The new Saros 20 Flow robot vacuum is Roborock’s new flagship robot cleaner, with an ultra-slim design and a powerful digital motor that delivers 36,000 Pa of HyperForce suction.
With an RRP of $2,799, the Roborock Saros 20 Flow features:
The Saros 20 Flow is a stylish vacuum with a matte surface, and although it looks a bit cheaper in matte, it still looks acceptable – thanks to the slim design and the retractable navigation sensor. Even when the RetractSense Navigation System retracts, the robot can still navigate accurately using the 100-degree rear-view camera.
The Robodock base station is more of the same with a matte finish and the water tanks on the top. It is far from the best-looking base station I have seen before but it is not the worst.
Underneath the vacuum is the roller mop, two fixed but dual-lifting side brushes and the dual anti-tangle main brush. We are seeing a lot more robot vacuums with this roller mop and having tested out both, this solution seems to work a lot better than the older rotating pads mopping solution – more on that below.
Other notable features include live video with the ability to steer the robot around your house remotely from the app, Roborock’s built-in voice assistant, and compatibility with Matter, Alexa, Siri, and Google Home.
Setup has been much simpler than the last time I set up a Roborock vacuum. The app now automatically walks you through all the major settings you need for a brilliant clean every time. This is a fantastic new addition by Roborock; before, many settings were hidden in the app and were hard to find.
Mapping was super fast, super simple, and accurate. It did mess up the room names a bit, but not too much. Changing room names is super simple in the app’s map management section.
Map management also guides you through creating rises, borders, no-go zones and more on the map, and it was incredibly simple to set up thoroughly. This is something you do once and then forget forever.
The map was a little bit confusing at times though, because after editing the map it added sections onto the sides of certain rooms – after editing the rooms to begin and start correctly, though these automatically fixed themselves – so make sure you set it up correctly in the first place with separate rooms.
First, a quick overview of all the vacuuming features this device includes:
Vacuuming is great, and with 36,000Pa of suction, I’m not surprised. It cleans the floors exceptionally well on a standard level for an everyday clean, but if you have specific dirty areas, you may need to up the suction power and number of passes.
I did my usual test with breadcrumbs on my carpet and, on full suction power and two passes it was able to get to all of the crumbs on the middle of the floor. It did struggle with crumbs closer to the cabinetry as all robot vacuums do — they only use the small side brushes to try and get to those areas so it is often an issue for small particles such as breadcrumbs.
This is nothing out of the ordinary though, and I was impressed with the robot’s ability to clean the carpet and rugs.
First, a quick overview of all the mopping features this device includes:
Mopping up fluid spills is easy but when it comes to the stickier messes such as jam and Vegemite, that’s when a vacuum/mop is truly put to the test. I found some ancient jam in the back of the pantry with some nice big solidified pieces of sugar (?), slathered that on the floor, next to it some tomato sauce and finally smeared some Vegemite as well.
For this type of test I put the mop into the highest mopping quality possible and it was able to clean the entire section and clean it well. The jam and sauce disappeared quickly, including the solid sugary part, while the Vegemite was cleared off the floor after a couple of passes. As you can see in the images below, the mop not only cleans along its path but can also extend the mopping roller out to the side to clean up against the cabinetry.
The new Robodock docking station may look simpler on the outside but inside it is anything but. It includes auto-dust emptying, which is basically what every docking station from every manufacturer can do.
The Robodock excels at mop cleaning. It continuously sprays hot water from the dock onto the roller while collecting dirty water separately in the robot’s dirty water tank. This hot water can reach up to 100 °C to help achieve its 99.99% bacteria removal rate. It does all this while using 10% less water than the previous-generation Robodock.
For exceptionally clean floors, the Robodock can also automatically dispense detergent into the robot for mopping purposes. Unfortunately, Roborock do not include any detergent in the box as many other manufacturers do but you can easily buy it from any number of local brick-and-mortar stores such as Bunnings and The Good Guys or from Roborock online. It will cost you about for 480ml, which should last a long time – many months.
Charging the vacuum is “fast” according to Roborock, but I don’t consider 150 minutes fast – that’s two and a half hours. The battery is only 6400 mAh but it is all relative I suppose. Set it running during the day while you are at work and it should be finished charging by the time you get home.
All in all, the docking station does what it is meant to do and does it well; it just does it without looking great or any obvious fanfare.
