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Roller, mop and mop plate: Roborock launches three new top models at once
by Lorenz Keller
Roborock Saros 20X review: slim, smart and a great climber
13.3.2026
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
Pictures: Lorenz Keller
I tested Roborock’s latest robot vacuum for several weeks. It battled ketchup on the floor, thresholds of up to five centimetres and my green laser test for dust. My verdict: very good, but not perfect.
The Saros 20X is Roborock’s new flagship model. In a bold move, the manufacturer is sticking with round mopping pads for its flagship, even though rollers and cylindrical brushes are now gaining ground across the industry. Roborock has introduced a self-cleaning roller, but only in the cheaper and less well-equipped Qrevo Curv 2 Flow.
Cleaning performance: gets floors clean, but not cleaner
But back to the Saros 20X. It comes with a tried-and-tested feature: an extendable side brush in addition to the main brush. For wet cleaning, the robot uses two round mopping pads, one of which also extends out to the side.
According to the manufacturer, the Saros 20X’s suction power is 36,000 pascals – up from 22,000 pascals on its predecessor, the Saros 10. It sucks the dust right up, and the robot also does a good job in edges and around corners. I checked for remaining dust using the green laser on my Dyson vacuum cleaner, and was pleased not to find any dust residue after running the standard Vac&Mop mode, which vacuums and mops at the same time.
The split brush is designed to stop long hairs from wrapping around it. It works brilliantly. After several weeks of testing, I haven’t seen a single hair get tangled up in it. The mopping pads are low-maintenance too. The docking station washes them with 100-degree hot water and then dries them with 55-degree warm air. You’ll need to throw them into the washing machine twice a year at most for an additional clean.
The only thing I need to clean now and then is the base plate of the docking station. But even here, after six weeks of testing, there are only minor traces of dirt. I’d say wiping it down every two to three months is enough. The area where the pads are washed in the docking station stays cleaner than on other models.
Overall, I’m happy with the Saros 20X’s cleaning performance in everyday use. There’s no big difference compared to other, similar models.
The mop’s limits
I put the Saros 20X through a tough test and sprayed ketchup onto the floor. In its standard program, the robot identified it as a cable and initially drove around it.
In the app, I can tap «Ignore», after which it stops avoiding the ketchup and mops it up. However, going over the spot with kitchen paper revealed that the robot had spread some of it across the floor. No surprise there: unlike a roller or cylindrical brush system, the pads aren’t cleaned continuously by the robot while it works, but only every 20 to 30 minutes at the docking station. That’s a disadvantage in especially dirty environments.
If I have the robot clean the area again, it gets rid of the residue. It’s a shame that the Roborock doesn’t detect heavy soiling and doesn’t automatically up the cleaning power accordingly. So far, no model on the market has fulfilled that wish of mine.
The Saros 20X’s design does have one advantage. Namely, the robot is under eight centimetres tall. Competing models are often one to two centimetres taller. The Qrevo Curv 2 Flow comes in at almost 12 centimetres with its roller mop. When it comes to robot vacuums, a few centimetres can make all the difference in whether the device is able to reach those awkward spots under furniture.
Mapping and navigation: weaknesses fixed
Previously, one of my biggest criticisms was that the Saros 10 was slow and inaccurate in scanning my flat. The Saros 20X solves both problems.
Setting up the robot via QR code included on the device was exemplary in its simplicity, and it immediately connected to Wi-Fi and the app. After that, I sent the robot off to create a map of my apartment. It was done in 16 minutes – compared to 22 minutes for its predecessor. There are robot vacuums that are twice as fast, but a quarter of an hour is still perfectly acceptable.
This longer time is mainly down to the accuracy of the scan. The Saros 20X correctly identifies six out of seven areas and even assigns the right label four times. I only need to separate the office from the living room and divide the hallway the way I want – and the Roborock is ready to go. Hardly any robot vacuum I’ve tested has managed that this quickly.
Good to know: Roborock stores the map only on the device itself and doesn’t upload it to the cloud. Photos of obstacles don’t end up in the cloud either. Image capture is switched off by default.
The robot’s navigation is convincing. It doesn’t get lost, can be sent to a room or zone with no detours and always finds its way back to the docking station.
Despite returning to the docking station every 20 to 30 minutes to clean the mop pads, the 20X still moves along at a good pace. At standard settings, it takes around one minute and fifteen seconds per square metre for vacuuming and mopping. The fastest robots manage the same in about a minute, but many competitors also take longer.
The robot detects obstacles reliably – which matters when it comes to cables or ketchup spills. You also have the option of switching on the photo function to receive images of anything in the way. Object recognition is on a par with current standards, but no better than the competition. The DJI Romo remains unbeaten – it even detected and avoided cotton wool balls from a party popper; the Saros 20X simply pushes them aside.
The Roborock 20X’s vacuuming and mopping is pleasantly quiet. At a distance of around one metre, I measure 59 decibels (dB) in standard mode. That puts it among the best in the test. Its predecessor was a touch quieter, though.
Obstacles: no robot climbs higher
I always look closely at manufacturers’ claims. Roborock claims a climbing height of 8.8 centimetres. However, that only applies to double thresholds – that is, thresholds with an intermediate step. The first step may be a maximum of 4.5 centimetres high, the second 4.3 centimetres.
I once again set up my single thresholds, which I use to test all robots with climbing capabilities. 2.8 centimetres prove no problem. Unlike previous Roborock models, the robot no longer lifts its front section to heave itself over the obstacle – it now uses extendable legs.
The 20X clears the 4.1-centimetre threshold without hesitation. Next comes the 5.0-centimetre obstacle. And the robot handles that too without fail. With that, Roborock not only beats its own 4.5-centimetre specification, but also the competition. Mova and Dreame only manage 4.1 centimetres reliably, getting over 5.0 centimetres only some of the time. At 6.0 centimetres, though, even Roborock reaches its limit.
Standby power consumption: much too high
I measure a power consumption of 4.8 watt hours (Wh) in standby mode, i.e. when the robot is fully charged and doing nothing. Compared with the competition, that’s a very high figure. Standby consumption of under one watt would be desirable and, according to experts, it’s technically easy to achieve. Based on the average Swiss electricity price, 42 kWh cost me just under CHF 12 per year.
Power consumption is much higher straight after mopping, when the pads are washed with hot water and then dried with warm air. At that point, the robot draws 70 to 90 watts for several hours.
In a nutshell
A solid overall package at a hefty price
The Saros 20X cleans well, navigates flawlessly and needs little maintenance. It performs exceptionally well in two areas: it climbs single thresholds over five centimetres high – which no other model has managed reliably so far. In addition, it’s just eight centimetres tall, fitting under furniture where others get stuck.
At the time of testing, however, the robot costs well over 1,000 francs. That’s a lot, considering that while Roborock has improved many details, models with similar cleaning performance are available for significantly less.
The manufacturer’s decision to use round mopping pads instead of a self-cleaning roller or cylindrical brush remains controversial. On the one hand, the tried-and-tested technology is good enough for everyday use – on the other, it reaches its limits when the floor is especially dirty.
Pro
- Good vacuuming and mopping performance
- Flawless navigation
- Climbs high thresholds
- Short height of around 8 cm
- Quiet
Contra
- Expensive
- High standby power consumption
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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