Xiaomi Roborock S7 robot vacuum 0.47 L Bagless Black

Product Information

The S7 measures 13.9 inches in diameter and stands 3.8 inches tall, making it one of the larger floor-cleaning robots we've tested. A raised mapping sensor adds to its height. The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo N8 Pro+ has a similar sensor and is a similar height. If you're searching for a shorter robot vacuum capable of passing under low-profile furniture, we suggest the Eufy RoboVac G30, which stands just 2.85 inches tall. The inclusion of the Lidar sensor and the camera resulted in the robot vacuum taking a methodical route around our home, both when vacuuming and mopping. It also helped to keep the vacuum conscious of furniture and obstacles, so it didn’t bump into anything –unlike robot vacuums that only employ gyroscopes, such as the Eufy G20 for example. We tried the Light setting at first, which was quite loud — just a bit louder than you would expect from an upright vacuum. It took less than a minute to finish running. However, we were disappointed to see that the dust and debris was mostly caught under the robot vacuum the first time we ran it. We tried it again in Max mode, which lasted just under 30 seconds and didn’t sound much louder than the Light mode. It worked this time — no dust to be found under the robot vacuum. This new model presents revolutionary changes, especially in the scrubbing section, improving this function in such a way that the brand assures that it is very close to manual scrubbing.

That’s why they can’t put enough pressure on the mop pad. Thus, the robot vacuums have a hard time removing stains that have dried for days. If you have an open floor plan, you might want to divide the space into different rooms. It can also be helpful to merge hallways with other rooms. In testing, I had no problem dividing my open-concept kitchen, dining, and living space into three separate rooms and merging my hallway and hallway bathroom into one room. It took me a couple of tries to name the individual rooms, but I was eventually successful. The S7 MaxV is pleasingly quiet when used on its lowest level of suction. Our decibel meter measured 55db when cleaning hard floors, rising to 63db on Max+, with a slightly increased figure of 68db on carpet. This is equivalent to the level of noise of a shower running.

A robot vacuum that can mop and empty its own dust and water tanks

At 35cm in diameter, the S7 is 4cm wider than iRobot’s flagship Roomba S9 and 2cm wider than the budget-priced iRobot i3. However, its single ribbed rubber roller is just 16cm in width – about the same as the i3 but a lot shorter than the S9’s substantial 23cm. This means that it will miss about 9cm of dirt on either side and only vacuum a smaller area of floor at any given time. The long, single side-mounted spinning nylon brush certainly helps direct wayward pieces of fluff towards the roller but, as is the norm with most robot vacs, it will not effectively vacuum the edges of a room or indeed any corners and crevices that are too big for its body. Another cool feature is the ‘keep out’ zone function. I have a couple of typical Coir doormats – you know, that scratchy coconut fibre stuff – and no vacuum cleaner wants to go there unless it wants its bin filled in three seconds and its wheels to jam. So I created two keep-out zones using the app’s intuitive graphic and I now no longer have to rescue it from certain doom. As well as creating a 2D map of your home, the robot vacuum also offers a 3D map. In addition, for those who are using the robot vacuum with an iPhone, there’s also the ability to create a matrix map, which uses the camera on your phone to capture details about furniture and floor types, so you can start a clean that may simply encompass the area around your bed or the dining table, for example. However, this functionality is only available to those using the robot vacuum with an iPhone 12 or above.

With its vacuum power level set to Balanced, it took 115 minutes to run down the battery. That's a better result than we got from the Deebot Ozmo N8 Pro+ and the Shark IQ Robot XL, which, in our tests, cleaned for up to 96 and 97 minutes, respectively, in similar modes. This way, the robot vacuum can mop the delicate laminate flooring in the living room with less water and the tiles in the kitchen with a lot of water. When the robot vacuum finished cleaning the second floor, it’ll return to where you dropped it off and wait for you to carry it down. The next improvement is in the main brush, which replaces the traditional bristles with rubber fins, making it more durable and significantly improving cleaning. Then the robot vacuum slightly nudges the object, recognises that there is an obstacle and looks for a way around it.

The S7 is also equipped with four cliff sensors so when it approaches a flight of stairs it will literally avoid tumbling down them. Cliff sensors are fitted to practically every robovac on the market – even the cheapest – so this technology isn’t especially groundbreaking.