Braava Jet m6 vs Braava 380t: Which Will You Love?

Messes are inevitable. Whether you live alone or have four children, there’s a good chance that eventually you or someone else will inadvertently (or intentionally) spill something. Instead of getting down on your hands and needs or breaking out the mop to clean it up, let one of iRobot’s awesome robot mops take care of it for you.

iRobot has shown a penchant for pushing the limits on what its robot devices are capable of doing. This is one of the biggest reasons the company is at the forefront of innovation in its market. You’ll find that iRobot’s robot vacuums and mops are impressive and go to great lengths to make your life easier.

iRobot Smart Mops

Sometimes it’s not easy to make heads or tails of this type of technology, especially when it comes to making sense of the specifications. This can only make it more difficult to determine which robot mop is the right one for you.

Two such robot mops are the Braava m6 and the 380t. The m6 is the newest, hottest robot mop on the market. But what sets the m6 apart from one of iRobot’s older, albeit relevant, robot mops? Let’s take a closer look at how these two smart devices compare with one another.

Differences Between the Braava Jet m6 and the Braava Jet 380t:

• Imprint Link Technology – iRobot’s Braava Jet m6 and Roomba s9+ employ a technology which allows them to communicate with each other. That means when your s9+ robot vacuum has finished cleaning, it will tell the m6 that it’s time to start mopping.
• Mobile App – While the 380t does not offer mobile application support, the m6 does. Now you can tell your smart mop to clean your floors from your Android or iOS smartphone.
• Recharge and Resume – The 380t has to be picked up and placed on its dock when its done cleaning or the battery runs down. By comparison, the m6 will return to its dock when it senses its battery is low. If it hasn’t completed its cleaning cycle, it will charge up, then head back out and pick up where it left off.
• Mapping – If you’re familiar with the 380t, then you know that it does an excellent job of mapping out your home and navigating throughout as it cleans your floors. The m6, however, can store up to 10 different maps in its memory. That means it doesn’t need to rescan every time it sets out on a cleaning cycle.

iRobot Braava Jet m6 vs. Braava Jet 380t

So how do these two robot mops compare with one another on a granular level? Let’s dig down into the details to find out more about the Braava m6 (read my full review here!) and the Braava 380t.

Reservoir and Wet Mopping

When it comes down to it, the m6 is one of the best wet-mopping smart mops in the business. The m6 sprays water onto the floor in front of it as it cleans. Its reservoir will hold 15.2 ounces of liquid, into which you can supplement Braava’s cleaning solution. You’ll get two disposable mopping pads for wet mopping with your m6. However, you can also install microfiber pads which you can use multiple times. They easily fit the m6 if you prefer to go that route.

By comparison, the 380t has a dampened disposable pad which you use for wet mopping purposes. The 3.35-ounce reservoir will shoot out liquid as it cleans and you can switch out the plate on the robot mop with a Pro-Clean plate that comes with a feature that wicks away antimicrobials.

Outcome: The m6 is much more efficient between the two when it comes to spraying liquid onto the floor. Additionally, the m6 has a significantly larger reservoir than the 380t, which means it can clean longer. However, the antimicrobial caps on the 380t keeps your water clean, so you know your floors won’t have dirt streaks as the robot mop cleans your home.

Mapping and Navigation

From a mapping and navigation perspective, the Braava m6 makes use of its iAdapt 3.0 navigation with vSLAM capabilities. This technology gives the m6 the ability to remember up to 10 maps and commit them to memory. The m6 is equipped with a bumper to protect it and your home as it moves back and forth in much the same way you or I would mop the floor.

The Braava m6 is 3.5 inches tall with a 10.5-inch square body. That means you won’t have to worry about whether or not the edges and corners of your home are clean.

Just like the m6, the 380t has a square design. It’s a little smaller than the m6, checking in at 8.5 inches square by 3 inches tall, however, it performs very well. With its iAdapt 2.0 technology, the 380t will go over each area three times during a wet-mopping session. Additionally, it will move back and forth across your floors when it performs a dry-mop as well.

Outcome: The 380t has a high-quality navigation and mapping system which creates a new map every time it cleans. However, it’s just no match for the m6. With its iAdapt 3.0 technology, the m6 will remember up to ten maps before it needs to perform another scan of your home. The 380t is smaller and slimmer though, so it will reach more areas in your home as it cleans.

Installing and Removing Pads for Dry Mopping

The m6 offers a dry mopping feature that will sweep and dust your tile, laminate, wood, or other hard floors. After the pad is installed, the m6 will determine if it should be used for wet mopping or dry mopping and adjust accordingly. If a pad for dry mopping is installed, the m6 won’t spray water as it cleans.

