Roborock declares its new flagship robotic vacuum lineup: the Roborock S8 Sequence

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 Sequence begins at $750, and its large new characteristic is straight out of Roomba’s playbook: twin curler brushes. 

Whereas brushes could not sound as spectacular as lidar mapping, AI-obstacle avoidance, or computerized emptying docks, a giant downside with most robotic vacuums is that they have one small brush attempting to select up all of the grime. Typically, this can be a bristle brush that shortly will get twisted up with hair.

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

It’s a unique design from the Roomba model, utilizing paddles reasonably 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 brand 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 brand new S8 Sequence contains: the S8 robotic vacuum and mop ($749.99); the S8 Plus ($999.99), which comes with the RockDock auto empty dock; and the S8 Professional Extremely ($1599.99), a extra superior model of the S8 with the RockDock Extremely dock, which empties the bin, washes the mop, and refills the water tank whereas emptying the soiled water.

Each the brand new S8 bots have AI-powered impediment avoidance and a built-in mop that mechanically rises a number of millimeters when it detects carpet in order to not drag a humid material throughout them. The S8 Sequence must be launched this April.

The S8 Professional Extremely is the top-of-the-line bot and is the subsequent era of the S7 MaxV Extremely that debuted at CES final 12 months, that includes AI-obstacle avoidance and that all-singing, all-dancing dock. The primary new characteristic of the dock is heat air drying to forestall mildew progress on the mopping pad and a redesign that makes the dock look barely much less hulking.

The S8 Professional 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 characteristic that may retract the brushes when mopping to sort out larger spills with out damaging the vacuum. Roborock says the mopping system has additionally been improved. These look like minor upgrades, nevertheless, contemplating the worth went up by $200.

The usual S8 additionally has elevated suction energy and AI-powered impediment avoidance. I examined the S7 final 12 months and was impressed with its mopping prowess — it oscillates 3,000 instances per minute to really scrub your flooring. But it surely lacked impediment avoidance, that means it will get twisted up with stray sneakers or socks. The S8 plus fixes that. The S8 is suitable with the newly redesigned RockDock auto-empty dock however received’t work with the Extremely dock, so you must clear your personal mop. 

Roborock can be including to its line of guide vacuums with the $449.99 Dyad Professional, a wet-dry vacuum that may suck up spills and nicely as vacuum your carpets and flooring. With 17,000 Pa suction energy, Roborock says the Dyad Professional can decide up messes from as shut as 1mm to the wall, and it mechanically adjusts cleansing energy and water movement and dispenses cleansing options in accordance with totally different flooring eventualities, in accordance with the corporate. Whereas you must push it, it’s not all guide labor. After each cleanup, the Dyad Professional mechanically cleans itself and self-dries. Will probably be obtainable in January.