Holy cow!! Thank you for bringing this up! I need to reevaluate getting these models

Thanks so much for explaining this in depth. Makes so much sense. Great help to everybody.

i really appreciated the honest review and details that make the difference with other reviews, thank you

Great test! Thanks for detailed review and sharing with us!

This was a brilliant test. I'm currently shopping for a new robot vacuum since my trusty 6 year old Neato D7 is no longer supported. At the top of my list was the Roomba S9+, but now I'm rethinking that since half of my floors are laminate. I also encountered floor-marring issues with the D7 though, since every time it left it's base, would move forward a few inches, stop, and spin the brushes for a while. This left a shiny spot on the laminate over the years where the brushes were constantly buffing the floor. In addition, the D7 really did a number on the hallway Berber carpet by fraying the loops. After a few months of use, I banned the vacuum from going onto any carpeted areas. Hoping to find a good vac soon that will work well on all floor types. Meanwhile, my powerful Kenmore upright is still working great after 20 years.

Like others, I’m so thankful that you bravely posted this video. I had just purchased an S9 and was quite wowed by its cleaning performance but we have stained concrete floors that are surprisingly scratchable and so I immediately returned it after seeing this test and bought an Ecovacs T8 AIVI. I’ve been pretty happy with it but share your frustration with the app. BTW I love how you talk to your robots! I do the same thing and my family thinks I’m nuts! 😆⭐️

Great honest channel of all things robotic in the vacuum world. Subscribed. Just ordered a J7+ and will schedule frequent cleaning of the rollers. Most of my floor is hard tile but I do have three bedrooms w laminate flooring

Thank you for making this video. We recently installed new vinyl flooring and I was looking at purchasing a Roomba. Now I think I will NOT purchase one. You probably just saved me a few thousand dollars! Thanks again for this info!

Well you proved my suspicions are right and I've only had mine for a day or two. I have Pergo laminate whether satin type finish and started noticing scratches right away. The brushes are very soft so I don't know where the scratches are coming from but this is a great review and I hope more people see it. Probably a great product for everything but hardwood or laminate flooring.

Thank you so much for the video. It's very useful. I bought a Robot Roomba 615 couple weeks ago and noticed it scratched my floor. I was so shocked. A friend of mine has a i7 and recommended to me. I did some research and found out that the brushes are different. Thought that rubber brushes are better and was thinking to return the 615 and get a i7. Your video showed it's not the case ... I would have to consider other options. Thank you for making this video.

Thanks for this video. When we had hardwood installed in a couple rooms years ago, the company told us only to Swiffer dry mop dust it, and Bona and SH-mop to clean. They said the wheels from a vaccuum would scratch the floor. I guess they knew what they were talking about.

Great video! As an S5 Max owner, I'm glad the soft brush is less aggressive on the floor...

Using a Roborock V7 MaxV with mopping removed (My Carpet Piles are too high for the mop feature) and Braava M6. Best Combo I've tested, even if they aren't the same companies. No scratches.

I hired a company that polished my marble floors leaving it beautiful and shiny. After a few months I noticed little scratches specially near to the walls. Recently when I look closely, it looks like somebody pass an electric sander with grit 80, it is horrible. I was suspecting about my Roomba i7 but after seeing this video I confirmed it.

Thanks for sharing this test. It certainly seems likely that any dirty roller will scratch (more than a clean one), but I wonder if this is fixable in software or differs with floor material? Roomba touts their robots ability to adjust height based on cleaning surface. Could the transparency of plexiglass interfere with the IR sensors below? I've always found those types of sensors to be very finicky and unreliable. Do you know if the height adjustment seems servo controlled or is it just reactive to the landscape beneath it?

Thank you for this. I’ll continue dust mopping my floors manually.

Do you find that the Roombas make the floors slippery? I have an j7 and noticed my Hardwood floors are very slippery (they were never slippery over the past 10 years) only since using the Roomba. Have you noticed this in any of your tests and do you know how it could be avoided ?

Well dang. I have an S9 for my top floor which is all carpeted and it does a fantastic job. I was considering getting another for the main floor which is a combo of wood and tile, but perhaps not after seeing this video. I'm currently using the good ol' Roomba 675 down there, its rollers are a different design, haven't noticed any scratches but I haven't been looking very closely either...

Thank you for bringing this issue to light! I was about to buy an s9+ and m6 mop combo, but am having second thoughts. I have tile, carpet and laminate/vinyl. A dog and two cats so lots of fur. I was drawn to the s9 because of its superior carpet cleaning ability. I saw your other video on the budget ($200) vacuum being quite good, is there a "best" option you could recommend for me as far as a mapping vacuum?? Thanks!

