The iRobot Roomba 860 is a mid-priced robotic vacuum cleaner that uses smart navigation and a three-stage cleaning system to clean its way around furniture and under beds, sofas and chairs.
Roomba 860: Cleaning System
The Roomba 860 has the newer AeroForce three-stage cleaning system that makes it up to five times more powerful than the Roomba 650.
The Roomba 860 also has counter-rotating, tangle-free extractors with a polymer rubber tread design. The polymer treads reduce regular maintenance because long hair is less likely to get tangled up in it.
The tangle-free extractors are combined with more suction power to make this robot vacuum more efficient at cleaning floors than previous models. However, it still has a single side brush which might need regular cleaning to remove tangled hair. The only drawback of its powerful suction is that it creates more noise than the Roomba 650. However, it is still quieter than a normal vacuum cleaner.
The Roomba 860 can sweep the edges of a room while avoiding steep stairs. It even shows you when its dust bin is full. Its Lithium-ion battery provides it with power for more than one hour, almost up to two hours.
The Roomba 860 performs the best on hardwood floors and low-pile carpets. Its rubber rotating extractors are effective at getting rid of dirt and pet hair while remaining mostly free from tangles.
Roomba 860: Cleaning Performance
Nonetheless, its debris bin is on the small side. You have to check and empty it after every cleaning cycle. You might be amazed by the amount of hair and dirt this vacuum cleaning robot collects from carpets and floors that appear to be clean.
The Roomba 860 is easy to use and does not need much attention. It cleans underneath furniture where dust, hair and allergens might collect unseen and unknown. It is an effective robotic vacuum cleaner for busy households, pet owners and apartment dwellers.
Still, it might miss a few spots while cleaning. It might also get lost in a large house with many rooms and not make it back to its charging base in time for a recharge. It might occasionally get stuck if your home is cluttered with lots of furniture.
Do not leave small items or cables lying around on the floor when you use this robotic vacuum cleaner. It has cliff sensors to prevent it from taking a fall down the stairs.
What accessories are included?
The box should contain the following stuff:
- Roomba 860 robot vacuum
- home base charging station
- dual mode virtual wall barrier (two AA batteries included)
- extra AeroForce high-efficiency filter
- Roomba 860 owner’s manual
The iRobot Roomba 860 comes with a one-year limited warranty from its manufacturer. The robotic vacuum is powered by a lithium-ion battery. The battery has a six-month limited warranty.
Can it clean multiple rooms?
This Roomba will roam all over the house, in and out of rooms and hallways. It will move from tile or wood floors to low-pile carpets and back again. However, you can limit its cleaning to a single room by using the included virtual wall barrier or by keeping the door closed.
The virtual wall has a dual mode function. It can prevent the robot from crossing a certain line, such as a door threshold, when in virtual wall mode. It can also keep the robot vacuum away from a specific item (such as a water bowl) when in halo mode.
The Roomba 860 will clean most of the floors until its battery runs low. It will then try to find its way home to the charging base to recharge. This model does not have a recharge and resume function.
Does it have a schedule function?
You can schedule the vacuum cleaning robot to clean the floors once per day for seven days. Even so, it might not be a good idea to use the schedule function if you have cats that sometimes throw up food on the floor. If the Roomba ever finds such a mess on its own, then the consequences might be very unpleasant.
How large is this robotic vacuum cleaner?
The Roomba 860 is 3.6 inches tall and fits underneath most furniture like sofas and chairs. It has a diameter of 13.9 inches and a weight of 8.4 pounds, which makes it quite nimble.
Roomba 860 vs. 650
The Roomba 860 has more suction power than the Roomba 650. Also, the 860 has tangle-free rubber extractors, while the 650 has rolling bristle brushes. Finally, the Roomba 860 costs almost 200 dollars more than the Roomba 650 (click here to read my review).
Roomba 860 vs. 880
These vacuum robots have the same design, since they both belong to iRobot’s 800 series. Even so, there are one or two small differences.
The Roomba 880 costs more than the 860 model, but it includes two virtual wall lighthouse devices and a remote control. You can put the two lighthouse devices in two separate rooms. Use the lighthouse mode function to command the Roomba 880 to clean the first room and then to clean the second room where the other lighthouse is located. The 880 can support up to three such lighthouses and clean up to three specific rooms. This is true smart multiroom navigation instead of the usual random room navigation.
Please note that there is yet another version available: the Roomba 890. We have not looked into it because it is a little frustrating trying to keep up with all these multiple model numbers that keep popping up.
Conclusion
The Roomba 860 is recommended for pet owners who do not have the time or the strength to vacuum their floors every day. Set up a daily schedule for the robot and let it loose around the house. It will find dust and hair in places where you never knew it existed. It also has a high-efficiency filter which removes all kinds of allergens from wood floors and thin carpets.
The Roomba 860 has a lithium-ion battery that gives it a long run time of almost two hours. It is a self-charging robotic vacuum cleaner that goes back to its charging base when its battery is low on power or when its dust bin is full. Nevertheless, it cannot recharge itself and then resume cleaning afterwards. The 900 series Roomba can recharge and resume.
It seems like the Roomba 860 is a powerful vacuum cleaning robot for pet owners. Its polymer rubber extractors are less likely to get tangled up with pet hair. Its strong suction removes a satisfying amount of dirt and hair (shop now on Amazon).