Roborock Saros 10 Is Great (but It’s Not My Favorite Roborock)
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show ( CES ), Roborock announced that it was changing the naming convention of its high-end robots to SAROS (I’m told that’s not an acronym for anything). Much of the focus has been on the Saros Z70, which has an arm that can be used to pick up items, but Roborock has also released two additional robot vacuums, the Saros 10 and Saros 10r. I’ve had Robot 10 running in my home for a few weeks now, and it’s a great look at the future of floor cleaning robots as it has many of the same features we saw at CES.
Overall, I liked Saros 10; This is clearly the successor to Roborock’s S8 line with a number of improvements, and while I thought it was much better than many of the other robot vacuums I’ve tested recently, I don’t think it’s any better than other Roborock models currently being released .
Saros 10 has a sleek metal body.
In the last few versions of the robots, Roborock has used molded black or white plastic with metal inserts. It recently moved away from the boxy shape that most robot docks offer with the Curv , which lives up to its name with a soft arc to the design. The Saros 10 looks downright futuristic, resting on brushed metal with curved white (or black) metallic accents. Unlike other brands that build docks that look like skyscrapers, Roborock’s docks are still a little wider, but are lower to the ground and can accommodate more space.
Under the hood of the “10” there is a tank for dirty and clean water, each of which holds about four liters of water. A panel at the front of the dock opens to reveal a vacuum bag and a dedicated cleaning solution dock. Moreover, it is just a container; you do not need to purchase cartridges of a certain brand; you can use any solution you want, although apparently Roborock advises you to use their solution .
The robot itself is thinner than previous versions of this brand or others. Although I lifted most of my furniture to make it easier for the robots (or myself) to clean it up, the Saros 10 even snuggled under the middle of the sofa, which is sagging a bit.
The LiDAR tower on the Saros 10 is retractable.
The Saros 10 managed to be so thin because it started moving away from LiDAR, the mapping system that almost all robot vacuum cleaners have been using for the past year or two. This light-based technology has required a small tower (like a button) on robot vacuum cleaners in recent years, making it a little taller. The number 10 makes this tower retractable, so when the robot moves in a tight space, such as under a table or sofa, it disappears into the robot. At this stage, the robot relies on cameras, lighting and a little artificial intelligence.
This is nothing unusual; most robots move in this direction, getting help from artificial intelligence and built-in cameras that help distinguish what is in front of the robot and whether they should ignore it (like if your pet recently had an accident) or cross it (say, a cord) . Roborock has a lot of fancy brand words for this new navigation and artificial intelligence, but ultimately it means the robot can work at night, in tight spaces, and is less likely to get stuck.
The experience with the Roborock app remains excellent
Like its predecessors, the Saros 10 comes out of a huge box; all you have to do is plug it in and dock the robot. It connected in seconds by scanning a QR code on the robot itself, and once I filled the water tank it was ready for its first journey.
Typically, on your first visit, the robot will leave the dock and use LiDAR to create an incredibly accurate linear map of your space in a matter of seconds, just by “looking around.” The Saros 10, perhaps thanks to the extra power of its cameras and artificial intelligence, looked around less quickly, nose to every corner of the room. The end result was a map that, yes, was accurate in terms of measuring space, but also contained layers of information that no other robotic app had captured in such detail.
For the first time, every piece of furniture, every rug, and every cord was laid out in the app. He doesn’t realize that the obstacle he’s facing is the air purifier, but he’s captured its shape in the app. This is important for two reasons: first, having precise reference points in the room allows you to create cleaning zones much more accurately—usually a guess. Secondly, it shows how useful AI is because correctly identifying what a robot is encountering means it can more accurately decide what to do with that item. Low-pile carpet requires different pressure than tile flooring.
All the other aspects of the Roborock app that I like, including the “pin and go” feature that allows you to pin a point on the ground and the robot will go there and clean it if you want. I also like the remote control feature, which turns the app into a remote control for the robot so you can point it anywhere.
More suction does not mean better vacuum
Over the past few weeks, meeting the engineers behind many of the robots that debuted at CES, I’ve been able to really dig into details that most people would consider trivial. Among them, the design of the sweeping arm of the vacuum cleaner has changed to become two-prong instead of three-prong, and it swings away from the robot to collect more dust and move closer to the wall. And while other robots oscillate between one or two rollers, Saros is the first I’ve seen with a split-roller design, which Roborock says virtually eliminates hair from getting into the machine.
I have found that these items work well to pick up debris from the floor, whether it is from carpet, carpet, tile or wood. While it did the job well, I don’t think it did as well as the Curv or Narwal Freo Z.
What’s even more interesting is that Saros 10 has incredible suction power: 22,000 Pa. That’s more than double the size of most robots we saw last year, but to be honest, it didn’t mean much to me. I asked engineers why Pa was rising so high – and whether it even mattered – and at least one admitted to me that it was done mainly for marketing purposes. This number shouldn’t be ignored when purchasing a robot, but it shouldn’t be the deciding factor either.
Saros 10 returns to the mop
The main difference between the previous lines – the S8 and the QRevo line – was the mops. The QRevo line is equipped with two rotating nozzles, and the S8 line has one vibrating nozzle. I have always preferred the pad because it cleans better. But as more and more robots moved to rotating platforms, I reconsidered. After thirty minutes of scrubbing the Saros 10 floors with just one vibrating pad, I was reminded of how much better they are at picking up real dirt from the floor.
In the case of Saros, two additional factors contribute to this: firstly, water at a temperature of 176°, which constantly cleans the pillow. Second, the robot’s chassis—essentially the robot itself—can lift its front end. While this is intended to help it navigate better, it is also used to apply pressure to the back of the robot, where the pad is located, and thus the mop makes better contact with the floor.
Saros 10 doesn’t climb stairs (but thinks it does)
Another company, Dreame, introduced a stair-climbing robot this year (which, for the record, can only climb inclines two inches high). The thing is, the Saros 10 can’t be far behind, as it has cleared two-inch thresholds in my home on multiple occasions. This means your robot can get into a lot of trouble. Mine kept falling from a high threshold that no other robot could do more than crash into. The point of raising the chassis isn’t to climb stairs (yet); this will help your robot overcome cords and other obstacles in its path. It is interesting to watch how the robot tries to navigate in space using on-board artificial intelligence. In many ways, this is an ambitious attempt to do more than it should.
This is where AI is really useful, even if you’re a skeptic like me. Every time the robot decided to go out, it got better. He was clearly exploring both my space and my things.
Bottom line
The Saros 10 is probably a better investment than many other robots in its price range ($1,399 when it launches on February 10). I don’t think it’s a better robot than other RoboRocks. If you were to buy one tomorrow, I’d likely recommend Curv ; but if you can wait, I’d wait to see how the Saros Z70 (the one with the arm) is reviewed.