Good find, I'll be cleaning my I7 today and every week. You have the many machines, are the rollers interchangeable? I understand if not, but perhaps possible with modifications?

Hi and thanks for this really informative video.And all your other videso. In late December I bought a Roomba J7 and thought it was great at mapping and picking up dirt on three floors of my house. Then, after looking at your video I started examining my floors which are quarter sawn white oak with a natural finish. Anyway, as I looked at these floors after about 5 times with the J7 I started seeing all sorts of scratches. Now, I am not sure whether they have been here before just from other vacuums going over the floor before we even bought the house. That said I see you think the Neabot Q11 is the best robot to buy now. Just wondering should I get rid of the J7 and buy the Neatbot Q11? Would love your thoughts.

Thanks for this! Does the J7 also scratch the floors? Or did they fix this?

Oh man! What about Roomba i3 or i5 ? Do they also scratch the floor surface ?

I just got my tiles polished and the rob vac scratched it right away. F m l , I came to see if its really the robo vac. Thank you so much for this video. 😢

Will the roomba 960 and 980 have the same flaw ? They're ribber brushes are a little different than the i7 and s9.

Thanks for making this video. What would you recommend for laminate wood flooring as my current robot vacuum (roborock) has left scratches across the floor?

Thank you Mr. Roombato for this video! I have an older Roomba 531 (very old, I know, but it still works) which still has the old brushes (plastic and bristle brush). What I did notice was the front caster wheel (mine already has some wear and tear) gets stuck sometimes after a turn and gets dragged all over the floor, creating light scratches on my wooden flooring. I looked at upgrading to another (basic) robot vacuum like the Eufy 11S, but it has the same pivoting front wheel design. Won't it have the same flaw?!

Thank you so much for this video. Just last night we purchased an S9 to help us with our brand newly installed vinyl floors. With 2 dogs and 2 cats, we really don't want to have to spend every day vacuuming ourselves, so why not hire a robot. Then, I see this video and the heartbreak sets in, what a bummer as we surely do not want scratches on our new floors. So now I am torn as to what would be a better option for us as far as robot vacuums, do you have any suggestions? Again, we have 3 floors of dark vinyl, and then 3 bedrooms with carpet. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

What are your favourite robo vac for only tiles and carpet without mop function?

I have had a rooms J7+ for few weeks and I had the same concern. I tested and watched how it worked. The rubber part does touch the hardwood floor slightly. However, no scratches found so far. I believe it really depends how dirty the floor is. If the floor has full of sand type dirt, it could potentially scratches the floor. In my case, the floors are just got dirty by soft dust and J7 won't scratch.

Have you tested the i3? It has similar rubber brushes as the i7 & S9.

Did you talked about that with iRobot? If so, what did they told you? Ok, we have to do maintenance to the robots, but it's something that supposedly shouldn't be needed very frequently.

I have vinyl plank flooring do you think my floors would be safe with the roborock s5 or roborock s6? Those are the two I have my eye on but I’m nervous now😬

I was about to get the i7+ but then saw your video and decided against it. thanks for the review! One criticism if I may, is that your intro sound level is way too high compared to the sound levels of when you are speaking. Can you make the intro levels match the volume of the rest so it doesn't blast my eardrums? thanks!

I just watched this video and have a new i8+. If I return it because of the scratching problem what robot would you recommend that has self-empty and works well on mostly carpeting and some wood laminate and vinyl laminate floors?

Thanks for this video.. I know the video is a bit old, so not sure if you would still respond. But my roomba i7 scratches and makes circular dents on my parkett floor all over. the cleaning quality is impressive but the dents are a dealbreaker. Do you have a favorite vaccuum which makes absolutely no scratches or dents but also does a pretty good job, comes close to the roombas in cleaning? Sorry if you have to repeat the answer. I could not find that info anywhere in the comments section. Thanks for these great videos..!!

I was wondering if my robot was scratching the floors. My hunch is correct.

We have really dark luxury vinyl plank floors. We need it to be spotless, so I was hoping to get a vacuum and a mop, and the m6 mop seems to be the best, so I was looking at the i7 or s9 to pair. Now I'm thinking that's not a great idea. What would you recommend to avoid scratching, but to get all the fine dust that is visible on really, really, dark vinyl? (I know, everyone said don't get it, it'll show all the dirt, but I thought a robot would fix that)

Hi I just recently moved into a place with dark hardwood floors throughout and was hoping to get the Roomba s9 but I am concerned. Is there any system that you do recommend? I am starting to regret my floor choice

That's terrible! I have tile, so I'm not affected. I can't imagine how bad it is for people with wood floors in Florida with the sandy soil.

