Laser mapping systems scan your home as S5 cleans, giving it the information it needs to clean every room as quickly and efficiently as possible. Strong suction and multiple cleaning modes: Select the best mode for your cleaning environment, from Carpet, Quiet, Mopping, Balanced, Turbo & Max mode, with a maximum suction power of 2000Pa. use the Mi Home App for scheduling, map saving, setting no-go zoned& barrier tape, zoned cleaning, spot cleaning, direction control, real-time monitor and customization. Compatible with Android, IOS, support Alexa voice control. Reveal more in Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum review.
In the box
- 1* Roborock S5 robotic vacuum
- 1* Dock charger with US plug
- 1* Beak-like cleaning tool
- 1* Washable filter
- 2* Water tank filter pairs
- 1* Water tank and Waterproof pad
- 2* Mop cloth
- 1* User manual
Specification – Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum
- Battery Life: 2 hours-2 hours and 30 minutes
- Turbo brush: Yes
- Size(mm): Other
- Dust box capacity (L): <0.5 L
- Filter Type: Hepa
- Certification: CE,ROHS
- Model Number: Roborock S5
- Max Voltage (V): 24v
- LCD: No
- Installation: Robot
- Bag Or Bagless: Bagless
- Function: Mopping & Sweeping & Suction Type
- Power (W): <500W
- Remote Control: Yes
- Dust Storage Type: Dust Box
- Timing Reservation: Yes
- Cord Length (m): Wireless
- Cleaning Route: Planned Type
- Special Suction Nozzle: Wiping & Absorbing Ground Brush
Compare Roborock S5 vs Roborock S6
| Roborock S5 | Roborock S4 | Roborock S6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Lidar navigation+SLAM | Lidar navigation+SLAM | Lidar navigation+SLAM |
| Map | Apartment layout, running route, map saving, selective cleaning | Apartment layout, running route, map saving, selective cleaning | Apartment layout, running route, map saving, selective cleaning |
| Max suction | 2000Pa | 2000Pa | 2000Pa |
| Runtime | 150 minutes | 150 minutes | 180 minutes |
| Sweeping and mopping | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Dynamic brush | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Carpet boost | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Smart top-up | Recharge and resume | Recharge and resume | Recharge and resume |
| Zone cleaning & no-go zones | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Water tank | 140ml | 140ml |
Key features – Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum
High Efficiency
The capacity of water tank up to 290ml, over 200 square meters area is fully covered.
The high-precision LDS laser ranging sensor scans the room at 300RPM.
Adaptive algorithms calculate the most efficient cleaning route around rooms and obstacles.
Using a unique drawer design, the mop panel can be installed and removed quickly and easily, without flipping the robot over or removing the water tank.
Quick-release main brush, mop mount, water tank, and dustbin for easy maintenance Washable air filter and mop pad extends lifetime use of these items.
Make Home Clean So Easy
Compared to previous models, the Roborock S5 Max has been upgraded to mop and sweep features. It is equipped with a large water tank, which can cover a larger area to improve cleaning efficiency. Super suction and adaptive route planning algorithms, to achieve a better home automatic cleaning effect. Free yourself from messy cleaning task.
Intelligent Settings
Set sweeping and mopping off-limited areas via APP.
When docked, water is switched off, allowing S5 Max to be left ready for the next mop.
Schedule cleanup for specific rooms at different times, on different days.
Climbs easily over 0.8in (2cm) high thresholds and carpets. Automatically switches to turbo mode when cleaning carpet.
The robot will automatically charge back when the power is less than 20%, and evaluate the required charging time according to the area of the unswept area. When the power is sufficient, the robot will continue to clean the unswept area.
290ml intelligent electric control water tank.
Super Cleanness
Consistent mop pressure design to ensure the mopping effect.
Selective room mopping allows users to select specific rooms for mopping, set appropriate water flow and vacuum strength for each room.
Maximum suction up to 2000Pa hydrostatic air duct improvement, reduce wind resistance, improve dust absorption capacity.
Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum Review
Design
At 13.9 inches in diameter, the circular Roborock S5 is a pretty standard size for a robot vacuum. But at 3.8 inches tall due to a laser sensor in the middle, it might have trouble getting under low-clearance furniture. I tested the white model, which has silver accents along the rim; it also comes in black or rose gold.
