Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 review: wide appeal?

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400: One-minute review

The Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 is one of the best instant cameras for casual photographers who like the appeal of wider prints. It's ideal for landscape photographers and camping trips especially, with the wider format able to capture much more in the frame than other popular Instax Mini cameras, although be prepared to compromise when it comes to portraits. 

Unlike other Instax cameras the Wide 400 doesn't have a built-in selfie mirror, and instead comes with a fiddly mirror attachment that doubles up as a macro lens. This can be clipped onto the Wide 400's lens when you want to take a selfie or portrait of a subject, or anything that's roughly 40-50cm away from the end of the lens. 

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

During testing, I found the focusing process takes a bit of getting used to, but once you grasp it, and with the help of the enhanced viewfinder and target marker, it can capture pretty sharp shots. The biggest pain points with the Instax Wide 400 are the design and lack of features. Not much has been tweaked from the Wide 300 model other than the addition of the self-timer (which is admittedly very handy) and enhanced viewfinder, but otherwise, it has no modern digital elements like the Instax EVO or Mini 99. 

As for the design, the Wide 400 can withstand a lot thanks to its rugged and textured build, and it's very grippy too. With that said, it does feel larger and heavier than necessary, and what was Instax thinking with that color? I think it's one of the worst-looking instant cameras on the market (sorry Instax), and frankly I felt a little embarrassed to shoot with it in public. However, if you can get past the basic features and 'army-green' finish, it could be a worthwhile addition to your analog camera collection, and the print quality is good. 

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400: Price and availability

The Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 is available for $149.99 / £129.99 / AU$229.99, which I think is a fair price compared with other Instax models. The Instax Square SQ40 retails at the same price, and other models are only marginally more affordable with similar features – you can check out more options in our best Instax Mini prices round-up .

However, a wide-format competitor such as the Lomography Lomo'Instant Wide (priced at $169 /£149) might offer more for your money in terms of creative control, with options for multiple exposure and optional flash – and it takes Instax Wide film too. There's also the retro Instax 500AF to consider if you can find one, which Redditers seem to be raving about lately. 

What's in the box?  (Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400: design

• Better looking than the Wide 300
• Very rugged and sturdy build 
• What's with the green? 

The Instax Wide 400 might not be the prettiest Instax on the market, but the design has certainly improved since the Wide 300 model, with the sticky-out viewfinder ditched in favor of a more appealing and clean-cut build. The body is still made from a smooth plastic, which doesn't help it fit in very well among its more premium-looking Instax cousins, and while the textures around the lens barrel and battery compartment are great for grip, I think it makes the camera look a little juvenile. 

As for the general design, the Instax Wide 400 is rugged, heavy, and bulky. It's not until you get this camera in your hands and lay eyes on it that you realize just how big and wide it is. I would say that my hands are medium-sized, so I'm not sure if the hands-on images in this review are doing it justice. Or maybe it's because I'm used to handling my Instax Mini 40 and Mini 99 models that this camera feels so abnormally large to me. 

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

There's no built-in selfie mirror but, like the Instax Wide 300, the Instax Wide 400 comes with a clip-on macro lens attachment that has a mirror poking out of the side. With this camera being so large I don't think it would have taken much to include a built-in selfie mirror on the lens itself, but it's better to have one as an accessory than not at all. 

Speaking of accessories, there's also a new angle-adjustment accessory that comes with the Wide 400. This comprises two black plastic wedges of different sizes on a separate strap (i.e., not the main camera strap) which you can place under the camera to tilt it upwards when it’s placed on a surface for selfies or group shots.. This worked quite well when I tested it, and it's a clever method that saves you having to look for handy objects on which to prop the camera.

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

Possibly my biggest gripe with the design of the Instax Wide 400 is that it's only available in a single color option, at least for now – and what was Instax thinking with that awful green shade? It's worth mentioning that a lot of the promotional images make this camera appear more teal, but in reality it's green, and a slightly dull 'army green' at that. Yet, despite the green finish, the Instax Wide 400 could also pass as a kid's camera from a distance. 

