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/ 

Hello! Thank you for the help. I currently have a Roborock S4 Max and am interested in buying another Roborock model. Might move the current one to a different floor of the house. I don’t use the S4 Max as often as I’d like because it frequently bumps into low items on the floor—like our cat’s food tray, cat toys, etc... That means I have to pick things up beforehand and sometimes monitor runs to make sure it doesn’t drive over something on the floor. Also, a lot of cat hair gets tightly wrapped around the spinning fan thing. Ideally, I’m looking for a model with **reliable low obstacle avoidance** so I can start a clean (or run it on a schedule) while I’m out of the house without needing to clear the floor first. I haven’t researched self-emptying or mopping much. If a vacuum without them will get the job done great I don't need them, but if I need those features to get reliable floor item avoidance/better cat hair handling, I’m open to those features. Probably flexible with budget. Thank you!

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/

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.

I would seriously consider looking on ebay for S4 Max openbox. I am on my 2nd, both at huge discounts. (for some reason I can't post link)

recommend Roborock S4 Max (I have 2 of them) [https://www.ebay.com/itm/117057058868?epid=15046003527&itmmeta=01KJG4XN444C1V7GK82J9RMGWC&hash=item1b4124f834:g:QSIAAeSwIrFpG6lY](https://www.ebay.com/itm/117057058868?epid=15046003527&itmmeta=01KJG4XN444C1V7GK82J9RMGWC&hash=item1b4124f834:g:QSIAAeSwIrFpG6lY)