Roborock's latest flagship robot vacuum cleaner put to the test
A powerful flagship robot vacuum, the Roborock Saros 10R can deep clean your home and mop tough stains. StarSight Autonomous Navigation 2.0 means there’s no dome on top, letting the robot fit under furniture many other rivals can’t. Yes, it's quite expensive and it needs some tweaking to get the best out of it, including, in my case, having to manually add thresholds to the map to get the AdaptiLift Chassis to work. Those minor issues aside, this really is a brilliant robot vacuum cleaner and mop and another success story from the Roborock stable.
Pros
- Powerful 20,000 suction rating
- Smart and capable navigation
- Slim to slide underneath furniture
- Superb deep mopping
Cons
- Needs some configuration to manage thresholds
- No direct vacuum first and mop second option
- Expensive
Roborock Saros 10R: Introduction
- Type: Robot vacuum cleaner with mopping
- Docking: Self-empty, self-cleaning station
- Navigation system: 3D ToF, StarSight Autonomous System
If you thought that Roborock’s naming convention for its ever-growing arsenal of robo cleaners was already confusing, then we’ve got some bad news for you.
Back in January at CES 2025, Roborock brought in the Saros name for its high-end robot vacuum cleaners. That new range includes the forthcoming Roborock Saros Z70, with its robotic arm, and both the Roborock Saros 10R, that I have on review here, and the Roborock Saros 10.
As you can see, the latter two products have very similar names, and are very similar products. The main differences are that the 10R takes the StarSight navigation system, that we saw introduced on the Roborock Qrevo Slim, up to version 2.0, so it doesn’t need a LiDAR tower because it uses next-gen, dual-light, 3D Time-of-Flight sensors instead.
The 10 has a retractable LiDAR dome, similar to that on the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete.
The 10R also has slightly lower suction power than the 10 – 20,000Pa compared to 22,000Pa – and uses spinning microfibre pads for mopping; the 10 uses a vibrating mop pad.
We’ll have a Saros 10 in for testing soon, but in the meantime, we can see how the Roborock Saros 10R stacks up against the main competition at the very top-end of the autonomous cleaning market.
Design and components
- StarSight Autonomous System 2.0
- Mop pads can be removed or raised
- AdaptiLIft chassis
The Roborock Qrevo Slim, despite being in the company’s more budget-friendly range, was the first robot from the company to switch navigation system, dropping the LiDAR dome for a the StartSight Autonomous System.
With the Roborock Saros 10R we get StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, which uses 3D ToF sensing to build a 3D view of its surroundings, all without the need for a LiDAR dome.
At just 7.98cm tall, the Saros 10R is one of the shortest robot vacuum cleaners that I’ve ever seen, and is able to fit under many sofas and other bits of low furniture, such as sideboards.
I should note that both the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete and the Roborock Saros 10 both have sensors that can be retracted into the robot’s body, allowing them to squeeze under low furniture.
The advantage of a top-mounted sensor is that it can get a 360-degree field of view; with StartSight, the robot scans from the front. In practice, I’ve not noticed much difference in navigation ability between the two systems.
Also at the front of the robot is a traditional camera, which uses AI to spot and avoid common obstacles, such as cables, shoes and pet mess.
On the top, the robot has a familiar layout, with one button to start and stop cleaning, and one to send the robot home.
There’s a panel that lifts off for access to the robot’s bin. Given there’s a dock that self-empties, you won’t need to remove the bin for emptying, but you will to clean the filter and to give it a wash out.
Underneath, the Roborock Saros 10R looks quite different to other robot vacuum cleaners I’ve tested, with a DuoDivide floor brush, which has a split in the middle. The idea is that hair is pulled towards the centre of the brush, and sucked up into the bin.
A FlexiArm side brush is on one side, and can extend to clean right into corners, up to edges and even under low bits of furniture, such as a fridge freezer.
The FlexiArm is also available on one of the two mop pads, allowing the robot to clean right to the edges of rooms.
I’ve got the Roborock Saros 10R with the 10-in-1 Multifunctional Dock 4.0, which is a self-emptying, self-cleaning dock that uses water tanks. There’s also a smaller docking station which can be plumbed into your running water.
With the Multifunctional Dock 4.0, you fit 2-litre bags, which should last the best part of two months.
Next to the bin bag is the detergent holder. Roborock doesn’t provide any floor cleaner in the box; I’ve used the robot with my own hard floor cleaner with no ill-effect. Take as look at our guide to using detergents with Roborock machines.
There are then two 3-litre tanks of water, one for dirty and one for clean. That gives you many cleaning cycles without having to refill them.
I tend to empty and wash out the dirty tank when the clean tank needs refilling, and the app will tell you when that’s the case.
Heating the water to 80°C, the dock can effectively clean the mops and remove dirt. At the end of a cleaning cycle, 55°C air is used to dry them, preventing odours from building up.
Like the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete mopping pads, the Roborock Saros 10R’s mopping pads are magnetic. This lets the dock pull them off when they’re not needed in vacuum-only mode, letting you tackle carpets without fear of wetting them.
In addition, the mop pads can lift by 12mm when carpet is detected, allowing the Roborock Saros 10R to move over most short-pile carpets.
Similarly, the floor and side brush can also be lifted, so they’re only ever in contact with the floor when required. For example, when mopping only, the brushes can be lifted, so that wet dirt doesn’t get attached to them.
The AdaptiLift chassis also lets the robot lift its body by 10mm, or either corner. This tech allows the robot to move over some thresholds that other robots can’t navigate (2-to-4cm high), and also to lift itself to deal with deep-pile carpet.
