Well, Roomba is the name everyone knows, the one your uncle got for Christmas in 2015, and Roborock is the brand that keeps winning the spec-sheet wars. But after a month of running the Roomba Max 705 and four different Roborocks through my clients' homes and my own 1,000-square-foot two-story, I can tell you the marketing is lying to you.
The Roomba isn't the reliable icon it used to be, and Roborock isn't the fragile tech toy the older reviews claim.
I've been cleaning houses for nine years, and I've spent the last 30 days watching these bots wedge themselves under sofas, miss entire wall sections, and occasionally do something genuinely impressive.
Here's the truth.
Roborock Q7 M5+
10,000Pa suction picks up Dusty's fur, self-empty base that lasts 7 weeks,...
Visit on Amazon →
iRobot Roomba Max 705 Robot Vacuum with AutoEmpty Dock, Powerful Suction, Dua...
Unleash advanced cleaning power with the Roomba Max 705 Vac Robot + AutoEmpty Dock, engineered to keep busy, pet-loving homes spotless. Extreme power-lifting suction combined with anti-tangle Dual Rub
Visit on Amazon →
roborock Qrevo S5V Robot Vacuum and Mop, FlexiArm Edge Mopping
FlexiArm edge mopping actually reaches baseboards, the best mopping I've tested
Visit on Amazon →
roborock Q7 L5 Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo, 8,000Pa Suction
8,000Pa suction is plenty for hard floors, low price
Visit on Amazon →
roborock Qrevo Series Robot Vacuum and Mop, Upgraded from Qrevo S
Say goodbye to frequent emptying with RockDock Plus. The large dust bag lets you clean for up to , making it perfect for every kind of household. For deep, powerful cleaning on various floor types, ta
Visit on Amazon →How I Tested
I ran every bot for a full month in real homes. Not a weekend in a lab, not a "quick test on my kitchen floor." A month. My own house has hard floors, low-pile carpet, a 62-pound lab mix named Dusty who sheds enough to stuff a pillow every two weeks, and two cats that drag litter everywhere.
I also ran them in client homes, including a 4,000-square-foot McMansion with three staircases and a 600-square-foot apartment with cords snaking across every doorway.
I don't track prices day to day, so I won't pretend to know next week's deal. The prices I quote are what I paid or what buyers reported paying in the last 60 days.
The Roomba Max 705: The Name That Got Comfortable
I wanted to love the Roomba. I really did. It's the brand I recommended to clients for years because it was the one that just worked. But the Max 705, at ~$499, feels like a bot that hasn't evolved since 2018.
The first thing I noticed was the navigation. It doesn't map the room in a pattern. It bounces around like a drunk relative at a wedding, bumping into furniture, re-cleaning the same 3-foot section over and over until I manually stopped it.
The AutoEmpty dock works. That's the one thing I'll praise. The dual rubber brushes are genuinely good with pet hair, and I didn't have to untangle Dusty's fur from the rollers once. But the ledge detection is nerve-wracking.
I watched it hang about 25% of its body over my client's basement stairs before it detected the edge and backed up.
It hasn't fallen yet, but I'm not confident enough to leave it alone near an open staircase.
The app is the biggest disappointment. No live location tracking, no estimated time of completion, and I had registration errors that said "Something went wrong" with zero explanation. I had to reboot my phone twice to get it to pair. At ~$499, I'd expect a bot that doesn't need babysitting. This one does.
For the price, I'd take the Roborock Q7 M5+ every single time. Same self-empty convenience, better mapping, and it doesn't get stuck under the same low sofa repeatedly. The Roomba will immediately go right back into the same spot after you rescue it. I've watched this happen more times than I can count.
Roborock Q7 M5+ : The One I'd Recommend to My Clients
I was skeptical when I first saw the price. But the 10,000Pa HyperForce suction is real. I tested it on Dusty's fur, on dust, on dried crumbs on hardwood, and it picked up everything the Roomba did. The 150-minute battery is legit, too. It cleaned my entire 1,000-square-foot main floor on a single charge with BOOST cleaning, then docked itself and emptied into the base.
The self-empty base holds up to 7 weeks of debris. That's not marketing, that's real. I've had it running daily for a month and the dock bag is maybe a third full. The foam roll filter inside the dock gets dirty fast, though. You'll be cleaning it every 2-3 runs. That's the maintenance cost of self-emptying, and every brand has it.
