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Roborock Self-Emptying Dust Bin Review

Derek Hales

Written By: Derek Hales

Updated on:

Self-emptying dust bins are definitely the modern move for vacuums of the future. Roomba was one of the first names to launch a product like this and Roborock is quick to follow suit. Today’s review is all about the new Roborock self-emptying dust bin.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive in and see how it compares.

Self-Emptying Dust Bin for Roborock Vacuums

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Self-Emptying Dust Bin

The self emptying dust bin by Roborock is one of the newest accessories to launch from this brand, allowing advanced models like the S7 to drive back to the dock, empty the dust bin, and continue cleaning. It has a washable filter and a huge capacity—overall just a great experience using this upgraded base.Check Price

Pros

  • Removable dust bag
  • Large capacity for debris, up to 3L (about 8 weeks worth of cleaning runs)
  • Easy to setup with the S7
  • Available in both black and white

Cons

  • Only compatible with the S7 (might be compatible with future models)

Scoring

High Capacity Self-Empty Dust Bin
  • Design - 97%
    97%
  • Performance - 98%
    98%
  • Quality - 98%
    98%
  • Usability - 98%
    98%
  • Value - 97%
    97%
98%

Summary

Roborock’s new self-emptying dust bin shares a lot of similarities with Roomba’s self-emptying system. It’s easy to use, has a high dust bin capacity, and easy maintenance with a washable filter on board. Overall, I was happy with the performance of this unit. When paired with the S7, it worked exactly as intended and was able to clear out the dust bin of the S7 and deposit all contents into the dust bag designed into the base. I also really like the bag itself since that eliminated the need to touch the debris. For less maintenance and a user-friendly design, this base is a nice pick.

Table of Contents

🧬 Design

Roborock’s new self-emptying dust bin does exactly what you’d expect it to do—it has the ability to empty the onboard dust bin from the robot vacuum.

You can swap out the standard dust bin that comes with the Roborock S7 and use the self-emptying dustbin for less maintenance and easier daily use.

Roborock self-emptying dust bin

The bottom of this base has the charging contact pins to juice up the battery in the vacuum and the top portion is for filtering and disposing of the debris from the vacuum itself.

This base can hold up to 3L of debris from the Roborock vacuum. That’s about 8 weeks of vacuuming every day.

The upright canister on the left contains a washable filter and the canister on the right contains the disposable bag of debris.

The Filter (Left Canister)

Roborock self-emptying dust bin - filter

The Debris (Right Canister)

Roborock self-emptying dust bin - dust bag

What Roborock vacuums are compatible?

The Roborock self-empty dust bin is only compatible with the Roborock S7.

The Roborock self-empty dust bin is not compatible with the Roborock S6 MaxV, S6, S6 Pure, S5, S5 Max, S4, E4, E35, or E25.

The reason the S7 is the only robot that is compatible is because it has a removable dust port access slot. This slot is what enables debris to travel from the robot and into the self-empty base.

Although we can’t say with certainty, I would suspect that future Roborock models would be compatible with this base in order to keep up with competitors.

This style of charging base is more attractive than standard bases so it will likely continue to rise in compatibility.

RELATED – Read our Roborock S7 review.

How it Works

As mentioned above, this self-emptying dust bin only works with the S7 right now. Here’s how to get up and running.

#1. Remove the air inlet cover.

The Roborock S7 has a removable piece of plastic that blocks an air inlet on the inside of the S7.

This air inlet adjoins the dust bin within the robot itself.

Air inlet on the Roborock self-emptying dust bin
Air inlet on the Roborock self-emptying dust bin

It’s through this air inlet that debris can be removed from the robot and into the clean base.

For this system to work you will need to remove the plastic piece from the air inlet and replace the dust bin. Without that done it cannot work.

#2. Replace the Dust Bin

The self-empty dust bin includes a special on-board dustbin for the S7. This specialized S7 dust bin has a hole in the side of the unit that connects to the air inlet slot.

Roborock specialized dust bin
Roborock specialized dust bin

These two elements work together to allow the robot to empty the bin contents.

#3. Run a cycle.

