Roborock S8

Golbarg – It did not work long for me. After 14 months, it bumped irself to the cabinet and broke the top part. Customer service said it is out of warranty Show details

Disappointed very expensive, unit faulty out of the box need a PayPal dispute to return – Unit worked for less than 4 weeks before failing. Returned for repair after website said specifically not to return base station if it was not affected by the fault which it isn't. This caused Australian office to fall over and they refused further support unless I stumped up $60 in post. Thanks but no thanks for a $2499 machine it doesn't have… Read more

dog poo avoidance, doesn't empty the bin mid clean, has a terrible paper filter on the robot dustbin that requires regular maintenance. Needs to back itself in to clean the mop , is very noisy and can't be run at night unsupervised due pets.

Internet tells me the Error 2 that my unit failed with is both common and a design flaw.

Robot Vacuum cleaners are becoming an essential home tool – ***Update, since writing my review, Roborock has added room sequencing to their software. Guess they really do listen to feedback, another positive outcome for this unit.*** This is a review of the Roborock S8 base unit, I have also included some comparisons with my previous unit, Ecovacs Deebot N8. I will also explain why I will never purchase… Read more ·  1

an Ecovacs unit again.

The Roborock S8 is a much more expensive unit then the base model Deebot N8, so you would expect it to be superior and indeed it is.

I have never had a location error with the Roborock, which I have had many times with the Deebot, forcing it to spend the next 2-2½ hours creating a new map, overwriting your previous good map. The S8 also has a fast map mode, taking about 10 minutes to create a map of my home. Roborock returns to base when the battery level drops to 20%, the Deboot returns when the battery level is 15%. Roborock shows the battery percentage remaining while cleaning and a progress bar for cleaning tasks, Ecovacs only shows a rough battery gauge (tiny), until it has finished cleaning. Both are a little short of completing a full clean before returning to charge, they will resume after charging (large 3BR + Study Apt, both on standard settings).

Depending on which rooms I wish to mop in my apartment, the Ecovacs has a couple of issues. If the mopping plate is attached, it cannot climb the slight floor rise into my bathrooms or travel over my carpeted bedroom to reach my ensuite. Roborock has none of these issues, if I wish to choose a complete clean or mop selected rooms, it does not require any intervention.

Both units, are a little noisy on tiles. With the weight of the unit and the front wheel being a hard synthetic roller, they make a clunking sound when going over the tile grouting joints. The noise level will depend on, how big the gap is between your tiles, if you live in an apartment block, the noise may travel to the unit below!

The Roborock software, is one of the better apps I have seen for controlling your robot. But there is one area where the Ecovacs app is better and that is room sequencing. It really is surprising that you cannot set the order you want to vacuum your rooms in the S8. With the Ecovacs, you can set the room sequence in settings for a full clean and if you are doing selective room cleaning, it will remember the order when you select each room. Apparently the S6 models had room sequencing, seems like poor judgement on their part for not including it in their later models. The S8 begins with the closest room from its starting point. You can setup routines by nominating rooms, for example selecting rooms with carpets or tiles. It even allows you to setup routines assigning an area zone, so you don’t have to define them again manually.

Ecovacs map editing is very basic, it is hit and miss when it comes to room dividing, with erroneous errors at times. Also, difficult controlling the markers, unless you have a stylus. The Robo map editing facilities are much more advanced. You have full flexibility when it comes to room dividing, I could divide areas anywhere I wanted, I was amazed at just how good this software is.

Overall, Roborock does a better job all-round with vacuuming, it is much better with obstacles and does not have some of the issues with mats, that the Deebot may do. It does a superior clean with the dual rollers and a higher suction rate, it does not get stuck in places where the Deebot may struggle with. The mopping is also much better with the sonic mop and being able to lift the mop when going over carpets makes it more versatile. It detects the carpet, raises the mop and will not dispense water on to the mop in this mode. However, keep in mind, depending on the height of your carpet pile; you may wish to remove the mopping plate, if your mop is dirty from previous areas. Another good reason to have room sequencing.

Fortunately, Robo still has a low profile with the mop lift feature, I was worried that my lower bed frame may be a problem. I was relieved when it was still able to vacuum under my bed (only just). Both units were able to navigate my dining table chairs. They can weave through the side or front legs, but not the narrower rear legs, as long as they have an entry/exit point they will clean under the table.

