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Compare Roborock S5 and Roomba 960 Vacuuming Robots: Which to Buy?
 (Photo Credits: Roborock)
iRobot and Xiaomi-Roborock are two of the most important vacuuming robot manufacturers today, Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 being respectively two of their most popular offerings in the floor cleaning domain. They are two of the very few robots available today that can resume by themselves the vacuuming job exactly where it gets interrupted after the robot returns to its docking station to recharge. This means that both robots are able to clean very large areas with almost no human intervention!
However, Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 are by no means identical in terms of the features they offer. If you are considering getting one of these two robots, but you are not quite sure which to get, you have come to the right place.
This article will compare in the detail the features of Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 vacuuming robots.
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Comparing Roomba 960 and Roborock S5
The following pictures show the Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 robots:
ROBOROCK S5
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ROOMBA 960
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The following table compares the features of Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 robots .
The (Note #) notation used in the table refers to the clarification notes provided following the table (please read these notes carefully in order to understand better the features that come with each robot):
The following table compares the features of Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 robots .
The (Note #) notation used in the table refers to the clarification notes provided following the table (please read these notes carefully in order to understand better the features that come with each robot):
Explanation of Notes 1 to 22 from Comparison Table:
Note 1:
Note 2:
Both robots can be used effectively on both bare floors (tile, hard wood, laminate) and low pile carpets.
Note 1:
- Roomba 960 features the iRobot's iAdapt 2.0 camera based advanced navigation system which uses SLAM technology that allows the robot to map its surroundings to seamlessly and efficiently clean an entire level of your home, creating visual landmarks to keep track of where it's been and where it has yet to clean. With iAdapt 2.0, the robot uses a high-efficiency cleaning pattern and a full suite of sensors to adapt to real world clutter and furniture for thorough coverage, avoiding obstacles and stairs, getting under and around furniture, and cleaning along wall edges and corners. An important aspect of iAdapt 2.0 technology is dirt detection: Roomba 960 is also equipped with acoustic and optical sensors which allow the robot to find dirtier areas and then spend more time cleaning.
- Roborock S5 features a high-precision laser range sensor that scans the space to be cleaned and uses the SLAM algorithm to generate a real-time map of the place. Using the map, an optimal route, along the edges first and followed by Z-shape movements, will be planned for an efficient and complete cleaning. Roborock S5 also features various sensors to detect obstacles and cliffs so accidents are avoided during the cleaning. Though, no dirt detection sensors are present, due to the accurate map of the area to be cleaned that the robots builds, good and complete coverage of the space can still be achieved.
Note 2:
Both robots can be used effectively on both bare floors (tile, hard wood, laminate) and low pile carpets.
- Roomba 960 is equipped with counter-rotating dual multi-surface tangle-free rubber brushes. Each brush is uniquely designed with rubber treads that stay in constant contact with different floor surfaces - from hard floors to carpets - adjusting and flexing, to get everything from small particles like dust and dirt, to hair and large debris.
In addition, there is a spinning side brush that cleans along wall edges. - Roborock S5 is equipped with a single multi-surface tangle-free bristle-rubber main brush. There is also a side brush to clean along wall edges.
Both the main brush and the side brush are designed to be tangle free. Note that the side brush has variable speed: it spins at 330RPM when sweeping along a wall edge, but otherwise at 130RPM to prevent dirt from flying.
(Photo Credits: iRobot)
Note 3:
- The maximum suction power for Roborock S5 is 2000 Pa. With Roborock S5, four levels of suction power can be selected in four distinct run-modes. From the weakest to the strongest, the four modes are: Quiet, Balanced, Turbo and Max, with the Max mode corresponding to 2000 Pa.
- iRobot does not specify a specific Pa number for the Roomba 960 suction power. However, it is specified that the Roomba 960 suction power.is 5 times stronger than the suction power found in the previous 600 series Roomba robots.
Note 4:
With both Roomba 960 and Roborock S5, when the robot is connected via Wi-Fi to your smartphone, you can use the associated free App to invoke remotely the various operations available, such as scheduling and operating the robot, viewing the status of cleaning jobs, and customizing your cleaning preferences.
Note 5:
Both robots are equipped with a high efficiency filter which can efficiently capture household dust, pet dander and allergens to leave your home's air fresh and clean. Note that the filters that come with both products are washable.
Note 6:
Both robots allow you to schedule the vacuuming at specific times every day of the week. You will need to use the robot's associated Android or iOS App for scheduling.
