There’s nothing like coming home to a freshly vacuumed home, and the Neato D85 is one vacuuming robot that can do the job. The Neato Botvac D85 robot vacuum is part of Neato’s D-series of their popular Botvac line of automated vacuum cleaners.

iRobot’s Roomba used to be the only game in town when it came to robot vacuum cleaners. Neato has really given them a run for their money with their Botvac line of self-propelled, automated vacuums.

Neato has offered a great value when you need robot cleaning power with their Botvac line. The D-series ups the ante with a new silicone spiral brush blade and more powerful suction, all while being quieter.

Neato D85: The Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner for Pet Hair

The truly stand-out feature of the Neato Botvac D85 is its capacity for picking up pet hair. If you have a dog or cat that sheds a lot, you will definitely want to consider the Neato D85 robot vacuum.

Pet hair can get everywhere and being able to vacuum it up every day without lifting a finger is an amazing benefit of the Neato D85 vacuuming robot.

CNET did a comprehensive comparison of the Neato Botvac D85’s capacity to pick up pet hair versus various other robot vacuums, including the Neato Botvac 85 (note: no D!). For .2 ounces of pet hair, the Neato Botvac D85 trounced all of the other robotic vacuums, picking up .19 ounces on mid pile carpet, .2 ounces on low-pile carpet, and .2 ounces on a hardwood floor.

This beat out the Neato Botvac 85 (garnering .17 ounces for both types of carpet and .2 ounces for the hardwood floor). It was also significantly better than the Neato XV Signature Pro, the Samsung Powerbot VR9000, and the iRobot Roomba 880.

In fact, the iRobot Roomba 880 had the worst performance of the group, only netting .12 ounces of pet hair on a mid pile carpet, .10 ounces on a low-pile carpet, and .17 ounces from a hardwood floor.

For a dedicated pet owner, you might as well stop here, because it is quite clear, based on this data, that the Neato Botvac D85 is the robot vacuum of choice for pet owners who want to reduce the amount of pet hair floating around.

It is too bad that Neato doesn’t yet have a robot vacuum that can fly around and clean up sofas, chairs, and pet bedding. Maybe someday, in the future, we will have a robot vacuum that can do just that.

In the meantime, at least your carpets and hardwood floors can be free of pet hair, thanks to the Neato D85.

Drawbacks of the Neato Botvac D85 Robot Vacuum

The Neato Botvac D85 robot vacuum has a lot of great features, but here are some downsides to consider:

1. Rice and Sand

That same CNET review that discovered how superior the Neato D85 is when it comes to vacuuming up pet hair gave it two thumbs down on two other tests: rice and sand.

Here’s the thing: If you own a pet, and you don’t ever go to the beach or eat rice on a regular basis, the ability to pick up rice and sand is simply not that important. Picking up Fido’s excessive shedding is far more important than an occasional rice grain left on a tiled kitchen floor – which you might end up sweeping manually anyway, especially if it is tile.

2. Not So Quiet?

In the CNET review, they also claim that the Neato D85 vacuum is not noticeably quieter than the non D-series Neato Botvac, as advertised.

3. No Wi-Fi Connectivity

The Neato D85 vacuum also suffers from its lack of Wi-Fi connectivity, which is becoming more and more of an expected feature with robot vacuum cleaners. With no smartphone app to manage the D85, you will have to program the machine manually on the vacuum itself.

4. Price and Value

At $499 MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price), the Neato Botvac D85 is considered to be “reasonably priced” compared to competitors. Still, this is a heck of a lot of money to spend on a vacuum cleaner. The Botvac D3 Connected offers full Wi-Fi connectivity and it is $100 less than the Neato D85.

Now, the Botvac D3 Connected is not as powerful as the D85, and the amount of space it can clean up at one time is 1800 square feet vs. 3000 square feet. Still, many folks will prefer to have Wi-Fi access over that excess power and stamina.

The Neato D85: A Great Midrange Robot Vacuum

Neato Botvac D85

Downsides aside, the Neato d85 offers a lot of robotic cleaning power at a decent price. With its exceptional performance with pet hair, it is the vacuum cleaner of choice for furry pet owners.

Similar Models to the Neato D85 Robot Vacuum

Yeedi K600 Robot Vacuum Cleaner with Turbo Mode Suction Up to 1500Pa

Yeedi K600 Robot Vacuum Cleaner with Turbo Mode Suction Up to 1500Pa

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The Yeedi K600 robotic vacuum uses an advanced brushless motor. Its motor runs up to 20,000 r/min to generate powerful suction. The design reduces vacuuming noise to just 55dB, about the same as a microwave. With so much silence and squeaky cleanliness at the same time, it will most likely feel as if some magic entity is taking care of all the dust on carpets, floors, etc.

Yeedi K600 has dual side brushes and a rubber and nylon rolling brush shaped together like a V to grab dust, dirt, and large debris. Furthermore, the low profile design gets under sofas, beds, and furniture where dirt hides and works on wood, tile, and carpet. And finally, what we truly think is amazing about the Yeedi K600 is its smart sensors that prevent collisions and falls effectively.

iRobot Roomba i3 (3150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum

iRobot Roomba i3 (3150) Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum

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The iRobot Roomba i3 (3150) works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant flawlessly, as it is optimized for both of these smart and ubiquitous assistants. It effectively learns your schedule so you don’t even have to configure it by hand. Just let it map out your space, learn your habits, and it will automatically do its things when it knows for certain it won’t disturb you.

One thing we really like about the iRobot Roomba i3 (3150) is the fact that it doesn’t simply give up if the battery is low. Instead, this little monster of a vacuum cleaner goes back to its charging station until it has enough juice to resume the job. So you will never come home to a messy place whatever happens as long as your home has electricity. That’s one thing that truly makes our 21st century lives so calm and relaxing.