Now when you run a cleaning cycle, the S7 will work as usual until the dust bin is full. When the bin is full, it will automatically return to the new charging base to empty.

Roborock S7 docked at the self-charging base

#4. Return to the base.

Once back at the base, it will then suck the debris out of the onboard dust bin, through the inlet, and deposit the dirt into the larger bag in the upright canister of the base. Done.

🧪 Performance

Concerning performance, we had nothing but good experiences. The Roborock self-empty dust bin functions exactly like it’s supposed to. The robot goes out, vacuums, and then deposits the contents into the self-empty bin. 

I like that the self-empty dust bin includes a sizable washable HEPA filter. This is pretty rare.

Many other self-empty dust bin systems we’ve tested either don’t have a filter for the system or it’s pretty small. Roborock’s filter is quite large and being washable is also a big help.

Roborock self-emptying dust bin filter
Roborock self-emptying dust bin filter

I also like that you can remove the entire dust bag canister when you need to replace the bag.

Roborock self-empty dust bin canister
Roborock self-empty dust bin canister

It simply slides off the base. This makes the ongoing maintenance and daily use that much easier.

How big is the self-emptying base?

The size of the self-emptying Roborock base is on par with other comparable bases. Compared to standard charging stations, it’s about twice the size, but it needs to be large enough to house the secondary dust bin as well as the charging technology.

The exact dimensions are as follows:

  • Depth – 17″
  • Width – 12″
  • Height – 15″
Roborock self-emptying bin - size
Roborock self-emptying bin - size

Here are the size specs compared to Roomba’s self-emptying charging station.

RoborockRoomba
Depth17″15″
Width12″12″
Height15″19″
Capacity3L (8 weeks)30 loads

👍 Setup & Usability

Setup for the Roborock dust bin is pretty easy. You just line up the charging base with the top section (that has the dust bin) and tighten 5 screws. 

Screws on the base of the Roborock self-emptying base
Screws on the base of the Roborock self-emptying base

After that, you need to pop off the air inlet cover on your Roborock S7.

Next, install the special dust bin in your S7, replacing the existing dust bin.

That’s it. The base filter and base dust bag are already preinstalled.

Dust bin on the Roborock self-emptying base
Dust bin on the Roborock self-emptying base

Once everything is set up you then just use your Roborock S7 like you normally would. 

What if I use the new dust bin that comes with the self-empty dust bin base on an older Roborock model?

Will the new Roborock self-empty on-board dust bin fit into the Roborock S6 MaxV, S6, S6 Pure, S5, and S5 Max? Yes. But, that still won’t make it compatible with the self-empty base.

This is because all of those robots lack the physical hardware inside of the robot’s internal suction system that allows it to connect to the self-empty base.

Roborock Self-Emptying dust bin

If you have one of these models and want the self-emptying feature, you’ll need to upgrade to the S7 before upgrading the base.

RELATED Roborock S7 vs. S7 MaxV vs. S6 Pure vs. S6 vs. S5 Max

🥇 Should you buy the Roborock?

I would recommend the Roborock self-emptying dust bin base if you’re looking for the following:

  • Self-emtpying: If you already have the S7 and looking for less maintenance or the ability to clean for longer cycles without having to empty the dust bin, this is a solid upgrade. The ability to
  • Want a dust bag: Roborok robot vacuums have a clear plastic bin onboard that makes it easy to empty out debris as it cleans. But if you struggle from allergies or just don’t like touching dirt, it can make it difficult to empty the bin. This self-emptying system has a debris bag which slides right out and can be thrown away and replacing—no touching the debris.
  • Want a washable filter: The filter in this system is huge and it’s washable. These are two big wins for Roborock and score points in terms of easy maintenance as well as performance.

Click here to check the price of the Roborock self-emptying dust bin.

ChangeLog

  • July 15, 2021 – Initial version of the page published

About Derek Hales

Derek HalesDerek Hales is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of ModernCastle.com. He has been featured in Fast Company, Reader's Digest, Business Insider, Realtor.com, She Knows, and other major publications. Derek has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University. Hales has been testing and reviewing products for the home since 2014.