Roborock Q5 Max+ Robot Vacuum Review

The Roborock Q5 Max+ feels well-built. It's ultimately pretty similar in feel to the older Roborock Q5, with a body made of somewhat thick plastic. That said, it differs from that model with its dual-roller cleaning head; this arrangement is very similar to the one found on the much pricier Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, minus the latter's brushroll raising system. Its dustbin is also much larger than most other Roborock models. The vacuum itself feels rather front-heavy, with a somewhat hollow feel at the back of its body. The sealing isn't as thorough as some other Roborock models, as fine particles can escape its dustbin and be blown outwards from its LIDAR sensor. It's also worth noting that the three-armed side brush on our unit seems to have bent while in transit.

This vacuum is decently easy to maintain, with relatively few parts requiring regular maintenance. Thanks to its self-empty station, there's little reason to check the dirt compartment, which slides easily from the vacuum anyway. Some elbow grease is required now and then, though. The side brush and omnidirectional wheel do require tools to remove them: a screwdriver for the latter and a pair of pliers for the former. The vacuum's filter, which normally clips onto the dustbin, has somewhat closely spaced pleats, and to dislodge any stuck-on debris or grit, it's best to rinse it under water.

When it comes to the docking station, there's very little to do. You only really need to swap out the dirtbag once it gets full, and it's easy to swap out and install.

If you want a full rundown of the maintenance requirements associated with this vacuum, you can read its user manual online.

The Roborock Q5 Max+ incurs moderately high recurring costs.

• Brushrolls: The brushrolls need replacing after 300 hours of use or every six to 12 months. Replacements can be purchased on the manufacturer's website.
• Side brush: The side brush has a service life of 300 hours or approximately three to six months of use. You can buy a two-pack of replacements on the manufacturer's website.
• Filter: The filter needs replacing every 150 hours of use, or every six to 12 months. You can buy a two-pack of replacements directly from Roborock.
• Dock station dirtbag: A single dirtbag is advertised to hold enough debris for about seven weeks' worth of regular cleaning runs. You can buy a six-pack of bags from the company's website.

This vacuum doesn't take up all that much space. The vacuum itself isn't that big, being short enough to fit under most tables and chairs. Its docking station has almost identical dimensions to those of the older self-empty station bundled with the Roborock Q5+. Since it contains only a dustbag, with no need for a water tank to refill a mop water tank, the dock station is pretty compact overall and will fit in a nook between a bookcase and a wall.

This vacuum has an impressive overall debris capacity. The vacuum's internal dustbin is very large for a robot vacuum; while its measured capacity of 550 mL is a little less than the advertised claim of 770 mL, it's still almost twice the size of the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra's dustbin.

This vacuum comes with a self-empty docking station that's similar to the one bundled with the older Roborock Q5+. It uses 2.00 L dirtbags, which are smaller than the ones bundled with the Roborock Qrevo, though the company's marketing material states that these bags will still hold seven weeks' worth of debris.

Roborock Q5 Max+ robot vacuum

• Robot vacuum
• 1x side brush
• 1x robot filter
• Robot dirt compartment
• 2x duo roller brushrolls
• Brushroll guard

Docking Station and Accessories

• Power cable
• Dock base
• Dock dustbin
• Dock dustbin cover
• 2x dirtbags
• Quick start guide and user manual

Its battery performance is excellent overall. It falls within a pretty similar ballpark to the older Roborock Q5+, with a max runtime of a little over four hours in its 'Quiet' mode, which is plenty of time to deal with lightweight debris on hard floors. Even in its highest-power 'Max+' mode, it can run for upwards of 100 minutes, which is a lot of time to deal with more stubborn messes. It's worth noting that it will return to its dock to recharge once its charge level drops below 20%.

This robot vacuum has a couple of extra convenience features. It has five levels of suction power, ranging from the energy-efficient 'Quiet' mode to the most potent 'Max+' setting. Its surface detection system also allows it to automatically increase its suction power to 'Max' when it maneuvers onto carpeted floors. You can also toggle between two pathing modes and enable the 'Clean along floor direction' setting, which has the vacuum avoid scraping against floor seams.

