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Roborock announced its newest edition to the Q-series of its robot vacuums in March 2022 – the Q7 Max. Which is available in the Q7 Max and Q7+ Max variants. The main difference between the two is, the auto-empty dock.
With the Q7 Max, Roborock wanted to focus on bringing some important features into a lower price point. Compared to the S7 MaxV that it launched earlier in 2022, the Q7 Max has a few of those features, but at a much cheaper price. Like the improved navigation and vastly improved suction, which is always nice to have. But it does miss out on a few features that many are going to love, like Sonic Mopping, VibraRise and of course ReactiveAI 2.0. All of which makes robot vacuum cleaning a bit more automated. Allowing the user to do even less. Though those features were left out, likely to keep the price down on the Roborock Q7 Max.
The Roborock Q7 Max comes into replace the S5 Max, which had been the company’s all-time most popular robot vacuum. But can it really replace it? And is it worth the price? Let’s find out, and tell you everything you need to know about the Roborock Q7 Max.
How much does the Roborock Q7 Max cost?
The Roborock Q7 Max comes in two variants as mentioned before. The Q7 Max and the Q7+ Max. The pricing is as follows:
- Roborock Q7 Max: $599 (only available at Roborock)
- Roborock Q7+ Max: $869 (available at Roborock and Amazon)
Both models come in white and black, though the dock for the plus model is a mixture of black and white, which gives it a bit of a stormtropper look. And that might appeal to some people, but we’d recommend going for the black model, as it won’t show dirt as much as the white one.
This is much cheaper than the Roborock S7 MaxV, which is $869 without the dock. So here you’re getting the entire robot vacuum and dock for the same price.
When can I buy it?
You can buy the Roborock Q7 Max and Q7+ Max right now. As mentioned, the Q7 Max is only available from Roborock’s website right now. That might change in the future however. Meanwhile the Q7+ Max is available from Roborock’s website and Amazon.
What features are coming with the Roborock Q7 Max?
The Q7 Max is not the most robust robot vacuum from Roborock, but it is pretty impressive for this price. So here are some of the features that the Roborock Q7 Max boasts.
4200Pa suction power
The Roborock Q7 Max sports a pretty high suction power, coming in at 4200Pa. Just how high is that? Well, the S7 which launched last year for $649 is only rated at 2500Pa. iRobot’s vacuums are around 2000-2500Pa (they don’t typically publish that spec though). Most of the industry is around 2000 to 2500Pa right now, while Roborock is close to double that. The S7 MaxV actually does 5100Pa.
What this means for real-life cleaning is that, the Q7 Max is going to be able to pick up everything on the floor in your home. Even things you won’t see. For example, I ran the Q7 Max through my apartment, which I thought was already pretty clean, but the Q7 Max still packed its dustbin with dirt, dust and other debris. So this is impressive for those with allergies too. As you’re picking up all of those allergens that can cause issues for you.
It’s especially useful for those with lots of carpeted rooms in their home. Especially thanks to Carpet Boost. Which will increase the suction power when it recognizes that it is on carpet. That is where the suction is needed anyways.
PreciSense LiDAR Navigation
One of the downsides to the Q7 Max is that it does not have the stereo camera and ReactiveAI 2.0, which the S7 MaxV sports. But that’s an area that Roborock decided to cut costs, it seems.
However, its PreciSense LiDAR system is still pretty good. And among the best on the market right now. It is able to map out your home, and create a 3D map within the Roborock app. This means that you can have the robot vacuum clean in front of the couch, or maybe under the dining room table. Instead of the entire room.
But since it is just LiDAR, that means it’s not going to avoid most objects like ReactiveAI 2.0 would be able to do. It doesn’t generally get caught on objects, but it can happen.
Combined dustbin and water tank
This is a rather interesting feature of the Roborock Q7 Max. They have combined the dustbin and water tank into a single module. This move has resulted in making both of them larger in volume.
The dustbin volume is 470ml here, which is larger than the 400ml found on the S7 MaxV. While the water-tank volume is 350ml, the largest yet from Roborock. Allowing it to clean further, both mopping and vacuuming, before needing to return to the dock.
So why combine them? Well, for one, both the water tank and dustbin are larger now, but they also take up less space inside the vacuum. Meaning that Roborock is able to put in a bigger motor for better suction power. It makes loads of sense, but it’s kind of surprising it took this long to happen.
Long-lasting battery
Just about every Roborock robot vacuum has been rated at 180 minutes of runtime. Which is quite impressive, that’s about 3 hours, but keep in mind that you might or might not get that much. This depends on your settings. If you use low water flow and balanced suction power, then you’ll probably get the full 180 minutes. But if you are using max suction and high-flow water for the mopping, then it’s unlikely that you would.
