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Roborock constantly makes vacuums that we Clever-ites can’t get enough of—just read our Best Vacuums for Hardwood Floors. So, naturally, the brand’s recent Roborock S7 Max Ultra proves no exception to that.
Roborock introduced the S7 Max Ultra this past summer, making it the latest addition to the S-Series. Personally, I consider Roborock among the best makers of robot vacuums on the market, so I was excited to test this latest release to see if it continued the company’s tradition of leading the charge with robovacs.
Robot vacuums are designed to make life much easier, but you usually still need to clean and empty them. The beauty of this model is that it takes the word “self” very seriously. It’s self-emptying, self-refilling, self-cleaning, self-washing, and even self-drying. The gadget cleans multiple floor types—vacuuming both carpets and hardwood floors, as well as mopping hard floors. Plus it’s smart enough to avoid obstacles and stairs—and can distinguish between hard floors and carpets, lifting the mop when needed.
At a costly $1,200, the S7 Max Ultra certainly stands as one of the company’s higher-end models (though it looks like a steal compared to the $1,599 Roborock S8 Pro Ultra). But is it worth its pricetag? Keep reading to discover why we think so.
Pros:
- Vacuums carpets
- Vacuums and mops hard floors
- Ridiculously strong suction power
- Sonic mopping thoroughly cleans floors
- Self-emptying
- Self-cleaning
- Self-washing
- Self-drying
- LiDar Navigation provides optimal cleaning route
- Obstacle avoidance
- No-Go-Zones
- Can go seven weeks without changing the dustbin
Cons:
- Expensive
- Takes up some room
Specs:
- Total weight: 28.4 lbs
- Dimensions: 16.6"L x 19.4"W x 16.5"H
- Control: App, voice, touch
- Surface: carpet, wood, tile, marble
- Battery Life: 180 minutes
- Charging Time: Approx. 4 hours
- Suction Power: 5,500 Pa HyperForce
- VibraRise Mopping System
- Warranty: 1 year
What’s in the box
The Roborock S7 Max Ultra Robot Vacuum includes a main brush, side brush, and VibraRise mop cloth, power cable, Roborock cleaning solution, and disposable dust bag. The box also includes the Roborock Empty Wash Fill Dock (referred to as the RockDock), which houses the charging dock, and also three containers: self-emptying auto dustbin, dirty water tank, and clean water tank.
Set-up was super easy. I placed the charging dock on a low piled carpeted section—Roborock recommends placing the dock on a hard, flat floor (wood or tile)—since I’d recently moved and now have more carpet than hard floors. Fortunately, the robot and dock were fine on the carpet.
The next step was to charge. When I came back—around four hours later—the battery was at full power. I’d already downloaded the Roborock App to my iPhone, so I added the new S7 Max Ultra.
Then I let the robot mop vac map my home—basically letting it roam around to discover the home’s layout and create the most efficient cleaning pattern. I also created some no-go zones (because I didn’t want to move all of my large air purifiers), and entire rooms to avoid (because I still have storage crates stacked up in them).
After filling the water tank with water, I started the cleaning cycle.
My cleaning experience
It was interesting to watch the robot vacuum work (and honestly, quite satisfying to just put my feet up on the ottoman, at times). It works in a zigzag pattern, systematically cleaning the zones of each room. I can also look at my phone to see which zones the mop-vac combo has already cleaned, which zone is in progress, and which zone is next.
The S7 Max Ultra can clean both carpet and hard floors at the same time. It can detect carpeting and will raise the mop pad in response. However, I chose to create one map on my phone for vacuuming carpet, and then a separate map to vacuum and mop hard floors. It’s not that I don’t trust the robot vacuum—I just have a preference to keep the two maps separate.
I love controlling the robot vacuum on the phone, and viewing the rooms, zones, or full cleaning map. It also shows me the cleaning time left, and when the battery is almost out. When the battery is low, the robot vacuum will automatically return to the charging dock. When it has finished charging, it resumes cleaning at the same place it left off.
There’s also an option to use the spot clean when there’s a particular area that requires extra attention. When activated, the robot vacuum will clean a 4.9 foot by 4.9 foot area. I can also pause the vacuum while it’s running. This comes in handy if I forget to move items out of the way in areas that I want vacuumed or mopped. However, if it’s paused for over 10 minutes, the robot vacuum will go into sleep mode, and will need to be awakened to either resume cleaning or go back to the dock.
It’s not loud (67db), and sometimes (when I wasn’t looking at my phone) I would actually walk through my home to see where the vacuum was. It does a great job of cleaning under my sofas and chairs, as well as under my bed and other bedroom furniture.
It gets awfully close to the stairs, but never falls down. One thing I found particularly funny is how well it tries to clean the base of my countertop bar stools. It would spend what seemed like 5 to 10 minutes going around and around and around the base.
I was also impressed that it was able to clean the glass chair mat under one of my desks. This first time, I watched it very carefully to see if it would scratch the glass, but it didn’t.
The 5,500 Pa2 suction power is among the most powerful in robot vacuum cleaners. Combined with the rubber floating brush, the cleaning performance is exceptional and it does an excellent job of removing debris from the floor.
When mopping, the patented VibraRise Mopping system provides sonic mopping (which scrubs floors up to 3,000 times per minute, making it easy to remove caked-on mess), and the generous water tank means that I never had to refill water.
However, the best part is what the robot vacuum does when it has finished cleaning my floors. It empties the dry debris into the dust bin and then automatically cleans the bottom of the dock.
It even conducts its own mop washing and drying, so I truly don’t have to do anything.
Final thoughts
If you want to harness and maximize every possible feature of a robot vacuum, I wholeheartedly recommend the Roborock S7 Ultra. As Aerosmith would say, “just push play,” (or in this instance, just push start), and there’s really nothing else to do.
The ability to avoid emptying a filthy dust bin or clean a nasty mop is invaluable. Keep in mind that some level of routine maintenance—like cleaning the brushes and dustbin—is required, but this varies by usage and could range from every few weeks to monthly. (Although I definitely pour out the dirty water in the dirty water tank after each cleaning cycle.) In my opinion, this is a small price to pay to be so hands off.
Although I find the S7 Ultra totally worth the price because it’s so easy to use and literally cleans itself, the over-$1,000 might be steep for some. If that’s the case, check out our list of the Best Vacuums for Hardwood Floors, which also includes robot vac options.
