Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Review: Powerful but Pricey

Value When Reviewed

$1,599.99

Finest Costs As we speak: Roborock S8 Professional Extremely

$1,599.99

$1599.99

Even when you’re conversant in the world of robotic vacuums, you may not have heard of Roborock. 

The Chinese language agency stays one of many lesser-known corporations on this sector, regardless of launching a number of gadgets since 2016 and sustaining deep ties with Xiaomi. 

Its flagship robotic vac would possibly sound like a smartphone, however the S8 Professional Extremely is definitely probably the most succesful robotic vacuums you should purchase. With class-leading suction energy, self-cleaning and emptying performance and tons of options, it appears like a pressure to be reckoned with. 

However how does it maintain up in actual life? I spent a number of weeks utilizing the S8 Professional Extremely to seek out out, and the outcomes are a little bit of a combined bag. 

Design

• Chunky disc design
• Plastic exterior feels low-cost
• Nice object detection

The S8 Professional Extremely may be Roborock’s flagship robotic vac, however you wouldn’t essentially comprehend it from the design. Each the vacuum itself and dock are coated in a fairly cheap-feeling plastic, with the corporate’s efforts clearly targeted on what’s happening inside. 

It actually isn’t ugly, however there are higher trying robotic vacuums on the market. Given how shortly the white mannequin I examined accrued filth and stains, I’d advocate choosing the black model as an alternative. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

A big disc design is nothing new, though at 9.65cm, it’s pretty low profile. Nonetheless, earlier than shopping for, it’s value ensuring it will possibly match below furnishings akin to espresso tables or TV stands – I obtained fortunate with this. 

Few robotic vacuums could make it into tight areas, however that’s very true of the S8 Professional Extremely. A diameter of 35.3cm means it’s solely actually appropriate for bigger open areas. 

The important thing design characteristic on the highest of the vacuum is the raised LIDAR tower for navigation, however there are additionally three bodily buttons: energy (for stopping or beginning cleansing), house (to return it to the dock) and mop-only. Urgent and holding the latter for 3 seconds toggles the kid lock mode, which disables all three. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

A flap on the entrance provides direct entry to the mud bin, however that is solely crucial when the filter wants cleansing. The S8 Professional Extremely is self-emptying, so it’ll by no means get full when you return it to the dock frequently. The latter is the one strategy to fill the 200ml water tank, because it’s not accessible instantly. 

You’ll discover three wheels on the backside, with a small one on the entrance enabling the machine to rotate a full 360 levels. In contrast to some robotic vacuums, the rotating facet brush isn’t designed to be eliminated. 

The mop pad and twin rubber rollers are additionally mounted into place, however each can raise themselves out of the way in which when not in use. Each work simply high-quality on tiled flooring and carpets, however thicker rugs might show to be a difficulty.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

On the entrance of the machine, a big 3D sensor emits invisible infrared mild that allows wonderful object detection, whatever the lighting within the room. The S8 Professional Extremely makes use of AI to recognise 42 frequent family objects, and it’ll cease earlier than swallowing up something over a sure dimension. 

Setup

• Very straightforward to arrange
• Roborock app required
• Wants a strong Wi-Fi connection

In contrast to some robotic vacuums, the S8 Professional Extremely may be very straightforward to arrange. You merely connect the plastic base to the dock, join it to the facility and slide the vacuum itself into place. 

Simply ensure you hear out for the ‘charging’ voice message or search for the pulsing energy icon on the highest of the machine. There was some cost out of the field, however it’s value ready for an hour or two till it hits 100%.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

As soon as totally charged, the S8 Professional Extremely is able to begin cleansing, with a mud bag already pre-installed inside the dock. For mopping, you’ll simply must replenish the center of the three containers with chilly water, both by itself or mixed with Roborock’s personal flooring cleaner. Different manufacturers supposedly threat corrosion and harm.

To map your rooms or start cleansing cycles, you’ll must obtain the Roborock app. Connecting the S8 Professional Extremely to the app is simple, and it’s straightforward to hyperlink it to your house Wi-Fi community. 

Offered you place the dock on a tough, flat floor, establishing the S8 Professional Extremely is easy and seamless. Even when you’ve by no means used a robotic vacuum earlier than, you’ll be up and operating with out an excessive amount of problem. 

