We take the crowd-funded robo vacuum for a spin!

Xiaomi’s a company that doesn’t just make phones: it’s product portfolio is pretty diverse, and includes motorized scooters, headphones, air filters, batteries and robotic vacuum cleaners. The new Roborock S50 is known as the second generation Mi Robot vacuum, and was initially crowd-funded before going into full production.

The new model has a ton of improvements over Xiaomi’s original robotic sucker, including better controls, more sensors as well as greater suction power to better clean your dirty abode. We’d like to give a shout out to GearBest for providing our review unit for this particular unboxing.

Packaging and contents:

The Roborock S50 comes in a pretty big carton box, which isn’t surprising considering the contents. The package includes the unit itself, user manual (which is in Chinese) as well as a quick start guide, also in Chinese.

There’s two rags that you use for wet cleaning, the charging dock, cable for said dock as well as a spare air filter for the robot.

Initial impressions: Easy to setup and easily one of the nicer looking robots in the market

The Roborock S50 is disc-shaped much like most other robot vacuums in the market since it’s the most efficient shape possible for an appliance like this. Measuring 35.30 x 35.00 x 9.65 cm, it’s a fairly big appliance, though it easily fits under most chairs and tables for more thorough cleaning. There’s three buttons on top, but honestly you’ll only be using the power button most of the time since all controls are done through an external app.

The dome on the top of the vacuum is the laser distance sensor which maps out whatever room the robot’s in. There’s an ultrasonic sensor in the front of the robot that’s essentially the device’s eyes, and four sensors on the bottom of the robot detects if it’s about to go off a step that it can’t recover from.

Up front is a small bumper that tells the robot when it hits something solid (like the legs of your chair).

There’s a small brush on the side as well as the main suction area in the middle. The biggest change from the previous model is the higher suction pressure of 2000Pa as well as the ability of the robot to mop the floor as it cleans. There’s a water tank that you can attach at the rear with utilizes a rag for cleaning.

What’s nice about the new model is that you can re-use both the rags and the filter by simply washing them with soap and water. Ordering specialized filters overseas is a hassle, something that limited the use of the first generation model.

Setup and Use: Simple and intuitive even without the manual

Before turning the unit on we highly suggest downloading and installing the MiHome app on your phone as it’s going to be the portal in which you interact with the device. You’ll need a Mi account to proceed further, and you’ll need to specify your location as Beijing for your phone to find the vacuum.

Once you’ve logged into the Mi Home app, you can turn on the vacuum and simply detect it via the add device screen. The vacuum should show up, and when you add it you’ll be asked for your home network’s password.

When you finish setup, you can now tell the vacuum to start cleaning. The Roborock S50 deliberately maps out the corners and edges of your home, gently bumping into the legs of chairs and other furniture to establish where it can go. Once it maps out a particular area, it’ll start methodically vacuuming every nook and cranny it can get into.

Xiaomi says that the Roborock S50 has a run time of around 2 hours, but really we found that it managed to cover our home’s living room, dining room and indoor kitchen in around 40 minutes. That’s a floor space of around 75 square meters give or take, so for most homes the 2 hour endurance is more than enough. Once the vacuum finishes, it’ll return to its charging dock automatically.

We’re still tinkering with the Roborock S50, so watch out for our full review in a few weeks. If you’re interested in picking one up for yourself, you can head over to GearBest who is selling it at a discount for a limited time. You can use the coupon code Mi2ndRVC to reduce the price even further.