Roomba j7+ beats Roborock S8 on obstacle avoidance.

Yes. If avoiding pet accidents, charging cables, and kids’ toys matters most, get the Roomba j7+. The Roborock S8 is fine—it’ll avoid most things—but the iRobot is noticeably better at not getting tangled or smearing messes across the floor.

The j7+ uses a front-facing camera with trained object detection (PrecisionVision). It recognizes cables, shoes, socks, and—critically—pet poop. It’s so good that iRobot even offers a “Poo Promise”: if their vac runs over pet waste, they’ll replace it. That tells you something. The Roborock S8 uses structured light (like the new LiDAR-on-its-side) and is decent with furniture and walls, but it struggles with low-profile cables, dark rugs, and small objects.

In real-world tests, the S8 will bump into a phone charger and push it around or get tangled in a headphone cable. The j7+ usually spots those and drives around them. Not perfect—neither is—but the Roomba is more reliable when you have actual obstacles lying around.

If obstacle avoidance is your top priority, spend extra on the j7+. If you mostly have open floors and just want good cleaning, the S8 is fine. But that’s not the question you asked.