Dry mopping pads are available in the reusable or disposable options, so you can use whichever makes more sense for you. When the pad needs to be changed, there is an eject button which will detach the pad without forcing you to get your hands dirty.

The 380t has a multi-purpose pad plate you can use when you’re ready to dust the floors in your home. On the plate are grips and corner tucks which help ensure the dry pad stays in its place as the 380t cleans the floors. It also includes magnets which help to ensure the jutting plate stays in place.

When the 380t is done cleaning, just manually remove the pad from the plate. This type of pad plate is compatible with both Swiffer and iRobot cleaning pads.

Outcome: Just like with the pads used for wet-mopping, you can find the dry-mopping pads in both microfiber and disposable options. If it’s more convenient, you can apply Swiffer pads to the 380t. The pad sensor on the m6 makes the mode selection method more efficient. When it comes to a hassle-free pad changing experience, you can go wrong with either robot mop.

Device Control

Wifi is the name of the game when it comes to the Braava m6. You can control your robot mop with your smartphone or via voice control through Google or Amazon. Just tell it which room to clean and it will get to work. Through the iRobot mobile app, you can modify and view floor maps of your home. You can also tell your robot mop to clean a specific area, set a schedule, or adjust the number of times it passes through an area.

The m6 also has Roomba’s Imprint Link technology, which lets it pair with an s9+ robot vacuum. When the vacuum finishes cleaning, it tells the m6 so it knows it’s time to start its cycle.

Unfortunately, the 380t offers no such functionality. When using the 380t, you’ll have to use its onboard controls, which offer three different functions. You’ll use the power button to turn the smart mop off and on. The mop button instructs the 380t to perform a wet mop cycle, while the dry button performs a dry sweep.

If you push down and hold on the dry sweep or wet mop button for three seconds, the 380t will start cleaning an open space for a short period of time.

Outcome: With the 380t, you’ll get basic controls on the panel located on top of the device. However, the ability to perform a quick clean is a nice feature to have. The m6, on the other hand, has all the features you could want. You’ll get a smartphone app which gives the robot mop the ability to obey voice commands through Alexa or Google Home. It also has a scheduling option so you can adjust cleaning times as needed.

Charging and Battery Life

You’ll get a charging dock with your Braava m6, which it uses to charge its lithium-ion battery when it runs low. The robot mop takes between 75 minutes and 2 hours to completely recharge. One of the coolest features with the m6 is its recharge and resume capabilities. If it hasn’t finished its current cycle it will find its dock and charge up. At that point, it will resume where it left off.

Every time it cleans, the m6 has the capability to cover almost 1,000 feet squared. It will cover that much when it’s wet mopping and has an even greater cleaning area when it is dry-mopping.

The 380t, on the other hand, has a range of about 350 square feet as it cleans your floors. It will last two and a half hours as it wet mops and almost four hours when it’s in dry-mop mode. Included with the 380t is a turbo-charge cradle, which will recharge the mop’s nickel-metal hydride battery in just a few short hours.

Unlike the m6, the 380t will not self-dock. That means every time the robot is done cleaning or runs out of battery, you have to pick it up and place the whole mop on its cradle so it can charge.

Outcome: It only takes a few short hours for each of these robot mops to recharge. However, if you want reliability in your battery, then the m6 and it’s lithium-ion option wins versus the 380t’s nickel-metal hydride.  Additionally, the m6 will provide coverage for much more square footage in your home than the 380t. So if you have a larger home, the m6 might make the most sense for you.

Comparison Chart

Here’s a quick side-by-side chart to show you how these two quality smart mops from iRobot compare with one another:

Which iRobot Smart Mop Cleans Up?

When it comes to choosing between the m6 and the 380t, it really comes down to what you want and needs. Do you live in a large home that will require more time to mop? Then the m6 might make more sense for you. Are you in an apartment without a lot of hardwood flooring? The 380t is probably the smart mop you want.

The great thing about the m6 is its advanced features. With its wifi capabilities, you can control the robot mop via your smartphone or with your voice. Additionally, it has excellent navigation, and easy to remove the tank, and recharge and resume functionality so you don’t have to mess with it when it runs out of juice.

On the other hand, the 380t is great for those who want a solid smart mop but want to keep things simple. It offers plenty of range, a fast-charging docking station, and multiple modes so you can sweep or mop depending on what your floors need. The onboard controls will work fine if you don’t like using your smartphone to tell devices what to do.

For us, we really like the m6. It costs a little more, but the features are worth it in our opinion. The technology is advanced, so you know you’re getting the latest and greatest on the robot mop market. The m6 does an excellent job cleaning your floors, connects to wifi, and can even talk to other iRobot devices. Unless you’re really technology adverse, the iRobot Braava Jet m6 robot mop is the way to go.

Further read:

• Braava m6 vs Braava jet 240