In less than two years, significant advancements in mapping, object recognition, lifting, brush extension, obstacle overcoming, and ever-increasing suction power have been made in the rapidly developing field of home cleaning robots. Roborock Saros Z70
Leading industry player Roborock, which has a wide range of products, has chosen to surprise everyone by introducing a novel and especially intriguing solution: an extendable robotic arm. We were fortunate enough to be able to try it a little early because of our intense curiosity. We previewed it a few months ago, and it will formally go on sale in a few days. This is a review of the first robotic arm-equipped autonomous vacuum cleaner, the Roborock Saros Z70.
Features and Design of Roborock Saros Z70
The Saros Z70 is arguably the Roborock with the most elegant and alluring design that we have had the opportunity to test thus far. Z70 is sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing thanks to its various finishes. The base and the robot share a black finish that alternates with a sober silver hue that gives the product a modern touch.
It’s a gadget you probably won’t want to conceal, and it won’t look bad in a living room. Even though plastic is what makes the entire robot unique, all of the assemblies are superb, and after roughly three weeks of testing, the finishing and scratch resistance are both very good.
The Z70 is undoubtedly a high-end product, and despite its unique technical solutions, the technical sheet is incredibly comprehensive, with almost nothing missing.
CLEANLINESS AND FUNCTIONALITY of Roborock Saros Z70
Is there anything that the Roborock Saros Z70 sacrifices? The company has integrated so many sensors and cameras that the mapping is actually so precise that it’s better than many competitors with laser technology, despite the fact that it may initially appear to be “missing a superior LiDar.”
The primary benefit of this solution is that Z70, which is 7.98 mm thick, can fit through extremely small openings and nearly touch the upper surface it operates beneath. It is actually the only robot in the non-ultra slim category that was able to clean beneath my kitchen’s skirting board (see image below).
All of this is possible without compromising the home’s incredibly accurate mapping, excellent object recognition, or navigation, which enables you to skip over obstacles like skirting boards and walls and leave almost no dirt behind.
All of this is evidently possible thanks to the newest technologies, including the counter-rotating mops on the right side that can reach beyond the robot’s body’s external diameter. The same is true for the front brush, which automatically retracts and re-insulates based on the furniture and the circumstances.
The mops can be washed and dried straight from the base at 80°, and they are obviously liftable. They also detach automatically based on your settings. I thought the basic cleaning system was great, and it was able to clean the clothes very well after the house was cleaned.
Avoid odors and bacterial growth by using hot air and drying at 80°.
As you can see from the photos, the mops’ cleaning tray has a grid system in addition to a water spray and a mechanical cloth washer. If you need to clean it, it also quickly disassembles and removes.
The incredibly well-designed application allows you to configure Z70 in a way that is entirely unique to you. Because there are so many options, you can change every behavior and aspect of cleaning, depending on the room. Here are a few primary, non-exhaustive examples:
Methods of Cleaning
- Management of vacuuming or washing was separated by time of day, space, or room.
- Controlling just the washing or just the suction
- Managing carpets with a mop, vacuum, power boost, cleaning, and total avoidance
- Managing a threshold or barrier that could go over three centimeters in a single step
- Managing suction and then cleaning
- Power adjustment for every space or room, including suction power and water volume
- Object management using only presence or actual photos
- Finish the programming by day, time, or interval.
- 3D view, furniture recognition, customizable maps, and multi-story support
- Remote Robotic Arm Control, Remote Management, and Remote Robot Control
- Complete compatibility with Google, Alexa, Matter, and voice assistants.
The mops can be washed and dried straight from the base at 80°, and they are obviously liftable. They also detach automatically based on your settings. I thought the basic cleaning system was great, and it was able to clean the clothes very well after the house was cleaned.
Avoid odors and bacterial growth by using hot air and drying at 80°.
As you can see from the photos, the mops’ cleaning tray has a grid system in addition to a water spray and a mechanical cloth washer. If you need to clean it, it also quickly disassembles and removes.
Methods of Cleaning
The incredibly well-designed application allows you to configure Z70 in a way that is entirely unique to you. Because there are so many options, you can change every behavior and aspect of cleaning, depending on the room. Here are a few primary, non-exhaustive examples:
- Management of vacuuming or washing was separated by time of day, space, or room.
- Controlling just the washing or just the suction
- Managing carpets with a mop, vacuum, power boost, cleaning, and total avoidance
- Managing a threshold or barrier that could go over three centimeters in a single step
- Managing suction and then cleaning
- Power adjustment for every space or room, including suction power and water volume
- Object management using only presence or actual photos
- Finish the programming by day, time, or interval.
- 3D view, furniture recognition, customizable maps, and multi-story support
- Remote Robotic Arm Control, Remote Management, and Remote Robot Control
- Complete compatibility with Google, Alexa, Matter, and voice assistants.
