I tried the $2,600 robot vacuum with a mechanical crane arm, and it's absurd

How much would you pay for a robot vacuum that can pick stuff up with an arm

This is the Roborock Cerro Z70. It has a lot of the same cleaning specs as the other two Roborocks announced at CES 2025

plus one cool addition that nobody really asked for. A mechanical arm that unfolds out of the vacuum and grabs obstacles claw machine style

I've been testing the Cerro Z70 in my apartment for a few months now, and I have some thoughts

A ton of recent robot vacuums have some sort of small obstacle avoidance technology

which allows them to see small items on the floor that more basic robot vacuums would probably eat

Roborock took that a step further with the Saros Z70. It can actually move some of those items out of the way

When the Z70 stumbles across something like a slipper or a sock in its cleaning path

it remembers that spot to go back and physically clean under it. The Z70 can also go on a side quest called sorting

where it can organize and drop selected items off in a designated area, like a basket or a dirty shoe mat by the door

My immediate reaction was, wow, that'll be so clutch for pet toys

But psych, pet toys aren't an option. While the C70 will steer clear of most cords or pieces of laundry

the list of items that can actually be picked up is pretty limited. Maxing out at socks, slippers, lightweight shoes like Birkenstocks, and paper balls

I don't really have trash laying around my apartment like that, but I was hoping that this would apply to my cat's crinkle ball toys

Nope. If there's an obstacle that the C70 just isn't recognizing, you can enter manual mode to try to grab it yourself

Here, live footage of the view in front of the vacuum appears on the screen along with arrows that you can toggle to get the perfect angle But just like the infuriating arcade claw machines that you probably picturing Stop The Z70 manual mode takes way too many tries to be worth it

The camera feature is much more useful when it's in plain old remote viewing mode

where you can watch a live stream POV of what the robot vacuum sees while it's roving

And before you ask, yes, it is normal to check where your cats are sleeping while you're at the bar

As for the Sero Z70's actual cleaning performance, it does a pretty thorough job

It clocks 22,000 pascals of suction power, making it one of the strongest robot vacuums that you can

buy in 2025. Its dual-spinning mopping pads can scoot out to scrubbing corners and along wall

edges. When each cleaning session is complete, the Z70 heads back to the dock to self-empty

its dustbin and wash and dry its mopping pads. Though the Roborock Seros is one of the most

powerful robot vacuums I've tested, its cleaning skills are no more impressive than those of the

Roborock Seros 10 and 10R that I'm also currently testing. Both the 10 and the 10R can also avoid

small obstacles and live stream a video. The real kicker is that they both retail for $1,000 less

than the Z70, and the ARM just isn't efficient enough to justify that difference in price

To be fair, my hater mode isn't set in stone. If Roborock follows through on its claims to update

the ARM's software and expand the list of grabbable items, I could see it being a worthwhile

splurge in some households. If they could train it to open doors and clean behind them, that would

be the real game changer. But for now, I think there are other premium robot vacuums out there

that would be a much better bang for your buck. And if you have the very adult budget

to spend $2,600 on a robot vacuum but can't manage to pick up your own socks

there's a deeper problem