Expectations for robot cleaners have grown so much in the past five years. I talked to iRobot’s then-CEO Colin Angle about this a few years ago: For a long time, people who owned robot vacuums were delighted that the machines worked at all. The bots bumbled around aimlessly and sometimes missed entire rooms in a given cleaning session. But it was like rooting for a pet to pull off a cute trick.
Once robots started driving in straight lines and pairing with smartphone apps, it was all business: Buyers recognized that bots had become much smarter, and these shoppers turned against brands (like iRobot) that couldn’t match the speedy, precise navigation of the new category leaders, like Roborock. Big improvements in self-cleaning docks and mopping features came on quickly, too.
Now things have plateaued again. I stopped reviewing robots regularly at the end of 2021, and coming back into the fold three years later, I’ve found that everything still looks familiar and works just like I remember. The AI vision systems haven’t improved much, the ride-along mops have gotten only a little better, and everything else is mostly unchanged on a practical level.
A handful of next-gen robot cleaner features were unveiled at the CES trade show in early 2025, including a Roborock model with a robot arm that unfurls from the body and picks up debris such as socks and tissues. Even as a skeptic, I have to admit that everything I heard about it seems legitimately useful, and the pace of progress is blowing my mind. But how much will all those features cost, and will they achieve more than just incremental progress toward total automation?
So to really be happy with any robot cleaner, the same thing is true now as it has always been: You have to accept the flaws. A bot isn’t perfect, but it should make your life easier and more convenient—and like any great gadget, it can even be fun.
The S8 MaxV Ultra should be especially delightful if you like to crawl through app menus and fiddle with settings. I spent the most time tinkering with the mop behavior, trying to eke out the best performance with the wash-water temperature and shorter intervals between mop washes, and after a month of testing, I still had room to experiment.
But if that steep purchase price makes it too hard for you to accept the S8 MaxV Ultra as a toy instead of an appliance, nobody will blame you—it’s a ton of money. Even if this cleaner does fit your budget, counting on it to be a perfect robot servant, or to engineer the drudgery of cleaning out of your life, will just set yourself up for disappointment.
I’m gonna go see if I can get it stuck in my drying rack again.
This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.