This vacuum's performance on bare floors is great. It's quite effective in handling large and medium-sized debris like cereal or rice, though it might leave behind a smaller amount of finer debris like sand. Its lack of a dedicated obstacle avoidance feature can also be a bit of an asset for cleaning up close to walls and corners, as the vacuum will lightly bounce off of them instead of stopping before it reaches the edge.

The Roborock Q5 Max+'s performance on high-pile carpets is good. It struggles a little with clearing away finer debris like sand, but otherwise, it performs quite well in dealing with larger debris like cereal or rice.

This vacuum's performance on low-pile carpets is decent. As with its performance on bare flooring and high-pile carpets, it will take more than one pass to clear away finer debris like sand, but otherwise, it performs quite well, even along walls and in corners.

This vacuum does a fantastic job of dealing with pet hair on low-pile carpets. Within a single cleaning cycle, it can clear away the majority of strands, with barely anything remaining. Its twin roller head performs far better in this regard than the older Roborock Q5+'s single-bristled roller.

The Roborock Q5 Max+'s airflow performance is good for a robot vacuum. It falls within a similar ballpark to the pricier Roborock Qrevo, and it won't have too much trouble lifting away heavier debris.

This vacuum is remarkably quiet in normal operation, and you won't have any trouble hearing nearby conversations even when the vacuum is running in the same room in its 'Balanced' setting with the 'Carpet Boost' system turned on. Even at its highest suction 'Max+' setting on bare floors, it peaks at 65.9 dBA. Its multi-function dock produces a peak volume of 73.8 dBA during the self-empty process, which is a little on the louder end, but still far from overly disruptive.

The Roborock Q5 Max+ is satisfactory at adapting to a typical household environment. It navigates well around a room and cleans the area thoroughly. However, it lacks a real-time avoidance system and relies on its collision bumper, so it frequently bumps into objects. But it generally handles floor-length mirrors well and shouldn't knock them over. It also gets in and cleans under low tables well. Its front and side proximity sensor is usually sensitive enough to prevent it from contacting thin, tall objects like coat racks, allowing the vacuum to clean around them without nudging them or getting stuck. Unfortunately, it can get tangled up in tasseled rugs.

This robot vacuum is terrible at avoiding obstacles since it lacks a real-time obstacle avoidance system. It's unable to avoid any object smaller than a shoe. You can expect it to get tangled in and suck up USB cables, extension cables, socks and pet waste.

This robot vacuum offers decent performance in clearing low obstacles. The LIDAR sensor isn't especially tall, so the vacuum clears low obstacles better than the average LIDAR-equipped robot vacuum.

The vacuum delivers satisfactory threshold clearance. It lacks specialized hardware to clear very tall thresholds, but it does a decent job climbing short to moderately tall thresholds.

This vacuum does a poor job of sealing in fine particles. Fine allergens bypass its exhaust filter and are blown straight out of its exhaust and LIDAR sensor.

This vacuum has poor crack-cleaning performance. It struggles with drawing up fine debris wedged deep within crevices, and its side brush tends to swirl debris outwards, which the vacuum won't necessarily clean up afterward. Running a second pass does little to improve its performance here.

This vacuum has no impact on stains. If you want a Roborock model with a mopping system that active scrubs away stains, the Roborock Qrevo is worth a look.

This vacuum isn't designed to deal with liquid spills.

This vacuum has a broad range of physical automation features, though overall functionality is still limited if you don't use the companion app.

You can use the buttons on top of the vacuum to have it start a general-purpose cleaning cycle, return to its dock, or engage the self-empty function.

The Roborock companion app has a pretty wide range of features, with a well-laid out interface. The vacuum offers multi-floor mapping capability so that you can use it on any floor in your house. Using the coverage map, you can set room names, split areas, set up 'No-Go' zones, and establish virtual boundary lines for areas you don't want the vacuum to enter. You can also set 'Entrapping Thresholds' for spots like door steps or transition strips. You can also schedule cleaning sessions for individual areas, set individual suction modes for different areas, or see cleaning session history.

You can direct the vacuum manually by selecting a room you want it to go to using the 'Pin n Go' function or by using the in-app directional buttons. You can also use the app to check the maintenance status of various wear components, change the auto-empty settings, adjust the voice used for audio prompts, and set up its 'Do Not Disturb' mode.