I Used This Robot Vacuum With a Mechanical Arm for Three Months but at $2,600 It's a Hard Sell

CNET

4 days ago

The Saros Z70 is priced at $2,599, making it one of the most expensive robot vacuums I've seen. You can buy two robot vacuums for this price.
The most notable feature is the OmniGrip mechanical arm designed to pick up and sort items. It also has strong vacuuming and mopping capabilities, excellent mapping and the ability to cross thresholds.
The mechanical arm has several issues, including difficulties picking up objects, navigation problems and software bugs. There were also connectivity issues during setup.
Cleaning my hardwood and carpet.
Ajay Kumar/CNET
Pros
Good vacuuming on hardwood with 82.5% sand pickup
Very low profile and fits under pretty much everything
Quiet operation
Works well in homes with pets
Chassis lift prevents it from getting stuck most of the time
Cons
Dust bin is too small
Water tank is too small
Mopping performance isn't great
Obstacle avoidance needs some improvement
Expensive at $2,600 at full price
Roborock
I've been using the Roborock Saros Z70 for three months now and, in many ways, it's a great robot vacuum. It's the first robot vacuum with a mechanical arm meant to pick up objects and help you clean before it vacuums and mops. As someone who has three cats who leave toys everywhere, I found this incredibly appealing. I test and write about vacuums for a living and the Saros Z70 really is the first of its kind. CNET even chose it as one of our best of CES awards, giving me high hopes for its potential.
I tested it at my cluttered apartment for three months and my colleague and lead lab tester Jared Hannah did the same at his home. The reality is, the Saros Z70 certainly has a lot of promise. It vacuums and mops like a champ, can cross thresholds and obstacles as effectively as the Dreame X50 Ultra, and has great mapping and pet recognition in my home.
The OmniGrip arm picking up my wife's sock.
Ajay Kumar/CNET
However, we found its signature feature -- the robot arm -- is still not ready for showtime. Right now, the Saros Z70 is fairly limited in its ability to pick up very small objects like pet toys and children's toys. On occasion, it did recognize and attempt to pick up cat toys it found scattered around my home but it was never able to succeed. Often, it would deploy the arm then detect my cat or some other object nearby and freeze, blaring "Error 69," forcing me to manually reset the arm. At one point, it even tried to pick up my standing desk mat before realizing it wasn't a compatible object and giving up.
I tested the Saros Z70 through June and July with Roborock's latest software updates that were intended to improve performance. Here are my impressions after three months of testing and whether it's worth its $2,600 price tag.
Roborock
My experience with the Saros Z70
We tested the Saros Z70 at CES 2025, at a live demo, at our New York City office space, at CNET's testing lab in Louisville, Kentucky, and most recently at my home for three months. My biggest takeaway from my real-world home test versus my other experiences with this robot vacuum is the various issues with the mechanical arm, its struggle to pick up objects, navigation problems and software bugs. It cleaned great as a regular robot vacuum and mop but I couldn't rely on the arm's sorting capabilities to reliably pick up shoes and socks, let alone cat toys.
"Yeah, it seems like it's basically a beta version of the arm," said Jared, who was testing the Z70 at the same time. "They should do a bit more development before it's ready for the masses. I would get the error if the arm bumped something while moving an object. It sensed that there was too much resistance so I think it was doing what it was supposed to but it seems like that would end up being a common occurrence."
The Saros Z70 got scratched up after trying to clean under the desk chair.
Ajay Kumar/CNET
Vacuuming and mopping: Strong performance, good sand/litter/hair pickup; mopping with clean/dirty tanks and hot air drying is effective.
Strong performance, good sand/litter/hair pickup; mopping with clean/dirty tanks and hot air drying is effective. Special features: The OmniGrip arm is the standout special feature although currently unreliable. I found operational issues during my home testing. It struggled to pick up certain objects, especially pet toys, but I had much better luck with socks. Not only was the Saros Z70 able to identify my wife's purple socks and pick them up off the hardwood floor in the bedroom but it also began to transport them to my designated shoe-drop-off area that's set up in the foyer. The problem was that partway on this journey, it gave up somewhere between the hallway and the kitchen, dropping the sock, acting like the job was complete and continuing its regular cleaning cycle.
