Roborock H7 Cordless Vacuum Hands-on Review: Dyson-Killer gets an Upgrade

After testing Roborock's H6 stick vac for the long run (9 months and counting), we concluded in our review that it is indeed a worthy opponent to its British rival: Dyson in terms of reliability and usability. The Xiaomi backed company is following up the H6 success with the H7, and they've decided to go with an incremental upgrade this time, rather than a reinvention.

So how does the newest sibling from the Roborock family perform in real life? As the owners of the H6 for the past 9 months, we dove in to find out.

Magnetic Accessories

Arguably the biggest upgrade of the H7 is its accessories, but you wouldn't know it at first, because they appear exactly the same as their predecessors. I only noticed the upgrade from the brand new dock design, which instead of a 'T' shaped dock of the H6, the H7 features an 'I' shaped dock. Instead of individual clips that the accessories clip into, there are simply two matte black surfaces running down its sides: all the accessories now attach to the dock magnetically.

The genius is in its simplicity, because the trivial task of storing vacuum accessories has been a key design brief throughout the history of vacuum cleaners. In the good'o days of large corded vacuum cleaners, attachments were usually stored in little nooks and crannies on the main body of the vacuum, but obviously it's not the same case with stick vacuum cleaners.

Roborock's new solution? Incorporate magnets onto the accessories, so that they will easily be attached to the dock. But the usefulness of this simple addition goes even further. The magnetized accessories can now be attached not only to the dock, but on all ferrous metal surfaces. My personal favorite storage place exists in virtually all homes: the refrigerator. All the H7 accessories are now fridge magnets, never to be lost again.

Rapid Recharge in 2.5 Hours

One of the issues with the H6 was how long it took to recharge, which can take up to 4 hours. Though this is the problem of virtually all stick vacuums, and you don't really notice if you're always docking and trickle charging, it is still quite a wait when the battery gets drained.

The Roborock team obviously took note of this shortcoming, and changed up the AC adapter as well as the battery circuit so that output current gets a boost from 0.8 A to 1.4 A, fully charging the battery in 2.5 hours. That's almost a 50% decrease, and is an improvement that's noticeable in actual use.

Improved Dust Capacity with New Dust Bag Option

Roborock H7 also saw a 12% increase in its dust bin capacity. It's actually barely noticeable physically, unless you place the two bins side-by-side with each other, where the height difference gives away the change. If you're someone who doesn't like emptying the bin, I'd say the extra capacity will give you an extra day or two of leeway.

What the larger dust bin capacity does impact the H7 however, is its new ability to adapt a disposable dust bag. Included in the H7 package is an adapter and two dust bags. Personally I find it hard to see the need for dust bags, as even with the H6, the multi-level HEPA filtration was already keeping the office dust free - enough for two asthmatics colleagues. However, each to their own, so for those who are extra sensitive to dust and seek for even lower dust count, the H7 dust bags are a new available option.

Quieter and Stronger Suction?

Since I did have a H6 vacuum cleaner handy, I took the chance to compare the new H7 with its predecessor. The initial difference was shockingly noticeable, as the H7 was obviously quieter and produced significantly stronger suction than the H6. However upon closer inspection, I realized that my H6 needed a thorough clean. I took out the water washable filters, the centrifuge and dust bin for a good wash and dry, and repeated the test a few days later.

On my second test between the two vacuum cleaners, the difference was still there, but not as vast as the first time. In terms of suction, without using any specialized measuring equipment, but simply by feeling the suction force on my hand, the H7 is only slightly stronger than the H6.

Noise-wise however, the H7 was audibly quieter than the H6. By using a sound meter app, the measurements also confirmed what I heard. The H7 is 6 dB quieter on the Eco mode, and around 3 dB quieter on the Max mode.

You can take away what you will from my testing, as it is between an almost 1-year-old vacuum and a brand new one. I did give the H6 a through clean however, washing it in water, so it does seem that the H7 has improved quietness, while offering slightly more powerful suction.

Final Verdict

Nice work spaces are nice because they are almost always clean. You can equip your work space with all the latest furniture, gadgets and tech you want, but if it's covered in dust, it's all in vain. So a cordless vacuum like the H7 with multiple attachments is exactly what we all need in our offices, especially if you're part of the work from home (WFH) movement and no longer has cleaners to clean up after you.

The new H7 is a vacuum I recommend because not only does it have the same reliability as its predecessor, it has accessories that are more easily accessible, faster recharge and a quieter operation. We've decided for the Roborock H7 to be the recipient of the IBTimes Editor's Choice badge.

The Roborock H7 will be available in the U.S. market from July, for an MSRP of $499. There's a three day (July 6-8) early bird special on Roborock's official website, where you get $50 off. It will be made available on Amazon from July 9th.

Sam is a production engineer turned tech writer who specializes in seeking out gadgets that enhances productivity while still looking sharp. This is a contribution to an ongoing IBTimes review series on gadgets for Home Productivity.