Recommend a robot vacuum for 2025

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#3370674 5-May-2025 21:20

Based on what everyone has said, and a conversation with an AI, I reckon the Roborock Q8 Max+ is probably what we'll go for, depending what else people here say. It's a good brand, good app, midrange, decent performance, good value, ok at mopping which we don't care about and good for carpet. It's on sale for $1100 with the emptying station. Any thoughts before we order that one?

robjg63

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#3370690 6-May-2025 06:48

Probably just worth doing a google on parts - brushes,battery,filter whatever first.

There was someone on GZ recently, asking about a battery for a robot vacuum - cant recall the brand - but was a 'name' brand and pretty pricey and sold by many retailers in NZ.

There were no parts locally and the nearest source was Europe or the USA and they wouldnt send overseas.

For an $1100 item, you probably want to know you can get a few bits for it if possible.

(Just my 2c)

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timmmay

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#3370692 6-May-2025 07:08

Spare parts is an excellent point, I hadn't considered that because the Xiaomi was so easy. I've confirmed that Roborock sell spare parts in NZ like filters, and that you can get much cheaper generic versions on Ali Express. We've used the generic versions for the 1C for years so I'm happy with that.

I'll confirm with my wife and get one ordered - just in time for mothers day! 😅

NB: do not buy your wife a vacuum for mothers day or you will never hear the end of it. If anyone's stuck for ideas, buy jewelry or liquor!

johno1234

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#3371502 8-May-2025 15:48

Would love a good smart one that works out an optimised map but clever enough to deal with obstacles and closed doors.

Our house is about 50% carpet and the rest is timber or tiles. For the tiles and the timber in the kitchen mopping sounds great - does it work and can the map be updated to say something like "Area A is for vacuuming, area B is for mopping and area C is for vacuum first then mop"?

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#3371587 9-May-2025 07:27

Very curious about this as well. We have a roomba 692 that we picked up overseas a couple of years ago. It's the bump its way around variety but actually does a pretty good job. We have it set to run daily while we are at work as we have 3 cats and it stays on top of the cat fur pretty well.

Am actively considering what next as looking to upgrade next year.

timmmay

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#3371588 9-May-2025 07:34

Our Roborock Q8 Max+ arrived yesterday, just in time for mother's day 😉😄 We'll set it up fairly soon, I'll report back in a week or so how it works for us.

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Benjip

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#3371589 9-May-2025 07:58

johno1234:

Our house is about 50% carpet and the rest is timber or tiles. For the tiles and the timber in the kitchen mopping sounds great - does it work and can the map be updated to say something like "Area A is for vacuuming, area B is for mopping and area C is for vacuum first then mop"?

The Roborock that I have (S8 MaxV Ultra) does all of that and then some.

It has sensors and cameras underneath that can detect the floor type, and you can always edit that manually too.

You can say to it “vacuum and mop the kitchen and hallway” and it’ll be smart enough to not mop the carpeted areas of either of those rooms, but it’ll mop the hard flooring (and vacuum them too).

johno1234

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#3371604 9-May-2025 09:10

timmmay:

Our Roborock Q8 Max+ arrived yesterday, just in time for mother's day 😉😄 We'll set it up fairly soon, I'll report back in a week or so how it works for us.

@Benjip just gave it a rave review. Please tell me you got it on sale - PBT currently have it on special at $1079 incl.

timmmay

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#3371612 9-May-2025 09:26

Yes I got it on sale from PB tech. Harvey Norman have or at least had it on sale, they work out slightly cheaper given PB Tech credit card fees, but I generally find PB tech delivery and warranty good so I went with them.

Benjip

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#3371617 9-May-2025 09:49

johno1234:

@Benjip just gave it a rave review. Please tell me you got it on sale - PBT currently have it on special at $1079 incl.

Oh mine is a completely different model. One thing Roborock definitely does not do well is product naming…

johno1234

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#3371619 9-May-2025 10:07

Benjip:

johno1234:

@Benjip just gave it a rave review. Please tell me you got it on sale - PBT currently have it on special at $1079 incl.

Oh mine is a completely different model. One thing Roborock definitely does not do well is product naming…

Oh right - Ultra. I see it has several additional features. Mind you, for the price difference I could hire a maid to do the hoovering!

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Benjip

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#3371622 9-May-2025 10:18

Ultra with an uppercase U, the ultra with lowercase u is a totally different model.

I'm kidding, but it really is that confusing — no idea why they do it that way! I had to make sure I was buying the right one, about 700 times during checkout.

timmmay

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#3371654 9-May-2025 10:56

I found the selection quite easy. I asked for recommendations here which helped me choose the brand, I used an AI to refine which of the models PBTech stocks would work best for us, and I purchased it.

The model naming does seem oddly confusing.

timmmay

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#3372359 12-May-2025 06:32

We've had the Roborock Q8 Max+ a few days and used it a couple of times, and so far we're very happy with it. It is MUCH better at not banging into things than the old budget Xiaomi 1C, including not running into things head on and getting close to walls and furniture without scraping along it. The old vacuum we had a dozen virtual walls, this one we only have a couple. The app so far is really good, it makes mapping easy including adding / splitting / combining rooms after mapping, and it supports multiple levels. It's pretty loud extracting the dust into the base station, but not for long. Vacuuming performance seems good - a little better than the old one - but less hair gets caught in the rollers making it lower maintenance.

All in all, so far, recommended. I appreciate the tips from everyone that steered us this way! 🙂

MarkM536

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#3372850 13-May-2025 18:11

My two cents:

My newly acquired Ecovacs T9+ works good but the hardware design is bad.

The vacuum motor does not vent directly out the back, instead it vents inside the housing with an opening ~7cm away. This flaw meant the vacuum circuit boards and LiDAR sensor would get clogged with fine dust.

App is okay.

Better than my older Kogan LX10.

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