Robot Vacuums / Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) vs iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock
Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE)
$329.99
VSiRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock
$269.99
Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) vs iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock
Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE)
Bagless base, no mop, no camera and no Pascal claim — and it still out-vacuums most of them.
Wins overall by 1.0 points
Quick Verdict
A 1.0-point gap makes the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) the straightforward choice here. Bagless base, no mop, no camera and no Pascal claim — and it still out-vacuums most of them.
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) and iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock are both closely matched robot Vacuum models, and the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock is $60 cheaper than the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) ($269.99 vs $329.99). On Running Cost, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads (9.5 vs 5.0/10) — the trap dimension. What the machine costs to feed each year in proprietary bags, mop pads, filters and detergent, and whether a bagless dock lets you spend nothing at all. 10 means it costs nothing to keep running.. On Mopping, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock leads (3.0 vs 0.0/10) — whether the mop scrubs or just drags: pad versus spinning versus washed roller, down-pressure, dried-stain removal and how wet the floor is left. Vacuum-only robots score 0.. On Carpet Cleaning, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads (8.0 vs 6.0/10) — embedded-debris and pet-hair pickup from carpet in independent bench tests, plus anti-tangle brush design — not the manufacturer's Pascal claim.. Overall, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores 6.2/10 across our 8 scoring categories versus 5.2/10 for the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock. Below, we break down the full spec sheet, category-by-category scores, and exactly who should buy which one.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Spec | Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) | iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $329.99 | $269.99 |
| Release Year | 2024 | 2025 |
| Claimed Suction (Pa) | Shark publishes no Pascal figure for this robot at all. It markets DirtDetect and NeverStuck instead, which means nothing on this row is comparable to the five-digit Pa claims from the Chinese brands — and Shark still out-cleans several of them | iRobot publishes no Pascal figure for any Roomba. Its claim is '70x more' power-lifting suction than a Roomba 600 — a ratio against a 2013 robot, not a number you can line up against the 5,300-30,000 Pa claims elsewhere on this page |
| Independent Test Result | Vacuum Wars placed it in the top 10 of 100+ robots tested for crevice pickup and well above average on carpet deep clean, but kept it out of the Top 20 purely because it does not mop | No independent bench result published. It is too new and too cheap to appear in Vacuum Wars' Top 20 or RTINGS' tested rankings; everything here is iRobot's own claim |
| Navigation & Obstacle Avoidance | Spinning LiDAR turret, maps in roughly 10 minutes. Front obstacle detection is a 3D sensor plus dual lasers; Vacuum Wars rates it at roughly half the effectiveness of flagship camera systems | ClearView LiDAR mapping with neat-row cleaning and automatic carpet detection. No camera and no AI object recognition — it maps the room but cannot identify what is lying on the floor |
| What the Maker Promises About Pet Waste | Shark makes no pet-waste avoidance claim for this model | None. iRobot's P.O.O.P. Promise — replace the robot free if it fails to avoid solid dog or cat waste, 1 year from purchase, replacement product only — is written on iRobot's US page against the camera-equipped Roomba j7+, not this LiDAR-only model |
| Mop System | None. Vacuum only | Single microfibre pad fed by a micro-pump. A damp pad dragged behind the robot |
| Mop Lift Over Carpet (mm) | Not applicable — no mop | None. The pad does not lift or retract; iRobot's stated behaviour is 'avoids mopping carpet', meaning it drives around your rugs instead of over them |
| Dock Type & Plumbing | Bagless XL self-empty base with HEPA filtration and odour neutralisation. No water, no plumbing | AutoEmpty dock — debris only. No water, no mop washing, no plumbing |
| Dock Mop Wash & Dry | Not applicable | None. You rinse the mop pad yourself; one spare pad is in the box |
| Dock Bags & Running Cost | $0 a year in bags — the base separates into a removable tray you tip into the bin. The only recurring parts are the base HEPA filter (rinse every 1-2 months, replace every 6-12) and side brushes, against roughly $26-32/yr in bags for the Roborock and iRobot docks | Proprietary iRobot dirt-disposal bags rated at 75 days. iRobot's own 3-pack for AutoEmpty/AutoWash docks (part 4849916) is $19.99 — about $6.66 a bag, so roughly $32 a year in bags alone. The older Clean Base 3-pack (4640235) is $11.17 at Home Depot but is a different part that does not fit |
