iRobot Roomba 690 vs. 805：Great Roomba Vacuums Comparison

Household cleaning chores can be a challenging task to do, a task that is often done multiple times every week. Day in day out more and more people are moving away from the manual part of floor cleaning and the robot vacuum cleaners are taking over this cleaning task gradually. There are various robotic vacuum cleaners available in the market today and this pose anther great challenges, how can we choose between these vacuum cleaners? How do we know which one is best for us? Well in this article we will be comparing two robot cleaners from the iRobot, the Roomba 690 and the Roomba 805, let’s get started.

Product review – iRobot Roomba 690

What is in the box?

• The iRobot Roomba 690 X 1
• Home Base Charging Station X 1
• Dual Mode Virtual Wall X 1
• Line Cord
• AA Batteries X 2
• Flat cleaning Tool X 1
• Extra AeroVac Filter X 1
• User Guide and Documentation Package X 1

iRobot Roomba 690 robot vacuum cleaner is at the top of the Roomba 600 series; it is the improved version of the Roomba 650. The Roomba 690 was designed in a convenient round shape using black and silver color with bright green light buttons for special features, the center panel has a big silver clean button which starts an auto-clean cycle when pressed. This smart robots predominant advantage is that it is Wi-Fi enabled which allows it to integrate easily with Google Home Assistant and Amazon Alexa and the iRobot Home app, which makes it easy to set up for schedule cleaning, monitor cleaning activities, view cleaning history and watch maintenance video even if you are far away from home.

The robot cleaner can be scheduled to clean up to 7 times per week, which means that your floor can be cleaned every day. With its Auto charge, this means that the robot automatically returns to its Home Base charging to recharge whenever the battery is running low or at the end of each cleaning cycle. It also uses the Virtual wall barriers which makes it for users to prevent the robot cleaner from entering unwanted areas. The Roomba 690 has 3 stage cleaning system using dual surface Brushes, and specially designed edge sweeping brushes which grab dust, dirt, small particles to large debris on various floor types such as hardwoods, rugs, carpets, tiles and hard floors.

The first brush loosens, lifts and pulls in dust, dirt, and hair from floors and the second accelerates debris into the suction channels. Its iAdapt navigation makes it easy for the robot to navigate around your home from room to room, under and around furniture in other for the robot to thoroughly clean your home, its dirt detection sensors technology recognizes areas concentrated with dirt in other to provide additional cleaning in those areas and its cliff detection sensors always prevent the robot vacuum cleaner from falling.

The Roomba 690 uses AeroVac Filtration System which the main job is to pull all the hair, dirt and dust off the brushes and move them into the dustbin. Its main features include.

• Dimension: 13 X 13 X 3.7 inches
• Weight: 7.8 pounds
• IAdapt Multi-room Navigation
• Anti-fall Cliff detection

Pros

• The iRobot Roomba 690 vacuum cleaner it relatively affordable, it offers lot of functionality at a low price.
• Dirt detection allows for a precise and quicker cleaning cycle.
• The iRobot Roomba 690 comes with an app and supports Wi-Fi that allows you to control the robot remotely.
• Compatible with the virtual assistant which allows managing the vacuum cleaner using voice commands.
• The iRobot Roomba 690 has a highly effective filter which removes up to 99.97% of particles with the size of 0.3mu

Cons

• Its suction power struggles and takes a lot of time cleaning high pile carpets.
• The bristle style of brush rolls is hard to maintain, especially if your home tends to have a lot of debris and hairs.
• Not the best choice for homes with complicated floor plans because its basic navigating system lacks memory mapping.
• It has a small dustbin which means that you have to empty its dirt and dust more often.
• The iRobot 690 doesn’t have a mopping feature, it can only sweep floors.

Check Price on Amazon

Product review – iRobot Roomba 690

What is in the box?

• iRobot Roomba 805 X 1
• Docking Station X 1
• Additional Filter X 1
• Virtual wall X 2
• Instruction manual
• iRobot Roomba 805 is an outstanding low maintenance, high power cleaning system which was released by iRobot in the Roomba 800 series.

The Roomba 805 comes only in black color and it was designed to clean hard to reach areas and it automatically adjust to different floor surfaces as it moves around.

It is a device that is capable of automatically locating it home base to recharge itself for the next use. The iAdapt Multi Room Navigation System assists the robot in navigation and quickly adapting to your house to avoid objects and dangerous spots.

The Roomba 805 is equipped with the AeroForce High-Efficiency Filter which captures most dirt, dust, allergens, pollens, hairs, pet danders and particles as small as 1.0 mm. Its Tangle-free extractor prevents the robots brush from tangling up with hairs.