Dust bin purging is an area where the Roborock S8 needs improvement, if you don’t want to go with the expensive auto emptying dustbin models and just purchase the base S8 unit like I did (nor do I have a location for it or want another component that may break down). There may be better alternatives to the Roborock S8, if you have allergies, as there is no way of avoiding getting close-up and hands on with the emptying of the dust bin. A better design, would have been to have the larger panel opening on the bottom of their dust bin, where everything would fall straight down into your bin. Instead, it is side opening and another lid on top where the HEPA filter resides, you have to dig out the debris by hand. For such an expensive machine, they don’t even provide a tool, such as a long handle brush with a hook at one end to assist. Clearly, it has been designed for auto emptying, the engineers seem to have forgotten this model is a manual emptying machine. Unlike the S7, the S8 cannot be upgraded with an auto station.

At least the Deboot, gives you a small brush with cutter for cleaning the robot (attaches under the lid), Roborock does not even give you spare mop cloths. I actually ordered online, extra mops, filters from a 3rd party, in the kit they give you, includes a long brush with a hook at one end. It’s kinda strange that other sellers know the limitations, better than the manufacturer.

Now as previously stated, why I would never purchase another Ecovacs unit; it is unforgivable to me, they would place ads in the software app for a unit you have purchased. In fact, it even causes problems on my tablet with the software loading, sometimes it hangs and I have to try running it, two or three times, just to be able to begin the purpose, I purchased it for. When there are no ads, it loads without any issues. They also have no shame; they will even include ad buttons on your personal map. I can suffer receiving emails, but treating their paying customers in this way, I am done with them.

I have never had any problems with the Roborock app, it seems solid and still allows the screen saver to kick in to save battery usage. The options for zone cleaning, no go zones, room dividing, merging and room naming are well designed. You can also do spot cleaning and control the robot manually; apart from the room sequencing, it seems to have all the options you need. There is also 2D or 3D maps for your preference, voice activation and scheduling.

Pros === Great vacuuming & mopping performance Battery life is good. Software is well designed Fast mapping option Good avoidance detection and rarely requires intervention

Cons === Expensive Dust Bin purging needs improvement No cleaning brush included No spare mop cloths

Saves me everyday! – I love my roborock! This is the second robot vacuum I’ve owned, and this one far exceeds my older one. It’s suction can keep up with my excessive hair loss (postpartum) and the mop function cleans up toddler messes after meals brilliantly. I did find the MiHome app to be better than the roborock one, it’s mapping was a breeze. Show details ·  1

Couldn't live without it – It cleans all of our dog hair (staffy) and dust every day without fail. The mop function is a bit of a let down. It's only one pad and after a quick lap of a room it's filthy. Hardly able to do more than one room. Sometimes it's smears dirty water if it gets a particularly dirty area in the kitchen. I don't use the mop often. If I do, it's to… Read more ·  1

get me through until I can use a proper mop.

If I was going to purchase again, I'll upgrade to the auto clean/empty station instead.

The machine is reasonably quiet. The wheels on the tiles are a bit noisy but if you're not home it doesn't matter.

Overall, in 3 months of owning it, I haven't brought out the Dyson once.

So much better than my previous robovac – I have allergies and my previous robovac was leaving pet hair behind. After investigating May brands the S8 was the best option. For pet hair brush rollers wear and get longer hair tangled. The rubber rollers is the best option. The S8 has two and they are the widest, so better pickup. The mop attachment is a bonus and, with a clear water tank,… Read more ·  1

you can check level & drain easily. Emptying the dust compartment is easy, as there’s two way access. I can still add the self empty bin later. The app is easy to setup and operate.

Got me worried for a bit there – Took me the whole morning to wrestle with my newly unboxed S8 until I got it to wake up properly. The unit will not turn on, nor will it connect to the network or the app. I cannot hear any "Resetting WiFi" voice alert nor can I see the WiFi indicator light flashing when I pressed the left and right buttons as per the instructions. I tried to… Read more

charge it, but the power light does not turn on either, only a flashing on the docking station's white light can be seen when I placed the robot on the dock.

Customer support responded 24 hours after my email enquiry (tried calling the toll free number on a Saturday to no avail). But by that time I already did a very fidgety reset technique I found on the Reddit forums. Put the robot back on the dock, and in that 0.5 second time frame that it recognised the dock (brief flash of white light on the power button and brief flash of blue light on the WiFi button), I pressed the home button and held a pin to the tiny hard reset button. I did this several times to no avail, until I did it TWO times in a row and it finally came to life.

I can only hope that this helps another customer out there who received a "dead" Roborock fresh out of the box.

Pricy but works well – Bought it on official website with the station. Works well and sorta smart. The only time it tangled itself when there was a scarf accidentally fell on the ground and get sucked in. One other thing to note: their customer service is very hard to reach and the email they provide on website bounced back. Recommend purchasing through 3rd party such as David Jones. Show details ·  5