| Robot Bin Capacity (ml) | 227 ml (0.24 qt) onboard — among the smallest here, because the base is meant to do the work | Not published by iRobot for the 105 Combo; the bin shares the chassis with the mopping solution tank |
| Rated Runtime (and at what setting) (min) | About 100-110 minutes from a 3,200 mAh cell. Vacuum Wars flags the small battery as the main limitation in large homes: it will need multiple charge-and-resume cycles | Not published by iRobot for this model |
| Account, Cloud & Camera Privacy | SharkClean account and app required and maps are cloud-stored. No camera on the robot. Vacuum Wars calls the app buggy and notes it still lacks room-specific scheduling | iRobot account and the iRobot Home app are required, and maps are cloud-stored with deletion available on request. No camera on this model. iRobot filed Chapter 11 on 14 December 2025 and was bought by Picea, its Chinese manufacturing partner and secured lender; iRobot says apps, warranties and support continue and the 2026 line is in production |
| Warranty | 12 months | 12 months |
| Colors | Black | White |
Category Scores
Carpet Cleaning
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 8.0 against 6.0 — a 2.0-point margin on embedded-debris and pet-hair pickup from carpet in independent bench tests, plus anti-tangle brush design — not the manufacturer's Pascal claim.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Hard Floor & Edges
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 8.0 against 6.5 — a 1.5-point margin on pickup on hard floor including crevices, edges and corners, and whether the side brush or mop actually extends to the skirting.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Mopping
The iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock leads clearly here, 3.0 against 0.0 — a 3.0-point margin on whether the mop scrubs or just drags: pad versus spinning versus washed roller, down-pressure, dried-stain removal and how wet the floor is left. Vacuum-only robots score 0.. If that is what you are buying for, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) does not close the gap elsewhere.
Obstacle Avoidance
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 5.0 against 4.5 — a 0.5-point margin on real camera or structured-light recognition versus bump-and-turn, scored against published obstacle-course results rather than the number of object types claimed.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Dock Automation
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 5.5 against 4.5 — a 1.0-point margin on how much the dock genuinely does unattended: self-empty, hot-water mop wash, hot-air dry, solution dosing, plumbed refill and drain — minus the jobs it still leaves you.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Running Cost
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 9.5 against 5.0 — a 4.5-point margin on the trap dimension. What the machine costs to feed each year in proprietary bags, mop pads, filters and detergent, and whether a bagless dock lets you spend nothing at all. 10 means it costs nothing to keep running.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Privacy & Control
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 5.5 against 5.0 — a 0.5-point margin on whether an account and cloud are required, where the maps live, whether there is a camera and where its frames are processed, and the brand's actual privacy and security record.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Value
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) leads clearly here, 8.0 against 7.0 — a 1.0-point margin on tested cleaning performance and dock automation against the real street price and the year-one consumables bill.. If that is what you are buying for, the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock does not close the gap elsewhere.
Best For
Choose the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) if…
- • Running Cost matters most to you — the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores 9.5/10 here (the trap dimension. What the machine costs to feed each year in proprietary bags, mop pads, filters and detergent, and whether a bagless dock lets you spend nothing at all. 10 means it costs nothing to keep running.).
- • Carpet Cleaning matters most to you — the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores 8.0/10 here (embedded-debris and pet-hair pickup from carpet in independent bench tests, plus anti-tangle brush design — not the manufacturer's Pascal claim.).
- • Hard Floor & Edges matters most to you — the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores 8.0/10 here (pickup on hard floor including crevices, edges and corners, and whether the side brush or mop actually extends to the skirting.).
- • Dock Automation matters most to you — the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores 5.5/10 here (how much the dock genuinely does unattended: self-empty, hot-water mop wash, hot-air dry, solution dosing, plumbed refill and drain — minus the jobs it still leaves you.).
- • Your main use case is bagless-dock or vacuum-only.
Choose the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock if…
- • Mopping matters most to you — the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock scores 3.0/10 here (whether the mop scrubs or just drags: pad versus spinning versus washed roller, down-pressure, dried-stain removal and how wet the floor is left. Vacuum-only robots score 0.).
