Roborock s5 max vs s6. Which is better?

Last updated on Jul 27, 2021 Robot Vacuum Cleaners

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The Roborock s5 max and Roborock s6 are both Robot vacuums from the roborock company. After its first release in June 2019, the Roborock s6 proved a worthy upgrade of its predecessor the Roborock s5, with more advanced navigation and better vacuuming technology. It was in the same year that the Roborock s5 max was released, with a few changes and trade-offs. Let us find out which roborock is better in the roborock s5 max vs s6 battle.

The two robot vacuums come with an almost similar design and build. Both have a top knob in their center. However, for the Roborock s6, it acts as a physical pressure sensor which can be pressed like a button (unlike with the Roborock s5 max).

The Roborock s6 is a whisper quiet robot vacuum cleaner and generally has better noise control than the s5 series. With a 480ml dustbin, you will not have to frequently empty the bin while it cleans the house. Therefore, the Roborock s6 is the better option here if you are interested in a robot with advanced sound suppression and one that won't need frequent emptying.

The Roborock s5 max has a 290ml water tank and is relatively within the same price range as the s6 without a lot of differences to point to. Therefore, if you are looking for advanced mopping functionality, then the Roborock s5 max is your go-to robot vacuum cleaner.

Truthfully, the roborock s5 max and roborock s6 are more like twins and have many more similarities than differences. When it comes to the technology and functionality, both the Roborock s5 max and s6 have very similar features such as; wireless capability, adaptive route planning, smart mapping, ability to create virtual no-go areas, scheduling and a mop function.

But let us focus on each of their individual specifications and dig deeper into their differences and similarities below.

Main differences in the Roborock s5 max Vs s6

The Physical buttons functionality

The Roborock s6 has 3 physical buttons which come with 4 functionalities.

The middle button acts as a power on/off button when long pressed, and also acts as a Start/Pause button when short pressed.

On the far left is a spot clean button. When pressed, the robot vacuum uses more power and focuses on cleaning a select area.

On the far right is a Home button. When it is pressed, the robot vacuum heads back to its charging dock.

The Roborock s5 max has 2 physical buttons;

The Home button sends the robot vacuum to its charging spot

The power button starts or pauses the robot vacuum while in a cleaning cycle.

The E11 Air Filter

Both the roborock s5 max and s6 come equipped with an e11 filter that captures 95% of allergens in the air. This filter makes the air at home cleaner and much easier to breathe. The e11 filter can also be washed which means it won't need to be replaced that frequently.

The Design and height

Both the Roborock s5 max and s6 have the same design when looked at from a far, however, there are some crucial differences which can only be noticed if you are keen. The top circular knob on the Roborock s6 acts as a physical pressure sensor which can be pressed like a button. For the Roborock s5 max, the top knob is static.

There also exists a difference in height when it comes to these two Robot vacuums, with the Roborock s5 max at 3.8 inches tall while the Roborock s6 is 3.7 inches tall. It is not that much of a noticeable difference, but it still exists.

Dustbin size

The Roborock s6 has a larger dustbin size than the Roborock s5 max. The capacity for the bin of the Roborock s6 is 480 ml while that of the Roborock s5 max is 460 ml.

It is important to have a large dustbin so that your robot doesn’t have to emptied often due to the bin filling up quickly.

Main Similarities in the Roborock s5 max Vs s6

The Body Build and Shape

Both the Roborock s5 max and s6 have the same body build and similar shape. The two robot vacuums look alike and are circular in shape.

Smart mapping

Another similarity that the Roborock s5 max and s6 have in common is the smart mapping functionality.

When you set up your robot vacuum for the first time, your robot vacuum helps you create a smart map of your house or apartment. This is done with the help of a LiDar navigation sensor, and it takes a little longer for it to setup the first time. During this setup process, it works towards covering every inch of the house so as to map it out your fully.

Smart mapping helps you easily clean your house since it gets segmented into rooms and/or floors that are easy to manage.

