iRobot Roomba 805 Reviews Dec 2024 – Automated Vacuum Solution That’s Efficient

Vacuuming tops the list of chores around home that people love to procrastinate. To be fair, it isn’t the least bit fun, is it?

Walking around your home with a noisy vacuum, hoses that get stuck, extensions that get jammed, crevices that you can’t reach no matter how hard you try!

To top it off, if you skip vacuuming for a week, your home looks like it was right in the middle of a dust storm in Sahara desert.

How many times have you wished if you could have someone vacuum the home in your absence, in your presence, in the night, in the day, whenever you feel like and on autopilot?

That’s precisely what the Roomba 805 does.

It is an automated vacuum cleaning robot that makes short work of the task you hate the most. It is completely programmable, as silent as a mouse and saves you tons of time and effort.

But, can it really replace your good old manual vacuum cleaner? Can it reach out into those sneaky little crannies that hide dust, debris, fur, and dander?

Let’s find out.

Last update on 2024-12-12 at 20:12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Roomba 805 Review Dec 2024: What is it?

The Roomba 805 is a mid-level robot vacuum from iRobot, an American company that manufactures automated cleaning systems.

It is a compact, discus-shaped unit that stands 3.6” tall and has a black, tough polyethylene casing with a bunch of tiny buttons on the control panel. On the base, there are two large wheels that allow the Roomba to move about freely without getting entangled or jammed.

The most notable button is the large “Clean” button at the center and this is flanked by four tinier press buttons that allow you to schedule and program the unit.

The canister styled design with an incredibly low profile allows the Roomba to get access to most parts of the home that would have people hunching to clean, for example, under the bed or the kickboard. The Roomba will just glide in, suck any dirt and debris and come gliding out in no time.

It weighs close to 8 pounds. So, you can just toss it into your tote and carry it with you for an impromptu cleaning session of your workplace as well.

How it works

The Roomba has a bunch of integrated sensors and navigational software that allows it to “detect” dirt while it’s cruising around your home.

Yes, that’s true. If you were to charge it and just hit the clean button, the Roomba tends to veer off towards high traffic areas that are more likely to have a higher volume of dirt and debris.

It has an auto-adjusting sensor that allows it to detect different flooring surfaces and adapt to it. For example, if the Roomba goes from a room with tiles to one with hardwood, it automatically alters its speed and suction to adjust to the new surface.

You can program it to run 7 times a week. That might be once a day or two times a day or in whatever frequency that you feel best.

It can be scheduled to automatically dock and recharge itself before continuing with the pre-programmed cleaning schedule.

Can the Roomba 805 also clean stairs?

Unfortunately, it can’t.

When it comes close to stairs or other drop-off areas, the Roomba 805 slows down, taking a pause. It will not glide any further.

So, you’d still have to do those areas yourself manually. But when you have the entire house sparkling clean, what’s stopping you from banging out those stairs in a jiffy?

Does it bump into furniture?

Yes, it does.

But it doesn’t damage the furniture one bit because it has a soft outer casing, which iRobot calls their wall bumper.

The integrated sensors and the iAdapt navigation system detect an object in its path, in this case a furniture or an appliance, and the Roomba automatically slows down preparing for a soft bounce off the surface.

When it bumps off the furniture, it charts a new course and navigates accordingly.

The movement may appear to be random, at first. But if you look at it carefully, it is a well thought out map that leaves no area uncovered.

What about the suction capabilities?

iRobot’s first iteration of these automated vacuum cleaners was quite the rage when launched. However, people realized that apart from the novelty factor which wears off in a few days, the suction capabilities were nothing to write home about.

However, the Roomba 805 has 5x more suction power as compared to its predecessors.

This, clubbed with the AeroForce 3-Stage Cleaning System ensures that dust, debris, pet hair, coins, notes, pills (remember Breaking Bad?) and anything tiny enough to be sucked in and disappears into the dark and murky depths of the Roomba’s belly.

iRobot claims that 99% of allergens, pollen, and particles as small as 10 microns are sucked into the Roomba. Heck, we believe it!

How easy is it to program it?

It is ridiculously easy. There are four buttons on the Roomba 805 that we mentioned. Those are the ones that let you program the unit and it is pretty self-explanatory.

1. Dock: The Dock button will send the Roomba off in the direction of its docking station. It will automatically dock and start recharging.
2. Clock: The Clock button is a fancier term for the timer function. It allows you to set a power-off time for the Roomba 805. So, if you set the clock to say, 4 PM, the Roomba will automatically shut off after cleaning until 4.
3. Schedule: The Schedule button allows you to configure and schedule the Roomba to run 7x a week or in any other frequency that you want it to.
4. Spot: The spot cleaning feature is for localized cleaning in a 3 feet area. When activated, the Roomba spirals in a 1m diameter circle and goes on nitrous to clean that space.

All in all, all functions are easy to access and the bright blue LCD display takes the guesswork out of the task. You will be ready to get cleaning started in no time.

