I bought my first robot vacuum.
I was skeptical. "Can that thing really clean as well as me?" But everyone around me was getting one, all saying "why didn't I buy this sooner?" And coming home after work to vacuum every day was getting old...
Roborock Q8 Max Plus. Samsung and LG robot vacuums cost over 1,000,000 won. This one is around 300,000 won with the auto-empty station included.
The best part: "press one button before work"
Tap clean in the app on my way out. Come home to clean floors. What used to be 15-20 minutes of daily vacuuming is now zero. Running it daily means dust never accumulates. Walking barefoot without that gritty feeling — surprisingly satisfying.
Mops too
Attach the mop pad and it vacuums + mops simultaneously. Not as good as doing it yourself, but enough for maintenance. Cut my manual mopping from weekly to biweekly.
Auto-empty is a game changer
Returns to the station, empties its dustbin automatically. Quick loud sound, 10 seconds, done. Replace the bag every two weeks. Basically zero maintenance.
It maps your home
LiDAR sensor scans and creates a map in the app. Set room-specific schedules, no-go zones (I blocked the shoe rack and plants), custom cleaning areas.
Not perfect though
Corners get missed. Round shape can't reach tight wall corners. I manually clean corners every couple weeks.
Can't cross high door thresholds. 2cm+ thresholds are impassable. Older Korean apartments with raised thresholds between rooms might struggle.
Mop pads need hand washing. Higher-end models auto-wash. Not at this price point. I rinse them every 3-4 days.
3 months later
Can a robot vacuum replace a human? Not yet. But for daily maintenance cleaning? Absolutely. At 300,000 won with auto-empty, the value is hard to beat.
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