The mapping is where this bot wins. The first Explore run was accurate. It didn't miss entire wall sections like the Shark AV2501S I tested last month. The no-go zones work properly, and I set them up in the app in under a minute.
The mopping pad is a joke for anything beyond light dust. It's fine for keeping hard floors from getting dusty between real moppings. That's it. Don't expect it to handle dried footprints or the spot where a client's kid spilled juice and didn't tell anyone.
For the price, it performs much better than I expected. At ~$399, you're getting 90% of what the ~$700 Qrevo S5V does, minus the edge mopping. That's a deal.
Roborock Qrevo S5V: The Best Mopping I've Tested, But Is It Worth ~$699?
The FlexiArm edge mopping is the real deal. It swings out and actually reaches baseboards, which is something no other bot I've tested can do. The mop pad spins at high speed and it's genuinely effective on light stains. I tested it on dried footprints in a client's kitchen and it got most of them. Not all, but most. That's better than any other bot mop I've used.
But here's the thing. At ~$699, this is still not a replacement for a real mop. It's light maintenance, not deep scrubbing. I've told every client this and I'll tell you the same. If you have wall-to-wall carpet and a shedding dog, you're still going to need a real vacuum for the deep stuff.
The obstacle avoidance is better than the Q7 M5+. It didn't get stuck on cords or under low furniture as often. But it still got stuck, just less frequently. And the app has too many modes. I spent 10 minutes just figuring out which cleaning pattern I wanted. Sometimes I just want to press a button and have it clean.
Choose the Qrevo S5V if you have a lot of hard floors and you care about baseboards. Choose the Q7 M5+ if you want 90% of the performance for ~$300 less.
Roborock Q7 L5: The Budget Pick That Almost Makes the List
At ~$299, the Q7 L5 is the budget option that does 80% of what the Q7 M5+ does. The 8,000Pa suction is plenty for hard floors and low-pile carpet. I tested it on Dusty's fur and it handled it fine. The battery lasted about 120 minutes, which cleaned my main floor with a bit to spare.
The problem is the bin. Without a self-empty base, you're emptying it every 2 days with a shedding dog. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's a maintenance cost you should factor in. And the mapping is slightly less accurate than the M5+. It missed a 5-foot wall section on the first Explore run. I had to re-explore once before it got it right.
Choose the Q7 L5 if you're on a budget and you don't mind emptying the bin. Choose the Q7 M5+ if you want the self-empty convenience. The ~$100 difference is worth it if you have pets.
Roborock Qrevo Series: The Upgrade That's Not Quite There
I tested the Qrevo Series as an upgrade from the Qrevo S, and it's better, but not dramatically. The obstacle avoidance is improved, and it's quieter than the Q7 M5+. But the foam filter in the dock gets dirty just as fast, and the app has the same too-many-modes problem.
At ~$599, I'd rather spend the extra ~$100 on the Qrevo S5V and get the FlexiArm edge mopping. The Qrevo Series is a good bot, but it's in a weird middle ground. It's not budget enough to be a steal, and it's not premium enough to justify the price over the Q7 M5+.
The Mopping Reality
Every bot with a mop attachment claims it mops. None of them actually mop like a person with a mop. The best you'll get is light maintenance rather than deep scrubbing. I've tested them on dried footprints, on kitchen grime, on the spot where a client's kid spilled juice and didn't tell anyone.
None of them handle that. They're fine for keeping hard floors from getting dusty between real moppings.
That's it.
The Qrevo S5V is the closest to a real mop I've tested, but it's still not a replacement. At ~$699, you could buy a ~$300 bot and a ~$100 real mop and still come out ahead.
The bottom line: The Roomba Max 705 is a bot that relies on its name instead of its performance. At ~$499, you're paying for the brand, not the technology. The navigation is outdated, the app is frustrating, and it gets stuck more than bots half its price.
The Roborock Q7 M5+ is the bot I'd recommend to my clients, and the one I'd buy with my own money. At ~$399, it does 90% of what the ~$700 bots do, with reliable mapping, strong suction, and a self-empty base that actually lasts. It's not perfect, and the mopping pad is a joke, but for the price, it's the best value on this list.
If you have a lot of hard floors and you care about baseboards, the Qrevo S5V is worth the upgrade. If you're on a budget, the Q7 L5 will do the job, you'll just empty the bin more often.
I've been doing this for nine years, and I've seen clients spend ~$800 on a bot that gets stuck just as often as the ~$200 one I recommended. Don't be that client. Save the extra ~$300 for a real mop. Your floors will thank you.