roborock Q5 Max+ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Dock

The headline: Remarkable Technology.

The rest of the story: The technology is simply remarkable, but not perfect. But spectacularly impressive.

What do I (you) want from a robotic vacuum?
* Good quality of vacuuming of a variety of surfaces. Check.
* Recognition of hard floor vs rug/carpet. Check
* Smart mapping of the area and obstacles. Check.
* Large object collision detection. Check.
* Smart detection of cords and small objects. Fail.
* Stairway/hazard detection. Check.
* Automated emptying of the collection bin. Check.
* Smart application control. Check.

Now the details.

Cleaning of hardwood floors (loose material), rugs and carpet with low and deep pile is very good based on the material in the collection bin. The pattern of cleaning is very orderly and efficient. You should still periodically use an upright vacuum on carpets and rugs because it cannot deep clean, but the robot is great in between major cleanings to keep the areas looking good. I didn’t get the mop version of the robot because it was 2X expensive and there are all kinds of issues with washing and drying the mop. I can do the mopping by hand, thank you.

There were lots of independent tests indicating that 70% of hair would be wrapped around the brush. My experience with prolific deposition of medium length human hair is very different: 90% goes into the bin.

The LIDAR technology of mapping is certainly superior to the camera-only technology of the iRobot and other competitors. You can watch it map out room features 20′ away. This works really well for furniture, walls and big objects. However, it will gobble up cords and other small objects in a nanosecond. Some of the “S” versions of the Roborock incorporate cameras which will certainly improve the small object detection. Meanwhile, with the Q5, pick up the room ahead of cleaning; and use the application to exclude areas from cleaning that have cords or other things that will be ingested.

Be prepared for it to gently “kiss” chair legs, base boards and other objects. The vast majority of times it will not move these larger objects (excluding shoes, etc). So far I haven’t seen any impact damage, but some people report that the rotating brush mars baseboards.

The application allows you to map out more than one floor of your house, and define rooms. This allows for selective cleaning of specific rooms, either on demand (and integrated with Amazon Alexa), or as part of a routine schedule. Sections within rooms can be excluded from cleaning (such as cords). Virtual walls can be drawn to define boundaries. When physically moving the robot from one level to another it takes a minute for the vacuum to establish the level and room. So far, all of the features have worked very well.

Message to developers: the docking station should have a way to directly broadcast its location to the robot, such as an IR emitter. When the robot is physically moved by a human, it may take several minutes for the robot to determine the physical location AND the location of the docking station.

The Bottom Line: This is a remarkable piece of technology. It has minor flaws, but the positive attributes are overwhelming. I would not pay 2X for the mopping technology; however, the small object detection of the “S” version may be of benefit to you (but not to me).

This has a tremendous value for the cost.

Hasta ahora ha echo un excelente trabajo manteniendo mi piso libre de polvo. Tiene muy buena programación en cuanto a los recorridos que hace, no deja polvo en los cuartos que limpia. Tiene una potencia adecuada por default y por medio de la app se puede aumentar o disminuir. De igual forma se puede programar, o iniciar de manera remota mediante la app.

It cleans especially well. This means the one disposable dust bag it comes with will fill up quickly so immediately buy dust bin bags-you will need them fast. Be sure you get the RoboRock app to set it up with. Setup is easy and essential using the app. Alexa or Google integration is a breeze. It is fairly quiet on balanced suction mode, and not really so loud on turbo. You MUST manually empty the dust bin in the Q5+ if it fills during cleaning and that is a real possibility if you have a lot of square feet. It will dock due to low battery or being full and upon docking it will empty by itself. However if during its cleaning cycle, it gets full, it will not sense this nor return to dock to empty. You MUST empty the dust bin-easy enough to do using the app. Dust bin contents are sucked into the dust bin back when docked and you manually choose empty dust bin. You have to let it run and do its thing. The best thing: set room mapping up and let it run around to map your floor. Then it will clean. Doing mapping first is easy and fast. You have to save maps of rooms/floors by setting save on-you toggle it to “on” and then you map. You can set up tasks meaning you can have it clean one room then go back to dock to empty and this is a good thing because it most likely will not overfill from one room and you need not manually empty it. Create three or four tasks and with each completed task, it will go back to dock and empty. If you do not do tasks, and you try to clean 1200 square feet, it WILL fill up and you MUST intervene and tell it to go back to dock to empty it. I run it 2x a day for 1200 feet and no matter what I do, it fills up before it is done cleaning. I have no idea where it comes from but the bin gets full about half way through. There is no way to get around this. This device picks up ever-so-fine dust, and dirt-better than with a vacuum. The big clumps of hair if you have dogs…not so much but these are visible and easily picked up after the device has left them behind during its runs. It just cleans and cleans!

