Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra Review

Combining the quality mopping of the S7 and the automatic object avoidance of the S6 MaxV, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra delivers the best technologies from Roborock’s previous robot vacuum cleaners. This model goes further still: with the Empty Wash Fill dock, the robot can self-empty, clean the mopping cloth and even refill water.

Performance is excellent, with this robot achieving in one pass what other robot vacuums take two or more passes, and the sonic mopping still delivers the most impressive floor-mopping results I’ve seen. Obviously, the downside is that this robovac is expensive; but if you want hassle-free cleaning and excellent performance then there isn’t anything better.

Introduction

Having produced the superb Roborock S7 with its sonic mopping system, I wondered where Roborock could go next. The answer is the Roborock S7 MaxV, which takes the camera from the S6 MaxV for automatic object avoidance, adding the option of a smart self-emptying and mop-cleaning dock.

With the company’s excellent mapping and brilliant mop, this is currently the pinnacle of robot vacuum cleaners.

Design and Features

• Dock adds emptying and cleaning into the mix
• Camera helps the robot avoid trouble
• Brilliant mapping and app

The basic Roborock S7 MaxV ships with a standard charging dock. With this model, the bin sits beneath a flap on the vacuum’s lid, which you remove and empty yourself.

For mopping, you simply insert the mop bracket and fill up the fresh water tank at the of the robovac. In this regard, using the robot is no different to its predecessor.

However, the version on review here is the Robrock S7 MaxV Ultra, which comes with the Empty Wash Fill dock. I’ve seen self-emptying docks before – with the iRobot Roomba J7+, for example – but this one is a little different.

Sure, when the S7 MaxV pulls up, the dock will empty the robot automatically, sucking dirt into a bag that sits on top. Each 1.8-litre bag should last a couple of months. Replacements cost around £25 for a pack of 12. The self-emptying function here is brilliant: it’s far less messy, with the relatively small bin on the robot itself no longer an issue.

As well as emptying the robovac of dust, the dock also features two water containers: one for clean water and one for waste water. When the robot reverses into place, the dock can fill up the water tank, plus that fresh water tank is used with a motorised scrubbing brush to clean the microfibre cloth used for mopping. Dirty water is then sucked into the waste water tank for you to empty later. 

Again, the tank holds enough water to last for a couple of months, so you could even go on a long holiday and come back to a home that’s been cleaned weekly.

One of the issues that I highlighted with the S7 was that the vacuum came with only one cloth in the box; having to wash it regularly would put the robot out of mopping operation. Here, there’s practically no limit – for long periods the S7 MaxV will look after itself, and is always ready to go.

There’s also a version of the S7 MaxV with just an auto-empty docking station. This won’t replenish the mopping system, but it will empty the bin automatically.

Around your home, the S7 MaxV includes all of the clever features that Roborock has developed over the years. On the robot’s underside is a soft rubber floor brush. It’s designed to avoid becoming tangled with hair – and it’s successful in this regard: I live in a house with multiple cats and several people with long hair, and there wasn’t the usual tangle to cut away.

The S7 MaxV takes the camera from the S6 MaxV, which enables the vacuum to detect any obstacles, so you can set the S7 MaxV cleaning without you having to tidy up beforehand. It will spot shoes, cables and pet mess, avoiding them automatically. AI training has come on a long way since the initial launch, with the S7 MaxV now able to avoid most objects brilliantly.

There are items that can trip it up, however. I have a pet food bowl that sits on the floor on the corner of the island in the kitchen. When the robot moves around the corner, it will always hit the pet bowl; when it comes from the other way, the cameras spot and avoid it.

New to this version is a mode to detect obstacles and slow down before the robot hits them. The flip side of this is that it can lead to the Roborock S7 MaxV not quite getting into edges. My advice is to experiment with this feature and use the mode that best suits your home; I found that I achieved a better clean with the regular navigation mode.

Roborock has built one of the best apps to support its robot vacuum cleaners, and the S7 MaxV benefits as a result. As soon as the robot begins to clean, it uses LiDAR to compile a plan of your home. It can even store multiple maps of your house.

Alongside the basic map, you can zone your house into rooms, and building in no-go areas and no-mop areas. The robot is sufficiently sensitive to automatically pick up areas where you have carpet or rugs, which makes putting in no-go zones much easier if you want to avoid your robot running over delicate surfaces, for example.

