Introduction
Roborock has been in the Malaysian market for quite some time and the company has sent us its smart robot vacuum — the Roborock S6 MaxV. In case you didn’t know, Roborock is a Chinese company headquartered in Beijing. The company specializes in making robot vacuums and cordless stick vacuum, which lets people spend less time on chores. Back to the S6 MaxV, I have it for a few months and the robot vacuum has been on duty since the day I set it up, every day, so I guess this can be a long-term review.
Design
Like most robot vacuums, the Roborock S6 MaxV has a rounded design covered by glossy plastic. Since this robot vacuum is designed to bang here bang there, it’s normal for the manufacturer to use an inexpensive material. This is actually a big robot vacuum, so it might not be able to get under some chairs to clean up the floor.
The side of the robot vacuum uses a matte finishing plastic, it comes with multiple sensors including the stereo cameras and LiDAR sensor for better mapping and obstacle avoidance. It also features ReactiveAI, powered by a Qualcomm APQ8053 processor chip, which allows the cameras to recognize what they see.
There are three buttons on top of the robot vacuum, which are:
- Spot Clean: Press to start spot cleaning
- Clean/Power: Press to start cleaning/Press and hold to turn the robot on or off
- Dock: Press to return to Dock
You can reset the Wi-Fi by pressing and holding both Spot Clean and Dock buttons for 3 seconds.
The back of the robot vacuum has a water tank for the mopping function. Roborock also includes the Moisture-Proof Mat for the charger dock in the box, which is important especially if you have wooden flooring as the wet mop will damage it if it stays at the same place for too long.
Opening up the top cover of the robot vacuum, you’ll see the dustbin and a brush, more about maintenance later. There’s also a Wi-Fi indicator showing the Wi-Fi status:
- Off: Wi-Fi disabled
- Flashing slowly: Waiting for connection
- Flashing quickly: Connecting
- Steady: WiFi connected
Flipping over the robot vacuum, you’ll see the wheels, sensors, charging contact, main brush, and side brush. The main brush and side brush can be removed for maintenance purposes.
User Experience
Since this is a smart robot vacuum, you’ll need to download the app for more smart features. The robot vacuum supports either the Roborock or Mi Home app. The entire setup process is quite simple, just add the device and follow the in-app instructions, then the robot vacuum will start mapping the floor plan.
Overall, I’m quite impressed with the accuracy of the floor plan mapping and it even manages to label different items. You can set the vacuum power and the water level for mopping as well. Each room can be set with different water levels and you can specify which area is a no-go zone too (for vacuuming and mopping).
If you are not at home, you can turn on the remote viewing feature in the app. It actually works like a security camera and you can control the robot vacuum with a D-pad or just use the map to send it somewhere instantly. You’ll be able to see the live feed thanks to the stereo cameras. You can either send the robot vacuum back to the dock, start/stop cleaning, or transmit an audio message.
Performance
The Roborock S6 MaxV has 2,500Pa of suction power, which is 25% more powerful than the S6. Obviously, it also depends on which vacuum power mode you are in. There are four modes — Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, and Max, the more power you choose, the noisier the robot vacuum. It did a great job at cleaning the space and when there’s a floor, it’ll just go over. Overall, the Roborock S6 MaxV did well in avoiding all those obstacles and there’s also an anti-fall function. However, there are times when accidents happened, the robot vacuum went out to the balcony and stopped working or even stuck under a chair.
As for mopping, the robot vacuum will regulate the water flow from the tank to the cloth as the robot moves around. The result may vary depending on which floor surface, so there’s no absolute saying. For a glossy floor surface like mine, there will be a water spot.
Maintenance
You will need to clean the dustbin quite often as the capacity isn’t that big in my opinion, though it depends on how dirty the cleaning zone is. You can wash the filter in the dustbin and Roborock has also included a replacement in case the first one is damaged.
The app will also show you other parts that needed to maintain such as the side brush, main brush, and sensors. It’ll even show you the percentage and time left, which is quite handy. The side brush and main brush can be removed as well in case there are entanglements of hairs and random stuff.
Battery Life
The Roborock S6 MaxV has a 5,200mAh battery and the company claims the robot vacuum has 180 minutes of maximum runtime and 2,580sqft maximum vacuum area on a single charge. I wasn’t able to test that out since my house isn’t that big and it doesn’t take long to clean up. Based on my test, a 41-minute cleaning will consume around 40% battery, which is quite okay.
Final Words
Retailing at RM3,999, no doubt the Roborock S6 MaxV is an expensive robot vacuum. However, you can actually get it at a lower price via its official Shopee and Lazada stores. After using it for a few months, I’m actually quite satisfied with the Roborock S6 MaxV, though its mopping function still isn’t good enough to replace a human being, guess you’ll have to mop the floor yourself. I personally enjoy using the remote camera feature, but it might be a privacy concern for certain people.
Yay
- Good floor plan mapping
- Great obstacles avoidance
- Strong suction power
Nay
- Big in size
- Not so good at mopping
- Premium price tag
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