Best Roborock Robot Vacuum 2024 – Roborock Robot Vacuum Buyer’s Guide

Over the past six months to a year, Roborock has released several new robot vacuum models. Keeping up with what the capabilities of each robot are isn’t always straightforward. As we were thinking about which model was the best Roborock robot vacuum, we decided to pull together a buyer’s guide to help visitors get to know the 2024 lineup.

In this Roborock Robot Vacuum Buyer’s Guide, we’ll take a look at seven Roborock models: Q5+, Q7+, Q Revo, S7+, S7 MaxV Ultra, and S8 Pro Ultra. If you’ve narrowed things down or want to know more about an individual product, we’ve recently tested and reviewed the Roborock Q5+, S7 MaxV Ultra, and S8 Pro Ultra. 

Back when Roborock released the Q series, they noted that going forward, every Roborock robot vacuum would be available with an auto-empty dock, generally speaking as an option. They’ve held true to that, and to focus on the widest set of features, each of the robots we have selected includes an auto-empty dock.

There are a few Roborock outlier products that are only slight variations of other products. The S7 Max Ultra, not to be confused with the S7 MaxV Ultra, is one example. Later in the article, we’ll cover it and a few models which are easily explained in the context of another robot.

Roborock Robot Vacuum Models and Product Naming

Roborock’s product naming isn’t always consistent. And there’s some new confusion in the mix this year. Here’s a quick primer:

• Roborock currently has a Q and an S robot vacuum series. The Q series are midrange robots, whereas the S series are premium robot vacuums.
• If a product name has a plus sign, the word plus, or the word ultra, it comes with an auto-empty dock. Otherwise, it ships with a basic charger.
• If a product name lacks a plus sign, the word plus, or the word ultra, it does not come with an auto-empty dock, instead shipping with a basic charging base.
• Roborock has a few different dock models. From least to most feature-rich are Plus (or the plus sign), Pro, and Ultra. 
• The designation Max, MaxV, MaxV Ultra, and Pro Ultra indicate more advanced features and/or capabilities.

With those simple clues, we have a pretty good Roborock product name decoder. Based on what’s above, you’d correctly gather that the Roborock Q7 is a standalone robot vacuum, and the Roborock Q7+ is the Q7 robot packaged with an auto-empty dock. So far, so good. But, Roborock did add some confusion into the mix.

Following the logic above, the S8, S8+, and S8 Pro Ultra would seem to be the same S8 robot paired with a standard charging base, the Plus and Ultra docks. And, while that is the case for the docks, where the robot itself is concerned, the S8 and S8+ aren’t exactly the same as the S8 Pro Ultra robot. This is new for Roborock as historically, package differences were limited to the dock, not the robot.

And then, there’s a completely new naming convention with the Roborock Q Revo. This model breaks all Roborock naming conventions we’ve become accustomed to. It’s a robot vacuum and auto-empty dock that doesn’t have a non-auto-empty dock or robot-only purchasing option. So, there’s no Plus, Pro, or Ultra designation, and the Revo naming convention is new for 2023.

2024 Roborock Robot Vacuum Models

At a high level, here’s a brief overview of each of the models we’re covering in detail.

Navigation

There are a few different navigation options out there, including vSLAM, LiDAR, and floor tracking. Roborock was an early adopter of LiDAR and as of this year, all of the robot vacuums in their lineup use LiDAR for mapping and navigation. We see this as a good thing as, in our opinion, LiDAR is currently the gold standard for navigation.

With LiDAR comes a long list of advanced, smart features which are fairly consistent across Roborock models. One which doesn’t often get highlighted is Quick Mapping.

Quick Mapping is pretty much what it sounds like. On the robot’s first run, it quickly moves from room to room, creating a precise map. Quick map creation isn’t necessary, but it is nice, especially if you want or need to customize your map before allowing the robot to clean your home.

	Navigation	Quick Mapping	Floorplan Storage
Q5+	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple
Q7+	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple
Q Revo	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple
S7+	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple
S7 MaxV Ultra	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple
S8 Pro Ultra	LiDAR	Yes	Multiple

Roborock also provides official coverage recommendations for each robot vacuum. And each current model supports multiple floor plan storage as well as automatic room recognition. Automatic room recognition recognizes where the robot is when placed anywhere on a previously stored floorplan. 

