Lithium-rich cathode materials are regarded as one of the most promising candidates for high energy lithium-ion batteries delivering reversible capacity of 300 mA·h/g, which are better than the commercial cathode materials. However, some drawbacks of lithium-rich cathode materials (i.e., low initial Coulombic efficiency, voltage decay and capacity decay) affect the practical application. In this review, we represented recent studies on two types lithium-rich cathode materials, i.e. lithium-rich Mn-based cathode materials and lithium-rich cation disordered cathode materials, introduced the crystal structure, cation redox and anion redox mechanisms of these lithium-rich cathode materials in detail, discussed the drawbacks of the materials and some sources of these drawbacks, and summarized the performance improvement, thus providing the theoretical guidance and technical support for future research of lithium-rich cathode materials.