I wasn’t aware of Roborock after I reviewed its S5 robot vacuum/mop final yr, so I used to be pleasantly stunned to seek out it carried out on par with my favourite big-name-brand fashions. I used to be much more excited to see the Roborock S6 take all that I liked about that mannequin and add a bunch of upgrades, together with elevated suction, carpet recognition, map enhancing, and extra.
You wouldn’t know all this simply by taking a look at it. The Roborock S6 correctly retains the Roborock S5’s award-winning industrial design, together with its clear white end, and it’s roughly the identical dimensions. Behind the top-side turret housing the robotic’s laser distance sensor is the acquainted lid-accessible compartment with a 0.6-liter dustbin, and a cleansing instrument for untangling hair from the principle brush.
Flip it over, although, and also you’ll see the primary of its enhancements. The major curler brush has the identical rubber-and-bristle development because the S5, however the bristles on the S6 are softer and extra dense—250-percent extra dense, in response to Roborock, making them harder on mud with out scratching your flooring. Also new, the bearings on both facet of the comb might be eliminated, making it simpler to untangle pet and human hair.
The Roborock S6 retains a lot of the award-winning design of the Roborock S5.
The spinning facet brush has additionally been revamped. The bristles are gone, changed by 5 strips of silicone, every cut up partway in half. This new design is seemingly extra environment friendly for sweeping particles into the vacuum’s vent.
The mopping module additionally has a welcome addition. A easy change lets you choose how a lot water dampens the mopping fabric. The lesser stage it dispenses is sufficient for upkeep cleansing, and it leaves your flooring with a lightweight sheen of moisture. The larger stage supplies extra water for softening stains, making them simpler to take away.
Setup and efficiency
The setup stays a easy affair. First, snap the moisture-proof mat onto the charging dock—it can hold residual water from dripping in your carpet after mopping—after which place the S6 on the charging pins and energy it on. Download the Mi Home app and add the S6 as new gadget. The app guides you thru connecting to the robotic after which your Wi-Fi community.
RoborockThe Roborock S6 is quieter than the Roborock S5—by as a lot as 50 %, in response to the producer.
The first time you employ the Roborock S6, it can map your area and show a flooring plan within the app, partitioned into rooms. With this format, it may well plot probably the most environment friendly path by way of your own home, and Roborock says enhancements to the navigation algorithms can lead to as much as 20-percent sooner cleanings.
In day by day utilization, the S6 managed to wash the decrease stage of my apartment in 20- to 30 minutes. That’s barely sooner than what I skilled with S5. The robotic vac/mop combo simply traversed transitions between hardwood, linoleum, and carpeted flooring in my entryway, kitchen, rest room, and lounge respectively. The totally different flooring gave the S6 an opportunity to point out off its new carpet-recognition characteristic, too, which robotically boosts the suction energy to its max of two,000pa. (Note that this operate, and the map-editing characteristic mentioned under, should be turned on within the app settings earlier than you should utilize them.) The vac by no means received trapped, the way in which non-mapping robotic vacuums usually do, within the impediment course that’s my lounge.
Most importantly, although, it was a whiz at sucking up all of the pet hair, meals crumbs, mud, and filth from my flooring. I used to be constantly amazed on the quantity of particles filling the dustbin after every cleansing, for the reason that flooring by no means appeared that soiled to the bare eye.
Michael Ansaldo/IDGThe Mi Home app robotically divdes the floorplan by rooms and allows you to edit the map.
I just like the mopping operate rather more right here than I did with the S5. My grievance with the older mannequin was that whereas it was tremendous for eradicating free floor filth, it left stains unchanged and required me to drag out my stick mop greater than I like. The mopping methodology right here is similar—you fill a flat tank with faucet water, affix one of many provided cloths to it, after which slot the tank beneath the rear of the vacuum, which drags the dampened fabric throughout your flooring. But the power to regulate the quantity of water used on the material makes it rather more efficient on spills and stains. I nonetheless needed to do some handbook mopping once in a while, however not almost as steadily.
The app
The Mi Home app is similar one used to regulate the Roborock S5 and the Xiaomi Mi Home Security Camera (Xiaomi has invested in Roborock), however the app has benefited from a makeover since I final used it.
When you choose Roborock S6 from the record of gadgets, the app masses the present flooring plan with a number of management choices beneath it. An Edit button enables you to modify the map. You can change the room divisions, arrange no-go zones to maintain the vacuum from getting into forbidden areas, or restore the map to its authentic state. The app can retailer as much as three maps—good for multilevel properties—and you may select which map to load from right here as nicely.
On the far proper is what seems like a spinning-brush icon. Tapping this lets you choose one among 4 cleansing modes: Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, and Max. On the underside is a pair of buttons, one to start out/pause cleanings, and one to return the S6 to its dock.
When you provoke a cleansing job, you’ll be able to decide to wash your entire flooring plan, particular person rooms, or “zones”—small areas you designate with bounding packing containers on the map—by deciding on the suitable button beneath the map. As the S6 cleans, you’ll be able to monitor its path, which is displayed as white strains on the map. The present cleansing time and space in sq. meters is all the time displayed on the high of the display, together with the remaining battery share.
RoborockThe Roborock S5 acknowledges when it’s on carpet and can robotically enhance suction.
On high of this fine-tuned cleansing management, the app additionally supplies an in depth cleansing historical past and a few versatile scheduling choices, tracks the life cycle of its brushes and filter, adjusts the quantity stage of the robotic voice, and extra. Pretty a lot any operate not on the management display might be accessed from the three-dot menu.
Smart house integration
In addition to working as a part of the Mi Home ecosystem, the Roborock S6 helps each Amazon Alexa and Google Home integration. Curiously, the obtainable Alexa abilities solely can help you flip the S6 on and off, not truly run it. There are extra Google Assistant instructions, permitting you to start out and cease cleansing jobs, dock the vacuum and ask if it’s operating or charging.
Verdict
The Roborock S6 is an distinctive robotic vacuum. With its improved navigation, mopping operate, and app, it’s not solely a considerate step up from the estimable Roborock S5, however a transparent contender with big-brand robotic vacuums, together with iRobot’s Roomba 960 and Neato’s Botvac D7 Connected. It’s obtainable at Newegg for $629.90. That’s nonetheless pretty low for the premium options it affords. If that falls inside your price range, it’s nicely price contemplating together with these extra well-known manufacturers.