Roborock S7 MaxV Robot Vacuum Review

The Roborock S7 MaxV feels amazingly well-built. It feels very similar in build to the older Roborock S7, with a high-grade plastic body accented with a few metallic and glossy components and a rubber brushroll without any bristles. The matte-finish top plate lifts, enabling you to access the dirt compartment, the Wi-Fi indicator light, and a system reset button. You can use the vacuum's companion app to project your voice through a set of built-in speakers, which also provide current status updates. There's also a removable air inlet cover, which you can remove when using the vacuum with a self-emptying dock.

The out-of-the-box setup isn't too difficult. You need to download the Roborock companion app to complete the setup process and pair the vacuum with its docking station. The mopping module can be left on the vacuum and is quite easy to set up too.

The Roborock S7 MaxV has quite a few parts that need regular cleaning, but thankfully most components are easy to access.

• Brushroll: The brushroll can be pulled out by first removing the brushroll guard under the vacuum. You can remove the brushroll bearings to slide off any stuck-on debris or hair wraps. You should do this every two weeks.
• Dirt compartment: The dirt compartment can be removed by lifting the back cover and pressing the two release tabs. The vacuum provides an audio notification to tell you when the dirt compartment has been removed or re-seated in its housing. You should empty it once a week or whenever you notice that it's full. If you buy either the pricier Roborock S7 MaxV Plus or Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra models, debris is sucked from its dirt compartment into an external dustbin on its charging dock. You can also wash the dirt compartment under water to remove any stuck-on debris.
• E11 Filter: The filter is located under the top cover of the dirt compartment. You should wash it under water every two weeks.
• Side brush: The side brush can be removed from under the vacuum with a screwdriver. Clean any hair wraps or stuck-on debris once a month. However, it's pretty tangle-prone, so you might need to clean it more often than that, especially if you have a pet with long hair.
• Omni-directional wheel: The directional wheel can be pulled out of the socket, though the manufacturer recommends using a screwdriver to remove the wheel axle. Clean it whenever you notice a buildup of debris.
• Mop cloth: The mopping cloth can be removed from its mounting plate and slid out. You should clean it under water after each use.
• Water tank: You can pull the water tank out from the back of the vacuum. You can clean it as required by filling it with clean water, shaking it gently, and then pouring out the dirty water.

Any part washed with water should be allowed to dry for at least 24 hours before being put back in the vacuum. Consider the Roborock Q5 if you want a robot vacuum with fewer parts that need periodic cleaning and you don't mind missing out on a mopping feature.

The Roborock S7 MaxV incurs high recurring costs.

• Brushroll: The brushroll needs replacing after 300 hours of use or every six to 12 months. A replacement can be purchased here.
• Side brush: The side brush has a service life of 200 hours. You can buy a replacement here.
• E11 filter: The filter needs replacing following 150 hours according to the maintenance tab of the companion app. You can buy replacements in packs of two here.
• Mop cloth:The mop cloth should be replaced every three to six months. Replacements can be bought in packs of two, as seen here.

Most parts are sold through Roborock's Amazon store, and you can use the 'Maintenance' tab in the vacuum's companion app to check the estimated remaining service life of each part.

The basic Roborock S7 MaxV takes up very little room. It has very similar dimensions to the older Roborock S7, and its basic charging dock is pretty low profile. It also comes with a moisture-proof pad that can be seated under the charging dock to prevent your floor from getting wet after the vacuum has finished a mopping session. It's worth noting that the Roborock S7 MaxV Plus and Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra models come with much larger docking stations, especially the Ultra model, which comes with a multifunction dock that's wider than the one included with newer Roborock models, like the Roborock Qrevo. This larger footprint can make it a little harder to fit in narrower spaces.

Like a lot of other hybrid mop/vacuum units, the Roborock S7 MaxV's internal dirt compartment is pretty small, with its internal water tank cutting into space normally reserved by the dustbin. As a result, you'll need to empty its dirt compartment at the end of almost every cleaning session. If this is a significant concern, it might be worth spending more on the S7 MaxV Plus or S7 MaxV Ultra models instead, which come with docks that offer self-emptying capability.

