Don’t buy a house with dark grey tiles. If you do then be prepared to have to clean them more often than you would like.

I have tested my fair share of robot vacuums and own a very good one and they have their place. They used to be next to useless but lately they have become indispensable for the average household. But they struggle in two areas. Getting to edges and shifting stubborn grime.

My go-to solution to this was a cheap steam mop from a big box store. You know the ones. They have a triangular mopping pad that never stays pristine and they do their best to get rid of those patches that a robot vac can’t move.

This of course is a compromise. Modern cordless wet/dry vacuums have become so good. Longer battery lives, more effective cleaning and some even get very close to that elusive skirting board.

In my mind they lacked one thing. Steam.

So when I had the opportunity to review the Roborock F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2 I jumped at it. Can I finally turf that old triangular head steam mop that worked well on pass number one but then tended to move the grime around rather than remove it? The promise of no long cord dragging behind me doing it’s best to trip me up was appealing

As always lets start with the promises

Specs

  • Steam & Hot Water Cleaning: Delivers up to 5,000 mg/min of high-temperature steam (180°C VaporFlow 2.0), which is 2.5 times the steam volume of previous generations. It also uses hot water to break down grease and oil.
  • Suction Power: Features up to 25,000 Pa of suction strength.
  • Edge & Corner Cleaning: Equipped with a SensEdge Robotic Arm and a 0 mm triple-edge cleaning design to reach along skirting boards and corners.
  • Manoeuvrability: Includes SlideTech 2.0 with dual brushless drive wheels, a 70° swivel range, and a 180° FlatReach 2.0 design (12.5 cm slim body) to glide under low furniture like beds and sofas.
  • Battery & Runtime: Offers up to 100 minutes of battery life in standard mode (or up to 30 minutes in steam mode).
  • Self-Cleaning & Drying: Features an automated self-cleaning base station that washes the roller with high-temperature water/steam and dries it with hot air.
  • Anti-Tangle: Uses JawScrapers for a 0% hair tangle rate

What’s in the box?

The F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2 comes in two parts and is extremely easy to put together. Insert the handle into the vacuum and then place it on the supplied charging stand and you are ready to set it up. There is a spare roller and filter supplied as well as a cleaning brush to maintain the vacuum itself. Also included is a quick start guide and manual.

Setup

Well there is an App for this one, unlike some previous models so create an account and add the vacuum to the app. Fill the water tank and the optional cleaning fluid tank which are both located in the base of the unit and removable (if you prefer to take it to the water source rather than bringing the water to it) and that’s about it. Couldn’t be simpler

Once you add the vacuum to the app you have the choice to control it from there or directly on by a selector button on the handle. So why do you need an app? Surely that is just being lazy. Stay tuned and I will reveal why (and I am not talking about adjusting boring stuff like water flow or suction strength)

Modes

There are 4 to choose from

  • AUTO – Described by Roborock as “utilising the DirTect Smart Sensor to detect dirt levels in real time and automatically adjusts suction and water flow, giving tougher messes the cleaning power they need.” Some of the marketing execs came up with “DirTect” after a long lunch no doubt.
  • Steam – For those stains that normally won’t budge
  • Hot-water – For lifting oily residue
  • Sponge Mode – For spills
Modes

Depending on your choice you will also be able to customise the suction power between Eco, Standard and Turbo, plus control the water flow. Once you get used to it you may develop your preferences but I think one of the crucial elements of any device that offers an Auto mode is it’s ability to figure out what is needed and apply the suitable settings. Testing the Marketing Execs for accuracy.

In the app you also have the option of adjusting the “Wheel Assist Force” which is the level of assistance that is applied to the wheels as this particular vacuum doesn’t need to be pushed in order for it to travel across the floor. Just starting it activates the wheels and you only need to hold the handle. Admittedly pulling it back does mean you are working against that force, hence the inclusion of an adjustment in the app.

The choice is “Mild, Moderate or Strong”

Cleaning

In these reviews it makes sense not to be too subtle with the challenges you put the cleaners through so I pushed the boundaries a little bit.

