Mostly armless: life with the Roborock Saros S70 and taking a (shallow) step into the future

I’ve spent the past few weeks attempting to offload some of the domestic burden onto a next generation piece of home technology from Roborock. The new Saros Z70 is a cleaning robot that promises great things. Can it deliver?

As anyone who’s tried to spread the load with smart devices probably knows, set up and day-to-day convenience are the key to making technology work for you, rather than simply adding another layer of digital bureaucracy. Whether that’s apps that need to be updated and signed into, or subtle but irritating shifts in behaviour, furniture and expectations that need to be made to accommodate ‘clever’ new technology, nothing is ever quite as seamless as it’s made to seem.

Despite the dauntingly large and heavy package that arrived, unboxing and setting up the new Roborock Saros Z70 was actually a blissfully straightforward operation. Granted, blissfully straightforward in 2025 still means downloading an app, creating an account, and removing lots and lots of bits of plastic and paper. Once up and running, the Z70 needs to be sent off on a scouting mission to determine the lay of the land.

It’s at this point that I realised that a typical Victorian terrace is not the open expanse of single level space that the Z70 is designed to thrive in. With a suite of sensors, including a camera and LiDAR (laser light modelling that scans surfaces and obstacles), the Z70 builds up a fairly convincing floorplan of the living area and hallway, baulking at the step down into the kitchen and choosing to ignore the staircase altogether.

The little robot also makes a note of the docking station so it can return to top up power, offload the sweepings into an easy-to-remove container and even clean and refresh the water for its mopping function. The self-cleaning function uses warm water and there's also onboard drying. Unfortunately, the mop attachments didn’t feel suitable for an ageing, splintered wood floor, so I decided to focus on busting dust.

Then it’s on to the first clean. There’s a rather jarring voice function (the robot can also be voice controlled and therefore instructed to clean certain areas at certain times), and the operation is not exactly whisper quiet. It might not be louder than using a conventional vacuum, but the fact that it’s trundling around doing its thing in the background cannot help but be a distraction. That’s presumably where the automated program function comes in, allowing the Z70 to sweep up or mop when you’re out and about or even asleep.

Whilst probing the darker corners of my sitting room (using its powerful light to catch any hiding dust bunnies), the Z70 made neat work of gliding under sofas and around chairs, although it got stuck once or twice after misjudging a gap (the robot is just under 8cm tall). It can climb up the edge of a hefty rug, thanks to the clever tilting mechanism that also allows it to mount smallish steps. In practice, however, the edges of my rug turned out to be a favourite place to leave scraps of this and that as the robot heaved itself from one level to another.

The S70's main party trick is much harder to coax into the open. Concealed within an upper hatch is the OmniGrip mechanical arm, a simple, lightweight appendage that seems to be dedicated to picking up socks and tissues. The cleaner comes with a flimsy card bin festooned with QR codes so the robot can find it and deposit whatever it’s scooped up.

In practice, the Roborock was somewhat workshy when it came to picking anything up at all. The stuff is responds to best has to be pretty obvious and not too bulky - socks, tissues, 'light shoes', etc. It's fun, albeit a little unethical, to make a mess just so the little robot helper can scoot over and clear it up but I didn't trust it to do its own thing. There's also the ability to operate the multi-axis robotic arm manually via the app, but life really is too short.

Perhaps future iterations will be a bit stronger and more flexible? There’s a conceivable scenario wherein the robot could remotely offload whatever the cat drags in, but then again, coming home to freestanding cardboard bin full of dead birds and mice might not be the best result.

If you don’t think I’m sold on the merits of the Saros S70, you’re probably right. Some degree of robotised home automation is doubtless on its way, distinct from the world of smart devices, sensors and lighting controls. Yet even early adopters and those most enamoured with the next big thing don’t live in uniform, identical homes; our domestic spheres are vastly disparate, creating a huge challenge for any kind of robot to navigate them, let alone undertake a useful task at the same time.

If you live in the sleek expanse of single level loft, have waterproof floors and a chronic sock-losing habit, the Saros S70 could be your saviour. For the rest of us, this little robot is more novelty than essential aid. And that is probably how it will remain for the foreseeable future.

Roborock Saros Z70, £1,799, available in black and white from UK.Roborock.com, Amazon.co.uk