With the smart map, you can now separate room cleaning by directing the robot where specifically you want it to clean.

Zoned cleaning

Both the Roborock s5 max and s6 support zoned cleaning. After creating a smart map for your home or apartment, you can create zones and no-go areas on your map.

Zoned cleaning helps you specify areas in your house that you routinely clean and also allows you to create no-go zones where you do not want your robot vacuum to go.

With this technology, you can clean your house based on your zone preference.

Schedule cleaning

Both the Roborock s5 max and s6 support setting up cleaning schedules. These help you pre-plan your cleaning routine for the days you won’t be around. All in all, you do not have to worry about forgetting to clean your house on a particular day.

Just imagine coming back from a busy workday, and your apartment is clean from any dirt or pet fur.

Mopping functionality

The Roborock s5 max and s6 come with a mopping functionality for cleaning floors with water. The mop comes with a mop tank for water. For wooden floors and tiles, this comes in as a handy feature since it proportionally distributes water through the mop and wets it effectively.

The cleaning brushes

The roborock s5 max and s6 both have the same brushing design and cleaning technique. It has a main brush in the middle and a side brush which pulls any dirt to the main brush. To clean the main brush, the roborocks have a handy cleaning tool fixed near the dustbin that extracts out any stuck hairs or objects from the main brush. The dustbin can be removed and placed back to its storage area.

The Roborock application

The Roborock s5 max and s6 vacuum cleaners are controlled with the help of the Roborock application. This comes with a user-friendly interface and lots of functionality at your disposal.

If you are a new user, you are supposed to configure your smart robot and connect it to your network, in order to enjoy its advanced features. Here is a detailed guide from the official Roborock website support forum.

The Robot application has some of the following options;

Smart mapping
Create cleaning schedules
Use of voice command options
Create no-go zones
Cleaning a specific room more than once

And many more other functions as we’ve seen above.

Recharge and resume capability.

In order to make the smart cleaning experience even more seamless, this special feature from the Roborock family of Robot Vacuums makes robot recharge easier. It saves you the time of having to manually charge your robot.

When your Roborock s5 max or s6 runs out of battery, it will automatically return to its charging docker to recharge. When it is fully charged, it will then return to the exact place where it stopped and will resume its cleaning.

Multiple Cleaning modes

The Roborock s5 max and s6 vacuum cleaner have a variety of cleaning options, depending on the floor or power-usage you prefer to use. These include:

Quiet: Mainly for night time operation and it uses less power.

Mopping mode: The mopping function is detachable. It uses its water tank to wet the mop as its vacuum dries the floor at the same time.

Balanced: It uses medium power.

Turbo: This is a bit faster than the balanced mode.

Max mode: The robot uses maximum power with this mode.

This multi-mode functionality helps a user adjust and flexibly clean while effectively using different power based on the type of floors.

The Battery life

Both the Roborock s5 max and s6 have the same battery life. With a battery size of 5200 mAh, you can enjoy approximately three (3) hours of constant battery time with their lowest power function (Quiet mode).

Special features of the Roborock s5 max

Smart obstacle navigation

The Roborock s5 max does a good job at traversing around barriers and passing under chairs or tables. You cannot neglect some instances where it may try to move over an obstacle, however, it changes route when it realizes there is no way ahead. This gives the s5 max a better navigation capability than its counterpart the Roborock s6.

Advanced mopping functionality

The Roborock s5 max has a separate detachable electric water tank. This is different from the earlier water tanks of the Roborock s6 and s5 which discharge water purely by gravity. The Roborock s5 max holds more water than the roborock s6. Secondly, it has an electronically controlled water dispenser that can also be adjusted using the Roborock mobile application. This gives the roborock s5 max a mechanism for controlling the amount of water it dispenses so that you can choose the right amount of water needed for floors.

S5 Max Pros

In addition to no-go lines, you can set up no-mop zones. This is for areas where you do not want your mop to clean when your robot vacuum is scheduled to mop.

