At CES 2025, Roborock is debuting a robot vacuum cleaner with a robotic arm that can pick up items left on your floor.
Robotic arms already exist on robot vacuums, but the arm tends to be used to extend a mopping pad for closer edge cleaning.
The Saros Z70 is the first model with a robotic arm complete with a gripper – which Roborock calls the OmniGrip 1.0 – that can pick up small objects with a weight of up to 300g, such as socks, tissues, pet and baby toys, and light shoes.
The robotic arm extends from the top of the model and has “five-axis” movement, meaning that it can extend and move in five different directions from a rotating base. The arm folds into a compartment when not in use. You might think that this would bulk up the machine, but it’s a slim and low 7.98cm, giving it the best chance of cleaning under all types of furniture.
Roborock
How does the Saros Z70 pick things up?
Here’s how the OmniGrip works. During the first cleaning and mapping session, the Saros Z70 spots and notes the position of any objects in its path that it can pick up, the returns to them in its next cleaning session.
But it won’t do this out of the box. The robot’s user will need to choose settings for pick-up in the app. These will include deciding which objects the OmniGrip interacts with and where they should be placed. In the future, Roborock will provide accessories to be used with the Saros Z70: a bin into which it can deposit rubbish, and a cat toy it can use to play with pets.
In December, we saw a live demo of the Saros Z70 – albeit a version three generations earlier than the one on display at CES. In practice, it was hesitant at times, although impressive when it did work. We’ll be able to give more feedback once we get the chance to test it ourselves.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
What other features does the Saros Z70 have?
The robotic arm is obviously the headline feature, but the Saros Z70 has all the functionality you’d expect from a flagship robot vacuum:
- StarSight navigation system, combining D3 ToF (Time of Flight) sensors and RGB cameras with AI, for precise mapping and obstacle recognition and avoidance
- Machine learning lets it identify 108 common household objects – including cables, the bane of most robot vacuums. Future software upgrades will let users define and label up to 50 new objects that the Saros Z70 will recognise
- 22,000 Pa of suction, which is as good as, if not considerably better, than any model on the market
- Anti-tangle system, including a side brush that deploys itself to stop hair wrapping around vacuum components
- Dual-spinning mops that can lift themselves 2.2cm, to ensure they don’t dampen carpet
- Inbuilt voice controls: say “Hello, Rocky” and it’ll respond to simple cleaning instructions. You can also use voice commands via Amazon Alexa, Google Home and (the less well catered for) Apple Siri Shortcuts
- VertiBeam Lateral Obstacle Avoidance: Back on the subject of cables, the VertiBeam technology is a second, wide vertical laser on top of its forward laser, which specifically helps it to avoid cables and irregular walls
- Pet friendly: the Saros S70 will take measures to make sure it doesn’t scare your pets. You can also use it to take photos of them and speak to them remotely
The Saros Z70 can be bought with a simple charging base or the Multifunctional Dock 4.0, which features 2.5-hour fast charging, hot water mop washing and auto mop removal.
When will the Saros Z70 be available to buy?
The Saros Z70 will be available to buy in the first half of 2025. As yet, we don’t have pricing for either the UK or the US, but we’ll update this article when we know more.
In the meantime, have a look at our round-up of the best robot vacuums you can buy right now.
