With iOS 18.4, Apple added support for robot vacuums to HomeKit, and some of the companies that make robot vacuums have started offering products with Matter integration. Matter-compatible robot vacuums can be added to HomeKit and controlled via Siri voice commands and the Home app.
Roborock is one of the companies that's adopting Matter, and the Roborock Saros 10R now works with HomeKit. The Saros 10R is one of Roborock's flagship vacuums and it's relatively new, so like most of these Matter-enabled vacuum options, it does not come cheap. It's $1,600, but it does have Roborock's most advanced feature set.
Design and Size
The Saros 10R is just over three inches tall, so it's compact enough to fit under all of my furniture. I have a TV stand that's about four inches that a different robot vacuum isn't able to fit underneath, but I haven't run into that problem with the Saros 10R.
There are a lot of components in robot vacuums, so the thin build is a feat of engineering, and having a robot that can get under all of my furniture is a major plus. When I manually vacuum with a Dyson stick, I can't reach all of the areas that the Saros 10R can, so my house ends up cleaner when the robot handles the vacuuming and mopping.
While the Saros 10R is thin, it's still on the larger side, measuring in at around 13 inches. If you have a smaller space with a lot of furniture, it might be too large to effectively clean, but I've been impressed with the narrow spaces it can maneuver through. Since it's round, it can get itself into and out of some tight fits.
I mostly use the app to send the Saros 10R off to clean or to resume cleaning after a pause, but there are buttons on the device itself. The power button turns it on or sends it to clean if it's already on, and the dock button sends it home. A long press on the dock button activates a spot cleaning feature.
All of the robot vacuums have base stations, and the Saros 10R base station is fairly large, but it kind of blends into the background, like a vacuum or a mop might. The base station is black plastic and it includes several components. There's a dust bag that collects the dust and hair the robot picks up, a clean water bin for wetting and washing the mop, a section for floor cleaning solution, a dirty water bin for collecting the water used to wash the mop, a dryer for drying the mop, and a ramp that helps the robot get up onto the base to charge.
The dock weighs around 25 pounds, so it's probably not something you're going to want to cart around if you have multiple floors in your home. I'm not sure if people who have multi-story homes purchase more than one vacuum, but carrying the robot and base station upstairs would be a workout. The dock has an LED on it that turns red if there's a problem or white when the robot is charging, and it needs to be placed on a hard surface with about two feet around it to make sure there's space for the robot to dock itself.
Roborock says to use its proprietary cleaning solution because other solutions can damage the internals of the vacuum. Some companies like Bona make cleaning solutions specifically for robot vacuums, and I didn't have an issue using that kind of cleaning fluid.
There are rubber wheels at the bottom of the robot, and they come out far enough to help it get over thresholds and to lift it over carpets. I have a threshold that's about an inch in one spot, and it's able to navigate it fine. The mops are able to lift up enough that it can vacuum rugs while mopping without getting the rugs wet.
Navigation
The Saros 10R has what Roborock calls its "StarSight" autonomous system, which is basically several sensors. It has a front camera and sensor for detecting obstacles, and it has a wall sensor for determining where walls are located.
The first cleaning with the Saros 10R starts off with a mapping feature where the robot maps all of the rooms that it is able to access, and then while cleaning, it continually scans for and identifies pet messes, pets, cords, furniture that's hard to navigate, and other obstacles. You can opt in to have the robot take a picture whenever it encounters an obstacle, so you can see what it's avoiding.
Its sensors do a good job mapping out a room and even identifying the furniture in the room, which helps it determine what a room is. If it sees a dining table, for example, it'll label that room as a dining room.
It's able to identify pet messes so that it doesn't drag a mess around the entire house, and it's also excellent at detecting cables that should be avoided, so it doesn't get tangled up. It doesn't run into walls or furniture, and the extending mops and the side brush let it get into nooks, crannies, corners, and the sides of walls when cleaning even as it's avoiding obstacles.
Cleaning Features
Most of the robot vacuums have the same general vacuuming features, with variations in suction and the roller bar design. The Saros 10R has what Roborock calls a "DuoDivide" anti-tangle brush, and I haven't seen it get tangled. I have wood floors, four cats, and two people with long hair, and there hasn't been clogging or tangling. Hair and fuzz can get wrapped around the bearings of the rubber wheels on the bottom and that's not fun to remove, but it hasn't stopped the vacuum from functioning.
