iRobot
Roomba 692
- Bottom Line
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You'll love how this Roomba vacuum is always ready to work as it recharges itself after use.
- Pros
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If you are looking for a Roomba that's especially good on picking up pet hair, this is the one you want. Schedule this robot vacuum to run for up to 90 minutes using the integrated app or your Alexa device. Multi-surface brushes allow you to clean both carpets and hardwood floors.
- Cons
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Some users had trouble with the device not returning to its home when done cleaning.
About the product
Is the Roomba 692 worth it?
The Roomba 692 is an entry-level robot vacuum from iRobot intended exclusively for sale on Amazon. It is essentially identical to the Roomba 694 and functionally identical to the Roomba 690.
An eighth-generation model, the Roomba 692 offers basic suction power and cleaning performance to compete on price with budget and discounted robot vacuums from competing brands. However, the 692 offers several features found on midrange models, such as wireless networking and basic voice control.
The BestReviews Testing Lab subjected the Roomba 692 to rigorous testing in order to gauge its performance and value for money. We found it to be a convenient, albeit low-powered, vacuum suited for first-time buyers.
What is the Roomba 692?
Product specifications
Battery life: 90 minutes | Dimensions: 13.4" L x 13.4" W x 3.54" H | Dustbin capacity: 0.35 L | Weight: 6.77 lb | Mapping: No | Self-emptying: No | Object avoidance: No | Scheduling: Yes
The Roomba 692 is a rechargeable battery-powered self-guided robot vacuum for autonomous cleaning of floors, carpets and rugs. Introduced in 2018, it is a functional clone of the discontinued Roomba 690 and identical in build and capabilities to the Roomba 694. Circular in shape with a diameter of roughly 13.5 inches, the Roomba 692, like the 694, is about 3 inches tall and weighs 6.77 pounds. It’s constructed of sturdy black plastic with a glossy top panel and matte-textured front bumper. It uses two rollers and a side brush to collect and channel dirt or debris into its removable 0.35-liter bin via suction.
The Roomba 692 rolls on two large independent-drive wheels and a supporting swivel caster. It can turn 360 degrees in place and adjust its wheel height automatically to any changes in flooring. Equipped with sensors, it can detect cliffs (such as the top of a staircase) and track its own position and orientation. The included Home Base charging dock with radio transmitter allows the Roomba 692 to find its way back to charge. The only difference between the Roomba 692 and the 694 is that the 692 comes with only one included AeroVac dust filter, whereas the 694 comes with two.
See how it compares to other products in its space — check out our reviews for the best robotic vacuums and the best Roombas.
Pros
- Push-button simplicity
- Sturdy build
- Satisfactory performance
- Affordable cost
Cons
- Semi-random navigation
- Lacks mapping
- Brush roller collects tangles
- Only one filter included
Testing the Roomba 692
We tested the Roomba 692 in a real-world setting comprised of both typical and experimental situations to evaluate its performance on carpet and hard flooring. Our tests involved using small, medium and large particulates represented by coffee grounds, dry rice and breakfast cereal, spilled on both medium-pile carpet, low-pile rugs and faux hardwood flooring, in open areas, in corners and along or underneath furniture. We also tested the Roomba 692’s performance with pet hair or fine thread and cat litter, on both carpet and hardwood as well.
We ran the Roomba 692 on cleaning jobs and measured its distance traveled, area covered, battery usage and recharging time. We noted its performance on different flooring types and different pile heights for carpets or rugs as well as how it negotiated transitions between flooring types. We observed its cleaning style and navigation for efficiency and results. We tested its controls and ease of use, including controlling it from a smartphone app and compatibility with voice commands. Finally, we studied its cleaning and upkeep requirements to see how easy it is to maintain.
Roomba 692 price and where to buy
The Roomba 692 is sold exclusively on Amazon.com. It has a suggested retail price of $299.99, although Amazon often prices it at a discount.
Roomba 692 setup
The Roomba 692 is relatively easy to set up for a first-time user. It typically ships in an Amazon box with the unit’s iRobot box inside it. The box opens clamshell fashion, revealing the robot and its accessories in a limited amount of packaging. The Roomba 692 comes with a Home Base charging dock, a line cord for the dock, documentation and quick-start card, and one extra AeroVac filter.
The first step in setup is selecting an area for the Home Base. The area should be against a wall, near an electrical outlet and must have clearance to the front, left and right of the Home Base for the Roomba 692 to dock properly.
The Roomba 692, like other iRobot products, comes partially charged. It’s recommended to charge them fully before their first use, which took us less than two hours. Prior to charging, it’s necessary to remove a protective pull tab from the underside of the unit. This allows the battery to function.