Last update on 2024-12-12 at 20:12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Can it also clean edges?

The Roomba 805 has sweeping brushes on the side which brush off dirt and push it into the path of the vacuum.

This makes it very adept at cleaning edges.

Also, the integrated dirt-detection sensors often make multiple passes in an area scrubbing it clean completely.

What is the Virtual Wall Barrier?

Well, there may be times when you don’t want the Roomba entering a specific part of the house, for example, the kitchen or the living room.

The Virtual Wall Barrier device allows you to confine the Roomba in any part of the house.

It has two modes.

The Virtual Wall Mode: When activated, the virtual wall mode creates a virtual barrier that will keep the Roomba 805 at least 10 feet away from it. The field is trigonal and the Roomba 805 does not come anywhere close to it. It is extremely effective.

The Halo Mode: Let’s say, you have a baby on the floor in the living room with their feeding bottle. There are chances that the Roomba 805 may bump into the bottle and topple it over. Activating the Halo mode on the barrier device creates a 24-inch protective force field around that object. The Roomba 805 changes course from two feet away. Once again, very effective in keeping it away from a red-flag zone.

Toggling between both these modes is as easy as flicking a switch up and down. Up activates the Virtual Wall mode while in the downward position, the Halo mode is activated.

How frequently must cleaning canister be emptied?

That’s subjective. But in a high-traffic home or homes with kids and pets, it’d be better to empty it after every cleaning session, or two at least.

Thankfully, emptying the canister is a breeze. It is easily accessible from the front of the unit and can be emptied in a jiffy.

What is the charging time?

The Roomba 805 is powered by a longer lasting Lithium-Ion battery that gets charged fully in about 2 hours.

It runs for 60 minutes or so in one charge. That’s more than sufficient for a normal house.

iRobot recommends that you charge the Roomba 805 once after every use to prolong the battery life.

Last update on 2024-12-12 at 20:12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

What we liked the most

The Roomba 805 is iRobot’s most well-thought-out vacuum cleaner design so far. It more or less irons out all the crevices in the previous iterations. And there are a lot of reasons to like it.

• The aesthetics: The aesthetics is subjective, isn’t it? But more people prefer the black matte finish and the discus-shaped design. The smooth, rounded edges, the bright blue LED lights and the floating illusion that it creates when operational, looks cool.
• The portability: The Roomba 805 is as small as a medium-sized pizza. To top it off, it just weighs 8.4 pounds. It is extremely easy to carry around the house as well as to your workplace or anywhere else that you want to clean.
• The easy controls: Right from the one-touch cleaning function to the easy scheduling and docking features, the Roomba 805 is a user-friendly machine. You will not find yourself reaching out for the manual or tinkering with the buttons too often.
• The efficiency: The 5x amplified suction power makes it as good, if not better than most run-of-the-mill vacuum cleaners. Run this for a couple of passes and just check the canister for the amount of dust and debris that it is able to suck in. It is amazing, to say the least.
• The three-stage filtration: Particles as small as 10 microns will be sucked into the Roomba 805. Need we say more?
• The integrated iAdapt sensors: Unlike its predecessors, the Roomba 805 does not go haywire in its cleaning method and path. Instead, it constantly adapts to the changes in the floor surface and volume of dust in an area. iRobot claims that it is advanced enough to make up to 60 decisions per second.
• The improved navigation system: The Roomba 805 detects objects and slows down instantly. Not only does this keep your furniture protected, but it can also prevent it from tipping over things.
• The edge brushes: The Roomba makes rhythmic passes on the sides cleaning the edges thoroughly.
• The wall barrier mode: We love this feature. Makes it so much easier to control the cleaning areas and keep the Roomba 805 confined in a specific part of the house.
• The quick charging time: Once the Roomba runs out of charge, it gets recharged in 2 hours. Nice and quick!

What we didn’t like

All said and done, the Roomba 805 has a few minor quibbles that we’d like to mention.

• You will need to inspect the place: It wouldn’t be possible to run the Roomba 805 in any room without manually inspecting the place. Large objects must be removed, cords should be lifted off the floor, pet poop should be scooped off. Else, the Roomba 805 will get stuck or jammed. That’s a minor inconvenience for the luxury that you get from this we’d say.
• Long pet hair will get clumped up: Despite having a supposed tangle-free mechanism, the Roomba 805 tends to struggle a little when it’s cleaning an area with copious amounts of long pet hair. But so have our $1000 vacuum cleaners. So, we wouldn’t call that a deal breaker.

Should you buy the Roomba 805?

If you hate vacuuming the home like us and are looking for an automated solution that’s efficient, silent, cost-effective and easy to program, then yes, you should definitely be buying the Roomba 805!

We are very impressed with its efficiency and ease of use and couldn’t recommend it enough.

What’s your experience with the Roomba 805? We’d love to hear about it.

Last update on 2024-12-12 at 20:12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Can’t make up your mind yet? Read our buying guide for vacuum cleaners before you proceed with your purchase.

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