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Shopping for a robot vacuum can feel overwhelming with so many brands and models to choose from. A decade ago, the market offered only a handful of options. Today, dozens of manufacturers have built solid reputations, making the decision even tougher.
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If you’re planning to invest in a robot vacuum that will keep your floors clean for the next five years or more, which brand should you pick? Roborock and Ecovacs share many similarities in terms of features and reliability, but there are some important differences that can help you decide which one suits your needs better.
App experience
The Roborock and Ecovacs apps displayed side by side.
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
I’ve been a Roborock user for seven years, and throughout that time, its app has consistently ranked among the best available. It has only continued to improve. That said, after using both the Ecovacs and Roborock apps side by side for the past two to three years, I can confirm that the Ecovacs app has made significant strides as well.
Even so, the Roborock app remains a crowd favorite, while opinions on the Ecovacs app are more mixed. Many Ecovacs app features are straightforward and user-friendly, but others are tucked away and harder to locate, especially when stacked against the Roborock app.
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Roborock has refined a dependable, easy-to-use app that supports multiple floor plans with highly detailed cleaning routines. It allows you to tailor room-by-room behavior, set schedules, and manage your maps with a level of detail I haven’t seen matched elsewhere.
The Ecovacs app has come a long way in recent years, but its menu structure still feels clunky. Settings and customization options seem buried and difficult to access. Basic cleaning modes like vacuum-only, vacuum-and-mop, intensity levels, and water flow are easy to adjust from the main screen. However, digging into more advanced customizations and personalization features is far from intuitive.
Mapping and navigation
This light trail, captured in our testing lab, shows the cleaning paths taken by a Roborock and an Ecovacs unit covering the same area.
ZDNET Labs
Unlike app quality, navigation performance varies by specific robot model rather than brand alone.
In my testing, both brands have standout models that excel at navigation, but Roborock has more models that outperform their Ecovacs counterparts. For example, the Ecovacs X8 Pro Omni doesn’t navigate as smoothly as the Roborock Saros 10R, since the former is more on par with the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow.
Ecovacs tends to focus more on cleaning hardware innovation than on navigation intelligence. This doesn’t mean Ecovacs robots are poor at obstacle avoidance (which we’ll cover below), but fewer Ecovacs models surpass Roborock when it comes to navigation.
Roborock has long prioritized map precision, route planning, obstacle detection, and recovery behavior when something goes off track. Beyond hardware advancements, Roborock has also invested heavily in the software its robots use to interpret data from cameras and sensors.
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Roborock relies on a proprietary software platform that the company has refined over time to process input from LiDAR, light sensors, and RGB cameras. This investment is what enables the Roborock Saros Z70 to navigate its environment and use a mechanical arm to pick up and relocate obstacles.
If you’re drawn to Ecovacs and want a robot that can rival most Roborock models, I’d suggest looking at the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone or X12 OmniCyclone.
Suction power
Ecovacs loves to highlight large Pascal (Pa) figures in its marketing — a unit that measures pressure difference — while Roborock tends to emphasize overall suction capability. Pascals quantify how much suction pressure a vacuum motor can produce. A higher Pascal rating means the vacuum can generate more force to draw in air and debris.
But a high Pascal number alone doesn’t guarantee superior cleaning. A truly effective robot vacuum needs strong suction (measured in Pa), solid airflow, a well-designed brush system to lift debris, proper carpet contact, and smart navigation to actually reach the mess.
The terms “suction pull” and “suction power” are often used interchangeably in advertising, but they mean different things. Suction pull refers to the pressure difference generated by the motor, measured in Pascals. Suction power, on the other hand, describes the vacuum’s overall ability to move debris, factoring in both pressure and airflow.
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Suction performance is where our lab testing really shines. We’ve evaluated the suction power of eight Roborock models and 10 Ecovacs robots to identify the top performers. Overall, the results are quite close:
| Robot vacuum brand | Sand removed from hardwood | Sand from low-pile carpet | Sand from mid-pile carpet | Average suction score |
| Ecovacs | 76.2% | 53.6% | 50.4% | 60.1% |
| Roborock | 85.3% | 51.0% | 50.7% | 62.3% |
These sand pickup tests work by first weighing each robot’s dustbin, then spreading a measured amount of sand across different floor types, including hardwood, low-pile carpet, and medium-pile carpet. After the robot vacuums the testing
In this section, we measure the weight of both the dustbin and the sand inside to calculate the percentage of sand the robot successfully collected.
Roborock picked up an average of 62.3% of the sand across various floor types, while Ecovacs followed closely at 60.1%. In practical terms, their suction performance is so similar that either brand would be a solid choice.
Obstacle avoidance
Unlike navigation, obstacle avoidance focuses on how well a robot vacuum can operate independently without getting tangled in items like socks or charging cables. The whole point of buying a robot vacuum is to delegate the cleaning—so having to rescue it defeats the purpose.
From my testing, Roborock vacuums generally spot obstacles earlier than Ecovacs models, allowing them to slow down in time and navigate around objects more effectively.
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That said, this isn’t true for every Roborock model. For instance, in my home tests, the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone outperformed the Roborock Qrevo Curv2 Flow. Ecovacs also shines with newer models like the Deebot X12 OmniCyclone, which surpassed all Roborock models we’ve tested in our lab.
When you look beyond flagship models, Roborock delivers more consistent obstacle avoidance across its entire price range.
Mopping feature
Ecovacs generally offers better mopping performance overall, backed by a long track record of mopping innovations. While Roborock has stuck with its single microfiber mop pad system for nearly a decade, Ecovacs pioneered rotating mop pads early on.
More recently, Ecovacs introduced the Ozmo roller mop—developed by its sister brand Tineco—while Roborock has only just launched its first roller mop model earlier this year.
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After testing both brands, Ecovacs proves more effective at tackling tough floor stains, especially dried spills like juice, coffee, syrup, and soy sauce. This suggests Ecovacs robots not only use more advanced mop designs but also apply greater downward pressure compared to Roborock’s models.
Writer’s choice
I recommend Ecovacs and Roborock for different needs. Roborock is ideal for users seeking a reliable, long-lasting robot that stays relevant over years, especially in homes with mixed flooring. Ecovacs, on the other hand, excels in homes with mostly hard floors—like hardwood, tile, or vinyl planks.
Ecovacs is great for those who love cutting-edge features in vacuuming and mopping. Roborock focuses its major upgrades on the robotic side—still valuable for early adopters—but tends to be more cautious than Ecovacs when rolling out bold new features.
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Both brands offer a wide price range, from budget-friendly to premium models. They include built-in voice control for room-specific cleaning, hands-free operation with self-emptying and self-washing stations, and customizable mapping features.
