I tested the Roborock Saros 20, and I'd trust it for the next decade

pros and cons

Pros

• The Roborock Saros 20 features a strong 36,000 Pa of suction.
• It can climb up to 3.46 inches in a couple of step-ups.
• The robot is low enough to fit under furniture that others can't reach.
• It has improved object avoidance, suction, and mopping while keeping the same price.

Cons

• At $1,600, this is on the higher end of the price range.

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I've tested plenty of Roborock robot vacuums, and I've experienced the company steadily improving its robots each year. Last year, Roborock wowed the smart home world with a mechanical arm to pick up obstacles from the floor. There were two great flagship robot vacuum and mop combinations last year, and Roborock only built on that success.

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The Roborock Saros 20 is the brand's latest flagship robot vacuum and mop combination. It looks quite similar to the Saros 10R, but it's so much more -- in every way.

Deep clean

The Saros 20 features 36,000 Pa of suction, which translates to improved cleaning on carpet, specifically. In my tests, I found that the Saros 20 was more effective at cleaning deep into carpet fibers, including fine dust and pet hair that gets trapped low in carpet.

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While the robot vacuumed pretty well on hardwood and low-pile carpet in our lab tests, it picked up almost twice as much sand from medium-pile carpet as the Saros 10, and five times as much as the Saros 10R. Overall, the Saros 20 was the best-performing robot on medium-pile carpet across all the robot vacuums we've tested.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Obstacle avoidance

As the robot navigates your floors, it can now better detect and avoid obstacles than its predecessors, which is a big win for the brand. Roborock flagships do very well with obstacle avoidance, but the Saros 20 is even better at avoiding objects that are traditionally tough for robot vacuums, like wrappers and tissues.

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Similarly, the Saros 20 avoided cords on the floor 91% of the time in my tests. It only got caught on a thin black charging cord that was lying almost flat on the dark wood floor.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Transitions

The Saros 20 can also climb larger thresholds than its predecessors. While it's not a robot vacuum that can go upstairs (that'd be the Saros Rover prototype), it can handle transitions up to 3.4 inches across double thresholds. I have a high threshold leading to my sunroom, and the Saros 20 is the first one to successfully climb over it.

Rocky

Like older Roborock models, the Saros 20 also comes with the Rocky voice assistant, which lets you control the robot with your voice by saying 'hey Rocky.' 

It can understand more commands than when you control your robot with a third-party voice assistant, like Alexa or Google (or, more recently, Gemini), since it can act on specific scenarios like cleaning in front of the couch or in the dining room.

ZDNET's buying advice

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Having tested the latest Roborock flagships, I've noticed the biggest upgrade with the Saros 20 on medium-pile carpet, especially when tackling embedded dirt and pet hair, as well as in the mopping feature. These upgrades are most evident because the robot already performs very well while vacuuming hard floors and low-pile carpet.

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I'd recommend the Roborock Saros 20 to shoppers looking for the top performance without compromising -- especially if you're prepared to pay top dollar. This robot is best suited for homes with mixed flooring or mostly hardwood, and you'll get your money's worth if you have medium-pile carpets or rugs. The Saros 20 is the type of robot vacuum that you can buy and plan to keep for a decade (or longer).