Home & Office

Why you can trust ZDNET : ZDNET independently tests and researches products to bring you our best recommendations and advice. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Our process

‘ZDNET Recommends’: What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET’s editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.

Home Home & Office Smart Home

These new midrange Roborock vacuums might make you rethink more expensive robovacs

The company also unveiled a new stick wet and dry vacuum during IFA 2023 in Berlin.

Written by Maria Diaz, Staff Writer on

Roborock is adding two new midrange robot vacuum mops to its lineup: the Roborock Q5 Pro and Q8 Max, with prices ranging from $429 to $819. Both models feature strong 5,500Pa suction with a dual roller sweeping system and mop for a lower price than competitors like iRobot, Eufy, and DreameTech.

These are the first Roborock robot vacuums outside the company’s S line to feature the DuoRoller system, combining two bristle-free rubber brushes that spin in opposite directions to pick up debris more effectively. The Q5 Pro and Q8 Max robot vacuums join five other Roborock releases this year, releasing seven new robot vacuums by the end of 2023.

Also: The best robot mops: Keep your floors clean without the work

The Q5 Pro and Q8 Max boast AI-based no-go zone detection, which ensures the robot vacuum automatically detects and avoids steps, ledges, and tight spaces — even suggesting areas in the app for you to set up as no-go zones. A combination of lidar sensors to determine the most efficient cleaning route across the area makes for quick mapping of entire floors or rooms.

Though the Q5 Pro doesn’t have obstacle avoidance to go around your charging cables or your dog’s mess, the Roborock Q8 Max boasts Reactive Tech. This feature enables it to react to obstacles in real time and troubleshoot to work out a route around them.

The robot vacuums can be set up to clean in a specific direction along the floor, parallel lines on wooden floors, or along the seams on tiles for a deeper clean.

Customers can purchase the ‘plus’ (+) version of each model, which includes a self-emptying feature for the robot vacuum’s dustbin. This would enable the robot vacuum to automatically empty its dustbin into a 2.5L bag at the charging station, which Roborock says only needs emptying every seven weeks.

Also: The Narwal Freo converted me to robot vacuums, and I’m not turning back

The Q8 Max has a 470mL dustbin and 350mL water tank and will be priced at $599, with the Q8 Max+ with a self-emptying dustbin dock priced at $819.

The Q5 Pro has a 770mL dustbin and 180mL water tank and starts at $429 for the standard version or $699 for the Q5 Pro+ version with a self-emptying dustbin.

Roborock also announced a new upright multifaceted 5-in-1 wet and dry vacuum, the Dyad Pro Combo. It’s a handheld, stick, multisurface, and wet and dry vacuum all in one, with multiple attachments and cleaning heads. The Dyad Pro Combo, available for $550, can automatically adjust cleaning power and water flow depending on how dirty the floor is, features 17,000Pa of suction power, and performs self-cleaning and self-drying when docked.

Both robot vacuum mops and the Dyad Pro Combo will launch in October.