Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Review: Is This $1400 Robot Vacuum Worth the Hype?

Over time, there is a very specific template for today’s robot vacuum cleaner. If placed at the expensive end of the price spectrum, it is usually a single rotating dust brush, which is otherwise removable. On the back there are rotating mops made of a type of microfiber, which is moved by a water tank. And both during and at the end of the work, the cleaner returns to center and changes the water.

It’s a pretty simple concept, or if nothing else, an established standard, and while Roborock’s new flagship, the S8 MaxV Ultra (yes, it’s it’s a silly name), innovative in several areas, this is a robot vacuum cleaner. .

But the basics are here, and it’s masterfully done. Thanks to the mechanical FlexiArm that can extend the brush head out, Roborock says it cleans “edge to edge”, and it’s mostly true. If nothing else, it’s actually more efficient than many competing models, although it would make sense if all robot vacuum cleaners were square. The app works well and it is definitely seamless to set up and allow it to scan the surface it needs to clean.

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And then there are these innovations, and it’s very transformative. Transformational? Hardly, but this is a very wild update within the framework of the aforementioned template. First, Roborock has mounted a small extra mop on one side, just so that the cleaning of the floor is also close to the slats. This rotates at a lower speed (185), but sits slightly outside the outer frame of the cleaner, and together with the brush can therefore go deeper into sharper corners of the home. This is combined with the DuoRoller Riser Brush (yes, that’s a name here), which features two rotating rubber brushes that both agitate and push dust and dirt into the chamber inside the cleaner. It is more resistant to long hair, for example, and it simply leaves much less dirt after one run. And then there are the mops themselves. Usually they rotate, but here it’s a static print that vibrates instead. This shaker runs at 4000 “hours/min” but gives a better clean grain, and can even be raised up to 20 millimeters so it doesn’t touch the floor if you want it to keep away from carpet – floor

All this is important, all this makes it more efficient to clean and also makes it easier to maintain. But perhaps even more importantly, although the aforementioned framework is the same, other and more effective solutions are used.

Where Roborock has nothing new to offer is when it comes to software and radar. It is the only LiDAR system on the roof that stands very long and prevents the cleaner from getting under rather narrow furniture, a problem that Ecovacs has solved by integrating the model in front of him. There is also a very annoying voice assistant built in, which starts conversations when you don’t want it to and is usually distracting. Fortunately, it can be turned off, and so can other AI-based tasks. Not all of them are useless, for example there is a customized cleaning profile for your home that works after a few drives and pays special attention to the place where dirt and grime are usually found. But other than that, there is a lot of fluff here, unnecessary fat that is just confusing.

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This does not mean that the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is a bad robot vacuum cleaner. On the other hand, it’s simply brilliant, but at around £1,400 it’s also at the top end of the price ladder. You can get an Ecovacs X2 Omni, or a Roomba Combo J9+ – the best dogs on the market – for similar or even much less. Is it competitive in this sector? Yes, yes, and thanks to these innovations, we may see the S8 MaxV Ultra as a new reference that the others will make in the near future. You simply pay well for the privilege of being ahead of the curve.