Black Friday knocks £250 off the next-level robot mop that let me retire from cleaning

A huge £250 price drop has landed on this self-cleaning robot mop that vacuums, scrubs and dries floors while you relax

As a shopping editor, I’ve tested a fair few vacuums over the years – there always seems to be a new one launching, doesn’t there? – but the moment I met the Roomba Plus 505 Combo, with its mop-and-vacuum promises, I realised I might actually retire my trusty cordless hoover for good. For someone who’s constantly juggling work, life and cleaning, the idea of something that not only vacuums but also scrubs the floor and looks after its own mop pads feels like a mini luxury.

But could its claims be too good to be true? Now was the time to find out, as the gadget just hit an early Black Friday sale, offering shoppers a big near-£250 saving on the next-generation buy.

Immediately I got off to a flying start because setting it up was easier than I expected. The iRobot Home app walked me through mapping my flat, and I was impressed at how quickly it learned the layout– it was also really easy to set up no-mop zones. The dock is where the magic happens: it auto-empties the dustbin, washes the mop pads and even dries them using heat. It’s basically handling the least fun bits of cleaning for me, which is a huge time-saver.

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Once it started working, I loved how the dual spinning mop pads scrub, not just glide over dirt, thanks to iRobot’s SmartScrub feature. One of the mop heads even extends a little, so it gets into corners that other bots tend to ignore. Combine that with the 70x more advanced suction ( yes, 70x), and it handles everything from crumbs to my many stray hairs like a pro. I don’t have a pet, but I’ve looked up reviews, and it seems it handles dog and cat hair effortlessly, thanks to a specially designed brush that doesn’t get hairs tangled.

Pros and cons of the iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo

Pros:

• Powerful suction and a rubber multi-surface brush tackles hair, crumbs and dust
• Mop pads with SmartScrub actually scrub, and PerfectEdge lets them reach corners
• Maps your home precisely with AI, avoiding obstacles like cords or shoes
• AutoWash dock empties bins, washes mop pads and heat-dries them
• Offers multiple cleaning modes: vacuum, mop, combo or vacuum-then-mop, saving the need to buy different gadgets

Cons:

• The AutoWash cycle, when filling tanks, heating and drying, is quite loud
• App control can be clunky or slow, according to some user feedback
• If you overload the mop, too much moisture can be left behind on surfaces
• It has a premium price tag (though it does feature in good seasonal sales)
• Dock isn’t the most attractive and requires a fair bit of space, which isn’t ideal for a small flat without a storage room

Zoe says

From my own experience, this doesn’t feel like just another gimmicky gadget, but rather a real helper. I ran it mixed-mode on my wood floors, and between vacuuming and mopping, I could virtually forget about cleaning for a while. The robot’s scrubbing action revealed grime even in places I thought were already clean, and the way it combines vacuum and mop duties meant I didn’t have to schedule separate runs.

The downside with other robo-mops and vacuums is that they don’t actually do a deep clean – the suction often isn’t strong enough – but this really was just as good as a plug-in vacuum. I’ve used the vacuum setting on my carpets several times, and I can rarely spot a hair once it’s finished.

What I didn’t expect, and what genuinely sold me, is how well it handles the unexpected. If I drop crumbs while cooking or my hallway suddenly becomes a trail of muddy footprints, the Roomba detects the shift in dirt levels and automatically boosts suction or switches to a more intense scrub pattern. It also recognises different floor types mid-clean, lifting the mop the second it moves onto carpet so nothing gets soggy. And the app alerts are surprisingly smart: it suggests routines based on my patterns (like a hallway clean after 6pm when I usually get home) and even flags areas it thinks need extra attention. It’s basically the cleaner I wish I could afford.

But this isn’t for someone looking for a cheap ‘set and forget’ toy. It’s definitely an investment, especially once you factor in the dock and the power. On the other hand, if you’ve had a robot mop on your wishlist for a while, this really is a does-it-all buy that genuinely saves you time on cleaning. Plus, with the Black Friday sale, you can basically write it off as a saving on a much-needed home expense.

While I do really recommend this mop/vacuum combo gadget, there are others on the market with mostly positive reviews. Shark’s PowerDetect NeverTouch 2-in-1 Self-Empty & Self-Refill Robot Vacuum & Mop is on sale for £399 down from £699, while you can currently get £280 off eufy’s Robot Vacuum Omni C20.