Spring has sprung and it’s time to refresh those robovacs! But which to choose? Roborock has put everything (well, almost everything, no rotating mops yet for the flagship model) they’ve got into the S8 MaxV Ultra.
What’s New With the Hardware?
It has 10,000 pa of suction, nearly double the power of the previous Roborock flagship, the s7 MaxV Ultra (though some would argue it’s not all about suction power). The mopping effectiveness has been upgraded as well, vibrating at 4,000 times per minute with the addition of a tiny rotating mop on the side to mop in edges and corners as well. The mop lift system is improved too, with a clearance of 20mm (about .8 inches for those of us stuck in the Imperial system).
There’s also a new FlexiArm which puts the side brush on an articulated arm to reach sideboards and corners. Since the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is round, it can’t quite snug up to corners the way other bots can. This helps.
Roborock redesigned the dock as well. In a market where docks seem to be getting larger and larger with every generation, the S8 MaxV Ultra has a pleasingly compact setup, with removable water tanks that blend nicely into the overall form and a hidden drawer for the dust bag. If you have a convenient spot in your laundry room to run drain and fill lines, you can even skip the water tanks altogether and have the S8 empty and refill itself. If you’d like to clean with detergent, there’s a refillable floor cleaner tank as well.
Mop cleaning uses hot water and is much less noisy than the previous generation, which is greatly appreciated. The dock is even smart enough to rewash the mop if it detects high levels of dirt. It also cleans the bottom tray, which is a huge improvement.
What’s New With the Software?
Roborock says they’re using AI for this next gen algorithm. Though, honestly, it seems to operate about the same as any other Roborock bot. The algorithm has been improved upon a bit, better able to identify potential obstacles with its front cameras. Though that doesn’t mean the S8 is infallible. I still had to rescue it when it ran over a pile of papers.
But generally, the bot navigated my house with ease, readily identifying rugs and lifting its mop accordingly so as not to get them wet, applying additional suction to get more dirt.
Roborock has loaded the S8 up with their new voice assistant “Rocky.” I wasn’t able to get it to work consistently enough so I mainly relied on quick routines that I set up in the app. Those were much easier to launch than barking at the bot to get it to understand what I wanted it to do.
There was one oddity though, something I’ve not encountered with any Roborock bot before this, though it seemed to be a problem with the app more than the bot. The S8 mapped my house well enough, but didn’t do a very good job dividing rooms, lumping my kitchen, dining area, living room, kid’s room, and office into one gigantic room that took up most of the house. Any attempt at dividing this mega room failed. Even after I combined a few other rooms to ensure I wasn’t hitting some undisclosed room limit, the app refused to let me divide. I’ve never had the app just refuse to let me modify a map before. That said, it’s likely that deleting the map and letting the Roborobck re-map my house would have fixed it. If I’d had the extra time, that would’ve been my next step.
Does It Clean Better?
The first thing I noticed when the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra entered the room is that I didn’t immediately silence it or send it away. While the side brush still has that distinctive chatter, it’s not as pronounced and the bot itself is fairly quiet, one of the quietest that I’ve used in recent history.
The S8 MaxV Ultra cleans just as efficiently and thoroughly as Roborock’s previous flagship models. While it doesn’t have the “edge-to-edge” roller bar of the Dyson 360 VisNav, the vacuum and side brush combo work well to tackle hair, dust, and debris. The dual roller system even has concealed scrapers that keep the rollers from getting clogged with hair (the bane of every bot’s existence in my house).
However, I found the extending side brush and edge mop a little gimmicky. With so much focus on adding cleaning capabilities to the edge of the bot, I would have preferred a more integrated solution, like the aforementioned Dyson. And, I know I keep coming back to this, but rotational mops are just better at cleaning than a vibrating pad.
Doing the ol’ sniff test reveals that the S8 doesn’t get quite the level of dirt up from my floors as the rotating mop heads of other mopvacs. However, it’s readily apparent that daily mopping is still pulling substantial filth off my floors.
Navigationally…it’s better but not perfect. The S8 still mires itself on stray backpack straps or runs over piles of paper (yes, letting it loose in my kids’ rooms was a mistake). But it did keep itself clear of more readily identifiable obstacles like shoes, laundry, and electrical cords (I really need to clean up this place).
If you have a pet at home, you can also turn on the Pet mode, which will make the S8 a bit more cautious in its obstacle avoidance. As someone who’s experienced the dreaded “robovac poopocalypse,” I can tell you that whatever reduced efficiency this setting introduces is well worth it.
Post-run maintenance is minimal. There’s a few filters in the dock itself to keep an eye on but the app will let you know when to take care of things. Water consumption in general is better at the default level (gone are the days of having to refill the water tanks every other wash). And I really appreciate the hot water wash and heated drying.
Where Can You Get It?
The S8 MaxV Ultra isn’t quite available yet, it goes on sale in a little less than a month on April 22 for $1,799. However, during the launch event, you’ll be able to get an accessory package, an upright mopvac, as well as a 5-year warranty (which is really nice…as complex as these bots are, they do break down).
Roborock is even giving you cash back if you trade in your old model! If you’ve been keeping up with releases, you can get up to $900 when you trade in an S8 Pro Ultra. Older models will get you less but still provide a substantial discount.
The Roborock site has more information. Of course, you can wait for the S8 MaxV Ultra to pop up on Amazon as well once it launches.
If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line robovac that will easily tackle whatever you throw at it, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra should be on your short list.
