | Higher suction and more advanced obstacle avoidance than the j7+ |
| Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni | Newest hardware generation | Comparable to Saros 10R | Meaningfully higher suction than the j7+’s aging hardware |
| A budget robot vacuum without mapping | Lowest cost automated vacuuming | Under $300 | No obstacle avoidance or self-emptying, but far cheaper |
Buy It? Bougie Says: Scorecard
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Build Quality | 7/10 | PrecisionVision navigation genuinely works well; the hardware itself remains solid |
| Daily Use Value | 6/10 | Still good day-to-day, but newer competitors now out-suction it at a similar price |
| Design Longevity | 4/10 | A company that just emerged from bankruptcy under new foreign ownership is a real risk to long-term software support |
| Upgrade Impact | 7/10 | Obstacle avoidance and self-emptying remain genuine daily-life upgrades over a basic robot vacuum |
| Price-to-Value | 5/10 | Priced above newer competitors that outperform it — the “safe legacy brand” framing no longer fits |
Bougie Dad Score: 5.8 / 10
Where to Buy
- Roomba j7+ — iRobot.com or Amazon
- Roborock Saros 10R (top-rated alternative) — Amazon
Quick heads-up: Bougie Dad is a for-profit lifestyle brand. From time to time we may receive modest compensation for products recommended on this site. In all cases, these are products we would happily use in our own homes — often with our own families.
We also use AI tools to help with research and drafting. Every article is reviewed and edited by our team before it’s published.
