REVIEW – I have been reviewing Roborock robot vacuums for several years now and have liked them so much that I have been using them on the two main floors of my house. I have the Roborock S5 Max in the basement and the Roborock S7 Max with the mopping feature on the main floor because the flooring is all luxury vinyl planks. I love the auto-empty feature for the dirt bin but have been looking forward to a day when the mopping feature would become even better. That day is now with the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum. Not to ruin the surprise, but it’s awesome! Let’s take a closer look.
What is it?
The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is actually the combination of the S7 MaxV and the charging dock that empties the dirt bin AND cleans the mopping attachment after each cleaning session and even during sessions. You can also buy the S7 MaxV robot vacation all by itself or you can buy the S7 MaxV Plus which is the S7 MaxV with the auto empty dock (the one without the mop cleaner).
Both docks will be available for purchase if you want to add one to your Roborock S7 MaxV if you’ve purchased it as a stand-alone robot vacuum.
What’s in the box?
The S7 MaxV and the Empty Wash Fill Dock arrive in separate boxes so I’ll list the contents of each box below.
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra – What’s in the box?
- Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum
- Charging dock
- Power cord
- Mopping pad
- Protective mat
Roborock Empty Wash Fill Dock – What’s in the box?
- Roborock Empty Wash Fill Dock
- Dock ramp
- Power cord
- Extra dirt collection bag
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra design and features
The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra looks very similar to Roborock’s other vacuums that I’ve used. It’s round with the laser eye on top along with three control buttons for spot cleaning, power, and home/dock.
Where the S7 MaxV Ultra is different is the built-in camera. Yes, that’s right, this robot vac has a camera! You can use it to travel around your house to see what’s going on or you can chase your pets with it. It’s up to you 😉
The lid lifts to give you access to the dirt bin which lifts out for easy emptying if you’re not using the Empty Wash Fill Dock.
The bottom of the vacuum has access to the “brush” which doesn’t have bristles like some vacuum brushes. It has fins that help prevent pet hair from getting tangled. You can also see how the mop pad attaches to the bottom of the vacuum.
Roborock Empty Wash Fill Dock design and features
The Empty Wash Fill Dock (I’m just going to call it the dock from here on) is larger than other robot vac docks that I’ve reviewed, but that’s because this one has more functionality than all other robot vacuums that are currently on the market.
First of all, you can see that the dock has three canisters. The leftmost canister is for dirty mop water, the middle canister holds clean water that is used to clean the mop pad and fill the vacuum’s internal water tank, and the right canister is the dirt bin.
The S7 MaxV has a removable water tank that you can fill manually but you won’t need to if you use this dock as it will fill it automatically.
The water canisters lift out of the dock so that you can fill and/or empty them. The canisters have a handle so you can move them easily from place to place and they also have a latch so you won’t accidentally spill water on the way to and from the sink.
At the bottom of the dock’s base, there is a cleaning brush on rails. This brush rolls back and forth underneath the S7 MaxV vacuum to scrub the attached mopping pad so that it’s clean after each vacuum session.
On the backside of the dock, you’ll find the power connector and cord holder.
Setting up the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra
The combo of the S7 MaxV Ultra vacuum and the dock is noticeably larger than the S7 vacuum and dock as you can see in the image above.
I set up the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra vacuum and dock in our dressing room. Setting it up is simple because the dock comes assembled. The only steps are to set the vacuum on the dock, and plug it in so it can charge.
You’ll also need to fill the clean water bucket and attach the mopping pad to the bottom of the vacuum before the first cleaning session if you plan to use the S7 MaxV Ultra to mop your floors.
The Roborock app
You will also need to install the Roborock app on your phone or tablet. The application is needed to update firmware and customize cleaning sessions. Customizations include selecting suction power settings and scrub intensity settings for the mop.
After the vacuum has completed at least one cleaning session, it will display a map of the areas that it cleaned. You can then select rooms or zones for specialized cleaning sessions including no-go zones.
If you look at the first image above, you can see that the software will recognize furniture and even shoes as it cleans. I’ve found the AI to be really accurate.
The mapping features are powerful. You can view a 2D map, 3D map, and you can also create a matrix wireframe style map.
The 3D mapping isn’t automatically created though, you will need to walk around the house to capture each room using your phone. It’s pretty cool looking but I’m not sure why you would want to view the map in this format.
Is the Roborock S7 MaxV the ultimate robot vacuum?
I’m thoroughly enjoying the Roborock S7 Max V Ultra. It vacuums dirt, dust, etc, as well as Roborocks other vacuums even when I have it set on the next to lowest section setting.
I’m even more impressed with the mopping function. I like that I don’t need to worry about it mopping my rugs as it will automatically lift the mopping pad when it detects carpet.
The vacuum itself has an onboard water tank that is used to keep the mop pad wet as it cleans the floor. The water tank does eventually empty, and when it returns to the dock, the Ultra dock will check the level and refill the water tank with clean water.
The vac goes back to the dock midway (to be specific, every 20 mins in default mode) in the cleaning session to wash the mop pad. This means that the whole space won’t be cleaned with the same (dirty) mop and spread dirt.
You can choose to reduce or increase the frequency of the mop wash. Instead of 20 mins, you can select 10 mins or up to 50 mins, depending on your preference.
Look at that dirty water! Yuck! I’ve used the S7 MaxV vacuum to mop my floors 3 times a week for a couple of weeks so far and each time the water has looked as dirty as the image above. And here I thought my house (floors) were clean! I love that by default that the mop pad is washed every 20 minutes as well as at the end and start of each cleaning session.
See it in action
Don’t forget that it has a mobile camera too
If you recall, the S7 MaxV has a built-in camera. Using the Roborock app, you can use an on-screen joystick to move the vacuum around your home and watch a live view through the camera as you do it. You can even talk through the vacuum. This might be a fun feature to remotely watch and talk to your pets when you’re not at home. Note that every few seconds, the S7 MaxV will announce that remote viewing is enabled so it’s not stealthy viewing.
What I like
- Cleans the mop so I don’t have to!
- Empties the dirt bin so I don’t have to!
- Definitely cleaning as the water is always dirty
- Built-in camera that you can view remotely
What I’d change
- Include more disposable dirt bags or design a dirt bin that doesn’t need bags
Final thoughts
If you can afford the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, I am sure that you will love it as much as I do. It’s almost perfect. The only way it could be even better (other than being way less expensive) is if the dirt bin didn’t require disposable bags which are estimated to cost $18-$20 for a pack of 3 bags.
Price: The S7 MaxV Ultra will be available the 1st week of May but pricing isn’t available yet. The S7 MaxV and the S7 MaxV Plus will start selling on April 8, 2022.
S7 MaxV (vacuum and charging dock) MSRP: $859.99, 4/8-4/14 Discount Price: $769.99
S7 MaxV Plus (vacuum with auto-emptying dock) MSRP: $1159.99
Where to buy: Roborock and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Roborock.
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But can it do stairs? (Julie hears “ELEVATE! ELEVATE! coming from the basement…)
Hahaha! Nope, no stair cleaning. Now THAT would be amazing!
Can you tell it to specifically not mop a room? I have a room that I use as a gym and I have firm rubber type flooring pieces over tile. I am not sure it would recognize it as something not to mop.
Yes, it’s easy to specify no mopping on a room by room basis or for a whole cleaning session.