Roborock H60 Hub Ultra review: More style than substance

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When Roborock first announced the H60 Hub Ultra, I described it as a “beast” due to its impressive 210 AW of suction spec. I had to look it up, but that’s comparatively a decent amount of suction for a battery-powered stick vacuum.

But having used the H60 Hub Ultra for the past couple of months, I can safely say that this is not a “beast”. It’s more like a Labrador that barks aggressively right up to the moment you get close, when it decides to roll over for a belly rub.

The H60 is fine for cleaning hard floors. Its suction is solid, and max mode does a good job at cleaning (though it devastates the battery). However, other features, such as the green light dust detection, are ineffective.

And the build quality does not feel good enough to warrant the $999 price tag. Roborock launched a pre-order offer for the vacuum at half price, and at $499 it feels like good value. But at full RRP, there are many better options to consider.

What makes the H60 Hub Ultra stand out?

Roborock may offer a decent range of floor cleaning products, but at its core it’s a robot vacuum company.

That means the H60 Hub Ultra has a few intelligent features more commonly found in a robot vacuum than a stick vacuum. Like the hub charging stand, which empties the stick vacuum into a sealed bag for easy disposal, while conveniently housing the attachments.

And the impressive suction power. At 210 Air Watts, it’s not the most powerful vacuum on the market, but it’s more than many of the cheaper options.

The H60 Hub Ultra also includes a green light to help illuminate dust and debris, a feature first seen in Dyson’s premium stick vacuum lineup. But while the green light is bright, it’s also far from effective.

With its RRP set at $999, its big suction numbers and green light feature, Roborock really is throwing the H60 Hub Ultra into the ring with the likes of Shark’s Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty system, or Dyson’s Gen5Detect Absolute.

But against the more premium brands, the H60 struggles to compete.

At $499, though, which is where the vacuum was priced at launch, Roborock’s stick vacuum performs impressively well.

Roborock H60 Hub Ultra specs

Design and build quality

The H60 looks much like any other stick vacuum (well, aside from the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones). It has a motorise brush head connected to a telescopic pole, connected to a narrow barrel and a pistol-shaped handle.

Controls are limited to just two buttons on the back of the vacuum, below a small display. The left button powers the vacuum on and off, while the right button switches between the three suction power modes.

Unfortunately, there is no “Auto” mode to dynamically adapt suction based on the floor or amount of debris being cleaned, and the only way to determine which suction mode you are in is based on the number of blue twirly lines. It’s not the most intuitive system.

The blue lines on the display surround the battery life indicator, which is shown as a percentage.

The wand part of the vacuum telescopes in and out, from about 43 cm high to about 65 cm high, so you can get it to the right height for you. Because of the height of the dock, though, you will retract it back again to place the vacuum on the dock to empty.

Unlike the Electrolux UltimateHome 800 or the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra, Roborock is quite limited in its supplied accessories. You get the powerhead, obviously, which offers both green light illumination and an anti-tangle brush.

But you also get a miniature motorised power head and a 2-in-1 crevice tool. Both can be conveniently stored in the hub when not being used, which is really useful, though the side panel you need to open just kind of falls off.

Speaking of the hub, it is squarish and has a generous 3L dust bag with HEPA filtration. It’s easy to dock the vacuum, and while I wouldn’t give the dock or vacuum any awards for design, its aesthetic would fit easily enough in any home laundry.

I will note that the plastics used here by Roborock don’t seem overly robust. After the first week of testing, the hub developed clear scratches from the powerhead when I tried to pop it in the dock. Nothing overly aggressive, but still enough to leave a mark.

For a $1,000 product, I would hope for something a little more robust.

Cleaning performance

With the headline feature of 210 Air Watts of suction power, you would expect the H60 Hub Ultra to do a decent job of sucking up dirt.

The catch is that to get that level of suction, you need to push the H60 up to max suction, and that devastates the battery life.

Leaving the vacuum on the regular suction mode, performance isn’t great. On a hard surface, the vacuum does a decent enough job with dust and small debris like breadcrumbs. But anything bigger will probably require a few passes to pick it all up.

