Roborock S7 Max Ultra review: Excellent cleaning performance, at a high price

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra offers excellent cleaning performance and smart features, but you’ll have to pay up to get them.

Pros Excellent cleaning performance Great design App works well Self-sufficientBuy FromList PriceSale Price

$1,299.99$1,299.99See It

Robotic vacuums are getting a whole lot smarter. I recently took a look at the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra and loved it for its ability to handle the majority of maintenance and upkeep, save for refilling the large water tank around once a month. But what if you want some of those features without the $1,600 price tag? Well, in that case, it may be worth considering the still-expensive $1,300 Roborock S7 Max Ultra.

Of course, the Roborock S7 Max Ultra does cut some corners to hit that cheaper price tag. But with the ability to automatically refill its water tank, clean the mop pad, and empty the dust bin, it’s a compelling choice for those who really want to forget about the day-to-day cleaning of their floors.

It’s important to note that the S7 Max Ultra is different from the S7 MaxV Ultra. Yeah, it’s confusing. We’re reviewing the Max Ultra — without the V.

Roborock S7 Max Ultra design

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra doesn’t venture far from the design of the S8 Pro Ultra, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It has a similar general look and feel of many robotic vacuums on the market, presenting a familiar yet sleek aesthetic. The slim profile, standing about 3.8 inches tall, means it can easily glide beneath much furniture. It sits at around 13.9 inches wide.

One standout aspect of the S7 Max Ultra is its impressive suite of sensors. It comes equipped with two cameras on the front and another two on the back, which it uses to sidestep obstacles in its path. In addition, it has a LiDAR sensor on the top, a key tool for mapping out the room to plan its cleaning route. All of these elements work together to ensure effective and safe navigation throughout various home layouts.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The dock, too, takes its design cues from previous-generation Roborock vacuums. It’s cleverly organized with three compartments that each serve a different function. One holds the dust bin, another is for clean water to fill the vacuum’s tank for mopping, and the last one collects the dirty water after cleaning the mop pad. These design features make it a remarkably self-sufficient device.

Finally, the S7 Max Ultra comes in either black or white. In our case, we tested the black model, which I quite liked. Both the vacuum and the dock look great and should blend in well with any home decor. However, the dock is a bit on the larger side, so finding the right spot for it will be necessary.

Roborock S7 Max Ultra setup and app

Setting up the Roborock S7 Max Ultra is relatively straightforward. The physical setup involves a simple process of unpacking, plugging in, and situating the vacuum on the dock to charge. It’s not a complicated process, and it doesn’t take much time to get it ready to work its magic on your floors.

After getting it physically set up, the next step involves setting up the vacuum through the app. If you’re new to the world of Roborock, you’ll need to create an account. If you’re already a user, simply follow the intuitive on-screen instructions to add the vacuum to your existing list of devices. It’s a user-friendly process that doesn’t require any tech expertise to navigate.

The app itself is well-designed, offering a clean and intuitive interface. The home screen presents an overview of your vacuum or vacuums, including quick action buttons for immediate cleaning tasks. Once you tap on a specific vacuum, you get a more detailed view, including a map with adjustable settings for cleaning. If you’re not interested in cleaning your entire home, the app gives you the option to clean by rooms or specific zones, a neat feature that allows for more tailored cleaning.

Further deepening the level of control you have over your vacuum, the app allows you to customize settings such as scheduling cleanings, establishing no-go zones, and even remote control of the vacuum. This level of functionality adds a degree of convenience and adaptability that enhances the overall user experience, making the Roborock S7 Max Ultra an accessible and versatile addition to any smart home.

Roborock S7 Max Ultra features

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra is loaded with a variety of features designed to elevate its cleaning performance. Notably, it is equipped with Roborock’s VibraRise Mopping System, which intelligently lifts the mop pad when the vacuum is cleaning on carpet. This smart feature ensures that your carpet remains dry and unscathed during the mopping operation. This vacuum’s approach to mopping is as meticulous as it is to vacuuming, ensuring a thorough cleaning experience across different floor types.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Adding to its list of impressive features, the S7 Max Ultra offers automatic dustbin emptying, as well as mop-pad cleaning and drying right from the dock. This automation allows for a virtually hands-free cleaning experience, limiting the user’s direct interaction with the dirt and debris collected during the cleaning process. The vacuum efficiently self-empties and cleans its mop pad, contributing to its overall convenience and easy maintenance.

The S7 Max Ultra is also compatible with major smart home platforms, namely Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri Shortcuts. This allows for seamless integration with your smart home ecosystem, enabling voice control and other interactive functionalities. Alongside these headline features, the S7 Max Ultra includes added bonuses such as a child lock to prevent any unintended operation, and off-peak charging support that can help optimize energy consumption. All these features combine to make the Roborock S7 Max Ultra a well-rounded, smart, and highly functional cleaning device.

Roborock S7 Max Ultra cleaning performance

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra proves itself as a robust contender in the cleaning realm, featuring a strong 5500Pa suction power. This strong suction ensures that it efficiently picks up dust, dirt, and debris from a variety of floor surfaces. A slight deviation from the S8 Pro Ultra is that it incorporates only a single roller on the bottom. While this might lead to occasional hair tangles or similar snags, it was still able to handle most cleaning tasks that we could throw at it.

For the daily cleaning tasks that robotic vacuums are typically employed for, the S7 Max Ultra excelled. It consistently delivered impressive results, maintaining a clean and dust-free environment. Furthermore, it didn’t shy away from heavier spills, managing them decently well. However, as with most robotic vacuums, it isn’t particularly suited for large, sticky spills. This isn’t a drawback exclusive to this model; it’s more a limitation of robotic vacuums in general.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

A significant strength of the S7 Max Ultra is its excellent battery life. After cleaning my downstairs, including a large bedroom, bathroom, and two hallways, the vacuum’s battery remained over 80% charged. This means it could easily handle a much larger cleaning task without any issues. And if it ever runs out of battery mid-job, it’s smart enough to return to the dock, recharge, and then resume cleaning where it left off.

Comparing the S7 Max Ultra with the S8 Pro Ultra, the primary difference lies in the S8 Pro Ultra’s automatic brush lifting feature, which can prevent cross-contamination when using the mop-only feature. Although this feature is useful, it might not be a necessary luxury for most users. As such, the S7 Max Ultra remains a solid, cost-effective option for day-to-day automated cleaning.

Conclusions

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra is an excellent way to get the majority of the flagship-tier Roborock S8 Pro Ultra’s features at a lower price. Of course, it’s far from cheap — the vacuum is still a hefty $1,300. But if you do want among the best features but find $1,600 to be a bridge too far, the Roborock S7 Max Ultra may be worth considering.

The competition

There’s some competition to the Roborock S7 Max Ultra, even in this price range. Perhaps the biggest competition comes from the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni, which is easily one of the better robotic vacuums out there. Ultimately, I prefer Roborock’s app and find the S7 Max Ultra to offer better mopping performance, so I think it’s the way to go.