Roborock Saros Z70 Review Robovac’s Arm Innovation Falls Short

Roborock’s Saros Z70 robot vacuum entered the market with high expectations, boasting a unique robotic arm called the OmniGrip designed to pick up and sort small household items like slippers, socks, and paper balls. This innovation aimed to solve a common pain point for robovac users: the need to tidy up before cleaning. However, the Saros Z70 struggles to fulfill these promises, resulting in a product that underdelivers despite its premium price tag.

At its core, the Saros Z70 shares many features with Roborock’s highly rated Saros 10R model, including powerful 22,000 Pa suction, dual spinning mop pads with automatic detachment, and the ability to climb thresholds up to 4 centimeters. Its base station includes large water tanks and a disposable dust bag, with mop pads cleaned and dried automatically. The vacuum uses front-facing LIDAR, cameras, and sensors for navigation.

The robotic arm is the Z70’s headline feature. When the vacuum detects an object it can move, it announces “Sorting item,” extends the arm, and attempts to pick it up. Users place a small cardboard box with QR codes in a designated spot for the vacuum to deposit items. While the vacuum can recognize slippers, socks, and paper balls, its sorting accuracy is abysmal. In over 40 tests, it successfully deposited a paper ball into the box only once and failed entirely with slippers.

Despite correctly identifying slippers in the app, the vacuum often just nudged them around or picked them up only to put them back down in the same spot. Roborock has acknowledged these issues and plans firmware updates, but the current experience is frustrating and disappointing.

Beyond the arm, the Z70’s cleaning performance is a step backward. It uses a single smaller roller brush instead of the dual split brush design found in previous models, which excelled at picking up debris and avoiding tangles. The new brush struggles with common household messes like Goldfish crackers and pistachio shells, often crushing or dragging debris rather than vacuuming it effectively.

The mop system also underperforms, with pads prone to dripping and streaking. Navigation is inconsistent, with the vacuum sometimes missing areas or taking inefficient routes. It struggles to avoid power cords and bumps into walls more frequently, causing cosmetic damage to its bumpers.

The dock station, while effective and maintenance-free for weeks, is bulkier and more visually obtrusive than previous models, with exposed water tanks. The vacuum’s "Intelligent Dirt Detection" feature, which should trigger re-cleaning of dirty spots, was not observed in testing.

A remote control mode lets users manually operate the vacuum and arm, but it is slow and feels more like a novelty than a practical feature. This adds little value given the vacuum’s other shortcomings.

Perhaps the most significant drawback is the price. Initially set at $2,000, tariffs forced Roborock to raise the price to $2,600, making it the most expensive robovac on the market by a wide margin. This premium cost is hard to justify given the vacuum’s underwhelming cleaning and sorting performance.

In summary, the Saros Z70 represents a bold attempt to innovate in a market saturated with similar robot vacuums. The robotic arm concept is exciting and could offer real convenience if perfected. However, the current execution falls short, with poor sorting accuracy, diminished cleaning ability, and navigation issues. While software updates may improve functionality, the Z70 currently underdelivers on its promises and struggles to justify its steep price.

For consumers and developers alike, the Saros Z70 serves as a case study in balancing innovation with core functionality. It highlights the challenges of integrating complex robotic features without compromising essential performance. The future of smart home cleaning robots may well depend on learning from such ambitious but flawed attempts.