App and mapping

• Free companion app is simple to make use of
• Detailed, correct mapping
• A great deal of options obtainable

As I alluded to above, the Roborock app is required to entry all capabilities of the S8 Professional Extremely. It’s a free obtain for Android and iOS, and comparatively straightforward to get your head round. 

However earlier than you check out any options, you’ll must create a map of your house. Mapping my flat (minus the 2 bedrooms) took round 20 minutes, after which I used to be introduced with an in depth overview of all of the rooms it had visited.  

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

The map it creates might be considered in both 2D or 3D, whereas you too can select no-go zones or a particular sequence during which you’d like the complete space to be cleaned. You’ll be able to create as many maps as you’d like, each for single- and multi-level properties, though I can’t touch upon how efficient the latter is. 

Roborock makes use of an AI system to try to determine any obstacles it encounters. Every guess is given a proportion, and it tends to be correct more often than not.  

The primary exception I seen was when it repeatedly mistook the legs of chairs for wires, however this didn’t seem to have an effect on cleansing. If it ever seems to be an issue, you’ll be able to manually edit the names of furnishings, rooms or surfaces inside the app. 

That’s the place you’ll additionally discover granular management over the actual areas you’d wish to be cleaned. You’ll be able to select the complete map, solely sure room/s and even particular zones, with the latter going as small as 0.1m². 

There’s additionally the flexibility to ship it to a location in your home – an amazing choice when you spot a specific space that wants cleansing. You’ll be able to both set a pin and let it discover the easiest way there, or use in-app controls as a distant for the vacuum. Each work properly. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Like most robotic vacuum cleaners, you’ll be able to schedule cleansing for while you’re not at house, both for a one-off event or the identical time daily/week. There are additionally customisable routines obtainable, with a full clear of the entire home or vacuum and mop of the kitchen/eating room after meals amongst these really helpful. 

Whereas there’s no voice assistant on the machine itself, the S8 Professional Extremely is appropriate with each Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant. I examined the previous by way of my Echo Dot, which labored properly throughout a wide range of instructions. It’s good to not must continuously depend on the app for key capabilities. 

And people are simply the core options obtainable. Throughout the app, there are dozens of various methods to high-quality tune the expertise to your liking. The default choices will likely be high-quality for most individuals, however the array of customisation choices makes the S8 Professional Extremely a really succesful machine.

Efficiency

• Nice vacuum suction
• Underwhelming much less highly effective modes
• Spectacular mopping

The S8 Professional Extremely is likely one of the strongest robotic vacuums you should purchase. It boasts a formidable 6000PA of suction – that’s greater than nearly all rivals. 

Nonetheless, you’ll solely really get near that on the ‘Max’ or ‘Max+’ suction energy modes, which deplete battery life shortly. On my tight weave carpets, it did an excellent job of amassing all seen filth and made the cream floor noticeably brighter. On probably the most highly effective modes, I couldn’t have finished a greater job with an everyday vacuum. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

However the massive trade-off right here is noise. The S8 Professional Extremely is extraordinarily loud on this mode, and it shortly turns into annoying if you might want to consider something at house. 

Due to this fact, it’s a significantly better choice for people who find themselves comfortable to schedule their cleansing for once they’re out. The strong object detection means it’s unlikely to get caught. 

After all, you’ll be able to drop right down to the much less highly effective modes, however I discovered them to be far much less efficient. ‘Quiet’ is simply value it for big bits of filth, whereas ‘Turbo’ remains to be noisy sufficient to be disruptive.

I hoped for the default ‘Balanced’ mode to be the candy spot, however sadly that wasn’t the case. It delivered a really patchy clear of the carpet, lacking a number of apparent bits of filth and particles. Even for a fast day by day clear, it doesn’t actually minimize it. 

Fortuitously, the mopping performance is way extra spectacular. The ‘Intense’ setting is quiet sufficient for use frequently, whereas ‘Reasonable’ and ‘Delicate’ modes nonetheless do an excellent job if it’s not too soiled. 

