The Chinese vacuum company Roborock announced on the 29th of April 2020 the Roborock S6 MaxV, their latest robot vacuum now with artificial intelligence (AI) powered by a Qualcomm APQ8053 processor for advanced obstacle avoidance. With 2500 pa of suction power (compared to 2000 on the S6 and 2200 on the iRobot Roomba s9+) it is one of the most powerful robot vacuums on the market and also comes with an electric mopping feature to keep your house extra clean. But for the price of $749, is it worth it?
Features and Specs
The S6 MaxV uses a LiDAR sensor to navigate and several cliffs sensors to prevent it from falling downstairs. The vacuum has one main brush and one side brush to collect dust from corners.
Thanks to its dual cameras and on-device artificial intelligence image processing, it has advanced obstacle avoidance dubbed ReactiveAI preventing it from getting stuck or tangled in things. According to Roborock, this system allows it to avoid objects as small as 2 inches wide and 1.1 inches tall and when it comes to privacy, the images captured are “deleted in an instant” says Roborock. The images are never stored in the cloud as all the processing is done on the device itself.
The Roborock S6 MaxV comes with many other features available in high-end robot vacuums like zone cleaning, app and voice control and scheduling. It also supports multi-floor mapping available from the Roborock app allowing to set no-go zones and no-mop zones on 4 different maps and you are given the choice between five cleaning modes: Quiet, Gentle, Balanced, Turbo and Max.
With its 5200 mAh battery, it can run for up to 180 minutes on quiet mode and approximately 115 on balanced.
Vacuuming
The Roborock S6 MaxV will create a map of your home after its first clean. You will then be able to set no-go zones, virtual barriers, choose specific rooms to clean and also specific zones. You will be able to see where the robot is in real-time on the map and it will tell you how many square meters it has cleaned. As it works it will calculate the most efficient route and will move in straight lines.
In balanced mode, it will run at 67 dB which is the quietest but its perfectly respectable.
The vacuum also comes with an automatic carpet mode which will increase the suction power when it detects carpets to make sure it gets all the dirt and dust out of them.
Reactive AI
Thanks to its dual cameras, the Roborock S5 MaxV is able to detect objects as small as 2 inches wide and 1.1 inches tall that are on your floor and avoid them. It will also recognise what type of object it is and mark it on the map. According to Roborock, it will receive frequent updates allowing it to recognise more objects and mark them correctly.
When it comes to privacy the Chinese company guarantees that no images are stored in the cloud as all the processing is done locally.
Mopping
Another great feature about the Roborck S6 MaxV is its ability to vacuum and mop. It comes with a 297ml water tank which will allow you to mop 200 sqm.
To set it up you must first fill the water tank (Roborock says to only use water and no cleaning products), then slide it back into the robot. You then dampen the washable mop cloth, put it on the mop cloth bracket, then slide the bracket onto the water tank. When it’s successfully installed, you’ll hear a click and the robot will say it’s in mopping mode. You will be able to set the water to high, low, or medium, and adjust the flow by room. However, it does not automatically recognise carpets so you will have to set no-go zones which can be a bit tricky.
Maintenance
As with all robot vacuums, the S6 MaxV requires a bit of maintenance but isn’t quite as demanding as some other vacuums. Roborock only recommends cleaning the dustbin and main brush weekly, and the washable filter every two weeks. In the app, there is a maintenance option that will tell when to clean each component and when they should be replaced.
Bottom line
The bottom line is the Roborock S6 MaxV is a very versatile high-end 2-in-1 robot vacuum mop. It is packed full of features and in our opinion the price is justifiable. Its strong suction power will get rid of dust and dirt and the mop will leave your floors squeaky clean. If its too expensive in your opinion and you don’t need some of the extra features we recommend checking out some of Roborock’s other vacuum.
Check out this review of the S6 MaxV by Smart Robot Reviews to see it in action.
And check out this comparison video by Cordless Vacuum Guide where he compares it to some other Roborock vacuums.
