Category: robot vacuum

The Roborock Saros Z70 is the latest robot vacuum from the company, offering not just impressive vacuuming and mopping skills, but also a robotic arm. This can pick up items left on your floor, allowing it to provide you with a more comprehensive clean. However, our Roborock Saros Z70 review found it to be somewhat underwhelming. Meanwhile, the older Roborock Saros 10R offers many of the same features as the Z70 — minus the wild price tag and robotic arm.

So, which one makes a better robot vacuum for your home? The Roborock Saros Z70 or Roborock Saros 10R? Is the robotic arm worth the extra money, or can you save several hundred bucks by opting for the Saros 10R? Here’s a closer look at these two robot vacuums to help you decide which one to buy.

Pricing and design

The Roborock Saros Z70 carries the eye-watering price of $2,600, though it can often be found on sale for much less. Its size is fairly standard for robot vacuums, with a rectangular base and circular robot. There are a few unique accents throughout the dock and the robot, giving it a more premium appearance than most competitors. Of course, there’s also the robotic arm. This is typically stowed away in a small chamber on top of the robot. Only when an object is detected will it deploy.

The Saros 10R looks very similar to the Z70, though it’s missing some of the accents and fancy flourishes of the Z70. It still looks fantastic, however, and much of the designs are shared across the two products. The 10R is also much more affordable at $1,600, though it’s still one of the most expensive robots on the market.

Winner: Roborock Saros 10R

Vacuuming

Vacuuming performance is quite similar between these two devices. The Saros Z70 has the better suction numbers at 22,000 Pa, but the 10R is no slouch at 20,000 Pa. Both can also swing out their side brush to reach tight corners, can automatically detach their mopping pads to ensure your carpets stay dry, and use the same Starsight Autonomous System 2.0 for navigation. In testing, both were more than capable of dealing with daily messes, and they left behind nice tidy patterns that give your home a “just cleaned” feeling.

Obstacle avoidance was excellent for both robots, and the ability to lift their chassis to cross thresholds or deal with different types of environments made them versatile companions for all sorts of carpet. Both also feature an anti-tangle system that never once needed any manual intervention, as hair and long fibers were deftly removed and suctioned away into its dustbin.

In short — both are excellent vacuums. The Saros Z70 might have the upper hand when it comes to total suction, but real-world testing revealed two robots that are just about evenly matched.

Winner: Tie

Mopping

It’s a similar story for mopping. Roborock has equipped these two devices with essentially the same mopping systems. They feature two spinning mopping pads, one of which can swing outward to clean near baseboards. Both robots will lift their mops when traveling on carpet and give themselves a self-cleaning when back at the docking station. This includes a hot water rinse followed by an air dry — which goes a long way towards eliminating the mold and mildew smell found on lesser robots.

Testing once again found them to be perfectly matched for daily cleaning chores. Spills and stains were easily removed by the Z70 and 10R, and their ability to leave behind their mops when vacuuming is another huge win.

Winner: Tie

Additional features

Most additional features are shared by the Saros Z70 and Saros 10R. This includes:

• Intelligent dirt detection
• Auto detergent dispensing
• Auto tank refilling
• Auto dust emptying
• Auto brush lifting
• Adaptive route algorithm
• App support
• Voice assistant

The big difference, of course, is the robotic arm of the Saros Z70. But based on our testing, it’s not quite ready for the spotlight. It will almost never detect objects it can pick up when they’re placed on carpet, relegating it to only being useful on hard floors.

Even then, the arm has a difficult time gripping certain objects, and it takes a very long time to operate. A weight restriction of 300 grams limits what it can handle, and it’s not uncommon for it to take multiple attempts to pick up and properly move an object to the designated spot in your house. It’s a great first step — but like any innovative new technology, it still needs some time in the oven.

Winner: Tie

Verdict

Despite lending a robotic arm to your home, the Roborock Saros Z70 isn’t the best fit for most shoppers. Instead, consider picking up the Roborock Saros 10R. It packs in nearly all the same features — minus the arm — and it’s much more affordable. Capable of providing you with a superior floor cleaning experience, it’s one of the best robot vacuums on the market. Be sure to also compare the Saros 10R and Saros 10, and they’re both great products but they go about mopping in entirely different ways.

Roborock Saros 10 review: a robot vacuum evolution

MSRP $1,600.00

4.5/5

★★★★☆

Score Details

“The Saros 10 is everything you’d want from a robot vacuum and more, thanks to an arsenal of highly automated features.”

✅ Pros

• Impressive vacuuming and suction
• Detachable mopping plate
• Self-cleaning dock
• Slim design
• Customizable

❌ Cons

• Expensive
• Cable and cord detection isn’t perfect

Buy at Amazon

The Roborock Saros 10 is an evolution of Roborock’s best robot vacuums, offering heaps of suction, tangle-free brushes, a self-cleaning docking station, and more customization options than you’d ever imagine. It’s a premium product with a premium price tag — and if you’re seeking one of the best robot vacuum and mop combos money can buy, it’s an easy recommendation.

