Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review: My floors are clean, but my bank account is empty
I can't justify the sky-high price of the S8 given how problematic it is in a few important areas
Floor chores are a bore. I don't mind making the bed and doing laundry, but vacuuming and mopping? Help wanted! I'd love to put that hour or two per week back in the free-time column (assuming I actually spent that time vacuuming and mopping, which, let's be honest...). The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is not only the most polysyllabic robot on the market, it's also one of the most expensive — which means you're going to have to give real thought about whether it's worth it. Indeed, there are other robo-butlers that do the job pretty well for less, most notably the Narwal Freo X Ultra. Think on that while you read my Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review.
VERDICT: It's great at vacuuming and good at mopping, but at this price it should have a better map editor and be able to avoid something as simple — and common — as an extension cord.
- Good printed instructions
- Significant suction power
- Good at mopping hard floors, with heated mop washing and drying
- Mop pad auto-lifts higher than most others
- Robust voice-command system
- Built-in camera can be used for "pet checks"
- Crazy-expensive
- Buggy mapping system
- Doesn't support multiple maps for multi-level cleaning
- Not smart enough to avoid cords
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: Setup and design
This is the third Roborock vacuum I've tested; an S5 (vacuum only) and S7 MaxV (vacuum/mop combo) were used long-term in my home and proved to be reliable, effective cleaning machines (though not perfect; they occasionally managed to get stuck on cords and low-slung furniture). They were also considerably less expensive than the S8 MaxV Ultra — but, in fairness, less capable as well.
In any case, I was already familiar with basic Roborock setup and operation, especially with regard to the companion app. But you're probably not, and that's okay: There's a detailed quick-start poster to get you started and a text-heavy but informative printed instruction guide to walk you through everything else. This is about as novice-friendly as these things get.
Like most of these premium cleaners, the S8 lives inside a dock that's home to dirty- and clean-water tanks and a dustbin. There are black and white versions available; I tested the former but prefer the more kitchen-friendly look of the latter. Even then, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, the whole thing is a little plasticky, a little meh. Anyone with an eye for design might prefer the glossy white curves of the aforementioned Narwal Freo or contemporary look of the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+.
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: Chock full o' features
True to its price tag, the S8 packs in a wealth of cleaning features. The key ones include not only sweeping, vacuuming and mopping, but also self-cleaning: the dustbin gets emptied into the dock after each cycle, while the mop pad gets washed (with hot water) before and after — then heat-dried as well. That means the only real intervention required on your part is occasionally adding/emptying water and replacing the debris bag. How often you'll need to do that depends on how often you run the robot and how large a space it has to clean.
Speaking of intervention, Roborock says that its obstacle-recognition system can detect up to 73 objects — meaning you shouldn't have to declutter before cleaning. Sure enough, in my tests it deftly steered around furniture, clothes and a bunch of the grandkid's toys. But it rolled right over an extension cord! I've seen this a lot; I'm not sure why so many robot vacuums struggle with things like cords and shoelaces. For $1,800, Roborock should have increased the obstacle count to 74.
Another issue that's common to these machines is mop pads dragging over carpet. Many models can automatically raise their pads, but often by only 10-12mm — not enough for medium-pile carpet, let alone the really plush stuff. The S8's pad can raise a full 20mm, the highest I've seen (except for the Roomba Combo j9+, which swings its mop all the way up to the top of the 'bot). That's effective at avoiding pad-drag, at least on my carpets.
For vacuum purposes, the S8 employs a single spinning brush that helps sweep dirt and debris into the path of its dual rubber rollers, which are served by 10,000 Pa (pascals) of suction power. That's very high; the Narwal Freo X tops out at 8,200 Pa. But does this measurement tell the whole suction story? There's some debate over this; Dyson and iRobot, for their part, don't use those "units of pressure" in their product descriptions, precisely because they feel there are other factors that affect vacuum prowess.