As for suction, it picks up every speck of dust and cat hair from my floors, which are wood. It hasn't damaged my wood floors, which is always a concern with a vacuum, and it does a good job keeping them almost spotless. It also does well with my large rugs, but it can struggle with smaller rugs that get stuck. It's never been entirely tripped up by a rug unlike my other robot vacuum from a different brand, so it's not a problem that requires my interference. There is a side brush that's able to sweep dust from corners, curves, around furniture, and along walls so that it can be vacuumed up, and it's effective.
Of note, I have one large rug that sheds continually and the robot can keep it clean. My Dyson vacuum has a hard time with this rug because the fluff clogs it up. I have another rug in my laundry room that is a lint and fur magnet. The standard hard floor attachment on my Dyson that I use 99 percent of the time can't clean it, but the Saros 10R sucks up all the lint that's become one with the rug with no problem. It's at least on par with my Dyson (a V15 Detect), and better for some areas.
I want to point out that I have all hard flooring with just rugs and no rooms with carpet, so I haven't tested the vacuum on carpet. If you have carpet, check out other reviews too, because I don't want to speak to its carpet performance with just rugs to test with.
The Saros 10R doesn't just vacuum, it also mops, and the mopping functions are what distinguish robot vacuums from one another. Roborock is using a set of dual spinning mops for the Saros 10R, each of which is about-palm sized. The two mops work in unison, and the robot can cover a good amount of floor space with no real gaps, providing a thorough clean.
The mops can clean well around chair legs and other furniture, because they can extend out from the robot somewhat for a closer clean. Dried on stains like ketchup can take a few passes, but everything else comes up immediately. The Saros 10R goes back to the base station to wash the mop, and the default time is 15 minutes.
Noise Levels
The Saros 10R is quiet when mopping, but when it's vacuuming, it sounds like a vacuum. You're not going to want to run it while you're trying to work or watch TV, but noise cancelling headphones like the AirPods Pro block it out enough to run it while you're home.
Roborock App
Robot vacuums seem to have apps with endless settings, and the Roborock app is no exception. Setup is simple, and the app walks you through the steps (basically just connecting to Wi-Fi), and through the mapping, cleaning, and maintenance process.
The built-in sensors in the Saros 10R can map all accessible areas, and can also detect furniture to determine room type. There are also settings that allow it to detect objects on the ground and snap photos, so you can see what it's avoiding and how the AI is working. After a map has been completed, the Saros 10R is ready to clean. There are multiple cleaning modes that combine vacuuming and mopping, and you can select different suction settings for the vacuum and water settings for the mopping. There are also modes for quick, standard, and deep cleaning.
You can follow along on the map to see where the robot has cleaned, the pattern it used, and areas that it might have skipped due to obstacles. It's super detailed, and the feature to show pictures of what the robot noticed and skipped is useful. It detects pets (and can avoid them), cables, furniture where it can become trapped, pet messes, fabric, extra dirty areas, and more. I have rarely had an issue with the Saros 10R getting itself stuck because the AI to avoid cables and other obstacles is excellent.
The Map created by the robot can be edited, so if it doesn't do a great job separating out rooms, it's possible to manually fix it. I have an open floor plan, so I went in and sectioned things out so that I could have it clean specific rooms. If you have multiple floors, you can create more than one map. You can add areas, remove areas, and block areas for customized cleaning.
There is an option in the app to watch the Saros 10R camera live so you can see what it's doing and check in on pets. I didn't have many instances where there were issues, but if it does catch a cord or something, the app sends an alert so it can be addressed.
The app supports setting up a cleaning schedule, so I have assigned it to clean different areas on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which splits up the cleaning so it doesn't need to be running for hours a day. I also have different cleaning scenarios that group rooms together with variable cleaning parameters that change factors like suction power for rooms without rugs.
HomeKit Integration
Thanks to Matter support, the Roborock Saros 10R can be added to HomeKit and it shows up in the Home app. It can be controlled with the Home app, or with Siri voice commands.
HomeKit is more limited than what's possible with the Roborock app, but Siri integration has proven more useful than expected. When the kitchen is messy after eating, I can say "Hey Siri, clean the kitchen," and the Saros 10R is able to do that based on the rooms I setup in the Roborock app.
