Roborock S7+ Review
Setup and mapping
The Roborock S7 surprised me with how easy it was to map everything. There was no lengthy setup process, it just started around the perimeter of the room and the map updated instantly in the app. From then on I created names for rooms and created exclusion zones. While the app isn’t perfect, I found it to be more stable than Roomba’s app.
Does it suck?
The cleaning performance was excellent. Technically my Roomba S9+ had better suction on paper, but I couldn’t really tell a difference between the two. I don’t do crazy suction tests or try to suck up 100 lbs of cheerios. That stuff isn’t realistic even for a regular upright vacuum. But I can tell you it picks up cat hair and I don’t have any suction-related performance complaints on hardwood, tile or carpet.
The mop is great
I definitely took advantage of the mop once or twice a week. The mop requires some extra hand-holding in filling the tank (I used water) and attaching the mop pad. You don’t really want to leave the dirty mop pad on the device afterward since it’s filled with nasty dirt.
The device does lift up the mop when it drives over carpet. This new feature is cool and does seem to work, but I’d like to see it lift up a bit higher to clear longer carpet.
So how does it mop? The result is similar to taking a damp rag and wiping the entire surface of the floor. This gets dust off the floor and light debris, and that’s perfect for me. The hardwood floors were consistently clean and felt great with bare feet.
This isn’t something you send to clean up a giant orange juice spill. But its a great addition to the device.
- Huge fan of the base station. My base station was mismatched in color because I purchased the device and the base separately and could only find a white base at the time.
- Washable filter.
- Build quality seems sturdy. Nothing wore out or seemed flimsy while using it constantly for over a year.
- Spoken audio feedback was unexpectedly welcome and helpful.
Entering long carpet from hardwood proved difficult
Moving over thick carpet from hardwood seemed to give the S7 some trouble. Sometimes it would get stuck at the edge of the carpet and wobble back and forth until breaking free. My solution was to draw boundaries around carpeted areas and focus the bot on the hardwood missions.
Damage to my floor?
The S7 moves in nearly the same pattern every single run. This is awesome because it gives me confidence that I don’t need to babysit the bot while it works. However, the downside is that it appears to drag small but smooth plastic nubs on the floor.
Over time, I believe this started to create lines on my floor. The floor is fairly dark, so scratches show. A very straight scratch about a 1/2 cm wide was appearing right in front of my entertainment center. This scratch can be seen in the following image:
I observed the path of the bot and every time, like clockwork, it rides over the same line on the floor. Pausing the bot and taking a closer look, I could see that one of the plastic nubs was directly aligned with the scratch on the floor. This made me very sad.
Now, why doesn’t this happen over the entire floor and not just in front of the entertainment center? I think the answer is that my floor is not exactly uniform. I’m sure that (for whatever reason) the area in front of the entertainment center is slightly raised compared to the surrounding floor, making this scenario more likely.
My situation is probably an edge case but I just can’t take the chance. So I had to let this bot go secondhand. I will watch Roborock’s designs in the future to see if the plastic nubs have been removed or at least no longer drag.
Summary
- Navigation is spot on. It cleaned consistently in straight lines and in a logical path that was pleasing to watch.
- Mop works well.
- Docking station is effective and easy to use.
- App / Control was functional and didn't seem overly buggy.
- Bag system is annoying and expensive (although cleaner than the alternative).
- Plastic nubs that guard the roller on the bottom seem to drag. This appears to have made an impact on my floor over a long period.
- Transition from hard floor to long carpet was difficult.
Extra filters and mop pads are handy to have while your current filter or mop pad is being washed or dried. This is what I went with and they both worked well:
Learn more about my experience and review process.