The iRobot Roomba 614 is a simple, budget-friendly robot vacuum. It's well-built and has fantastic battery life, but its automation features are basic and it doesn't work with a companion app or come with a remote control. It works best on bare surfaces like hardwood or linoleum flooring, where it easily clears debris. It also does an acceptable job on high-pile carpets. Unfortunately, it struggles to suck up pet hair from any surface type.
Our Verdict
The iRobot Roomba 614 is okay on bare floors. It easily clears fine debris like baking soda and doesn't have many issues with bulkier material like cereal. It also has an impressive build quality. However, it struggles with pet hair, which tends to clump up and get stuck on the brushroll, and has fairly demanding maintenance needs.
- Impressive build quality.
- Fantastic battery life.
- Hard to maintain and has high recurring costs.
- Pet hair often gets caught in the brushrolls.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is poor on low-pile carpets. It struggles with pet hair and barely picks up any fine debris like baking soda. It clears a good amount of larger debris like sand, but incurs high recurring costs and has demanding maintenance needs.
- Impressive build quality.
- Fantastic battery life.
- Hard to maintain and has high recurring costs.
- Pet hair often gets caught in the brushrolls.
- Struggles to suck up small debris.
The iRobot Roomba 614 has a passable performance on high-pile carpets. It sucks up a fair amount of larger debris like sand and some pet hair but really struggles with fine material like baking soda. It also has high recurring costs and demanding maintenance needs, but fortunately, it's very well-built and maneuvers well.
- Impressive build quality.
- Fantastic battery life.
- Can climb onto and maneuver on high-pile carpets.
- Hard to maintain and has high recurring costs.
- Pet hair often gets caught in the brushrolls.
- Struggles to suck up small debris.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is bad at cleaning up pet hair. Most pet hair tends to get caught in the brushroll instead of getting sucked into the vacuum, regardless of what surface type it's cleaning. On the upside, it's a very well-built vacuum, but it incurs high recurring costs and isn't easy to maintain.
- Impressive build quality.
- Fantastic battery life.
- Hard to maintain and has high recurring costs.
- Pet hair often gets caught in the brushrolls.
- No allergen-trapping HEPA filter.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is a robot vacuum and isn't suitable for cleaning stairs.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is a robot vacuum and isn't suitable for cleaning car interiors.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 15, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.6.
- Updated Sep 14, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.5.
- Updated Jan 15, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jan 12, 2021: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The iRobot Roomba 614 comes in one color variant, 'Black.' You can see the label of the unit we tested here. If you come across a different variant, let us know in the comments so we can update our review.
Popular Robot Vacuum Comparisons
The iRobot 614 is a basic robot vacuum. It has few automation features and doesn't come with a remote control or have a companion app. It cleans rooms in a random pattern, unlike some models with more advanced navigation systems like the iRobot Roomba 981, but maneuvers itself well and provides good coverage. This budget model does an acceptable job overall on both bare floors and high-pile carpets, but struggles with pet hair, regardless of what surface it's cleaning. If you're looking for other options, check out our lists of the best robot vacuums for pet hair, the best budget robot vacuums, and the best robot vacuums.
The eufy RoboVac 11S is a better vacuum than the iRobot Roomba 614 for most uses. The eufy sucks up more pet hair from all surface types, delivers better overall performance on carpets, and has significantly better automation features. Nevertheless, the iRobot is better built and has a longer battery life. It's also easier to maintain and incurs fewer recurring costs.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is a better vacuum than the iRobot Roomba 675. The 614 has a better performance on bare floors and carpets, a bigger dirt compartment, and a slightly longer battery life. On the other hand, the 675 is equipped with an allergen-trapping HEPA filter and has a companion app that allows you to schedule cleaning times.
The iRobot Roomba E5 is a better vacuum than the iRobot Roomba 614 for most uses. The E5 clears more pet hair from all surface types, delivers better overall performance on carpets, and works with an app that allows you to schedule cleaning times. On the other hand, the 614 clears more debris from bare surfaces like hardwood or linoleum flooring and has a longer battery life.
The iRobot Roomba 694 is better than the iRobot Roomba 614, though the vacuums are similar in design. The 694 performs better across all surface types and has a much broader range of automation features than the 614, which doesn't have a companion app or even a remote control.
Test Results
The iRobot Roomba 614 robot vacuum has very good build quality. It's mostly made of hard plastic and has a similar design to the iRobot Roomba 675, with a glossy top, matte-finish front bumper, and rubber wheels. The dust compartment has a foggy, see-through plastic cover and seems relatively sturdy, though it feels like it could break if dropped.
