A tale of two robot vacuums with arms: How the Dreame Cyber 10 could beat the Roborock Saros Z70

Of all of the new robot vacuums from CES 2026, Dreame probably has the most diverse batch. The two newest Dreame models that are available now, the Aqua10 Ultra Roller from August and the X60 Max Ultra that's open for preorders, offer exciting yet expected upgrades in the cleaning power department. But we were also formally introduced to the Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra: the fully-realized version of Dreame's robot vacuum with an arm first teased at CES 2025. It's set to go on sale later this year.

A robot vacuum with an arm has been done before. What we haven't seen is a robot vacuum with an arm that actually works well. While Dreame was still in the prototype stage last year at CES, Roborock was officially debuting the Saros Z70, which then hit shelves in March. While the claw machine-style arm went viral at first, the Saros Z70 ended up not being worth it. The list of items that could be picked up maxed out at slippers and socks, and even then, neither of those saw a solid success rate when I was testing the Saros Z70 at home. When the Saros Z70 did pick something up, it wasn't until after driving around aimlessly or blankly staring at the item for several minutes. And let me tell you: The wow factor of the arm wears off quickly when you consider how you could have picked up and put away that item in a fraction of the time that it took the vacuum.

The Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra should handily beat the Roborock Saros Z70

With those shortcomings in mind, the Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra has a crystal clear path to transcending the Roborock Saros Z70. The first promising difference in specs is the Cyber 10 Ultra's arm's strength: It can allegedly pick up items as heavy as 500 grams (just over one pound) compared to the Saros Z70's 300-gram limit. Upon first glance, the Dreame arm already looks sturdier than the Saros Z70's bony build.

The Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra. Credit: Dreame

The Roborock Saros Z70. Credit: Roborock

The variety of items that the Cyber 10 Ultra can grab isn't totally clear yet, but if Dreame really didn't come to play, pet toys and kid toys should be at the tippy top of the "yes" list.

At Dreame's CES demo, Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth got some footage of the Cyber 10 Ultra successfully picking up a small rubber-ish ball. It moved so slowly that I kept thinking the video was glitching, but it did work. Hopefully, that glacial pace can be attributed to some last-minute bugs, and that it's a swifter tidy-er upper by the time it's officially released to the public.

Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

Dreame's foldable arm is also supposedly able to pick up brush attachments and vacuum nozzles at its dock and use them to clean tricky spots that a robot vacuum can't reach, like in narrow gaps behind furniture. (This wasn't part of the CES demo.) Dreame's calling it "autonomous tool-utility technology," saying that the Cyber 10 Ultra will be able to "take out and use tools like a human and to execute with robotic perfection." I'm picturing the goal as being a capable replacement for handheld vacuum attachments. If it actually works as described, this could make the decision between a robot vacuum and a cordless stick vacuum much easier. But that's a huge "if."

Arm capabilities aside, the Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra will be an all-around more powerful vacuum than the Roborock Saros Z70. The Cyber 10 Ultra's 30,000 Pa of suction power surpasses the 22,000 Pa of the Saros Z70, though 22,000 Pa was an impressive feat last year at this time. For reference, the new Dreame X60 Max Ultra and Roborock Saros 20 models clean with 35,000 Pa, while 30,000 Pa matches the cleaning power of the new Narwal Flow 2 and Eufy Omni S2. Both mop with dual rotating pads and can wash and dry those pads in the base station.

If Dreame's arm is as unhelpful as the Saros Z70's was, I'll definitely be telling everyone to simply opt for one of those more practical premium robot vacuum and mop combos instead. We don't know how much the Dreame Cyber 10 Ultra will cost yet, but it'll likely cost more than the Dreame X60 Max Ultra's $1,699.99 price tag. The Roborock Saros Z70 originally debuted at a laughable $2,599.99, but has dropped as low as $1,299.99. Dreame would be wise to keep the Cyber 10 Ultra under $2,000.

Stair-climbing robot vacuums will probably take over CES 2027

Dreame and Roborock are also in a race to see who can officially release the first robot vacuum that can actually climb stairs — stairs as in actual staircases with steps up to 10 inches tall, not just small thresholds or floor type changes. Both brands teased the concept for theirs at CES 2026: The Dreame Cyber X (not to be confused with the Cyber 10 Ultra) and the Roborock Saros Rover. The Eufy MarsWalker is also in the mix. We don't have much intel on their releases past the fact that they exist, but CES 2027 seems like the most likely bet.