Reviews You Can Rely On

Roborock Q7 M5+ Review

This isn't the best pick for carpeted or pet-heavy homes, but if you're after solid mopping performance on a budget, it's a great fit
gearlab tested logo
Roborock Q7 M5+ Review
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Price:  $430 List
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Manufacturer:   Roborock
Genaveve Bradshaw
By Genaveve Bradshaw ⋅ Senior Review Analyst  ⋅  December 9, 2025
Contributions From: Sam Hill
61
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#8 of 18
  • Cleaning Performance - 40% 6.2
  • Navigation - 30% 5.7
  • Ease of Use - 10% 8.0
  • Pet Hair - 10% 3.0
  • Noise - 5% 7.2
  • Mopping - 5% 8.0

Our Verdict

The Roborock Q7 M5+ offers a balanced mix of performance and value, with standout mopping abilities, impressive coverage, and an intuitive app experience. It's an easy robot to operate with its simple controls and reliable mapping, but it has a bit of trouble tackling carpet and pet hair. In testing, its suction struggled to lift debris from low-pile carpet, and its roller brush easily tangled with fur, hurting its overall rating. Navigation was also clumsy at times, specifically obstacle avoidance — colliding with a lot of different obstacles and moving too fast to not knock into things. Still, for hard-floor homes seeking dependable mopping at a lower cost, it's a practical midrange choice.
REASONS TO BUY
Feature-rich app
Solid mopping abilities
Thorough coverage
REASONS TO AVOID
Mediocre carpet cleaning
Poor pet hair performance

Our Roborock Q7 M5+ Experience


We were left impressed by the Roborock Q7 M5+. Its performance showed that it is fast and efficient, rather than being detail-oriented and thorough. Still, this mighty machine got the job done, especially on the hard floor where a few obstacles were present.

That said, we needed to clean up before running the Q7 M5 to prevent caught socks and cords. It ran over basically everything we left out during our obstacle tests, including a fake pet mess. It got stuck a few times and needed us to rescue it, which wasn't the most convenient. All in all, if you remember to clean up before you run the vacuum, you should be okay.

As pet owners, we were sad to see how poorly it did when picking up pet hair. As the vacuum went, hair got wrapped around the brush roller and prevented a deeper clean.

Hard flooring is where this robot proved itself for both vacuuming and mopping. Dried coffee stains were no match for the Roborock Q7 M5+. We were also thrilled that this vacuum uses the intuitive Roborock app that many of the premium choices use. We often see this vacuum on sale, and think it's a solid budget-friendly vacuum-mop combo.

The Roborock Q7 M5+ is best suited for homes with mostly hard floors and minimal clutter. Its mopping performance, reliable coverage, and easy-to-use app make it a great choice for those who want a hands-off helper for daily upkeep. At its usual price, it outperforms some higher-tier models in these categories and punches above its weight pretty consistently. This is essentially the best entry-level robot vacuum on the market right now.

That being said, this isn't the best model for larger homes with a lot of carpet. Its general carpet cleaning is definitely decent, but it isn't this robot's best skill. Unfortunately, this model is a total no-go if you're a pet owner looking for help with shedding. The process of monitoring the vacuum should be pretty minimal, but constant hair tangling will demand regular attention. Navigation also leaves room for improvement, but that's a common pain point for this class of vacuum. If you prioritize mopping over vacuuming and want dependable cleaning at a midrange price, this is the pick. Sorry, pet owners.

For a better across-the-board performance with a big improvement in the pet hair department, give the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Pro a look. It's a slight downgrade in mopping quality and noise, but was scored similarly in most categories and is one of our top picks for pet hair. You'll see a small bump in price here, but it's worth it if you've got a lot of pets and need a budget model.

You can also consider the Roborock Qrevo S5V, a current top pick for most users. It's one of the easiest robot vacuums to use, delivers stellar cleaning on carpets, and performs really well in all of our tests. This model isn't perfect, but it doesn't have any major flaws — it does everything you need it to do without any functionality holes.

Our Analysis and Test Results


roborock q7 m5+ - two simple buttons make the roborock q7 m5+ easy to operate.
Two simple buttons make the Roborock Q7 M5+ easy to operate.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Cleaning Performance


The Q7 M5+ performs valiantly for its price point, excelling at cleaning hard flooring and getting the job done on carpets (although a bit behind the average robot vacuum). On carpets, the robot is better at picking up larger debris like Cheerios and rice in our testing rather than finer debris like sand — and it works quickly. It might need a second pass to pick up crumbs left in its wake.


