Roborock S6 MaxV review - The robot vacuum for pet owners - Android

The Roborock S6 MaxV adds dual cameras and a Qualcomm chipset to its tried-and-tested mop and vacuum capabilities.

There’s a good reason why more than nine out of ten robot vacuum cleaner owners would recommend them to their friends. They cost a pretty penny, but they can eliminate hundreds of hours of housework per year. I don’t know about you, but I’ll do practically anything to get out of mopping or vacuuming, so I’m all ears. This is the Roborock S6 MaxV review.

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What is the Roborock S6 MaxV?

The Roborock S6 MaxV is Roborock’s most powerful vacuum cleaner yet. As with previous Max models, it combines mop and vacuum functionality. But the S6 MaxV is Roborock’s first robot vacuum equipped with both LIDAR sensors and stereo cameras. This makes for better obstacle avoidance and more accurate room mapping and navigation.

Its on-board AI has been trained in object recognition so the robovac can better avoid things like power cords, shoes, coffee cups and, yes, even pet poop. Automatic floor recognition means you can take it anywhere in your house and it will know where it is.

The Roborock S6 MaxV is Roborock's most powerful vacuum cleaner yet and its first with stereo cameras.

For the first time, Roborock has partnered with Qualcomm, using its dedicated APQ8053 Lite chipset for IoT products. This allows the S6 MaxV to leverage Qualcomm’s Vision Intelligence 100 Platform for on-device computation so nothing the S6 MaxV’s camera sees gets transmitted via the cloud.

I wouldn’t be surprised, however, to see a future update that allow you to “enter robot” and see what it sees. This would, of course, require the data to be transmitted to your phone via the cloud though. Personally, I like the idea of being able to use my robovac like a remote sentry if I wanted to, so fingers crossed.

Roborock S6 MaxV vs Roborock S5 Max vs Roborock S6

The primary difference between the Roborock S6 MaxV and its predecessors is the addition of dual cameras. The twin cameras allow the MaxV (the “V” is for vision) to see in stereo, the same way you do.

This means the S6 MaxV can calculate distance more accurately than a single camera can, enabling much better obstacle avoidance. Combine this with its on-board Reactive AI object recognition and you’ve got a noticeably smarter robovac on your hands.

Beyond this, there’s a fair bit of overlap between the three models, so I’ve thrown together a quick reference specs table below.

	Roborock S6 MaxV	Roborock S6	Roborock S5 Max
Suction power	2,500Pa	2,000Pa	2,000Pa
Dustbin capacity	460ml	480ml	460ml
Water tank capacity	300ml	140ml	290ml
Battery	5,200mAh	5,200mAh	5,200mAh
Runtime	180mins	150mins	150mins
Rated power	66W	58W	58W
Noise (dB) - Balanced mode	67dB	67dB	69dB
Noise (dB) - Quiet mode	64dB	64dB	67dB
Price	$749	$649	$599

Beyond improved object detection and avoidance, the S6 MaxV provides 25% better suction than either previous model. It also ekes out an extra half hour from the same-sized battery despite its more powerful motor. The S6 MaxV has the added benefit of being able to map up to four different floors in your home and recognize them automatically.

The S6 MaxV’s advanced capabilities will cost you more. It’s $749 retail price is notably more expensive than the $649 Roborock S6 and the S5 Max at $599. Let’s dive into the specifics to see if that extra outlay is really justified.

How to set up the Roborock S6 MaxV

Setting up the Roborock S6 MaxV only takes about ten minutes. Insert the dust bin and roller brush, fill the water tank and slot in the mop cloth bracket and you’re good to go. Plug in the dock and position it against a wall about a half meter from any corners.

Pairing the robovac to the Roborock or Mi Home app is simple. Open the lid of the S6 MaxV and press both buttons on either side of the power button. You’ll hear a voice say “resetting Wi-Fi” and a blue light near the LiDAR sensor will start blinking. Open the app to connect the robot vacuum by tapping the “+” button and follow the on-screen steps.

Setting up the Roborock S6 MaxV only takes about ten minutes.

You’ll first need to connect the S6 MaxV to your Wi-Fi network, so enter your password for that. 5Ghz Wi-Fi networks are not supported, so make sure you’re either running a 2.4GHz connection or dual-band network.

Once your phone has connected to the robovac and the robovac to your Wi-Fi, it will ask a very important question: do you have pets? If you expect, er, poop to be one of the obstacles the S6 MaxV encounters during its daily duties, make sure to say “yes.”

This means it will be extra-sensitive to little “gifts” and make a wide berth around them. Say “no” and well, you’re gonna need that mop function. You can always change this setting later via the overflow menu at the top right under “camera functions.” This is particularly handy if a visitor brings their dog over, for example.