But first, the point of difference in this model is of course the steam. And it didn’t disappoint.

The steam from the VaporFlow system is spectacular. You could almost use it to frighten the kids at Halloween it was that intense. You can actually see the water appear to be boiling through the translucent water tank.

Challenge # 1: Olive oil

In reality if you spilt olive oil all over your tiles you would probably grab the paper towels and soak up the excess before expecting any wet/dry vacuum to clean it up but where’s the fun in that?

To be honest it took several passes to get the spill clean again. With a bit of experimentation I found that sponge mode followed by hot water mode then a final pass of steam was the perfect combination to remove all traces of the oil. I also separated each pass with a roller clean in the base station

Challenge # 2: Liquids

By liquids I mean I coloured water to better illustrate the effectiveness of the mopping and I used sponge mode only. One pass and it was spotless so full marks there.

Challenge # 3: The dog bowl area

We have an area that is off limits for our robot vacuum so is only ever cleaned manually. It is a rubber mat that houses the dog’s water bowl. Over time there is a distinct mark where the mat sits so it was a perfect opportunity to use the steam option

In fact it was a perfect opportunity to use the “TURBO STEAM MODE” within the steam option. There is a small trigger on the handle to activate. Admittedly it did take several passes to shift the mark but ultimately the F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2 was up to the task

Before
After

Challenge # 4 – Oats

If you have kids I bet you’ve seen your fair share of stuff dropped on the floor so we’ve seen how the F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2 handles mopping but what about the dry in wet/dry vacuums?

A pretty simple answer. It handled it fine. A few instances of the dry oats flicking out rather than being sucked into the vacuum but they were easily swallowed up with another pass. It did make for interesting cleaning of the cleaner. See below for how it turned out.

Extra settings

Within the app there are additional settings including the one I teased you with earlier.

Yes you can turn the headlights off, you can adjust the flowrate of the cleaning fluid and you can toggle “Streak Removal” on or off but you can also use the app as a REMOTE CONTROL!!

The fact that the vacuum can lie perfectly flat to get under most furniture is a real attribute but when you can also direct it hands-free it is a nerd’s nirvana. Just follow the directions in the app and you can drive this anywhere. Apologies in advance to the people at Roborock as I hadn’t mastered how to stop when I tried it the first time (see video)

Battery life

Roborock claim that the the 6,300 mAh battery is capable of running 100 minutes in eco mode and up to 30 minutes in the more demanding modes such as steam and hot-water. In my tests I tended to use the high-demand modes and found the 30 minute figure pretty accurate. Whilst not outstanding, it is a little on the low side if you want to clean a whole house. When the battery is getting low you receive a warning with about 5 minutes life left then another when you are about 2 minutes away from shutdown, The last warning isn’t a warning. You are told to return the vacuum to the base station and it stops.

Self cleaning

Once you have cleaned where you needed to clean, just return the vacuum to the charging stand and activate the self-cleaning feature by pressing the devoted button on the handle. You are unlikely to forget as the F25 talks to you. The cycle goes something like this

High Temperature self-cleaning>Washing Mode>>Cleaning the dirty water pathway>Roller Cleanliness detecting>Soaking the roller>Scrubbing the roller in two way rotation>Centrifugal Drying

It also tells you when you should refill the water tank and when to empty the dirty water tank. Vocally and by app notification, although I think they could tone down the language. I almost felt scolded when it told me what I needed to do.

Steady on Roborock, that’s a bit harsh. Ask nicely

Cleaning the dirty tank is pretty easy with solids collected by the grate within the dirty water tank and liquids go to the bottom. A simple rinse and you can pop the canister back into the body of the F25.

Does anyone care for Oat Milk?

The verdict

The good

  • Steam levels are extraordinary
  • Self cleaning
  • Remote control feature
  • Several cleaning options
  • Cleans very well, especially utilising the steam option
  • Relatively small footprint
  • Cleans very close to the skirting boards
  • Tangle-free roller

The not so good

  • At an RRP of $1,599 it is a bit pricey
  • Battery life is ok but not outstanding
  • A bit noisy. At 79 db it is getting quite loud