In the Home app, there's support for automations that rely on other HomeKit products. If for some reason I want the Saros 10R to vacuum when I turn on a light, I can set that up. The Home app can also be used to have the robot clean at specific times, when a sensor detects something, or when people leave the home, which is perhaps the most useful option.
For starting a random cleaning, the Home app is less useful. It doesn't include all of the various cleaning modes and settings, but you can choose to vacuum, mop, or vacuum and mop. You can have the robot clean the entire house or specific rooms.
Maintenance
The Saros 10R is a complicated piece of machinery that does require some maintenance, though it hasn't been too overwhelming yet. So far, I've had to empty the dirty water tank, fill the clean water tank, replace cleaning fluid, clean the sensors, and clean the base.
Eventually I'll need to replace the filter and the dust bag (which should be done once a month), and swap in new mop heads. There are estimated lifespans for some of the hardware like the side brush, while others suggest replacing on an as-needed basis. The mop and bristles of the various brushes can wear out over time, with replacements available from Roborock.
Battery and Cleaning Time
The Saros 10R can't clean my entire house on a single charge, and it typically needs to charge at least once if I'm not splitting up the cleaning by room. Cleaning time can vary based on settings, such as suction power and whether it's set to "deep" clean with multiple passes, but here are a couple of scenarios.
Cleaning 1
- Started at 12:30, full cleaning. 150 square meters total.
- Ran out of battery at 14:47 and had to charge.
- Resumed cleaning at 16:59.
- Finished at 20:07. Total cleaning time: 244 minutes, 1 charge.
Cleaning 2
- Started at 10:31. Deep clean, 199 square meters.
- Ran out of battery at 13:21, and had to recharge.
- Resumed at 15:32, finished at 17:49. Total cleaning time: 291 minutes.
Cleaning 3
- Started at 18:23, three main rooms, 81 square meters. Standard clean.
- Finished at 21:49. Total cleaning time: 133 minutes.
Cleaning 4
- Started at 10:00 on schedule. Full clean, 101 square meters.
- Finished at 14:38. Total cleaning time: 164 minutes.
The Saros 10R is not quick unless I have it in the quick mode that leaves more space between passes. It takes a significant amount of time for a clean, and it can and will run almost all day if I set it to clean the entire house and it needs to charge. Cleaning in sections means it doesn't need to charge as often.
It takes around 2.5 hours for it to charge up, but it will always resume when it runs out of battery.
Bottom Line
The Saros 10R is one of Roborock's newest cleaning bots, and of the few that I've tried, it's the most impressive. My floor looks and feels much cleaner, and it takes almost no interaction from me. There have been a few instances where the robot gets itself tangled in cords and loses a mop, but the obstacle avoidance is good enough that it avoids a lot of cable issues, stays away from any pet messes, and knows not to get itself trapped in furniture that's hard to navigate. It doesn't struggle with my rugs, or the thresholds between rooms.
It's the most hands-off cleaning experience that I've had, and that has value. I don't have to spend over an hour a week vacuuming and more when I mop, I don't have to fuss with the robot, and the floor is clean throughout the week. I do wish the battery lasted longer because it can't get through the house on a single charge when it's vacuuming and mopping, but that's manageable by splitting up the areas cleaned each day.
At this price, a robot vacuum needs to be essentially perfect, and able to hold up to longterm daily use. I tested the Saros 10R by using it daily for a little over two months, because I wanted to give it more time than I would the average review. It's so far held up and continues to work well, but I'm going to keep using it to give updates on its longevity.
It definitely cleans super well, navigates almost perfectly, and is easy to use, but I expect something priced this high to work for a long time, and that's not a metric I can judge just yet.
How to Buy
The Saros 10R can be purchased from the Roborock website or from Amazon for $1,600.
Note: Roborock provided MacRumors with a Saros 10R for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
Top Rated Comments
That’s what I’ve never understood about these devices. And it’s not just stairs, presumably doors stop them too. It’s essentially a device for a single room, or at most a single open plan area. People who own them - how do you handle this? Do you have the robots just for particularly busy/dirt prone areas, and clean everywhere else manually? Do you move them about? Do you have multiple?