This robovac has an arm that can pick up your dirty laundry

Roborock has added an arm to its latest flagship robot vacuum. And this is no tiny appendage like the one the company debuted on its S8 MaxV Ultra at CES last year; it’s an actual articulating robotic arm. The arm rises from the middle of Roborock’s latest flagship bot — the Saros Z70 — and can extend out to pick up items such as socks and tissues while cleaning your floors. While it’s mildly terrifying and currently extremely slow — I can certainly see the potential in a robot vacuum that can clean up ahead of itself.

The Verge got a sneak peek at the Saros Z70 in action ahead of its launch at CES 2025 and can confirm the arm works as advertised, although, as mentioned, it’s laboriously slow. During our demo, it took about a minute to pick up and move each sock in its path. It’s also limited to socks, tissues, small towels, and sandals that weigh under 300 grams. Roborock says more items will be added over time but hasn’t promised increased weight capability. No pricing has been released, but the company says the vacuum will ship by June 2025.

The Saros Z70’s arm is “the first-of-its-kind mass-produced foldable robotic arm with five axis,” according to Roborock. Called the OmniGrip, it can unfold, extend, and twist horizontally and vertically to pick up items and move them out of the way. It includes a camera and LED light in the arm to see objects and has sensors that allow it to detect an object’s weight and know its positioning — including if there’s anything above it, so the arm doesn’t hit anything when it raises.

Roborock says that during its first cleaning run, the Z70 will detect and mark any objects it can lift. It then returns to deploy its arm, moving items to the area it has already cleaned and cleaning the areas those items were blocking. Finally, it can be programmed to go out a third time to pick up the items and put them away in a place you designate on the map in Roborock’s app, such as near a closet or in a basket.

Yes, this whole process will take a long time. Yes, it would be quicker (and quieter) to pick up the socks yourself (assuming you’re at home). But also, it’s a robot that picks up your socks! We are truly living in the future.

One intriguing feature Roborock says will come to the Saros Z70 via an OTA upgrade doesn’t involve the arm. Instead, it leverages the robot’s new navigation and obstacle recognition, called StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, to let you train the robot to recognize specific objects — say, a favorite teddy bear or your purse. According to Roborock, you’ll be able to use its app to see where the robot last spotted that item, which could be handy for locating lost things.

StarSight launched on the Qrevo Slim and uses 3D time-of-flight sensors, RGB cameras, and machine learning to navigate and identify obstacles. The AI-powered machine learning allows the Z70 to detect and navigate up to 108 preprogrammed objects, according to Roborock. It also uses a new laser-powered obstacle avoidance technology called VertiBeam, which Roborock says can more accurately clean around extended cables and irregularly shaped walls and furniture.

Other Saros Z70 features include an impressive 22,000Pa of suction power, a dual anti-tangle system for the robot’s roller brushes, and dual spinning mops that can not only lift 2.2cm to avoid carpet but also automatically detach at the base station when mopping isn’t necessary.

The Saros Z70 is just under 8cm high, which should allow it to get under those low sofas, and has the AdaptLift chassis first seen on the Qrevo Curv. This helps the robot climb high room transitions and maneuver over high-pile carpets.

The flagship robot pairs with Roborock’s new Multifunctional Dock 4.0 to charge, auto-empty, refill and drain its water tanks, and maintain the mops with hot water washing and hot air drying; this model also introduces a 2.5-hour fast-charge feature.

Realistically, as cool as the arm is, it’s clearly more of a proof-of-concept product (although Roborock assures me it will ship this year). So, alongside the Saros Z70, Roborock debuted two other flagship robot vacuums at CES. The Saros 10R and the Saros 10 will ship on February 10th and cost $1,599.99 each. Both feature a similar slimline body and the same AdaptLift chassis as the Z70, and they can both automatically detach their mop pads when not needed.

The main differences between the two are in mopping and navigation tech. The Saros 10R has the same StarSight 2.0 navigation and obstacle recognition tech, the same mopping tech, and the same dock as the Z70. However, it has slightly lower suction power (19,000Pa).

By contrast, the Saros 10 is an upgrade to Roborock’s current flagship model, the S8 MaxV Ultra (our top pick for the best robot vacuum). With 22,000Pa of suction power, it uses the lidar navigation found on most Roborocks but can retract its lidar tower to fit under low spaces, bringing it to the same height as the other two Saros models.

Instead of the oscillating mops on the Z70 and the 10R, the Saros 10 has a new version of Roborock’s excellent VibraRise mopping feature. This uses a flat mopping pad that vibrates 4,000 times a minute to simulate scrubbing and can now soak dry stains before attempting to remove them.

The 10 also comes with an improved version of Roborock’s Reactive AI Obstacle Avoidance (version 3.0) and gets the new VertiBeam cable avoidance tech. It has Roborock’s new DuoDivide anti-tangle roller brush, first seen on the Qrevo Curv, and pairs with the company’s new Ultra 2.0 Dock.

Roborock says all three new models will be updated to support Matter 1.4, allowing the vacuums to work with any Matter-enabled smart home platform. It looks like Apple is bringing support with iOS 18.3, and Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings already support robot vacuums through Matter. Out of the box, the robots are compatible with Alexa, Siri Shortcuts, Google Home, and Roborock’s own Hey Rocky voice assistant.