Unboxing

The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra kit arrived in two separate boxes. One is the "ULTRA" multifunctional station, and the other is the Roborock S7 MaxV robot vacuum cleaner itself. Everything is very neatly packed, no damage. The stop box is not small and certainly not light. Haha.

The package includes only 1 additional dust bag for the station, so you will immediately need to think about purchasing additional ones from AliExpress or another e-mail. shops. Exactly the same situation with the wet cleaning cloth, you will have to look for where you can order additional ones cheaper.

Quality

Roborock has never let us down with its build quality. Starting from Roborock's first models S50 to the latest S7 MaxV Ultra - the materials, plastic and other details used are of quite high quality. So, both the S7 MaxV robot pump itself and the "Ultra" station - everything looks very solid and solid.

ULTRA stop

I'll be completely honest. Before testing this model, I used quite a few other robot vacuums, such as Dreame L10 Pro, Deebot T9 Plus, Roborock S6 MaxV, Midea S8 Plus, etc., but all this time I only used the 95% for vacuuming and wet cleaning only a few times a year ... Why?!

Well, maybe it seemed that vacuuming was enough, but wet cleaning requires more effort and time. You need to refill the water tank every time, moisten the cloth. After each cleaning - it was necessary to remove and wash the same cloth, take it back, etc. In short, it takes more time + I was too lazy to do those extra steps... 

BUT... with the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, everything has changed. All my laziness problems were solved by the newly introduced "ULTRA" station, which washes and moistens the cloth very well, automatically refills the water tank, automatically collects dirty water, and, of course, collects dust from the robot itself into a more capacious dust bag in the station. Convenient, comfortable, autonomous, high-quality!

Roborock S7 MaxV

As for the pump itself - it's basically the same S7, only with a few additional sensors and the famous AI camera on the front. Yes, S7 MaxV has even 2x higher "MAX+" suction power (up to 5100Pa), but this mode can only be used for dry suction (it needs to be set specially through the APP's menu).

"MAX+" cannot be combined with wet cleaning, because there is a possibility that, due to the high suction power, it will collect moisture/water from the floor and thus damage the robot itself. On the other hand, 2500Pa of power on the S7 was quite enough for me, I never missed more. This may be relevant for those who have denser/higher carpets and bring more sand from outside.

ReactiveAI camera

Is this camera efficient and around various obstacles? Yes, but not really 100%. During my testing period, the pump around 90% went around various obstacles without major problems (various charging cables, shoes, socks, clothes, toys, etc.).

However, there were also such situations: 1) the pump touched, hooked the wires, grabbed them; 2) ran over the legs of the low-profile table and thus slightly scratched the bottom of the pump; 3) constantly runs over the low metal legs of the clothes dryer.

So, although the additional sensors, night LED light and AI camera are very useful and help to avoid the most various obstacles, successfully bypassing those obstacles - but still... you can't fully trust this technology yet.

Roborock APP's

Of all the tested robot pumps, Roborock APP continues to please with its stability, convenient and simple control, additional functions, useful settings, accurate rendering of the home map, etc.

With the new Roborock pumps (Q7, S7 Max, S7 MaxV), you can choose a 2D or 3D map in the APP itself and arrange furniture similar to the reality of your home, as if through some "Sims". It is true that the selection of such furniture is limited, but it is quite fun for "playing". 

Later, according to the furniture placed on the map (eg kitchen table or sofa), a special vacuuming mode can be started, which will clean only the area around the specific piece of furniture, as it is likely that there will be more food crumbs there. Well, maybe it's more like a "gimmick" function...

Maintenance / cleaning

In reality, the current ritual is as follows: empty the dirty water every 1 week, fill the tank with clean water and every 1-2 months. pick up tangled hair around the main brush/side brush, change the dust bag to a new one, clean one dirt "collector" in the station itself.

What did we like?

Deka's ULTRA multifunctional station - S7 MaxV requires absolutely minimal maintenance. Almost perfect for lazy people like me, or for those who value autonomy, comfort and time.

The Roborock APP ensures very pleasant and simple management, good user experience. A smart AI camera and extra sensors allow you to leave the house even if it is not fully cleaned before vacuuming (the pump goes well around dropped clothes, left toys, ~ 90% avoids wires in cases).

What could be better?

The ULTRA station cleans the cloth very well and cleanly, but after the cleaning session, the cloth itself remains wet and dries under natural conditions, which may take a long time. So there is a considerable chance that bacteria may start to accumulate in the cloth - which is already an aspect of hygiene. It would probably be a good idea to wash the cloth itself regularly in hot water with special detergents/washing machine.

Even though the S7 MaxV has extra cameras and sensors, it still sits on my desk legs, which are low and flat. The robot recognizes those places on the map as obstacles and marks them - but still decides to "play around". The same can happen with different cables. So, there is still room to improve with avoiding obstacles.

Verdict

Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra - definitely not for everyone. Let's start with the fact that the price is quite high, somewhere around 1400 EUR (officially from the Roborock website, Amazon, etc.). Of course, it will become cheaper over time, but it is not an easily accessible and "bite" product for everyone.

Those who value time, comfort, convenience, autonomy, love and enjoy the latest tech. devices - this is the main audience that Roborock is targeting with its flagship ULTRA package.

Cheaper alternatives

I hope that in the future Roborock will come up with cheaper models with an ULTRA station, because for me personally, a cheaper S7 model, whose price is, say, around €400 + if the station was for €500, then such a combo package for €900 would look much more attractive and have more buyers than the current model for €1400.

UPDATED: Roborock introduced a cheaper version of the robot pump with the multi-functional station Roborock S7 Pro ULTRA. During the promotion - it can be purchased for just €820-850!