I think I can admit something, we’re all friends here: I am lazy as hell. I hate mess and dirt, and I am a bit of a germaphobe. But, at the same time, I’d rather go out for a long bike ride than mop and vacuum my floor thrice a week. Once a week, sure. But the recommend thrice, or even four times a week is a bit much. This is where a robot vacuum cleaner like the Roborock Q Revo comes in.
What is the Roborock Q Revo?
It’s a robot vacuum cleaner that also mops. It has a little auto-empty station with a dust bin, and it’ll clean and dry the mopping feet, as well as refill the clean water tank in the robot.
A couple of years ago, those features would have been really exciting, but now they’re kind of expected on the more premium robots.
What makes the Q Revo special is that it can both vacuum and mop at the same time, by lifting up its little mopping feet when it goes up onto rugs and other carpeted surfaces. While it’s not the only model out there that can do that, it does have pads that lift up slightly higher than usual (7mm instead of the standard 5mm) and it is the only one I’ve reviewed that can do that, so I’m still very impressed.
Is the Roborock Q Revo good?
It really depends on what you mean by “good” here. In terms of suction, it can’t hold a candle to the Dyson 360 VisNav. But it also isn’t running headfirst at every object in my home like it’s part of a demolition derby, so in that way it’s better than the Dyson.
It doesn’t have anywhere near close to the suction power of a regular vacuum cleaner, its one little side brush when in pure vacuum mode is pathetic for picking up dirt from corners. But, as long as you see it as a complementary vacuum cleaner to the one you still have to do by hand every week or so, then that’s ok.
In terms of mopping, I’m actually quite impressed. It doesn’t hold a candle to my steam mop with some elbow grease, but it’s far more effective than almost any other robot vacuum/mop I’ve ever used. The rotating mopping pads really seem to do a good job, rather than just limply running a damp rag over the floor like some other brands do. It also releases just the right amount of water, not leaving my wooden floors too wet.
It’s not great if you try to get it to mop up a fresh spill, but it excels at mopping up dried stains, so you’re still better off just getting a cloth to wipe up any fresh spills. But that’s pretty standard, and isn’t much of a both if you just do the preliminary wipe up and then send in the robot later.
What is the Roborock Q Revo not good at?
I would describe the Roborock Q Revo’s object avoidance as akin to a blind dog who has lived there for a while. It kinda gets the gist of where things are all the time, but it will bump into a lot of things and try to eat your cables if left unsupervised.
I have experienced worse object avoidance, but there is also better out there. Nothing I own got broken, which is already a step up from the aggressive Dyson 360 Vis Nav, but I also have to untangle it from something at least once whenever I use it, which isn’t great.
The verdict
The Roborock Q Revo mopping robot vacuum cleaner with auto empty station is a solid choice. It’s not going to blow your socks off, it hasn’t reinvented the wheel, but it’s also pretty good.
Whether or not you need one depends on whether not having to mop/vacuum quite as often is worth $2000 to you. You will still need to vacuum every week or two, and you’ll still need to mop your kitchen and bathrooms every couple of weeks (more often if you have children/men who can’t aim and refuse to sit down in your household). The Q Revo, like almost all robot vacuum cleaners, is more of a supplementary/maintenance cleaner, as opposed to a full cleaning solution.
Where to buy the Roborock Q Revo
Roborock Australia $1,999 | Godfreys $1,999 | Bing Lee $1,999