iRobot Roomba 694: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
You can start the Roomba 694 from a phone, give it a weekly schedule or ask a voice assistant to send it out, and that connected layer sits on top of the most basic navigation in the Roomba range. It is iRobot's lowest rung, a round robot that vacuums and nothing else.
Its navigation is random. The robot drives in a line until it hits something, turns and sets off again, and the only plan is time. Nothing about the route changes from one run to the next except luck. Without a map there is nothing for the app to divide, so room selection, keep-out zones and saved floors are all missing. What the app does control is when the robot runs.
The rest of the hardware matches the price. The bin is generously sized, which helps, because nothing empties it for you. There is no dock beyond the charger, no mop and no HEPA filter. Obstacle avoidance is listed, and the body is low enough to clear some furniture.
The i3 is the next Roomba up, and it brings the one change the 694 cannot make up for with extra time. It follows rows and remembers the floor, and the app gains rooms and zones as a result.
So the 694 earns its place in a studio or a small apartment, a room or two of hard floor where a random path gets round in the time allowed. It works as a daily sweep that keeps crumbs and dust in check between proper cleans, and the schedule means nobody has to remember to press the button. A larger home leaves it doubling back over some rooms and missing others.
Category strengths
Where the iRobot Roomba 694 beats the median
- A bigger dustbin ?350 ml vs 300 ml (median)
- A slightly more compact design ?89.9 mm vs 96.8 mm (median)
Where the iRobot Roomba 694 trails the median
- No self-empty dock ?
- No a mop function ?
- No mapping ?
- Fewer multi-floor maps ?0 vs 4 (median)
How this VS Score was computed
Score 13: each known spec is measured against the median of all robot vacuums (58 products), then weighted; 50 means level with that median. In classes of six or more, a value beyond the class’s 10th–90th percentile range counts as that limit, so one extreme product cannot set the scale. 29% of the scoreable weight could be used; unknown values, features not applicable to this class and proxies (battery capacity where a rated life exists) add or remove nothing.
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Random | LiDAR | 1 | −48.0 |
| Self-empty dock | No | 91% of the class have it | 0.7 | −33.6 |
| Mopping | No | 79% of the class have it | 0.6 | −28.8 |
| Mapping | No | 98% of the class have it | 0.6 | −28.8 |
| HEPA filter | No | 29% of the class have it | 0.4 | −19.2 |
| Multi-floor maps | 0 — capped at the class’s lower range (1) | 4 | 0.4 | −14.8 |
| Dustbin capacity | 350 | 300 | 0.4 | +3.2 |
| Height | 89.9 | 96.8 | 0.5 | +2.0 |
Not scored: Suction power (unknown: not scored); Mop lift (unknown: not scored); Carpet detection (unknown: not scored); Edge-cleaning extension (unknown: not scored); Cleaning modes (unknown: not scored); Max cleaning area (unknown: not scored); Obstacle avoidance (standard for the class (100% have it)); No-go zones (unknown: not scored); Threshold clearance (unknown: not scored); Battery capacity (unknown: not scored); Runtime (unknown: not scored); Recharge & resume (unknown: not scored); Auto-refill mop (unknown: not scored); Mop self-cleaning (unknown: not scored); Automatic mop removal (unknown: not scored); Mop wash temperature (unknown: not scored); Warm-air drying temperature (unknown: not scored); Automatic detergent dispenser (unknown: not scored); Dirt detection & re-mop (unknown: not scored); Water tank (unknown: not scored); Noise level (unknown: not scored); App control (standard for the class (100% have it)); Voice assistant (standard for the class (100% have it)); Scheduling (standard for the class (100% have it)); Zone / room cleaning (unknown: not scored).
Editor’s note
The 694 is the cheapest way into a Roomba.
Navigation is Random. The machine does not map, does not know where it has been and does not clean in rows. It drives until it hits something, turns, and repeats, on the statistical assumption that enough time covers enough floor. There is no room-by-room cleaning, no no-go zones and no saved maps, because all of those require knowing where it is.
In a small apartment with a simple layout, that works better than it sounds: given an hour, a random path covers a single room reasonably well, and the machine is inexpensive. In a larger or more complex home it will miss areas, revisit others, and finish with the floor only partly done.
Runtime is 90 minutes and the bin is 350 ml with no self-emptying dock, so you empty it by hand. There is no HEPA filter and no mopping. It is 90 mm tall, so low furniture is out.
App control, scheduling and voice assistants all work, which is more than the price suggests.
Buy it for a small apartment, mostly hard floors, as a maintenance sweep between proper cleans. Buy a mapping machine (even a gyroscope one like the i3) if the home is more than a couple of rooms.
Specifications
Quality bars show where each figure sits between the lowest and highest of the 58 robot vacuums this VS Score is measured against.
Cleaning
Navigation
Battery & dock
Design
Smart features
Maintenance & filtration
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pageirobot.com
- Independent testingrtings.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 12 of 39 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
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Ratings & reviews
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The bottom line
The iRobot Roomba 694 earns a VS Score of 13 on the 29% of specifications we could compare like for like — an indication, not a ranking.
- Who it’s for
- A small apartment with a simple layout and mostly hard floors, where a cheap daily sweep between proper cleans is all that is asked.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Look elsewhere for any home of more than a few rooms, or if you want room selection, keep-out zones or a dock that empties itself.
- The trade-off that matters
- Random navigation. Coverage depends on time and luck, so bigger or busier layouts end each run with parts of the floor untouched.
- The main alternative
- iRobot Roomba i3: cleans in rows and keeps a map, so room selection and keep-out zones become possible
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, each measured against the median of comparable robot vacuums — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