I've never been self-conscious walking around with a camera before, but the Wide 400 is so large and unappealing that it draws a lot of attention to itself, and to whoever's holding it, and I felt a little embarrassed taking it out to my local seaside town during testing. I guess if you think of the Wide 400 as a camera that's intended for outdoorsy types, landscape photographers, and camping trips, then the green color choice makes a bit more sense than say, bright pink. 

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400: Performance

• Can capture very sharp shots when used correctly 
• Selfies are tricky (unless you have long arms)
• The self-timer is the perfect feature for group photos
• Lacks other modern features 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time testing the new Instax Wide 400 camera, and I certainly get the appeal of wider-format film (which is double the width of two Instax Mini prints) when it comes to landscape photography and capturing group selfies. The camera takes really nice-looking photos in normal mode, as well as in landscape mode, and you can expect the usual Instax quality in the prints produced. 

However, I found that using this camera for self-portraits and with close-up subjects is where its performance faltered. The included clip-on lens attachment shortens the focus range of the camera to 40-50cm, and is intended for taking photos of closer subjects as well as self-portraits at arm’s length. With this in mind, I used my dog Tilly as my test subject for a few shots, and found that it was very hit-and-miss with the focus (see the sample images below).

I tried to capture the same shot a few times by switching up the distance between me and Tilly, while using the upgraded viewfinder and target spot to keep her center frame. It was difficult to estimate the distance between myself and Tilly, and I took a photo in normal mode without the lens attachment for comparison, but all that was in focus was the background behind her. In short: when used correctly, the camera plus lens attachment can produce very sharp results, but it will take some experimentation, and a fair few failed prints, before you get the hang of it. 

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As for selfies, these was again very tricky to master using the selfie mirror and close-up lens attachment. I also found during testing that my arms just weren't long enough to hold the camera in front of me and press the shutter while keeping my face in frame, which in hindsight, is probably why Instax chose to add the self-timer feature, and has heavily pitched the Wide 400 as a camera for group selfie shots using some kind of stable surface or tripod. 

The self-timer is definitely the most useful feature on the camera, and the only 'modern' upgrade. The one-button camera design with automatic exposure is great for beginners and very user-friendly, although it doesn't offer any real benefit for photographers who like to take control of the shot and make adjustments to manual exposure. This is a little disappointing, given that most new products from Instax allow for some creative control and experimentation. 

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

For example, the latest Instax mini 99 camera is the most advanced Instax to date, with fancy new exposure control dials, a double exposure feature, and unique light leak filters. The Instax mini EVO, meanwhile, is an excellent hybrid instant camera, blurring the lines between digital and analogue. 

I was hoping Instax might bring these new tools to formats other than the Instax Mini series, but that's not the case here. Even adding a bulb mode, or the option to toggle the flash without having to cover it with your finger, would have been useful. 

I also found that this camera didn't perform as well in darker conditions, even when subjects were well-lit and when using the flash. I shot a photo of some sunflowers in a vase in my conservatory when the room was still very light, and the print came out dark. I took the same image the following morning and it was much brighter. I didn't realize this would have such a big impact, as shown in the images below. 

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400: Sample images

It's important to recognize that this is not a camera for serious photographers, so if you're looking for high-res studio-quality images then look elsewhere. But if you're just after a bit of fun, and an affordable way to share physical memories and keepsakes with others, then the Instax Wide ticks a lot of boxes.

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Should I buy the Fujifilm Instax Wide 400?

Buy it if...

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Fujifilm Instax Wide 400:

(Image credit: Beth Nicholls)

• I used two packs of Instax Wide film (20 shots) and one pack of the black edition wide film (10 shots)
• I used the camera in a variety of indoor and outdoor locations, and in cloudy, overcast, and sunny conditions
• I experimented with self-portraits, group portraits, and closer subjects

I used the Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 for a few weeks, and I felt that I really put this camera through its paces. I aimed to test out the quality of the prints produced in a variety of conditions, including different lighting setups, alternating weather conditions, varied subject matter, with and without flash by covering it with my finger, and for both selfies and group photos. 

I mainly tested the performance of this camera by venturing around my local high street and seaside resort in the south-west of England, capturing a mix of landscape and portrait images. It wasn't all about the print quality though, as I also wanted to test the camera's handling and user-friendliness. 

