Innovative and spectacular, but also useful? Roborock Saros Z70 robot vacuum with robotic arm review
Marcus Schwarten 👁 (translated by DeepL / Marcus Schwarten) Published 🇩🇪
Roborock Saros Z70 test conclusion: Spectacular, but not perfect
Is the Roborock Saros Z70 impressive? Without a doubt! When it extends its arm, your eyes go wide (at least the first few times). It's impressive when the robot vacuum clears its own path to clean the entire area and also helps with tidying up.
Technically, the Saros Z70 is undoubtedly the most exciting representative of its kind currently on the market, even if not everything went smoothly in our test. Apart from the OmniGrip robotic arm, the other features are also of a high standard and comparable with the Saros 10R.
Do you need the Roborock Saros Z70? In our opinion, not necessarily, as the options are (still) very limited and the price is even higher than other flagship robot vacuum cleaners. At the moment, it can only clear socks, shoes and a few other things out of the way, which is still not really reliable and can also be done quickly with a little tidying up in your own four walls. But for those who enjoy technical innovation, the Saros Z70 from Roborock is currently (still) the most exciting robot vacuum.
Pros
Cons
Price and availability
The recommended retail price for the Roborock Saros Z70 is $2,599. This makes it currently the most expensive model in the manufacturer's portfolio, but it is now available for less at Amazon and other retailers.
Table of Contents
At the CES in early 2025 roborock caused quite a stir with the Saros Z70. It is the first robotic vacuum cleaner on the market with an extendable arm that can move things out of the way and even help with tidying up.
A few months later the Roborock Saros Z70 officially went on sale. Initially, however, the experience was spectacular on the one hand, but ultimately also somewhat disappointing. However, Roborock has now released a new firmware update.
Although this does not extend the functions, it does improve them. After a few months of experience with the innovative robot vacuum, it is now high time to share our impressions in this Roborock Saros Z70 review.
Specifications of the Roborock Saros Z70
| Roborock Saros Z70 | |
|---|---|
| Navigation | StarSight System 2.0 |
| Obstacle avoidance | StarSight System 2.0 |
| Suction power | 22,000 Pa |
| Main brush | dual solid rubber brush |
| Anti-hair entanglement | yes |
| Retractable side brush | yes |
| Mop technology | two rotating mops |
| Extendable mop | yes |
| Mop can be lifted | yes |
| Mop can be put down | yes |
| Obstacle clearance | up to 40 mm |
| Height of the robot | 7.98 cm |
| Battery capacity | 6,400 mAh |
| Suction station | yes |
| Water / dirty water tanks | 4 / 3 l |
| Mop wash | 80°C |
| Mop drying | yes |
| Cleaning agent | no |
| Voice assistant | yes |
| Live video | yes |
| Matter | Yes |
| Special feature | OmniGrip mechanical arm |
| RRP | $2.599 |
Equipment: OmniGrip robotic arm as a highlight
Overall, the Roborock Saros Z70 is a top-equipped robot vacuum cleaner, comparable to the Saros 10R. It navigates with the StarSight System 2.0, thus dispensing with a laser tower, and is ultra-flat at 7.98 mm so that it can clean under more furniture.
At 22,000 Pa, the suction power is at a top level for a model from spring 2025, even if there are now models with even more suction power. Roborock does not built in a two-part main brush, but still relies on an anti-tangling system. Thanks to the FlexiArm, the side brush and one of the two rotating mops can be extended to clean more thoroughly in corners and along edges. In addition, the two liftable mops can remain in the station when cleaning carpets.
However, the highlight of the Saros Z70 is hidden on the top. The OmniGrip robotic arm appears from under a cover when required. It can move obstacles weighing up to 300 g out of the way to ensure comprehensive cleaning and access to more areas. However, the possibilities are currently still quite limited, as we describe below in this Roborock Saros Z70 review.
