iRobot Roomba Mini review: Can this half-size robot deliver a full-size clean?

When you spend all day comparing robot vacuums with ridiculous suction power, more AI features than you can count and endless app settings, it's actually quite refreshing when something like the iRobot Roomba Mini comes along.

Launched in March as one of the smallest robot vacuums the world has seen, the Roomba Mini still has plenty of the features you'd expect from some of the best robot vacuum cleaners around.

Naturally, I couldn't wait to put it to the test and find out whether this half-size robot could still deliver a full-size clean.

Price and availability

The Roomba Mini is available in the UK and Europe for £379 and €399, respectively, and comes in four colours – black, white, pink and mint green. It's currently not available to buy in the US.

You can pick it up from iRobot's online store, as well as Amazon.

Design and features

The Roomba Mini is iRobot's smallest Roomba robot yet, measuring just 24.5 x 24.5 x 9.2cm and weighing around 2kg. iRobot claims it offers 2 x more cleaning coverage in tight spaces, whilst the robot itself is around half the size of a full-sized Roomba.

Despite its compact size, the Roomba Mini features what iRobot describes as 70x more Power-Lifting Suction, alongside a single-action brush designed to pick up everyday dirt, dust and crumbs. It can also vacuum and mop, with the mopping function activated by attaching a disposable mop pad.

The box comes with 30 disposable mopping pads, giving you a fresh pad for each clean. You can also replace these with compatible third-party disposable wipes if you don't want to stick with iRobot's own pads.

Navigation is handled by ClearView LiDAR, which can map your home in under 10 minutes and helps the Mini navigate around furniture and obstacles. It also features Carpet Detect, which automatically avoids rugs and carpets when mopping.

You can schedule and customise cleaning through the Roomba Home app, use voice assistants or simply press the button on the robot to start a clean. It can even begin cleaning without a Wi-Fi connection.

The AutoEmpty Dock automatically empties the robot into an AllergenLock bag, which can hold up to three months' worth of dirt. The dock itself measures 21.2 x 17.8 x 28.5cm and takes up 33% less floor space than standard robot vacuum docks, making the whole setup particularly well suited to smaller homes.

Performance

The Roomba Mini is a fun addition to the robot vacuum market, and it certainly holds its own when it comes to features. I found the suction to be absolutely fine, particularly on hard floors, and it's great that mopping is included, even if it's via a simple mop pad.

I also really like that features you'd normally expect to find on a much larger model, such as the AutoEmpty Dock, Carpet Detect and ClearView LiDAR, are all included here. It helps the Roomba Mini feel like a properly developed robot vacuum rather than a rudimentary version.

When I first started testing, I was also impressed by how quickly it mapped my home and got to work. It scanned the rooms efficiently, and the map appeared in the app within seconds. I've used the iRobot app before and have always found it straightforward to navigate, so it was nice to have that familiar experience here. The Mini's compact size is another major advantage, and I can see it being a particularly good fit for anyone living in a smaller home or flat who doesn't have the space or need for a huge robot vacuum.

I also enjoyed integrating the Roomba Mini with Alexa, as it meant I could control the robot using voice commands, whilst the iRobot app made it easy to create cleaning schedules and manage its settings.

However, after six weeks of testing, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that the Roomba Mini is a little gimmicky in some areas. The suction is perfectly adequate on hard floors, but it isn't particularly impressive on carpet, where I found it struggled more with picking up debris. The mop pad is also fine for dealing with crumbs, but I often found that stains were left behind after multiple passes. It's certainly better than having no mopping function at all, but I wouldn't rely on it for a particularly thorough clean.

I also ran into some frustrating connectivity issues during my testing. The Roomba Mini disconnected from the app several times without any obvious reason, despite the robot remaining plugged in. Each time, I had to remove the vacuum from the app and reconnect it, which unfortunately meant losing my saved map and cleaning schedule. I then had to set everything up again from scratch. This happened three times over the six-week testing period, and it was easily the most frustrating part of using the Roomba Mini.

Verdict

The Roomba Mini is a likeable little robot vacuum that has an impressive number of features within its compact design. It's particularly well suited to smaller homes, but the weak carpet cleaning, basic mopping and frustrating connectivity issues mean it doesn't feel like the complete package. If you mainly have hard floors and want a small robot vacuum that can handle the basics, there's a lot to like here, but I'd be hesitant to recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful all-round cleaner.

Alternatives to consider

The obvious alternative to consider is the SwitchBot Mini K10+, which is very similar in size. Both models use LiDAR mapping and offer mopping via disposable pads, but main difference is suction power. The Roomba Mini offers significantly more than the SwitchBot, which could make it the better choice.

If you don't mind having a larger robot and want to stick to a similar budget, the Roomba Max 705 is another model worth considering. It's currently half price at £279 and offers many of the same features as the Roomba Mini, but adds anti-tangle Dual Rubber Brushes, an Edge-Sweeping Brush and 180x more Power-Lifting Suction.