Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra review: A vacuum and mop that cleans after itself so you don't have to

Over the last few years, Roborock and other major robot vacuum companies have been working to perfect intelligent object detection and maximum hands-off convenience so that we can get ever closer to having the Jetson's robomaid of our dreams. The S7 MaxV Ultra shows off the best in these technological advances by both identifying and navigating around objects in its path and by cleaning up after itself. 

I've been testing the S7 MaxV Ultra for about two weeks and I have to say that this is by far the most convenient and hands-off cleaning experience I've ever had. As an Android user, I love that I can control it using a handy app to set cleaning schedules or tell it to clean in specific areas. The vacuum also empties its own dustbin, refills its own water tank, and cleans its own mop so I don't have to. On top of that, it has managed to clean up after my messy cats and dog, making it a great pick for pet owners. If you're willing to spend the money, the S7 MaxV Ultra will keep your home clean and tidy while requiring very little effort from yourself. 

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra: Price and availability

The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is one of the very best of the best Robot Vacuums out there, but all of its convenience features do make it costly. It isn't available yet, but it will be purchasable on Amazon and Roborock's website in the future. The bundle, which includes both the vacuum and the large dock has an MSRP of $1399.99 while the vacuum alone has an MSRP of $859.99. 

That's rather expensive, but if you're the kind of person who hates vacuuming and mopping, the convenience of letting a robot take care of those things for you on a daily basis with little interaction can be well worth the cost. 

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra: What's Good

Image 1 of 5

The S7 MaxV Ultra dock

As I said before, this dock allows the Roborock S7 vacuum to auto empty its dustbin, refill its water tank, and even cleans the mop on the bottom of the vacuum. I was honestly surprised by how well these functions all worked. The auto-emptying really cleans out all the kibble, pet fur, and debris the vacuum collects without making me empty it. However, I do need to keep an eye on the vacuum bag in the dock and empty it about once a month. It might last longer for anyone who doesn't have a bunch of messes in their home, but I do thanks to my constantly-shedding dog and litter-tossing cats.

The downside to this fancy dock is that the added features make it rather big; taller than my adolescent kitty, full-grown cat, or my corgi. It takes up a decent amount of space on my floor and is taller than many other auto-empty stations out there, but not having to fill that water tank every day or wash the mop every week makes it worth it.

Image 1 of 4

There are two tanks, one for clean water that replenishes the vacuum and one for the dirty water that comes from the vacuum. I found that I needed to dump and refill these containers about once a week when I had the unit running every weekday. That's much better than doing it every day it runs. The unit enters the dock backward from when it charges to cycle out the old water for new water. In my experience, I found that it works just fine with tap water and Roborock states that you should only use Roborock branded floor cleaner to prevent corrosion if you're going to use a cleaner at all. 

As is expected, the dock doesn't get super loud, but it can be rather noisy when sucking up the dustbin's contents or refilling the vacuum's water tank. When pouring water into the water tank it sounds a lot like the groaning of a Keurig coffee maker when you first start it up. Then that is followed by slurping noises. It only lasts a couple of minutes, but it could be unpleasant for some people, so it's good to be aware of. 

I was happy to find that there is built-in cable storage for the thick cord on the backside of the dock. It helps keep the dock looking tidier than having an unnecessary amount of cable stretching out behind it, especially with this cable being as thick and noticable as it is.  

Roborock S7 MaxV suction and mopping

I've always been impressed with how well Roborock vacuums work and I was not disappointed by the S7 MaxV Ultra at all. As is standard with Roborock's units, this one maps my home, allowing it to clean in tidy back and forth lines and also gives me the ability to customize cleaning sessions from my phone. For instance, I don't want a vacuum sucking anything up in my messy hobby room, so I created a virtual wall in the doorway that the machine won't pass. As another example, when my dog tracked in a bunch of mud after a snowy day, I sent the vacuum to clean up the area around the dog door using my phone and it picked up all of the dried mud extremely well.  My floors have definitely looked a lot cleaner and shinier since I started testing this robot vacuum and dock bundle. It prevents fur balls from collecting in corners and the special rubber brush prevents it from getting tangled up with hair and pet fur like brushes with bristles do.

