The core problem robot vacuums haven’t solved
Robot vacuums are “smart” in the sense that they map rooms, avoid obstacles, and schedule cleanings. But they remain fundamentally limited by one primitive constraint: gravity and stairs.
For multi-story homes, a robovac often becomes:
- a single-floor helper (usually the most-used level), or
- a device you manually relocate like a fancy broom with a battery.
That’s why stair-climbing robovacs show up every CES in concept form. Most never become a product you can imagine trusting around furniture, kids, and pets.
What Roborock showed at CES 2026
PCMag highlights the Roborock Saros Rover as a standout smart-home product precisely because the “robot legs” approach provides “a distinct usability advantage” over typical robovacs: it can climb stairs and clean as it climbs.
PCMag’s on-the-floor description is unusually specific:
- The legs operate independently, raising and lowering each side as needed.
- They help the vacuum clear obstacles and navigate slopes.
- While climbing steps, one leg stays on the step below as a brace while the rest of the vacuum slides along to clean the staircase.
Engadget’s CES roundup also notes Roborock’s approach: the Saros Rover pushes itself upward on extendable legs to reach higher floors, and those legs can help it raise itself over obstacles on floors too.
Why “legs” are more than a gimmick
Robovac add-ons often chase novelty: a mop pad here, a small arm there. PCMag explicitly contrasts the Saros Rover legs with last year’s arm trend, suggesting legs are more directly useful.
That tracks with real homes:
- Thresholds, toys, low furniture edges, and uneven rugs are daily annoyances.
- Stairs are the “hard boundary” that prevents full-home automation.
If a robovac can reliably climb and descend stairs, it changes the product category from “single-floor cleaner” to “home cleaning system.”
Practical implications: mapping, safety, and trust
A stair-climbing robovac isn’t just a vacuum with a new mechanical part. It needs:
- Stair detection that fails safe: a fall down a staircase isn’t just a broken vacuum; it can damage walls, injure pets, or cause noise at night.
- Navigation confidence: the device needs to know not only where it is, but what it’s standing on, and how stable each move will be.
- Cleaning strategy: cleaning stairs is different from cleaning a flat floor. The geometry changes and so does debris behavior.
The most convincing part of PCMag’s report is the “clean as it climbs” detail. That implies this is not merely “transit legs” that carry a vacuum between floors; the cleaning function remains central.
Who this is for (and who should wait)
Best fit:
- Homes with 2+ floors where the vacuum already “earns its keep” on one floor.
- People with mobility limitations who benefit from not carrying a vacuum up and down.
- Busy households where the biggest pain point is coverage, not suction.
Wait-and-see:
- Households with narrow stairs, delicate stair runners, or cluttered landings.
- Anyone who wants proven reliability before paying early-adopter pricing.
As with many CES devices, pricing and wide availability are often the missing pieces at show time. The key is whether Roborock can productize this without making it fragile or prohibitively expensive.
Bottom line
Roborock Saros Rover is one of those CES announcements that’s easy to overhype—but it targets the most meaningful unmet need in robovacs: multi-floor autonomy. If real-world reliability holds up, this is the first time “stair-climbing robot vacuum” feels like more than a demo trick.
