Roborock Saros Z70 Review: A Robot Vacuum With a Claw Arm

Introduction

The Roborock Saros Z70 is a robot vacuum that stands out for one obvious reason: it has a robotic arm with a claw. Instead of just avoiding obstacles like socks and shoes, this vacuum picks them up and moves them out of the way. It is a genuinely new approach to home cleaning, and it raises an interesting question about where robot vacuums are headed.

This review covers how the arm works in real-world conditions, how well the vacuum cleans, and what limitations exist with this first-generation technology.

Who This Product Is For

The Saros Z70 is aimed at households where clutter on the floor is a constant battle. If you have young children who leave shoes, socks, and soft toys scattered around, or a dog with plush toys that end up everywhere, this vacuum offers a way to keep floors clear without constant manual pickup.

It also appeals to early adopters who enjoy controlling smart home devices. The manual arm controls turn cleanup into something closer to a video game, and the ability to check on your home remotely through the arm’s camera adds practical value.

For anyone who already tidies up before running a vacuum, the arm may feel unnecessary. But for busy families, the automatic pickup feature can genuinely reduce daily friction.

The Claw Arm in Action

The defining feature of the Saros Z70 is its robotic arm, which folds out from the top of the vacuum. When you first see it extend, it is hard not to be impressed. The arm has four movements: rotating the claw, moving the arm up and down, moving it forward and backward, and opening and closing the claw.

You can control the arm manually through the app, almost like a remote control. There is a camera on the end of the arm, so you can see exactly what the claw is grabbing. A light on the arm also makes it easy to see in dark areas under furniture.

The claw is surprisingly strong. Roborock rates it for items up to 300 grams, but manual testing showed it can handle heavier objects without issue. Safety sensors are built in, including one on top of the vacuum to stop the arm from popping out unexpectedly and sensors on the arm joints that halt movement if something gets pinched. The hardware feels solid, and Roborock says the arm only takes up about 10 percent of the vacuum’s internal space.

Automatic Object Pickup

The more impressive feature is automatic pickup. When the vacuum starts cleaning and spots a sock, it grabs it and moves it to a safe spot rather than trying to avoid it. This prevents the common problem where a vacuum avoids one object, bumps into something else, and then gets tangled in the sock anyway.

Roborock includes a storage bin that you can place anywhere on the map. The vacuum will carry socks, tissues, and similar items to this bin automatically. If the bin is in a corner of the house, the trip can take a while, so a central location works better. You can also choose a drop-off spot instead if you prefer.

After the main cleaning pass, the vacuum does a follow-up cleaning. It moves shoes a short distance to an already-cleaned area, finishes cleaning where the shoes were, and then moves on. This keeps the whole floor clean without wasting much time.

The Z70 can also sort certain objects. Shoes, for example, get carried to a designated shoe storage zone that you mark on the map. Soft toys are picked up too, though they currently get placed with everything else rather than sorted into separate areas. Roborock says sorting different item types into separate storage zones will come with future software updates.

Limitations to Consider

This is a first-generation product running beta software, so there are some limitations worth knowing about. Automatic pickup does not work on carpet. The vacuum seems to struggle analyzing fabric items like socks when they are on carpeted surfaces.

The arm will only grab certain types of shoes automatically, mainly sandals that are easy to grip. Tennis shoes are not picked up automatically at this time, even though the arm has the physical ability to grab them through manual controls. Roborock says the list of items the vacuum can pick up will grow with software updates.

There are also occasional misses. The arm sometimes fails to grab a shoe or sock on the first attempt, though it will try again. In some cases, it failed on a shoe it had successfully picked up before. Navigation also seemed slightly worse while carrying a shoe, possibly because the object avoidance sensitivity is turned up too high during transport. Sometimes the vacuum did not make it to the storage area, even when a previous shoe was stored without issue.

These are the kinds of growing pains you might expect from brand new technology. None of the issues seem unfixable, and firmware updates should address many of them over time.

Cleaning Performance and Hardware

Beyond the arm, the Saros Z70 is a capable robot vacuum. Suction power reaches up to 22,000 Pascals, which is plenty for carpets and hard floors. Dual spinning mops handle mopping duties, and they automatically detach in the dock when the vacuum is only doing a vacuuming pass.

The vacuum can lift itself to avoid getting stuck, and it uses StarSight instead of lidar for mapping. StarSight provides similar mapping accuracy but is better at detecting objects to prevent getting stuck. Without a lidar sensor on top, the vacuum keeps a slim profile that lets it slide under furniture.

The self-cleaning dock washes the mop, empties the dust bin, and adds cleaning solution to the mop water automatically. One notable change from other Saros models is the FreeFlow main brush, which has grooves that cut hair as the brush spins, similar to an electric razor. Roborock chose this design instead of the DuoDivide brush to make room for the arm inside the vacuum. The side brush can lift up, extend to clean corners, and resists hair tangling.

Navigation and Mapping

The Saros Z70 supports Matter, which adds useful smart home integration. After updating the Matter controller, the vacuum worked with automation routines, such as cleaning a specific room when all phones leave the house.

Mapping performance is strong thanks to StarSight. The vacuum builds accurate maps of the home and detects objects reliably, which reduces the chance of getting stuck. The slim profile is a practical advantage for homes with low furniture, and the arm’s camera adds a useful extra view when checking on the house remotely.

Buying Advice

The Roborock Saros Z70 is an impressive piece of technology, but it is also a first-generation product. If you enjoy being an early adopter and want to see where robot vacuums are headed, this is a genuinely exciting device. The arm works well for picking up socks, shoes, and soft toys, and the vacuum itself cleans floors effectively.

If you prefer to wait for technology to mature, there are reasons to hold off. Automatic pickup does not work on carpet yet, the arm only grabs certain shoe types, and occasional misses are part of the experience. These issues will likely improve with software updates, but they exist right now.

For families with young children or pets who leave clutter around, the Z70 offers real convenience. It handles the annoying task of picking up socks and shoes so you do not have to. For everyone else, it is a fascinating glimpse at the future of home robotics, even if that future is still being refined.

Conclusion

The Roborock Saros Z70 is more than just a robot vacuum. It is a step toward a new era of smart home technology where robots do more than clean. The claw arm is fun to control, genuinely useful for tidying up, and backed by solid cleaning hardware.

It is not perfect. Beta software means occasional hiccups, and the automatic pickup has clear limitations. But the core concept works, and it is easy to see how this technology will improve. If you are ready to embrace the future of home cleaning, the Saros Z70 is a compelling choice.