Roborock Makes A Near

Aug 29, 2023

Roborock Q Revo and Dock

Seemingly moments after I wrote my head-to-head article comparing Roborock's S8 Pro Ultra and the EcoVacs Deebot T10 Omni, Roborock was back in my inbox, letting me know that they had a bot that addressed all of my issues.

And I give them credit, the Roborock Q Revo does almost everything I need a robotic mopvac to do.

Stink-free dock design? Check. Spinning mops? Also check. Better obstacle avoidance? …eh, but getting better!

At a price that's nearly half that of the S8 Pro Ultra, Roborock has a major winner on their hands here.

Q Revo is here to upstage its predecessor

At first glance, the Q Revo unboxes just like any other Roborock bot. It comes in an enormous box that contains the dock and the Q Revo itself. You do some light assembly, pair the unit with the Roborock app on your phone, and then let it charge up so that it can do a quick map of your home.

Q Revo (left) vs S8 Pro (right)

But as you unbox the bot, you'll discover two things. One, the Q Revo only has one large rubber brush instead of the dual brush system that's in every other Roborock bot. That's because it needs extra room for Roborock's first-ever dual spinning mop system!

These two nubbly pads clean floors at 200 RPM speed plus they automatically raise up to 7mm off the floor when the Q Revo encounters carpets and rugs. Obviously, with clearance that's just barely over a quarter of an inch, you'll want to create no-go zones around thicker rugs and carpets. But I've found that it's more than enough to keep my rugs dry.

But raising the mopping unit off the ground is old news. The big revolution (heh) here is the spinning mopping pads. Vastly more effective than a stationary vibrating pad, Roborock's system does an impressive job of scrubbing your floor clean. It's even better than more expensive models. So much so, I fully expect to see this as the default mopping system for Roborock in their flagship models going forward.

Don't be fooled by the single rubber brush for the vacuum. Just because it doesn't have two brushes doesn't mean it isn't an effective vacuum. With 5,500Pa of suction power, it's just 500Pa shy of Roborock's top-of-the-line S8 Pro.

Living in a house with multiple people with long hair and one bushy cat, I'm extremely appreciative of the fact that Roborock's brush design effectively keeps hair from tangling around the main brush. Instead, it travels to either end of the brush. Yes, you'll have to occasionally pop off the ends of the brush and remove the hair tangles, but it's a far better system than other robovacs I've used where the hair just cuts into the rubber brush and has to be cut away.

Speaking of the vacuuming function, you can purchase the Q Revo without the auto-empty, auto-clean dock, but it means you'll have to get much more hands on with your bot. I much prefer not having to think about emptying the bot's bin every couple of days. The auto-empty dock will handle up to 7 weeks of dirt. Though you'll have to keep checking it yourself. Oddly, as good as the Roborock app is at reminding you to do basic bot maintenance, you can't set a reminder timer to check the bag.

Close second to the spinning brushes on the Q Revo are the dock improvements. Roborock has outdone themselves in making a dock that's not only more effective at keeping the robot clean between cleanings, it's easier to keep clean in general.

One of my biggest gripes with previous dock models was that the filter would build up stinky gunk way quicker than the app would remind you. Leading to situations where I'd walk by the dock and start looking around to see if the cat left something on the floor.

Q Revo (left) and S8 Pro Ultra (right)

That's all changed with the Q Revo. The dual-mopping system means that the complicated (and noisy) mop cleaning brush in the dock is no longer necessary, instead using the rotational motion of the pads themselves for cleaning. Even better, you can lift the entire dock tray out of the unit and give it a good scrub in the sink.

Q Revo dock tray

Not that you have to worry too much about mildew and mold with the heated drying system built into the Q Revo’s dock. With 113°F warm air drying, it keeps your mopping pads clean and prevents them from spreading around more funk than they clean.

Loki preferring to hang out by the S8 Pro's dock is not a testament to its cleanliness.

I’m also pleased to see that the Q Revo’s water tanks are considerably bigger than the ones I complained about in the S8 Ultra. Though I do still find myself filling them more than I’d like. Bit since they’re doing double duty and cleaning the mopping pads and filling the onboard mopping tanks on the Q Revo, I’ll give them a pass. Overall, it's a vastly better system than anything Roborock has produced and I look forward to seeing it in future models.

While the Q Revo uses Roborock's latest LIDAR sensors to avoid collisions and some common obstacles, I've found it to be 70/30 on avoiding obstacles. While it won't slam into baseboards, it does like to shift dining room chairs around. And my daughter's Converse, which are always left in the middle of the floor, are never given a wide enough berth, leading to several bot rescues.

The Q Revo sadly can't seem to see black electrical cords either. This ends up with it popping off its own mopping pads as it gets tangled. Thankfully, it's exceedingly easy to set no-go zones in the app so that the bot will just ignore problematic places.

While we're talking about the app, I should mention that Roborock's is still one of the best in the business. Once the bot has mapped your house, it's a simple task to name rooms and set up no-go zones. Even better, once you've named your rooms, you can use Google, Alexa, or Siri to tell the Q Revo to spot clean specific areas. You can even set up routines like a one-click "After Dinner" that cleans your kitchen and dining area.

Q Revo and dock

For all of this robovac innovation, you're going to pay more than you would for a base-level model. The Q Revo retails at $899. But luckily there are frequent sales. In fact, Roborock is having an Anniversary sale right now that knocks the price for the Q Revo and dock down to $759. Learn more on the Roborock website.