Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra review: The most sophisticated floor cleaner to date

Price When Reviewed

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra : $1,399.99

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Roborock has continuously impressed with innovative and powerful robot vacuums and mops that hold their own with those from bigger brands. That trend continues with the S7 MaxV Ultra, the company’s first self-sufficient robotic floor cleaner. This vacuum-and-mop combo empties its dustbin, cleans its mopping cloth, and refills its onboard water tank, leaving little for users to do but enjoy the floor-gleaming fruits of its labor.

The S7 MaxV Ultra bundles the S7 MaxV robotic floor cleaner (the Roborock S7 MaxV is also available with a conventional charging dock for $859.99) with Roborock’s Empty Wash Fill Dock. The dock, which measures 16.6 x 19.8 x 16.5 inches, contains a 3-liter clean water tank, a 2.3-liter dirty water tank, and a 2.5-liter dust bag. The dock doubles as the S7 MaxV’s charging base, which delivers a maximum charge of 30 percent during peak energy hours, delaying full charge cycles for off-peak hours when electricity costs less.

This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best robot vacuums, where you’ll find reviews of the competition’s offerings, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.

The S7 MaxV robot measures 13.8 inches across and 3.8 inches high. A turreted LIDAR scanner and front-facing camera assist with navigation. The camera can also be used to monitor your home remotely through the Roborock app, a feature we first saw with the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni. A 13.4-ounce dustbin is set inside the robot beneath its lid, and a 6.7-ounce water tank slots into its rear. On the bottom of the robot are a single edge brush, a rubber roller brush, cliff and carpet sensors, an omnidirectional wheel, and a pair of drive wheels.

Roborock

Finding floor space for the Empty Wash Fill Dock was the most challenging part of setting up the S7 MaxV Ultra. You must provide about a foot and a half of clearance on either side of the dock, and 4.9 feet in front of it for the robot to maneuver in and out. You also need 3.3 feet vertical space above the dock, so you can remove and reinsert the clean and dirty water tanks. You can forget about hiding the base station it in a nook or alcove. Once that’s sorted, you next attach the moisture-proof mat, which will keep your floors dry when the robot docks after mopping. Then you just download the app, create an account, select the S7 MaxV from a product list, and follow the onscreen prompts to connect the vacuum to your Wi-Fi network.

The robot automatically maps your floorplan during your first cleaning. Alternatively, you can select a quick mapping option in the app that will map the space without cleaning simultaneously. During mapping, the S7 MaxV detects floor types and furniture, divides and labels your home’s rooms, and suggests the most appropriate vacuuming and mopping modes for each. You can edit the maps to make them more accurate, add no-go zones, schedule cleaning jobs, and more in the Roborock app. The app allows you to view maps in 2D or 3D, and it also offers Matrix mapping that uses the robot’s built-in camera to capture more details about your space. This enables you to clean highly targeted areas, such as the area around your couch, simply by tapping the couch on the map. Matrix mapping, however, is only available to users with an iPhone 12 or above.

During the robot’s first run through my downstairs level, it created a map correctly identifying and labeling my furniture, wires, and even my kids’ shoes. Several other items were simply labeled “obstacle” and marked with a traffic cone icon.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

During my testing period, the S7 MaxV heartily sucked up dust and debris, including pet hair, from the hard floors in my living room, kitchen, and entryway using the lowest suction power. On carpet, it automatically boosted its suction, allowing it to deliver a deeper cleaning. When the dustbin filled or the vacuum completed the job, it returned to the dock and its dustbin was automatically emptied.

To enable mopping, jobs you must remove, fill, and reinsert the robot’s water tank, then dampen the mopping cloth and install it under the tank. You also must fill the dock’s water tank. Unlike most robots, which simply drag a damp cloth across the floor, the S7 MaxV scrubs with three intensity levels. This enabled it to lift deep stains as well as surface dirt. When you vacuum and mop simultaneously, the robot automatically lifts the mopping bracket off the floor when it detects carpet to avoid soaking the rug. During mopping jobs, the robot periodically returned to the dock to clean its pad, empty the dirty water, and refill it with clean water before resuming. I was able to mop daily for a week before I had to refill the dock with clean water, but your experience will vary depending on the size of the space being cleaned.

The S7 MaxV cleans in an efficient pattern and rarely gets stuck. The one exception during my tests was when it got wedged under a very low armchair. It easily maneuvered around table and chair legs; steered clear of shoes, power cords, and other obstacles; and easily ducked in and out from under my couch.

Roborock

As mentioned earlier, you can use the S7 MaxV as a mobile security monitor, using your phone to view its camera feed and to speak to anyone in your home. If the idea of being spied on by your vacuum creeps you out, be assured that you must activate remote viewing to enable this feature, and the app provides a pattern-unlock capability to secure it.

Given that the S7 MaxV Ultra is Roborock’s most advanced robotic floor cleaner, it should be no surprise that it’s also its most expensive at $1,399.99. For those who can afford it, it’s worth the expense for one of the most advanced and truly autonomous floor cleaners available.