Note 7:
Most vacuuming robots will remove dirt and debris with just one pass over each area of your home. With Roomba 960, two-pass cleaning can be requested and can be particularly helpful in homes with pets or simply for periodic deep cleaning. The number of cleaning passes is one by default.
This feature can be invoked from the App.
With Roborock S5, you can also request more than one cleaning passes using the associated App.
Note 8:
When batteries run low, both robots considered here return to their docking station and recharge.
Note that, both robots are able to resume automatically the cleaning job where it was interrupted before going to the docking station to recharge. They continue this way until the job is done and the whole level of your home is cleaned!
Note 9:
Most vacuuming robots need to be restarted after they recharge themselves at their docking station (unless of course they had been previously scheduled to restart at a later time). But Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 are able to resume automatically the cleaning job where it was interrupted before going to their docking station to recharge. They continue this way until the job is done and the entire level of your home is cleaned!
Note 10:
Both robots are equipped with sensors that detect obstacles and try to avoid them to protect your furniture.
Note 11:
Both robots are equipped with sensors that detect cliffs and stairs. When they cliffs and stairs are detected, they slow down and select a new path.
Note 12:
- Roomba 960 comes with one Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barrier which is a battery run standalone little device that can be used to block off an open doorway. But it can also be used as a Virtual Wall Halo to protect some restricted area within the room (such as, for instance, the area around your dog's food bowl).
- With Roborock S5, once the robot has built a map of the place to be cleaned, you can use the associated App to set up go/no-go zones or place barriers on the map that will stop the robot from crossing them.
Note 13:
Both robots considered here can be asked to do a spot clean for very dirty places. Spot mode easily handles floors with heavy dirt or hair.
With both robots, spot clean can be invoked either by pressing the spot clean button on the robot itself, or from your smartphone via the associated iOS or Android App.
Note 14:
Though Roomba 960 is equipped with a side brush to clean wall edges, it also features selectable special final edge cleaning action to make sure that stubborn dirt and debris along wall edges are all removed. After the robot finishes cleaning the open areas of your floor, it will use the final edge clean feature to ensure that it has cleaned along walls and around furniture legs. With Roomba 960, final edge clean can be invoked from your smartphone via the associated iOS or Android app. If you prefer a quicker clean, you can disable final edge clean using the App. Note that the final edge clean feature is turned on by default.
Note 15:
With Roborock S5, after the robot has built and stored the map of the area to be cleaned, using the associated Mi Home App, you can select to clean a single room or a certain area by simply dragging the cleaning frame on the map to the selected room or area to be cleaned. The maps related with selective cleanings is shown below on the App associated with Roborock S5:
(Photo Credits: Roborock)
With Roomba 960, though you can not have zone based cleaning, you can use the map that the robot creates on the App to display floor coverage details and duration for completed kjobs.
Note 16:
With Roborock S5, when carpet boost feature is selected, the robot automatically detects that it is cleaning a carpet and increases its vacuuming power to provide a deeper clean. This feature can be selected using the associated App.
Note 17:
Though Roborock S5 does not have a full bin indicator, when you start the robot, if the bin is too full and needs to be emptied, it will tell you to empty it.
Note 18:
Roborock S5 features sweeping + mopping capability for a cleaner experience. This robot not only sweeps all floor types, but it can also mop the floor with the detachable mop fitting which you simply slide into the base of the unit. Note that the mopping mode is selectable using the App and should be used only with rooms that have no carpets as the robot will continue to drip water on carpets. Note also that when the feature is used on washable hard floors, you have the option of vacuuming and mopping at the same time.
The water tank is designed with the philosophy of botanical biomimetics, and together with the microfiber mopping cloth, they make home cleaning easier. There will be uniform water seepage during mopping, but no water seepage when the robot is still.
Note 19:
Both Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 are equipped with are equipped with a high capacity rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. Note that Lithium-Ion batteries are designed to provide longer cleaning sessions than other battery types such as Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), and they last longer before needing to be replaced.
Battery Run Times:
The run time for Roomba 960 before it goes back to recharge is about 75 minutes and for Roborock S5 it's about 150 minutes.
But note that run times can vary extensively depending on the amount of work the robot has to do to clean the floors. That is because different types of carpets, different floor plans and different amounts of dirt may require different amounts of effort from the robot and hence different amounts of ''juice'' from the battery.
Note 20:
Both robots can be remotely controlled from your smartphone or tablet using the associated free App to schedule the robot, to invoke the various run modes, to send the robot to the docking station, etc. No explicit remote-control device is provided.
Note 21:
Both robots are also compatible with Amazon Alexa, so they can be controlled with vocal commands. Simply ask Alexa to start, stop, or dock your robot.
