Roborock S6 MaxV

The Roborock S6 MaxV is the successor to the very popular Roborock S5 Max. The S6 MaxV differs from its predecessor by being equipped with two front cameras (for object recognition), and a stronger suction power (2500 Pa vs. 2000 Pa).

We tested the Roborock S6 MaxV for several weeks in various environments to get a subjective feeling of the robot vacuum, and we tested it on some objective criteria, in accordance with our robot vacuum cleaner test method 1.1.

Who is the Roborock S6 MaxV suitable for?

• Pet owners can take advantage of the product’s use of AI because it can detect and avoid pet poop, unlike many other robot vacuums that will go over and spread it.
• Because of its strong suction power that can go as high as 2500 Pa, it is suitable for those who have low to medium-pile carpets, and pet owners who have heavy shedding pets.
• Those who have wide spaces and multiple-level houses will be satisfied with this product because it can save up to four maps, and has a long battery life that can finish a floor level on a single charge.

Who is the Roborock S6 MaxV not suitable for?

• If you are on a tight budget, you might want to consider other cheaper robot vacuums that can fit your needs. If this is the case you might want to consider a robot vacuum cleaner with gyroscopic navigation instead.
• If object recognition is an important feature for you, there are alternative robot vacuum cleaners that are better at detecting objects. For example, take a look at the Roborock S7 MaxV, or the Roborock S8.
• If you have a lot of carpets, you might want a robot vacuum cleaner that can avoid carpets when the mop is attached (or which can lift the mopping cloth, so the cloth doesn’t touch the carpet). The Roborock S7 or the iRobot Roomba Combo j7 might be a better choice.

Navigation

The Roborock S6 MaxV features a LiDAR laser navigation system and two front cameras that enable it to quickly navigate and create an accurate map of your home. With the front cameras, it can detect and avoid obstacles such as charging cables and pet food bowls. However, it may not always avoid every object, and sometimes it can bump into objects like a dog's water bowl, which could cause spills. Additionally, the front cameras allow you to see what's happening in your home (Live remote video view), making it useful for identifying objects such as dog poop.

Test of ability to avoid objects

The robot did a good job in our object avoidance test. It managed to avoid 4 out of 5 objects, only the cloth wasn’t avoided. It only touched the other 4 objects softly or completely avoided them.

App

You can control the Roborock S6 MaxV with the Roborock app. In the app you can find a precise 2D map of your home (after it has run for the first time), and you can control a lot of functions. The app is the best robot vacuum cleaner app we have tested so far.

The App is very intuitive and easy to use. It provides a lot of convenient features such as:

• Room selection cleaning
• Zone cleaning
• No go zone
• Water level control (5 settings)
• Suction power control (5 settings)
• Live remote video view

Battery

The robot’s battery is sufficient and the robot can easily clean my whole house in one charge.

According to the manufacturer it can clean for around 180 minutes on one charge (in standard mode), which equals around 240 m². The charge time is specified to be 300 minutes.

In our test, the robot vacuum cleaner cleaned an area of 35 m² in 36 minutes. This means it approximately cleans 1 m² per minute.

Cleaning

The robot vacuum cleaner does a good job when it comes to vacuuming up dust and dirt. It has a suction power of up to 2500 Pa. Newer models significantly exceed this suction power, for example the Roborock S8 has a suction power of 6000 Pa, and the Ecovacs Deebot X1 OMNI has 5000 Pa (you can find the robot vacuum cleaners with the strongest suction power here).

The robot vacuum cleaner gets into the corners nicely and gets around the whole house very well (you can see the areas it has cleaned in the app and follow it in real time).

It has 5 suction modes (I typically use the Max mode, which has the strongest suction power).

In our cleaning test, the robot did a perfect job, the results were as follows:

• Parquet floor cleaning, 50g sand: 50g collected (100%)
• Parquet floor cleaning, 50g rice: 50g collected (100%)

Our test shows that the Roborock S6 MaxV is very good at cleaning floors. We have tested several robot vacuum cleaners on parquet floors, and in general the parquet floor cleaning is very good across high-end robot vacuum cleaners.

Carpet cleaning

When the robot detects a carpet, it increases its suction power to "Max" to clean the carpet as thoroughly as possible. Its ability to recognize carpets works well, but it does not register the carpets in the interactive map in the app, as, for example, the Roborock S7 MaxV does.

We haven’t tested this robot vacuum cleaner in a carpet cleaning test.

Mopping

The robot can be used both with- and without the mop attached. The water tank has a capacity of 0.3 liters, which is sufficient for a 200 sqm large household.

The robot does not come with mop lifting (this function has been added to its successor, the Roborock S7). This means the mop also will mop carpets, which can cause discoloration if you have light-colored carpets. You can avoid this by adding no-go zones on the carpets when you want to use the robot with the mop.

Also, if you have light door mats, you risk the robot dragging them along.

Mopping cleaning results

We tested the Roborock S6 MaxV’s ability to clean up dry stains from the floor. We tested with 3 types of stains on the floor:

• A dry stain of sour cream
• A dry stain of ketchup
• A dry stain of coffee

The robot did an almost perfect job and was able to remove the coffee stain and the ketchup stain completely. However it didn’t manage to remove the sour cream stain completely.

Noise emission

We tested the Roborock S6 MaxV’s noise emission in three different suction power modes. The results was as follows:

• Maximum noise emission measured in “Quiet mode”: 63.5 dB
• Maximum noise emission measured in “Balanced mode”: 65 dB
• Maximum noise emission measured in “Max mode”: 69.4 dB

The robot is significantly quieter in Max mode than its successor, the Roborock S7 MaxV. The S7 MaxV version measured 73.5 dB in Max mode, but the robot vacuum cleaner also has significantly higher suction power.

Dirt disposal unit

This model of the robot does not include a dirt disposal unit, and it is not possible to purchase one.

If you want a robot vacuum cleaner with dirt disposal, consider the Roborock S7+, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra.

Size

The robot measures 35.0 cm in diameter and has a height of 9.65 cm. It weighs 3.7 kg.

This is a common size for robot vacuums, and with this height, it is able to pass under most furniture (such as couches, my beds, etc.).

Shape

The Roborock S6 MaxV has a round shape, which is the most common form among robot vacuum cleaners. This shape enables it to maneuver out of tight spaces (compared to D-shaped models). In our test, the robot vacuum cleaner didn't get stuck on anything either.

Climbing ability

The robot vacuum cleaner is specified to have a maximum climbing ability of 2.0 cm.