Buttons
The top is home to a Spot Clean button, a Recharge button, and a Power button with a circular indicator light that glows white when there’s more than 20 percent battery life, and red when there’s less. Under the lid you’ll find a removable dustbin, a Wi-Fi indicator light, a system reset button, and a cleaning tool for the main brush. The front has a bumper and a wall sensor, and the back has an air vent and a speaker for voice alerts. Flip over the S5 to find the main brush, side brush, swivel wheel, cliff sensor, and charging contacts.
Accessories
The vacuum comes with a few accessories. In addition to a docking station, you also get an extra filter, a water tank, a moisture-proof mat, and two mopping cloths.
How to setup and use apps?
The S5 connects to Xiaomi’s Mi Home app, available for Android and iOS. Once you turn the vacuum on, select the Roborock under the Home Appliances tab on the app. Open the S5’s lid and hold down the Spot and Recharge buttons at the same time until you hear the speaker say, “Resetting Wi-Fi,” and the Wi-Fi indicator light starts blinking. To complete the setup, connect to the Roborock’s own Wi-Fi network, after which it will automatically connect to your home Wi-Fi network.
Tapping on the the S5 icon under the My Devices tab brings you to a map of your home and controls. The floor plan is captured using the S5’s navigational laser sensor. Underneath is the amount of surface area cleaned so far, the battery life remaining, and the cleaning time.
The vacuum creates a new map each time it cleans, but you can save the layout of your home using the Map Saving Mode feature under Settings. In testing, the map accurately logged all the different rooms in my apartment and noted where specific furniture is, like the clothing rack in my bedroom and the couch in my roommate’s room.
Map Saving Mode allows you to create virtual barriers called No-Go Zones and Barrier Tape. With No-Go Zones, you can outline parts of the room you want the vacuum to avoid. Barrier Tape sections off rooms you want the vacuum to stay out of completely.
The app also houses more direct vacuum controls. Go sends the S5 to the exact spot in the house you choose on the map. Clean starts cleaning, and Dock sends it back to the charger. Zone Cleanup directs the vacuum to areas of the house you’ve outlined on the map, with the option to clean each zone up to three times.
The Settings menu offers a wealth of additional features you’re sure to use. I’d recommend activating Carpet Mode right off the bat, as it allows the Roborock to automatically recognize carpets and increase suction. Also helpful is a “do not disturb mode” that lets you set a time when the vacuum should not clean.
This is also where you can access your cleaning history, view how long the various vacuum components have until they need to be cleaned or replaced, and even access manual vacuum controls in the form of a virtual remote control or joystick.
More features can be found under the Settings tab. Cleaning Mode lets you change the suction power of the vacuum from its default Quiet setting to Balanced, Max, Turbo, or Mop. Other features include Cleaning History, Do Not Disturb mode, Find My Robot, and the option to turn notifications on.
Roborock S5 – control with voice command
Amazon Alexa support is available through the Xioami skill, but it’s a little odd with the Roborock S5 appearing as a switch. To start a clean, you have to say, “Alexa, turn on <name of your robot>”. You can stop a clean, too, although the robot just stops where it is. Other robots have commands to send the vacuum back to their charging stand.
Be careful what you call your robot, too. When I said, “Alexa turn on Roborock S5”, she tried to play rock music from Spotify. Changing to an easier-to-say name fixed this. There’s no Google Assistant support at the moment.
Roborock S5 – How loud is it?
The Roborock S5 isn’t particularly loud. Measuring on the Balanced mode on a hard floor, I found that it peaked at 68.9dB. That’s loud enough that you can hear it, but quiet enough that you can hear someone talking over the top of vacuum running.
Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum performance review
Mopping
Without the ability to set how much water the mop uses, you’re rather at the mercy of the automatic drip-freed and how well you’ve soaked the microfibre cloth.
Running the vacuum cleaner over my light kitchen floor, which sees a lot of dirt tramped through by three cats, the results were mixed at best. Deeper stains weren’t really touched, while lighter ones saw some pick-up (see below for before and after shots). For lightly soiled floors, the Roborock S5 could be useful, but I didn’t find it as good as the Deebot Ozmo 930, which lets you configure the level of water to use for cleaning.
