Mint vs Roomba: Automatic Robotic Floor Cleaners

The Mint automatic cleaner is square with a rectangular pad in the front. The iRobot Roomba is round. Both feature a low profile, which allows them to maneuver under furniture.

The Mint cleaner is smaller than a Roomba, clocking in at just 10 inches wide. So one would expect that it will be able to get into nooks and crannies better than a Roomba.

Roomba robot navigation systems are based on behavioral algorithms which guides the machine around the room, cleaning the entire floor surface by repeatedly going over them in different places and angles, resulting in a more or less random vacuum pattern.

The Mint used a state of the art navigation system called Northstar, which uses a beacon (I would liken it similar to mini GPS) to help it navigate. When compared to Roomba's more or less random cleaning pattern, the Mint automatic robot cleaner actually sweeps any given room in an orderly fashion, going back and forth, working in rows from one side of the floor to the other.

The Mint cleaner is mostly a sweeper, using a dry/wet cloth system to clean the floor. Attached to the front pad of the robot, the cloths, made of microfiber, pick up dirt and hairs, so you’re not just pushing a pile of dirt around. The device has no suction and no dust bin. In many ways, the Mint automatic floor cleaner mimics the manual Swifter dry and wet mobs and their many imitators found in supermarkets anywhere.

The Roomba acts more like a conventional upright vacuum cleaner, equipped with a side brush which sweeps dirt and debris into the path of the vacuum.

Roombas can be program to keep out it of certain places/room . This is a feature that the current, first generation of the Mint floor cleaner cannot as of yet match.

Roomba models (560) can also self-charge. Meaning that they automatically return themselves to a docking station for recharging. This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Mint.

Due to its more efficient and methodical floor sweeping pattern (see “How They Clean” above), the Mint generally is expected to use less energy in terms of battery power consumption than the Roomba.

The Mint is fully capable of utilizing any off-the-shelf brand of dry and wet cleaning cloths, like Swifter, typically available for sale (at a discount) at any supermarket. The “wet” cleaning version of the Roomba ("Scoooba"), on the other hand requires you to only use the company’s proprietary cleaning solutions, which can definitely run on the expensive side.

An entry-level iRobot Roomba (400 series) will run you around $130. The company’s more sophisticated and capable mid-range lines (500 series) start at around $280 and quickly escalate from there.

The MSRP of the Mint automatic floor cleaner is just under $250. However, expect the “street price” to hover around $200 when its introduced at some online retailers like Amazon.com (SEE BELOW)

Both the Roomba and Mint are worthy of your attention if you're in the market for automatic robotic floor cleaners, although they go about their tasks quiet differently.

If you need these devices to clean both carpeted and hard floor areas, select one of the many Roomba models manufactured by iRobot that fits your budget.

The company's top rated 560 series models (Recommended) allow you to preset up to seven cleaning times per week, clean four rooms on a single charge, adjust from hard floors to carpets on the fly, and even automatically returns to their home charging station when done!

If you're interested in models that clean hard surface floors thoroughly, I highly recommend the Mint which was specifically designed for this kind of cleaning environment with it wet/dry cleaning modes. The option to use off the shelf products, such as Swifter cleaning cloths, make it also the most economical choice over the long run