- • You want to spend less — it's $60 cheaper.
- • Your main use case is first-robot.
Pros & Cons
Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE)
Pros
- +The bagless base is the single biggest running-cost saving in this category — no bag ever, for the life of the robot
- +Top-10-of-100 crevice pickup and above-average carpet deep clean in Vacuum Wars' bench tests, at around $330
- +No camera and no water tank: nothing to spy with, nothing to go mouldy
- +NeverStuck chassis genuinely reduces the rescue-the-robot calls that plague cheap LiDAR machines
Cons
- −No mopping at all — if you want wet cleaning this is the wrong robot
- −Obstacle avoidance is sensor-based and Vacuum Wars measured it at about half the standard of camera-based flagships
- −3,200 mAh battery and ~110 minutes is short for a big house
- −SharkNinja publishes no suction figure, no airflow figure and no dock noise figure, so paper comparison is impossible
- −Retail SKUs are confusing: AV2820S ships a 30-day base and AV2820AE a 60-day XL base at similar money — check which one you are buying
iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock
Pros
- +The cheapest Roomba with genuine LiDAR mapping and a self-empty base, and iRobot's app is still the easiest here to live with
- +No camera at all, which is the simplest possible answer to the robot-vacuum privacy question
- +75-day bag rating is the longest of the budget docks here
- +US service network and a 60-day-trial retail culture that the direct-import brands cannot match
Cons
- −The mop pad does not lift — iRobot's carpet strategy is to avoid carpet entirely on mop runs
- −iRobot has never published a Pascal figure or a runtime for this model, so it cannot be compared on paper with anything else here
- −The P.O.O.P. pet-waste guarantee does not cover it; with no camera the robot physically cannot see waste
- −Proprietary bags at roughly $6.66 each, about $32/yr, against $0 for the bagless Shark and Ecovacs docks
- −iRobot is trading through a Chapter 11 restructuring completed in 2026 under new Chinese ownership — long-term app and parts support is a live question, not a settled one
Shop by Need
FAQs
Is the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) or iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock better overall?+
Based on our 8-category scoring, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) comes out ahead overall. See the full breakdown in the scores section above — the right pick still depends on which categories matter most for your use case.
Which is better for Running Cost, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) or the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores higher on Running Cost (9.5/10 vs 5.0/10) — the trap dimension. What the machine costs to feed each year in proprietary bags, mop pads, filters and detergent, and whether a bagless dock lets you spend nothing at all. 10 means it costs nothing to keep running..
Which is better for Mopping, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) or the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock scores higher on Mopping (3.0/10 vs 0.0/10) — whether the mop scrubs or just drags: pad versus spinning versus washed roller, down-pressure, dried-stain removal and how wet the floor is left. Vacuum-only robots score 0..
Which is better for Carpet Cleaning, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) or the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores higher on Carpet Cleaning (8.0/10 vs 6.0/10) — embedded-debris and pet-hair pickup from carpet in independent bench tests, plus anti-tangle brush design — not the manufacturer's Pascal claim..
Which is better for Hard Floor & Edges, the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) or the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) scores higher on Hard Floor & Edges (8.0/10 vs 6.5/10) — pickup on hard floor including crevices, edges and corners, and whether the side brush or mop actually extends to the skirting..
Is the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) worth the price difference over the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock is the cheaper option at $269.99 versus $329.99. Whether the pricier model is "worth it" depends on how much you value its lead in Running Cost.
Which is better suited to my use case?+
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) is the better fit if you mainly care about bagless-dock or vacuum-only. The iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock is the better fit for first-robot.
What's the warranty on the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) vs the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock?+
The Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (AV2820AE) ships with a 12-month warranty; the iRobot Roomba 105 Combo Robot + AutoEmpty Dock ships with a 12-month warranty. Always confirm current terms on the manufacturer's site before buying.
Should I wait for the next model instead of buying either of these?+
If either model is more than two years old, a successor may be close — check the "Latest Model" link on each product page. Otherwise, both are current, well-supported options and there's no strong reason to wait.
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Specifications and prices for both products last verified . Scores are calculated from published specifications — see how we compare products.