Here's why I'd choose the Roborock S5 Max over the S4 Max on Black Friday
When choosing between an excellent Roborock robot vacuum this Black Friday, it might be tough to decide between the company's many options. While both will be amazing additions to any smart home, the Roborock S5 Max packs in a better value and the ability to mop your entire home - not just vacuum it.
Vacuum and mop at the same timeRoborock S5 Max | $160 off at Amazon
The Roborock S5 Max doesn't just feature best-in-class navigation or a powerful 2,000Pa suction motor, it also features a big old water tank on the back so it can mop while vacuuming. An included washable mopping pad means you'll save money versus using disposable options, too!
When vacuuming is all that mattersRoborock S4 Max | $180 off at Amazon
The Roborock S4 Max is laser-focused on vacuuming with enhanced suction power, better carpet cleaning, a larger dustbin, and the ability to climb even higher thresholds when compared to the original Roborock S4. It's a must-have when you just need an amazing robot vacuum.
The Roborock S5 Max is one of my all-time favorite robot vacuums for a reason. While there are robot vacuums that can empty themselves, there is simply no vacuum at this price point that can navigate or clean as intelligently as a Roborock vacuum. On top of that, the Roborock S5 Max packs in a giant 290mL water tank on the back so it can mop as it vacuums, giving your floors the ultimate clean in a single sweep.
The Roborock S5 Max wasn't the first robot vacuum from Roborock to feature a mop, but it was the robot vacuum that debuted the constant-pressure system and significantly larger water tank that's now used on other top-end Roborock vacuums. Constant pressure is important because it means, no matter how full or empty that water tank is, the mop is always applying a certain level of pressure to the floor in order to mop up as much dirt and grime as possible. Previous designs worked best when the weight of a full water tank pressed harder on the floor but performed worse as the tank emptied.
In addition to constant pressure, the massive water tank on the back won't need to be refilled after every cleaning. That's always a great thing when you just want to get the house mopped but might not be at home to check the water level. Roborock also packed in an electronic pump that can be controlled via the Roborock app - so if you know you've got extra-messy floors, it's a simple button press to apply additional water to the pad during mopping.
The electronic pump control comes in handy particularly if your home has multiple types of hard floors, as you can specify how much water to use in each room of the house. That's great for homes that have a mix of tile, cork, or wood as you may not want to use the same amount of water on each flooring type to keep it from getting damaged.
The Roborock app makes it possible to denote no-mop sections on your map, as well as the usual no-go zones and virtual barriers. That's great if your home is like mine and has several area rugs that really shouldn't be mopped. No-mop zones are only active in the app when the vacuum detects the mopping pad is attached so you won't have to worry about it skipping these areas if you're Roborock is just going on a vacuuming run around the home.
But what if you don't have hard floors or they are separated by lots of carpeted areas? Then the Roborock S4 Max is the perfect choice because it's laser-focused on vacuuming your home, including better carpet performance than ever before. A new, more powerful motor and tweaked roller brushes are designed to clean carpet better than the original Roborock S4 Max.
Roborock has also further tweaked a unique feature that can only be found on the Roborock S4 family: the ability to climb high transitions. Some homes, like the previous house I lived in, have extremely high transition strips between rooms. Most robot vacuums simply cannot climb these and will treat those strips as if they were walls, leaving the rooms beyond forever in a state of dirtiness. The Roborock S4 Max can now climb even higher transition strips than the original S4, making this the robot vacuum to get if you've got such strips in your home.
The Roborock S4 Max also has a larger dustbin than ever before and can, therefore, suck up more stuff in a single cleaning cycle than the Roborock S5 Max or original Roborock S4 could. Pet owners know just how much hair their robot vacuums can pick up, and even a slightly larger dustbin could be the difference between your robot vacuum ending the job early, due to a full dustbin, and completing the entire home in one pass.