Which robot vacuum is more effective and has long lasting battery? Which one is worth buying – Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960?
Roborock S4 – Supersmart bot, great price
The Roborock S4 is one of the most efficient navigators we’ve tested, able to gracefully avoid most obstacles and quickly cover a lot of ground. That makes it great for large homes—and for owners who can’t stand to watch their bot aimlessly bonk around. It’s one of the few bots (so far) that lets you both set up invisible do-not-cross lines and tell it to clean specific rooms in your home (while skipping others) through an interactive map in a smartphone app. That would all be impressive in a robot at any price, but the Roborock S4 is also one of the most affordable robots with any interactive mapping features, let alone all of these in one package. The downsides: We’re not sure how durable Roborock bots are (it’s a newer brand), and while it’s an adequate cleaner overall, it doesn’t tackle rugs as well as other bots at this price.
iRobot Roomba 960 – Excellent cleaner, smart enough
The Roomba 960 builds on the same base as the nimble, sturdy 600 series that we recommend. But it adds a camera and a few other sensors to the nav system to create a map of your floor plan as it cleans, so it looks smarter than the cheaper Roomba (and Eufy) and won’t miss any big spots even if it’s tackling a massive home. It’s an overall excellent cleaner and particularly good at getting lots of hair out of thicker rugs, plus it can connect to Wi-Fi. The downside is that unlike a lot of other robots in this price category now (including the Roborock S4), the Roomba 960 doesn’t have any kind of interactive mapping feature—you can’t set up no-go lines or divide your floor plan into individual rooms. So it feels a little bit behind the times.
Compare Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960 tips and features
Size & dimension
| Roborock S4 | iRobot Roomba 960 | |
| Robot Weight | 7.72 lbs / 3.5 kg | 8.38 lbs / 3.8 kg |
| Robot Width | 13.78 in / 35 cm | 13.78 in / 35 cm |
| Robot Height | 3.78 in / 9.6 cm | 3.50 in / 8.9 cm |
| In the box | adapter, charging dock, water tank, mopping pad, English user manual | charging station, line cord, extra filter, cleaning tool, owner’s guide, documentation package, dual-mode virtual wall, extra side brush |
| Warranty | 12 months | 12 months |
Cleaning features – Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960
| Roborock S4 | iRobot Roomba 960 | |
| Suction Power | 2000 Pa | 900 Pa |
| Сleaning Area | 2691 ft2 / 250 m2 | 1615 ft2 / 150 m2 |
| Dustbin Capacity | 480 ml | 600 ml |
| Electric water control | no | N/A |
| Automatic Dirt Disposal | no | no |
| Wet Mopping | yes | no |
| Water Tank Capacity | 140 ml | – |
| Barrier-cross Height | 0.79 in / 20 mm | 0.79 in / 20 mm |
| HEPA Filter | yes | yes |
| Washable Filter | yes | no |
Advance features – Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960
| Main Features | Roborock S5 | iRobot Roomba 960 |
|---|---|---|
| Mapping / Path planning | yes | yes |
| Mapping Sensor Type | LDS | camera |
| High-Precision Map | yes | yes |
| Objects recognition (front camera) | no | no |
| Recharge & Resume | yes | yes |
| Automatically Docks and Recharges | yes | yes |
| Noise Level | 68 db | 65 db |
| LCD Display | no | no |
| Side Brushes (one or two) | 1 pcs | 1 pcs |
| Voice Prompts | yes | yes |
Battery & run time
| Roborock S4 | iRobot Roomba 960 | |
| Battery Capacity | 5200 mAh | 2600 mAh |
| Run time | 150 min | 75 min |
| Charging Time | 240 min | 120 min |
| Rated Power (Watts) | 58 W | 30 W |
Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960 Smart apps features
| Roborock S4 | iRobot Roomba 960 | |
| Real-time tracking | yes | no |
| Digital Blocked Area | yes | no |
| No-mop zones | no | N/A |
| Zoned cleaning | yes | no |
| Multi-floor maps | yes | no |
| Manual movement control | yes | no |
| Selected Room Cleaning | yes | no |
Remote control & WiFi
| Roborock S4 | iRobot Roomba 960 | |
| Scheduling | yes | yes |
| IR Remote Control | no | no |
| Wi-Fi / Smartphone App | yes | yes |
| Wi-Fi Frequency Bands | 2.4 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Amazon Alexa Support | yes | yes |
| Google Assistant Support | yes | yes |
| Magnetic/Optical Virtual Walls | yes | yes |
Smart sensors
| Carpet Boost | yes | no |
| Anti-drop / Cliff Sensor | yes | yes |
| Dirt Detect | no | yes |
| Full Bin Indicator | no | yes |
Roborock S4 vs Roomba 960 – key differences
- Rollers. The Roomba has two silicone brushless rollers that are ideal for pet hair.