Wow, eye opener! The i7 and S9's brushes seem the same to me though from looking at your video. How come the S9's are much worse for scratching?

Do you have real hard wood flooring or vinyl flooring?

will you be getting the new Roborock S7 with the now bristle-less main brush and floating extractor bar? to see

Thank you for the analysis. I have 1 year old Bagotte BG800. It is a similar to the Eufys - probably just rebranded. It has a mapping function but only shows where the robot has been. You can't save the map and can't make it go to individual areas. When it goes it just vacuums everywhere it can get to. Very low height so it goes under everything. I run it at night as it does not need light at all. My whole house is wood except for my guest room, bathroom, foyer & kitchen. I do not have pets. The BG800 still works but I have retired it as the battery does not last as long anymore. It does not have the repeat function so every time it returns home it will charge up and run the next schedule with no memory where it left off. It does not run as eratic as the Roomba 675. It goes in a pattern up & down. I have not seen any scratch marks from it. It is almost half the weight of the i7 and has actual brushes like 675 (which I need to clean a lot as the dust clogs it up). Has a 2200pa suction which fluctuates as it moves from carpet to tiles/wood. Recently purchased the i7+ combo with the M6 mopping robot. Love the I7 mopping as now I tell it to go where I need it most - kitchen and bathrooms.. These are all tile areas. After seeing your video I got concerned so now I run my i7 twice a month on my wood floor and use my M6 with dust pad to sweep the wood floors every alternate day and I can tell it to go specific areas I need swept most often. I have invested in several pads so I change the pad after each sweep.

Thank you so much for this video. I'm really sad because it appears that my i7 also scratches my vinyl flooring. The scratches are really deep, look like somebody made them with a knife, which is also really strange.

Would a traditional vacuum have the same results?

Do you think the new Roborock S7 is going to have the same issue as Roomba? What robot is best for hardwood floors, Neato D series?

Hi, I returned my i7+ after seeing your video because I have lots of hardwood floor. I am now interrested by the T8 because it has the option of dust bin and has hybrid bristle but was very surprised by your results. Do you have more details about it’s scratching results. Thanks

Sorry which robot vacuum cleaner doesnt scratch the floor?

What would be your safest pick for a new expensive hardwood dark floor ? Saved for a long time for this floor... :p

Ok so, I wanted to get the Roomba since it seemed to be the most efficient cleaning robot. But I don't want my hardwood floors get scratched. I was thinking of putting some of those things you put under furniture to prevent scratching, on the rubber brush housing, but it seems kind of scuffed on something so expensive. I was thinking of going with the Ecovacs T9+ instead, which is the newest model. What do you think?

Can you do a retest of the i7 with cleaned rollers?

Thank you you just saved me £1,500

Best to use a robot mop on hardwood floors. Brushless vacuum mop. Good example is the hobot legee.

I'm very confused...thank you for the review - but you haven't cleaned any of these vacuums?? Part of owning these robots is to do your own maintenance on them and clean their parts.

Thank you so much.. i bought Rommba 674 and it ruined by hardwood floor. my wife fond the scratch and returned them.. no more robot vacumm

Those aren’t official iRobot parts and that’s why they’re scratching your floors. I may be wrong but the official rolling bars don’t have that design.

Does the J7 scratch the floor?

I'm surprised not a lot of people have complained about this. Haven't heard too much on scratching.

If you have hardwood floors…and a roomba i6 cant you just get rid of the large green bristles to avoid scratches, i’m sure it will still give ur floors a good clean

What units don't scratch floors

Yea, hmmm... I have the s9, it runs on all.floors and i havent noticed any scratches. Yet.

Get some Weiman Wood Floor Polish and Restorer. Amazon has it.

I've been trying out a j7+ for two weeks for an elderly couple and just realized the wood floors are absolutely scratched to h#$&. I feel sick. I guess dirt was on the wheel or brushes. I could afford a vacuum, but the sanding and refinishing of their floors...? I don't even know what to do now. It hadn't occurred to me that the floors would be ruined by this. I've seen so many videos and reviews that tout the achievements of these vacuums on wood floors. I wish I'd seen this video before doing an emergency search for why are my wood floors being scratched to h@$_?

Weekly maintenance is required for these robots

You ran the Roomba last. You didn't clean dirt of the plexi from the other vacuums. You put the Roomba in a circle spin the others not. It doesn't prove anything. Clay litter residue leaves marks like that. You should have cleaned the dirt off and hold up the plexiglass. Most was just kitty litter streaks and not scratches.

Clean brushes should be 1st thing on your list.

you have some bad floors, that was not designed/built to handle animals or office environment... what did you expect? it is the same a rolling around a computer chair, but not with as much weight but still.

mr roombato but no roomba: mr robovaco