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Proton Mail business email review

Like its companion plan aimed at consumers, Proton Mail business email hosting services lead the way in terms of security. It’s primarily for this reason that Proton Mail has earned its place as one of the best email hosting services around. If you’re worried about messages being hacked or spam-driven malware, then Proton Mail is likely to help you rest a little easier at night. 

It’s not only about security however. Proton Mail also comes with decent support and the option of adding a VPN and AI assistance to your email account. Even so, if you want advanced features, you are probably better off going with a different hosting provider.

Proton Mail may not be the cheapest, but you can’t really put a price on security. Even a dingle breach could ruin a company. Choosing Proton Mail means you are less likely to suffer one. 

Proton Mail: Plans and pricing

Proton Mail for Business comes in three pricing tiers: Mail Essentials, Mail Professional, and Proton Business Suite. Mail Essentials is priced at $6.99 per user per month, Mail Professional costs $9.99 per user per month, and Proton Business Suite will set you back $12.99 per user per month. There’s also a custom Enterprise tier for the largest businesses but they’ll have to contact sales directly to receive a quote.

Proton’s business email pricing is one of the more expensive offerings on the market. For example, Hostinger’s email hosting Business Starter costs $0.99 per mailbox per month, so whether or not you think Proton’s offering is good value for money will depend entirely on whether you think its additional features and robust security credentials make it worth the extra cost. If all you want is a basic email hosting plan, you should probably look elsewhere. 

However, it’s important to recognize the financial ramifications of even a single data breach getting through your email defenses. This could potentially bankrupt a company - especially if long-term reputational damage occurs. As such, you might find that the added security features that come with a Proton Mail plan are well worth the money. 

Features

(Image credit: Proton Mail)

With the Mail Essential plan, you get 15GB of cloud storage per user, three custom email domains, and calendar integration. Mail Professional customers will see storage increase to 50 GB per user and they’ll now receive 10 custom email domains. They can also manage user permissions and access. Meanwhile the Proton Business Suite plan comes with everything included in the lower tiers, plus a VPN connection for 10 devices per user. You’ll also see storage increase again, this time to 500 GB per user, and the number of custom email domains you get rises to 15. 

Another interesting feature that is available with a Proton business email hosting plan is the Proton Scribe writing assistant, the email provider’s privacy-focused AI tool. It is slightly disappointing that this feature is only included if you choose a bespoke Enterprise plan, it available as an add-on, with a free trial, at every other pricing tier. Proton Scribe helps you compose emails and improve your drafts simply by clicking the pencil icon at the bottom left of the email composer. 

Support

Proton Mail understands that customers may need support even before they signed up to its business email hosting service. That’s why the hosting provider provides an Easy Switch tool to help you migrate in just a single click. Live support is also on hand to provide further support regarding the importing of your emails, contacts, or calendars to Proton Mail.

Regarding Proton Mail’s other support offerings, customers can get in touch with the providers either by filling in an online form or contacting the company directly over email. Proton Mail uses Zendesk Support to meet customer needs. This helps Proton Mail to route and prioritize customer requests more efficiently, speeding up resolution.

If you choose to go with the Enterprise plan, you’ll also receive a dedicated account manager, who should be able to reduce the likelihood of you encountering any difficulties, as well as resolve any that do occur. So, while it’s disappointing that there’s no live chat support or telephone number to contact, Proton Mail’s support for businesses is far from bad and there are user guides, manuals, and FAQs to help with resolving issues yourself.

Security

(Image credit: Proton)

Security is where Proton Mail really stands out from the crowd. Messages are subject to encryption at all times as standard and two-factor authentication can be applied. Emails can even be set to self-destruct if you are worried about any sensitive information they may contain falling into the wrong hands.

Based in Switzerland, Proton Mail is also HIPAA and GDPR compliant and subject to some of the strictest privacy laws. Not even Proton Mail employees will be able to see your emails. Although this is something of a doubled-edged sword (they won’t be able to retrieve them either following a data breach), it also means you have a but more privacy regarding any information you send.