During the first-time charging period, it’s recommended to download the iRobot Home app to your smartphone and set up the Roomba 692 for Wi-Fi networking and app control. Our test model did not come with a QR code for this process, forcing us to search and download the app ourselves and manually pair the 692 by holding down the “Spot” and “Home” buttons on its top surface simultaneously. Once that was done, setup proceeded smoothly, with step-by-step guidance from the app.
The Roomba 692 emits a chime whenever it begins charging, but its indicator lights turn off to save power during the process. Instead, we easily monitored our test model’s charging status from the iRobot Home app.
Battery life and suction
The Roomba 692, like the 694, is powered by a replaceable 1,800 mAH (milliampere hour) lithium ion battery with an estimated 90 minutes of battery life. However, we only managed to extract 70 minutes of cleaning from our test unit before it needed to recharge. Roombas typically increase their power and suction when cleaning on carpet or particularly dirty areas, which may have accounted for the battery life discrepancy. Our test unit required one hour and 47 minutes to fully recharge, shorter than the expected charge time of two hours.
The Roomba 692 was satisfactory if unimpressive in most of our tests. It cleared dry coffee grounds from medium-pile carpet with little visible residue left behind, but struggled with coffee grounds spilled in a corner or under chairs. It fared better on hardwood, removing almost all of the spilled table salt from an open area, but left behind more than a quarter of salt spilled in a corner.
Dry rice was scattered by its side brush and clung stubbornly to carpet pile with obvious leftover debris even after several passes by the Roomba 692. Breakfast cereal was easier, although again, the side brush would scatter individual pieces out of the robot’s reach, especially on hardwood.
One test in which the Roomba 692 was relatively impressive was pet hair. It removed well-trod pet hair from a low-pile doormat-style rug with little difficulty. Some hairs were left behind, but the rug was visibly cleaner afterward. The Roomba had no trouble with lengths of string on carpet and hard flooring, but it left grit behind when vacuuming cat litter and scattered some larger pieces. All of our tests required multiple passes from the Roomba 692.
Noise-wise, the Roomba 692 operated significantly quieter than an upright vacuum. We measured its noise level at 63 decibels on carpet, and it was somewhat louder on hard flooring, comparable to an active air conditioner.
Navigation and obstacle avoidance
As an entry-level model, the Roomba 692 does not have mapping, nor does it follow systematic row-by-row cleaning. Rather, it uses what’s called bump-and-run or bump-and-go navigation: it cleans in a given direction until it bumps into an object or wall, then swivels to proceed in a new semi-random direction. This strategy is simple and has been shown over time to effectively clean most spaces. However, in any given job, it can and does miss entire areas of open floor, while repeating other sections, especially corners and walls, over and over. This can be extremely frustrating to an observer and makes it look like the robot does not know what it’s doing.
The Roomba 692 had no trouble adjusting to different flooring types or managing transitions from one flooring height to another, with the exception of a curled rug rim on carpet or hardwood.
With its simple navigation system, the Roomba 692 has no active obstacle avoidance. It will bump into any object in its path and will carry that object along until it changes direction or the object slips out of the way. For instance, we placed a small plush toy in the Roomba 692’s path and watched the Roomba push the toy along until it changed direction. The Roomba 692 rolled over pens. It repeatedly bumped into us as we stood in its path and even rolled onto our feet. When it sensed a cliff, it asked to be picked up and moved somewhere else.
The iRobot Home app
The Roomba 692 can be controlled and monitored from iRobot’s Home app, available for Android and iOS smartphones. The app allows you to add a new iRobot device to your setup, connect it to Wi-Fi and even give it a name. While the Roomba 692 does not support mapping, the iRobot Home app makes scheduling jobs and voice control possible.
Controls and notifications
From the iRobot Home app, you can send the Roomba 692 on a cleaning job or pause one already in progress. You can also schedule a specific time for a cleaning job, something not possible from the Roomba 692’s onboard controls. The app also shows cleaning progress and battery life and relays error messages if the Roomba 692 gets lost or stuck.
Interface and voice
The iRobot Home app has a clean visual look and is well-designed for first-time users, with copious diagrams and step-by-step guidance on setup and basic operations. It hides more advanced options, such as smart assistant setup, in layers of menus, which we found a little frustrating. Unlike other entry-level or value-priced robot vacuums, the Roomba 692 can be configured to support voice commands from Alexa or Google Assistant.
App vs. buttons
Using the iRobot Home app allows you more flexible control of the Roomba 692. You can start or stop jobs without being in the same place as the robot or schedule a job for when you’re away. The convenience of voice control is a novelty and highly practical if you’re busy — for example, you can ask the Roomba 692 to clean up spilled dry messes while your hands are full.
However, the essential room cleaning and spot-cleaning functions of the Roomba 692 can be activated simply by pressing the “Clean” or “Spot” buttons on its top panel, and it can be sent to its Home Base with the “Home” button.
