Roborock vs Ecovacs: Which robot vacuum should you buy?

16 hours ago 9
Roborock vs Ecovacs
Maria Diaz/ZDNET

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When you're considering buying a robot vacuum, parsing the antithetic brands and models tin beryllium overwhelming. Truthfully, determination are a batch of robot vacuum brands worthy of your consideration. Only a decennary ago, buying a robot vacuum meant choosing from a mates of brands competing with each other. Now, dozens of robot vacuum manufacturers person earned themselves respectable reputations.

Also: The champion robot vacuums for favored hair: Expert and laboratory tested

If you are investing successful a robot vacuum that volition enactment successful your location and support your floors for astatine slightest the adjacent 5 years, which 1 should you choose? There are a batch of similarities betwixt Roborock and Ecovacs successful presumption of features and consistency, but I'll dive into immoderate cardinal differences that volition assistance you find which is close for you.

On app features

Roborock vs Ecovacs

The Roborock and Ecovacs applications broadside by side.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Since I started utilizing Roborock 7 years ago, the app has been consistently 1 of the champion connected the market. In the years since, it's lone gotten better. However, I've utilized some the Ecovacs and Roborock apps simultaneously for the past 2 oregon 3 years, and I person to accidental that the Ecovacs app has improved a lot, too. 

Still, the Roborock app is simply a favourite among users, whereas the Ecovacs app is much divisive. Many features successful the Ecovacs app are intuitive and casual to use, portion others are harder to find, particularly erstwhile compared to the Roborock app. 

Also: This robot vacuum mops truthful well, it cleaned up the messiness my Roomba near behind

Roborock has honed an easy-to-navigate, reliable exertion that lets you make aggregate level maps with elaborate cleaning routines. It lets you customize room-specific behavior, scheduling, and negociate your representation successful the astir elaborate mode I've seen. 

The Ecovacs app has improved a batch successful caller years, but its paper layout is inactive awkward; settings and customizations consciousness buried and hard to find. You tin easy negociate circumstantial cleaning scenarios connected the main page, specified arsenic vacuum-only, vacuuming and mopping, intensity, and h2o flow. But uncovering much intricate customizations and personalization settings isn't intuitive. 

On representation instauration and navigation

Roborock vs Ecovacs Navigation

This airy path, created successful our investigating lab, shows the paths a Roborock and an Ecovacs instrumentality erstwhile cleaning the aforesaid area.

ZDNET Labs

Unlike app performance, navigation depends wholly connected the circumstantial robot vacuum model.

In my experience, I've recovered that each marque has immoderate models that outperform others successful navigation, but much Roborock models outperform Ecovacs models. The Ecovacs X8 Pro Omni won't navigate with adjacent easiness arsenic the Roborock Saros 10R, arsenic the erstwhile is much comparable to the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow

Ecovacs mostly prioritizes innovation successful cleaning hardware implicit the quality utilized to navigate. This doesn't mean that Ecovacs aren't bully astatine obstacle avoidance, which we sermon below, but less models volition outperform a Roborock successful navigation.

Roborock has historically invested successful representation accuracy, way planning, obstacle recognition, and betterment behaviour erstwhile thing goes wrong. In summation to large innovations successful robotics, Roborock has besides relied heavy connected the bundle its robots usage to process the situation captured by their cameras and sensors. 

Also: I fto Roborock's archetypal self-cleaning roller mop vacuum cleanable my hardwood floors, and it delivered

Roborock uses a bundle stack that the institution has improved implicit the years to process information from LiDAR and airy sensors, arsenic good arsenic RGB cameras. This concern is wherefore Roborock's Saros Z70 tin navigate its surroundings and deploy a mechanical limb to drawback and determination obstacles retired of the way. 

If you're into Ecovacs and are looking for a robot that outperforms astir Roborock models, I urge the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone oregon X12 OmniCyclone.

Suction performance

Roborock vs Ecovacs
ZDNET Labs

Ecovacs aggressively advertises large Pascal (Pa) numbers, a portion that measures unit difference, but Roborock tends to absorption connected suction power. Pascals are utilized to measurement the spot of a vacuum's suction, arsenic they picture however overmuch suction unit the centrifugal tin generate. The higher the Pascal rating, the stronger the vacuum's powerfulness to propulsion aerial and debris upward.

However, Pascals unsocial don't automatically construe into amended cleaning. To beryllium a high-performing vacuum, a robot needs beardown suction (measured successful Pa), bully airflow, an businesslike brushwood plan to assistance debris, immoderate interaction with the carpet, and bully navigation to really scope the dirt.

