Roborock S8 Pro Ultra review
6 min readRoborock announced the Roborock S8 Series, its next-generation robot vacuums at CES 2023 in January.
The refresh for this year follows a similar format to what we’ve seen in the past few years. A new Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is placed above the Roborock S8+, and Roborock S8.
The Roborock S7 series robot vacuums have a few improvements, but they aren’t the main focus.
The RockDock Ultra is the biggest improvement on the S8 Pro Ultra. It offers a warm air drying function for mop pads as well as automatic mop cleaning, dust emptying and self-cleaning.
The robot is generally a good design, but the mopping pad that cannot be removed may not work well with your floor.
- Roborock models compared
The S8 comes in several models. The Roborock S8 is the cheapest model, which comes with only the robot and charging dock.
The Roborock S8+ is next, with a cleaning station which fills up the robot’s water. The high-end Roborock S8 Pro Ultra has a self emptying, self cleaning station. I’ve reviewed it here.
Roborock S8 Pro: Design and Build
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra robot vacuum cleaner looks the same as any other robot vacuum from the company.
The S8 robot is round with a LiDAR on top.
The main robot is controlled by three buttons: clean up, dock back and clean a spot.
The spot-clean button is not useful to me, as I have never used it. I prefer the app.
The changes are more apparent when you turn the robot vacuum cleaner upside down. There are two rollers underneath the cleaner, instead of one, like the brushes on the Roomba J7+.
The opposing rollers not only help with picking up, but also keep hairs from being wrapped around. After weeks of using the rollers, they remained clean.
One side-sweeping brush is used to remove dirt from the corners of rooms. The brushes are limited in lifespan but the app will tell you when to replace them.
A new sonic mopping pads is also available. The mopping pad uses the same technology as electric toothbrushes to vibrate at high speeds in order to agitate dirt.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra features two sonic mopping areas, compared to the S7’s single area. The cloth for the S8 will not work with the S7 or vice versa.
The S8 is the first Roborock robot to have a mopping bracket that cannot be removed. It is designed to only lift off the floor if it detects carpet, a feature introduced with the S7. The success of this feature depends on the depth of your carpets. The S8 may not be suitable for certain homes because they can remove the bracket to prevent the mopping.
The front camera is a good idea. It can be used to detect obstacles such as pet messes and shoes using AI.
Roborock technology has advanced since the MaxV was first introduced. It is now super reliable.
The small bin is located behind the vacuum cleaner in a flap that can be lifted. It can be lifted out to clean (you should do this every month to remove dirt and clean the filter).
The dock will take care of all your S8 Pro Ultra needs.
The dock of the S8 Pro Ultra is a little neater than the dock that came along with the S7 MaxV Ultra.
The S8 Pro has a tank that automatically fills the water tank with fresh water. It also has a tank to hold dirty water, which is wiped off using the cleaning cloth.
The dock not only cleans the pad with a motorised scrubber but also dries the pad with warm air. This prevents the growth of bacteria or bad smells.
This is similar to the mopping station on the Ecovacs Deebot Omni.
Roborock S8 Pro ultra: Features and in Use
Roborock has the best navigation features and the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra takes full advantage of them.
The robot can map a house in a matter of seconds, thanks to LiDAR scanning. The app divides the home into rooms and does a good job at guessing the location of doors.
LiDAR can also be used for navigation. The S8 Pro is able to move quickly around a home, thanks to the front-facing camera.
The AI image recognition works brilliantly, as the robot avoids cables, shoes, and pet mess automatically. Cable ties and other smaller objects may not be detected, but the S8 is able to do its job without my having to clean in front of it.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra has ultrasonic carpet detection, which allows it to detect soft flooring.
It is set to raise the mop 5mm off the floor so that the robot vacuums without stopping. It’s great when it works but it may not be enough if your carpets are deep pile or you have rugs.
If the mop bracket is removed, the S8 Pro can be set to vacuum all surfaces.
VibraRise can also be used on the motorised brush so that Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is able to mop without adding dirt to the floor. The mop and the brush are both lifted at the end of the clean to allow the robot to return without leaving any muck behind.
The S8 Pro’s cleaning performance is outstanding, with suction reaching 6000pa – up from 5100pa in the S7. The S8 Pro’s brush is so good that it can clean up the majority of messes in one pass, and even the largest spills with two passes.
Even around corners, it works well. However, a regular vacuum will be needed from time to time.
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra: Mopping function
The two-zone sonic scrub is the best. Roborock S8 Pro Ultra will dash across hard floors, scrubbing tough stains at 3000 vibrations per minutes.
The cleaning intensity can be controlled. I have it set at maximum.
The robot can be set to mop-only mode and you have control over its route. It offers fast, standard, deeper and deeper+ cleaning depending on how much dirt and grime it has to clean.
This robot was able to remove some pretty tough, deeply ingrained stains. I was able to leave the robot alone and only use a floor cleaner once or twice a week.
The VibraRise System allows the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra to be used in the right environment, cleaning and vacuuming all surfaces. If you use a competitor, like the Deebot Omni X1, the mopping pads must be removed in order for the robot to clean carpet.
Roborock S8 Pro: Digital assistants and Apps
Roborock is a brilliant app. A map can be edited once it has been created. The ability to add furniture to the floor, like beds and TV stand, is a nice feature.
The S8 will clean the area around the robots if they are placed in a rough position. It’s quite handy. For example, after a meal the robot could be instructed to clean the area around the table.
There are no mop-free zones, only a set of options for what to do when the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra detects it is on carpet.
You can set a zone by drawing a box on the map and choosing whether it should be cleaned once or twice. Who needs the spot-clean button?
The vacuum and mop intensity settings can be adjusted (I set both to maximum). There are also Mop-only and Vacuum only modes (the mop pads lift).
There’s also the option to schedule the robot to clean. However, I find it more convenient to start the robot when needed. Voice control can be done via Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant.
Roborock S8 Pro ultra: Battery life and Maintenance
The battery life is 180 minutes, but this is in the lowest power setting. If you increase this to the maximum, it will drop, but not by much.
Even on maximum mode, robot vacuums can clean large areas with a single charge. I also found that there was enough power left to do a spot-clean.
The dock will take care of most maintenance, but you’ll need to empty and clean the dirty tank, then add clean water to it. Replace the bin once done.
