Video made by Cordless Vacuum Guide
When comparing the Roborock S5 Max and Viomi V3 it is not always clear what is the difference between the two since on paper they look similar.
Both have Lidar, strong suction, and both can mop. Those two are one of the best robot mops on the market that also work as vacuums.
Both have an electronic water tank, the Viomi follows a Y-shaped path while the Roborock uses a back-and-forth navigation pattern. The Y-shape is a bit more efficient as the robot mops the same spot twice but it also spends twice as much time to cover the same area.
Design
Both have a black finish with Lidar on top. The Viomi is matte; the Roborock is glossy. Both have one side sweeper. The Roborock has two color options, the Viomi has one.
The Viomi’s dustbin is slightly bigger than the Roborock’s (550 ml vs. 480 ml).
Both have a washable HEPA filter. The filter is not recommended to wash with water too often.
At first sight, the cleaning brushes look similar but the density of the Roborock’s roller is bigger. And it also has detachable side tips which is essential for those who have long hair.
The Viomi has a side brush with bristles; the Roborock’s side brush is rubber which is durable and should last longer.
Navigation
Both robots follow a back-and-forth algorithm. Both start from cleaning the edges and then moving to the center of the room.
You can watch the robot’s movements in real-time.
When cleaning a certain area, the Roborock can go up to three times, when the Viomi up to two.
Both robots are good at avoiding obstacles, but the Roborock seems to be gentler.
As with the other robots, the cords and wires better to be removed before starting the robots.
The Roborock S5 Max stores up to 4 maps; the Viomi V2 up to 5.
Both models have about the same airflow numbers with the S5 Max to have slightly more.
Cleaning performance
When it comes to cleaning performance, it is clear that the Viomi does not clean as good as the Roborock on all surfaces.
Cleaning results
| Score | Roborock S5 Max | Viomi V3 |
| Overall | 94.68% | 72.82% |
| Hard floor | 100% | 99.4% |
| Pick up on carpet | 99.31% | 79.8% |
| Deep carpet clean | 84.85% | 12.5% |
The Viomi really struggles on the carpet where the Roborock does not have any issues.
When looking underneath, you may notice the Roborock S5 Max brush assembly to have a spring-loaded system that helps with cleaning on carpet. The Viomi does not have such movements.
This system helps the brush to stay connected closer to the ground to provide better performance.
The Viomi V3 is not as bad at picking up things on carpet but does not do well at deep cleaning compared to the Roborock.
Because of the brush staying connected to the carpet, the passes were clear and the Roborock didn’t have issues with heavier debris like cat litter or other large debris.
Overall, the Roborock S5 Max is a better alternative for cleaning surface and deep carpet clean versus the Viomi being better at mopping.
On hard floors, those do about the same job with the Roborock being slightly ahead.
The S5 Max also does better at the hair wrap test with having no hair around the brush while the Viomi has a cleaning brush all clogged with hair. Besides, it does not have removable side brushes which make cleaning around the edges challenging.
The Viomi also struggled to pick up cat hair on carpet.
Both robots do about the same job when cleaning corners and edges.
Mopping performance
Both have an electronic water tank that allows setting water output depending on mopping tasks. With the Roborock, you can shut off water output if needed which you can’t do with the Viomi.
The Viomi has two water tanks in the box, the water tank, and two-in-one water container+dustbin.
Keep in mind, with the 550 water tank installed, the robot’s suction shuts off.
The Roborock comes with one water tank and one dustbin that are both installed at the same time which allows the robot to vacuum and mop at the same time.
The Roborock also has an option that helps to set different cleaning modes and mopping modes for each room. This feature is only found in the Roborock S5 Max and S6 MaxV.
The Roborock water tank does not require removing the dustbin when you need to remove the tank. The Viomi can only hold one container at a time.
To attach the mopping pad, you have to turn the Viomi around, while with the Roborock, you can do so without having it to move from the dock.
When doing mopping, the Viomi lets you choose between the two navigation patterns, the Y-shape and back-and-forth straight line one. The Roborock only does one way. As we said before, the Y-shape
is more efficient but also takes twice as long to clean the area. In the Y-shape pattern, the Viomi uses more water.
Worth mentioning, on a day-to-day basis, you might not notice the difference between the two.
Is the Roborock and Viomi suitable for big home?
The Roborock runs up to 180 minutes and has a big 5,200 mAh battery. The Viomi lasts up to 150 minutes and is equipped with a 4,900 mAh battery.
Both have resumption which means if the battery runs out of charge, the robot would return to the charging dock, recharge, and then finish the job from the same spot it left off.
Which one is quieter?
The Viomi is noisier making 59-66 dB with the Roborock making 54-62 dB.
App
Both are compatible with the Mi Home app. The Roborock also can be connected to the Roborock app.
The interface for both devices would be different.
As we said before, the Roborock allows customizing cleaning modes for each room which the Viomi lacks.
Both have no-go zones, zoned cleaning, and room cleaning as well.
You can zoom the map with the Roborock but with the Viomi, there are some limitations that can be a hassle when setting no-go lines.
The Viomi also lacks no-mop zones.
With the Roborock you can also control which room it should clean first.
The scheduling option is also more advanced with the Roborock, it has more flexibility.
To conclude
The Roborock S5 Max does a better job on carpet and hard floor, it has a cleaning brush with detachable side tips and handles hair much better. The app has more features and gives you more flexibility on things like setting cleaning modes for each room, etc.
The only advantage the Viomi V3 has over the Roborock is mopping but you most likely would not notice a difference between the two in a day-to-day routine.