Robotic Vacuum News from CES 2025

January 14, 2025

I just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show 2025 in Las Vegas, and here’s everything new that you can expect to see in robotic vacuum technology in the next year.

I want to start with what I think are the most useful developments. The new Narwal Flow has some “why are we just thinking of this now” improvements, like extendable side brushes that are normal length when spinning counter clockwise but double length when their direction is reversed, allowing them to reach into corners on demand, and path planning that moves the robot forward and backward like you would if you were operating an upright vacuum instead of turning around and always cleaning in a single direction. In their demo, this allowed the Narwal Flow to more effectively manipulate the pile of the carpet to clean ground-in debris.

The Flow also has a brand new to Narwal mopping system that uses a constantly cleaned spinning mop roller like we saw on the Switchbot S10 and eufy S1 last year, with the added ability to extend the entire mop roller out the side of the robot.

Like their previous flagships, the Narwal Flow also has their cone-shaped, anti-tangle brush which forces all the hair to one side before getting sucked into the debris bin. The Flow also improved on their already best in class AI object detection and now has several different cleaning strategies depending on the type of object detected by its dual front facing RGB cameras.

One thing I’m extremely happy to see is that Narwal has abandoned their dust compression system debuted at CES 2024 in favor of a traditional auto empty base, allowing for much longer periods in between regular maintenance, and those can be extended even further with the plumbed in version of the Narwal Flow’s base station. No pricing information on the Flow was available at the time of the show, but the release date should be around June 2025.

Dreame’s new flagship vacuum, the X50, also has a conical anti-tangle brush system they’re calling HyperStream that combines a bristle brush for better carpet performance with an all rubber brush built specifically for solid surface performance.

The X50 also has two new features to be able to go places where robotic vacuums previously couldn’t. The first is Dreame’s ProLeap system which are extendable legs that allow it to cross single layer thresholds up to 4.2 cm tall or 6 cm double layer thresholds. Second is a LIDAR system that retracts when low clearance is detected, switching to camera and front laser-based navigation to clean under furniture that was previously too low for robotic vacuums.

The X50’s MSRP will be $1699, and it officially launches February 14, 2025.

Roborock’s new Saros lineup is a little confusing because the Saros 10 and Saros 10R are very different designs, with the Saros 10 being the successor to the S8 MaxV Ultra with their VibraRise mopping system, while the Saros 10R is the successor to the QRevo slim, and confusingly, Roborock will still be selling the QRevo Curve, which has many of the same features as the Saros 10R.

Both new Saros models will have Roborock’s DuoDivide roller brush that filters hair into the middle of the roller system rather than the side like Narwal and Dreame, and both have retractable side brushes. But the Saros 10 has a retractable LIDAR sensor similar to the Dreame X50, while the Saros 10R completely forgoes top mounted LIDAR for their new StarSight navigation system and just based on their designs, I’m going to guess that the Saros 10 will have better vacuuming performance and the Saros 10R will be better at mopping, navigation, and object avoidance.

Then there’s the Saros Z70, which is completely different, but we’ll talk about that at the end of the video.

A new robotic vacuum company called Mova had a pretty huge booth at CES this year, and while they could end up being excellent, their vacuums look like a Frankenstein’s monster of parts from other brands. The Mova V50 for example has the double roller mop from the Narwal Flow, the small side mop from the Roborock Saros 10, and the TriCut brush from the Dreame X40, while the Mova P50s has the HyperStream dual rollers and retractable LIDAR from the Dreame X50, and the stair climbing wheel system from the Roborock Saros 10R and QRevo Curve. There was no information about the pricing of these new flagship Mova vacuums, but they already have a few models on Amazon with prices that seem too good to be true, so we’ll definitely need to watch out for Mova in the next year if they’re planning on just copying and undercutting the rest of the market.

SwitchBot is definitely not copying anyone else’s homework, and at CES this year they debuted the K20+ Pro, which is technically a robotic vacuum at its core, but SwitchBot wants it to be much more than that. Using mechanical connections on the top of the K20+ Pro, it can attach to their multitasking base which can carry up to 18 lbs and follow you around the house with an air purifier, table, camera, tablet, or basically anything else you can imagine. The multitasking base has three power connections including a barrel jack and USB-C and SwitchBot’s hope is that the K20+ will be embraced by the DIY community, and they say that the connection system and interface will be very 3D printing friendly to support whatever applications you can dream up.

The K20+ Pro’s charging station performs all the traditional charging and auto empty tasks, but also supports SwitchBot’s new LiteSweep handheld stick vac and has spots for all of its accessories, and the base can also automatically charge and empty the stick vac.

SwitchBot hopes to launch both the K20+ Pro and all its accessories in May of 2025, but final pricing wasn’t available at the time of the show.

Eufy had another unique take on robotic vacuums this year with their E20 which has a handheld stick vacuum built into the robot vacuum itself, and when detached the E20’s handheld portion has 30,000 Pascals of suction, while in the robot vacuum its closer to 8000 Pascals. Because it’s a single unit, the base station can auto empty both the handheld unit and the robot. The E20 will launch in February 2025 with an MSRP of $549, which seems a bit high for a basic robotic vacuum without a mop, so we’ll have to see what the market thinks.

Ecovacs has their own take on converting your robotic vacuum into a stick vac with the X5 Hybrid, and instead of removing the suction motor from the robot, you just attach a handle to the entire robotic vacuum and push it around like you would a normal upright vacuum. The handle allows you to change the suction power and drive the robot without resistance, but I can’t imagine it will fit into all the same places that a normal stick vac can go. No word on pricing or release on the X5 Hybrid, but Ecovacs will be releasing the X8 Pro OMNI with extendable roller style mop in February of 2025 and the low profile T50 with more traditional spinning mopping pads in Q3 of 2025.

And last but not least you’ve probably heard about the robotic arm on the Roborock Saros Z70, but you might not have seen that Dreame also had a robotic arm at their booth and SwitchBot even teased a claw style arm attachment for its K20+ Pro base in the teaser trailer.

However, Roborock is the only brand that has for sure committed to this being an actual product, and the Saros Z70’s robotic arm will be able to lift most objects under 300 grams to either clean under them and return them to the original position or even put them into a designated location that you specify. 

Dreame on the other hand has what I think are more useful planned applications for their robot arm which can not only lift 100 g more than the Roborock but also has a base station with various attachments for the end of the robotic arm to allow it to do things like scrub stubborn stains off of your floor before mopping and reach into tight corners to dust.

Both of these arms seem like a great first step to what could be a huge innovation, but I have a feeling that the price and usefulness of the first generation of robotic arms will make them an extremely niche product.

Either way, there’s a good chance I’ll be reviewing almost every vacuum in this video in the next year, so get subscribed if you aren’t already, don’t forget to hit that thumbs up button and as always, thanks for watching The Hook Up.

Related Posts