Roborock has been at the forefront of robot vacuum cleaner technology. Gone are the days of noisy vacuum cleaners that get stuck once you look away, and now they have become essential home appliances for busy urbanites.

Now in its 8th generation, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is the range topping model, offering better suction power, cleaning capabilites, and more intelligent sensing over its predecessor.

Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Specifications

What’s In The Box?

• Roborock S8 Pro Ultra Robot Vacuum
• Empty Wash Fill Dock
• Clean Water Tank
• Waste Water Tank
• Dust Bin Bag x 2
• VibraWash Mop Cloth
• Power Cable
• User Manual

Design

The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra looks similar to its predecessor, the S7 MaxV Ultra albeit with a refreshed look for the dock. Now the water tanks are covered, to my dismay. While many would appreciate the flushed look without exposing the grey water, however that would also mean I have no visual confirmation on the water level and had to rely on the app to give me the information. Another change is the automatic mop drying when idle, which is lacking in past models.

Now on to the vacuum cleaner itself. The tech stack is largely the same, with some new upgrades. The S8 Pro Ultra now has automatic brush lifting, allowing the vacuum brush to retract while mopping is underway.

Performance

The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra requires little human intervention, save for setting up, scheduling the cleaning routines and cleaning the water reservoirs and dust bin.

Setting Up

Upon set up, the robot vacuum will perform an initial scan of the house. Once the house has been mapped, I could designate rooms and “no-go” zones for the vacuum, mop or both.

During the initial mapping phase, the robot vacuum will roughly map out the area, while identifying obstacles. The mapping will become more accurate and detailed after a few uses.

Suction

The S8 Pro Ultra has up to 6,000Pa suction power, which is 900Pa more than the preceding model. However, this is limited to only Max+ mode as power consumption will be quite high. There are a total of 5 levels of suction power with the lowest being silent mode mainly used for night time cleaning.

This model also boasts a dual brush system, which improves the dust “scooping” capabilities over the preceding model.

Mop

The S8 Pro Ultra now features a new VibraRise 2.0 Mopping System, which increases the number of vibration modules to two. In real performance terms, the mop does its job well, especially at cleaning air sirap ros spills during our testing. On tough dried up stains, it can take about two runs to remove them completely.

Self-Cleaning

The current model largely retains the same self-cleaning system over the preceding model. Once the robot vacuum is docked, it can clear the dust compartment and grey water into the dock, and refill with clean water. There is a brush that can scrub the mop head as well. While on idle, there is an active mop head drying system, allowing the mop head to dry up faster for the next cycle.

I only had to intervene once every two weeks or so to change the water tanks, while the dust bag will need replacing after a longer period.

Sensors

Cats vs Machine

On the sensor front, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra comes with 3D structured light and infra red sensors, combined with LiDAR navigation and 3D mapping. This results in excellent obstacle detection as it can identify objects in front of it without bumping into them.

Fun fact, I have more than 10 cats in my living room, which can cause a lot of problems for robot vacuum cleaners. The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra can handle obstacles and pets very well, actively avoiding them at all times.

However, with pet detection turned on, it tends maintain a small distance between itself and the animal in question, which may impact cleaning performance. I turned it off after noticing that my cats will surround the robot vacuum, and it had no where to go but to return to dock. Turning it off allows the robot vacuum to be oblivious to animals and gently bump into them to shoo them away.

Charging

The new S8 Pro Ultra has fast charging than the predecessor, now at 4 hours to fully charge the robot vacuum (vs 6 hours. Battery life is similar to its predecessor, being able to last about 3 hours on the lowest setting.

Final Thoughts

Retailing at RM5,599, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is RM100 cheaper than its predecessor, while improving on a few features, such as a new VibraRise 2.0 mopping system, dual brush vacuum, and an improved obstacle detection and avoidance system.

While many may scoff at this price point, do keep in mind this robot vacuum does everything, save for periodical human interactions. There are other cheaper models in this range, namely the S8 (RM2,699) and the S8+ (RM3,999).

All in all, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is as good as it gets when it comes to robot vacuum cleaners, and the performance and convenience justifies the price in my opinion.