Roborock’s redesigned Ultra dock for the brand new S8 robotic vac is sleeker and now gently dries the mop

Roborock, arguably Roomba’s greatest competitor on this planet of robotic vacuum cleaners, launched a brand new line of flagship robotic vacuums at CES this week. The S8 Series begins at $750, and its massive new function is straight out of Roomba’s playbook: twin curler brushes. 

While brushes could not sound as spectacular as lidar mapping, AI-obstacle avoidance, or automated emptying docks, an enormous drawback with most robotic vacuums is that they have one small brush making an attempt to select up all of the filth. Often, this can be a bristle brush that rapidly will get snarled with hair.

In my expertise testing robotic vacuums, Roomba’s superior cleansing energy is essentially all the way down to its twin rubber curler brush system that rotates in reverse instructions to stand up extra grime and is much less liable to tangling. The brushes are additionally a lot greater than many of the competitors. Now, the brand new Roborock S8 vacuums have gone from one rubber curler brush to 2. 

It’s a distinct design from the Roomba model, utilizing paddles moderately than plastic nubs, and so they additionally don’t seem like as lengthy. We’ll have to attend to see them in individual to guage how related — and the way efficient — they’re. The new Roborock vacs additionally boast a formidable 6,000 Pa of suction. Roomba maker iRobot doesn’t publish the Pa ranges of its vacuums. 

The new S8 Series consists of: the S8 robotic vacuum and mop ($749.99); the S8 Plus ($999.99), which comes with the RockDock auto empty dock; and the S8 Pro Ultra ($1599.99), a extra superior model of the S8 with the RockDock Ultra dock, which empties the bin, washes the mop, and refills the water tank whereas emptying the soiled water.

Both the brand new S8 bots have AI-powered impediment avoidance and a built-in mop that robotically rises a couple of millimeters when it detects carpet in order to not drag a humid material throughout them. The S8 Series ought to be launched this April.

The S8 Pro Ultra is the top-of-the-line bot and is the following era of the S7 MaxV Ultra that debuted at CES final yr, that includes AI-obstacle avoidance and that all-singing, all-dancing dock. The principal new function of the dock is heat air drying to stop mould development on the mopping pad and a redesign that makes the dock look barely much less hulking.

The S8 Pro vacuum additionally has 6,000 Pa suction in comparison with 5,100 Pa on the S7 MaxV, and its new twin brush system has an auto rise function that may retract the brushes when mopping to sort out greater spills with out damaging the vacuum. Roborock says the mopping system has additionally been improved. These appear to be minor upgrades, nevertheless, contemplating the value went up by $200.

The customary S8 additionally has elevated suction energy and AI-powered impediment avoidance. I examined the S7 final yr and was impressed with its mopping prowess — it oscillates 3,000 occasions per minute to really scrub your flooring. But it lacked impediment avoidance, that means it could get snarled with stray sneakers or socks. The S8 plus fixes that. The S8 is appropriate with the newly redesigned RockDock auto-empty dock however received’t work with the Ultra dock, so you need to clear your individual mop. 

Roborock can be including to its line of guide vacuums with the $449.99 Dyad Pro, a wet-dry vacuum that may suck up spills and effectively as vacuum your carpets and flooring. With 17,000 Pa suction energy, Roborock says the Dyad Pro can choose up messes from as shut as 1mm to the wall, and it robotically adjusts cleansing energy and water stream and dispenses cleansing options in response to totally different flooring situations, in response to the corporate. While you need to push it, it’s not all guide labor. After each cleanup, the Dyad Pro robotically cleans itself and self-dries. It might be out there in January.