Note 22:
The "D" in the dimensions refers to the diameter, and "H" to the height of the unit. All measurements are in inches.
With Roborock S5, when carpet boost feature is selected, the robot automatically detects that it is cleaning a carpet and increases its vacuuming power to provide a deeper clean. This feature can be selected using the associated App.
Note 17:
Though Roborock S5 does not have a full bin indicator, when you start the robot, if the bin is too full and needs to be emptied, it will tell you to empty it.
Note 18:
Roborock S5 features sweeping + mopping capability for a cleaner experience. This robot not only sweeps all floor types, but it can also mop the floor with the detachable mop fitting which you simply slide into the base of the unit. Note that the mopping mode is selectable using the App and should be used only with rooms that have no carpets as the robot will continue to drip water on carpets. Note also that when the feature is used on washable hard floors, you have the option of vacuuming and mopping at the same time.
The water tank is designed with the philosophy of botanical biomimetics, and together with the microfiber mopping cloth, they make home cleaning easier. There will be uniform water seepage during mopping, but no water seepage when the robot is still.
Note 19:
Both Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 are equipped with are equipped with a high capacity rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. Note that Lithium-Ion batteries are designed to provide longer cleaning sessions than other battery types such as Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), and they last longer before needing to be replaced.
Battery Run Times:
The run time for Roomba 960 before it goes back to recharge is about 75 minutes and for Roborock S5 it's about 150 minutes.
But note that run times can vary extensively depending on the amount of work the robot has to do to clean the floors. That is because different types of carpets, different floor plans and different amounts of dirt may require different amounts of effort from the robot and hence different amounts of ''juice'' from the battery.
Note 20:
Both robots can be remotely controlled from your smartphone or tablet using the associated free App to schedule the robot, to invoke the various run modes, to send the robot to the docking station, etc. No explicit remote-control device is provided.
Note 21:
Both robots are also compatible with Amazon Alexa, so they can be controlled with vocal commands. Simply ask Alexa to start, stop, or dock your robot.
Note 22:
The "D" in the dimensions refers to the diameter, and "H" to the height of the unit. All measurements are in inches.
So which of the two vacuuming robots should you consider?
As the above comparison table shows, Roomba 960 and Roborock S5 are quite similar with respect to some of the basic must-have features such as mapping out the space to be vacuumed to ensure complete coverage, Wi-Fi support and smartphone control, avoiding stairs and obstacles, scheduling, auto recharging and resuming the job where it was interrupted after an auto-recharge. However, the two robots are by no means identical, and each offers a number of exclusive features. Therefore, we suggest you carefully study the above table and clarification notes before you decide which robot will best respond to your needs. Note that in terms of Amazon customer reviews, at the time of this writing, Roomba 960 had received 4 stars (out of 5 stars) and Roborock S5 had received 4.5 stars.
Here are some features that come with Roomba 960 and not found on Roborock S5:
You will find in the Amazon products section that follows, both robots compared above which you can click for exact price information or to purchase:
Here are some features that come with Roomba 960 and not found on Roborock S5:
- It supports dirt detection: Roomba 960 is also equipped with acoustic and optical sensors which allow the robot to find dirtier areas and then spend more time cleaning.
- It uses dual counter-rotating rubber debris extractors instead of a single bristle main brush to grab and break down dirt and debris eliminating hair tangles and jams.
- It comes with a Dual Mode Virtual Mode Barrier which can be used to prevent the robot from entering rooms or restricted areas that are not supposed to be cleaned.
- It features the selectable special final edge cleaning mode to make sure that stubborn dirt and debris along wall edges are all removed.
- It has a full bin indicator.
- It costs less than the Roborock S5.
- It features the mopping function for washable hardwood floors.
- It features selectable zone/room based cleaning.
- It gives you the option of selecting four different suction power levels: Quiet, Balanced, Turbo and Max.
- The maximum suction power is 2000 Pa..
- With a full battery, it can vacuum for a longer period of time than Roomba i7 can (150 minutes vs. 75 minutes)..
You will find in the Amazon products section that follows, both robots compared above which you can click for exact price information or to purchase:
ROOMBA 960 and Roborock S5 Robots on Amazon
Please click the Amazon product link images below to see exact prices or to purchase.
Roomba 960 |
Roborock S5 |
Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers on Amazon
Roomba 960 comes with 1 Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barrier.
If required, additional Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers can be purchased below:
If required, additional Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers can be purchased below:
Dual Mode Virtual Wall Bariers
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