Cleaning and maintaining the Roomba 692
The Roomba 692 benefits from frequent cleaning and maintenance, more so than a standard vacuum. With its 0.35-liter dustbin, the 692 should be emptied after every full cleaning job so that it won’t stop in the middle of the next one. The dustbin can be removed from the robot’s body by means of a simple button latch located at the top rear of the device. The bin has a latched gate, which opens to allow dirt and debris to empty into a wastebasket. The bin can be rinsed clean in water, but the AeroVac dust filter inside must first be removed. The filter should not be washed, only tapped clean, and needs to be replaced every two to three months. The iRobot Home app can tell you the status of the filter.
The Roomba 692’s rollers also need regular cleaning, especially in homes with pets. Flip the Roomba onto its back to expose the roller assembly on its underside. Use the tabs to release the roller enclosure panel. Both rollers may be removed easily by lifting them from their drive sockets. The larger bristle brush roller is prone to getting tangled with pet hair, human hair, thread or similar debris, all of which should be removed for best performance. Hairs may also be tangled around either main wheel axle or around the three-pronged side brush.
Don’t forget to check for debris inside the body of the Roomba. As the dustbin fills up, some dirt or debris may be prevented from collecting in the bin, remaining in the interior cleaning path.
Roomba 692 benefits
Push-button simplicity
While the Roomba 692 benefits from being controlled from the iRobot Home app, it can be used without the app or without any Wi-Fi or wireless connection at all. In our testing, we found that simply picking up the test unit, bringing it to a room or area, and pressing the Clean or Spot buttons is the fastest and most direct way to start a cleaning job.
Sturdy build
Unlike some cut-price competitors, the Roomba 692 feels sturdily built for an entry-level vacuum. Though it’s made of plastic, it feels solid and durable. Its front bumper is more likely to knock obstacles over than sustain damage to the unit, and its wheels feel firm and powerful even when extended to their full height. We believe that iRobot’s reputation and years of experience in pioneering robot vacuums shows in even this more basic Roomba model.
Satisfactory performance
The Roomba 692 is not a particularly strong vacuum. iRobot does not publish the strength of its vacuums in standard units such as Pascals (Pa), but models of the 600 series are considered the baseline against which more advanced or powerful models, such as the i4 or j7, are measured. Nevertheless, the triple-action cleaning system of Roomba robots, combining the side brush, the two rollers and just enough suction, allows the Roomba 692 to adequately keep a carpet or hard floor clean, especially if run frequently. It’s easier and more convenient than either running a full-sized vacuum every day or letting dirt build up with infrequent vacuuming.
Affordable cost
While not the lowest-priced robot vacuum on the market, the Roomba 692 is affordable for many people, especially with frequent discounts by its sole authorized retailer, Amazon. The high-quality, extensive parts list and brand reputation of iRobot add considerable value as well.
Roomba 692 drawbacks
Semi-random navigation
The Roomba 692’s bump-and-clean navigation is by far its most irritating feature. This is despite studies that show the effectiveness of this seemingly random navigation over time. It can be frustrating to watch the Roomba 692 repeatedly clean the same patch over and over again while never even touching another area of the same room, as it did several times during testing.
Lacks mapping
Like its twin, the Roomba 694, the Roomba 692 does not have mapping. It doesn’t keep track or remember the layout of your home in between cleaning jobs. You can’t name rooms or specify them for cleaning. To clean a specific room, we needed to physically pick up the Roomba 692 and place it there, and stop it or redirect whenever it tried to leave.
Brush roller collects tangles
The Roomba 692’s brush roller, like that of the Roomba 694, collects pet hair, human hair, thread and other similar debris very easily, which can be somewhat difficult to remove. We had only minor trouble extracting the pet hair and thread from our test unit’s rollers, but no pet hair or thread clung to the Roomba 692’s rubber beater roller, or to the rubber multisurface rollers of more advanced Roombas like the i4, j7 and s9.
Only one filter included
The Roomba 692 comes with only one AeroVac dust filter for its dustbin. This is the only material difference it has with the Roomba 694, which comes with two. iRobot estimates you will need to replace the AeroVac filter every two to three months. New filters cost $24.99 for a pack of three.
Should you get the Roomba 692?
The Roomba 692 is an entry-level robot vacuum with a few welcome added features. Its durable build and simple operation make it, like its twin, the Roomba 694, well-suited for people who would like the assistance of a robot vacuum but would prefer simple push-button controls. Its somewhat weak suction and middling performance is lacking in comparison to midrange Roomba models and other competitors, but it’s still more convenient than frequent manual vacuuming. Available only on Amazon, it’s worth a look if you find it on sale.