Product test
Robot vacuum review: how high can the Roborock Qrevo Curv really climb?
by Lorenz Keller
Roborock Saros 10 review: the best premium all-rounder?
18/4/2025
Translation: Megan Cornish
Pictures: Lorenz Keller
Vacuuming, mopping, climbing, or crawling under furniture – the Saros 10 is Roborock’s new flagship model and incorporates everything the latest technology has to offer. What compromises do I have to make with such an all-rounder?
Other manufacturers like to call their top models Pro, Ultra, or Max. Roborock is taking a different approach – the latest top model should actually be called the S9 MaxV Ultra. Instead of this cryptic collection of characters, the Chinese manufacturer’s simplified the name to Saros 10. However, Roborock has only shortened the names, not the list of features. It’s longer than ever: Lidar, mops, vacuum station, retractable laser tower, climbing function. How does this array of features perform in terms of everyday use?
Meticulous Lidar: accurate’s sometimes too accurate
Sensors, Lidar scanners, and cameras – the Saros 10 has everything integrated to help it navigate your home. It does this perfectly. During my test – which lasted several weeks – it didn’t get lost once.
The robot goes precisely to wherever I send it to clean, even if objects unexpectedly block its path. This is important because we usually only tidy individual rooms in our family home – not the entire place.
It takes a bit of patience before I can start the first clean. Installation’s incredibly quick and easy, and it’s good that I can set quiet times at night. I also have to adjust various settings: in multi-storey homes, the robot scans each floor separately; if there are pets, it moves more carefully – and carpets can be targeted with full power.
The second step, however, takes far too long. The robot starts mapping the apartment – and takes it very seriously. It travels through every room with ultraprecision and explores every corner. In my case, it almost gets stuck behind an office chair.
It takes 22 minutes to create the map – that’s close to the (unwanted) record.
I can’t help but notice that all three Roborock models I’ve tested in the last 12 months take longer than the competition – and they fail at room layout. In this case, the Saros 10 combines the kitchen, living room, hallway, and bedroom into one room, then it divides the office into two rooms. Only the two bathrooms are correctly mapped.
For comparison, the Dreame X50 Ultra scans the apartment in seven minutes and accurately maps all the rooms. It’s striking that the Dreame only moves through the centre of each room when scanning, while the Roborock scans a room much more precisely.
My guess is that the Roborock is shooting itself in the foot with this apparent precision. It thinks rooms belong together because they’re right next to each other, so it moves back and forth until it realises there’s no connection between the rooms.
At least I have the option to edit the map myself. After ten minutes of manual editing, the room layout’s correct.
Vacuuming and mopping: flexible for all kinds of dirt
The manufacturer states the suction power of the Saros 10 at 22,000 pascal. This is another 10 per cent more than its direct competitor and more than twice as much as its predecessor, the S8 MaxV Ultra. These theoretical values are measured by the manufacturer. Suction power only plays a role if you want the robot to clean a deep-pile carpet.
In my test, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra achieved very good results with «only» 10,000 pascal of suction power.
The Saros 10’s greatest strength is that it can control each brush and mop pad individually. The side brush extends to edges and corners, sweeping crumbs away from the vacuuming area. The robot detects carpet and not only retracts the brush, but also raises it to prevent it getting caught on the edges.
The main brush underneath the robot can also be raised. This is useful when it detects a large, still-wet stain, as it prevents smearing.
Speaking of mops, Roborock relies on a large, textile-covered mop that covers the entire width of the robot. It’s moistened with water, pressed against the floor, and vibrates to clean. This worked well on dried-in stains, leaving just a single spot behind. Incidentally, the Saros 10 can drop the mop into the base station when not in use. This wasn’t possible with previous models.
Roborock has designed an extendable mini mop for the edges, but it’s not large enough to reach the corners. The Roborock Qrevo Curv, for example, does a better job. It doesn’t have a mop plate; instead, it has two large, round mops. These mop the floor better and can be extended far enough to even reach corners.
Why Roborock is returning to the mop plate concept, which I already criticised on the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, is a mystery to me. It may be better at cleaning encrusted dirt because it vibrates across the floor with a lot of pressure, but it trails round mops in all other areas.
