The beginning of any year means only one thing in the world of gadgets, and that’s the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held annually in Las Vegas. The 2025 event is now in full swing and as usual there is a barrel load of attention-grabbing tech, from the humble smartphone right up to flying vehicles. But one invention that has caught our eye is the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum cleaner that adds a twist to the familiar floor cleaner.

Chinese firm Roborock is already a familiar name in the world of robot vacuums, and at first glance the Saros Z70 looks like any other automated cleaner thanks to its circular, low to the floor design that was popularised by competitors such as Roomba and Deebot.

To stand out from the crowd and help you with more than dust-busting, the Z70 has what Roborock calls an OmniGrip, a fully retractable folding robotic arm that looks like something you’d normally see grabbing pathetically at a stuffed toy in a coin operated game on Blackpool pier.

This two-pronged grabbing accessory has a five axis design that emerges from the guts of the vacuum to clear and clean up items that lay in its path such as socks, towels, tissues and footwear – as long as the latter weighs under 300g, according to Roborock.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was the buzziest tech term in 2024 and that’s no different as we tick into 2025, with Roborock calling the Z70 “AI-powered” and “set to add a new dimension to automated cleaning by turning the traditional robot vacuum into a new robotic home assistant.”

The AI comes in the form of the company’s StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, which uses a dual-light 3D time-of-flight sensor (similar tech that’s used on smartphones to judge distances for portrait mode photos) and RGB cameras to map your house and find the items blocking the path to a spotless floor. It’s able to move small toys and loose cables in a list that totals 108 different obstacles.

“In practice, during its first cleaning session, the Saros Z70 carries out its usual cleaning duties, detects and marks objects it can lift, then circles back to them, cleaning the missed areas in its second cleaning session”, the firm said, adding the vacuum will receive software updates in future that will allow it to tackle lifting more household objects so it can clean your floors even if you haven’t tidied up.

Things are controlled via the Roborock app, which lets you choose what category of objects you want your new robot friend to lift to safety. There’s also a child lock and safety stop button to quickly cut power to the Z70 if needed.

Future updates promise the clever bot will be able to learn new items as it scans floors, with Roborock claiming its AI will learn how to shift new obstacles over time.

Let’s not forget the Z70 is also a vacuum cleaner. It has a dual anti-tangle system with hi-tech arms and brushes said to prevent hair tangling in its mechanism, able to quickly slurp debris into the internal dustbin. There’s also a mop function to wet, clean and dry your hard floors.

The unit is only 7.98cm tall, meaning it should be able to glide underneath your sofa and furniture to reach the dust a regular vacuum simply can’t get at. When the cleaning is done, the Z70 can return to its charging dock to fully recharge in 2.5 hours, as well as deposit its collected dirt into the unit’s bin.

There’s no pricing yet for the Z70, which a spokesperson tells us will be available from April. It’s likely to be eye-watering, though.