Because there's a camera built into the front of the robot, you can view cleaning progress in real-time or even use it as a sort of poor-man's security camera. (See any feet you don't recognize? Call the police!) Worried about your dog or cat? The S8 can also perform a "pet check," seeking out your fur baby (assuming it's at floor level and not up on a piece of furniture, out of camera view). For those concerned about privacy, the camera is disabled by default and requires several steps to activate.
And for those who like to take a Jetsons-style approach to housework, the robot supports a wide variety of voice commands (so many, in fact, that Roborock supplies a folding tent card listing all the phrases). You can say things like, "Hello, Rocky, start cleaning," or, "Hello, Rocky, mop harder." I appreciate a dedicated command system that doesn't require linking with Alexa, Google Assistant or the like.
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: How well does it clean?
The S8 vacuums extremely well and mops — well, I'll come back to that. After a cleaning cycle, I typically find zero debris on my hard floors, and my carpets show the telltale "vacuum lines" indicating some pretty strong suction.
As for mopping, it proved quiet effective in "open" areas but struggled to reach under kitchen cabinets. This despite the presence of a little spinning brush designed to better clean along edges. The problem is it doesn't extend very far, and the S8 itself doesn't seem to like to squeeze under those cabinet overhangs. Indeed, it repeatedly missed a spot of spilled coffee that was in a corner; neither the mop pad nor brush could reach it. (To be fair, such corners pose a problem for a lot of these machines.)
On the whole I've found that spinning brushes (like on the Narwal) outperform pads at cleaning hard floors, but the S8 does vibrate its mop to help with sticky areas and other spots requiring "elbow grease". Onboard sensors can detect if a floor is particularly dirty in one area and return to it for extra attention.
I was also pleased to discover that it could do a full cleaning of my main floor without needing to revisit the dock to recharge its battery. Again, this can vary a lot depending on the size of the space and the amount of cleaning required, but a few other robots I've tested in my home can't do a full sweep and mop on a single charge. And speaking of which, there's an admirably smart option available here: The machine can do its recharging during off-peak hours, the better to help lower your electricity bill.
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: What I don't like
Like a lot of other cleaners I've tested, this one occasionally marches to the beat of its own drummer. During a mop-only cycle, for example, it cleaned the kitchen and hallway floors as expected, then spent some time wandering around the living room — which is carpeted and has nothing to mop.
Roborock's app is fairly intuitive overall, with all the requisite scheduling options and floor-cleaning settings, but suffers mightily in the map-editing department. For starters, it can create and store only one map — not ideal if you want to use this for multiple levels of your home. Next, I had difficulty dividing up rooms on the map so I could properly label them. The app inexplicably decided that my tiny laundry room was the dining room; the entire remainder of the floor plan was labeled "living room." I tried to rename the former and discovered there was no suitable label available on the list — and no option to create a custom label! That's inexcusable.
Meanwhile, while trying to divide the rest of the floor plan into things like "kitchen" and "TV room," the app rejected every divider line I tried to draw; it wouldn't accept them, and therefore I couldn't label my rooms. I tried deleting the map and creating a new one; this time it allowed me to draw the lines needed for room division — but when I tried to save it, the app produced a "failed" message.
Eventually I figured out the issue, which is too complicated to explain here; suffice it to say, Roborock needs to improve map editing. I had a much easier time with custom mapping in the Dyson and iRobot apps.
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: Should you buy it?
When I run the S8 in my house, the end result is (mostly) clean floors — exactly what you want and expect from a robot vacuum/mop. However, given the ultra-premium price tag, I expected a little more from Roborock's flagship. If I'd just plunked down $1,800 and the first thing it did was roll over an extension cord, I'd be fairly unhappy.
Meanwhile, I think many users will find themselves frustrated by Roborock's map editor; I certainly was. And I didn't like the lack of multi-map support, because it means I can't easily clean a second floor.
There are some real pluses here, including easy setup and operation, useful voice controls, extremely powerful vacuuming and a robust mopping system. (I'm definitely a fan of heated washing and drying.) But if I'm choosing between this and the Narwal Freo X Ultra, which lists for $400 less and is often discounted by hundreds more, I'm much more likely to choose the Narwal.