- Mapping technology. The Roomba uses a camera sensor; the Roborock has the LDS sensor.
- Interaction with a map. The Roomba’s map disappears once the cleaning is done. You can see the created map in the iRobot Home. With a map created by the S4, there is an ability of interaction.
- S4 has a smaller dustbin.
- Mopping. The Roborock S4 can sweep and mop at the same time. The vacuum is able to mop for about 50 minutes until the water container gets dry. Fill it with water again and let the robot run.
- Real-time tracking. Thanks to three processors houses inside the Roborock, you can track the vacuum in real time using the Mi Home app.
- Virtual walls and zone cleaning. In the Mi Home app, you can set virtual boundaries to keep the robot from crossing some particular areas. Also, you can create zone cleaning by drawing a rectangle on the map or even order the robot to go to the kitchen directly. The Roomba has 2 dual virtual wall barriers in the box that creates a zone up to 3 meters in diameter that the robot should not cross.
- Carpet boost increases air power to max level once the sensors recognize carpet flooring. The Roomba 960 lacks this feature.
- Suction power. The Roborock S4 has twice stronger suction.
- In the app, you can control the Roborock S4 like a radio car. The iRobot Home app does not support it.
- The Roomba has dirt detect that automatically provides deeper cleaning on high-traffic spots.
- Full bin indicator shows when the container needs to be emptied.
- The Roborock lasts twice as long as the Roomba does.
Which one would suit you better?
Roborock S4
- The Roborock S4 has stronger suction power.
- It can recognize carpet flooring automatically boosting suction power to its maximum level.
- The S4 can mop and sweep.
- It has the longest-lasting battery in the industry.
- LIDAR builds an accurate map and allows to work in the dark.
- With the S4, you can set restricted areas in the Mi Home app.
- The Roborock S4 supports zoned cleaning if you want it to work within a specific zone.
- The Roborock can be tracked in real-time. You can watch it creating a map in the app.
- The Roborock S4 can be controlled like a radio car.
The Roborock S4 is a two-in-one cleaner that can mop and sweep at the same time. It has one of the strongest suction in the industry and the longest battery life.
Thanks to mopping, it is suitable for bare floors. Because of good climbing ability, carpet boost, and strong suction, the Roborock performs great on carpets that are no thicker than 20 mm.
The cleaner is perfect for bigger homes. The Mi Home app offers to create virtual block offs, zone cleaning and tracking your robot in real-time.
Since the robot is suitable for both, low/medium-pile carpets and bare floor, we would recommend having a closer look at the Roborock S4.
Roomba 960
- Silicone rollers. These are the perfect brushless rollers for pet hair since they are tangle-free.
- Dirt detect. This system provides deeper cleaning when it recognizes high-traffic spots by boosting app air power and making the robot go over the same spot a few times.
- Full bin indicator. The Roomba alerts when the dustbin is full. You can either stop the cleaning cycle to empty the container or pause the machine.
- The app is easier to connect to Wi-Fi.
- The Roomba 960 has a bigger tank to hold dust and dirt.
- The Roomba 960 has a shorter body that fits under most furniture.
If you decided to get the Roomba 960, we would recommend waiting for special deals on Amazon to get it cheaper. The robot is better for smaller homes because of the short runtime. Thanks to the silicone tangle-free rollers, the Roomba 960 is perfect for pet hair.
Unfortunately, the vacuum struggles with the smallest particulars on carpet. It does clean thicker carpets though can not provide deeper cleaning or can be a good day-to-day additional cleaner to help your traditional vacuum.
If you live in a small home with low-pile carpets and you have a pet, the Roomba 960 is the vacuum you always wished to have.
