I‘ve been testing this cordless vacuum from Roborock — and it gives my Shark a run for its money

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra is a cordless vacuum with a self-emptying dock that has a whole lot of power. During our standardized testing, it was able to pick up 100% of the debris on hardwood flooring and low-pile carpet. This was very impressive because it took care of even tricky debris quickly.

The green headlight to identify dust and a telescopic neck meant I never missed a thing while cleaning, but when I moved to high-pile carpet, the vacuum started to struggle. On higher suction settings, the battery depletes incredibly quickly, and I found the dock was a little bit big and looked more like a statement design piece — so the design will depend on your personal taste.

To find out more and decide whether this is the best vacuum cleaner for you, keep reading this full Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Specs

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Price & availability

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra is listed for purchase from Amazon for $599, but it has been on sale for $399 since its launch. The vacuum is also available from the Roborock online store for $399. This model isn’t currently available for purchase in the U.K., but is listed as coming soon on the Roborock website.

At $399, the Roborock sits in the same price range as some Shark vacuums. The Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty costs $499 and provides a thorough clean. Like the Roborock, it has a self-emptying base, but it’s a lot smaller, which is much better if you’re tight on space.

If you’re not bothered by whether the vacuum can self-empty, the Dyson V11 Advanced has fantastic battery life and hits the sweet spot between price and performance, so it could be the right option for $629. There’s also the $599 Dreame Z30, which is one of, if not the most, powerful vacuums we’ve tested, but doesn’t have as strong battery life as the Dyson V11. Since both use larger bins located on the vacuum bodies themselves, they’re a little heavier and more tiring than the H60 Ultra.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Design

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra is a sleek-looking handheld cordless vacuum cleaner, and my favorite thing about the vacuum is the telescopic neck. This can be adjusted to best suit your height or to reach farther underneath furniture. But when placing the vacuum on the dock, you need to retract the arm, otherwise it won’t fit. This is easy to operate though, as there’s no button you press; it just slides and automatically locks into place.

Additionally, there’s an LED screen at the top of the vacuum that displays the power being used for cleaning and the remaining battery life. This is in a sensible location and easy to see at all times while vacuuming, so I always knew when it was time for a recharge (which was more frequently than I would’ve liked).

The head of the vacuum has a 140º wide-angle green headlight, which resembles that of the Dyson V12 Detect Slim ($587) and Dreame Z30 ($599), but covers a wider area. This was incredibly effective at helping me to identify debris and dust on the floor that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise for a much deeper clean.

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra will certainly be noticed in your home. Yes, because it’s a modern-looking, well-designed piece of kit, but mostly because it’s huge. When sitting on the dock, the vacuum measures 42.2 x 15.5 x 11.4 inches. If you have somewhere convenient to store it, then I think it’s a great home styling addition, but if you live in an apartment or anywhere tight on space, having this plugged in at all times may prove cumbersome. A more compact option for mall spaces would be the Shark PowerPro Cordless Stick Vacuum ($349), which is my home vacuum, so I can attest that it’s very powerful.

That said, since the dock is so large, there is storage inside for the two attachments it comes with, unlike the Levoit Aero Cordless Vacuum Cleaner ($49), which has no accessory storage. The Roborock comes with two extra attachments: a motorized mini brush for use in more compact spaces and staircases, and a 2-in-1 crevice brush to help you get at the edges of the room. If you want more accessories, the Dreame Z30 has an accessory for every occasion — literally.

The H60’s attachments can be used on the end of the telescopic arm of the vacuum or attached directly to the body for a smaller setup that feels more transportable and easier to manage.

In the same storage compartment as the accessories is a dust bag that needs to be emptied or replaced when full. This has a three-liter capacity, which is good for up to 100 days of usage.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Cleaning

I was impressed by the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra’s cleaning performance. It performed exceptionally well, picking up all mess across different flooring types… although it struggles on high-pile carpet.

Overall, the vacuum is very easy to maneuver across the floor, and the swivel head meant I was able to be flexible with my route while cleaning.