The presumption suction propulsion and suction powerfulness are often utilized interchangeably successful marketing, but they're not the aforesaid thing. Suction propulsion is the vacuum's unit difference, measured successful Pascals, and is simply a measurement of the motor's strength. Suction power, successful turn, is the vacuum's wide quality to determination debris, truthful it combines unit and airflow.

Also: Forget Roomba: This futuristic robot vacuum changed however I cleanable my floors - seriously

Suction show is wherever our Lab information excels, arsenic we've tested the suction powerfulness of 8 Roborock models and 10 Ecovacs robots to find the apical performer. Overall, the results are beauteous close:

Robot vacuum brandSand removed from hardwoodSand from low-pile carpetSand from mid-pile carpetAverage suction score
Ecovacs76.2%53.6%50.4%60.1%
Roborock85.3%51.0%50.7%62.3%

These soil pickup tests impact weighing each robot's dustbin, past distributing a specified magnitude of soil implicit antithetic flooring surfaces, including hardwood and low-pile and medium-pile carpet. After the robot vacuums the investigating area, we measurement the dustbin and the soil wrong to find what percent of the soil the robot picked up. 

Roborock averaged 62.3% of soil pickup crossed the antithetic level types, portion Ecovacs was adjacent down astatine 60.1%. Quantifiably, they're adjacent capable successful suction show that you can't spell incorrect with either brand.

Obstacle avoidance

Roborock vs Ecovacs obstacle avoidance
Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Unlike navigation, obstacle avoidance is astir evaluating the quality to acceptable a robot vacuum and hide it, without worrying that it whitethorn get stuck successful a sock oregon a charging cord. Having to rescue a robot vacuum that's stuck connected an entity contradicts your crushed for buying it successful the archetypal place: to manus disconnected the cleaning task.

In my experience, Roborock vacuums thin to observe obstacles sooner than Ecovacs models, truthful they dilatory down sooner erstwhile approaching them and are much apt to spell astir them. 

Also: Finally, a robot vacuum that cleans my dogs' hairsbreadth reliably well

However, that isn't the lawsuit for each Roborock models. One illustration is however the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone outperforms the Roborock Qrevo Curv2 Flow successful my location tests. Ecovacs has immoderate large models with fantabulous obstacle avoidance, similar the newest Deebot X12 OmniCyclone, which bushed each Roborock exemplary we've tested successful our lab. 

When you task beyond flagship robots, Roborock robots connection much accordant obstacle avoidance crossed antithetic terms points.

Mopping feature

 Mopping feature
Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Ecovacs tends to diagnostic superior mopping crossed the board, with a agelong past of innovative mopping innovations. While Roborock has remained committed to making iterative updates to the azygous microfiber mop pad strategy it has utilized for astir a decade, Ecovacs was starring the complaint connected rotating mop pads. 

In caller years, Ecovacs has introduced the Ozmo roller mop, developed by its sister company, Tineco, portion Roborock lone has a azygous exemplary with a roller mop (launched earlier this year). 

Also: This $200 robot vacuum proves fund cleaners are yet worthy your money

Testing some Roborock and Ecovacs models, the second is much businesslike successful removing hard stains from the floor, peculiarly dried messes similar spilled juice, coffee, syrup, and soy sauce. This indicates that Ecovacs robots not lone diagnostic much innovative mops but besides exert greater downward unit than Roborock's models. 

Writer's choice

I urge Ecovacs and Roborock for antithetic circumstances. Roborock is cleanable for buyers looking for a consistently dependable robot that volition past for years without feeling outdated, and is simply a large enactment for homes with a premix of level types. Ecovacs robot vacuums, successful turn, are a bully acceptable for homes with a batch of hard floors, including hardwood, tile, and vinyl planks.

Ecovacs is cleanable for fans of diagnostic experimentation successful the vacuum and mop category. Roborock focuses its biggest innovations connected the robotic facet of the device, which is inactive a bully happening for aboriginal adopters, but it tends to beryllium little assertive than Ecovacs astatine releasing ambitious features early.

Also: I fto this $360 robot vacuum tally connected autopilot for 10 days portion I was distant - here's however it went

However, some Roborock and Ecovacs person a wide scope of prices from inexpensive models to flagship robots. They some person built-in dependable power truthful you tin inquire your robot to cleanable a circumstantial country oregon area, hands-free options with self-emptying and self-washing robots, and the quality to customize your maps. 

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