The mops are clearly liftable, can be washed and dried straight from the base at 80°, and will automatically separate based on your settings. I thought the base cleaning system was great, and it was able to clean the clothes very well after the house was cleaned.
The difference is hot air and 80° drying, which prevents odors and bacterial growth.
As you can see in the photos, the mops’ cleaning tray has a grid system in addition to a water spray and a mechanical cloth washer. If you need to clean it, you can quickly disassemble and remove it.
Methods for Cleaning
You can configure Z70 in a totally customized manner because of the incredibly well-made application. There are so many options available that you can change every behavior and aspect of cleaning, depending on the room. A few primary, non-exhaustive examples are:
Differentiated management of vacuuming or washing by time of day, space, or room
Control of just the washing or just the suction
Carpet maintenance including mop lifting, vacuuming, power boosts, cleaning, and total avoidance
Management of thresholds or barriers that could go over three centimeters in a single step
Suction control followed by cleaning
Power adjustment for each space or room, including suction power and water volume
Real-photo object management or presence-only
Finish programming according to time, day, or interval
Map customization, 3D viewing, furniture identification, and multi-story assistance
Remote Robotic Arm Control, Remote Robot Management, and Remote Robot Control
complete compatibility with Google, Alexa, Matter, and voice assistants.
Robotic Arm
After laying out the argument, we move on to the Z70’s strongest feature: its robotic arm. It is a very useful system that can provide value that may be useful on multiple occasions. The engineering is very intriguing even though it is not a necessary revolution because the arm retains all of the Z70’s functionality while marginally reducing the capacity of the dust tank built into the robot.
How does it operate? either manually or automatically.
In the first scenario, Saros oversees every operation. When you come across an object, it will be identified, photographed if you have that option enabled, and moved if the robot thinks it is appropriate for movement. Various kinds of paper, socks, shoes, and slippers are currently recognized, but they are all being developed and improved.
After identifying the slipper (for instance), the robot will move it to the end of the cleaning process and clean the areas it was unable to reach. After cleaning is complete, the slipper will be taken to a storage location that you designate, which may also be the designated bin.
I was genuinely surprised by how effective the system is. The robot not only knows where the object is, but it also positions itself to pick it up the first time. It will relocate and carry out the procedure again if the pick-up is unsuccessful for any reason.
The arm has an incredible lifting capacity, a very sturdy clamp, outstanding resistance, and a very complex locking and joint system that enables you to reach almost anywhere.
If you choose to play with the arm and use it manually, you’ll be pleased to hear that, in addition to controlling the robot remotely and being able to see through its front camera, you can also switch to the arm’s video camera to get a point-of-view view as though you were above the gripper that takes the object.
In this way, by taking advantage of the complete remote control system, you will be able to do anything and move objects manually even if the Robot has not recognized them as “suitable for automatic grasping”.
It goes without saying that in the hands of a playful adult or a kid, this system becomes super fun and has a guaranteed WoW effect.
Without going into too much detail, I will answer a question: is it really necessary?
After all the tests I have done, I can confirm that it is an interesting solution and that it certainly works well, but it is limited to rather narrow use cases. On the one hand, being able to clean even where there is a shoe is useful but it is not those 30cm squared that make the difference and, hopefully, you are tidy and do not always have objects lying around the house. On the other hand, it becomes very useful if that shoe or sock were to obstruct the passage of the robot towards a room. In that case, only by moving the object Z70 can continue cleaning where others would stop.
Other than the size of the object lifted, I never found any restrictions on my desire to challenge the arm. In fact, if you pick up a t-shirt by hand (since it wouldn’t do it automatically), it’s likely to cover up some sensors because it’s resting on the robot’s surface. Because it is unable to perceive its surroundings, Z70 will halt and not march on in this situation. By stopping the Saros from engaging in potentially “out of control” movements and operations, these borderline cases show how the company has also considered safety.
CLEANING AND BASE EFFICACY
The base is lovely and comprehensive, as was stated at the outset. There are four clean water tanks, three dirty water tanks, a universal detergent tank, and a big dust bag. Excellent mop washing and rollers, as well as a nice design.
All of this demonstrates the attention to detail in the construction, which ensures a cleaning efficiency that is second to few.
On May 20, the Roborock Saros Z70 will arrive in Italy. It will be available on the Roborock e-shop and Amazon for €1,699 until June 2. After that, it will be offered for € 1,799. This price is reasonable given its competitors, features, completeness, and uniqueness. An absurdly high number in the strictest sense, but one that needs to be viewed from a long-term perspective: nobody anticipates enormous sales for this product, but it is a means of introducing a technology that may become available at lower price points in two or three years.
Roborock offers a wide range of products to suit every need, so it’s not a company without options for people who can’t or don’t want to spend so much money cleaning their home. For effectiveness, balance, and completeness, I would probably suggest a medium range of €400 to €700, depending on the offer.
