Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy: The new Roborock S8 series is here and wants to secure the 1st place of the best vacuum robots again. More suction power, improved wiping function and some new functions should help. But the plan doesn’t quite work out.
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy, Reviews & Specs
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy:
- Roborock S8 Series Pricing Overview:
- Roborock S8
- at Amazon for €549 | Geekbuying for 579€ ( EU warehouse) | OTTO for 645€
- Roborock S8+
- at MediaMarkt for €899 (black) | Odiporo for €899
- Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
- at Amazon for €1399 | Odiporo for 1499€ | Media Markt for €1499
- Accesories:
- Ultra station pouch
- at Amazon for €12.99 (€1.29 per bag)
- wipes
- at Amazon for €20.98 (2 pieces)
- Original floor cleaner
Specifications: S8 series vs Roborock S7 MaxV
Roborock S8 (Plus & Pro Ultra) | Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra | |
suction power | 6000 pa | 5100 pa |
navigation | Laser room measurement + object recognition | Laser room measurement + object recognition |
apartment | Xiaomi Home ( Android , iOS ) and Roborock ( Android , iOS ) | Xiaomi Home ( Android , iOS ) and Roborock ( Android , iOS ) |
volume | 67 dB (normal suction level) | 57, 59, 65, 71 dB with increasing suction level |
battery pack | 5200mAh | 5200mAh |
dust chamber & water tank | 0.35L / 0.2L | 0.4L / 0.2L |
working hours | 3 h lowest level | 3h lowest level |
loading time | not specified | about 5 hours |
Weight | not specified | 4.8kg |
Dimensions | 35.0 x 35.3 x 9.65 cm | 35.3 x 35.0 x 9.65 cm |
features | Wiping function with non-wiping zones and electric vibrating water tank Liftable wiping module to avoid wet carpets selective room division (specific control of rooms) App control via Roborock & Xiaomi Home Mapping with multiple map storage (storey storage) Securing the map with no-go zones & virtual walls Carpet detection (increases suction power) Ultra station with self-cleaning & suction station | Wiping function with non-wiping zones and electric vibrating water tank Liftable wiping module to avoid wet carpets selective room division (specific control of rooms) Mapping with multiple map storage (storey storage) Securing the map with no-go zones & virtual walls Carpet detection (increases suction power) Extraction station with cyclone dust chamber Ultra station with self-cleaning & suction station |
Scope Of Delivery
The scope of delivery of the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is not exceptional and provides you with everything you need to get started right away. A dust bag is already pre-installed in the suction station and another is included in the scope of delivery.
Design & Processing
Not much has changed in the appearance of the vacuum robot. We also have a circular robot that comes in black and white. The station has now been disguised a bit more, so the water tanks and dust bag cover are now more hidden. In principle, the station is still quite similar, but the cover makes a lot of difference in the design.
There is nothing to complain about in terms of workmanship, Roborock is still at the top level here.
In the Roborock S8 we once again get the concentrated range of sensors for a top model. Not only is there the laser tower, which is responsible for detecting the surroundings, but also object detection at the front. Of course, side sensors and sensors on the underside should not be missing. This also enables automatic carpet detection.
It is absolutely no surprise that a high-end Roborock model navigates reliably through the household. We see improvements here in object recognition, which is becoming more and more precise. This is also the case with the S8, which is now even safer when navigating around disturbing objects. Cables are recognized very reliably, as are medium-sized toys. He can still nudge small objects from time to time, but otherwise things are going pretty smoothly here. With really small objects, such as a coaster with a few centimeters in height, it is overwhelmed and drives over it.
Object recognition is not 100% accurate, but manufacturers are all moving towards it. The S8 will certainly get better over its lifetime through software updates.
Cleaning
- Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy – :Suction Function
Most recently, Roborock was knocked down from the throne of robot vacuums with the best suction by Dreame. With a significantly stronger suction power and a new roller system, they now want to change this. The Roborock S8 delivers very good cleaning results on hard floors , but it also cleans carpets thoroughly.
