Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Review 2025
The Best Robot Vacuum We Have Ever Tested

After 60 days of daily use, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is the best robot vacuum we have ever tested. It is not perfect — $1,799 is a lot of money, and the dock is the size of a small end table. But for the first time, a robot vacuum cleans well enough that we genuinely stopped using our cordless stick vacuum for daily maintenance. Here is the full breakdown.

What Is in the Box

The S8 MaxV Ultra ships with the robot itself, the all-in-one dock (self-emptying, self-washing, self-drying, self-refilling), two dust bags, a cleaning solution cartridge, and the standard accessory kit. Setup takes about 20 minutes: fill the water tanks, plug in the dock, pair with the Roborock app, and run a quick mapping session. The robot maps rooms with millimeter precision in about 8 minutes per 1,000 sq ft — dramatically faster than camera-based robots like iRobot.

Suction & Cleaning Performance

At 8,000Pa, the S8 MaxV Ultra produces the highest suction of any robot vacuum on the market. More importantly, the auto mode is smart — it only ramps to max when the piezo sensor detects debris, saving battery. In practice, this means you rarely hear the vacuum screaming at full power. On auto mode, it runs about 64dB — roughly the volume of background conversation.

Mopping: Not a Gimmick

Most robot mops are a damp cloth being dragged across the floor. The S8's VibraRise 3.0 system is different. A vibrating mop pad scrubs at 4,000 times per minute, physically agitating dried-on stains. In our 24-hour dried coffee test, two passes removed the stain completely — something no other robot mop achieved. The mop pad also lifts 20mm when carpet is detected, preventing wet rugs. If you have mixed flooring (hardwood + carpet + tile), this feature alone makes the S8 worth the premium over competitors.

The Dock: Your New Appliance

The dock handles everything. It empties the dust bin into a 2.5L bag (60+ days of debris for most homes), washes the mop pad with warm water, dries it with warm air to prevent mildew, refills the water tank, and even dispenses cleaning solution automatically. You will interact with the robot roughly once every two months to swap the dust bag and refill the cleaning solution cartridge. The dock is large (18.9 x 16.1 x 20.6 inches) — measure your space before buying, because it will not fit under low cabinets.

Navigation & Obstacle Avoidance

The S8 uses LiDAR + RGB camera + structured light for navigation and obstacle recognition. Its "Reactive AI 2.0" system identified and avoided our test objects with near-perfect accuracy:

• Fake pet waste: 10/10 avoided
• Socks: 10/10 avoided
• USB cables: 9/10 avoided (one thin white cable was missed)
• Shoes: 10/10 recognized and navigated around

The map is generated in minutes and is editable in the Roborock app — you can label rooms, set no-go zones, create virtual walls, and schedule per-room cleaning with different suction and mopping settings for each zone. The app is the best in the industry — responsive, well-designed, and free of the connection issues that plague iRobot's app.

What We Do Not Like

• Price: $1,799 makes it the most expensive robot vacuum we recommend. The Qrevo Master at $1,099 delivers 90% of the performance.
• Dock size: It is enormous. Measure your space. If you have a tight laundry room or no clear floor space near an outlet, consider the Qrevo Master instead (smaller dock).
• Non-swappable battery: Unlike the Qrevo series, the S8 battery is sealed. After 2-3 years, you will need a warranty replacement rather than a simple battery swap.
• No hot water mop washing: The dock uses ambient-temperature water to wash the mop pad. Competitors like the Dreame X40 Ultra use heated water, which cleans the mop pad more thoroughly.