The scope of delivery is rounded off by the 10-in-1 multifunctional docking station 4.0, which not only vacuums the dust container and charges the robot, but also comprehensively takes care of the mopping unit. In addition to the dosing of cleaning agents, this primarily includes the 80°C hot water mop wash with subsequent hot air drying. Visually, the base station has a high-gloss design, which is stylish, but also sensitive and highly reflective.
Setup and app: Good as usual
We don't want to say too much about the Roborock app at this point. It is one of the best on the robot vacuum market and we have already presented it in more detail in the reviews of Saros 10 and Saros 10R.
The set-up process worked without any problems during the Roborock Saros Z70 test. In addition to the numerous functions for adapting the cleaning performance in terms of vacuuming and mopping to individual needs, an icon for manual control of the OmniGrip robot arm complements the Saros Z70 device entry.
This can be used to control the arm manually - including live video. However, the possibilities seem quite limited, as the controls require some practice and the arm's movements are quite slow. Using it to throw a toy for a pet from a distance, for example, is definitely out of the question. :-) However, it is still fun, at least for a short while, to tidy up your home manually using a remote-controlled robot.
Navigation and obstacle detection: no laser tower thanks to StarSight
The Saros Z70 from Roborock navigates without a laser turret. Instead, it uses the StarSight System 2.0, which already powers the Roborock Saros 10R. This ensures systematic navigation even without a "lookout" thanks to sensors in the front and rear, although it is not quite as effective as 360-degree LiDAR. This means that the robot occasionally needs a little more time to find its bearings.
Obstacle detection is also at a good level, on a par with the Saros 10R. In the test, the Roborock Saros Z70 reliably detected and avoided most of our usual test obstacles, as long as they were not too small.
Cleaning performance: At a good level
Even though this point is actually the most important one for a robot vacuum, we will keep it short at this point. The cleaning performance of the Roborock Saros Z70 is good and is also on a par with the Saros 10R, which has similar features in many respects and, to put it simply, has had the robotic arm implanted.
The Saros Z70 ensures good dust pick-up on both smooth floors and carpets, even if the cleaning result in the test was not at the very highest level. The higher the carpet gets , the more difficult it becomes. But all robot hoovers have this problem. Hair is also a good keyword, as it hardly gets caught under the robot.
For mopping, the Roborock Saros Z70 uses two rotating mops, one of which can be extended for rimless cleaning. This is not known to be the most thorough mopping method and generally performs worse than a mop roller. All in all, however, there is a solid performance here too.
The special feature: a robotic arm for tidying up
Let's move on to the special feature of the Roborock Saros Z70: the OmniGrip arm. With this, the robot vacuum can independently clear away obstacles on the floor to ensure comprehensive cleaning. In other words, if it detects objects on the floor during cleaning that are within its capabilities, it lifts them to the side (to predefined zones) or sorts them into a collection container provided.
However, the options are quite limited. At the moment, the arm can only pick up socks, sandals, crumpled tissues and towels and place them in a storage area or the basket provided if desired. Hopefully more options will be added here, even if the arm can only lift up to 300 g.
The first time the robot arm moves out of the top of the appliance is truly spectacular. When it then successfully picks up a sock, for example, and places it in the collection container provided, the amazement is huge. Unfortunately, this didn't work as reliably as we would have liked, especially as soon as the Saros Z70 became available.
At the beginning of our test period, the robot reached for a sock, thought it had caught it and then, with its arm raised almost proudly and triumphantly, drove towards the storage area - but without the sock, which remained lying on the floor unchanged. In addition, he sometimes failed to recognize or pick up objects that actually belonged to his area of responsibility or even missed the basket.
Since the last update to version 02.55.42, however, the reliability and quality of the OmniGrip function has improved significantly. At least there have been significantly fewer problems since then, even if not everything worked perfectly in the Roborock Saros Z70 test. This means that the special function of the Saros Z70 definitely makes more sense than in the beginning, even if the possibilities are of course still limited - but will hopefully be further expanded in the future...
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was given to the author by the manufacturer free of charge for the purposes of review. There was no third-party influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
