NEWS – Roborock robot vacuums are one of my favorite home automation gadgets that I use multiple times a week. I currently have two Roborock robot vacuums and I want another one because my home has three floors. On my main floor, I have the Roborock S7 robot vac with the self-emptying dock and it’s been a real game-changer when it comes to keeping my floors clean without me having to do the cleaning! Now things are about to get even better with their soon to be released S7 MaxV Ultra.
What makes this new vac so cool? So much! First of all the vacuum has built-in 3D scanning cameras and microphones that are used to avoid obstacles like pet waste (eeeeew). You can use the cameras as a mobile security camera. “Drive” it around your house to check things out when you’re not there and you can even use it to scold your pets while you’re gone. Then there’s the new self-emptying dock that empties the dirt bin and will also wash the mopping pad.
Roborock announced this new vacuum at CES and is saying that the S7 MaxV Ultra will be available for purchase on Amazon in the United States in Q2 2022 for an MSRP of $1399.99. You can go to Roborock’s US site and sign up to be notified when it will be available.
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I am also a very happy Roborock user – I’ve had the S5 Max 2 for about a year. I have a 2500sqft single-level house with no carpets (and no pets or shoes allowed either 🙂 and I have it setup to clean the kitchen and bath every day and the remainder of the house once a week. It’s done a great job so far. But things could always be better. Here are the things that would have to be (or not be) on whatever replaces the S5 Max 2: (1) it should be quieter still. Compared to the Roomba and Neato robots I tried, the S5 is actually pretty quiet. But with Covid-induced WFH, robot vacuums’ noise can get on your nerves. (2) Get rid of the mop. Mops on robot vacuums are a gimmick as far as I’m concerned. They don’t really clean your floor as much as they smear the dirt around. It’s just the nature of these robots – they’re too light to rub out any dried dirt and some even forbid you to use anything but water. (3) More suction. I always run the S5 on its max suction settings, but it still sometimes fails to pick up fairly small items. (4) stronger homing signal. None of the vacuums I’ve tried could have their home base placed in our walk-in closet at the end of the house – they would simply not find their way back. I guess (5) a self-emptying dock would be useful – if it doesn’t require proprietary bags to buy. But it’s not that hard to empty the S5’s bin every day.
Thomas, I really like the self-emptying bin but the current one from Roborock requires proprietary bags. I think it might be pretty easy to just buy one set and use your “real” vacuum to suck all the dirt out of it to use it over and over again.
Thanks for that suggestion. How are this vac’s suction power and noise level (in db if you know) compared to previous Roborocks?
I don’t have a real way to test the sound levels. They sound like a vacuum. They aren’t silent 😉 Right now I have one running upstairs and one running downstairs and the noise is very apparent. I pretty much tune it out though. But if I were going to be on a zoom mtg, I’d either shut the door to my office or just pause the cleaning.
Fair enough (with respect to sound level). I did a quick google search and it seems like all the Roborocks are around 68db – not really any improvements there over time. But suction power has increased nicely since my S5 Max – I don’t know the number on this newest one, but the S7 had 2500 Pa (vs. my S5’s 2000 Pa). Nobody seems to be researching the reach of the homing capability, so no way to test that except to buy one and return it if needed.
This thread makes me think it might be cool to add noise info to my reviews. I’ll have to see what kind of equipment is needed to get that data.
Just responding to your comment about what equipment is needed to measure sound levels: there’s an app for that 🙂 I don’t know how accurate they are, but at least for iPhone there are a number of decibel-reporting apps. And for the purpose of relative comparison, they don’t really need to be accurate – just consistent.
Great thanks!
Hi Julie, long time fan, love your reviews.
I think that until laser zapping becomes practical, powerful vacuums have to be noisy. I WFH too, but the noise nuisance is less than compared to vacuuming the whole house myself (I roommate with Deebot N79 and Roborock E4).
There are several phone apps to measure sound levels, and affordable purpose-built devices too. The Vacuum Wars channel on YouTube does nice vacuum reviews too.
Like Thomas, I am very skeptical about mopping performance too, and the mopping capability (including pad washing) certainly counts towards the steep $1.4k price tag.
Since you have a self-emptying vacuum, don’t you still need to manually clean the roller (assuming gals and cats in the house)? Does the self-emptying function reasonably clean the filters? (avoiding suction loss)
Keep up the good work!
Too expensive.