Forget Dyson: This stick vacuum exceeded a skeptic’s wildest expectations — and it’s $250 off

Roborock F25 Ultra Wet and Dry Vacuum with Steam

ZDNET Highlights

• The Roborock F25 Ultra has a steam function and offers four flexible cleaning modes, complemented by competitive battery life.
• It is equipped with top features like lay-flat technology, self-cleaning capabilities and voice-cued instructions
• It’s bulky in price and size, and struggles to provide seamless edge control and detailed cleaning of grout.

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It seems like everyone has a vacuum mop. They’ve flooded our social media feeds, splicing videos showcasing spectacular success – cereal and milk, sucking up ketchup and other condiments, spilling coffee, and even the worst mess of them all – glitter.

The magic that these smart vac mops seem to offer is hard to ignore. Many of my friends and family have already raved about how great it is to clean without breaking a sweat. I was a nonbeliever for a while. The technology sounded great, and there was nothing that could beat the classic cleaning of a bucket and mop – right? But I was wrong. and this Roborock F25 Ultra Vacuum and Steam Mop Made me eat my words.

The F25 Ultra is one of the first wet-dry vacuums with a steam cleaning option, which is an especially great feature for routine maintenance and stubborn stains and debris. Being a longtime fan of the Shark steam mop from the early 2000s that had reached the end of its life, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use it in my home.

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Right out of the box, the F25 Ultra, which costs $800, felt like something out of the Jetsons. It’s quite heavy, weighing in at about 12 pounds, which is more than my Shark Stick vacuum, but it’s not too cumbersome to handle. It’s cordless and comes with a standing base that serves as both a charger and cleaning station when the mop is not in use. The F25 Ultra has stationary, motorized wheels to aid navigation.

If you’re in a small space, the setup may be a little larger, but since it replaces multiple cleaning machines, it may be worth the loss of square footage.

I think Roborock could benefit from a better technical writer, as the instructions aren’t the easiest or most consistent (coming from someone who lacks experience with these products). I decided to freestyle the unboxing. Essentially, you have to assemble the handle, water tank, and roller brush into place, and then set up the base and charger. Once you add water and cleaning solution to the mop, you (Robo) are ready to rock.

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I immediately noticed the mop’s self-control, which guides any movement you make and guides the machine where it needs to be. It’s extremely seamless. Mode controls are on the top handle of the mop. There are four options to choose from: auto, sponge, steam and hot water. Little is known about what the different methods actually mean (or are) in this case, but I tried my best to channel my mom and all of her cleaning knowledge.

Auto mode seems simple enough; This is the base selection that offers non-hot cleaning. From what I can tell, steam and hot water appear to be the same, but Roborock specifies that the hot water setting cleans at 187 degrees while the steam setting cleans at 302 degrees. The mop mode is probably for spreading liquids.

I live with five cats. This means that at any given time, my floors are covered in a ton of cat hair and a fair amount of dirt, debris and, yes…litter. One of the inevitabilities of owning cats is that even with a strict cleaning routine, waste ends up in the most unexpected places. The area near my cats’ litter boxes is naturally the worst area of ​​tracked litter. Before the F25 Ultra, I did a sweep. Very. But garbage is finicky. And stubborn. Even the best vacuums struggle to hold it.

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So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the F25 Ultra pass through not one, not two, but three piles of garbage cleanly. I would like to emphasize the word heap of garbage. I don’t know how long I stared at this machine in disbelief after this achievement.

Naturally, the TikToker in me activated and I proceeded to test other glitches. From ketchup, cat hair, mustard and grains to dirt, dust and dander, this vacuum mop cleans it all. Stubborn stains still had to be passed several times, even with the steam setting, and the mop head doesn’t pick up matter spilled into the grout as well as I’d like. I had to clean out some leftover spices that were left in the grout, so keep that in mind.

There are some finishing touches, like a front-facing light to highlight dust, debris, and stains, motorized wheels for smooth swipes, an LED display for easy awareness, and a decent turning radius that makes it feel like you’re gliding on ice. Additionally, it can fold completely flat to fit under furniture and can also be controlled through the app for better navigation while using this feature. A note on the app: It’s a nice addition that allows customizing cleaning modes like suction level, water level, and detergent level, but I don’t find it essential.

Roborock F25 Ultra Truly a master. But even being a first time user, I have some doubts.

Although it can lie flat, the cleaning head itself is a bit chunky which can’t fit under the base of some of my cabinets and appliances, which is a bit of a hassle. If it was a little thinner, it would be perfect. I also noticed that the edge to edge cleaning isn’t the best on this mop.

It performed quite well against a baseboard, but it required several passes from different angles and some angle adjustments to get the clean I was looking for, especially in narrow spaces, which are somewhat limited due to the cleaning head.

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The Steam feature is also a bit unique. To use the steam function, you have to wait for the mop to heat up the water, which is reasonable. However, to do this, the mop must be in the active (and therefore, folded) position. This means you either have to keep cleaning until it’s warm (it counts to 100 before it’s ready) or stand there holding the mop until it’s ready, which is annoying.

Additionally, steam is ideal for tile, ceramic and other hard surfaces; However, it is not recommended for hardwood or LVP floors. Of course, it’s up to you to decide, but I only tested the auto mode on wooden floors, not any high temperature mode.

But despite those minor shortcomings, the proof was in the water tank. The water tank separates dirty water and particulate debris from a strainer, and this view is not for the weak. My first cleanse revealed a lot of brown water and debris, but my second cleanse made me sick to my stomach. What was in the tank was dark brown sludge (I didn’t spare you the pictures), which I can only imagine was a mixture of wet cat litter and dirt. Very thrilling – and disgustingly satisfying.

Charging time is also good. Roborock claims it lasts about an hour in auto mode or about 20 minutes when using the Steam features, and I agree that’s about right. I was able to cover my kitchen, lobby, and half of my hallway and living room on a single charge, although I was switching between settings.

The water tank is of 1 liter capacity, and it lasted long enough that I was able to finish it on a single battery charge. It includes two self-cleaning rounds, activated by a button, with an automatic wash-and-dry cycle facilitated by voice prompts (which you can turn off, thankfully).

ZDNET’s shopping advice

Roborock F25 Ultra Roborock’s wet-dry vac is the best of the offerings, and it has a price to match. Its cleaning capabilities are equally high, and I’m impressed by this machine’s 22,00 Pa suction power, long battery life and self-cleaning mode. It makes it easier to deal with tricky debris like cat litter, and despite the less inclined edge control, I still highly recommend it. The F25 Ultra is large – both in terms of price and size – but it’s a competitive model that’s ideal for hard floors.

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If you need a narrow cleaning head for finer edge detail, have limited space, or don’t need the steam feature, you can probably skip this model. Roborock offers some alternatives within the same family, such as F25 Ace (which features an app function and auto-dispensing detergent) and Base F25 (An option that’s half the price of the Ultra, but lacks steam or hot water modes).

You’ll also want to note that this Vac-Mop requires roborock cleaning solutionwhich sells for about $26 per bottle, and will require roborock filter Every six months, which costs about $30 for a pack of two.

Both are on sale for $550 before Black Friday (that’s $250 off). Amazon And roborockThis is a great option if you’re looking to upgrade yourself or a loved one’s cleaning experience in 2026.