RELATED: See our recent robot vacuum reviews, comparisons, and advice!

Vacuuming

Where vacuuming performance is concerned, we’ll look at the official suction power each robot has as well as the brushroll system it uses. Suction varies from as little as 2500Pa all the way up to 6000Pa in the case of the Roborock S8 models.

All of the robots have a floating brushroll housing of some sort. This allows the brushroll to adjust itself to best maintain suction on uneven surfaces. New to Roborock is a dual-brushroll system as well as a lifting brushroll, both found in the S8 line.

All of the robots also have ultrasonic carpet sensing. With the exception of the Q7+, this feature allows Roborock robots with mop lifting to raise their mop pads to prevent contact and transfer of water to the carpet and debris to the mop pad.

	Suction Power	Brushroll	Side Brushes
Q5+	2700Pa	Single	1
Q7+	2700Pa	Single	1
Q Revo	5500Pa	Single	1
S7+	2500Pa	Single	1
S7 MaxV Ultra	5100Pa	Single	1
S8 Pro Ultra	6000Pa	Dual, Lifting	1

Regardless of their suction, we have found all Roborock robot vacuums excel at vacuuming both hard floors and carpets in our extensive tests. The same holds true for their mopping capabilities. 

Mopping

There are robot vacuums, robot mops, and robot vacuums that can also mop. Roborock has always manufactured either robot vacuums or 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop combos. Their success with 2-in-1 robots has led them to incorporate mopping into all but one robot vacuum: the Roborock Q5/Q5+.

There are different mopping systems Roborock utilizes. First, there is passive mopping where a pad is attached to the robot that it drags around as it cleans. Second is a high-speed sonic mopping system that vibrates the pad to clean stains better. The system has been widely used and is called VibraRise. Finally, and new for Roborock, is a pair of spinning round mop pads, currently only available on the Roborock Q Revo.

All of Roborock’s 2-in-1 robots can both vacuum and mop at the same time. This isn’t true of all vacuum and mopping robots, and it is more efficient than only being limited to a single task. Another feature Roborock pioneered was mop pad lifting. And all of Roborock’s current mopping robots can lift their mopping pad with the exception of the Q7 models. Below we’ve also included which models have an electronic water tank. Electronic water tanks allow for precise water flow delivery for an entire floorplan as well as specific areas.

	Mopping	Mop Lifting	Water Tank
Q5+	No	n/a	n/a
Q7+	Yes, Static Pad	No	Standard
Q Revo	Yes, Dual Spinning Pads	Yes	Electronic
S7+	Yes, VibraRise	Yes	Electronic
S7 MaxV Ultra	Yes, VibraRise	Yes	Electronic
S8 Pro Ultra	Yes, VibraRise	Yes	Electronic

Robot Dustbin and Water Tank Capacity

Across Roborock’s robot vacuums you’ll find a variety of dusting and mopping tank capacities. We’ve provided those specifications for each robot below. The most important thing to note here is that with the exception of the Q7+ and S7+, the other robots’ onboard capacities matter less. That’s because the docks with the other robots can refill their mopping tanks. 

	Robot Dustbin	Robot Water Tank	Dock Maintenance
Q5+	470mL / 15.9 fl oz	n/a	Dustbin only
Q7+	750mL / 25.4 fl oz	180mL / 6.1 fl oz	Dustbin only
Q Revo	350mL / 11.8 fl oz	80mL / 2.7 fl oz	Dustbin & Mop Tank
S7+	400mL / 13.5 fl oz	300mL / 10.1 fl oz	Dustbin only
S7 MaxV Ultra	400mL / 13.5 fl oz	200mL / 6.8 fl oz	Dustbin & Mop Tank
S8 Pro Ultra	350mL / 11.8 fl oz	200mL / 6.8 fl oz	Dustbin & Mop Tank

Next, we’ll dive into those dock capabilities a bit deeper.

Dock Capabilities

Advanced docks that manage one or more of a robot’s regular maintenance items are game changers, in our opinion. Before they were available, a robot’s dustbin had to be emptied after every few cleaning runs. 

Each auto-empty capable dock Roborock sells can last several weeks before the bag in the dock needs to be disposed of. And the most advanced docks do far more, including refilling the robot’s water tank, washing its mop pads, and even heat drying the pads, too.