The Roomba 805 main features include:

• Dimensions: 18.2 X 16.5 X 5.5 inches
• Weight: 8.4pounds
• 2 virtual walls
• Self-Charging
• AeroForce Three Stages cleaning System

Pros

• The Roomba 805 has a virtual wall barrier which prevents the robot from entering into areas you don’t want it to go to.
• The scheduling function on the Roomba 805 allows the programming of the robot to clean at a more convenient time.
• The Roomba 805 is also equipped with the cliff detection sensor so you don’t need to worry about the robot falling off.
• The Roomba 805 is perfect for mostly bare flooring or mixed surfaces.

Cons

• It cleaner doesn’t have mopping features, it can only sweep and it also lacks the HEPA filter.
• This robotic cleaner doesn’t have a path planning in cleaning, it comes with a random pattern that takes a little bit longer to clean.
• It doesn’t support Wi-Fi and the iRobot smartphone app and cannot be controlled with voice command because it doesn’t support the Amazon Alexa and the Google Home Assistant
• The suction power of the iRobot Roomba 805 is not too strong (600Pa) but it is still strong enough to clean thin carpets, rugs, wood, and bare floors.

Check Price on Amazon

Side to side comparison of Roomba 690 and Roomba 805

Below chart outlines the comparison of the two models from functions to features

The key differences between the Roomba 690 and the Roomba 805

• Cost-effectiveness: Roomba 805 is far more inexpensive than the Roomba 690. Specifically, the Roomba 805 is about $250 while the Roomba 690 costs about $300. This is a big advantage to the Roomba 805 because the two robot cleaners have similar functions although the slightly higher price of the Roomba 690 is worth it because of its Wi-Fi and app
• Performance and Filtration: The Roomba 690 uses AeroVac Filtration Systemis highly effective which removes up to 99.97% of particles with the size of 0.3mu` the AeroVac’s main job is to pull all the hair, dirt and dust off the brushes and move them into the dustbin meanwhile the Roomba 805 is equipped with an AeroForce High-Efficiency Filter which captures up to 99% of all allergens, pollen, and particles as small as 1.0 mu in your home.
• Mapping and Navigation: Both the Roomba 805 and the Roomba 690 have a navigation system with multiple sensors called the iAdapt Navigation from iRobot, this literally means that the vacuum cleaner can map and track where it moves around so it can avoid obstacles while picking up dirt but the only problem is with the Roomba 805 because the navigation on it often get the vacuum stuck in rooms.
• Wi-Fi and App: The Roomba 805 does not have the possibility of being controlled over the Wi-Fi with Google Home Assistant and Amazon Alexa, it also doesn’t support the iHome app because it’s an older version, this means that you can only control the vacuum cleaner physically and not remotely. The Roomba 690 vacuum, on the other hand, has Wi-Fi connectivity allowing it to be controlled using the Google Home assistance and Amazon Alexa, and the iRobot app which can be downloaded on a smartphone. These features allow users to control their robot vacuum cleaner more efficiently.
• Battery: The Roomba 805 uses an older lithium-ion battery this makes it impossible for the robot cleaner to run more than 60 minutes per charge, and it takes up to 3 hours for the robot cleaner to juice up. On the other hand, the Roomba 690 uses a new lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1,800 mAh which helps the robot cleaner to last up 90 minutes with a charging time of about 2 hours before it undocks again to continue its cleaning.
• Noise: The Roomba 805 is not a saint when it comes to noise, it is far nosier measuring 70dB to some users they may find it a bit annoying but in general it is okay and users can’t be affected too much by the noise. The Roomba 690 is quieter measuring 65dB.

Comments and Conclusion

Who are they for?

The Roomba 805 and the Roomba 690 would be an ideal vacuum cleaner for those who have a small to standard size home and doesn’t mind supervising the appliance. If you are comfortable running a robot in your home and keeping your ear out of it, or if you won’t be annoyed by the robot getting stuck occasionally, this might be a right product for you to purchase.

How to choose between them

If you want a Wi-Fi enabled vacuum you can control with your smart phone, the IRobot Roomba 690 is an ideal choice. It has a good suction power, strong navigation skill, easy to use app and voice control, the Roomba 690 is a good option if you are looking for a more convenient cleaning session.

One can’t overlook the price advantage that the iRobot Roomba 805 has, it is one of the cheapest vacuum cleaner on the market, even with its low price, it will give you a convincing cleaning on all floor types. The cleaning performance is incredible for a robot in the lower pricing tier, although it may take a little longer to complete a cleaning session, it will do a great job all the way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both the Roomba 805 and the Roomba 690 robot vacuum cleaners have a few features that makes them a valuable component in your home, especially if you have pets. Their automatic charging makes it easy for them to carry out their scheduling functions.

The overall cleaning performance of the two models is similar and compares well to other robotic cleaners. The main difference is that the Roomba 690 has Wi-Fi and App features, the Roomba 805 also does a great cleaning job. With that said, we come to the end of our comparison article.

However, if you have enough budget and want to have an experience, we will suggest you try the Roomba 890 for a better experience of the latest technologies of iRobot.

Thank You for reading.