We see so many robot vacuums cross our desk and the tech in them all is very similar. Some excel at one thing or another. The Roborock Saros 20 Flow is not the best at mopping, and it is not the best at vacuuming, but it is possibly the best overall. If you want a robot vacuum that is easy to use and mops and vacuums really well, then you should consider it.
If you want the best mopping robot vacuum, look elsewhere, and the same goes for vacuuming — if you want the best, look elsewhere. It may not be the best at either of these but combined, it is the best — it’s possibly the best all-rounder/overall.
The Roborock Saros 20 Flow will be available on October 1 at the Roborock website and select retailers for RRP AU
Setup has been much simpler than the last time I set up a Roborock vacuum. The app now automatically walks you through all the major settings you need for a brilliant clean every time. This is a fantastic new addition by Roborock; before, many settings were hidden in the app and were hard to find.
Mapping was super fast, super simple, and accurate. It did mess up the room names a bit, but not too much. Changing room names is super simple in the app’s map management section.
Map management also guides you through creating rises, borders, no-go zones and more on the map, and it was incredibly simple to set up thoroughly. This is something you do once and then forget forever.
The map was a little bit confusing at times though, because after editing the map it added sections onto the sides of certain rooms – after editing the rooms to begin and start correctly, though these automatically fixed themselves – so make sure you set it up correctly in the first place with separate rooms.
First, a quick overview of all the vacuuming features this device includes:
Vacuuming is great, and with 36,000Pa of suction, I’m not surprised. It cleans the floors exceptionally well on a standard level for an everyday clean, but if you have specific dirty areas, you may need to up the suction power and number of passes.
I did my usual test with breadcrumbs on my carpet and, on full suction power and two passes it was able to get to all of the crumbs on the middle of the floor. It did struggle with crumbs closer to the cabinetry as all robot vacuums do — they only use the small side brushes to try and get to those areas so it is often an issue for small particles such as breadcrumbs.
This is nothing out of the ordinary though, and I was impressed with the robot’s ability to clean the carpet and rugs.
First, a quick overview of all the mopping features this device includes:
Mopping up fluid spills is easy but when it comes to the stickier messes such as jam and Vegemite, that’s when a vacuum/mop is truly put to the test. I found some ancient jam in the back of the pantry with some nice big solidified pieces of sugar (?), slathered that on the floor, next to it some tomato sauce and finally smeared some Vegemite as well.
For this type of test I put the mop into the highest mopping quality possible and it was able to clean the entire section and clean it well. The jam and sauce disappeared quickly, including the solid sugary part, while the Vegemite was cleared off the floor after a couple of passes. As you can see in the images below, the mop not only cleans along its path but can also extend the mopping roller out to the side to clean up against the cabinetry.
The new Robodock docking station may look simpler on the outside but inside it is anything but. It includes auto-dust emptying, which is basically what every docking station from every manufacturer can do.
The Robodock excels at mop cleaning. It continuously sprays hot water from the dock onto the roller while collecting dirty water separately in the robot’s dirty water tank. This hot water can reach up to 100 °C to help achieve its 99.99% bacteria removal rate. It does all this while using 10% less water than the previous-generation Robodock.
For exceptionally clean floors, the Robodock can also automatically dispense detergent into the robot for mopping purposes. Unfortunately, Roborock do not include any detergent in the box as many other manufacturers do but you can easily buy it from any number of local brick-and-mortar stores such as Bunnings and The Good Guys or from Roborock online. It will cost you about $39 for 480ml, which should last a long time – many months.
Charging the vacuum is “fast” according to Roborock, but I don’t consider 150 minutes fast – that’s two and a half hours. The battery is only 6400 mAh but it is all relative I suppose. Set it running during the day while you are at work and it should be finished charging by the time you get home.
All in all, the docking station does what it is meant to do and does it well; it just does it without looking great or any obvious fanfare.
We see so many robot vacuums cross our desk and the tech in them all is very similar. Some excel at one thing or another. The Roborock Saros 20 Flow is not the best at mopping, and it is not the best at vacuuming, but it is possibly the best overall. If you want a robot vacuum that is easy to use and mops and vacuums really well, then you should consider it.
If you want the best mopping robot vacuum, look elsewhere, and the same goes for vacuuming — if you want the best, look elsewhere. It may not be the best at either of these but combined, it is the best — it’s possibly the best all-rounder/overall.
The Roborock Saros 20 Flow will be available on October 1 at the Roborock website and select retailers for RRP AU$2,799.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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