Good battery life

Well-positioned exhaust vent. It doesn’t scatter lightweight debris as much as the roborock s6.

Voice control options: The Roborock s5 max allows users to make commands with available voice command options like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa or Siri.

Better side brush design: The Roborock s5 max side brush has a unique side brush material with pointy ends which do not stall like in the Roborock s6.

S5 Max Cons

More power required for effective mopping: In most cases, the Roborock s5 is required to mop a floor more than once to remove certain stains with its mopper.

High price range: The Roborock s5 max is more expensive when compared to the roborock s6. Even though the roborock s5 max does have many differences to point to. This leaves the roborock s5 max at a disadvantage when price is an issue of contention.

Special features of the Roborock s6

Quad-core processor

The Roborock s6 has an embedded 32-bit quadcore processor which makes its automated cleaning experience even smarter. With this processor, it calculates the best and fastest route thus using optimal time while cleaning and vacuuming.

Room Specific Scheduling

The Roborock s6, with the help of the Roborock mobile application, enables a user to schedule cleaning for a particular room. With the room select feature, you can name and then choose which room is cleaned, one after the other.

With this feature, you can be as specific as you want. This means that you can choose the cleaning mode, power usage and the specific rooms you want to be cleaned using any cleaning schedule you prefer.

S6 Pros

Voice control options

Recharge and Resume capability

High quality water mat

Good battery life

Setting up no-mop zones

Larger dustbin size: It is approximately 2 cups. So, if you are not home, you don’t have to worry about your bin getting full so quickly and the robot pausing the cleaning.

S6 Cons

Poor side brush design: The side brush of the roborock s6 has tendencies of stalling and doesn’t effectively push debris to the central brush as is expected. So its cleaning is no that thorough.

Roborock s5 max Vs s6, which is better?

The Roborock s5 max vs s6 match up is one that is more or less between twins, identical in many ways and different in a few.

In the table below, we compare the different features of both robot vacuums.

	Roborock s5 Max	Roborock s6
Smart maps	Yes	Yes
Weight	7.94 pounds	7.94 pounds
Dustbin size	460 ml	480 ml
Mopping	Yes	Yes
Mop tank capacity	290 ml	140 ml
Height	3.8 inches	3.5 inches
Maximum Climb Height	0.74 inches	0.74 inches
Drop detection	Yes	Yes
Running time (on low power)	150 minutes	150 minutes
Colors	Black, White	Black, White
Battery size capacity	5200 mAh	5200 mAh
Max suction	2000 Pa	2000 Pa
Daily Scheduling	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi Connectivity	Yes	Yes
Voice command options	Supports Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Siri	Supports Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Siri

Conclusion: Roborock s5 max Vs s6

The Roborock s6 is the better choice in the roborock s5 max vs s6 comparison if you are need of a robot vacuum having a larger dustbin and is slightly less noisy.

But, if you are after a robot vacuum with an advanced water mopping feature and large water tank size, then the roborock s5 max is the better choice.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Roborock s5 max

Q: Can the Roborock s5 max be used by multiple people using different Roborock app accounts?

A: No. However, a single Roborock application account can be used for multiple devices.

Q: Can I program the Roborock s5 max to clean specific rooms?

A: Yes, this is possible. You can do this by enabling the map saving mode on the Roborock application, then tapping on the room you want to be cleaned in the app. The robot will then go on ahead to clean that room.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Roborock s6

Q: Can my roborock s6 clean without Wi-Fi?

A: Yes. The Roborock s6 cleaner can work without Wi-Fi. With the help of the 3 button controls on the robot vacuum cleaner, you can clean your full house, carry out a spot clean mode and send the robot cleaner to its charging docker. (Refer to the physical button functions explained in the differences section above)

Q: Is the Roborock s6 compatible with other smart home apps like Smart Life app?

A: Currently, the Roborock s6 can be controlled by the Roborock application only. You can however control it with Alexa or Google Home.

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