It seems that smart vacuum cleaners have become a piece of equipment that, for many, is almost essential to facilitate day-to-day cleaning. A device that can help us sweep and mop the floor of our house, keeping it clean without practically having to think about it. There are already several vacuum cleaners of this type that have passed through my hands, some cheaper, others more expensive, or even models dedicated solely to sweeping to better fulfill this function. Well, after having tried the Roborock S7 I can affirm that it is the best I have tried so far and, best of all, it is not the most expensive. Today I tell you my experience after having thoroughly tested this smart vacuum cleaner from Roborock.
Roborock S7: video analysis
Design that improves (much) the experience
Do not expect that today the physical appearance of this type of device will surprise you too much. We can find some models that are a little higher or lower, with one or two side brushes or, in any case, a somewhat more rectangular form factor but beyond that there are no extremely surprising aspects. And this new Roborock model is another example of what I was telling you about. A robot vacuum cleaner that can be black or white, which has a tank for dust and another for water (this is accompanied by a mop for scrubbing) and its side brush to drag dirt from corners. At first glance we don't see too many flourishes or big changes. But, like all good things, the differences are in the small details.
I want to start with something "unusual" when talking about this equipment: the scrubbing module. A 300 ml reservoir with which we can get to clean a surface, according to the manufacturer, of up to 200 m². In my case, the apartment I live in has about 35 m² of "cleanable" surface, and the water tank lasts me about 1 week of use.
Attached to this deposit, although independently, we find the mop to scrub the floor that we can remove if we need it to wash it by hand in the washing machine. This element will be the one in charge of distributing the water through the floor so that, when passing over it, the stains are cleaned. So far everything is as we usually find in many models on the market but, in this case, this section incorporates two very interesting novelties:
- VibraRise System: which may sound strange, but there is more to use ultrasound to make the mop vibrate very fast to be able to clean the floor much better. In this case, the system doses both the scrubbing power and the amount of water to correctly adapt to any situation. We can regulate this through the smartphone app of which I will now tell you more details.
- self-elevating mop: another aspect that may seem like too much marketing, but quite the opposite. I don't know how any of the manufacturers I've tried vacuum cleaners with the ability to scrub hadn't thought of devising a self-elevating system for the mop. What advantages does this bring? On the one hand, we don't need remove module as soon as you finish mopping the floor (something very important if you have parquet or similar) and, on the other hand, combining this aspect with the system of carpet detection you will not get them wet when you pass over them.
Turning to the removal of dirt, the Roborock S7 has a container for dust from 470ml, accompanied by a suction system of 2500 Pa, enough for most cases. The novelty of this system is the floating brush set major. It is a completely rubber brush, which is located in a module that the manufacturer has called "floating" because it is not fixed. In other words, what it does is adapt to the surface it passes through, making it remain in full contact despite the fact that the ground is not uniform.
And, regarding the subject of brushes, something that I would like to highlight about this robot (although it is not a novelty as such because there are other models that include it) is the side brush. Until now, all the vacuum cleaners of this type that I had tested had the typical blade with bristles at the tips to remove dirt from the corners. But, in the case of the Roborock S7, it has like two small silicone hairs. This brush system performs the same function as the others but, in my case, it does not get clogged with the hairs of a carpet that I have in my office.
At the top of this team we find 3 buttons, which will allow us to turn the device on / off, send it directly to the charging base, block it or make it start cleaning a surface of approximately 1 m². In addition, we can see the turret where the lidar sensor who will take care of recognition and mapping of our house. Thanks to this, and the rest of its sensors, the scan does it perfectly, detecting any type of obstacle or barrier that you have in your home such as chairs, tables, plants, or even carpets. As a curiosity, the only thing that has resisted in my tests has been the typical portable clothesline that we all have at home, I understand that because of its geometry close to the ground.
Regarding the deposits, both can be removed super easily for filling / emptying. I even have access to the HEPA filter for cleaning that we can replace when we need it.
And, on the part of the battery, this model incorporates a total of 5200 mAh which, according to the manufacturer, will give it an autonomy of up to 3 hours of use. In my case, cleaning my house usually takes about 50 minutes and the equipment uses around 25-30% of the battery. Of course, I have it set to maximum power in almost all rooms. Although we will talk about this type of configuration in the next section
Very complete cleaning app
Now I am going to tell you about certain details of the application, or applications, that we will use to control this robot vacuum cleaner with our smartphone.