The competition

Proton Mail’s business hosting plans operate a little differently from some of the others we’ve reviewed previously. These plans don’t both themselves with productivity or collaboration tools like you get with Google Workspace. Instead, Proton Mail is all about email and aligning it with the most robust security around. 

This means that Proton Mail might not suit all types of businesses. If they are looking for an email hosting plan that comes with a wide range of advancecd functionality, you may be better off going with the aforementioned Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or IceWarp. However, if you want your emails to be protected by the most robust safeguards, Proton Mail is the way to go. You can still sign up for a VPN, additional storage, AI writing support, and more, but Proton Mail keeps its advanced functionality to a minimum.

Proton Mail: Final verdict

Proton Mail provides several security-first business email hosting plans. When you consider some of the additional functionality offered by its rivals, these may not seem like the cheapest. But if Proton Mai’s security method aligns with your own, this is the email hosting service for you.

We've also featured the best email hosting services.

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ScalaHosting email review

ScalaHosting is a very respectable email hosting provider, especially if your are looking to scale fast. Growing businesses, in particular, are likely to [refer the fact that ScalaHosting’s plans let you set up multiple email accounts for the same fee, rather than charging per account. 

There’s also a real variety of plans on offer - something to cater for companies of all sizes depending on how big your businesses is currently. Security and support are also both robust, so you hopefully won’t encounter any issues with ScalaHosting, but if you do, someone should be able to assist

ScalaHosting: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: ScalaHosting)

With ScalaHosting you have the choice of signing up to four email hosting plans, each on either 12-month or 36-month contracts. These plans are StartUp, SmallBiz, Medium, and Cloud. With the StartUp plan, you get 10 email accounts for $6.95 a month on the 12-month contract or $4.95 for a 36-month plan. 

If you choose a SmallBiz contract, this will cost $9.95 per month for 50 email accounts on a 12-month plan or $6.95 on a 36-month one. The Medium plan costs $14.95 per month for 100 email accounts if you sign up for 12 months and $9.95 per month if you choose 36 months. The Cloud plan is the most premium on offer and lets customers set up an unlimited number of email accounts. It will cost you, however. The Cloud plan costs $19.95 per month for a 12-month plan and $14.95 per month for a 36-month contract. This is also the only pricing tier where you can sign up for just a single month - but this costs a whopping $34.95.

It’s notable that ScalaHosting’s email pricing comes with multiple email accounts even with the most basic pricing plan. In this sense, it’s somewhat similar to IceWarp, which can only be signed up with a minimum of 10 users. It contrasts with a lot of other email hosting providers that offer prices per mailbox, such as DreamHost. Overall, ScalaHosting’s email plans are pretty affordable, but if you don’t need the 10 email accounts that come with the StartUp plan, there are cheaper alternatives out there.

Features

One of the most useful features that comes with every SalaHosting email plan is daily offsite backups. With businesses facing a huge number of cyberattack threats every day - and email representing a popular attack vector - disaster recovery is crucial to ensure businesses don’t face financial or reputational damage as a result of a compromised email account.

Other features that come with a ScalaHosting email hosting plan include a range of email accounts, domains, and web-based email. On the other hand, if you sign up for the more expensive Cloud plan, you get a number of premium features, such as improved inbox delivery. This provides your outbound email with a dedicated IP address, which significantly reduces the likelihood of your emails going straight into the spam box of your customers.

And as one of the main reasons why businesses choose a dedicated email hosting plan is to improve the credibility of their brand, the inclusion of additional branding and whitelabelling as a premium feature could also come in handy. With this feature, you can set your company name and upload your logo to the control panel so your email account has a more professional look and feel.

Support

(Image credit: ScalaHosting)

ScalaHosting’s support is impressive, although only really goes up a notch when if your subscribe to the Cloud plan. You’ll need to be a customer at this tier if you want access to premium support, which means your requests are looked into before any other standard support requests.

However, ScalaHosting’s standard support remains impressive. It consists of a 24/7 professional technical support team that can be contacted either via live chat for an instant response or via support ticket, with the latter still promising an impressive 15-minute response time. This support is available for anything hosting-related, whether it concerns your email plan or not.

