Roborock S8 Professional Extremely assessment

Roborock unveiled the subsequent era of its robotic vacuum cleaners, the Roborock S8 Sequence again in January at CES 2023.

This 12 months’s refresh follows roughly the identical format as we have seen from the corporate over the previous couple of years, with a brand new headline Roborock S8 Professional Extremely mannequin sitting above the Roborock S8+ and Roborock S8.

One of many headline upgrades over the Roborock S7 Sequence, nonetheless, truly is not to do with the robotic vacuums themselves.

As an alternative, the RockDock Extremely, which guarantees a brand new heat air drying function for mop pads, computerized mop washing, mud emptying, self-cleaning and tank refilling, is the large enchancment out there on the flagship S8 Professional Extremely.

Whereas a lot of the robot’s design is a step forwards, the non-removable mopping pad could trigger some points, relying on the make-up of your flooring.

As talked about and, as with earlier fashions, the S8 is obtainable in a spread. The most affordable choice is the Roborock S8, which ships with the charging dock and robotic solely.

Subsequent is the Roborock S8+, which has a cleansing station that fills the robotic with water. Lastly, there’s the high-end Roborock S8 Professional Extremely that has a self-empty, self-cleaning station, which I’ve on assessment right here.

Roborock S8 Professional Extremely: Design and construct

Externally, the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely appears like every other robotic vacuum cleaner from the corporate, resembling final year’s S7 MaxV Extremely.

As soon as once more, the S8 is a spherical robotic, with a LiDAR sensor on prime.

The principle robotic has three controls: begin a clear, return to dock and spot clear.

As with different Roborock fashions, I discovered that the beginning button was helpful for rapidly beginning a clear, however I by no means touched the spot clear button, preferring to make use of the app as a substitute.

Flip the robotic vacuum cleaner over, and the modifications turn into extra apparent. As an alternative of a single curler beneath, as with earlier cleaners, there at the moment are two that spin in alternate instructions, just like the brushes on the iRobot Roomba j7+.

This not solely aids pick-up, however the opposing rollers additionally forestall hairs from getting wrapped round. That’s true in my case: after weeks of use, the rollers remained clear.

There’s a single side-sweeping brush, which teases grime out from the sides of rooms. Each brushes have a finite lifespan, however the app says when it’s time to test them for replacements.

There’s additionally a brand new sonic mopping pad. Utilizing expertise that’s appeared in electrical toothbrushes, the mopping pad vibrates at excessive velocity to agitate grime.

Whereas the older S7 had one sonic mopping space, the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely has two. Which means the fabric on the S8 is just not suitable with the S7, or vice versa.

For the primary time on a Roborock robotic, the S8’s mopping bracket is just not detachable. As an alternative, it’s designed to raise solely off the ground when it detects carpet; a function that was launched with the S7. How profitable that is relies on how deep your carpets are. Having the ability to take away the bracket and forestall mopping fully is helpful in some houses and will make the S8 unsuitable for some.

It’s good to see the digital camera on the entrance, which is used to identify obstacles, resembling footwear and pet mess, utilizing AI.

Roborock’s expertise has come a great distance because it was launched with the S6 MaxV, to the purpose now the place it’s tremendous dependable.

Behind the vacuum cleaner is a lift-up flap that homes the small bin. This lifts out for cleansing (it’s value doing this month-to-month, to take away any grime and to wash the filter).

Nonetheless, you won’t have to trouble emptying the bin, because the dock takes care of every little thing on the S8 Professional Extremely.

A tweak to the dock that got here with the S7 MaxV Extremely, the S8 Professional Ultra’s dock appears neater.

It has one tank for contemporary water, mechanically filling the S8 Pro’s water tank; a tank for soiled water scrubbed off the cleansing fabric; and a separate bin that takes replaceable baggage.

In addition to cleansing the mopping pad utilizing a motorised scrubber, the dock additionally dries it with heat air, which prevents any nasty smells or micro organism from rising.

That’s just like the mopping dock on the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni.

Roborock S8 Professional Extremely: Options and in use

Roborock positively has the perfect navigation and options, and the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely makes full use of this.