You can even drop items of furniture onto the map of rooms, and select them as areas to clean. When I finish a family meal, I just tap the dining table to start a cleaning around it. That’s far easier than trying to work out where exactly the table is on the map, drawing a box around the right area – although that’s still an option.

Next come the real smarts. You can set the robot use more power when it detects carpet, plus there’s Vibrarise: when the mop is attached, the S7 MaxV can lift the mop to prevent soaking your carpet, but continue to vacuumit. That’s super convenient, since most rival cleaners typically have to avoid carpets if a mop is attached. This can lead to navigation problems and some areas not being reached.

From the app, you can target specific rooms or select the zones you want cleaned. You can vacuum and mop, vacuum only or mop only, too. If anything, Roborock still suffers slightly in terms of offering a clear distinction between some of its modes: what’s the difference between Max and Turbo? I found that Max is good enough.

Scheduling is available, so the Roborock S7 MaxV can clean when you want it, too, plus there’s voice control via Alexa and the Google Assistant.

Performance

• Mopping is brilliant on most stains
• Does in one pass what rivals do in two
• Excellent battery life

I put the Roborock S7 MaxV through a series of real-world tests, injecting real obstacles along its cleaning path for it to avoid. For the most part, the robot performs brilliantly, with navigation up there with the best I’ve seen. The camera enables the Roborock S7 MaxV to avoid countless issues that other robots suffer, including avoiding pet mess flawlessly when tested with fake dog poop.

It isn’t infallible, though. On one occasion I found the robot endlessly bashing against some dining chair legs, trying to find out a way out. As with all robots, the S7 MaxV can trap itself, although it’s a rare occurrence. The main issue seems to be the angle at which the robot entered the chair legs, which slightly served to confused it.

I tested cleaning performance in a variety of ways. First, I started by spreading an “X” of flour onto carpet. The S7 MaxV picked up all but a tiny amount with a single cleaning session, covering each area once. Often, I find that robot vacuum cleaners need two sweeps of an area to clean as well.

On hard floor, an X of flour at the centre of the room was cleared with a single clean, with no mess remaining.

To test edge performance, I spread flour right up to the plinth in a kitchen, then let the Roborock S7 MaxV clean. Here, it left just a tiny amount of dust behind. Many robot vacuum cleaners struggle to get as close to the edges of rooms, simply swirling the mess around.

Overall, this vacuum cleaner was able to tackle most day-to-day mess with ease, so when you do have to get the main vacuum cleaner out, there’s little to be done.

I wanted to see how well the mopping function worked, too. This uses sonic vibration, similar to that of an electric toothbrush, to scrub the floor as the robot runs over it. I used the robot on a light kitchen floor, which often suffers dirt as a result of cats going in and out.

Pet paw prints didn’t prove an issue for the S7 MaxV, cleaning it all away brilliantly. In fact, I didn’t need to resort to a regular hard floor cleaner at all.

However, with tougher ground-in food stains, the S7 MaxV only managed to lighten areas of dirt when run in its intense mopping-only mode. Nevertheless, the overall appearance of the floor was improved.

Overall, then, the Roborock S7 MaxV managed to tackle day-to-day cleaning, but once a week or so, my floors did require some manual cleaning. However, this job didn’t take as long because the robot vacuum had at least cleaned the majority of the mess.

In terms of noise, I measured the Roborock S7 MaxV at 66.7dB at the Max setting. This is pretty quiet; while you’ll be aware that the robot is running, you’ll easily be able to hold a conversation over it.

Battery life is rated at a maximum of 180 minutes on the lowest power setting. In my experience, I found that I could clean my entire downstairs off a single charge and still have power remaining for another go. In fact, I was able to set the S7 MaxV to clean without ever having a situation where it didn’t have sufficient charge to do so.

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Final Thoughts

There’s no arguing with the fact that the Roborock S7 MaxV is expensive – but is it worth it? Yes. Not only does this robot clean brilliantly with only a single pass, where rival models might take two, but it’s also a brilliant mop. This is a robot vacuum cleaner that will take care of daily tasks so that when you do need to clean manually, your job will be faster and require less effort.

On top of that, the camera recognition system is now so advanced that the Roborock S7 MaxV will avoid most obstacles automatically, so you don’t need to tidy up before setting the robot loose.

Currently, it’s quite difficult to get this robot in the UK, and the high price may put off some – but this is the pinnacle of robot vacuum cleaners. Alternatively, you can find other options in my guide to the best robot vacuum cleaners.

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