ScalaHosting also has a bespoke client area, a technical support email contact, and an extensive Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base is easy to search and has a range of resources that relate specifically to email hosting, like tips for when your emails are being classified as spam, ways to add an email signature, and account management issues.

Security

Standard security is offered across ScalaHosting’s StartUp, SmallBiz, and Medium plans, with High security coming as part of the Cloud plan. One of the most fundamental security features of any business email hosting plan is anti-spam protection. With ScalaHosting, this correctly filters 99.98% of the spam messages you receive.

As the spam filtering success rate shows, it’s impossible to prevent 100% of malicious exploits targeting your email accounts. That’s why it’s important to have a good disaster recovery plan in place should you suffer something like a data breach or ransomware attack. The good news is that ScalaHosting’s email hosting plans are backed up offsite daily in a server located on a different continent. This means you can recover any file or email with a simple click, regardless of what happened to the original. 

The competition

In terms of pricing, ScalaHosting’s introductory offer represents good value, especially if you consider that all plans come with multiple email accounts. While some email hosting plan, like A2 Hosting and IONOS charge per account, even ScalaHosting’s cheapest plan, designed for startups allows you to create up to 10 email accounts. 

Aside from price, ScalaHosting offers generous amounts of cloud storage - maybe not as much  as you get with IceWarp - but still an amount that should be enough. In other areas, ScalaHosting holds up well too. Its support and security credentials are a match for most of the other email hosting providers out there.

ScalaHosting: Final verdict

ScalaHosting offers great business email hosting plans. It is reliable, secure and comes with all the features you need to add credibility to your brand. It’s also pretty affordable, especially if you’re a business that expects to need multiple accounts. A good choice, particularly for companies with ambitious expansion plans.

We've also featured the best email hosting services.

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Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum review

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra: two-minute review

Launched July 2024, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is a high-spec, feature-packed robot vacuum and mop with a self-empty base. For this model, Roborock has tweaked both its basic features to offer more efficient and effective cleaning, as well as adding fancier new bonus features. I put it to the test to see how it compares to the rest of today's best robot vacuums, and if it justifies its premium price tag.

Overall, I was impressed. In terms of cleaning, it did a very good job, delivering reliable suction and performing well in my tests with different sized debris. I found the mopping equally effective, with the extra side mop doing a good job of getting right up to the edges of rooms. 

There are a lot of different options to offer precision cleaning, and useful features like the ability to sense carpet and boost suction accordingly, and the fact the mop pad can raise up to 2cm off the ground so you don't end up with damp rugs if you go for for the mop-first option. The rubbery rollers are great at gripping hair and propelling it straight into the dust cup before it has a chance to tangle, although the same cannot be said for the roller axles. 

The base station offers automatic dust emptying and detergent dispensing, and will clean and dry the mop pads after every use, all of which mean less hands-on requirements from you. Mapping is accurate and fast, and the app is intuitive to use, making getting set up pretty speedy and straightforward.

The S8 MaxV Ultra is the first to feature Roborock's smart voice assistant, and while the chance to boss a robovac about is appealing, in practice I found it struggled to understand the most basic of commands. The extending side-brush designed to reach under furniture and into corners was equally unreliable. Like a shy turtle, it refused to emerge, even in scenarios when it was clearly needed.

(Image credit: Future)

Roborock says that this robovac is able to intelligently identify 73 different common household objects to avoid, and if you ask it to, it'll even send you photos of these objects for you to approve. On test, results were mixed – it correctly identified some objects, although not every time it came across them, and it seemed to have a specific problem with socks. 

Another use for that on-board camera is to enable this robovac to embark on a 'pet patrol' while you're out. It'll find and photograph your pet, and you can even talk directly to it via the two-way mic.

Also in this range is the Roborock S8 Max Ultra (no 'V'). It's a little less powerful in terms of suction (8,000Pa vs 10,000Pa for the MaxV) and loses the intelligent voice assistant (although it does still have third-party voice control) and camera, which might appeal to those concerned about the privacy side of those features. It's also slightly cheaper. 

