Q7

I recently bought the cheapest Roborock Q7 BF or something and to be honest I am very happily surprised. But I have 2 cats and an apartment, so for me, it was purely against the cat hairs and I expected nothing more. Having worked at an online retailer, I know how many times people called, (a lot) because their robot had some sort of issue no matter which brand or version. So I bought the cheapest with the least amount of functions, no dock where it empties itself and I don't use it to mop either. It's a round robot on your floor, keep that in mind. Your house won't be cleaned by it and there are still parts you have to vacuum yourself. Paying 800-1000 eu/dollar for one of these is just insane marketing with gimmicky stuff and a big box. DON'T DO IT. The robot will still get sometimes stuck or tries to vacuum something that won't fit to then start calling for help. I don't want China to have access to my phone, let alone a LIDAR scan of my house, so I just press start and it does the rest. I don't use any app, neither should anyone tbh.

I think you should buy cheap Roborocks. I just don't think this is a device that's going to last 5 or more years. Buy a cheap one, if you get 18 months out of it, get excited about getting one that has some new features. If I was paying $2,000, and my robot broke in 18 months, I would cry. We have the original Q7, and it will be 2 years old in April. We have no pets or children, and run it almost everyday at least in some rooms. It is starting to die. To me this seems like planned obsolescence. It's just starting to get lost and stop and get stuck all the time. It didn't do that at all for the first year and some months. I'd like to replace it with one of the new vacuums that has a roller mop.

I have the q7 tf, in Thailand and spent about £125 on it and it's been on sale cheaper for like £90. 10,000 suction LiDAR, crazy price.

Oh, that's the Australian version of Q7 TF (Asia), Q7 L5 (Canada), and Q7 M5 (US). I have Q7 TF for 4 months and it works great for me. Mine has larger suction power (10000 Pa) vs Q7b (8000 Pa). The anti-tangle brush works great for human hair (but idk for pet hair since my cat is always outside). The mopping is ancient like a Swiffer, but the electronically controlled water pump valve is better than the passive/gravity one in the older Q5. I would like to have the plus version, but at that time it was out of stock, so I took one without the self-empty dock.

The reliability is also related to the brand reputation. I have a budget Roborock Q7 and for me budget model means cheap enough to be replaced if it's broken in 2 to 3 years. Try to find a model where you can easily find replacement spare parts and you can service it by yourself.

It's decent if it's used for a small room like a dorm and has no carpet at all. I have Xiaomi E5 alongside Dreame F9 and Roborock Q7, it did quite well picking up dust on hard floor (not carpet obviously). But, the less efficient gyroscope navigation drains the battery more than my F9 and Q7, and takes half an hour to clean my small studio-size dorm. My Q7 takes only 15 minutes, F9 is 20 to 30 minutes, and E5 takes 30 to 40 minutes.

I just checked it this weekend, and you can (at least the Q7) send room commands. Zones not (yet). [https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/roborock/#how-can-i-clean-a-specific-room](https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/roborock/#how-can-i-clean-a-specific-room)