Roborock launched the Saros 10 and Saros 10R around the same time, and along with similar names, they offer many of the same features. In fact, our in-depth comparison found them equally matched at most tasks, and you can’t go wrong choosing either model. However, the Saros 10 uses an older navigation system than the Saros 10R — meaning it’s a tried-and-true solution bound to appeal to long-time Roborock customers.

When that system is coupled with 22,000 Pa of suction, a premium dock, a slim new robot design, and a detachable mopping plate, you end up with one of our favorite robot vacuum and mop combos. The Saros 10 is absolutely incredible, and most shoppers will find it to be a welcome addition to their smart home.

A do-it-all robot vacuum

Robot vacuums priced at over $1,000 are built to be highly autonomous. That’s doubly true for the $1,600 Saros 10, which can run for weeks without any manual input. After running through the quick installation and mapping process, you can program an automated cleaning schedule. For example, you can schedule it to run every day while you’re away at work, allowing you to come home to floors that have been thoroughly vacuumed and mopped. The onboard AI does an excellent job of determining the settings needed to best clean your home, but you’ll find a wealth of customization options if you’re interested in tinkering with its settings (including suction levels, mopping wetness, and restricted zones).

The Saros 10 cleans better than most other robot vacuums we’ve tested, thanks to a staggering 22,000 Pa of suction — which is more than nearly all competitors, including its sibling, the Saros 10R. A tangle-free brush design means you won’t have to worry about hair or strings clogging up its components, and a swinging side brush helps it reach tricky locations.

Mopping is much the same, with an updated VibraRise 4.0 Mopping System capable of scrubbing out tough stains without any trouble. The big selling point of the mop, however, is that it can automatically detach when not in use. This allows the Saros 10 to leave its mop in the docking station when cleaning carpet, then return to the dock to install the mop when cleaning hard floors.

It’s a genius design — and one that’s bound to win over homeowners with plush carpets (like myself).

Once a cleaning cycle is complete, the robot will head back to its dock. Here, it’ll automatically empty its dustbin into a larger reservoir, then clean its mopping plate with hot water and dry it with warm air. It’ll also clean the docking station itself, ensuring any gunk that fell off the robot gets washed into the dirty water reservoir.

Apartments and cozy homes will find the Saros 10 only requires input every week or so, thanks to large water reservoirs and a dustbag that lasts weeks before needing to be replaced. Larger homes might need to perform more frequent checks — but regardless, it’s a highly automated robot vacuum that handles nearly all its tasks without needing a babysitter.

Tried-and-true navigation

While the Saros 10R employs the same navigation system as the upcoming Saros Z70 and its robotic arm, the Saros 10 uses an updated version of its Reactive AI system found on many of its existing products. This means you’re getting a tried-and-true system that’s been working successfully for several years — and our testing proved it to work wonderfully during daily cleanings.

From properly mapping my home and avoiding obstacles to navigating around my two wild dogs, the Saros 10 cruises around without much trouble. However, like most robot vacuums, it still has trouble with cords and cables. Specifically, it had issues identifying a white charging cable I purposefully left out for testing — instead of moving around it, the vacuum plowed right over it.

Thankfully, that was one of the only instances where the Saros 10 struggled. Beyond that, it never once got stuck or needed to be rescued, and it managed to reach most of the nooks and crannies scattered throughout my living space.

What about the Saros 10R?

The Saros 10 is remarkably similar to the Saros 10R. They both have premium docking stations, they both can automatically remove their mopping pads, and they both can use AI to automatically determine the right settings to best clean your home. However, there are a few key differences between the 10 and 10R.

As mentioned above, the Saros 10 uses an older navigation system compared to the new StarSight Autonomous System 2.0 on the Saros 10R. This hasn’t been around as long, but we found it to work just as well (and sometimes better) than that of the Saros 10.

The Saros 10 offers more such at 22,000 Pa compared to 20,000 Pa of the Saros 10R. Both of those numbers are more than capable of handling daily cleaning tasks, though the extra 2,000 Pa of the Saros 10 could be useful for demanding jobs.

Mopping technology is also quite different, with the Saros 10 using a large vibrating mopping plate, whereas the Saros 10R uses two spinning mopping pads. I personally prefer the spinning mopping pads for daily cleanings, but the plate on the Saros 10 certainly works well for clearing tough stains or dried material caked onto the floor. While both are great, testing found newer technology like the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni’s roller mop to be the best solution for hard floors, though it lacks the ability to detach its mop — making it a poor companion for carpets.

Truth be told, you can’t go wrong with either Roborock product. Yes, there are some serious differences in their technology. But both are so advanced and well-designed that they’re equally capable of cleaning all types of floors.

Verdict

The Roborock Saros 10 is among the best robot vacuums on the market. Featuring a reliable navigation system, heaps of suction, and a slim design that can slip under furniture for improved coverage, it makes a wonderful addition to most homes. The price is a bit steep — and the availability of the Saros 10R makes the shopping process a bit more convoluted than it should be — but the Saros 10 will surpass the expectations of even the most discerning shopper.