I'd recommend the S8 MaxV Ultra robovac to someone looking for a high-spec machine that can deliver precise cleaning, and will work equally well on hard floors and carpet. However, if you don't want all those extra features – and especially given some could still do with a little refining – there are cheaper, less fancy options that will work perfectly well for general use. That's the short version; read on for my full Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review.

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review: price & availability

• List price: $1,799.99 / £1,725 / AU$2,999 
• Launched: July 2024

At list price, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra will set you back $1,799.99 in the US or AU$2,999 in Australia. In the UK, it's only available on Amazon at time of writing, at £1,725.63. This was the price provided by our Roborock contact, but it feels much more like a price that will fluctuate rather than an RRP.

While that price tag might make some wince, it's increasingly common for brands' range-topping robovac models to reach into the quadruple figures, and bear in mind too that anything that offers mopping and self-emptying on top of just vacuuming will be at the pricier end of the market, to start with. By way of comparison, the Roomba Combo 10 Max – another high-spec, self-empty robot vacuum and mop, launched in August 2024 – is $1,399 / £1,499. 

You are paying a premium for features like the new smart voice assistant, though. If you don't need such a high-spec model, there are plenty of cheaper options about that will serve most people's needs perfectly well. 

Robot vacuums often attract discounts around major sales events like the Black Friday deals, so it's worth keeping an eye out around then if it suits when you need to buy.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra specs

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review: design & features

• Sleek design with matte and shiny plastic
• On-board voice assistant, mics and camera
• Chunky but smart-looking dock with water reservoirs and auto-empty

The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra's body is a combination of matte and shiny plastic. That combination of textures is more noticeable on the black version, rather than the white I tested, but the overall look is still smart and stylish. On top are three multifunctional buttons: a power button, a mop button and a home button. However, more likely you won't use these buttons at all, but instead will use the companion app or your voice to set the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra about its tasks. At the back are your charging contacts, plus ports for water to go in, and dirty water and dust to come out.

At the front of the robovac you'll find an RGB camera, 3D light sensors and an LED headlight for illuminating the way in dark rooms. In the centre, there's a raised puck, protected with a bump sensor, and housing the LiDAR and microphones for the voice assistant. This is Roborock's first voice assistant. You wake it by saying 'Hello Rocky', and it's designed to respond to a wide variety of commands: Start cleaning, Skip here, Empty the dustbin, Pause, Vacuum harder, Mop softer, Clean the living room, and so on. 

The onboard dust bin is on the smaller side (Image credit: Future)

If you ask it to, the onboard camera will take photos of the objects that it has identified and elected to avoid. You can send it out to find and photograph your pet, and you can also conduct remote conversations with said pet via the microphones. (Sadly, I am lacking a pet to spy on / remotely harass, so wasn't able to test these features for my review.)

The addition of the camera and mics will be welcome to some, but perhaps not the most privacy-conscious of you. Note that while the mics are active by default, they can be switched off. The camera is not switched on as standard, and it's very difficult to activate accidentally as it requires manual pressing of the three buttons on the robot itself (rather than just an in-app toggle), and you also need to set up a password pattern.

If you don't want a robot that has an onboard RGB camera and microphones, the cheaper S8 Max Ultra version lacks the voice assistant and swaps the RGB camera for reactive 3D.

On the robovac's underside you'll find the mops, rollers and various sensors (Image credit: Future)

The shiny panel on the top can be lifted off (it's magnetic, which feels like an elegant solution) to reveal a Wi-Fi indicator light and reset button, plus a 270ml dustbin and washable paper filter, and a 100ml water tank. You won't need to access this bit too often, because it's all self-emptying, but on occasion you may want to get in there to clean the filter.  

A note for those with bigger homes: the onboard dustbin is on the small side. You can increase empty frequency, but minimum duration is after 30 minutes of cleaning, so if you have high dirt buildup, this might not suffice. The same goes for the onboard water tank. 

The rubbery rollers are designed to grip hair and dirt (Image credit: Future)

Flip your Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra over and you'll find the dual rollers. These are similar to those on previous Roborocks, made from a rubbery ridged material designed to grip hair and debris efficiently, without getting clogged or tangled. 