At 180 minutes, Roborock says that is enough to clean around 3,229 square-feet of space. Perfect for most homes and apartments.
However, if the Q7 Max does not finish on its first charge and needs to recharge, it will finish cleaning once it has recharged. So it’s not that big of a deal.
All-rubber main brush
The all-rubber main brush that debuted with the Roborock S7 is also here with the Q7 Max now. It has also improved since the S7, where it would get hair tangled around it and then rip the brush pretty easily. That doesn’t happen any longer, or at least it’s a lot harder for it to happen.
The reason for using an all-rubber main brush is so that hair and other things won’t get tangled up as easily. You can just pop off the ends of the brush and slide the hair off and into the trash can. Making it easy to clean and take care of.
What features does the Roborock app have?
The Roborock app is very easy-to-use, even for those that are not tech literate. Roborock has done a good job of laying everything out pretty easily, so anyone can use it, without any issues.
You can see the map of your home, and see where the vacuum has cleaned, and where it still needs to clean. New with the Q7 Max (and S7 MaxV), Roborock can make a 3D map and also show you where your furniture is. Like couches, tables and so forth. Making it easier to avoid objects and also tell it where to clean.
The app also allows you to set the cleaning intensity. So you can adjust the cleaning modes on a by-room basis. Maybe the kitchen is a lot dirtier than the rest of the house, you can set it to use more suction and more water, vibration strength on the mopping side in the kitchen, versus the rest of the house. There is also a “deep mopping” mode available for a very deep mopping.
There is also now advanced scheduling available. So you could have the Q7 Max clean certain rooms at a certain time, and then set the other rooms for another time.
As always, you can still set no-go zones and invisible walls with the Roborock App. So if you don’t want it cleaning your bathroom, you can set that in the Roborock App.
The Q7 Max can also remember multiple floor plans. Important for those that are in multi-story homes. You will still need to move the vacuum yourself between different floors, but it will recognize each floor with ease.
Finally, voice control is available for Roborock robot vacuums. It works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. So you can use your personal assistant of choice to tell the robot vacuum to start cleaning.
What docks are compatible with the Q7 Max?
Officially, Roborock is only selling the new “Auto-Empty Dock Pure” for the Q7 Max. This is the one that was designed for the Q5 and Q7 series or robot vacuums. However, the older dock that debuted with the S7 does work, and since it’s only $20 more, it might be the better option. Since it does have the HEPA filter included, and a larger dustbag.
The Auto-Empty Dock Pure does have a sleeker design, so it’ll fit in quite nicely in your living room or another place in your home. It has a 2.5L dustbag inside, that will hold dirt and dust for up to 7 weeks. Now that time-frame will depend on how often you run the Q7 Max. If you run it everyday, it might fill up quicker than in 7 weeks. So important to remember that.
The dustbags that Roborock sells are also an effective air filter. And it is tested to filter about 99.7% of pollen as small as 0.3 microns. That is important for those that are sensitive with allergies. As those allergens won’t be getting back into the air.
Unfortunately, the Ultra Dock for the S7 MaxV does not work with the Q7 Max. And that shouldn’t be surprising, since it is almost the same cost as the Q7 Max by itself. The only main difference between the Ultra Dock and the Pure dock is that the Ultra can refill the water tank and clean your mopping pad. With the water tank being in a different position on the Q7 Max, it can’t work.
What sensors are on the Roborock Q7 Max?
The Q7 Max has all of the usual sensors on-board. There are a number of cliff sensors. This is so that it won’t take a tumble down the stairs. There are also sensors to identify carpet vs non-carpet floors. This is for the mopping and also for carpet boost (a setting that is on by default).
Of course, there is also a bumper around the Roborock Q7 Max. This helps to keep it from bumping into things and damaging the vacuum. It will still bump into table legs, couches, and such. But that should not damage the robot vacuum, which is important.
Should I buy the Roborock Q7 Max?
The Roborock Q7 Max is in an interesting position. For $50 more you can get the S7 which doesn’t have the same suction power, but does have impressive mopping features like VibraRise and Sonic Mopping. The best case that I could recommend the Q7 Max is for those that have a mostly carpeted house. If you don’t need and won’t use the mopping as much, then the Q7 Max is the right vacuum for you.
However, if you want something that is going to do everything for you, then you may want to pony up the money for the S7 MaxV. Having reviewed it earlier this year, it is definitely worth the extra money. And you get the ReactiveAI 2.0 which is great if you have kids and/or pets in your home.
All three models are great options, but they are kind of close in price, which makes it a harder choice. Of course, if you can find one on sale for a lower price, by all means go for it. They all provide an impressive experience.