It is also better than its predecessor, the Roborock S7 MaxV. But he only catches up with the competition. In our tests, the Roborock and the Dreame L10s Ultra can remove around 97% of impurities. I wouldn’t clearly attribute victory to any of the manufacturers here, they’re just too close to each other for that.
An innovation that only the S8 Pro Ultra offers is the raising of the suction shaft. It should also be possible to wipe up liquids without contaminating or damaging the shaft. Certainly a nice new feature that adds value to the overall package, but most will get by without it.
Of course you have a top cleaning here again and there is probably not too much room for improvement anymore. With a new model from Roborock, I would have somehow wished that they were clearly ahead of the competition.
Suction Station
In the Plus version, the S8 has a suction station , but the station of the S8 Pro Ultra also has one integrated. This reliably sucks out the dust chamber and fills a dust bag with the sucked-in dirt.
A step backwards from the S8 series to the S7 series is the omission of the bagless suction station. Of course, a bag has the advantage of not coming into contact with the contaminants, but why not leave the choice open? I keep hearing the desire for a bagless suction station. Not everyone likes to buy more dust bags and here you have to refer to the predecessor or to the competition from Shark.
Wipe function from Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy: One area where ECOVACS and Dreame , but also numerous other wiping robots , have left the Roborock S7 MaxV behind is the wiping function. So this is where there was the most room for improvement. The decision was made again against the rotating mops.
Here you select the well-known vibration wipe function on the S8 and only improve it on the S8 Pro. Unfortunately, we don’t have a normal S8 at the moment, which is why we only tested the S8 Pro Ultra with the double vibration wiper motor here. As with the predecessor, the mopping pad is raised again on carpets so that they don’t get dirty and wet.
The Roborock S7 models were also more than suitable for regular wiping and you have a good and thorough cleaning. There were only difficulties with stubborn dirt and stubborn stains. It is therefore not surprising that the improved S8 Pro Ultra wipes the floor very well here again. But what about the stains? For this we applied coffee stains and a cocoa-water mixture to the floor and let it dry. With the cocoa, it was clear from the start that the wiping function would be overwhelmed. With coffee, however, the rotating mops already manage to remove them.
So it was also very disappointing that the Roborock S8 Pro wasn’t able to remove them. We let it run through in intensive wiping mode in the first pass and then carried out a second process in intensive mode plus selected the Thorough+ function. Then the Dreame L10s Ultra drove over it, which removed the rest of the coffee, but was only able to loosen the upper layer of the cocoa. In our tests, it was able to remove the stains without previous help from the S8 Pro, just to clear up misunderstandings here.
In the end, a wiper battery vacuum like the Dreame H12 Pro had to be used for the cocoa, but it also needed several puffs there. So there are definitely situations where the robots don’t perform well enough, even if these are rather extreme situations. However, the coffee stain test shows that the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra cannot keep up with the rotating mops when it comes to stains.
At this point you have to ask yourself why Roborock has not caught up here and also switched to the better wiping method. Although the wiping function does a good job in everyday life, there is now the Roborock P10 in China , which offers exactly these rotating mops. With the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, however, the price is so high above the competition that a vacuum robot actually has no place above the S8 Pro Ultra . Roborock may still surprise us here, but this decision is currently more confusing.
What has been improved in combination with the Rockdock station is the automatic drying of the mop . Without user intervention, the mop simply did not dry quickly enough and hot air drying is actually a must-have when using water for cleaning if you do not want to take care of it yourself. If you handed in a module for mop drying for the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra & Pro for €100, this is directly integrated here.
App & map creation
The integration of the Roborock S8 into your smart home is very easy via the Roborock app for iOS and Android. You need an account for this, which you can easily create with an e-mail address. If you have plugged in the vacuum robot, it should appear directly in the search for a new device.
Alternatively, you can also scan the QR code under the cover of the dust chamber. Then you have to connect it to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. Most routers these days combine their 2.4 and 5 GHz signal under one name, so your usual Wi-Fi network should usually work. If you have problems here, the network type is definitely one of the first steps you should check. / Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy
Alternatively, the Xiaomi Home App is still available. However, the trend is definitely towards developing your own software, which is why I would recommend it to you. If you have already filled Xiaomi Home well, this is of course an option. You cannot use both at the same time.
