Roborock - S4 Max

upvoting this. Love my roborock, just bought a second. My S4 Max has been going strong for like 3-4 years now, hell, maybe longer.

I'm in the Roborock ecosystem and I've been mostly happy with them. Started with an S4 Max that's now semi-retired and got a Q5 Pro last year because it seemed be the least mop-focused option available. In my opinion, the lower-end mops are useless and I don't even really care about the high-end mops so I don't want to pay for all of those bells and whistles. I would, however, be perfectly willing to pay good money for a vacuum-only model with the more advanced obstacle avoidance and the other non-mop features. At the moment, all high-end versions with the cool non-mop features also have high-end mops and I simply can't justify buying them because I don't care about the mop. I would gladly play for a high-end non-mop Roborock though. It would just need to be less expensive than the mop-equipped equivalent or have better vacuum performance/features in place of the mop. For example, I would be willing to pay at least $400 for something with the high-end obstacle avoidance, with or without a self-empty station. I suspect they would only sell such a model with self-empty but I just want the high-end non-mop features.

I like the Roborock brand. I bought a S4 Max 4 years ago and it still works. Recently I bought a Q10 S5+ (wet mop and vac) and it's working pretty good.  My first robovac was a Eufy 11S in 2019. It was a good entry level robovac (~$100) but frequently got stuck around the house. I still have it and it still works, surprisingly, but the battery needs to be replaced; it only has about 20 mins of life at max suction. I frequent this website for reviews and testing of the robovacs https://vacuumwars.com/vacuum-wars-best-robot-vacuums/ 

It's tied to an app but can run over your local network without an internet connection. There actually is an open source project called Valetudo that you can use to run your own server to manage it, but it only supports certain models. I have used it successfully with my Roborock S4 Max, there is a list of supported models on the site. https://valetudo.cloud/

Just picked up an Dreame L40 Ultra so our aging Roborock S4 Max can move to our basement. The perks being Valetudo support, swinging side brush, swinging mop arm, amongst the normal luxuries of auto water refill and auto empty. We still have cleaning people come for "deep cleans" beyond touching the floor but for two working parents with a puppy and two kids, this thing runs every days with weekly mops and is a MASSIVE improvement over our S4 Max. My wife is a neat freak, so she would clean after the S4 ran out of habit anyway and I've noticed her not doing it now with the L40. It also runs quieter, which is awesome so doing a run at night, plus a run after meals is easy. I am working on looping automations into my presence detection to get it to run every time we are far enough away from the house for it to do a complete cycle. Does it have more suction than our whole house vacuum? No. Is it better at mopping than our cleaning people? Also no. Is it better than my wife with our mini vacuum. Also no. But it running when we aren't around or aware makes up for all of that.

Roborock S4 Max - Ordered 09/2021 and it's been running 3+ times a day (1 full house run at least) for the entirety of it's ownership. I've just not retired it to secondary floor duty (finished basement) for a Dreame L40 Ultra. My biggest issue isn't the vacuum itself, you can source parts for it (for the most parts) and I'm talking more than just consumables like the brush, filters, and arm bristles, like wheels for instance. However I took really good care of it. I cleaned everything out, and I mean took the vacuum apart to fully clean out the entirety of its internal parts, where hair and dust really build up, pretty much 2-4 times a year. I truly think that makes the difference. > Warning, rant ahead My issue with Roborock, or the actual company, Xiaomi, or really any vacuum in general. Why does issuing a command to my vacuum need to hit a cloud server before my vacuum? Why does saying "clean the kitchen" require an internet connection? Firmware updates, sure, phone home all you want. Processing images for a AI whatever? If I have that enabled, by all means, I don't expect a vacuum to be a hardware-accelerated processing unit. I run Home Assistant, I looked into Valetudo, invested in a Dreame and took it all offline. I'm digressing majorly from what you asked but I always think it needs to be said. Hardwarewise, I think iRobot still sells parts directly for their first-released robot vacuum. In my experience, I could source cheap knockoff parts for my Roborock/Xiaomi vacuum from Amazon / Aliexpress.

Roborock S4 Max - still doing the job.

s4 max still going strong - 4-5 years. Named it notMax, after dog named Max.

We been using a Roborock S4 Max for daily vacuuming for five years and it’s still going strong.

Yeah it was definitely a steep price. I hesitated for a bit but ended up caving on the last day of the Prime Day sale. I was using the Roborock S4 Max before (vacuum only) and it worked great for years, but I got tired of the daily upkeep and it didn’t do well with long hair. I also had my eye on the QX Revo from Costco for $579.99. It looked like a solid deal and was my second choice, but it was sold out when I was ready to buy.

I was using the Roborock S4 Max that’s under $400 before the upgrade :)

Find a Roborock S4 Max. Cheap and reliable. I bought mine for $60 2 years ago and still working like a champ. Highly recommend. Make sure you do the weekly maintenance and it will last forever.

same. still going strong. I have the S4 Max. vacuum only.

I would agree with this video for the most part. What I’ve always done is go mid range for more “tried and true” features with robots that have been out a bit and have a good amount of feedback. That led me most recently to the mova p10 pro ultra or whatever the fuck it’s called. I only upgraded because in moving, I have a lot more hardwood and wanted mopping. It seemed like that level of robot was the sweet spot between having more advanced features, cleaning well, being well reviewed, and not becoming a guinea pig for things that may or may not work well. Previously I had the roborock s4 max, same deal, not top of the line when I bought it, but did its job damn well, especially where robots were when I purchased it way back when.