Roborock's pretty much at the top of the robot vacuum game - the company might only have been around for a few years, but it's spent that time impressively. It's basically schooled a lot of bigger manufacturers on how to make a great robot vacuum, that packs in the features people actually need without becoming insanely expensive.

Well, that's the sort of lesson that can apply to other areas, too, and it's no surprise that Roborock is finally expanding its portfolio. It's about to release its first standard, handheld vacuum, in the form of the Roborock H6, and it looks like it's going to be able to take on even the most premium competition in the sector. 

We thought we'd run you through some of the ways in which the H6 looks like it'll be one of the very best handheld vacuums you can get your hands on - in fact, it’s already been awarded a Red Dot Award for Product Design, testament to its excellence. 

1. Great battery life

When it comes to using a cordless handheld vacuum in your home, there are two things that are probably the most important. One is power, and we'll talk about that next, but the other is battery life. It's well and good being freed from power sockets, but you need to be able to clean properly without charging every two minutes. 

The Roborock H6 is the first handheld vacuum to feature a Lithium Polymer battery, the sort of lightweight batteries used in drones, and it leverages that feature to get you up to 90 minutes of cleaning on a charge. Unless you live in a genuine mansion, that's likely to be enough for all the cleaning you need to do, and even on its most powerful mode, 10 minutes of maximum suction is about twice what successful competitors can offer.

2. Raw power

As we said, though, battery life has to go hand in hand with proper power, and the H6 delivers on that front, too. You get 150AW of suction, which is enough to put the H6 level with leaders in the market, while that suction is also carefully and cleverly managed to remain lossless even during cleaning and after multiple uses. 

Its airflow and filtration systems ensure that particles don’t remain in the vacuum’s system, clogging it up as you may be used to in other models. This keeps the airflow going, and makes sure that you can consistently rely on high suction power. 

Plus, you can easily lock the suction on with a press of the Sustain button to make sure that you don't even have to keep your finger pressed down - that's a great little ease-of-use feature. Finally, if you're worried that power means noise, you needn't be: Roborock has fitted the H6 with a noise dampening chamber and a rear filter to ensure that the vacuum is easy on the ears.

3. Super lightweight build

Another key facet of the H6’s design is that it only weighs 1.4Kg, meaning that it's a doddle to use around the house. This is only enhanced by a range of accessories that let you configure the vacuum for any use. That might mean fitting a floor brush that's perfect for hard flooring, or a carpet brush that's optimised for bristle-cleaning.

Perhaps, though, you'd like to use the motorised mini-brush pictured above to clean your sofas and bedding, or the dusting brush to clean cavities or bookshelves that are a bit more delicate. A crevice tool and flex tube round out the system to ensure that, whatever you're trying to clean, whether it's above or below you, or round a corner, you should be able to reach it and efficiently clean it.

4. Anti-allergen filtration

Of course, those of use who aren't lucky enough to already have a premium vacuum will know that with cleaning and vacuuming comes, paradoxically, more dust. There's that undeniable "just vacuumed" smell, the must of all the disturbed dust in the air that your puny cleaner wasn't able to collect.

No such worries with the Roborock H6 - its suction is one weapon, but the other is a five-layer filtration system that packs in multiple cyclones plus front and rear HEPA filters that work together to capture 99.97% of particles thrown up while vacuuming. That means that if you've got a hayfever sufferer in your home, they'll love the H6 for the way it cleans the air as it vacuums. 

5. Incredible features

The problem with summarising the H6's features is that there are so many that impress. Small touches make a difference, like the fact that its regenerative battery actually harvests energy back from the motor's movement as it slows down. Or that it takes its cues from Roborock's robot vacuums to automatically detect when you use it on carpet and adjust the suction level accordingly. Not to mention that every part of its dustbin is easily removed and cleaned if you want to. 

In fact, we haven't even mentioned the little OLED screen you can see above, which will keep you informed of suction power, battery levels and other details at a glance while you clean, making sure that you don't get surprised by a dying battery. 

It's all of these features together with its design and power that make the H6 such an exciting prospect, and one that promises to shake up the handheld vacuum market. We can't wait to get our hands on one, and you can find out more about the new vacuum direct from Roborock right here ahead of its release this April.