Corners and room edges are notoriously tricky for robovacs to tackle, but Roborock's approach is to add a spinning FlexiArm that reaches out, ET-style, when the model senses it's approaching a corner or some low furniture. It's designed to assist the vacuuming process by flicking debris in the corners and edges of rooms into the path of the vacuum. This is listed as being unique to Roborock, but it's actually an approach utilized by Dreame in its X40 Ultra (review in progress).

This side brush extends to flick dirt from the corners of rooms (Image credit: Future)

The main mop is a little smaller than found on previous Roborocks (another potential down-side for those with bigger homes) and sits on top of two vibrating plates that create the scrubbing motion – these vibrate at 4,000 times per minute, which is quite a difficult metric to visualize, but certainly faster than I could do it manually. The mop pad can lift a generous 2cm off the floor when going over carpeted areas, and if you activate the automatic re-mopping feature in the Roborock app, it'll go over very dirty areas again.

Note: if your priority is mopping, you'd perhaps be better off with the Roborock Qrevo Master, which has dual spinning mops instead.

The mop pad lifts up but doesn't detach entirely (Image credit: Future)

The mop pad is attached at one side, so while you can pull the Velcro-ed on bit to see the plates beneath, you can't remove it entirely. This seems like an odd decision, because it prevents you from, for example, putting it in the washing machine, if you wanted a more thorough clean. 

There's also a spinning side mop – a new addition with the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, designed to enable you to mop closer to your baseboards. Within 1.68mm of the edge of your room, to be precise. The mop has its own dedicated water outlet, but it is fixed in place rather than extending when it senses the edges of rooms, like the FlexiArm does. 

Finally, underneath the robovac is a set of cliff sensors to prevent your robovac from throwing itself down the stairs, plus a carpet detection sensor so it knows not to try and mop there.

The dock is bulky but still looks smart (Image credit: Future)

Moving on to the dock. Note that this needs to sit on a hard, flat floor (the instructions suggest wood, tile or concrete) and obviously it also needs to be near a power outlet, too. Although it's still quite chunky – unavoidable with self-emptying, mop-and-vac models – the design has been streamlined compared to previous Roborock robovacs, with the various reservoirs hidden behind covers. 

The dock houses a 4L clean water reservoir, with a silver ion block designed to discourage the growth of bacteria. New to this model is a separate detergent compartment, which distributes your floor cleaner evenly and removes the need for guesswork when premixing your cleaning solution. There's a 3.5L dirty water tank and a 2.5L dust bag. 

An in-dock dust bag contains up to 2.5L of debris (Image credit: Future)

Within the dock you'll find a spinning brush roller for cleaning the mop. It uses hot water (Roborock says up to 60C) to sterilize and remove grease from the mop pads, and heated air to dry. While the mop is being washed, there's a sensor to detect how dirty the pad is, and extend cleaning time if required. There are also different cleaning intensity options you can choose manually. 

You will need to refill the water tank manually. If you want to avoid that, there is a version that comes with a refill and drainage system. Be aware that this will require you to plumb in the base station, meaning you won't be able to move it. 

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review: performance

• Overall, strong mopping and vacuuming performance
• Decent obstacle avoidance, but did still get tangled in cables
• Voice commands unreliable

Let's start with vacuuming performance. The MaxV Ultra promises extreme suction. Figuring out how to tell how much suction a vacuum cleaner has is easier said than done, but here it's measured in Pascal, and the MaxV Ultra has 10,000Pa of it – which Roborock says is 'industry leading', but the Deebot T30S Combo actually offers 11,000Pa on max mode. It's still very sucky though. 

Generally, I found this robovac delivered a decent clean. There are sensors to detect when the robovac is on carpet and increase suction accordingly, and I found this feature worked reliably during my review period – I could hear the suction amping up when the robot trundled onto soft flooring in my home. 

There are lots of options in the app to tweak your cleaning routine (Image credit: Future)

There are quite a few vacuuming options to cater for different cleaning needs and preferences. You can opt for a deep clean, where the carpets are vacuumed twice to form a checkered pattern, or Carpet First Mode if you want the robovac to tackle carpets first, before it does any mopping, so the mop pad will be dry for this part of the clean (the mop pads do lift when the vac is on carpet; it's just as a backup). You can also set it to boost suction power when navigating around pet supplies.

