Forget Dyson: I tested Roborock’s wet-dry hand vacuum and it left my floors spotless

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Roborock Flexi Lite is available for $400, but an on-page Amazon coupon drops its price to $320.
• This vacuum and mop can tackle wet and dry messes, juice spills, pet hair, and more. It’s also self-cleaning, so you must empty the dirty water and add clean water.
• The Roborock Flexi Lite seems only to mop when pulled back, so it requires push-and-pull movements to clean effectively.

I’m obsessed with cleaning, but I often struggle to keep up with a house full of kids and a shedding dog. With mostly hard floors, I’m happy to delegate the floor cleaning to my robot vacuums, especially those with great mopping features. However, they can’t handle all the messes thrown at them, particularly wet, mushy, sticky ones.

Also: The best robot vacuum mops of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

But we don’t cry over spilled milk in my home. Instead, I’ve been whipping out the Roborock Flexi Lite<!–>, a wet-dry vacuum that’s quickly become one of the best things in my home. Here’s why.

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The Roborock Flexi Lite is a self-propelled vacuum and mop that can suction wet messes and mop the floor in one fell swoop. It has separate clean and dirty water tanks, so fresh water is dispersed on the mop roller behind the suction nozzle, cleaning your floors. 

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The vacuum can clean up spilled cereal with milk in seconds, with most of the manual labor involved when emptying the dirty water so things don’t smell. I’ve also used the Roborock many times to clean up spilled juice without leaving an inch of sticky floors behind.

Also: I tested a $1,900 robot vacuum and mop for a month. Here’s why it’s worth it

In my month of testing the Roborock Flexi Lite, my family has used it more than any of our robot vacuums. There’s a unanimous agreement that the vacuum is the most reliable cleaning tool we have, and it can handle everything: muddy pawprints, pet hair, juice, water, coffee stains, milk, stuck-on gummy candy, and more.

When I’m done cleaning, I set it down on its charging dock, which sits on the floor, so you don’t have to worry about any pesky, wall-mounted installations. Once charging, a press of the self-cleaning button prompts the Flexi Lite to wash its mop roller and cleaning area. Then, it swiftly dries itself to prevent any bad odor. 

After running the self-cleaning cycle, I empty the dirty water tank on the back of the device, rinse it out, and it’s ready to tackle the next mess my kids inevitably leave on the floor.

Also: The best Roborock vacuums of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

Emptying the dirty water after each self-cleaning cycle is key. I like to go the extra step and wash the mop roller by hand every ten or so cleaning sessions, too, to quickly correct this. Otherwise, bacteria and bad smells will develop from within the tank, an issue I noticed during my initial test runs. 

Roborock also doesn’t recommend using any cleaning solutions other than its proprietary ones, as that can risk corrosion or clogging. However, I’ve used my go-to disinfecting solution–> with the Flexi Lite, and the electrolyzed water sanitizer has worked adequately.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Roborock Flexi Lite<!–> is a pared-down version of the more expensive Flexi Pro, yet it’s truly a game changer for anyone looking for a lightweight solution to everyday cleaning. My husband uses it daily to mop the bathroom floors after my three kids have each taken a shower. I use it almost daily to clean up messes and to mop our floors without constantly bending down to wring out a dirty mop.

Also: One of the most reliable robot vacuums I’ve tested is not made by iRobot or Shark

The Flexi Lite performs satisfyingly well and is capable of cleaning the toughest stains without spreading messes around. Tough stains require a few passes, but even that is easy with little back-and-forth motion.