There are buttons on top that allow you to start a cleaning cycle, have it spot clean an area, and send it back to its charging dock. There are also indicator lights for battery status, dirt detection, and errors. The vacuum comes assembled, so all you need to do is plug in the charging dock.
This robot vacuum is somewhat hard to maintain, with a lot of parts that need to be removed and serviced regularly.
- Dirt compartment: It needs to be emptied after each use. There's a button to release it from the vacuum.
- Brushrolls: You can access them by opening the brushroll compartment door and pulling them out. They should be cleaned by removing any tangled hair once a week, or twice a week in homes with pets.
- Filter:The filter is inside the dirt compartment and can be taken out after it's emptied. You can clean it by tapping it on the edge of a garbage can once a week, or twice a week in homes with pets.
- Side brush: To remove the side brush you need to unscrew it. It should be cleaned once a month to remove any caught hair or debris.
- Front wheel: You can pull the wheel out by hand, but you may need to use a tool. It should be cleaned by removing any caught hair or debris from the wheel and wheel well every two weeks.
- Sensors: The sensors and charging pads on the vacuum and charging dock can be cleaned by wiping with a dry cloth once a month.
The iRobot 614 vacuum has high recurring costs. There are a couple of parts that the manufacturer recommends replacing on a regular basis.
- Filter: The filter should be replaced every two months.
- Brushrolls: The brushrolls should be replaced every 6-12 months.
- Front wheel: The front caster wheel should be replaced every 12 months.
iRobot sells each part individually, or you can also purchase a 'replenishment kit' that includes three filters, two brushrolls, one side brush, and a brush cleaning tool.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is roughly the same size as other iRobot models like the iRobot Roomba 675. Like most robot vacuums, it's very easy to store since it mounts itself on its low-profile charging dock.
The iRobot Roomba 614's dirt compartment is unremarkable. It's on the small side, even for a robot vacuum, and it doesn't have an indicator to let you know when it's full.
- iRobot Roomba 614 robot vacuum
- Bristle brush
- Beater brush
- 2x AeroVac filters
- AeroVac bin
- Recharge station
- Charging cable
- Cleaning tool
- User guide
The iRobot 614 has an unlimited range as long as it has some battery life remaining, but it can't go up or down stairs.
The iRobot Roomba 614 has a carrying handle on top, which helps make it more portable.
The iRobot 614 has fantastic battery life. It provides more than two hours of continuous cleaning time and recharges in less than two hours, which is much faster than alternatives like the eufy RoboVac 15C. There's a battery indicator on top of the vacuum that's amber while it's charging and turns green when it's fully charged. While you can't manually set the suction power, the vacuum adjusts it automatically depending on the conditions in the area it's cleaning, so the actual battery life may vary.
The iRobot Roomba 614 has a couple of extra features. The vacuum automatically adjusts the height of its brushrolls depending on what surface type it's cleaning. It also has sensors that detect when an area is particularly dirty, and it will clean those spots more thoroughly. However, you can't manually change the surface type or suction power settings.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is equipped with a beater brush meant to crush debris and make it easier for the larger bristle brush to pick up. There's also a side brush that works to push debris into the robot's path, and it comes with a cleaning tool to help dislodge stuck-on debris from its brushes.
The iRobot Roomba 614 is a robot vacuum with no alternative configurations.
The iRobot 614 has a decent performance on bare floors. It's very effective at clearing smaller debris like sand, and also does a good job with bulkier material like cereal. However, it struggles to suck up pet hair, which tends to get stuck on the brushrolls.
This vacuum has a poor performance on low-pile carpets. It picks up a good amount of large debris like sand, but really struggles with pet hair and hardly picks up any smaller debris like baking soda.
The iRobot Roomba 614 can climb onto high-pile carpets, but its performance on this surface type is mediocre. It can pick up larger debris like sand fairly effectively but struggles more with pet hair and particularly fine debris like baking soda.
This vacuum is decent at maneuvering itself. It moves in a random pattern, and while it does a good job of covering an entire area, it sometimes has trouble cleaning around obstacles. Its auto-adjusting head allows it to get onto carpets, but it can get stuck on rug tassels. It doesn't get stuck on electrical cords but can push and pull them around. Like most robot vacuums, it's small enough to fit under low furniture like coffee tables and couches.
This vacuum has poor automation features. It doesn't come with a remote control and doesn't work with an app, so you need to control it with the buttons on top of the vacuum. It will automatically return to its charging dock when its battery is running low, but you can't schedule it to start cleaning at a certain time or set virtual boundaries to keep it out of certain areas.
However, you can separately buy a remote control that has the same functions as the buttons on the vacuum. The manufacturer also sells barriers that you can use to set up virtual boundaries for the vacuum.