The app will then ask you a few things, for example whether a pet lives in your household or whether you want to activate multi-level maps. Then the mapping can already begin, and you should make all rooms accessible that the vacuum robot should later enter. There is also a fast mapping mode in which the robot does not vacuum or wipe, but concentrates fully on creating the map. This way you get a card much faster and can adjust it directly before cleaning.
After the map creation is done, the map is automatically divided into different rooms. The technology is not always 100% right here, which is why you can now adjust the room layout. You can also create restricted zones/no-go zones and virtual walls. So you can forbid the vacuum robot to drive into some areas.
In the meantime, some cleaning settings have also accumulated. First of all, it is a question of whether you want to vacuum and wipe at the same time, just vacuum or just wipe. Then you have the option to set the strength of the cleaning. This can be adjusted separately for wiping and vacuuming.
You can often choose a lower mode for the suction power, since the carpet detection can automatically increase the suction power where you need the strong suction power. This saves battery and the vacuum robot is quieter. Finally, the route or the type of cleaning can be selected. Here you can choose how thoroughly or quickly you want to clean.
Of course you can also send the vacuum robot to different rooms and leave out another one. Alternatively, certain areas can be drawn on the map where the vacuum robot should clean. Of course, you can also simply have everything cleaned.
If you had to make all these adjustments every time you clean it regularly, you probably wouldn’t want to do it after the 3rd cleaning at the latest. That’s what the schedules are for for which you can set regular cleaning and set the cleaning options beforehand. Once configured, the robot works largely independently and automatically.
But there are also more specific settings for behavior on carpets – should the mop be lifted, avoid the carpet or just ignore the mat and drive over it? There is also a cleaning mode for sensitive floors, which should be cleaned in the laying direction to avoid scratches.
No camera on the Roborock S8
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy: Did he Roborock S7 MaxV had a camera on board that could be accessed via, this is omitted here. One could now say that the name of the Roborock S7 Pro Ultra is actually the predecessor, but the S7 MaxV makes more sense in terms of functionality and price. Certainly not an extremely important feature for many, but a clear functional loss compared to the predecessor.
Conclusion: Roborock S8 Pro Ultra does not do everything right
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy: So far we have only been able to test the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, which is of course very similar to the basic S8. In the field of object recognition and navigation , Roborock is still at the top and delivers very good results. Thanks to the improved suction power, you are now open again and offer some of the best cleaning.
A disappointment is the wiping function, which, despite the improvement in the S8 Pro Ultra, does not come close to the wiping functions of the top vacuum robots from ECOVACS or Dreame. Nevertheless, it is of course very good in everyday life, but it is not the best option on the market.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is a very good robot vacuum and mop that does everything right except for its wiping function. But you can no longer argue with the RRP of €1499 when a Dreame L10s Ultra starts for a RRP of €1199, which is now available for less than €1000. There you get everything that the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra can do, minus the liftable suction cup.
But you get a better wipe function and a camera. That just makes it very difficult to recommend the Roborock unless you just want to own a “Roborock”. But even then I look at the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, which is cheaper due to its longer time on the market (lava drying module included). Although the object recognition and suction and wiping function is a bit worse, it’s still really good. (Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy)
Pros
- Very good suction power
- Extensive cleaning station
- Reliable & comprehensive app
- Practical object recognition
Cons
- Not the best value for money
- Very good wiping function, but not the best
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy: Overall, I had more hope for the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra here. With price reductions you can certainly become more competitive again, but it is currently not recommended because of the price-performance ratio. Anyone who likes the technology and doesn’t care about the high surcharge can of course strike, because there is nothing wrong with the robot itself.
For the Roborock S8 and S8+ we can currently only derive from the Pro Ultra. With an RRP of €699 and €899, these have a similar problem to the top model. The Roborock S8 finds its opponent in the Dreame L10s Pro and the S8+ model comes dangerously close to the Dreame top model with the RRP.
Are you missing information or do you need an assessment of another model? Feel free to ask your questions in the comments. (Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Buy)