iRobot Roomba Max 875 Combo Brings SealForce Tech

iRobot has introduced the Roomba Max 875 Combo, which the company calls its most advanced and most powerful robot ever, alongside the Roomba Plus 678 Combo. Announced on September 2, 2026, in Bedford, Massachusetts, both models debut iRobot’s proprietary SealForce Vacuuming Technology, a mechanical rethink of how a robot vacuum handles carpet.

After years of playing catch-up on specs, iRobot is finally swinging back with genuinely novel engineering rather than incremental updates. Whether SealForce delivers in real homes will determine if this is the start of a true comeback.

SealForce: Sealing the Carpet Instead of Just Sucking Harder

Rather than relying on suction alone, the SealForce chassis lowers a skirt onto the carpet fibers, sealing the cleaning area so the vacuum can pull up debris a standard robot vacuum would leave behind. iRobot describes it as a proprietary active-suction system built for its higher-end machines, designed to maximize raw suction and airflow sealing.

The numbers iRobot cites are bold:

• 35,000 Pa of suction paired with 20 L/s of tornado-like airflow.
• 5x more suction power, per the company’s claims.
• 3x deeper carpet cleaning, per the company’s claims.

As with all manufacturer claims, these await independent verification. But the engineering concept is sound: carpet cleaning is as much about airflow sealing as raw suction, and a physical skirt is a clever way to achieve it.

Heated Mopping Joins the Lineup

The Max 875 Combo pairs SealForce with a Dual-Action Heated Mopping System featuring ultrasonic ThermaMist heated-mist mopping and what iRobot calls the industry’s largest roller mop, plus patented DriLift Technology, a self-lifting roller shield that protects rugs while mopping.

The Plus 678 Combo gets SealForce too, combined with SprayForce AI Mopping, iRobot’s first two-step roller mopping system that both pretreats and removes tough stains. Both robots ship with the AutoWash Dock, a base station that empties the dustbin, refills water, and washes and dries the mop pads without owner input.

Background: An Inventor Fighting for Relevance

iRobot invented the robot vacuum, but the last few years have belonged to Roborock and Dreame, whose 2026 flagships tout 36,000 to 42,000 Pa suction, self-cleaning roller mops, steam systems, and even robotic arms. iRobot’s recent launches, including an AutoWash-style dock introduced a few months ago, showed the company was still iterating, but the Max 875 is its first clean-sheet attempt to lead on technology again.

The company is now owned by the Chinese robotics group Picea, and the IFA 2026 push, the Max 875 and Plus 678 for today, plus the dual-robot Roomba Duo concept for tomorrow, represents its clearest attempt to reclaim a leadership position.

Outlook

The success of SealForce depends entirely on real-world testing. A sealing skirt that works on medium-pile carpet in a lab still has to survive thresholds, tangled cords, and pet hair in actual homes. Reviewers will also be watching navigation and obstacle avoidance, areas where iRobot has lagged behind rivals with camera-plus-AI systems.

Pricing and availability details are still emerging, but the strategic picture is clear: iRobot is done ceding the innovation narrative. If the Max 875 Combo’s carpet performance matches its claims, the 2027 flagship battle just got a lot more interesting.