Since the S7 has a battery life of up to 180 minutes, it can easily clean my home in one go. But if it did need more time, it would return to the dock, charge up, and continue cleaning where it left off.

As with most robot vacuums, the mop can't tackle really gunky messes. It's more meant for light cleaning like picking up dirt, so you'll have to still scrub your floors another way if there are sticky or large messes. 

Obstacle avoidance

It's always a good idea to pick up objects from around your floor before letting a robot vacuum run, just to make sure it doesn't suck up anything it shouldn't. However, this is less of a worry with the S7 MaxV Ultra. The unit has a dual camera on the front that helps it understand depth and allows it to find paths around obstacles. New with this unit, there's also a small light underneath the camera that comes on when the camera senses darkness. For instance, whenever the vacuum goes under my bed or dresser the light helps the camera detect things on my floors. 

It can still bump into things during cleaning sessions, but I trust leaving it alone far more than I do with most other robot vacuums out there. Plus, it drops icons on the in-app map to tell me where it met an obstacle, so I can check up on where it's been. I might find an icon for a shoe, traffic cone, or universe forbid, "Pet waste." 

The good news here is that if the robot thinks it detects pet waste, it avoids the area so as not to smear it around my floors. I do have three pets, so it is possible to come upon something like this, although it's very unlikely. The vacuum gave me a scare a couple of times by misidentifying crumpled-up paper for droppings, but I was able to correct the unit within the app so it could better detect things going forward.

Even with all these fancy obstacle detection features, the robot can still get stuck. My curious kitty, Sabrina (who isn't afraid of anything), decided to pull some packaging out of a box and then flop down in front of the vacuum while the S7 MaxV Ultra was cleaning my office. Due to the way she placed her papery toy, the box, and her long stretched-out body, the vacuum couldn't find a way around her and thus sent my phone a notification saying it was trapped. This was an easy fix, though, and I'd rather it tell me it needed help than have it destroy one of my belongings or get tangled up and damaged because it bulldozed through something. 

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra: What's not good

I really have very few complaints when it comes to the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra dock and robot vacuum. But the most glaring one has to do with the high cost. I do think it's rather decently priced given all it does. But if the price is a bit too steep for you, there are plenty of other vacuums out there with fewer conveniences that can help keep your home clean as long as you don't mind doing a bit more work to keep it running. 

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra: Competition

If you're wanting to consider another robot vacuum, I highly suggest checking out the other Roborock vacuums out there, some of which are more affordable. For instance, the Roborock S4 Max cleans beautifully in back and forth lines, provides a handy app to give you more control, and has a long battery life. It just doesn't have an auto-empty dock, which cuts the price down to just a few hundred dollars.

Now if that self-emptying feature is very important to you, you should check out the Roborock S7 and Auto Empty Dock. It doesn't have as many features as the S7 MaxV Ultra, but it's very reliable and the dock doesn't take up nearly as much space. You'll have to refill the water tank on your own, however. 

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

• You want a reliable robot vacuum 
• You don't want to empty the dustbin or refill the water tank each day
• You often have items on your floors

You should not buy this if...

• You don't care to have a robot vacuum that mops
• You want something less expensive
• You want something with a smaller footprint

Paying over a thousand dollars for a robot vacuum is a steep buy, however, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra really does make it easier to keep your home clean with minimal effort. Just clean out the dock's vacuum bag every month or so and keep an eye on the clean and dirty water tanks so you know when to empty or refill them. 

If you don't necessarily need the mopping feature to run every single day, there are other Roborock units with empty stations that might suit you better while costing less. However, this is a decently priced unit considering all that it offers.