The standard Roborock S7 MaxV only comes with a simple charging rack. Upgrading to the mid-range S7 MaxV Plus nets you an Auto-Empty Dock that only empties debris from the vacuum's dustbin into a 3.0L dustbag inside the docking station. Lastly, the top-tier S7 MaxV Ultra comes bundled with the Empty Wash Fill Dock, which can automatically wash the vacuum's mop pads, refill its water tank, and suck debris from its internal dustbin. This latter product has been discontinued. If you want a robot vacuum that's bundled with a similarly-capable dock, the Roborock Qrevo Pro is a good option.

• Roborock S7 MaxV vacuum
• Dirt compartment
• Water container
• 1x E11 filter
• Rubber brushroll
• Brushroll guard
• Mopping module
• 1x Mopping cloth
• Recharge station
• Charging cable with Velcro strap
• Moisture-proof mat
• User guide

The Roborock S7 MaxV has amazing battery performance. It can run for over three and a half hours in its energy-efficient 'Quiet' mode, which comfortably exceeds the advertised claim of 180 minutes. It gives the vacuum enough time to clear away lightweight debris in large areas. If you need more power for cleaning thicker carpeting and heavier debris, using it in its high-power 'Max+' mode drops its runtime to just under 90 minutes, which is still quite lengthy. The vacuum stops its cleaning task once its charge level drops below 20%, at which point its battery life indicator light turns red, and the vacuum attempts to make its way back to its charging station.

As a flagship robot vacuum, the Roborock S7 MaxV has many quality-of-life features.

It features five different suction power modes: the energy-efficient 'Quiet' mode, the default 'Balanced' mode, 'Turbo', 'Max', and 'Max+' which is meant for cleaning extremely stubborn debris. Running the vacuum in its 'Balanced' mode allows it to automatically change its power level.

There are a variety of mopping options too. You can swap between three levels of scrubbing intensity: 'Mild,' 'Moderate,' and 'Intense.' There are also two modes of mop pathing: 'Standard' for moderately intensive cleaning sessions and 'Deep', which minimizes the vacuum's suction power and causes the vacuum to move in a tight Z-shaped pattern, resulting in more thorough room coverage.

It can identify the type of room that it's in based on the furniture within, and can automatically suggest a given suction setting or mop scrubbing intensity for different types of areas, like bedrooms, kitchens, or bathrooms. An LED headlight at the front of the vacuum turns on in low-light environments, ensuring that the RGB camera and 3D scanner can still identify obstacles in the dark.

It can also lift its mop pad whenever the vacuum moves over carpet. 'Carpet Mode,' which you can enable through its companion app, automatically boosts its suction power on carpeted floors, increases the rotational speed of the side brush when cleaning along walls, and slows it down when the vacuum is positioned in the middle of a room.

This vacuum's performance on hard floors is great. It's effective at sucking up a wide variety of debris types and offers good overall coverage, leaving behind only a small amount of debris in corners.

This vacuum does a good job of handling debris on high-pile carpet. It's good at dealing with most kinds of debris, but you'll likely need to clean up some remaining debris along walls and in corners by either running another cycle or using a manually operated vacuum.

It's worth noting that this vacuum can have trouble navigating on dark-colored carpets, which can trigger the cliff sensors and cause the vacuum to stop moving. We got around this issue in testing by covering the cliff sensors with white gaffer tape, but you shouldn't do this in real-world usage.

This vacuum provides okay debris pickup performance on low-pile carpet. It's good at dealing with large and medium-sized debris like cereal or rice, but it really struggles with finer material that's been pressed into carpet fibers, especially along walls and in corners.

This vacuum does a poor job of dealing with pet hair on low-pile carpet. While it clears away lighter strands that are barely resting on carpet fibers, some hair gets stuck on the brushroll and is left to drag along the floor, where it can get stuck again.

The Roborock S7 MaxV real-world suction is pretty strong compared to most other robot vacuums, even higher-end models like the iRobot Roomba j7. Still, its suction inlet is positioned too high above the contact surface to generate a tight seal on bare surfaces, resulting in low real-world suction power measurements.

