Suction is not the Set-and-Forget metric
Robot vacuums now advertise extreme suction, AI vision, threshold-climbing chassis and increasingly complex docks. Those can be useful, but the ownership outcome is simpler: how often must you rescue, detangle, refill, re-clean or troubleshoot?
What the current evidence says
Independent Saros 20 tests show why obstacle handling matters: reviewers reported fewer stuck events and low maintenance, but also mopping misses and occasional mop-pad rescue. By contrast, WIRED found the Saros Z70’s headline robotic arm was not yet reliable enough to justify its extra complexity for many buyers.
A better comparison
- Rescues per 100 hours
- Manual re-clean minutes per week
- Dock maintenance minutes per month
- Firmware / map failures
- Consumables + detergent + bags over 5 years
When the smart premium is worth it
Pay for intelligence when it removes a recurring human task. Do not pay merely because the robot can recognize more objects or generate more app screens.