Below are the capabilities of each dock for the models we’ve selected:

	Auto Empty	Auto Water Refill	Auto Mop Pad Maintenance
Q5+	Yes	n/a	n/a
Q7+	Yes	No	No
Q Revo	Yes	Yes	Wash and Heat Dry
S7+	Yes	No	No
S7 MaxV Ultra	Yes	Yes	Wash
S8 Pro Ultra	Yes	Yes	Wash and Heat Dry

Obstacle Avoidance

One of the most recent technological robot vacuum advances is obstacle avoidance. This is different than navigation. In short, robot vacuums have blind spots. And the two most efficient and accurate navigation systems, vSLAM and LiDAR, lack the ability to see objects lower than the robot’s height. This is because both vSLAM and LiDAR are mounted on the top of the robot.

Roborock’s obstacle avoidance systems make use of front-mounted cameras and/or sensors to identify objects in the robot’s path. Algorithms in the robot then choose how to avoid the obstacle and how close the robot should allow itself to get to the object. That part of the technology involves object recognition, another recent development.

Below we’ve included which robot vacuums have obstacle avoidance and the type of hardware it uses. We include this as some consumers prefer robot vacuums without cameras.

	Obstacle Avoidance	Primary Sensor Type
Q5+	No	n/a
Q7+	No	n/a
Q Revo	Yes	RGB Camera
S7+	No	n/a
S7 MaxV Ultra	Yes	RGB Camera
S8 Pro Ultra	Yes	3D Structured Light & Infrared Imaging

Battery, Max Run Time, and Coverage Area

All of the robot vacuums we’ve covered have a 5200mAh lithium-ion battery. According to Roborock, the maximum run time before needing to recharge for all the robots, which is calculated on the robot’s lowest power setting, is 180 minutes. And a final similarity is that Roborock states the maximum coverage for each of the robots at 300㎡, or 3,229 sq ft.

	Battery	Max Run Time	Max Coverage
Q5+	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft
Q7+	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft
Q Revo	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft
S7+	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft
S7 MaxV Ultra	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft
S8 Pro Ultra	5200mAh	180 min	300㎡ / 3,229 sq ft

App Features

The Roborock Q5+, Q7+, Q Revo, S7+, S7 MaxV Ultra, and S8 Pro Ultra all have the following advanced features:

• Advanced Scheduling – Advanced Scheduling allows very detailed of where, when, and how the robot vacuums and mops a home.
• Carpet Boost – When enabled, the robot vacuum will increase suction power when its ultrasonic sensors detect the robot is on rugs or carpet.
• No-Go Zones – No-Go Zones are rectangles drawn on a floor plan map instructing the robot to avoid the area.
• Invisible Walls – Invisible Walls or Virtual Walls are lines that the robot will not cross. They are also drawn on the floor plan like No-Go Zones.
• Progress Mapping – Progress mapping shows where the robot currently is and its cleaning path since it started cleaning.
• Room Cleaning – Room Cleaning allows selection of one or more rooms to be cleaned.
• Zone Cleaning – Similar to Room Cleaning, Zone Cleaning specifies an area to clean made up by one or more rectangles drawn on the floor plan.
• Amazon Alexa Compatibility
• Google Assistant Compatibility
• Siri Compatibility via Apple Shortcuts

Additionally, the Q5+, Q7+, Q Revo, S7 MaxV Ultra and S8 Pro Ultra also have:

• 3D Mapping – 3D Mapping is an alternative representation of a floor plan.

All S7 MaxV and S8 models also have:

• Clean Along Floor Direction – When enabling this mode and having already specified the direction of flooring in your home, the robot will clean in the same direction as the flooring in order to minimize scratching.

The Q Revo and S8 Pro Ultra also introduced:

• Smart Suggestions for No-Go Zones – When the robot determines an area that might be troublesome, it creates a suggestion in the App prompting the user to create a No-Go Zone.

Other Roborock Robot Vacuum Models

There are a few other Roborock robot vacuum models which we haven’t focused on. As we mentioned earlier, each of the robots above, with the exception of the Q Revo, is available without an advanced dock. Those robots are the Q5, Q7, S7, S7 MaxV, and S8. Those robots ship with a standard charging base.

