Every Roborock robot vacuum compared

A lot of factors go into the vacuuming performance in robot vacuum cleaners, but the suction power should always be top of mind. Roborock's latest releases the Qrevo Edge and Qrevo Curv have the best suction power at 18,500Pa, which is nearly double that of the next best option.

18,500Pa is the highest suction power to date on a robot vacuum cleaner available in Australia, even if technically they're not available yet. First debuted at IFA 2024, both the Edge and the Curv are due for an imminent launch Down Under.

On top of suction there are a few Roborock features that make for better vacuuming across the board. First up is an auto-empty station. These automatically empty out the on-board dustbin into a vacuum bag. Not only is it more convenient, but it is far better for allergy suffers as you don't have to battle the dust bunnies. Pretty much every Roborock vacuum cleaner available in the country right now has an auto-empty station.

ZeroTangle rollers are a game changer for households with pets. Roborock has either the DualRoller system which has two full length rollers moving in opposite directions. These help to pick up fur and sort of catapault it into the vacuum. In our testing we've found the rollers don't get tangled but they can leave hair balls around the place.

The other ZeroTangle option is the DuoDivide which is ultimately one roller, sliced in half. It uses the same technology as the DualRollers but has a gap in the middle where the main suction point is. We haven't tested this yet, but it looks like it may help with the fur ball problem.

Other notable extras that make for better vacuuming are edge cleaning tech, and adaptive cleaning software. Edge cleaning comes as a small, extendable brush that gets debris out of tight corners and along edges. Adaptive cleaning is when the robot learns which areas of your home generally need more TLC, and changes its cleaning routine to give it some extra suction power, or an extra pass.

Robot vacuuming mopping has come a long way, and it has brought a bunch of bells and whistles with it. Right now Roborock ships two kinds of robot mops; dual spinning mop heads, and microfibre mop pads. While the S8 MaxV Ultra is the exception to this rule, the dual spinning heads are generally the better choice.

These create more friction and can dislodge more caked in debris than a flat mop pad, even if that mop pad does vibrate. When we tested the S8 MaxV Ultra it performed just as well as some of the dual mops however, but its use of detergent could also play a role.

Robot vacuums tend to leave detergent out of the mopping process. These solutions are usually acidic and can cause corrosion within the machine, shortening its life span. The S8 MaxV Ultra and the Qrevo Curv are the only Roborock robot vacuums that not only allow for detergent use, but automatically dispense it in their docking station. Conversely most of the brand's robovacs currently available in Australia have both mop washing, and mop drying built into their base stations.

Of these both the Edge and the Curv wash the mop with water at 75 degrees celsius, while the Qrevo Master, Qrevo MaxV, and the S8 MaxV Ultra all use 60 degrees celsius. Both temperatues help to prevent smells, and mould growth.

On paper in looks like the Qrevo Curv will have the best mopping in the market when it arrives, but until then the S8 MaxV Ultra is Roborock's best mopping machine.

All the power in the world won't matter if your robot vacuum cleaner doesn't have the smarts to navigate the house. Unfortunately you can't really look at a chart to see which robovac will be the best at that, but we have reviewed a bunch of Roborock's devices so we can give you a pretty good idea.

Roborock uses either LiDAR or Time of Flight (TOF) sensors, along with AI obstacle avoidance. The former is used for mapping and navigation while the later is for seeing, and avoiding obstacles in real time. In our testing Roborock has the best, and fastest mapping out of any brand, but in all fairness we have only tested LiDAR models. The only TOF robot vacuum Roborock currently supports is the Qrevo Slim which doesn't yet have an Australian release date.

For obstacle avoidance, although every enabled device uses reactive AI they each have different capabilities. We found the S8 MaxV Ultra was able to detect and avoid the smallest obstacles (charging cables), while the Qrevo Master was close behind. Another aspect to consider is how quickly robot vacuums respond to a new obstacle, and on this one the Qrevo Master just edged out the S8. Provided the distraction was large enough.

Plenty of models also support voice commands either through Roborock's own voice assistance Rocky, or through third party apps like Google Assistant and Alexa. The two newcomers, and the S8 MaxV Ultra also have Matter support, which is a smart home standard which will soon enable these devices to connect to the Home App on iPhones. When these updates roll out iPhone and Apple Home, users will be able to control these robot vacuums using basic voice commands. It has been a long time coming.

The final thing to take into account if you're looking to buy a new robot vacuum is how long the device will be secure. Roborock currently guarantees two years of security updates from the date the model was first released. You really don't want to use a robot vacuum after it stops getting security updates. Not only can it act as a bridge for hackers to get into your home network, but many now have onboard cameras and microphones. It quickly becomes a big privacy risk.

After these updates run dry, we recommend either upgrading to a new model or disconnecting the device from your network and using the on-device buttons instead for a basic clean.

Out of all the Roborock robot vacuums we have tested, the S8 MaxV Ultra is the best all around option available for purchase. It comes with a slew of nice-to-have features like edge cleaning and edge mopping, hot water mop washing, mopping detergent, and it has the best reactive AI avoidance out of the bunch.