Lab testing

I tested the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra against our standardized lab testing criteria, which puts vacuums through their paces to see what they're really capable of — and the Roborock held up.

Hard flooring:

The Roborock has absolutely zero issues on hard floors. I achieved a 100% pick up rate after going over the floor only once. I was impressed that the vacuum picked up everything on the floor, and that the green light helped me track down any pieces of debris that had escaped me.

I noticed the vacuum’s vibration would make smaller things like the flax seeds jump around on the floor, so they may end up under your furniture — but the 180° flat head makes light work of that.

Low-pile carpet:

The vacuum performs perfectly on low-pile carpet, too. I was impressed by these results — the vacuum picked up 100% of debris. It took a second to pick up all of the hair, but I got it all in the end.

The vacuum glides smoothly over the carpet, with no friction or resistance at all.

High-pile carpet:

Unfortunately, the Roborock struggled on high-pile carpet, so if you have thick rugs in your home that you need to clean regularly, this won’t be the vacuum for you. The LG CordZero Q3 ($299) is our top recommendation for carpets. It still does a good job of picking up hair though, so it’s a decent option for pet owners who want to take care of their shedding dogs. But for smaller debris like the flax seeds, it didn’t do a very good job at all.

Overall, this is one impressive vacuum with a lot of power behind it. It’s a perfect choice for homes with hardwood floors and short carpets, but anyone with high-pile carpets will want to consider something else.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Battery life

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra has underwhelming battery life. Roborock says that it gets 90 minutes of battery life, but I wasn't able to attain anywhere near that.

It eats through the battery incredibly fast, and on the highest setting, it went through 1% a second. Yep, that’s right, I was literally getting 100 seconds of power. I constantly needed to put it back on the dock for charging, and the charging time is incredibly slow. I wasn’t able to get anywhere near the amount of cleaning I wanted to do. But it was good for some powerful spot cleaning sessions.

But in the medium mode that the vacuum automatically reverts to when turned on, the battery life is pretty decent, and I was able to tackle everything I needed to. But once you try the more powerful setting, it’s hard to go back.

You’re able to see the remaining battery level on the LED screen of the vacuum. This is conveniently placed just below where you hold the vacuum, so I could always see exactly how much juice I had left (which wasn’t much).

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Storage & maintenance

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra is convenient to store, although I think if your home is on the smaller side, then you may find it hard to find a place to store the dock, since it’s so big. That said, the size brings convenience as the dock has space for around 100 days of self-emptying with no interference.

The vacuum self-empties every time it is placed back on the dock, or you can click the button on top of the dock to empty when needed. I found it useful to wipe around the suction section that meets the handheld vacuum because it gets pretty dusty. This dust-emptying process is very fast, but it’s also extremely loud at around 70 decibels, which is about the same as a blender.

The cover of the dock is magnetic, so you can easily access the dustbag inside to change it when it’s full. In this compartment, you can also store the extra attachments for the vacuum. This is very convenient as everything is neatly stored in one place.

On the handheld vacuum, the dustbin and HEPA filters are washable and reusable. I would recommend replacing the HEPA filters periodically, especially if you’re more sensitive to dust and other allergens, but this is a great feature.

Plus, you get an extra dust bag with the vacuum when you purchase it, but you then have to purchase your own from Roborock, where they cost $49 for a 12-pack.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: Verdict

The Roborock H60 Hub Ultra is a truly impressive cordless vacuum with a self-emptying hub that makes maintenance super easy. It has a 100% debris pick-up rate on hard floors, and the green headlight is so effective that I never missed a thing. I particularly liked the telescopic neck, which also makes the vacuum very comfortable to use and makes it easy to reach further under furniture with the 180º lay-flat design.

I thought the self-emptying dock is also very fast, but it will take up a lot of space in your home since it’s so big — it’s more of a statement piece given the sheer size of it. When using the vacuum on high speeds, although effective, it depletes the battery life incredibly quickly.

That said, the vacuum is still powerful on the medium setting and achieves great results. This is an ideal option for anyone who wants to clean their home regularly but doesn’t want the fuss of emptying a dustbin every time.