First, the robotic is extraordinarily fast to map a house, with LiDAR scanning proving to be correct. As soon as full, the app mechanically splits a house into rooms, doing a fairly good job of guessing the place doorways are; if it does get issues unsuitable, it’s straightforward to rapidly edit the map.

LiDAR can be helpful for navigation. Mixed with the digital camera on the entrance, the S8 Professional can rapidly transfer round a home, and infrequently will get caught.

AI picture recognition is good, with the robotic avoiding cables, footwear and pet messes mechanically. Smaller objects, resembling cable ties, may not be caught, however for the overwhelming majority of jobs, the S8 can go about its enterprise with out me having to tidy in entrance of it.

Ultrasonic carpet detection is in place, in order that the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely can detect when it has hit comfortable flooring.

The default behaviour is to raise the mop off the ground by 5mm, in order that the robotic can vacuum with out pausing. When it really works, it’s good, however if in case you have deep pile carpets or rugs, the S8 Professional might not be ready raise its mop excessive sufficient.

The one alternate options are to set the robotic to keep away from carpets within the app or to disregard carpets and mop away; if the mop bracket might be eliminated, then the S8 Professional might simply be set to hoover in every single place.

VibraRise can be out there on the motorised ground brush, in order that the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely might be set to mop solely, with out including muck to the ground. On the finish of a clear, each the mop and brush are lifted, letting the robotic trundle again to its dock with out leaving a path behind.

Cleansing efficiency is phenomenal, with suction energy hitting 6000pa, up from 5100pa on the S7. With that wonderful brush, the S8 Professional can decide up most mess on a single move and even the most important spills on two.

It even does effectively across the edges of rooms, though corners will should be completed with an everyday vacuum cleaner every so often.

Roborock S8 Professional Extremely: Mopping perform

Sonic scrubbing, with the 2 zones, is at its peak right here. Set the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely off on exhausting flooring and it’ll sprint round, scrubbing away at powerful stains with 3000 vibrations per minute.

There’s management over the cleansing depth, which I set to most.

Stick the robotic into mop solely mode, and there’s additionally management over the route, providing quick, commonplace, deep and deep+ cleansing, relying on the extent of muck you need it to cope with.

I discovered that this robotic managed to cope with some pretty powerful, engrained stains. Largely, I might go away the robotic to go about its enterprise, solely stepping in with an everyday ground cleaner each couple of weeks.

In the proper residence, the VibraRise system does imply that the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely might be set off, vacuuming and cleansing throughout all surfaces. Use a rival, such because the Deebot Omni X1, and the mopping pad has to eliminated to get the robotic to maneuver over carpet.

Roborock S8 Professional Extremely: App and digital assistants

The Roborock app is good. As soon as a map as been created, it may be edited. It’s good to have the ability to add furnishings, resembling beds and TV stands, to the ground.

Drop them within the tough place that they’re in the true world, and the S8 might be set off to wash round them. That’s surprisingly useful: after a meal, for instance, the robotic might be instructed to simply clear across the desk.

No-go zones can be found, however not no-mop areas; the one choice is to set what occurs when the Roborock S8 Professional Extremely detects that it’s on carpet.

If you happen to desire, the robotic may also have a zone set by drawing a sq. on the map, and deciding on if it must be coated a few times. See, who wants the spot clear button?

For vacuuming and mopping, the vacuum energy and mop depth might be set (I stick each on most), plus there are Mop-only (the ground brush lifts) and Vacuum-only modes (the mop pad lifts).

After all, there’s the choice to schedule a clear, though I normally discover it simpler to begin the robotic on demand. Voice management is obtainable through Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant.

Roborock S8 Professional Extremely: Battery life and upkeep

Battery life is quoted at 180-minutes though that is on the bottom energy mode. Up this to most and it drops, though not noticeably so.

We’re on the level now, the place even on most modes, robotic vacuum cleaners can sort out giant areas on a single cost and, as I came upon, have sufficient left within the tank to sort out a spot clear.

Upkeep is essentially dealt with by the dock, though you have to to empty the soiled water tank, add contemporary water to the clear tank, and substitute the bin when achieved.

Plus, it’s value cleansing the robot’s sensors with a fabric, and cleansing out the bin manually as soon as a month.

---