The OmniGrip arm is the standout special feature although currently unreliable. I found operational issues during my home testing. It struggled to pick up certain objects, especially pet toys, but I had much better luck with socks. Not only was the Saros Z70 able to identify my wife's purple socks and pick them up off the hardwood floor in the bedroom but it also began to transport them to my designated shoe-drop-off area that's set up in the foyer. The problem was that partway on this journey, it gave up somewhere between the hallway and the kitchen, dropping the sock, acting like the job was complete and continuing its regular cleaning cycle. Mapping and navigation: It generated a 2D and 3D map of my space, automatically tagging the rooms (bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen), flooring type (hard surface and carpet) and identifying certain pieces of furniture (couch, TV stand and bed). It also marked notable thresholds in my space where extra effort would be required to cross. You can remap it or tell it to remap a specific room if you're not happy with the result but it did a great job for me the first time around.
It generated a 2D and 3D map of my space, automatically tagging the rooms (bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen), flooring type (hard surface and carpet) and identifying certain pieces of furniture (couch, TV stand and bed). It also marked notable thresholds in my space where extra effort would be required to cross. You can remap it or tell it to remap a specific room if you're not happy with the result but it did a great job for me the first time around. Software and app: The app isn't the most straightforward tool to use, with a profusion of settings and nested menus that allow you to adjust just about everything the robot can do, from the dustbin emptying and mop washing frequency, to cleaning patterns, obstacle photos and enabling the robotic arm. Just about everything the robot can do is customizable but I wish all these features and settings were a bit more front and center rather than tucked away in the lengthy settings menu.
The app isn't the most straightforward tool to use, with a profusion of settings and nested menus that allow you to adjust just about everything the robot can do, from the dustbin emptying and mop washing frequency, to cleaning patterns, obstacle photos and enabling the robotic arm. Just about everything the robot can do is customizable but I wish all these features and settings were a bit more front and center rather than tucked away in the lengthy settings menu. Design and aesthetics: Low-profile design, good for fitting under furniture, but can lead to scratches when it tries to wedge itself under things like my wife's office chair.
Low-profile design, good for fitting under furniture, but can lead to scratches when it tries to wedge itself under things like my wife's office chair. Ease of use: Setup had connectivity issues; once set up, basic functions are easy, but advanced settings are complex.
Roborock
The specs
Price: $2,599
$2,599 Object weight limit (OmniGrip Arm): 300 grams rated load; approximately 700 grams actual load capacity during our testing.
300 grams rated load; approximately 700 grams actual load capacity during our testing. Threshold crossing height: Capable of crossing thresholds up to approximately 2 inches.
Capable of crossing thresholds up to approximately 2 inches. Cleaning time: (Ajay's apartment, 850 sq ft): 1.5 to 2 hours for a full vacuum and mop session.
(Ajay's apartment, 850 sq ft): 1.5 to 2 hours for a full vacuum and mop session. Cleaning time: (Jared's house, 1,200 square feet) : 2.5 to 3 hours for a full vacuum and mop session on the main level.
(Jared's house, 1,200 square feet) 2.5 to 3 hours for a full vacuum and mop session on the main level. Mapping time (Ajay's apartment, 850 sq ft): 16 to 18 minutes for initial mapping.
(Ajay's apartment, 850 sq ft): 16 to 18 minutes for initial mapping. Sand pickup performance on hardwood: 82.46%, this is excellent hardwood performance, falling just shy of our best overall, the Ecovacs Deeboth T30S Combo (85%).
