A:Answer Thanks so much for the question; comparing and choosing the right robot can be confusing. There are actually a few key differences between the 890 and 960. Best Buy has a nice comparison chart on the iRobot brand page, but here are the highlights:
1) The 960 navigates using a built-in camera (vSLAM technology) which provides full-level cleaning because the robot can recharge and resume if needed to complete a mission. In other words, if it runs low on battery, it will return to its Home Base, recharge, and pick up where it left off until the job is done. Because of this feature, the slightly lower running time is less of an impact
2) The vSLAM tech also means the robot cleans in parallel rows and can provide a CleanMap report of coverage for each job. You can also customize your cleaning preferences
3) Both the 890 and 960 have 5x the suction of the 600-series robots, are WiFi connected, work with Amazon and Google devices for voice activation and provide the same, superior 3-stage cleaning system
I'd choose your Roomba based on how large of an area you want to clean at a time and how much customization you want in terms of cleaning and reporting. Hope that helps!