Carpets and hard floors
While the Roborock S5 might not be the best automatic mop I’ve tested, it’s certainly a very good vacuum cleaner. I used a combination of carpet freshening powder and flour, spreading it in “X” patterns in the middle of the floor, by the edge of the room and on the carpet.
The spillage in the middle of the room was picked up almost perfectly, with only a trace amount of dirt left behind. I’ve seen more expensive vacuum cleaners struggle with this test.
At the side of the room, there was more dirt left behind, as is typical for robot vacuum cleaners. However, the result was impressive and shows how good the navigation on the Roborock S5 is to get so close to the edge.
On carpet, you can just about see the outline of where the dirt sat. Some more expensive cleaners have done a better job at this test, but not by a lot.
Overall, the Roborock S5 is a quality robot vacuum cleaner, punching far above the level its price would suggest.
Roborock S5 smart laser navigation sweep and mop robot vacuum customer review
Most complete and reliable robot vacuum of 2018
I am very impressed with a product, I have also owned a Neato Botvac, Deebot N79S and Deebot 901. I would say the Deebot N79S is good for an entry level robot vac. The Neato Botvac is on the middle of the road with laser navigation and scheduling but no wifi or app integration. The Deebot 901 is probably the cheapest bot with high end features but fails to be reliable with it’s mapping capabilities and the battery life is not as good as other high end bots. The Xiamo Roborock S5 has everything you would desire on a robot vacuum while staying on the low side in pricing compared to the rest of the high end bots from Roomba, Neato and others.
If you are shopping for your first robot vacuum have in mind that most robot vacuums will:
Vacuum your house entirely and return to their base for recharging one way or another.
Vacuum on hard floor or short carpets/rugs
Are very easy to use with one button auto clean
Have some type of spot cleaning option for small messes
Have sensors to avoid drop offs like stairs
Have 1 or 2 spinning brushes to pull dirt from edges and corners into their suction
Have some type of bumpers and/or sensors to avoid obstacles
Can clean around obstacles like table legs and chairs
Have filters to keep the air clean which need to cleaned regularly
Can be blocked from going to certain spots on your floor with magnetic strips or other devices (Roomba)
Will get tangled with small cables, clothes, etc that it finds on it’s path
So when shopping for bots you want to focus on additional features based on your needs:
Battery life depending on the size of your house
Level of suction depending on how much carpet cleaning you need or if you own pets that shed hair
Ability to clean on taller carpets/rugs
Height – Based on your furniture height to allow to clean below furniture, beds, etc.
Wifi connectivity for features like remote control, mapping, section cleaning, virtual barriers, scheduling, remote tracking of cleaning, finding your bot, etc.
Mopping capabilities (No robot can do as good as a job of mopping as human being with a mop. What they do is drag a damp cloth through the floor. Mostly for dust or lite stains)
Xiami’s Roborock S5 checks all the boxes. With Exceptional battery life, great suction, reliable mapping (More on this later), strong mobile device app support, virtual barriers, multiple cleaning modes for max power or more battery life, manual remote control, Google assistant or Alexa integration, useful mopping capabilities, cleaning history with maps, tracking of usage of replaceable parts to know when to replace, voice response, etc, etc.
Battery life
The Roborock S5 can clean my entire house of over 3000 sq feet without having to recharge. This is due to it’s great mapping and navigating capabilities which makes it very efficient and it’s huge 5,200 mAh battery. This one by far can clean for the longest time of any other bot I have owned. The Deebot 901’s battery could not last long enough to map my entire house or clean the entire house on one pass. Neither did the Neato Botvac.
Cleaning Quality
With it’s 2000 Pa strong suction this thing sucks! (In a good way). The side brush also has variable speeds. Slower speed on hard floors for avoiding the dirt to fly away and faster on carpets which give more resistance. It will pickup small particles as well as larger items like cheerios. I really love how it cleans my rugs and leaves visible straight lines that complements it’s cleaning. The Deebot N79S’s weak suction did not do great on my rugs and it’s random cleaning patterns did not leave aesthetically pleasing lines on them. The Neato Botvac did as well as the Roborock S5 on the rugs.
