The latest robot floor cleaners promise a hands-free cleaning experience, but so far, very few have delivered on that promise. In all the testing Underscored has done on robot vacuums, Roborock’s latest flagship combo mop/vacuum robot floor cleaner, the S8 Pro Ultra, comes as close to autonomous cleaning as we’ve seen.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is a “set it and forget it” hybrid floor cleaner with a whopping 6,000 pascals of suction power for vacuuming. It also comes with improved mop scrubbing capabilities, and once set up, its new, streamlined dock takes care of everything from emptying the dirt and dirty water from the robot, refilling it with clean water, cleaning the mop pad and drying it so it doesn’t get smelly.
But all that high-tech automation comes at a price: The S8 Pro Ultra will set you back $1,600. But is it worth the price tag to forget about cleaning your floors for up to two months at a time? After a few weeks in my house cleaning the wood floors, tile floors and carpeting, I’d say this premium robot floor cleaner is most definitely worth it. Here’s what you need to know before you buy.
This robot mop/vac is the most autonomous product of its kind to date. With dual rollers and vibrating mops, it provides a super-thorough cleaning, along with additional AI that will sense (and avoid) things like carpets, pets and toys. Plus, you won’t have to do a thing to maintain it for up to two months at a time.
What we liked about it
Dual rollers and vibrating mops improve cleaning
Roborock updated some of the features of the S7 MaxV Ultra, the company’s previous flagship model, seriously upping the robot’s overall cleaning abilities.
While the S7 used a single roller brush for vacuuming, the S8 Pro Ultra has a dual roller-brush system, similar to the brushes found on our best robot vacuum choice, the iRobot Roomba j7+. The two rubber brushes spin in opposite directions to clean more efficiently, which made a big difference in the amount of pet hair the robot was able to pull up from the carpeting in my home.
A new VibraRise 2.0 mopping system also increases the vibration area so the mop pad now cleans a wider area while applying consistent pressure. This means that while other robot mops can look like they’re dragging a wet Swiffer across the floor, the VibraRise 2.0 uses firmer, higher-speed scrubbing to clean up even the most annoying dirt — like dried ketchup spots from the tile kitchen floor.
Mop pad lifts up to avoid carpets
One of the advantages of Roborock’s flagship robot floor cleaners is that it will automatically detect and avoid carpeting. Just set it to mop and vacuum a room, and the robot will lift the mop up to 5mm off the floor so it can vacuum the carpet without getting it wet. (If your rugs or carpets have a higher pile than 5mm, there is a setting to avoid carpets completely when cleaning.)
This feature was introduced on the S7 line, but the S8 now lifts the brush rollers an extra inch to 6mm while in mopping mode. This way, nothing from the potentially dirty roller winds up on the newly mopped floors, and nothing sticky that’s getting mopped up will wind up on the brush rollers. Even better, both the mop head and the brushes rise simultaneously so the robot can travel back to the dock quickly without leaving dirt behind.
Streamlined RockDock with automated self-cleaning
The RockDock is like the floor cleaner’s car wash, automatically cleaning, refilling and drying the unit, and taking care of all the maintenance needs in one place. Roborock streamlined and upgraded the S8’s RockDock so that it is smaller and more attractive than the original dock. They even added a warm air dryer so the mop pad dries quicker.
The downside of the dock is that it’s still fairly large. At 17 inches high by 17 inches wide by 20 inches deep, you’ll need room to keep this in an open space so the robot can easily navigate to it. The reason it’s so big, unlike other docks that only charge or auto-empty debris, is that it houses three small containers: one for auto-emptying the dirt from the robot’s dustbin, one for auto-emptying the dirty water and one to hold the clean water used to refill the robot for its next run. Roborock introduced a white version of the S8 which, depending on your decor, may look sleeker and tends to blend into a room better than the black version I previously tested.
The main reason anyone would spend over a thousand dollars on a robot vacuum is automated cleaning — which means you won’t waste time cleaning and drying mop heads and emptying dirty water. And automation is something Roborock gets right on the S8. As the robot mops the floors in the house, it returns to the base every 15 or 20 minutes to wash off so it doesn’t clean with a dirty mop. The dirty water gets emptied into the tank in the RockDock, and the robot heads back to where it left off. If you want it to clean itself more frequently — perhaps if it’s working on a sticky floor mess — you can set the specific time in the app.
