With the S7 Maxv Ultra, Roborock has virtually created the iPhone 13 Pro of the cleaning robots. Can do everything, does everything and costs as much as Apple’s premium smartphone. The test must show whether the investment can be justified in any way.
Suppose you pay a cleaning help a fair 25 euros per hour – for the price of the vacuum-mop robot Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra you could keep the person busy for 56 hours. And not only that: At an average of 400 euros for a really good competitor product, the price of the S7 Maxv Ultra is insanely high at 1,400 euros. Premium luxury in the robot vacuum market – does that really make sense? We tried the Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra.
The concept has been a rarity so far: The Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra is the successor to the popular S7 and can also vacuum and damp wipe. But: Its massive station is not only able to collect the dust from the vacuum cleaner in a bag after the work is done, but thanks to two water tanks, the robot cleans the underside of the mop independently and replaces the mopping water. So the goal is clear: Whoever uses this vacuum-mop robot should not have to worry about its maintenance for days.
The robot cleans itself
In fact, that turns out to be a great relief in the test. An S7 used to drive through the apartment, which had to be made fit for the next round in several steps after each run. That means changing and washing the cloth, emptying and blowing through the dust container and refilling the water tank. Of course, this also makes daily apartment cleaning easier, but not without your own contribution.
The Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra, on the other hand, works without human intervention for a longer period of time. The so-called Empty-Wash-Fill-Dock consists of a large parking area for the robot, a container for the vacuum cleaner bag and two separate water tanks. One tank holds fresh water, the other holds the dirty water from the self-cleaning. The parking area for the robot offers a suction point for the dust container, contacts for charging and a kind of miniature washing facility for the mop.
Docking with the Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra is like a spectacle: First, the robot reverses into the station to clean the cloth. A small plastic brush wipes it down over the entire width with plenty of water so that the dirt demonstrably dissolves from the fabric. The station draws the dirty water into the appropriate container and pumps new water from the other tank into the robot’s storage tank. Mop cleaning sounds a bit like someone sucking out an almost empty Capri Sun with all their might. But the result speaks for itself.
The robot then moves forwards out of the station, turns and parks the other way round. This is followed by the vacuuming of the dust and the charging process. The station does a good job here too: due to the high pressure of the extraction system, almost every particle of dust flies into the bag, even after repeated cleaning, the filter in the container looks like new. A small downer: The station works exclusively with bags, bagless use is not possible.
Black water
However, the capacity of the tanks is not sufficient for daily cleaning during an absence of several weeks: In the test, the water was sufficient for around four runs of 60 square meters each, after which new water had to come in and surprisingly black water came out of the station. However, it should be said that you can freely set the amount of water and the self-cleaning intervals in the app. Those who need little water and an infrequent cleaning of the mop will last longer. However, cleaning devils can also instruct the robot to wash itself after each room – resulting in correspondingly frequent refilling of the station, but avoiding cross-contamination of the rooms.
As far as the suction power is concerned, it has improved again compared to the excellent predecessor S7. The 5200 mAh battery is enough for around 150 square meters, the maximum suction power is 5100 Pascal according to the manufacturer, about twice as much as the predecessor. This is particularly evident on carpets. Because thanks to its carpet detection, the Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra knows when it is moving on soft ground. This not only means that it lifts the mop so that the flokati does not soak, but also that the robot increases its suction power to the maximum. Crumbs or animal hair are then worked out of the carpet – more than with any comparable device.
On hard floors, the S7 Maxv Ultra works with a combination of vacuuming and mopping. First he draws in all the dust, then he pulls in the damp cloth. Unlike cheap robots, however, there is a device under the mop that makes the mopping module vibrate and thus loosens more dirt from the floor than would be possible just by dragging the cloth behind it. Even the vibrating mop does not always create stubborn stains, but the Roborock basically leaves a clean floor.
This is the vacuum cleaner speaking
You don’t have to worry as much about accidents with the luxury helper as with many of its less intelligent opponents. The Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra navigates with a laser. It uses it to recognize rooms, walls and obstacles. In addition, a camera with a night light helps the robot at work, so that it stays on its route a little faster and more reliably than its predecessor and recognizes obstacles more quickly. So if the dog gets in the way or shoes interfere with the ride, the S7 Maxv Ultra simply bypasses them without nudging them first.
The camera also has another interesting feature: With the extremely comprehensive app, the robot can be observed at work in real time or even controlled remotely. The live image of the vacuum cleaner’s camera appears on the smartphone and there is a call function. If you activate this, the Roborock stops its work and you can make a video call via the vacuum cleaner. Frighteningly clear and understandable in the test. You just have to be clear that you are talking to a person about a vacuum cleaner. Normal is different.
Speaking of the app: really everything can be adjusted here. After the first cleaning, the robot creates a detailed map of the apartment. This allows you to set different cleaning modes for the room, such as more water in the bathroom or in the kitchen, more suction power in the hallway, and the app allows you to set up no-go areas if you want to exclude certain areas of the apartment from cleaning.
Fazit Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra
The Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra is an amazingly capable and complex household helper. The high level of autonomy of the robot helps enormously when cleaning your own four walls, and the rare manual intervention makes the product attractive. The cleaning performance, as with its predecessor S7, is really very good, perhaps the current benchmark for a vacuum-mop robot.
For a price of just under 1400 euros, you shouldn’t expect anything else. On the contrary: the scope of delivery is almost a bit too meager for the fact that you could have bought an iPhone 13 Pro. Replacement cloths, filters or a second rubber brush are missing, only a few bags are included with the station. A purchase of additional equipment is therefore inevitable, even if there are numerous alternative products from third-party manufacturers, especially for bags and cloths, so that the costs can be reduced somewhat.
If you are looking for the currently best vacuum-mop robot, you could definitely find it with the Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra. Provided the wallet is well filled and there is enough space in the apartment for the monstrous station.
The Roborock S7 Maxv Ultra is available now. Alternatively, the Roborock S7 is also worth a look. It is available from 890 euros with a suction station. Swapping the rags is actually not that dramatic.
Speaking of swapping: the search for suitable replacement bags is currently a bit difficult – there are simply not enough offers here. At the official contact point that Roborock told the star, availability is not expected until mid-June. If you need a quick replacement, you should look for bags for the “Q7 Max” on Aliexpress and similar platforms – these are identical dust bags.
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