Mopping
Again, if your expectation is that this will mop your kitchen floor for you 100% of the time you will be disappointed with this or any “mopping” robot. No tiny robot can apply the level of force human being can apply on a mop nor will it wipe dozens of times on the same spot to clean a hard stain. The way it works is by dragging a microfiber cloth on it’s patch while slowly and constantly feeding the cloth more water to keep it damp. First day I was a bit disappointed because while “mopping” it left a 1″ line right down the middle of it’s path that you could visibly see it was not cleaning. What was happening is that the small wheel on the bottom of the water tank was not allowing the cloth to make contact with the floor. I installed 2 layers of masking tape along the middle of the water tank and that did the trick. Now it “mops” evenly along the length of the cloth. I will include a picture of my modification.
Mapping & Navigation
The Roborock S5 mapped my entire house in one pass and in the 3 weeks I have had it, it has never deleted the map like I have read other bots do. It is so cool to track the route of the bot on the app as it cleaned and mapped the house. The reason I was so impressed by this is because the Deebot 901 had problems mapping my house. Mostly because it could not complete the task in one battery cycle so after going back and charging it has to start again. I am abIe to draw rectangles in the map to have bot clean only in a specific area and automatically go back to it’s charging dock afterwards.
You can add barriers and no go zones to manipulate where the bot cleans or where not to clean. This is awesome because I like to clean my rugs every day and my hard floors every other day. I discovered that if you did not want to wait for the Roborock S5 to clean the entire house in order to map it you could drive it around the house with the manual controls and it would map the house too. I wish I knew this earlier. Also, the manual controls can help you fix the map if you had issues. For example, one day my son closed the doors of the laundry and the bathroom after I had left the house. The bot went to clean as scheduled but because the doors where closed it adjusted the map as if there were walls there.
On the next scheduled clean it would not go in the bathroom or laundry although the doors were open because it had mapped walls instead of doors there. I thought I had to reset the map and re-map the entire house. What I did was manually drive the Roborock S5 into the bathroom and laundry and then back to its base and Walla! The map was fixed without having to remap the entire house. I think this is an unintended feature but it works. One thing very important you need to know is that if you plan to pick the bot up from the floor to untangle or for cleaning the brush or any other reason, you need to make sure the bot is paused and not running.
If you pick it up while its actually cleaning without pausing the bot it will delete it’s map. You will have to let it remap the house again. In the cleanup menu on the app, if you select “Mop” it will adjust it’s cleaning pattern to mop over the same spot twice for better results. In this case, you better vacuum first then mop because it turns the suction to it’s minimum. Also, you don’t want it to mop on your rugs or carpets so make sure you block them with virtual barriers or no go zones in the app.
Issues
One of my rugs has patterns with dark black lines. Initially the robot just turned around when it got to the lines. What was happening was that the drop off sensors where interpreting the lines as a drop off and was turning around. Since my house is one story and I don’t have any drop offs, I covered the sensors at the bottom of the robot with masking tape and that did the trick. The Roborock S5 now climbs on top of the rug and does a great job of cleaning. I would not recommend covering the sensors if you use the bot where there are stairs or any other drop offs because your bot will fall and may break.
Missing Features
The only features that I have seen on other much more expensive bots that the Roborock S5 does not have are:
Ability to save multiple maps for house with multiple stories
I am expecting that Xiaomi will add this feature via software update in 2019.
Auto emptying of the dust bin
The most expensive Roomba does this but you have to pay over $900 for it. As I read the reviews a lot of people are saying that half the time it doesn’t even work. I think this is a an unnecessary feature since emptying the bin is extremely easy to do and takes very little time.
Conclusion
The Xiaomi Roborock S5 is rock of a robot vacuum (Pun intended). It simply works as intended which is something I would not say about many other bots with Wifi connectivity and navigation. The cleaning power is off the charts! The control of when and where to clean or not to clean is amazing and works flawlessly. If you do not want to use the app it will also work in auto clean with just a press of a button. The mopping is a nice extra that keeps my hardwood floors dust free and helps maintain my ceramic floors clean. It keeps getting better with Software updates. Overall this bot has a complete set of features and is very reliable at a very attractive price range. I would highly recommend this product for any surface type, larger houses and every day cleaning..