Once the floor cleaning is done and the robot is back in its home, the RockDock will kick off a more thorough cleaning of the robot itself. The dustbin is emptied and high-speed cleaning brushes scrub the mop’s head with clean water from the reservoir tank, simultaneously extracting the dirty water. Clean water is then added to the robot for the next run, and warm air dries the mop head to make sure it won’t get smelly or moldy. While the mop pad gets clean enough, I do take it off and toss it in the wash every week or so. That’s about the only time I get my hands even remotely messy when using the robot. Hallelujah.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is almost maintenance-free, but the unit will eventually require some manual input. For instance, the dust bag can hold about seven weeks’ worth of debris and the app alerts you when it needs changing. Switching it out is simple, with no mess, no dirty fingers, no errant dust. The app will also let you know when it’s time to add clean water to the tank.
Strong suction and cleaning power
To get a good clean, a vacuum needs strong suction, and the S8 has the most suction power of any robot vacuum I’ve tested to date. It has a 6,000-pascal rating which is about 900 pascals more than the S7 and 1,000 pascals more than the Ecovacs X1 Omni — and it does a great job picking up fine dust, pet hair and cat litter.
Roborock also offers a ton of easy, customization options in the app. You can choose from five different suction powers (Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, Max or Max+) as well as whether you want it to vacuum and mop at the same time, just mop or just vacuum. Scrubbing choices include mild, moderate or intense. My settings include stronger suction for rooms with carpet, while less-traveled floors default to the Balanced mode with mild mopping pressure.
For a deeper clean when mopping, you can use the Roborock-branded floor cleaner in the water tank, which is something we’re seeing more of with other similar robot vacs, though many older robot mops only allow water in the tank. As you might expect, adding the cleaner did get up stickier messes faster.
Spot-on navigation
While I still think the iRobot J7+ has the best navigation of all the robot vacuums, the S8 Pro Ultra does an excellent job of avoiding obstacles and not banging into walls and furniture. Instead of a camera for obstacle recognition, the S8 uses infrared imaging to help identify and avoid obstacles such as power cords, sneakers and even pet waste. It missed just a few surprises I left in its path but overall navigated around them with finesse while continuing to clean.
Like other robot vacuums, once you map your home — which is quick and easy with Roborock’s Lidar navigation system — you can name rooms and create virtual walls and no-go zones to keep the robot from certain furniture, play areas or pet beds.
You can also use Alexa and Google Voice to give specific voice commands such as “start cleaning.”
What? we didn’t like about it
Mop still doesn’t always clear the carpet
Though the VibraRise 2.0 mopping system claims to lift 5 mm and works well on low-pile carpeting, you may be disappointed if your home has higher-pile rugs (above 4mm). While it did clear my rugs, I found some of them slightly damp. If you have expensive rugs and don’t want them to come in contact with the mop brush, you’ll want to make sure to choose the “avoid carpet” setting in the app. It may take longer for you to do separate vacuum and mopping runs of the house, but it’s a safer way to go, and I’m glad Roborock offers the option.
You can also look at the iRobot Roomba Combo j7+, which uses a mop head that lifts to the top of the robot, so there’s no danger of mop pads going over carpeting. The iRobot, however, doesn’t offer a dock that washes and dries the robot, so there is more maintenance involved.
No obstacle identification means less robot learning
The navigation system worked well, mapping my home in record time and avoiding most obstacles I placed in its way. But because there’s no camera, I can’t tell what’s in its path. The iRobot J7+ app allows you to see what the camera records and mark it as something to be generally avoided or as just a temporary obstacle (like a pet). This helps the robot learn along the way.
No more security camera
Removing the camera for navigation also removes the security camera function the S7 robot had. While I was never a fan of using my robot vacuum as a security camera, some users did find it a useful way to check on the house or pets while not at home. If that’s important to you, consider getting the S7 rather than the new S8 robot.
How it compares
The $1,600 Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is part of a new trend of luxury hybrid robots that vacuum, mop and then clean up after themselves. Though efficient and hands-off, they come with a steep price tag. You can save some money by getting last year’s Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra?for $1,300, but the all-in-one dock is larger and bulkier. It also has less suction power and doesn’t include the built-in hot-air mop dryer.
The Ecovacs X1 Omni has hot-air drying, 3D obstacle avoidance and slightly less suction power (5,000 pascals) for $1,349. We were impressed with its carpet avoidance capability; however, it’s worth taking a look at the newer T20 OMNI, which we’re currently testing out. The T20 has 6,000 pascals of suction power, automatic mop lifting and hot water mop washing, plus hot-air drying. While we haven’t finished putting it through the testing process, it’s a great deal at under $1,000.
Bottom line
The $1600 Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is an outstanding hybrid robot floor cleaner with great performance and premium cleaning features such as a hot-air mop dryer, dual roller brushes that lift up and out of the way and high suction power. It has a long battery run time (180 minutes) and a streamlined dock (with white or black color options) that automates the cleaning process. If you’re looking for a premium hands-free floor cleaning with minimal intervention required, and money is not a consideration, this is the best robot floor cleaner you can buy right now.