There are a few outlier products that have slight differences from other models. Those models are:

Roborock Q7 Max+

The Roborock Q7 Max+ can be thought of as an upgrade over the standard Q7 model. Here’s what’s different:

• The Q7 Max+ has an electronic water tank which the Q7+ lacks.
• Suction power on the Q7 Max+ model is 4200Pa, 1500Pa more than the standard Q7+ model.

If you’re interested in learning more, read our Q7 Max+ review.

Roborock S7 MaxV Plus

The S7 MaxV Plus is the same robot vacuum as the standard S7 MaxV but paired with the older-style auto-empty dock first available with the original S7.

Roborock S7 Max Ultra

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra sits somewhere between the S7 MaxV Ultra and the S8 Pro Ultra. It’s like Roborock took extra parts they had left over from both robots and created this one. Here are a few nuances:

• The S7 Max Ultra has 5500Pa of suction which is 400Pa more than the S7 MaxV Ultra and 500Pa less than the S8 Pro Ultra.
• It comes with the Ultra Dock that the S8 Pro Ultra ships with, notably having the heated mop pad drying capability.
• The S7 Max Ultra’s dustbin (350mL) and water tank (200mL) are smaller than those on the S7 MaxV Ultra and S8 Pro Ultra.

Roborock S8 and S8+

The S8 is the standalone robot and basic charger, whereas the S8+ is the S8 with a far less sophisticated auto-empty dock when compared with the Pro Ultra. There seems to be at least one minor difference between the S8 robots shipping in these configurations when compared to the S8 Pro Ultra. That difference:

• The S8 and S8+ have a dual-brushroll called the DuoRoller Brush, but it does not have the ability to rise like the S8 Pro Ultra’s DuoRoller Riser Brush.

Roborock Pricing

Of course, price plays a big role in any purchase. What we’ve provided below is observed pricing with any current discounts on Amazon as of the publishing date. Generally speaking, we’ve listed the vacuums in order of price from cheapest to most expensive as they were at the time of publishing.

Update: Pricing changes so often with these products that we removed the pricing column.

	Dock	Buy
Q5	Charge Only	Amazon
Q5+	Auto-Emtpy	Amazon
Q7	Charge Only	Amazon
Q7+	Auto-Empty	Amazon
Q7 Max	Charge Only	Amazon
Q7 Max+	Auto-Empty	Amazon
Q Revo	Auto-Empty, Auto-Clean, Auto-Dry, Auto-Refill	Amazon
S7	Charge Only	Amazon
S7+	Auto-Empty	Amazon
S7 MaxV	Charge Only	Amazon
S7 MaxV Plus	Auto-Empty	Amazon
S7 MaxV Ultra	Auto-Empty, Auto-Clean, Auto-Refill	Amazon
S7 Max Ultra	Auto-Empty, Auto-Clean, Auto-Dry, Auto-Refill	Amazon
S8	Charge Only	Amazon
S8+	Auto-Empty	Amazon
S8 Pro Ultra	Auto-Empty, Auto-Clean, Auto-Dry, Auto-Refill	Amazon

Best Roborock Robot Vacuum

There’s only one robot vacuum we covered in depth that we haven’t been able to review hands-on yet: the Q Revo. Without taking that model into consideration, clearly, the S8 Pro Ultra is for the person who wants the best possible Roborock robot vacuum. It has the most features and the highest level of convenience.

The S7 MaxV Ultra and S7 Max Ultra are the next best Roborock robot vacuums to consider when shopping at the premium end of the spectrum. On the entry-level side, we’d say the Q5 is a good choice for a vacuum-only option. But, until we try the Q Revo we’re not sure if the Q7+, Q7 Max+, or Q Revo, all within the same price range, is the standout choice.

Once we’ve tested the Q Revo we’ll provide a full review and update our perspective on how it fits into the entire model line.

The original S7, represented by the S7+ in detail above, is starting to show its age. In fairness, even with its lower 2500Pa suction, it did perform well in our tests. But, currently, its pricing makes it hard to choose. Of course, prices are constantly changing, and with these newer models, we might also see deeply discounted S7 pricing, making it far more compelling. 

What we can say is that you’ll likely be more than happy with whichever Roborock model you choose. They have proven their ability to create highly capable, reliable robot vacuums. If within your budget, we do recommend getting the most advanced auto-empty dock compatible with your choice.