The app
- Powerful and easy to set up
- No direct vacuum and then mop mode
Control of the Roborock Saros 10R, as you’d expect, is via the Roborock app. It’s still one of the best available and mostly easy to use, bar a couple of quirks.
The first thing you’ll need to do is connect the Roborock Saros 10R to the app and your home’s Wi-Fi network, which only takes a few minutes.
Once done, the robot goes out on a mapping run, which again is very quick. With the map built, the app suggest where rooms should be, although it’s easy enough to tweak these.
Advanced options include being able to set the floor type (hard floor or carpet), to help the robot make the right cleaning decisions. And you can set no-go zones if there’s a place you don’t want the robot to go.
Oddly, there’s not an option for a no-mop zone. While the robot’s ability to lift or drop its mop pads means most people won’t want this option, I’d still like it. There are many homes that have delicate floors that may not want to risk them getting wet.
There are system-wide settings for dealing with carpet. The default is Dynamic Lift, to lift the mop pads; however, you can also set the robot to ignore carpets or only to cross them when necessary.
Additional settings include setting carpet boost, which turns up the suction power when carpet is detected; Deep cleaning, where carpets are vacuumed after a room is cleaned; and to vacuum carpets first before wetting the mop pad.
It’s also well worth turning on the option to return to a very dirty area for a second mop.
I also recommend using the AI Laboratory section to turn on the options to spot stains and turn on deep cleaning automatically, and to extend FlexiArm under crevices.
There’s an excellent choice of cleaning options. SmartPlan is the simplest, letting the robot automatically work out how best to clean your home. You can turn this off and set the robot to clean your entire home, a room (or rooms of your choice) or a zone you draw on the map.
Zones can also include furniture that you add to the map, and then tap. For example, I can quickly clean around my dining table with just a couple of taps.
There’s a choice to vacuum only, mop only or vacuum and mop. It’s a little annoying that there’s no option here for vacuum first and then mop; instead, you have to set this option via a schedule.
With the manual selection, there are four main vacuum modes (Quiet, Balanced, Turbo and Max), but stick the robot in vacuum-only mode and get Max+ for even more power.
Mopping gives you three water flow levels, but mop-only mode gives you two more routing options for a deeper clean.
Voice control is available via Amazon Alexa, Google Home and the integrated Hello Rocky. Typically, I find it easier to use schedules, the app for targeted cleaning, or just the button on the front.
Finally, Matter support will be available via a firmware update at some point in the future.
Performance
- Excellent vacuuming
- Brilliant mopping with the right tweaks
- Threshold climbing needed help
Letting the Roborock Saros 10R roam around my test environment, I was impressed with how well it navigated.
It dived under my tricky corner sofa without getting stuck, and managed to move around cables, shoes and fake pet mess that I had lying around. I’m not saying that this robot won’t ever get stuck, but it’s likely to happen a lot less frequently than with cheaper models.
I did struggle a little to get threshold climbing working. Laying a board down between rooms, the Roborock Saros 10R initially refused to climb over it. I had to go back into the app and set the threshold on the floor, which got the robot to climb over it; I didn’t have to do this with the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete.
I put a deep pile rug on the floor and let the robot run over it, which it did without getting stuck and continuing to vacuum.
With 20,000Pa of suction power, the Roborock Saros 10R is one of the most powerful robot vacuum cleaners available: that’s 10,000Pa more powerful than the previous flagship, the S8 MaxV Ultra.
Cleaning, as you’d expect, is excellent. Carpets are cleaned brilliantly, hard floors tackled easily, and dirt is removed right into the corners.
Mopping is generally very good. I set the Roborock Saros 10R to the highest water flow level and turned on dirt detection.
Most stains were removed in two passes, but I had to use two more passes to clean up a tricky ketchup stain. Still, the Roborock Saros 10R managed the job and I didn’t have to get the hard floor cleaner out.
Testing with both pet hair and long strands of human hair, the Roborock Saros 10R picked up everything without hair getting tangled around any of the brushes.
Battery life is quoted at 180 minutes on the lowest setting. Even on higher settings and with multiple passes selected, the Roborock Saros 10R has enough power to get around a typical floor, leaving enough in the tank for spot jobs.
Final thoughts
The Roborock Saros 10R is an excellent robot vacuum cleaner. It’s powerful, smart and can fit under gaps that many other robots can’t. The Roborock Saros 10R is a bit more expensive than the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete, which has similar features and needed slightly less configuration to get the best results.
However, smart navigation and the ability to tackle any kind of stain means that this is a quality robot vacuum cleaner and is worth the extra outlay.
How we test
When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests.
Robot cleaners usually live within an ecosystem, or a range of products that – supposedly – all work in harmony. And they are designed to offer a range of different cleaning options. Therefore, it’s impossible to use a robo cleaner for a week and deliver a verdict.
Because we’re testing smart home kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular smart cleaning machine compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.
Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.
Read our guide on how we test robot vacuum cleaners to learn more.
Roborock Saros 10R: Specifications
| Manufacturer | Roborock |
| Model number | Roborock Saros 10R |
| Release date | 2025 |
| UK price | £1,599.99 |
| USA price | $1,599.99 |
| Robot size (W x D) | 13.8 x 13.9 x 3.1 inches / 35 x 35.3 x 7.98cm |
| Dock dimensions (W x D x H) | 18.7 x 15 x 19.2 inches / 47.5 x 38.1 x 48.8cm |
| Max suction | 20,000Pa |
| Bin capacity | 2 litres |
| Water tank volume (dock) | 3L clean, 3L dirty |
| Charge time | 2.5 hrs |
| Modes | Four vacuum settings, four mop settings |
| Mop option | Dual microfibre mopping pads |
| Smart home compatibility | Alexa, Google Home, Matter (coming soon) |
