iRobot Roomba 860
The following Roomba 860 review is dedicated to the unit that vacuums both carpet and bare flooring easily. It moves from the tile/laminate/hardwood floors to the rugs and back flawlessly. The virtual walls recognize the stairs and make the vac turn around. Those features more than outweigh the device’s lack of Wi-Fi connectivity and voice control.
Dimensions
- The iRobot Roomba 860 comes with 3.6 inches at the leading edge, but it’s slightly higher in the middle that still allows the vac slipping under the majority of furniture.
- It has 13.9 inches in diameter.
- It weighs only 8 pounds making it easy to move it from one place to another.
- The dust container’s capacity is 600 ml that is larger than many other similar models have.
Features
The AeroForce tech (meaning 3-stage cleaning and 5x motor power) should be mentioned first in this iRobot Roomba 860 review. Since it makes it possible to pull up tons of dust and dirt, including large particles (the debris extractor breaks down them to prevent clogging).
If you don't use a virtual wall, the unit can go between the rooms through any opening it finds. The iRobot 860 is completely safe for sensitive surfaces (for example, a bamboo flooring) and runs over it without a scratch.
The iRobot Roomba 860 vacuuming robot cleans in hard-to-reach places well regardless of the random method of covering the floor. There’s no accurate pattern in how it moves around a room. Still, due to the iAdapt tech (optical and acoustical sensors), it handles obstacles well and always finds its way out of every place it cleans.
Bear in mind to remove or upraise the electrical cords. Sometimes the vac runs over them with no problem, but in some cases, it doesn’t, especially if it’s about the USB charger cord, the cord with loops or a lot of free slack in it.
This model handles textile coverings with any height of piles and it even passes over the fringe without sucking it up. Note that the unit doesn’t work on black rugs, as cliff detection gets triggered. It removes almost 100% of pet hair, but if it’s too much of it on the surfaces, the user has to empty the dust container several times.
The Roomba 860 charges quickly – usually an hour if it’s not fully drained. It comes back to the docking station to be powered and then returns to where it left off. Besides, there’s a way to stop it in the middle of the cleaning cycle and return the robot to the base.
The vac isn’t extremely loud, but it might be noisy enough to wake somebody if it works in the same room.
Both home base and virtual the wall barrier is included in the box. Note that the unit has only one dual-mode (straight-line and circular area blocking) virtual wall. It’s necessary to acquire more if customization is desired.
The Roomba 860 manual, instructional videos, and other detailed information are on the manufacturer’s official website. It’s helpful to reveal the details of setups and maintenance. For example, not all users know that it’s necessary to remove the cardboard from the dust bin before the first run.
Design
The iRobot Roomba 860 vacuum cleaning robot comes with a battery and a couple of HEPA filters. They eliminate allergens in the air within the cleaning area that is good for users with respiratory diseases. Consider the following design peculiarities:
- It’s a circular device with the center button to turn it on and four other buttons for scheduling, choosing the spot cleaning mode, and other setups.
- This model doesn’t come with a remote.
- It has an indicator light to inform that the bin is full.
- The unit has the rubber rollers that don't need to be cleaned versus the brush rollers.
Conclusion
The Roomba 860 is a versatile device for any type of flooring. It’s easy to set up and it features scheduling that lets people use it every day in a convenient way even without voice or app control. Just maintain it regularly to prolong good performance. The unit isn’t the most advanced Roomba’s robots, but, at the same time, it’s not the most expensive one.
