[Unboxing] "Musty Odors Gone, Hair Tangles Gone"... Roborock Robot Vacuum Ends the Need to "Lift a Finger"

New Product: "Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra Steam"
110°C steam and 100°C hot water eliminate musty odors from mop pads
Anti-tangle brushes put an end to hair cleanup
Available at a special price in the mid-1.5 million won range; well worth it

Even after purchasing a premium robot vacuum, users still encounter inconveniences in everyday use. Common problems include a lingering musty smell from the mop pads even after washing, the vacuum being unable to fit under low furniture or getting stuck inside because of its top-mounted sensor, and the hassle of having to untangle hair wrapped around the brush by hand or cut it off with scissors. In the end, even after spending more than 1 million won on a high-end product, users still had to do some of the work themselves.

Roborock's new Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra Steam addresses these longstanding limitations of robot vacuums through technology, raising the bar for cleaning performance. I ran it throughout every corner of my home for a week to assess its real-world performance firsthand.

Roborock's new robot vacuum, the Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra Steam, pictured next to a 500-ml water bottle for size comparison. Photo by Kwon Hyeonji

Hot steam loosens grime and washes the mop pads... Musty odors gone

The standout feature of the new model is its "110°C High-Temperature Steam Deep-Cleaning System." While previous models simply rinsed mop pads with hot water, this one first washes them with water heated to up to 100°C, then generates steam at up to 110°C to loosen dirt and stubborn grime. At the same time, it scrubs the floor with strong pressure and up to 4,000 vibrations per minute.

I tested it on stains and water marks on a hardwood floor. With the cleaning intensity set to "Strong" and the mop water flow set to medium, the stains loosened by the high-temperature steam were completely removed after just two passes. The water marks disappeared as if someone had scrubbed the floor by hand, leaving it so clean that it felt almost squeaky under bare feet.

After cleaning, the robot returned to its dock and began washing itself automatically. The process of washing the mop pads and dock with water heated to up to 100°C took about 10 minutes. It then dried the mop pads thoroughly with hot air at 63°C. Hot-air drying was completed in under three hours.

After using it for everyday cleaning for a week, I smelled the mop pads and the inside of the dock, but could not detect any of the characteristic musty odors that used to come from robot vacuums. The dirty water collected in the wastewater tank was also much darker than it had been at the start of use, offering a clear indication of the cleaning power of the high-temperature steam and hot-water cleaning.

Water marks and stains on the floor (top) and the spotless floor after steam cleaning with the Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra (bottom). Photo by Kwon Hyunji.

Sensor retracts smoothly into the body, cleaning areas that were once out of reach

Another strength of this model is that it physically addresses the problem of robot vacuums getting caught or trapped under low furniture because of their top-mounted sensors. It uses RetractSense navigation technology, which detects the height of a space and tucks the top sensor inside the robot's body.

Traditional robot vacuums required a fixed laser distance sensor (LDS) module protruding from the top of the body for precise navigation. But when the robot tried to get under low beds, sofas or wardrobes, the sensor could get caught, preventing it from cleaning or leaving it trapped underneath.

When I placed this model in front of a wardrobe with about 9 cm of clearance underneath, the top sensor made a sound and automatically retracted into the body. The now-slimmer robot vacuum glided under the wardrobe, cleaned the far corners inside where dust had accumulated out of reach, and came back out.

Combined with a floor-height adjustment feature that lets it cross high thresholds smoothly and obstacle-avoidance technology that steers it clear of power cords and shoelaces, the robot did not get trapped under furniture or stop after becoming tangled in a cord.

Long hair doesn't get tangled

The product also addresses the chore of having to remove hair wrapped around the main brush by hand or with scissors after every cleaning. Its anti-tangle system combines a DuoDivide main brush and a FlexiArm Arc side brush, and is designed to pick up long hair with ease.

I had it vacuum a large amount of hair from the floor, but found none wrapped around the brush after the cleaning was complete. The hair had passed naturally through the central suction inlet and into the dustbin. During the week I used it, I never had to touch the robot or its brushes.

The main brush of the Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra Steam shows no signs of tangling even after vacuuming up a large amount of hair. Photo by Kwon Hyunji

Operating noise is a drawback, but the price is easier to bear

Operating noise was one drawback. The robot's components and sensors tended to make irregular sounds as they moved during cleaning. The noise was also somewhat loud at times when the dock emptied the dustbin and washed the mop pads with hot water. As a result, setting silent mode through the application was essential when cleaning at night.

The list price is 1.89 million won for the standard model and 2.04 million won for the direct-plumbed model. Although it is a high-end model priced around 2 million won, various benefits, including promotions currently running to mark its launch in Korea, can bring the price down to the mid-1.5 million won range. Compared with the price of other flagship premium models, the current discounted price offers good value: the vacuum reduces the need for users to deal with musty odors, getting stuck under furniture, and hair tangled around the brush themselves.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.