Roomba 860 Review: Pros & Cons and Verdict

iRobot has released dozens of robotic vacuums. Some of those releases are considered as successful models and some as disasters. I’ve personally owned several Roomba models and every time I upgraded to a newer one, I always noticed how much work iRobot puts into improving their smart floor cleaners.

One of the best experiences was with Roomba 860. When I first got my hands on this robotic vacuum, I thought it was the most complete device ever released. My perception did change when I upgraded to Roomba 980 but I still believe that Roomba 860 is one of the best smart floor cleaners iRobot has released.

Roomba 860 is quite different from the rest of the Roomba models. One of the most obvious things is the colour, which iRobot has “updated” from the all-black of their previous models to a silver finish with the Roomba 860.

In this Roomba 860 Review article, we’ll discuss, evaluate and rate some of the most important aspects of this robotic vacuum.

Roomba 860 Review: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Roomba 860 is a best-selling robotic vacuum that has been purchased by thousands of people. Roomba 860 has some interesting features and capabilities. 

If we compare Roomba 860 to other 600, 700 and other Roomba 800-series, it’s clear that the 860 model has something unique and extraordinary to offer. Let’s discuss the most important aspects of the Roomba 860 and find out if it’s really worth the investment. We need to know if Roomba 860 is actually as good as people say.

1. Setup Process

As with any other Roomba model, setting up the 860 is pretty easy. The package of this smart floor cleaner includes the user’s manual that is well written and comprehensive.

The setup process is quite intuitive and you might not even need the user’s manual to help you out. If you’re interested in the unboxing and a quick setup tutorial, I’ve linked a cool vid below that perfectly shows how the process is done.

If you still have some unanswered questions, iRobot has an amazing support team that is filled with professional employees. I’ve talked with them a few times and they always gave professional answers and tips.

So if you get stuck during the setup process and you can’t find the answers on forums, YouTube or the user’s manual, you can simply reach out and they’ll gladly help.

2. Design

Today, every homeowner who regularly purchases smart gadgets looks for products that work well and look cool. People want to impress others and doing it with their smart gadgets is an awesome way to achieve it. So it’s really important for our robotic vacuum to look stylish.

If you take a look at the picture posted below, Roomba 860 looks quite nice and eye-catching. I’ve actually had direct use of this smart floor cleaner and can say for sure that it looks way better in reality than it does in pictures.

Besides the looks of the Roomba 860, it’s important for a robotic vacuum to have suitable dimensions. In other words, if the smart floor cleaner is too big or small, it’ll have trouble cleaning certain places of your house.

Luckily, Roomba 860 has pretty good (13.9 x 13.9 x 3.6 inches) dimensions and it’ll have zero trouble reaching and cleaning hard-to-reach places in your house (for example, cleaning under the beds, sofas, TV, etc.).

In case you’re interested, I’ll list everything that is included in the box of Roomba 860:

• • The Roomba 860 Vacuum
  • Charging dock + power cable
  • One Virtual Wall Halo
  • One spare HEPA filter
  • User’s Manual

3. Performance

This part of our review article can be considered as the most important one. We need to know if Roomba 860 can perform at a high level. If it can’t meet the minimum requirements of the buyer, there’s no use investing in such a device.

Firstly, Roomba 860 is a random-cleaning robotic vacuum and it’s not as smart as the newer models like Roomba 980 and 960. Roomba 860 has trouble navigating itself and frequently collides with obstacles at high speed.

Such cases mostly lead to extra battery consumption and half-finished work. But don’t freak out yet, Roomba 860 can make up for this if used correctly.

There are some interesting facts about Roomba 860 you need to know. iRobot tried their best to maximize the performance rate of this smart floor cleaner. Here’s what we’ve got:

• Roomba 860 has 5x more power
• 3x Battery Life
• Concentrated Cleaning
• Enhanced Virtual Wall Technology

Now, let’s find the meaning of the things we’ve mentioned above.

Compared to the previous generation Roomba models, the 860 is 5x more powerful, and now it can clean up the mess more effectively and efficiently.

Those days when robotic vacuums ran out of battery during the cleaning process are gone. Roomba 860 has 3x more battery life so it can easily handle 2 hours of nonstop cleaning.

