The Roomba Combo 10 Max is a new robot vacuum and mop from iRobot that can wash its mop, empty its bin, and refill its mopping tank — meaning less manual labor on your part. The company’s new flagship robot vacuum will also be its first to support the smart home standard Matter. The vacuum is available for preorder starting today at irobot.com for $1,399.99, and in the UK for £1,499 and Europe for €1,499. Shipping starts in August, when it will also come to other retailers.
Building on the Roomba Combo j9 Plus’ retractable mopping system that picks itself up when it vacuums carpet, the Roomba Combo 10 Max robot and Auto Wash Dock is the company’s first robot vac with a fully multifunction charging dock. In addition to emptying the robot’s bin and filling its water tank, the new dock can clean and dry the mop and wash itself, so you don’t have to.
The interior now holds two water tanks — dirty (2.5 liter) and clean (3 liter) — along with a bin bag that holds up to two months worth of dirt.” loading=”lazy” decoding=”async” data-nimg=”fill” src=”https://duet-cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0x0:2048×2048/2400×2400/filters:focal(1024×1024:1025×1025):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25541657/RoombaCombo_10Max_AutoWash_Dock_Photo_Studio_LeftAngled_Open_4000x4000.jpg” data-old-src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″>
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Image: iRobot
The company — whose business has faced increased competition in recent years, compounded by a failed attempt to sell to Amazon — has launched several new robots in the last 12 months, offering customers more options across a broader range of prices.
iRobot now had six different combination mopping and vacuum models: the Combo Essential ($275) and the Combo i5 (from $350) with swappable mopping bins; the Combo j5 (from $529) adding a camera for obstacle avoidance; the Combo j7 (from $600) bringing a retractable mop; the Combo j9 Plus with an auto-empty/refill dock for $1,000; and now the Combo 10 Max adding mop washing for $1,400.
It’s time to Matter
iRobot also announced it’s adding Matter support to the 10 Max, which will allow it to work with any smart home platform that supports Matter, including Apple Home.
To date, all Roombas have worked with the Amazon Alexa and Google Home smart home platforms, letting you add your vacuum to your smart home routines and automations and control it with voice. But none have worked with Apple Home beyond a Siri Shortcut integration that allows for voice control.
According to iRobot, Matter support will come via an over-the-air firmware update in Q4 2024; this may coincide with the arrival of iOS 18, which Apple has said will bring support for Matter to Apple Home.
The company has also said it plans to add Matter across more of its products in 2025, but didn’t specify if this would come as an upgrade to existing products or just be built into new models.
What is Matter?
Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard designed to provide a common language for connected devices to communicate locally in your home without relying on a cloud connection. It is built to be secure and private, easy to set up, and widely compatible.
Developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung (and others), Matter is an open-sourced, IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices. It works over Wi-Fi, ethernet, and the low-power mesh networking protocol Thread and currently supports over 30 device types. These include lighting, thermostats, locks, robot vacuums, refrigerators, dishwashers, dryers, ovens, smoke alarms, air quality monitors, EV chargers, and more.
A smart home gadget with the Matter logo can be set up and used with any Matter-compatible ecosystem via a Matter controller and controlled by more than one with a feature called Multi-Admin.
Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and Apple Home are some major smart home platforms supporting Matter, along with hundreds of device manufacturers.
