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

Roborock, arguably Roomba’s largest competitor on the earth 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 huge new characteristic is straight out of Roomba’s playbook: twin curler brushes. 

Whereas brushes might not sound as spectacular as lidar mapping, AI-obstacle avoidance, or automated emptying docks, a giant drawback with most robotic vacuums is that they have one small brush attempting to select up all of the filth. Typically, this can be a bristle brush that rapidly will get snarled with hair.

In my expertise testing robotic vacuums, Roomba’s superior cleaning power is essentially all the way down to its twin rubber curler brush system that rotates in reverse instructions to rise up extra grime and is much less susceptible to tangling. The brushes are additionally a lot greater 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, they usually additionally don’t look 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 powerful 6,000 Pa of suction. Roomba maker iRobot doesn’t publish the Pa ranges of its vacuums. 

The brand new S8 Sequence 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 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 routinely rises just a few millimeters when it detects carpet in order to not drag a moist material throughout them. The S8 Sequence ought to be launched this April.

The S8 Professional Extremely is the top-of-the-line bot and is the following technology of the S7 MaxV Ultra that debuted at CES final yr, that includes AI-obstacle avoidance and that all-singing, all-dancing dock. The primary new characteristic of the dock is heat air drying to stop mould 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 deal with greater 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 tested the S7 final yr and was impressed with its mopping prowess — it oscillates 3,000 instances per minute to really scrub your ground. However it lacked impediment avoidance, which means it might 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 gained’t work with the Extremely dock, so you must clear your individual mop. 

Roborock can also 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 Professional can decide up messes from as shut as 1mm to the wall, and it routinely adjusts cleansing energy and water circulation and dispenses cleansing options in response to totally different ground situations, in response to the corporate. Whereas you must push it, it’s not all guide labor. After each cleanup, the Dyad Professional routinely cleans itself and self-dries. Will probably be obtainable in January.