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I’ve owned three different robot vacuums in the last decade. If you’ve read any product or gift guide from InsideHook over the past few years, you’ve probably seen me advocate the technology as a “set it and forget it” cleaning hack that saves you time and effort — and results in cleaner floors and carpets. Outside of the electric toothbrush, I’d say this is one piece of home technology that improves your life exponentially.
But there are drawbacks. Prices vary wildly on these robot cleaners. Some only vacuum; others offer mopping attachments but do a poor job. Emptying the vacuum’s dust bins and cleaning the mops/rags is still gross. And particularly in my household, the wheels on the robot vacs tend to get clogged with hair. Add in iffy AI and object detection, and you’re left with a product that is certainly helpful but requires more maintenance and care than you’d initially expect.
What if you aimed high and got a top-of-the-line unit that promised everything? They exist. While I’d been happy with my budget choices, I had a chance to test out the Roborock Qrevo Pro for a few weeks. With a list price of just under $1000, it’s certainly a splurge.
The Qrevo Pro promises a lot: A robotic arm-spinning mop called FlexiArm. Massive suction power. An intelligence that includes self-maintenance, room mapping, advanced object detection/avoidance and customizable app features. The Qrevo Pro can even figure out if an area needs to be rewashed/remopped due to the dirt/soil level.
The specs
- 7,000 Pa suction
- 10mm mop lifting
- 200 RPM spinning speed
- Auto-tank refilling for mopping
- 60-degree C hot water mop washing
- 45-degree warm air drying for the mop
- Auto dust emptying
- Voice commands available (Alexa, Siri, Google)
- Multi-level mapping system
- Carpet cleaning customization
- 330ml dustbin capacity / 2.7 L dust bag capacity
- Max run time 180 minutes
- Charging time under four hours
- 63db noise level
- Apple Watch and smartphone apps
What works
- The mop automatically adjusts and lifts depending on your cleaning task (except in mop-only mode) — meaning, you don’t need to worry about the vac getting your carpet wet.
- It does its job! This is the important thing. The areas the Qrevo Pro went over — floor or carpet, vacuumed or mopped — were noticeably cleaner. And unlike other robot units, the mop did not leave an excess of water on the floor.
- Automatically returning to the charging dock, auto dust emptying, auto tank refilling and auto mop drying/cleaning? Once you have these features, it’s hard to go back to the no-frills robot vacs.
- You can customize (via the app) cleaning routines for the house, individual rooms or specific areas.
- After spending a few minutes worrying about the Qrevo Pro running into or over something in our very cluttered home, I realized that was probably never going to happen. Outside of one time (see below), it never hit or got tangled on any object.
- It was nice to hear status updates from the Qrevo Pro (“repositioning,” “cleaning mops,” “main brush jammed” — that last one was from a random piece of tissue paper that got caught underneath the unit; the issue was quickly resolved)
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- Including the vertical bumper, the unit is slightly taller than other robot vacuums but was able to get under almost all of our furniture (and offered better maneuverability than other vacs I’ve used)
- While deep carpet cleaning can be a bit loud, the unit is less or about as noisy as other robot vacuum cleaners
What needs work
- The written instructions gave me a panic attack. There’s a one-page guide that’s useful and the app is pretty intuitive, but the user manual and included pamphlet break the unit down into dozens of individual pieces with hard-to-decipher graphics.
- This is a large and heavy unit with a base that takes up much space (in height, width and depth). If you’re in a tiny apartment or strapped for space, this might not be the unit for you. You’ll need a space of about 3.9 feet, 1.3 feet and 2.9 feet (d/w/h) to rest the base and allow the unit to navigate.
- This is a reality and not a complaint, but a fair amount of work goes into maintaining the Qrevo Pro. The main brush and washable filter need to be cleaned every two weeks, side brush replaced every 3-6 months.
Fun fact
Roborock recently started a collaboration with NYC muralist Timothy Goodman — part of their ad campaign includes the artist painting a Qrevo Pro unit.
Overall thoughts
Is the Qrevo Pro overkill for my tiny, cluttered NYC apartment? Probably, but I can’t see myself returning to a cheaper unit that lacks the power and customization of this Roborock unit. If you have a large space or a multi-floor house (it won’t go up your stairs, but it can map and plan different floor patterns), this is certainly worth the investment. And from now until July 20, the Roborock Qrevo Pro is $300 off at Amazon.
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