The name Roomba is synonymous with robot vacuums, and these robo cleaners are among the most popular models on the market. How does the iRobot Roomba 850 Robot Vacuum stand up to the competition? To find out, we conducted a thorough review, taking into account all the buying points in this guide to see if this robot vacuum lives up to the hype. Let’s explore its features.
An Overview of the Roomba iRobot 850
Overall, the iRobot Roomba 850 vacuum cleaning robot is reliable and easy-to-use. It’s short enough to fit under most furniture, and it has a wide diameter, so it can clean a lot of floor space in a single pass as its quick-thinking sensors dodge obstacles and stairs while it teaches itself to adapt to every room in your home.
It even contains sensors that are designed to seek concentrated areas of dirt and debris.
The textured wheels on the robot vacuum prevent it from becoming stuck on area rugs and high-pile carpet, both of which the robot vacuum is highly adept at cleaning thanks to its particle-grabbing main brush roll.
For effective hard-floor vacuuming and edge cleaning, the Roomba 850 also has a side sweeper to pull in dust and hair. Therefore, it’s excellent at cleaning up after your pets’ hair, kibbles and litter.
With a decent run time and short charge time, the vacuum can clean several rooms on one charge, and it docks to the charger when the battery is low. However, you have the option of telling it to go to the charger by pressing the dock button on the integrated control panel.
Made to Move
With a weight of 13.75 pounds and a diameter of 14 inches, you can count on the Roomba 850 to steadily roll along your floors without wobbling when it changes surfaces. In fact, it can go from tile or laminate to carpet or area rug without any issues because it’s designed to auto adjust to different floor heights. Plus, the unit sits on two heavy-duty side wheels with tread, so it can maintain its grip.
At just 3.6 inches tall, the robot vacuum is able to fit under low-sitting mattresses, sofas and chairs; therefore, you don’t have to scoot your furniture out of the way or clean behind that heavy couch by hand.
Responsive Sensors
How does the iRobot Roomba 850 know where to go and what to avoid? iRobot added a series of smart sensors. To make sure the vacuum doesn’t tumble down the stairs, it contains cliff sensors, so feel free to use the robo vac on the second story of your house.
It also has collision sensors that detect objects as the vacuum cleaner moves in a random pattern. If it comes across an object in its path, the 360-degree rotating wheel allows it to pivot and change directions.
Plus, the vacuum is able to spot piles of debris, vacuuming over the affected areas until they’re clean, which helps you keep high-traffic spaces in your home looking just as clean as the rest of your house. Also included in the packaging is a virtual barrier that you place on the floor to create an invisible boundary where you don’t want the vacuum to travel.
Multi-Surface Cleaning
If you have pets or plush carpet, you’ll love how deeply the robot vacuum cleans. Since the vacuum measures over 1-foot wide, it has a huge suction inlet, allowing it to remove a lot of large debris in one go. Unless you only have hardwood, laminate or tile floors, you’ll need a robo vac with a brush.
Luckily, the Roomba 850 is equipped with two brushes. There is a side sweeping brush that spins to draw dust and dirt away from wall edges and toward the inlet. Plus, there is a center brush roll that is great at lifting pesky pet hair and digging into carpet fibers. Thanks to the AeroVac filter that fits into the pull-out 0.48-liter dust bin, you don’t have to worry about hair, carpet fuzz and other debris clogging the inlet and hindering the robot vac’s suction.
Powerful Battery
Inside of the Roomba iRobot 850, there is a rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery. This battery is able to provide you with years of reliable vacuuming. On a single charge, it can power the robot vacuum anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on the type of floor it’s cleaning.
The vacuum comes with a charger that the Roomba 850 self-docks to when the battery gets low. Once it’s docked, the robotic vacuum stays there until the battery is fully charged. If the battery is totally depleted, it only takes 3 hours for the vacuum cleaner to get up and running again, which is an impressively short period of time.
Practical Control Panel
Every control you can use to operate this robot vacuum is located on the vacuum cleaner’s top panel and remote control, and each button is clearly labeled for ease of use. With the schedule button, you can set the minute and hour to program the Roomba 850 to vacuum 7 days per week at a specific time, so you don’t have to be home to get your floors vacuumed.
If you want it to vacuum outside of the scheduled time, simply press the clean button.
There is even a dock button that allows you to send the robot vacuum cleaner to the charger whenever you want, and you can vacuum concentrated messes by pushing the spot button, which tells the robotic vacuum to move in a spiral pattern as opposed to its regular random cleaning pattern.
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Robot Roomba 850: The Verdict
The iRobot Roomba 850 – Should you buy or pass? This is definitely a robot vacuum worth purchasing. While it may not offer Wi-Fi connectivity, the Roomba 850 has a flawless on-board control panel with a scheduled cleaning option.
The vacuum is sized just right for excellent maneuverability, it has a super-short charge time and an adequate run time. It’s also equipped with all the sensors you’d expect from a quality robo vac, and the brush roll does an amazing job at cleaning carpets and lifting hair.
If you have any questions or comments, please add them below in the comment section. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any mistakes or omissions. Thanks!