We will be able to synchronize it in a very simple way (following the instructions) with two applications: with the roborock app, or, with the application of We Home (since this company works with Xiaomi to create a lot of equipment). The only difference that I have found between one and the other is that updates arrive from the manufacturer's own app and not from Xiaomi's.
Once the robot is synchronized with the app, it will be time to perform the first scan of our house to create the map. This team can create up to 4 different maps, so if you have several heights in your house, you will not have to have a robot per floor. In addition, when it has already scanned everything, it establishes a intelligent room division which works quite well. Although, if we want to modify or rename them, we can do it from this app.
From this main screen we can see at a glance the status of our vacuum cleaner or even the exact point where it is if it is cleaning. In addition, we can vary between different ways of cleaning to take care of the whole house, a specific room, or a specific area. And, if we click on the icon that looks like two overlapping circles at the bottom right of the screen, we will have access to customize the degree of suction and scrubbing of each room separately.
Then, by clicking on the button with the three points in the upper right corner, we will have access to more app settings such as map management. Here you can set limits, invisible walls or areas where we do not want you to scrub or even choose cleaning sequence of every room in our home.
In addition to other interesting aspects, there are two details that I would like to highlight within this application. On the one hand, there is maintenance menu, which will indicate the status of the robot's consumables so that we know at all times when we have to clean them or when to renew them.
And, on the other hand (and in the main menu of the app, not within the robot's configuration) we will have access to the voice control functions. You can handle this equipment through voice commands from Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri. Through the tutorials that the app offers us, you can link it with both the Alexa app and the Google Home app. And, regarding Siri, using the iOS commands or shortcuts we can configure it anyway. Therefore, simply by saying "Hey Siri, clean the house" the robot will be able to start with this task.
Auto-Empty Dock: automatic emptying dock
Before I tell you about my conclusions about this robot vacuum cleaner, I wanted to tell you about an accessory that the manufacturer offers additionally. It is a automatic emptying base for the Roborock S7, which will give us an "autonomy" of up to 6 weeks of use. In other words, you can forget about emptying the tank of your robot vacuum cleaner for more than 1 month of daily use.
The assembly of this base is extremely simple. On the one hand, it will arrive with a new tank that we will have to replace the one our team had up to now. This change is very important, since it incorporates a small port in charge of allowing its self-emptying.
Then, depending on our needs, we can use this base in two different ways: through paper bags that will keep all kinds of bacteria at bay, or, we can use the cyclone system It will not leave any residue. In addition, as with the rest of the accessory materials of this robot, we can wash the entire system without problem cyclone with water under the tap.
When the robot arrives at the vacuum base, after cleaning, the suction of all dirt it will start automatically. This can be adjusted through the application itself in different ways:
- Minimum power
- intermediate power
- Maximum power
- Communication
Specifically, I recommend that you use the intelligent, since it will always adapt to the needs of each cleaning. In addition, it will not take more or less than necessary.
Something very important that Roborock has also thought about is those who suffer from allergy problems and respiratory difficulties. For this reason, they also incorporate in this base a multiphase filtration system that manages to trap the 99,99% of particles down to 0,3 microns. Therefore things like pollen, dust and other particles will be controlled.
Once the tank limit is reached, or simply when we want to empty it, we will only have to remove it by pulling the corresponding handle. Then, by opening the small hatch at the bottom, we can evict all the dirt that is inside in the trash. To finish cleaning, applying the necessary pressure, we can remove the interior system completely and wash it as we have indicated. Thus, in just a few minutes, we will have the self-emptying system ready to "endure" another 6 weeks of cleaning.
Complete and "economical"
Now that I have told you everything you need to know about the Roborock S7 and my experience after having tried it, it is time to talk about the economic section. And, for me, this has been a surprise.
See offer on AmazonThis Vacuum cleaner robot has an official price of €549. It may not be a cost that everyone can afford, but in my experience, I can tell you that it is quite cheap for all that it offers. What's more, I have tried different of these devices that, by doing less work, were more expensive.
See offer on AmazonOn your side, if you decide to also get the self-emptying base, this has an additional cost of 299 Euros. This accessory is completely optional, but if what you want is to forget about keeping the floor of your house clean, the investment will undoubtedly be worth it.
So, if you were thinking of buying a new robot vacuum cleaner and you had any doubts, I can assure you that you will find few more complete options in the current market for this price.
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