Roborock Q5 Pro Robot Vacuum Review: A Handy Helper

Price When Reviewed

$249.99

Best Prices Today: Roborock Q5 Pro

For those not be able to justify splashing the cash on some of Roborock’s pricer models, the entry-level Q5 Pro robot vacuum has much to offer. It uses the same sleek, user-friendly app as its more expensive siblings, plus its big onboard bin negates the need for an emptying base station, so it won’t take up much space in your home either.

This, plus rubber roller brushes that resist hair tangles and an optional mopping module make it an attractive robot vac for dust-free hard floors on a budget.

For more wallet-friendly robot vacuum buying recommendations, have a look at our round-up of the best cheap robot vacuums we’ve tested.

Design and Build

• Large 770ml onboard dustbin
• Up to 4 hours of cleaning
• 5,500Pa suction

Unlike several of Roborock’s other models, the lack of a base station to empty into means that the Q5 Pro robot vacuum has to carry everything it needs with it: a large 770ml dustbin, so you don’t have to empty it often, and a detachable 180ml water tank for mopping.

However, US buyers can get the Q5 Pro+, which comes with a self-emptying dock, although it is somewhat pricier, currently $479.99 from Amazon.

This means that it’s a little taller than some at 9.7cm, but it’ll scoot below an average kitchen plinth comfortably. Its diameter is average at 35cm, with the top home to a trio of buttons. One starts it cleaning, one kicks off a spot clean and the other sends it back to its dock – handy if you don’t want to pick up a device or find your smart speaker (it’s compatible with Siri, Google Home and Alexa).

Inside, there’s a 5200mAh battery, making it weightier than some robot vacs at 5.52kg. This provides up to four hours’ cleaning if you choose its quiet mode – useful if you have large areas of flooring.

Underneath, you’ll find twin roller brushes made of rubber to prevent tangles and a side brush combined with a reasonable 5,500Pa of suction power – not as powerful as some but not as lacklustre as others.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

It’s finished in black plastic, with a coordinating dock. The dock charges the robot vac and comes with a separate clear mat to protect your floors from a wet mop pad.

Performance and Features

• Charging dock needs a fixed spot
• Quick mapping
• Basic mopping

Where the Roborock Q5 Pro robot vacuum will live is an important first question when setting it up. The lightweight charging dock and moisture-proof mat both attach to the floor using double-sided tape, so it’s not something you can keep changing your mind about.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

In addition, the dock has a short power cable, reducing placement options. We liked that the bin was accessible for emptying when the robot vac was charging.

However, the rest of the set-up was seamless. The Q5 Pro connected to the app first time, and most of the functionality is easily located under relevant menus. You’ll find features such as Pin and Go, which is a spot clean specified in a certain area, and a remote control if you want to direct it yourself.

What we especially liked was the option of either quick mapping without cleaning, or mapping while cleaning. We chose the latter and it still only took about 10 minutes to map our floor. In this, it was helped considerably by LiDAR, as we could see the shape of each room form long before the robot vac had explored it fully.

Once mapped, it was straightforward to divide, merge and name rooms, then set cleaning schedules.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

One aspect we did notice was that it tended to have trouble with low obstacles when navigating. For example, it tried climbing a stone hearth several times. This wasn’t something that could be moved, so we had to make this area a no-go.

The upshot of this was that the flooring around the hearth wasn’t cleaned properly. The Q5 Pro also became stuck on piano feet and between a table leg and chair: it used a twisting movement to try and free itself but we had to intervene.

We tested the Q5 Pro’s cleaning on both hard flooring and mid-pile carpet, using flour in place of dust and oats as debris. While the clean was mostly good on the hard floor, we had to run the cleaning cycle twice as there was a fair amount of residue left, and even then some flour remained and a few oats had been flicked by the side brush to cleaned areas.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Its performance was divided on carpet. Most of the oats were removed after two cleans on the highest setting, but there was a lot of flour left behind, which we had to vacuum up with our usual appliance.

Related Topics:HandyHelperProReviewRoborockRobotVacuum

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