Roborock S5 Max review: Precision water control sets this robot vacuum/mop hybrid apart

Since launching couple of years in the past, Roborock has impressed us with hybrid vacuum/mop robots that carry out on par with the class’s largest manufacturers. The Roborock S5 Max is the corporate’s newest and, we dare say, best providing.

Naming conference suggests the S5 Max is the successor to the Roborock S5 that we reviewed greater than a 12 months in the past. But some new options surpass even the top-of-the-line Roborock S6 The most important is a higher-capacity electrical water tank. The robotic’s mopping operate has change into more and more refined with every mannequin. While the S5 gave the consumer no management over how a lot water was distributed throughout every mopping job, the S6 added a easy change that permit you choose how a lot water dampened the mopping fabric. The S5 Max absolutely integrates mopping with the robotic’s different superior features and permits extra exact water administration within the Mi Home companion app. The S5 Max additionally provides selective room cleansing, a characteristic beforehand obtainable solely on the S6.

Beyond these enhancements, the Roborock S5 Max carries over many of the options and design cues from the sooner fashions. That consists of LiDAR mapping, 2000Pa suction, zone cleansing, and Alexa and Google Assistant voice management.

This evaluate is a part of TechHive’s protection of the best robot vacuums, the place you’ll discover critiques of competing merchandise, plus a purchaser’s information to the options it’s best to think about when buying.

Setup and utilization

The S5 Max comes with all its brushes assembled, so all that’s left so that you can do is ready up its charging dock. Roborock touts the S5 Max’s “Total Water Shutoff,” which implies it shouldn’t drip whereas it’s docked, so you possibly can hold the mopping module stuffed and prepared for its subsequent job. Nonetheless, it has included a plastic moisture-collecting tray to set the robotic on whereas it’s charging. The water tank slots simply beneath the dustbin and, as soon as full of faucet water, may be stored there, requiring you solely to connect the cleansing fabric whenever you need to mop your onerous flooring. The water tank capability has been doubled to 280ml, sufficient to wash a 2,000-square-foot room, in line with Roborock.

Once that’s all arrange, it’s important to obtain the Mi Home app and create or log in to your account. After you add the system, the app prompts you thru connecting it to your Wi-Fi community. I had the S5 Max prepared to wash in lower than 10 minutes.

To begin a cleansing job, you faucet a button with three squares and a plus signal close to the underside of the app to decide on your cleansing mode and water degree. There are 5 suction ranges from “gentle” to “max,” and 4 water ranges together with a dry-mop possibility. Then you faucet the Clean button to ship the S5 Max on its method.

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Expect the primary cleansing to be the longest and least environment friendly, because the robotic will probably be studying the format of the room and constructing a map. When its performed, the app shows the realm the robotic coated and the trail it took by way of it. Subsequent cleanings get smarter and shorter because the robotic turns into extra aware of the room.

With a room map saved, you possibly can inform the robotic to wash solely sure components of the room and to remain out of others. The first is finished by including zones to the map: Tap the Zone button, drag the bounding field to the realm you need cleaned, and resize it. You can create a number of zones by tapping the “add” button. To create digital boundaries, choose No-go Zone and mark these areas on the map.