Roborock S7 Review

My first purchase of 11/11 Singles’ Day is the Roborock S7 to replace my iRobot Roomba 980 which is approaching its 5th birthday in two months time.

The official RRP for Roborock S7 is S$799. But during 11/11, there was a flash sale where the price dropped to S$699.90. After deducting all the vouchers, I got the price lowered to S$598.47.

Unboxing

Roborock S7 - Box Front — Roborock S7 – Box Front

Roborock S7 - Box Back — Roborock S7 – Box Back

The box contents are straightforward. Power cord, charging dock, mopping attachment, network guide, and the thickest user manual that I came across.

Roborock S7 - Box Contents — Roborock S7 – Box Contents

Charging Dock
There is a white LED indicator at the top of the charging dock. It will be shown when it is receiving power from the electrical outlet. However, when the S7 is charging, it will be switched off, as you can see the battery level on the S7 itself.
the robot is charging

Roborock S7 - Charging Dock — Roborock S7 – Charging Dock

Roborock S7 - Charging Dock - Bottom — Roborock S7 – Charging Dock – Bottom

Design
Roborock S7 comes in Black and White. Too bad in Singapore, only white is available for purchase.

The area under the “Z” logo is where the Lidar sensor is.

Roborock S7 - Bottom — Roborock S7 – Bottom

The 300 ml water tank is located at the back.

Roborock S7 - Front — Roborock S7 – Front

Setup
The setup is very straightforward and took me less than a minute. Press and hold the Spot Clean and Dock button (first and the third button on the Roborock) for three seconds to get it into pairing mode, and then using your iPhone, join the wifi network created by the S7, and viola, you are done.

Mopping

Roborock S7 - Mop Attachment - Top — Roborock S7 – Mop Attachment – Top

The mopping cloth is easily removable since it slides into the attachment and uses velcro to stay secured.

Roborock S7 - Mop Attachment - Bottom — Roborock S7 – Mop Attachment – Bottom

Roborock S7 - Water Tank — Roborock S7 – Water Tank

The S7 essentially mops by taking the same piece of cloth to wipe your whole house. So, I will not be using the S7 for mopping since I have a better mopping robot which is the ILife Shinebot W450.

Battery Life
The battery life is impressive. After a vacuuming time of 81 minutes which covered the whole house, it still has 57% battery left. The vacuuming time is similar to my Roomba 980 vacuuming my entire house, except that my Roomba 980 will end up with less than 10% battery.

Roborock iOS App - Home — Roborock iOS App – Home

In terms of cleanliness, I have no complaints. It vacuums what it suppose to vacuum and does it well, even along the edges of walls and cabinets.

The noise level is quite acceptable, too, measuring about 72 dB, around the range of urbanized noise levels.

Map
I love the Roborock mapping feature. Now I know why my friends swear by it.

Roborock iOS App - Settings — Roborock iOS App – Settings

Using Lidar, it manages to map my house accurately. You can split or divide rooms if you want a logical separation, so you can ask the S7 to clean a particular room only.

Roborock iOS App - Manage Maps — Roborock iOS App – Manage Maps

Maintenance
S7 uses a single rubber roller brush instead of two found in the Roomba 980.

Roborock S7 - Brush Removed — Roborock S7 – Brush Removed

The usage of the accessories is by hours. It is time to change when it reaches 0. You can see it inside the Roborock app.

Roborock iOS App - Maintenance — Roborock iOS App – Maintenance

You can get the replacement accessories from Roborock official shop on Lazada or Shopee.

Why Not Other Cheaper Models Of Roborock?
I did consider the Roborock S5 Max and Roborock S6 MaxV. However, both of them are older models and will not be compatible with the Roborock Auto-Empty Dock (S$499).

So to future-proof my robot vacuum, I decided to get the Roborock S7, and in the future, I might get the Roborock Auto-Empty Dock.

Roidmi Eve Plus vs Roborock S7
Before deciding on Roborock S7, I was thinking of getting the Robot Vacuum Eve Plus. It has stronger suction power (2,700 Pa vs. 2,500 Pa) and is much cheaper.

Suction power matters since I will mainly be using the robot to vacuum only as I have the ILife Shinebot W450, which does a fantastic job at mopping.

Minihelper is only selling it for S$495 and it includes the auto-empty dock. Of course, the warranty is through Minihelper and not via the local Roidmi.

I chose Roborock S7 because many comments online say they have difficulty connecting the Roidmi Eve Plus with the Roidmi app. And my friends told me that the Roborock app is far more superior in terms of functionality. I feel safer in the sense of future-proofing to know that the app is constantly being improved. So the deciding factor for me was the app.

No More iRobot Products For Me
My iRobot Roomba 980 has served me well over the past five years, but the technology is dated. Because of the lack of Lidar, it has to bump into objects before it knows it can’t pass it. This leaves black rubber marks all over my tile skirting.

It is also a pain to buy official iRobot accessories because you can only get them from their Chinatown office, and you need to provide proof of purchase of the machine to them. You can get it from their online website, irobot.com.sg but their local shipping is ridiculously expensive.

So I opted to buy OEM parts from Lazada/Shopee instead. They fit well, but they’re not as good as the original because they will produce louder noises than the official accessories. My guess is they use more inferior material.

I know that they are trying to clamp down on unauthorized dealers, but by doing this, they will alienate their customers, so I am not going to buy any more iRobot products.

Also, I don’t think iRobot products are worth their value. I will take China products anytime because they are more value for money, and their parts are readily available and cheaper.