1. Cleaning Performance

Cleaning performance is one of the biggest differences between the iRobot Roomba 105 and the Roborock Q10 S5+. While both are designed to keep your floors clean with minimal effort, they target different levels of cleaning needs.

The iRobot Roomba 105 features iRobot’s 3-Stage Cleaning System, which combines 70X more Power-Lifting Suction (compared to the Roomba 600 Series), a Multi-Surface Brush, and an Edge-Sweeping Brush. This setup is highly effective for everyday household dust, crumbs, pet hair, and debris on hard floors and low-pile carpets. It cleans in neat, organized rows to maximize coverage and reduce missed spots. For homes with light to moderate dirt, the Roomba 105 delivers reliable and consistent cleaning performance.

The Roborock Q10 S5+, however, is built for much heavier cleaning tasks. It offers an impressive 10,000Pa HyperForce suction, making it one of the most powerful robot vacuums in its price range. This extra suction allows it to remove embedded dirt, pet hair, fine dust, cereal, and larger debris from carpets, hardwood floors, tile, and crevices with ease. The robot also automatically increases suction power when it detects carpets, ensuring a deeper clean exactly where it’s needed.

For households with pets, children, multiple floor types, or heavy daily messes, the Roborock provides noticeably stronger cleaning performance.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

2. Vacuuming and Mopping

A major advantage of the Roborock Q10 S5+ is that it combines both vacuuming and mopping into one machine, while the Roomba 105 is designed exclusively for vacuuming.

The iRobot Roomba 105 focuses entirely on dry cleaning. Its vacuum-only design means you don’t have to worry about maintaining mop pads or water tanks, making it a simple choice for users who only need reliable vacuuming. It also includes a Spot Cleaning mode that repeatedly cleans a specific area for up to five minutes, making it useful for concentrated dirt or spills.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ goes much further with its VibraRise 2.0 Mopping System. Instead of simply dragging a damp cloth across the floor, it uses dual-zone sonic vibration technology that scrubs floors up to 3,000 times per minute, helping remove dried stains, sticky spills, footprints, and everyday grime more effectively.

One of its standout features is automatic mop lifting. Whenever the robot detects carpet, it raises the mop module by up to 8mm, allowing it to vacuum carpets without wetting them. Users can also customize water flow, mopping intensity, and cleaning modes directly through the Roborock app.

If you’re looking for a complete floor-cleaning solution rather than just vacuuming, the Roborock clearly offers much greater versatility.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

3. Navigation and Mapping

Both robot vacuums use advanced LiDAR navigation, but the Roborock includes several additional mapping capabilities that improve efficiency, especially in larger homes.

The iRobot Roomba 105 uses ClearView LiDAR Navigation to quickly scan your home and generate accurate maps. It cleans in organized rows rather than random patterns, helping reduce cleaning time while ensuring better floor coverage. Through the Roomba Home app, users can create room-specific cleaning schedules, customize cleaning passes, adjust suction levels, and set keep-out zones to avoid delicate areas or pet bowls.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ features PreciSense LiDAR Navigation, which performs a full 360-degree scan of your home to create highly detailed maps. It supports multi-level mapping, making it an excellent choice for multi-story homes. The robot remembers different floor layouts, allowing it to clean upstairs and downstairs efficiently without creating new maps every time.

Its advanced route planning also minimizes unnecessary movement, helping complete cleaning cycles faster while maximizing battery efficiency.

Although both robots navigate accurately, the Roborock offers a more advanced mapping system with better flexibility for larger and more complex homes.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

4. Obstacle Avoidance

Navigation isn’t just about knowing where to clean—it also involves avoiding obstacles that can interrupt cleaning.