Concentrated Cleaning is one of the coolest and my favourite feature of Roomba 860. Since it’s a random-cleaning robotic vacuum and it can’t figure what places need more or less cleaning, iRobot introduced something called ‘Concentrated Cleaning’ (the other name is Dirt Detection Second Series) meaning that the smart floor cleaner uses optical and acoustic sensors to detect high concentrations of dirt, dust and pet hair. This information helps the Roomba 860 to focus on places which require extra attention.

As for the virtual walls, it gives the owner more flexibility and increases the control over Roomba 860. You can use those walls to help the smart floor cleaner better navigate itself and prohibit it from entering certain places.

4. Features

Besides the performance of Roomba 860, it’s interesting to know the features of this robotic vacuum. We need to know if it offers something special and unique and how it differs from the other 800-series models.

Features of Roomba 860
3-Stage Cleaning System
Concentrated Cleaning
Convenient Scheduling
Self-Charging
Virtual Walls Technology
Tangle-Free Debris Extractors
5x More Power

As you see, Roomba 860 has quality features and it has the potential to perform on a higher scale than the other models. By having the scheduling and self-charging feature, it’s quite possible to fully automate the vacuuming process.

5. Cleaning Capabilities

Roomba 860 has the ‘auto-adjust’ feature and will automatically adjust to clean carpets, hardwood, tile, and linoleum floors as it moves around your house.

iRobot has advertised Roomba 860 as having 5x more power compared to the previous models. The battery life has been enhanced and suction is way better too. 

Suggested Read: Roomba 650 vs 770: Pros & Cons and Verdict

When we tested Roomba 860 on hardwood, tiles, carpets and rugs, it took care of the dirt flawlessly. When we checked the dustbin… it had sucked up so much debris, we hadn’t imagined the room could be that dirty! Roomba 860 truly surprised us as we didn’t expect it to be this powerful and effective.

While testing Roomba 860, we used Virtual Walls to ensure we were seeing the full potential of this smart floor cleaner. There were several important things we noticed while Roomba 860 was roaming around my place.

• Roomba 860 will automatically return to its docking station but don’t expect it to ‘auto-resume’. Unfortunately, Roomba 860 doesn’t have this feature and you’ll have to manually put it back to work
• Roomba 860 doesn’t have the remote control feature and it can’t be controlled using the mobile application
• Due to the circular design of Roomba 860, sometimes, it can’t reach the corner spots and it leaves some dirt around those areas
• Without the Virtual Walls, Roomba 860 loses its way and bumps into certain obstacles. So it’s important to use VW Technology to ensure the best cleaning experience

So those are the main drawbacks of Roomba 860. It’s a really good robotic vacuum but like any other device, it has its own disadvantages.

On the bright side, Roomba 860 can offer some cool things. If you’ve ever owned an old Roomba, for example, the 650, you’ll remember instances when the smart floor cleaner couldn’t locate its docking station. These “blips” were really annoying and time-consuming since the owner had to return it manually and wait for it to get charged so that the vacuuming could be resumed.

Popular Read: Roomba 650 vs 880: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Well, Roomba 860 never fails to locate its docking station. When the battery runs low, Roomba 860 will automatically notice and immediately return to its docking station to get charged.

iRobot also stated that the battery life is way better now. It’s kinda true since Roomba 860 now cleans nonstop for longer periods but it also consumes more energy and the cleaning time hasn’t changed much (it’s better, though).

Now that Roomba 860 has 5x more power, you can clean your house less frequently since Roomba 860 can deliver sharper results. Another advantage of this is that Roomba 860 will need less maintenance.

It’s true that robotic vacuums don’t have as much suction power as the regular vacuums do. You might think that Roomba 860 won’t be able to deliver satisfying results. Well, to make sure that the room is well cleaned, Roomba 860 will do more passes over your floor so that no dirt is left behind.

Thanks to the dirt sensors, Roomba 860 will focus more on places which require extra cleaning, so you won’t be left disappointed.

What I love about Roomba 860 is that it’s quieter than a traditional vacuum cleaner. Roomba 860 will wake you up if you’re asleep but it’s certainly not as annoying and loud as a traditional vacuum cleaner.

