Roborock S6 vs Roborock S5, Review

What is better than a modern robot vacuum cleaner?A state-of-the-art robot vacuum cleaner that surpasses all previous functions!

You might get this impression, if you believe in the chinese manufacturer Roborock / Xiaomi. But what are the real differences between Roborock S5 and Roborock S6? Let's have a look...

They might be brothers and sisters

Basically, when comparing the two robot vacuum cleaners, they are almost completely similar. On the top, only the changed layout of the controls indicates that the S6 is a different model. On the bottom we recognize the new designed brush which collects the dust and dirt. This now is made of kind of rubber, the old model had bristles on. Because of the recent short test period I can not say what is more durable in the end. But I assume the rubber will tend to last longer. That's it on visible hardware innovations.

However, the (few) innovations in everyday life are noticeable. The new designed controls on top of the vacuum are not particularly important (most robot vacuum cleaner owners operate their device by smartphone), but the way the S6 is navigating trough the house seems to be more intelligent.
The Roborock S6 tends to drive more distances at high speed. He also seems to be safer and more purposeful in navigating. Roborock says, they redisgned the inner of the vacuum. Because of this it's more quiet. For me it seems like it just sounds different with maximum power. In "Balance-Mode" it might be a little bit more quiet.
Like with the S5, you can work with no-go-areas, after a while the new functions and the new layout of the app are very catchy.

The pro's and con's of S5 and S6

Roborock S6 

Pro's

Seems to navigate and drive a bit faster than S5
It's more quiet. Roborock says up to 50 %
The robot vacuum cleaner itself recognizes rooms and divides them
With the S6 it's possible to select individual rooms in the app, which you want to clean
Mopping appliance is detected automatically and mopping mode is selected automatically in the app
Mopping seems to be more thoroughly, plus it's now possible to select different modes with more or less water (manually on the bottom of the mopping appliance)
Curtains are recognized more efficient

Con's

More expensive than S5

Roborock S5

Pro's

Remote control via app is way better than with S6 (at the moment, maybe it will get fixed in a future update)
Cheaper than S6

Con's

If you don't want to clean the whole house you have to select zones, it's not possible to work with rooms
The S5 is not able to work on more than one floor


My Roborock S6 is a black one. I like the design of this version but the dust bin may be more transparent. It's much easier to estimate if I'll need to empty it within the next few days in the white S5. Also you see dust on top of the vacuum much better than on the white version. But that's all no big deal.
All in all it's not a big difference between Roborock S5 and S6. If you want to have the newest model with all it's new functions, you will be happy with the S6. If you just want to have any kind of robot vacuum cleaner for a good price, the S5 is the choice. With all it's functions it's worth the money. And who knows, maybe Roborock will update the Soft- and Firmware?

In the end I have to thank Roborock and Xiaomi for the great opportunity to test and review the brandnew S6.

For those who have read the whole text until here, I have a special video. I called it "Roborock Wars" 💪