82.46%, this is excellent hardwood performance, falling just shy of our best overall, the Ecovacs Deeboth T30S Combo (85%). Sand pickup performance on carpet (mid-pile): 51.77%, this surpasses the Dreame X50 Ultra (44% mid-pile)
51.77%, this surpasses the Dreame X50 Ultra (44% mid-pile) Sand pickup performance on carpet (low-pile): 51.06%, which comes close to matching the Shark Power Detect NeverTouch Pro (54.5%).
51.06%, which comes close to matching the Shark Power Detect NeverTouch Pro (54.5%). Voice command compatibility: The app can be connected to Amazon Alexa for voice commands.
The app can be connected to Amazon Alexa for voice commands. Customizable: The app allows for a range of customization, including dustbin emptying frequency, mop washing frequency, cleaning patterns, obstacle photos and enabling/disabling the robotic arm.
The app allows for a range of customization, including dustbin emptying frequency, mop washing frequency, cleaning patterns, obstacle photos and enabling/disabling the robotic arm. Mapping features: The app displays the 2D and 3D maps generated by the robot, allows for room tagging, furniture identification and setting "no-go" zones. It also identifies pet areas and allows for "Pet Area Cleaning."
The app displays the 2D and 3D maps generated by the robot, allows for room tagging, furniture identification and setting "no-go" zones. It also identifies pet areas and allows for "Pet Area Cleaning." Wi-Fi connectivity: The robot needs to connect to Wi-Fi for setup and app control.
The robot needs to connect to Wi-Fi for setup and app control. Dual spinning mopping pads: The robot uses a pair of dual spinning mopping pads that attach and detach from the docking station.
The robot uses a pair of dual spinning mopping pads that attach and detach from the docking station. Clean and dirty water system: Uses clean water for mopping and collects dirty water in a separate tank, ensuring cleaner mopping.
Uses clean water for mopping and collects dirty water in a separate tank, ensuring cleaner mopping. Mopping pad cleaning and drying: Mopping pads are washed and hot-air dried at the base station between cleaning sessions.
Mopping pads are washed and hot-air dried at the base station between cleaning sessions. Mopping modes: The "Vacuum+Mop" mode vacuums first and then mops the entire space. There are options for Deep cleaning, Pet Area and an AI-powered SmartPlan.
Saros Z70 docked
Ajay Kumar/CNET
CNET's buying advice
While the Roborock Saros Z70 excels at vacuuming, mopping and navigation, the core feature -- the OmniGrip arm -- is not yet reliable enough for me to recommend it if you're only looking to make heavy use of the OmniGrip arm. Recent software updates in June and July have made some improvements, including improved grab point optimization, smarter sorting optimization and new pickup categories like sports shoes but the consistency still leaves a lot to be desired.
It's hard to ignore the $2,599 price tag. I argue that for the price, you could purchase two or three excellent standard robot vacuums and mops, like the Yeedi M12 Pro Plus, or a comparable high performing model such as the Dreame X50 Ultra which has the ability to cross thresholds -- both on CNET's best robot vacuums best list. On the even lower price end, iRobot's new Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo is our best new robot vacuum for less than $500, with solid performance and a unique mechanical paddle that lets you store 60 days of dust in the dustbin.
If all you care about is strong vacuuming, mopping and obstacle avoidance: The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo is currently CNET's "best overall robot vacuum" and Roborock's own Saros 10R offers similar or better vacuum and mopping performance with more space for the dustbin and water tank because it doesn't need to fit a mechanical arm in its body.
Roborock
Without a fully operational and reliable OmniGrip arm, I can't justify its value for the cost at this time.
"The arm is a neat feature to watch but I personally don't find it very useful," said Jared. "I feel like if the robot is smart enough to avoid obstacles such as shoes and socks, I don't need it to try and pick them up and move them. As long as the robot doesn't get stuck on anything during its cleaning cycle, that's good enough for me."
If the OmniGrip arm is your primary reason for considering the Saros Z70, I recommend you continue to wait for future software updates or wait a few years until Roborock and other companies enter the market with newer generations of the technology.