Roborock's new robot vacuum can keep an eye on pets and kids too

Roborock has taken the wraps off its latest robot vacuum, which, in a first for the brand, can also act as a mobile camera, and lets you see and speak to anyone in your home.

The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra comes equipped with a video camera, which along with a lidar scanner, helps the robot vacuum to identify and avoid obstacles in its path.

However, the camera can also be used to keep an eye on your home, and you can speak to anyone in its field of view via the Roborock app on your phone. So you can keep an eye on pets or tell the kids to stop fighting, without the need for a dedicated home security camera.

The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is also the brand’s smartest robot vacuum to date and comes with a base station that will not only automatically empty the dust canister, but can also remove the dirty water from the mopping tank. It doesn’t stop there either: it will clean the robot vacuum’s mop and refill the water tank so that it’s ready to clean both the carpets and hard floors in your home with minimal input from you.

The S7 MaxV Ultra will only be available in the US, and is priced at $1,399, making it one of the more expensive robot vacuums on the market. It’s set to go on sale in the second quarter of 2022.

Opinion: a robot vacuum that really lets you put your feet up

Self-emptying robot vacuums have been around for some time, with Roborock already offering one model that can empty its own dust canister, while iRobot and Ecovacs also make models that ensure you don’t have to get your hands dirty when the dust canister is full.

However, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is the first model that has a mopping function, and can empty its 6.7oz water tank – Roborock claims that’s enough to mop an area of up to 3,230 square feet – as well as the 13.4oz dust canister. This functionality, coupled with the fact that the docking station can clean the robot vacuum’s mopping pad, really does reduce the amount of maintenance required.

Unlike many robot vacuums that can mop as well as vacuum, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra doesn't slosh water over your hard floors, instead using sonic vibration technology to create a scrubbing motion that will remove stains. As mentioned, the lidar scanner and camera can detect and identify obstacles in the vacuum’s path, ensuring they don’t get tangled in the brush roller, or in the case of pet poop, spread further around your floors.

All of these features make for one of the most hands-off robot vacuums we’ve seen, and for those that have hard floors as well as carpets in their home, this is a robot vacuum you really can put your feet up and outsource the floor cleaning to.