It performs a lot better on hard flooring. “When there are no obstacles or furniture, it RIPS through open space,” wrote one tester. Sucking up 79% of debris in our testing, the Q7 M5+ isn't perfect, but it punches above its weight on the dollar. You might need to double-check its work or run it twice if you want a deeper clean, but it's commendable as a helper between deep cleans.

When it comes to cleaning the Roborock Q7 M5+ does best on hard floors.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw

Navigation


Navigation is functional but not flawless. The robot can handle thresholds and varied floor surfaces well, but obstacle avoidance is inconsistent. It often bumps into cords, smaller objects, and low-profile items like flat pet messes.


It occasionally struggled to locate the dock and required minor user intervention. Our tester reported that the robot wasn't good at pushing out alerts to the app when it got stuck and needed help — an obvious issue for a robot that has a tendency to run things over and get into little jams.

While it can hug furniture perimeters well and covered about 84% of our testing area easily, it's not a set-and-forget option for cluttered spaces or homes with pets. You'll want to tidy the floors beforehand to prevent collisions or tangles.

The robot got stuck on our fake pile of dog poo, needing to be rescued by our team.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw

Despite navigation issues, it is very thorough. “Its tight lines result in a more complete coverage,” noted our tester, but it also would pass over areas multiple times that didn't need a second look. That may have contributed to its long runtime and battery depletion — in testing it reported cleaning 527 square feet in a little over an hour, depleting almost 50% of its battery.

Overall, the navigation is a bit disappointing but not a dealbreaker. It's still serviceable, even if it takes a little extra time or trips to its dock to charge in the process.

It is best to clean up before running this vacuum to prevent it from getting caught up on cords.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw

Ease Of Use


Where the Q7 M5+ really shines is usability. The app is intuitive, responsive, and allows for floor mapping, scheduling, and setting thresholds. The robot's tactile buttons are highly responsive, and basic controls are straightforward for anyone, from first-time robot owners to seasoned users. This ease of use helped it earn recognition in its category as a practical, user-friendly option.


The Roborock Q7 M5+ is equipped with plenty of great features, like smart mapping, multi-floor mapping, virtual assistance, do not disturb, and a child lock. On the robot, you'll find two buttons - power and home. This makes this vacuum even easier to use, allowing you to send the robot to its dock with a quick click.

roborock q7 m5+ - we love the simple app, but we love the two straightforward buttons...
We love the simple app, but we love the two straightforward buttons even more.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Pet Hair


Pet hair is the weakest category for this robot. The roller brush tangles easily, particularly with longer fur, and small clumps can remain stuck in the brush.


While its large dustbin handles collected hair well, the brush requires frequent cleaning to maintain performance. Our tester noted that it was particularly difficult to remove long hair that got twisted up in the brush — “took a solid 10 minutes to safely remove the hair without damaging the brush.” Luckily, our tester didn't have the same trouble with its wheels, which remained free of any serious hair tangles.

roborock q7 m5+ - the brush roller got plagued with pet hair right away.
The brush roller got plagued with pet hair right away.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey

This model is not recommended for homes with moderate to heavy shedding pets. Not only is it a hassle to maintain and fix the hair tangling, but the hair can also quickly impede suction and efficiency. This affects overall performance cleaning your home, and its not something that the robot will alert you of.

roborock q7 m5+ - we suggest other vacuums for pet owners.
We suggest other vacuums for pet owners.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey

Noise


As far as operation noise goes, the Q7 M5+ is pretty reasonable. Like a lot of newer Roborock models, the dock isn't exactly of the highest quality, but it's serviceable. The auto-empty feature can't be triggered manually and will only work when the robot is 100% full, which is a bummer, but the sharp, whirring noise that occurs during a dock empty cycle is very quick. It isn't exactly a pleasant sound, but it is "still better than the harshness of most of the Roombas," wrote our tester.


The robot produces a consistent whirring sound during operation that ramps up slightly during high-suction modes. The rhythm of changing modes and the accompanying digital dings that alert you might take some time getting used to, but they aren't loud enough to disrupt your day.

The noise is about average at about 55 decibels.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey

Mopping


Mopping is another standout feature of this model. You have to manually fill its water tank and install a mop pad to nudge it into mop mode, which isn't exactly convenient. But its performance is generally worth the extra effort for its class.


The robot was able to handle dry and wet stains efficiently, and our tester was impressed with how it handled heavy, darker stains. Stains around corners may require additional passes or manual touch-ups afterward, but overall, the robot keeps hard floors looking clean and refreshed. For homes where mopping is a priority, this is one of the most reliable options at its price point.

The Roborock Q7 M5+ is equipped with a mopping function, furthering its value.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw


Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Roborock Q7 M5+ versus top competing products:
Or, compare up to 5 products side-by-side here.
Genaveve Bradshaw and Sam Hill


You Might Also Like