Xiaomi Roborock T6 vs. Original Xiaomi Mi robot vacuum cleaner
Xiaomi Roborock T6 vs. Original Xiaomi Mi robot vacuum cleaner: cleaning robots are getting smarter and smarter.
Today, we are taking a look at two smart vacuum cleaners: the Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum and the Xiaomi Roborock T6. Both home gadgets promise to keep your home spotless with minimum involvement on your side. Both smart vacuum cleaners come with intelligent navigation, obstacle avoidance, app control — and more. But which one does a better job? Let’s find out.
Specs
Let’s start the comparison from the main specs that the two robot vacuum cleaners have offered for us.
Product name
|
Roborock T6
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Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum
|
Suction power
|
2000pa
|
1800pa
|
Battery capacity
|
5,200mAh
|
|
Dust Box Capacity
|
500ml
|
420ml
|
Voice control via Xiaomi Mi AI Speaker
|
Yes
|
No
|
Product weight
|
3.60kg
|
6.52 kg
|
Product size (L x W x H)
|
13.8 x 13.7 x 3.8 inches
|
13.58 x 13.58 x 3.78 inches
|
Infrared sensor
|
Yes
|
|
Number of sensors
|
14
|
12
|
Obstacle climbing
|
2cm
|
|
APP Remote Control
|
Yes, Mi Home App
|
Design
The first and most obvious difference between the two smart robots is the color. With Xiaomi’s expanding line of smart vacuum cleaners, the company may have felt the need to differentiate between the different models. Hence, Xiaomi’s latest vacuum cleaner, the Roborock T6, comes in the stylish matte black, while the Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum is available in Xiaomi’s classic white as well as the once trendy rose gold.
Both robots come in the industry-standard round shape and are quite similar in size. The T6 measures 13.8 x 13.7 x 3.8 inches and weighs about 3.6kg while the Mi Robot Vacuum measures 13.58 x 13.58 x 3.78 inches. With that, the Roborock T6 is substantially lighter than the Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum: 3.6kg on the T6 compared to 6.5kg on the Mi vacuum.
As we’ve already mentioned in our detailed review of the Roborock T6, Xiaomi’s latest smart vacuum comes with an upgraded charging dock that also has enough space for storing the vacuum’s cable.
On top of both vacuums, you will see the essential controls. The Roborock T6 has three touch controls on the top: power, charging and spot cleaning. The Original Mi Robot features physical buttons. The Roborock T6’s design improvements have been well-noted: the vacuum cleaner has received the iF Design Award.
Cleaning performance
While having a good-looking vacuum cleaner is surely nice, most of us would still put performance first. In this regard, we will be looking at the suction power, cleaning strategy, noise level, etc.
The Xiaomi Roborock T6 has earned itself another informal title as “the most powerful smart vacuum cleaner” sporting an impressive 2,000Pa of suction power. The Mi Robot does not fall far behind coming at 1800Pa. The Roborock T6 takes a lot of pride in its high-end components including the DuPontTM Zytel cleaning brush featuring both brittle and rubber elements for a more intense cleaning.
Another upgrade on the Roborock T6 is the water tank with two levels of water dripping: one is meant for day-to-day floor cleaning with limited water usage while the other is intended for more serious cleaning. The Roborock T6 is capable of mopping and sweeping simultaneously and comes equipped with a microfiber mopping cloth. What’s more, you get ten disposable wipes packed together with the T6.
Roborock also comes with a relatively low noise level (considering its 2,000Pa motor), which has been achieved thanks to the modified air flow, optimized motor vibration and an overall better sound insulation.
The original Mi Robot, while not featuring any “famous” components, seems to be coping with the cleaning just fine as well. The smart vacuum comes with the main hover brush, a dynamic side brush and, thanks to the brushless Nidec motor, is also pretty quiet during its cleaning sessions.
Mapping and navigation
The Roborock T6 comes with something called the Rock Navigation path plan — the new navigation system is supposed to bring a variety of major improvements to the robot’s moveabouts. Thanks to the LDS sensor located inside the “tower” atop the vacuum as well as 14 additional sensors, the Roborock T6 is capable of scanning its surroundings, creating maps and planning its route in the most efficient way possible — the robot’s cleaning efficiency has been improved by 20% compared to the previous model (the Roborock S5), according to Xiaomi. The new mapping mechanism also allows for more customized cleaning operations. The Roborock T6 supports the following features: zone cleaning, digital boundaries and room identification (you can now assign the vacuum to clean specific rooms and even schedule specific times for the cleaning sessions).
The original Mi Robot Vacuum also comes with the LDS sensor, allowing the robot to scan its surroundings within 360 degrees. All in all, there are 12 additional sensors onboard (including a collision sensor, a dustbin sensor, a wall sensor, an ultrasonic radar sensor, etc.). Having collected the data from all of its sensors, the robot uses SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithm to create detailed maps of the area and calculate the best cleaning paths.
Overall, while both models do feature advanced sensoring and mapping, the Roborock T6 seems to be better suited for cleaning multi-story homes or apartments with complex designs.
Control options
There are several control options for both smart vacuums.
First, you have the physical controls: there are buttons on the top panels of both robots that you can use for the most basic navigation.
Then, there is app control. You can use the Mi Home App to control the Roborock T6 as well as the Mi Robot. This also makes both robots easily incorporatable into the Xiaomi smart home network — and you won’t need any extra equipment like a remote control to take charge of any of the devices.
In addition to app control, the T6 can be managed via voice control. This functionality is limited to the Xiaomi Mi AI Speaker — unfortunately, there is not support for other AI assistants like Alexa or Google Home, at least for now.
Battery life and charging
When it comes to battery capacity, both robots have a 5200mAh Li-ion battery onboard, which should be enough to cover a 2.5-hour cleaning session for a 250 square metre house on a full charge.
Both robots will clean until they run low on battery — when it happens, they will head back to the charging dock to boost up and continue with their cleaning chores once they have charged to at least 80%.
As we’ve already mentioned earlier, a minor improvement has been made to the charging dock on the Roborock T6: there is now a space for storing the vacuum’s charging cord, which means less clutter for your home.
The verdict
So, should you go with the Xiaomi Roborock T6 or the Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum?
That’s not an easy question to answer, as, quite honestly, both smart vacuums seem to do quite well in their jobs.
The Roborock T6 is the newer device of the two — and, thus, you do find a number of upgrades and improvements in mapping, navigation, cleaning components and controls. With that, the Mi Robot does not fall behind when it comes to essential functionality and you should be experiencing few differences when it comes to everyday use.
Price-wise, there is no major gap between the two. The Original Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum costs $474 while the T6 is available for $417. Note, however, that the robot is currently on a Chinese crowdfunding platform and the price may increase while it goes on sale fully.
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