Pushing the vacuum up to the highest suction mode definitely helps with those larger crumbs on the floor, but you will watch the battery percentage drop every few seconds.

The lowest suction mode, meanwhile, doesn’t do much at all. It’s fine for a light clean over a dusty floor, but if you have any visible debris on the floor, you’ll be adjusting the suction power beyond the lowest setting to clean it up.

Because the main powerhead has a fluffy design, I found carpet performance to be a bit underwhelming compared to the brush heads on the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra or the Electronic UltimateHome 800.

Even on maximum suction, it feels like the vacuum is gliding over the top of the carpet, rather than getting in there and cleaning properly.

That said, on the highest suction power, it did a reasonable job of picking up visible dirt and debris.

The inclusion of the green light on the powerhead was also disappointing. When Dyson launched the green laser in its premium vacuums, it was to really highlight the dust you can’t see with your naked eye. And having just used it on the PencilVac, I can say that Roborock’s effort here does not compare.

The H60 just shines a green light. If your room is dark, it helps you see what’s in front of you, but if you are hoping, it will show you the dust on the floor you might otherwise miss, prepare for disappointment.

Ease of use

With only two buttons on the vacuum, the H60 Hub Ultra is simple to control. The power button gets things started, while the mode button lets you cycle through the three suction levels.

For the $999 RRP, I do with there was an automatic mode that adjusted suction based on the floor material or the level of dust and debris it was cleaning, but it doesn’t mean the H60 Hub Ultra is difficult to use.

The telescopic wand is a bit of a pain – It’s set to be quite short when docked, so you will almost definitely need to extend it to clean. That means you have to retract it when you want to dock it again, which is a minor frustration.

On the upside, the vacuum is easy to navigate, and the head is quite low to the ground, so you can get underneath low pieces of furniture easily.

The Hub itself is equally simple. Stick the vacuum into the base after vacuuming, and it will automatically empty the canister into the hub’s 3L bag. You can also manually kickstart the emptying process with a button on the top of the base, but I never had to use that.

And while I do love the fact you can store the 2-in-1 crevice tool and the mini power tool in the hub, for some reason the compartment they (and the bag) are stored in is not on hinges. It’s a removable panel, which is a pain to try to open one-handed while you hold the vacuum.

Roborock could have easily made it more like a door so you could open up that side of the hub more easily. I wish they had.

Power and battery

The thing that I found most disappointing with the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra was the battery life. While I could just get through vacuuming my home on the middle suction setting, if you want the advantage of those 210 AW of suction, you need to move fast.

From a full battery, you will get about 9.5 minutes of cleaning time at “full” suction. That’s barely enough time for me to get around the kids bedrooms, let alone the entire house.

What’s maybe worse is that once the battery hits 30%, there is a clear decline in suction power even on Max mode. It doesn’t maintain the full power the entire time.

Even so, the interface makes the battery’s limitations stand out, with the displayed percentage dropping a percentage point every 4–5 seconds.

Verdict

At the full RRP of $999, the H60 Hub Ultra is clearly just not worth the money. Roborock slashed the price to $449 over Black Friday, and at that price I feel it’s not too bad.

The H60 Hub Ultra does offer decent suction at full power, but the battery just can’t handle the demands for long enough to clean your home fully.

The hub is basic but nice, with convenient storage for the accessories as well as a large, 3L dust bag with HEPA filtration.

But the black plastic base of the hub is easily scratched by the vacuum itself, which makes me question the longevity of the device.

Buy the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra if you:

• Want a stick vacuum with an auto-empty stand
• Can pick it up on sale
• Don’t need much in the way of attachments

Skip the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra if you:

• Need a vacuum with good battery life at high suction levels
• Want something that robustly cleans carpet
• Want a green laser to identify dust on your floor that works

🛒 Where to buy Roborock

Available from these trusted retailers:

BTTR is independent, but we may earn money when you purchase through links on our site. This helps us cover costs and continue providing honest reviews. Find out why you should trust us.

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