The base station cleans the wiper at the bottom of the plate and mop with 80-degree water and dries it with 60-degree air.
Low furniture, high thresholds: no problem
Those with sofas or beds with limited floor clearance will appreciate the retractable Lidar tower. This makes the Saros 10 just under eight centimetres tall. That’s about one centimetre less than the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete, which also has a retractable tower.
The robot can continue to use the scanner and cameras and maintains a clear view underneath the furniture. A contact sensor mounted on top stops it getting stuck or scratched if the furniture has a slanted underside.
The Saros 10 uses the same climbing system as the Qrevo Curv – meaning it can extend its wheels and manoeuvre itself over thresholds or obstacles. In the video, you can see that it easily clears the threshold at just under two centimetres, but it takes several attempts at three centimetres.
This means the Saros 10 reaches the same height as the Qrevo Curv. The Dreame X50 Ultra remains the climbing champion, overcoming thresholds up to five centimetres high.
Brushes and hair: an exemplary solution
Long hair’s a problem for many robot vacuums. It gets wrapped around the brushes and has to be trimmed by hand. Roborock has a brilliant solution to this issue with the Saros 10: the main brush consists of two parts that are open at the centre. The curved fins guide the hair toward this gap, where the robot vacuums it up.
I examined the brush after a month of cleaning my apartment. Not a single hair was tightly wrapped around the brush. The one or two long hairs that were visible were loose – and would slide further toward the centre and be vacuumed away during the next cleaning session.
The same applies to the side brush. While it looks odd with its two asymmetrical arms, it’s designed to prevent hair getting tangled. This works perfectly, even though two of the three people in our household have long hair.
Quiet and intelligent: not everyone can do it
What’s very pleasing is how quietly the Roborock does its work. Vacuuming and mopping in normal mode produces 57 decibels – measured from a distance of one metre. This makes the Saros 10 one of the quietest models I’ve tested so far.
Things get significantly louder in the base station when the robot empties the dirt into the bag. However, the Roborock’s measured noise of just under 72 decibels is quieter than most competitors. I measured values of 72 to 78 decibels.
Speaking of the base station, at 47 centimetres high, it’s almost as compact as the Qrevo Curv. Competitors such as the Dreame X50 Ultra require significantly more space at 57 centimetres. However, the Dreame offers one litre more capacity in both the fresh water and waste water tanks.
The Saros 10 has an impressive ability to detect obstacles. For example, it consistently avoided stray cables and displayed them as symbols on the map. If you want, you can activate the photo function to view images of the obstacles. These are uploaded to the app via the server and stored on Roborock for three days.
All of this is described in the privacy policy in the app. The fact that taking photos or using the robot as a video camera is disabled by default is a plus. I can disable whatever I want, but scans and saved maps of the apartment always run via the Roborock server. However, this is the case with all top models.
Incidentally, the Saros 10 failed the artificial dog poo test – just like all the other robot vacuums tested so far. The Roborock drives over it, probably because the plastic pile is only about two centimetres high.
Roborock may have simplified the name of the Saros 10, but it hasn’t skimped on features. This high-end robot vacuum can do everything that’s technically possible today. In terms of everyday use, it’s a reliable helper that delivers good cleaning performance overall.
In a nutshell
It can do everything – and mostly well
The Roborock Saros 10 is a safe bet. It delivers excellent cleaning performance, is pleasantly quiet and is fully equipped with everything currently available. The obstacle detection feature stood out in my test – as did the fact that long hair doesn’t get tangled up in the brushes.
What’s more, it can reach under deep furniture with its retractable laser tower – something many competitors don’t manage. In terms of mopping performance, however, the top-of-the-line competitors with two round mops are clearly superior. The vibrating plate and small side mop design aren’t entirely convincing.
The Saros 10’s weakest link is map creation. It takes a long time and requires adjusting once it’s finished. At least you only have to do it once. After that, the robot has no problems navigating.
Pro
- Good cleaning performance
- Compact design
- Quiet
- Useful obstacle detection
- Long hair doesn’t get tangled up
Contra
- Expensive
- Map creation
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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