The dustbin of Roomba 860 is well sized and it can take on a lot of dirt. There’s no full bin indicator so you’ll have to check it every now and then. Emptying the dustbin is a really simple thing and there’s no need to pull out the hair stuck in the bristles. It can be done with the hair extractor iRobot provides.

Roomba 860 ideally handled every type of dirt it faced and didn’t get stuck anywhere. It literally found its way out of every place it could get into. Sometimes it took some time to analyze the situation but I’ve never had instances of Roomba 860 getting stuck.

I did say that Roomba 860 lacks the Remote Control feature but, to be honest, it’s not that important. When people set schedules they rarely change it. Sure, the Remote Control is a cool thing but, as well as not being strictly necessary, it’s one of those things that can easily get misplaced.

Frankly, the results Roomba 860 delivers are satisfying and acceptable. Roomba 860 cleans well and saves us a lot of time. And time is a valuable thing.

6.  Advantages and Disadvantages

Before we conclude our review, it’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages of Roomba 860 so that the buyer can size these up before making any purchase decision.

Hence we’ve created a detailed chart that perfectly shows the pros and cons of this model.

PROS	CONS
Reasonably Priced	No Remote Control
Tangle-Free Debris Extractors	No Mobile Application
AeroForce 3-Stage Cleaning System	No Multi-Room Navigation
3x Battery Life
Concentrated Cleaning
Virtual Wall Technology
Lithium-ion Batteries
Smart Schedules
Unique Design
5x Stronger Power	Purchase Roomba 860

Judging from the chart above, Roomba 860 seems to be a good robotic vacuum with exceptional features and few to no disadvantages.

If you’re someone who really wants to have the remote control, mobile application and multi-room navigation, consider purchasing either Roomba 880 or 980.

7. Support

In case you have questions about your gadget and can’t find the answers, you can always reach out to iRobot’s support team – which you can do through their website. iRobot’s support can be reached via email, phone or live chat.

I’ve contacted them a few times and always got professional answers and tips. The best option to reach out is calling because responding to emails may take 1-2 business days and sometimes the live chat is overloaded.

iRobot Roomba 860: Review Chart

Lastly, I’d like to present a detailed chart that perfectly shows the main features of Roomba 860. This summary will help the buyer understand what exactly to expect from their Roomba 860.

NAME OF THE ROBOTIC VACUUM	ROOMBA 860
Robotic Vacuum Name	Roomba 860
HEPA Filters	Yes
Full Bin Indicator	No
Smart Cleaning	Yes
Energy Usage Reports	No
Cleaning Style	Random
Modes	None
Sensing Qualities	Average
Mobile App	No
Noise	Average
Battery Life	3x Battery Life
Power	5x Stronger Power
Dimensions Of The Product	13.9 x 13.9 x 3.6
Problems	Random Cleaning
Unique Feature	None
Warranty	1-year
Check Price

Roomba 860 has every major feature that is essential for a robotic vacuum to be considered as one of the best on the market. Roomba 860 works great, looks good and functions flawlessly.

Surely, it has some problems of its own but it makes up for those flaws in other aspects. For example, using the VW Technology makes Roomba 860 more focused and detail-oriented.

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced robotic vacuum that can meet your needs, well, Roomba 860 will not disappoint.

The Bottom Line

Roomba 860 is a successful robotic vacuum that has been bought by thousands of buyers who are satisfied with their purchase. Roomba 860 has some amazing, unique and exceptional features that make the smart floor cleaner effective and efficient.

Also Read: ILIFE A4 Review: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Roomba 860 is one of the most uniquely designed, attractive smart floor cleaners. By having 5x more power and 3x battery life, Roomba 860 is considered as one of the strongest robotic vacuums on the market.

In addition, having the scheduling feature, autodocking and dirt detection, Roomba 860 becomes even more desirable, flexible and functional.

Compared to the other 600, 700 and 800-series Roomba models, I can say that Roomba 860 is one of the best. It’s reasonably priced, works great and looks amazing.

Robotic Vacuum Name	Roomba 860
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