I’ve seen Roborock’s ‘mechanical arm’ robot vacuum pick up objects – and it probably won’t be my last

Roborock just dropped the mic on the robot vacuum market at CES 2025 with the launch of the Saros Z70 robot vacuum, which has a mechanical arm to remove obstacles in its path. The company also launched two new robot vacuum cleaners, Saros 10 and Saros 10R.

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The Saros Z70 features a foldable mechanical arm with self-deploying OmniGrip technology to remove obstacles under 300 grams or approximately 8 oz. The five-axis arm will initially be limited to socks, towels or small cloths, tissues or napkins, and slippers, but Roborock plans to add more items over time.

The Roborock Saros Z70 cleans your floors and identifies objects it can lift on its first pass. The robot then returns to pick up the identified objects, put them away, and clean up missed areas.

The new Roborock Saros Z70 is here to solve the ultimate problem many robot vacuum users encounter: picking up every last sock or small toy on the floor before running the vacuum. We do this to prevent the robot vacuum from getting stuck in the brush roller, leaving it inactive until you rescue it. This is one of the most annoying things about robot vacuums, especially when you run it while you’re away from home and come back to find the floor dirty and your robot stuck hours away from where it started cleaning. before.

The OmniGrip arm features precision sensors, cameras and LED lights to detect and process visual information about obstacles in its path.

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The robot arm vacuum cleaner will become Roborock’s newest flagship product, replacing Roborock S8 MaxV Pro Ultra. This feature will be disabled immediately so you must enable it in the Roborock app during setup. You can also customize the arm’s behavior, including specifying where to place objects when picked up. In some demos with Roborock, this is usually a basket on the floor.

For safety measures, the vacuum cleaner has a child lock, safety stop button and measures to prevent the mechanical arm from deploying when blocked.

According to Roborock, the Saros Z70 vacuum and mop robot has a suction force of 22,000Pa, making it the industry leader in suction power. The Saros Z70, expected to launch in the first half of 2025, features Roborock’s dual anti-tangle system, with a FreeFlow main brush and a FlexiArm Riser side brush that can be raised to prevent hair from tangling around the vacuum.

The dual rotary mop lifts 22mm for mopping, enough to keep average sized carpets dry during vacuuming and mopping sessions. The mop can automatically detach from the base when the robot is instructed to vacuum carpets before vacuuming and mopping hard floors, e.g. Dreame X40 Ultra.

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Roborock is also launching the Saros 10 and Saros 10R, two new robot vacuums that don’t have mechanical arms but have many of the top features of the S70. The Saros 10 has a retractable laser distance sensor (LDS) that can be stowed away to get through low-clearance areas, such as under furniture, without getting stuck.

Saros 10 can detect obstacles in its path, including unrolled cables on the floor; it also has industry-leading 22,000Pa suction power, supporting Matter and Roborock’s VibraRise mopping technology. The Saros 10 will be available this month and can be purchased with the RockDock Ultra 2.0, which features a tempered glass finish, easier access to the bin and tank, hot water washing of the mop, automatic Automatic mop removal and 2.5 hour fast charging.

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The Roborock Saros 10R vacuum and mop robot doesn’t have a retractable LDS, instead featuring an ultra-slim, 3.14-inch design that easily fits under low furniture. The Saros 10R will be available in late 2025 and can be purchased with the Multi-Function Dock 4.0, with hot water mop washing, automatic mop removal and 2.5-hour fast charging.