Throughout all depth ranges, the S8 Professional Extremely leaves flooring trying shiny and streak-free. It may well’t clear the deepest in-ground stains, however I doubt any robotic vacuum may. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

A mixed vacuum-mop cycle will make use of the ‘Dynamic Raise’ characteristic, the place the mop is raised and water stream stopped when a carpet is recognised. It’s not at all times instantaneous, however I by no means ended up with a moist carpet. 

Roborock says the 5200mAh battery will final for as much as three hours on ‘Quiet’ mode. However you’re taking a look at about half of that on ‘Turbo’ – a full 63-minute vacuum and mop dropped the battery from round 80% to 10%. 

After all, an important factor is that it will possibly final a full clear with out operating out of battery. Until you have got a really giant home, that shouldn’t be a difficulty. 

Charging whereas within the dock is comparatively fast, too. Inside round three hours, it went from that 10% battery to totally charged. 

Dock and upkeep

• Big, heavy dock
• Self-cleaning, emptying, drying and refilling
• Little or no upkeep required

Thought the S8 Professional Extremely itself was giant? The dock takes issues to the subsequent degree. It measures 42.6 x 51.3 x 45 cm, and also you’ll want at the least 0.5m above and 0.7m in entrance for it to work successfully. 

Given it’s additionally round 9.5kg in weight, you additionally received’t wish to transfer the so-called ‘RockDock Extremely’ round a lot. Most of my flooring are carpeted, with probably the most logical location being within the nook of my lounge. However as I quickly came upon, the dock is designed to solely be positioned on laborious, flat surfaces, in any other case the robotic vac can’t discover its manner again. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

My solely various was to maintain it within the nook of my small kitchen all through testing, the place it usually obtained in the way in which of different issues. In case you even have a lot of carpets in your house, it’s one thing to pay attention to. 

This all appears like a number of problem, however it’s value it. The dock’s dimension and weight are justified by a formidable vary of performance. It may well automate just about all robotic vacuum upkeep, from cleansing and drying the mops to refilling with water and emptying the mud bin. It may well even clear the underside of the dock and all brushes. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

The truth is, there are solely a handful of stuff you’ll ever must do to maintain the S8 Professional Extremely in tip-top situation. Substitute the mud bag and clear water each few weeks, empty the soiled water and really sometimes clear the mud filter. That’s it. 

The exceptional low upkeep is a key promoting level of the S8 Professional Extremely. It takes a number of the stress out of proudly owning a robotic vacuum, permitting you to totally take pleasure in all its advantages as an alternative. 

Value and availability

Value is likely one of the massive drawbacks of the S8 Professional Extremely. Roborock is promoting the machine for $1,599.99, though it solely ships to the US. 

Within the UK, your greatest guess is to import the machine from Amazon Spain, the place it prices €1,499 (approx. £1,290). You’ll pay extra for supply than normal, however it shouldn’t take too lengthy to reach. 

Whereas there’s one spare mud bag, you’ll must pay further for any after that, as they’re not designed to be reused. Roborock’s personal flooring cleaner and every other spare components are additionally offered individually. 

It means the S8 Professional Extremely is likely one of the priciest robotic vacs you should purchase. It’s costlier than nearly all of the choices in our greatest robotic vacuum chart, with the Ecovacs Deebot X1 OMNI probably the most sensible various. 

There are different premium choices round, however it’s some huge cash for a tool that doesn’t get every little thing proper. 

Verdict

The S8 Professional Extremely makes it simpler than ever to automate cleansing round your house, however it comes at a price. 

A huge dock would possibly look unpleasant, however it means emptying, cleansing and refilling with water are all dealt with for you. It’s additionally extraordinarily highly effective, with complete vacuuming that may rival a handbook model. 

Nonetheless, that depends on utilizing the very best modes, which are sometimes loud and deplete the battery far more shortly. The sheer dimension of the S8 Professional Extremely additionally means many smaller areas are out of attain. 

Mopping is persistently good, and nearly each conceivable robotic vacuum characteristic is current right here, however it doesn’t fairly tick all of the containers. 

It actually received’t have the ability to substitute an everyday cordless vacuum, making the excessive price ticket laborious to justify. 

Specs

• Robotic vacuum and mop 
• Self-emptying dustbin 
• Self-emptying and filling mop 
• Self-cleaning 
• 6000PA suction 
• 3D impediment avoidance 
• 3D mapping 
• 5200mAh battery