Roborock - Q5+

Thirding roborock. Love mine. I splurged on the self emptying model….totally worth it.

Older roombas are simple, reliable, durable, effective, and cheap. But they don't have smart navigation or mapping where you can ask them to clean specific areas. If you want navigation they become less cheap and less durable. I have a 10yo 600 series roomba and a new Roborock Q5. Q5 is great but I'm skeptical that it's going to last as long.

great news! Almost ANY roborock you get (for that matter, any robot) is going to far surpass your i7 experience. I would not grab the Q5, TBH. There is, actually a very big difference between $500 and $1000 robots, but if I may recommend... I'd say the best CURRENT value on a Roborock is the Curv/Edge, the S8 MaxV Ultra and the QRevo MaxV. While the Saros are great... I don't think they're better \*enough\* than the models listed about to justify the price. Also, I'd wait for Prime Day, regardless. Also, I test robots for a living for Lifehacker, and am not sponsored by anyone, and test robots in my very real house.

Carpet? Get the highest suction you can, with dual rubber rollers. Normal brush rollers will just get wrapped with fur, but the rubber ones never have that issue. My Roborock q5+ does a great job.

I had a Samsung Jetbot that broke after a year and a half, and would have cost me $150 to fix. I went back and forth on fixing it, but ultimately realized that I could buy a brand new robot for that price. The Roborock Q5 happened to be on sale for exactly that price, so I ended up buying it, and have been using it obsessively to clean up the buildup from the past several months. I didn’t realize how much dust and hair had accumulated on my carpets in that time (I live in an apartment, and don’t own another vacuum), and looking at what a difference it’s made to have a freshly-vacuumed carpet has just given me so much tranquility. I have a cat, but really the buildup had come from me, because I have long hair that tends to shed. There was literally a mouse-sized amount of hair tangled up in the side brush after running the vacuum four times, with the main rollers covered in hair. The advice that was given to me by folks in this subreddit is to make sure you get a robot with Lidar. Lidar is the mapping technology that actually allows the robovac to clean every inch of the floor. The robovacs without Lidar just kind of bounce around, and aren’t nearly as effective at cleaning because they don’t keep track of where they’ve been. They go in zig-zag patterns, and Lidar robots go back and forth. It’s more expensive, but to me the difference is worth it. I’ll also say that what convinced me to get a robovac in the first place is that someone told me it forces them to keep their floors clean. You can’t have your floors cluttered because it will block the robot and stop it from doing its job, or even get it tangled up. So that’s just one more reason to get one.

Unless you pay $1000 for a really good model even the Roborock Q5 is not gonna be that great at toy detection. I have 3 cats and 2 dogs and while I love my Roborock I cannot run it without picking up things left on the floor. You’ll have to get used to picking stuff up no matter what. Roborock I also way better tech than roomba and cheaper! Mine was a Q5+ with self emptying station and cut down the pet hair exponentially. And I have 3 cats and 2 dogs.

I have a Roborock Q5+, I absolutely love it. Did a lot of research before buying. The newer ones have better obstruction detection but as long as I don’t leave things on the floor (toys, socks, etc) it gets everything. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats, it’s a major lifesaver for me. I have it scheduled to run twice a day and it also self empties. It does best running often rather than once a week. If you wait longer between running it—the hair gets overwhelming for it. Roborock is pretty solid as a brand and has only gotten better. Once I have the cash I will definitely be buying their new vacuum mop version.

Newer versions will pick up toys and move them. The tech is much better than roomba or shark. But by “manual” it just means turning it on and letting it run, you don’t actually have to watch it. Automatic scheduling just has it run without you pushing any buttons. But honestly it’s made me better about picking things up off my floor.

Just double check your Roborock model, it will come with the self emptying bin. It’s usually noted.

Roborock Q5+ with self emptying doc. Couldn't live without it.

Could not imagine my life without my roborock q5

That's the really, really old ones. They're not great. The new ones map the environment, and do a proper pass of all areas. Like the Roborock Q8 or Q5 are great.

Roborock Q5+ if you want pure vacuum power. It is great for pet hair, smart nav, no mop nonsense. If you want mop too, Q Revo or Dreame L20 Ultra, but vacuum takes a slight hit.

Roomba 105 said “docking? never heard of her.” If nav + no-go zones matter, go Roborock Q5 for laser brain, pet-hair beast. Shark Matrix is better than old Shark, but still a bit lost sometimes. Just pick the smart one.