To test fine debris pickup, I sprinkled cornflour on my medium-pile carpet. It picked up the surface dust but nothing more ingrained. I had similar results from my large-debris test – the robovac got most of the oats sprinkled on my carpet, but left a few. So not perfect, but still very acceptable. This was after just one pass – it is possible to instruct the robovac to do a more thorough clean. 

The results of our oats test (left) and flour test (right) after one pass (Image credit: Future)

The extending side brushes, however, could be improved. I have radiators that sit slightly too low for the robovac to get under them, but the spinning side brush did not extend to clean these areas – particularly unfortunate, as dust often collects here. I saw another review from someone who had the same issue with low-sitting cabinets. I also found that pickup on the corners of rooms wasn't great – the robovac doesn't really linger long enough for the extending brush to do its work, often leaving debris.

Hair got tangled in the side brush and roller axles (Image credit: Future)

Roborock promises a 99.5% hair pickup rate in carpet mode. I have long hair, and rollers did a great job of tackling this on the carpet; filtering it straight into the dustbin rather than letting it tangle around the rollers. However, I did find hair got tangled on both the axles of the rollers and the extending side brush, the former of which was particularly tricky to remove. 

Looking for the best robot vacuum for pet hair? I think this would be a good shout, with the combination of powerful suction and those grippy rollers. However, the small onboard bin might prove problematic if you have a pet that sheds a lot. 

Moving on to mopping. Again, I was impressed. I found the mopping effective, with the robovac tackling both wet spills (coffee) and sticky spills (dried on honey) effectively. The hot mop cleaning also seems to work well, with minimal stains left on the mop pads even after cleaning the coffee. 

Navigation is excellent, as I'd expect from this brand. The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra mapped my flat quickly and accurately, making setup nice and straightforward. It's smart enough to recognize which room it's in and promises to be able to identify 73 objects, including pet waste, shoes and mirrors (this last one has consistently been an issue for robovac owners with floor mirrors in the past, so is a welcome addition here).

This robovac can recognize objects to avoid (Image credit: Future)

On test, I found object avoidance was a little inconsistent. I left a sock (black) and a cable (white) on my light grey carpet. The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra tried its very best to vacuum up the sock. And while it successfully identified and avoided the cable (providing a snapshot for me to approve in the app – shown above), it then went on to repeatedly got stuck on cables during general cleaning, needing manual rescuing. 

Note that if you activate Pet Mode, the robot will exercise more caution when avoiding obstacles – so it'll be less likely to hoover up your cat, but might also provide a slightly less comprehensive clean as a result (your choice). 

I also found the voice assistant to be unreliable. This robovac frequently failed to understand basic commands, included in the list of approved commands ('Return to dock', 'Mop here'). Not that it should matter, but I don't have what might be considered a 'challenging accent', so I'm a little baffled as to why it struggled to understand me.

Roborock is known to have one of the best robot vacuum apps, and the app for the S8 MaxV Ultra didn't disappoint. It's well-designed, fairly intuitive to use, and does a good job of organizing all the many different controls it needs to offer. However, if you're new to robot vacuums, you may still find it a little overwhelming and confusing. 

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra

• I used this as my main vacuum for 3 weeks
• I tested all the different modes and features
• I ran specific cleaning tests using different types of spillages

For my Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review, I used this robovac as my main vacuum cleaner for three weeks to gain an idea of how it performs on a day-to-day basis, including how easy it is to control and how good it is at cleaning in general. I tried out all the different functions I was able to, as well as running a series of specific tests to assess cleaning powers. These included seeing how well the mop coped with wet and dried-on sticky stains, and if the vacuum could handle large and small debris. I scattered common objects like socks and cables on my floor to assess the reliability of its obstacle avoidance features. I measured my findings against our experiences with other robot vacuums, and the Roborock's own claims about this vacuum's performance. 

Read more about how we test

First reviewed July 2024

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