The Roomba 105 relies on traditional sensors to avoid walls, furniture, and stairs. It can safely navigate around most household obstacles and includes anti-fall sensors that prevent it from tumbling down staircases. However, users may still need to pick up charging cables, socks, toys, or other small objects before starting a cleaning cycle.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ features ReactiveTech Obstacle Avoidance, which uses structured-light technology to detect and navigate around common household objects more intelligently. It can identify shoes, toys, furniture legs, power cords, pet bowls, and similar obstacles, allowing it to clean more efficiently in cluttered environments with fewer interruptions.

For busy homes where objects are frequently left on the floor, this advanced obstacle avoidance system significantly improves the overall cleaning experience.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

5. Self-Emptying Convenience

One of the biggest quality-of-life upgrades offered by the Roborock Q10 S5+ is its self-emptying dock.

The iRobot Roomba 105 uses a standard onboard dustbin that must be emptied manually after one or several cleaning sessions, depending on how much debris is collected. While this isn’t difficult, users with pets or larger homes may find themselves emptying the bin frequently.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ includes a self-emptying station equipped with a large 2.7-liter dust bag capable of storing debris for up to 70 days before requiring replacement. After each cleaning session, the robot automatically empties its dustbin into the dock, greatly reducing maintenance.

This hands-free operation is especially valuable for busy families, allergy sufferers, and pet owners who want to minimize direct contact with dust and pet hair.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

6. Pet Hair Performance

If you own pets, cleaning performance goes beyond suction power—it also depends on how well the robot handles tangled hair.

The Roomba 105 performs well on everyday pet hair thanks to its strong suction and multi-surface brush, but long hair can still wrap around the brush roll over time, requiring regular manual cleaning.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ is specifically designed for homes with pets. It features a Dual Anti-Tangle System, including a JawScrapers Comb main brush and a specialized anti-tangle side brush that actively reduce hair wrapping. Combined with its 10,000Pa suction, self-emptying dock, and carpet boost technology, it provides outstanding pet hair removal on both hard floors and carpets.

For households with dogs, cats, or long-haired family members, the Roborock requires less maintenance while delivering stronger overall performance.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

7. Smart Features and App Control

Both robot vacuums support smartphone control and voice assistants, but the Roborock app offers a wider range of advanced customization.

The Roomba 105 allows users to schedule cleanings, target individual rooms, create keep-out zones, monitor filter life, adjust suction levels, and activate spot cleaning. It also works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, providing multiple convenient control options.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ includes all of these core features while adding even more advanced controls. Through the Roborock app, users can customize suction power, mopping intensity, emptying modes, carpet boost settings, no-go zones, multi-floor maps, off-peak charging schedules, and room-specific cleaning routines. It also supports voice control through Alexa and Google Home for hands-free operation.

These additional customization options make the Roborock more suitable for users who want greater control over every aspect of their cleaning routine.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+

8. Battery and Automatic Recharge

Both robot vacuums are designed to clean large areas without requiring user intervention.

The Roomba 105 automatically returns to its charging dock whenever the battery becomes low. Once recharged, it resumes cleaning from where it stopped, ensuring the entire home gets cleaned without restarting the job.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ also supports automatic recharge and resume, while its efficient navigation system helps optimize battery usage by reducing unnecessary movement. This allows it to clean large homes more efficiently and complete tasks faster.

Since both models offer recharge-and-resume functionality, they perform similarly in this category.

Winner: Tie

9. Value for Money

The iRobot Roomba 105 is an excellent budget-friendly robot vacuum at $159. It provides dependable LiDAR navigation, reliable vacuuming performance, app control, voice assistant compatibility, and room-specific cleaning features at a very affordable price.

The Roborock Q10 S5+ costs $239, which is only $80 more, yet it includes a long list of premium upgrades. These include 10,000Pa suction, vacuum and sonic mopping, 70-day self-emptying, automatic mop lifting, ReactiveTech obstacle avoidance, ultrasonic carpet detection, multi-level mapping, and a dual anti-tangle brush system.

Considering the relatively small price difference, the Roborock offers significantly more functionality and long-term convenience, making it the better overall value for most buyers.

Winner: Roborock Q10 S5+