Welcome to a Vacuum Cleaner Battery specialist of the iRobot Battery
Where most floor mopping robots are designed for light-duty maintenance cleaning, iRobot's $600 Scooba 450 can tackle heavier spills, stains, and other unsightly messes with comparable ease. That makes the Scooba 450 unique among its competitors -- it's the closest we've seen to a true replacement for your mop and dirty water bucket. Unfortunately, it can only clean about 300 square feet (40 minutes of cleaning time) before needing to charge. Still, I really like the Scooba 450 and think it's a capable (small space) floor cleaner.
The iRobot Scooba 450 looks a lot like iRobot's Roomba robot vacuums with battery like iRobot Roomba 80501 Battery, iRobot Roomba 500 Battery, iRobot Roomba 510 Battery, iRobot Roomba 530 Battery, iRobot Roomba 560 Battery, iRobot Roomba 580 Battery, iRobot Roomba 600 Battery, iRobot Roomba 700 Battery, iRobot Scooba 5800 Battery, iRobot Scooba 5900 Battery, iRobot Scooba 6000 Battery, iRobot Scooba 350 Battery. They share the same disk-like shape and color detail, have similar handles for easy lifting, and even operate via the same iAdapt navigation algorithm. But the Scooba 450 has significantly fewer features, making it more high maintenance than I'd like.
The top of the Scooba 450 displays a power/clean button with a blue LED status ring around it. When the status lights are spinning, the Scooba is getting ready for a cleaning cycle, and when the lights are solid, the lights act as a progress guide. To the right is a room size button where you have two options: 150 square feet for 20 minutes of cleaning or 300 square feet for 40 minutes of cleaning. To the left there's an information button that you can press to get audio updates from the bot, such as "I can't detect my tank. Please make sure it is installed correctly, then press 'clean' to restart." The 450 is also programmed to talk to you when it has specific information to share (without pressing the information button for a prompt).
There's also a battery indicator light that's solid green/red when the battery is full/drained and pulses yellow or green when it's charging, in addition to a USB port under the handle and a sensor that can communicate with the included Virtual Wall device to help the bot navigate. That's it for the display panel and the top of the bot. There's no option for scheduling cleaning cycles or other such customization.
Also, the Scooba's battery doesn't last very long. So, if you're hoping to mop, say, a 1,200-square-foot space, you're going to get roughly a quarter of the way done (40 minutes and 300 square feet maxes out its battery) and have to stop, clean out the dirty tank, possibly refresh the clean tank, let it charge for 2 to 3 hours and then resume. While that's probably still less effort than mopping the floor yourself, it isn't the most efficient process if you want to clean a larger space (especially if you want to clean a large space quickly).
Still, it isn't hugely inconvenient, especially compared to other robot floor cleaners we've tested. The iRobot Braava 380t may have a longer battery life, but you also have to deal with attaching and removing mop pads for cleaning. Plus, the Scooba comes with a Virtual Wall that you can use to section off your floor for cleaning. If you live in a smaller home or have minimal amounts of hardwood/vinyl/laminate, etc., the Scooba might just simplify your floor cleaning routine.
The Scooba 450's dual water reservoir and uniquely powerful three-step cleaning process makes it stand out from the other floor cleaners we've tested. Still, I wouldn't recommend this small space floor scrubber to everyone. If your goal is fast and efficient cleaning of large spaces, you might actually prefer the lighter-duty iRobot Braava 380t . It's designed for maintenance cleaning, but it can cover more ground per charge.
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