I’ve tried a robot vacuum with an arm, now here’s one with legs

Earlier this year, I tried the Roborock Saros Z70 – it’s the robot vacuum with a mechanical arm capable of lifting socks, cables, and other small objects like something out of Robot Gladiators. The vision was sound, but it wasn’t perfect. The arm didn’t always work, and cleaning power seemed to take a back seat. Roborock has seemingly changed direction, showing off a robot vacuum with legs.

• Read more: I reviewed the Roborock robot vac with an arm – it would be brilliant, if only it cleaned better

At CES 2026, I got to see Roborock’s Saros Rover. It’s a robot vacuum that doesn’t get scared of stairs. It climbs them. With actual legs. Yes, real, bendy, folding legs – not some janky scissor lift situation. And it works. I watched the Saros Rover handle everything from standard stairs to carpeted bullnose ones with ease. It’s a little on the slow side – about it took almost a minute to climb five steps – but that’s not a huge problem if you set it to clean when you’re not at home.

The Saros Rover goes for it anchors itself with one leg, hoists up, cleans the step, then repeats. Eufy’s Marswalker that was shown off last year can’t do that, and is nowhere to be seen. The legs are fully integrated. That means no extra attachments, just one unit climbing stairs and stepping over obstacles.

Of course, the legs offer the “wow factor”, but what actually makes the Saros Rover special is software. This thing has a sense of balance and movement that puts me to shame. At one point, I saw it stumble slightly but it managed to correct itself without falling flat on its back. I can’t say the same thing about me riding a Lime scooter. Roborock says it uses AI combined with motion sensors and 3D spatial mapping to navigate and dodge obstacles – the same sensors robot vac already use to navigate.

Roborock is pretty confident that the Saros Rover can handle any home environment. I saw it reverse on a ramp, swerve mid-climb, and in a video, it even dodged tennis balls being lobbed at it by engineers. That’s meant to simulate pets or children, apparently.

Is it fast? Absolutely not. Is it elegant? Not quite. But it’s ambitious in a way that’s actually useful – unlike a mechanical arm that won’t open while the robot’s on carpet. I just hope it manages to clean as well as Roborock’s non-gimmicky vacs, which are rather excellent at sucking up grime.

There’s no price or release date yet, but this robot vac is coming soon. The Saros Z70 launched at $2599, so I wouldn’t expect this stair-climbing vac to come cheap.

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