This vacuum's airflow performance is okay for a robot vacuum. It falls slightly short of the newer Roborock Q Revo, but still isn't likely to have a hard time lifting heavier debris away.

On average, the Roborock S7 MaxV isn't too noisy, though this depends heavily on what mode you have it in. At just 57.5 dBA, it's extremely discrete in the low-power 'Quiet' setting, and you can easily have a conversation with people nearby while the vacuum is running. However, it's considerably louder in more powerful settings. When used in its default 'Balanced' mode, the vacuum can automatically increase its suction power to 'Max' when cleaning carpeting. At over 80 dBA, it's more than loud enough to drown out the sound of nearby conversations. If low operating noise is a significant consideration in purchasing a robot vacuum, the Roborock Q Revo is certainly worth a look.

The Roborock S7 MaxV has excellent maneuverability. Similar to the Roborock S6 MaxV, it uses a LIDAR mapping system in conjunction with a camera system that lets it identify and avoid obstacles, which you can then see in a coverage map that the vacuum outputs to its companion app at the end of a run, as seen here. However, the system can be prone to false positives and might identify objects like thick rugs as obstacles to be avoided rather than surfaces to be cleaned. The vacuum noticeably adjusts its suction power when it cleans carpets, and the side brush effectively pushes dirt into the vacuum's path when it's near a wall. It's small enough to fit under low furniture and cleans around the feet of couches and tables. The headlight for its camera sensors also turns on when cleaning underneath furniture.

The Roborock S7 MaxV does a poor job of sealing in fine particles. Like the standard Roborock S7, fine allergens bypass its E11 filter and are blown straight out of its exhaust port.

Due to its low suction force, the Roborock S7 MaxV does a poor job sucking up debris from cracks and crevices compared to most manually-operated vacuums.

The Roborock S7 MaxV does an okay job dealing with dried-on stains when used in its 'Intense' scrubbing mode and the pathing set to 'Deep Clean.' Installing the mop pads is an easy process. The manufacturer recommends pre-soaking the mopping pad before letting it run. Still, if you want a more thorough clean, it's recommended that you do a second mopping run. You can see a video of the vacuum clearing a stain with two passes here, and the outcome of that second run here.

The Roborock S7 MaxV isn't designed for dealing with liquid spills. It can clear away small spills by soaking them away with its mopping pads, but having the vacuum suck up liquid is likely to damage it.

The Roborock S7 MaxV has an amazingly wide array of automation features. While this variant doesn't come with a self-emptying station, it's fully compatible with both the Empty Wash Fill Dock and Auto-Empty Dock, either of which you can buy separately. You can use the vacuum without its companion app using the control buttons at the front of the vacuum's top cover. The power button doubles as a general 'Clean' button, sending the vacuum off to start a cleaning session. The 'Spot Clean' button directs the vacuum to clean a small area around itself. Pressing and holding the 'Spot Clean' button engages the child lock. You can press the 'Dock/Home' button to send the vacuum back to its base station.

The Roborock S7 MaxV has a fantastic companion app. It's remarkably easy to use.

You can see a real-time view of the vacuum plotting its route. You can view a 3D map of its coverage area, set up no-go zones, designate specific cleaning zones to spot clean, and set the suction and mopping modes you want for individual rooms. You can also schedule cleaning sessions for specific rooms or have the vacuum follow a pin that you place on the map. If it runs low on battery and has to return to its docking station to charge partway through a cleaning session, it can estimate how much more time it would need to complete that job. It can store four different coverage maps for use in multi-story homes, and it can autonomously recognize which map it's currently on.

There's also a remote viewing feature, which allows you to manually control the vacuum while looking through the onboard camera. It has a built-in mic and speakers, so you can talk to others through the vacuum and hear what they're saying.

You can use the app to enable 'Carpet' mode, which allows for automatic power adjustment on carpeted floors, 'Low-Collision' mode, which prioritizes avoiding contact with walls and furniture at the expense of lower-precision scanning in tight spots, and 'Home With Pets' mode, which boosts object detection performance for avoiding hazards like pet waste, but may degrade overall coverage.

The app also has a maintenance tab that gives you a projected service interval for its filter, brushroll, side brush, sensors, and mopping pad.