Robotic vacuums are getting better and better, but to really clean your floors, you still have to spend some cash. Roborock is one of the top players in the game and its latest model, the Roborock S6 MaxV comes at $750 when it’s not on sale. That’s not cheap.
The best robotic vacuums these days offer intelligent obstacle avoidance systems, powerful suction, and even the ability to perform a basic mop. Sure, we still don’t expect them to clean up serious spills. Kevin from The Office probably couldn’t have used one after spilling his chili. But a great robotic vacuum can do all the day-to-day work to keep your floors sparkly clean.
Does the Roborock S6 MaxV justify its price tag? I’ve been using it for a few weeks now to find out.
Roborock S6 MaxV design
The Roborock S6 MaxV isn’t very unique in its design, but it also isn’t ugly — and it should look right at home in any…home. The vacuum is made entirely from black plastic, though it doesn’t look too cheap or weak. Of course, we didn’t drop-test the vacuum — so your mileage may vary.
While decent-looking, the vacuum is relatively large. It measures 13.8 inches wide and 3.8 inches tall, making it larger than many other options out there. It’s not much larger though, and most should still be able to find a place for the device in their home.
On the top of the vacuum, apart from the device’s LiDAR sensor, you’ll find three buttons. There’s one for power, one for spot-cleaning, and one to dock the device. The buttons serve as a way to easily tell the vacuum what to do without the need to open the app. You can also open up part of the top of the vacuum to clean out the large dustbin, which is very handy. On the front of the device can be found two cameras, which the camera uses to navigate.
The back of the vacuum is where you’ll attach the mop pad, and insert the water tank. The water tank can remain attached to the vacuum all the time. Roborock notes that you should empty the tank after the mopping process is complete.
The dock is relatively compact and is made of the same plastic as the vacuum itself.
Roborock S6 MaxV setup and app
Setting up the Roborock S6 MaxV is very easy. You’ll start by physically unpacking the box and plugging the dock into the wall. Then, put the dustbin and water tank in the vacuum, and place it on the charger.
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- Roborock App Map
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- Roborock App Controls
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- Roborock App Settings
You’ll also want to set up the device in the app. It’s a pretty standard process, involving creating an account, and connecting the vacuum to your home’s Wi-Fi network.
Once it’s set up, you can do a range of things from the app itself. The first time you clean your floors, your robot will use the cameras and LiDAR sensor to create a map of the home. Then, it will calculate the best path and follow that to clean your home when it cleans.
That map serves other purposes too. You can send the vacuum to a specific spot on the map to spot clean, which can help with random spills. And, you can divide your home in to rooms, and tell it to only clean one room or zone. Lastly, you can set no-go zones that you don’t want the vacuum to go near. For example, if you don’t want the vacuum bumping into a table with an antique on it, you can tell it to avoid that area.
There are tons of settings and features you can dive into as well. You can schedule the vacuum to clean automatically at a certain time, or you can even control it remotely. And, using the cameras on the vacuum, you can see exactly what’s being cleaned at any given moment.
Speaking of the cameras, Roborock says that images are processed on the vacuum itself, and never stored or sent to the cloud. Now, obviously, if you enable the remote viewing mode, the video is sent to the cloud. But that’s an optional feature, and you can disable it at any time.
Roborock S6 MaxV vacuuming
According to Roborock, the S6 MaxV offers 25% more suction power than the standard S6. That’s thanks to the fact that the vacuum is capable of 2,500Pa of suction. While it’s vacuuming, you can see the path that the vacuum has taken, how long it has been cleaning, and how much battery it has left. Generally, I found the vacuum to choose efficient paths that made sense.
Generally, in both day-to-day cleaning, and in staged messes for testing, the vacuum cleaned quite effectively. The device always cleaned the majority of dust and dirt, and while it left some flour behind in a situation simulating a baking disaster, it still did a good job, and easily cleaned the rest on a second pass.
The device did so quietly too. I generally recommend scheduling cleans for when you’re away, just for the sake of convenience. But, for example, I could barely hear it cleaning downstairs when I was upstairs. You won’t be able to watch TV in the same room that the vacuum is cleaning, but that’s not surprising, and doesn’t indicate an overly loud vacuum.
The obstacle detection tech on board was a little lackluster. The vacuum sucked up shoelaces and dragged around a shoe once, despite being able to use AI that there was a show in the room. You will want to do a general tidy of a room before you vacuum, if possible.
The vacuum has a specific carpet mode that increases suction, and again, it seemed to work well. It never got stuck under furniture, though other reviews differ, so it may be more a function of the height of my furniture.
I found that the large dustbin could easily last a week’s worth of cleaning, with scheduled cleans every few days. Other maintenance is relatively minimal too, which is definitely helpful. And, the app helps you know when to perform maintenance and what to do.
Roborock S6 MaxV mopping
As mentioned, the Roborock S6 MaxV also has a mopping function, which can come in handy. The mopping feature is for day-to-day cleaning though. You probably won’t want to use it to clean a serious, large spill.
The mop pad is very easy to attach and replace, and I cleaned it simply by putting it in the washer and dryer. You will need to attach and detach it each time you want to mop, which is a little annoying. But most won’t need to mop every time they clean anyway. When you want to mop, you’ll also need to fill the water tank, and you shouldn’t use cleaning solution or soap with this vacuum.
With the Carpet Mode enabled, the vacuum can automatically detect carpet to increase suction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t apply that information to the map — and as a result the vacuum doesn’t avoid carpet when mopping. That’s pretty annoying, however, you can manually set no-mop zones in the app. This could get complicated for those with smaller area rugs, however.
I found the mop to actually effectively clean a room. You can set different water levels, between low, medium, and high, though I usually just kept it set to medium.
Conclusions
The Roborock S6 MaxV is an excellent robotic vacuum, and while expensive, it justifies its price tag. The vacuum itself is powerful, and the Roborock app is packed with features that can genuinely help. This is particularly a great vacuum for those that want a mopping feature that works well.
The competition
If you don’t care about a mopping feature, there are other options to go for. Notably, the Shark IQ Robot Self-Empty XL R101AE is cheaper than the Roborock S6 MaxV. It has a dock that can store dust and dirt, meaning you don’t need to change dustbins as frequently.
For those looking for a 2-in-1, it’s also worth considering the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI. It seems to have better object detection and has automatic carpet detection. Still, the Roborock S6 MaxV is an excellent vacuum that will thoroughly clean most homes.
Should I buy the Roborock S6 MaxV?
Yes. The Roborock S6 MaxV is a great vacuum, however, you should also consider the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI.