Let me go back to cleaning. It does this well. I am surprised how much small stuff it picks up. It picks up dog hair, etc. well. It seems to pick up dirt I cannot even see or notice. With a full charge, you may get 1200 square feet; I do with about 15% battery left. If not, it will go back to charge on the dock when it gets to 19% low. My plan: let it work using tasks (you can set a room or floor schedule) and let it charge and by the morning, empty the dust bin by using that option via the app, and let it clean again a floor where you do not have activity or where people are not at home or around (bedrooms for example). I say work it; run it daily. I have a good vac; I vacuumed Wed, and it is Sun and it is shocking to see what it has been picking up in the dust bin. If you have a dog or cat, this is the move. I am not saying it will pick up long hair but the short hair and dander, yes it 100% will. It cleans under the beds (yay!) and under furniture where it fits. It is not an industrial vac. It most likely won’t and should not be used to pick up wood chips, etc. around a wood stove, nor should it be used to pick up large particulate matter. It does pick up coins without any noise or damage so that it great if you miss a coin on the carpet or floor. I can use Alexa (“Alexa, tell Roborock to empty the dust bin” or “Alexa, tell Roborock to start cleaning” or “Alexa, tell Roborock to dock”) for basic commands. If you have a spill, you will have to experiment to get the unit to clean it up; it looks like if you press the home button on the device, it cleans within a 10-foot radius. It will just try to clean in rows so you will just have to try it out for spot cleaning. It may be a pain to get it to do that. I can’t imagine people with pets not having this or one of the Roomba pet hair cleaning units. This is going to save me so much work. I am not getting any younger. I thought “Why deny myself technology?” so I got it on sale. I highly recommend meaning for me it matched my expectations and needs and easily so.

One last thing: the roller will clog with wrap-around hair. It is easy to take out and clean BUT you MUST put the roller brush cover on exactly meaning there are four tabs and two go in manually at a bit of an angle and the other side of the roller brush cover has two clips that go back into place when you pinch them. IF you see any of the four tabs, you do not have it in place correctly. This shows up when you try to empty the unit. It will not empty. You will hear it try but it will not because the suction is too low because the roller brush cover is not completely installed/inserted. You may find the unit telling you you are attempting too many empty commands and it will ignore your commands to empty the dust bin if you find you had the roller brush cover on loosely. The way around this is to take out the dust bin and with a flashlight locate the reset hole (use a pin). It is well-hidden. When you find it, put in the button while also holding the home or power button. This resets the device. You have to readd your unit to wifi (not 5 but 2.4) and be sure your phone’s wifi for this is on the 2.4 band. Reattach the unit to your 2.4 wifi and you will be good to go. The unit will start recognizing the empty command and with the roller brush cover on correctly (no tabs showing), you will see the unit empty its dust bin. All maps, etc. are saved in the app. Only the unit gets reset. The bags are really easy to change. I filled that “7-week” bag in a week. That is how good the unit is. I have run it 3x a day and I still pick up dirt. I have no idea how or why but I do breathe easier now without any decongestants, and the house is clean! Any vacuum clogs and needs cleaning. This unit is no different. It is maintenance. After a week or so, you get the hang of it.

I did not get the combo mop unit because I can do that with another machine. I wanted a dust bin that was 100% for dirt pickup. It works. It works well. I am getting another for the second floor with carpet and with carpet, the unit senses this and goes into turbo mode to clean. For hardwood, it does not have to do that. There are four speeds. Night is quietest. Balanced is good. I like that setting. The wrap-up: run this a couple of times a day (why not?) and pause your cleaning via the app after 30 minutes or so to return it to dock and empty. Or use tasks. No one is going to get 1200 square feet cleaned in one pass without emptying. That is a good thing. This device picks up! For real!

My main floor is a hydronic concrete slab, the 2nd floor is a matte hardwood, and my toddler’s playroom is carpeted with coral fleece. The Q5+ does a stellar job on each of them. It detects its surroundings and loads the proper map and settings for each floor. We have a big fluffy dog that would leave lots of hair and dirt all over the place and we can really see a huge difference since getting the Roborock.

What’s important to understand with these vacuums is that they’re meant to run almost every day to *keep* your floors clean; you shouldn’t let dust and debris accumulate too much between cleanings. They also require frequent maintenance if you want to make them last. This is true for all robot vacuums.

Some insight if you do choose the Roborock Q5+:

-You can replace the main brush with the newer design rubber roller from the S7 models. It deals better with hair, but is somewhat less durable than the brush roller and also less efficient on carpet (many S7 owners on Reddit swap in a Q5 brush and say it works better than the rubber one on carpet).

-If you stick with the original Q5 brush make sure you clean it often, as hair will inevitably get entangled around it. Also check the side brush regularly for entangled hair around the screw and seal.

-The auto-emptying can be tricky as it requires a perfect seal in order to vacuum properly into the dock’s bin. Make sure the 4 plastic tabs of the brush cover are well tucked in the housing of the roller. The tabs should not be visible when seated correctly (see photo). If your dust box is not emptying this is most probably the fix for that.

-Verify the robot’s dust box often for clogs, and keep that filter clean as they are expensive to replace. You should also clean your sensors with a microfiber cloth every once in a while. There is a timer in the app to remind you (it doesn’t actually detect anything; just a timer you have to reset manually).

-For Android users: To connect properly to your WiFi you should turn off mobile data and any adblocker app, and also disable auto-connect to both 2.4 and 5 ghz wifi networks until the robot is paired.