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First look: DJI’s Romo robot vacuum

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is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.

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Of all the companies that could have launched a robot vacuum in 2025, I didn’t have DJI in the running — but here we are. The drone and camera manufacturer released the DJI Romo robovac in Europe today, following its China debut this summer. The Romo is a combo robot vacuum and mop with a twist — it’s transparent. But, sadly, it can’t fly. Instead, DJI has channeled its navigation expertise into a bot that stays firmly on the ground.

I got a sneak peek at the see-through sucker at the IFA trade show in September. While I didn’t get to see it in action in the tiny room behind DJI’s huge booth, I did get to check out the hardware — and there’s some interesting tech here.

The Romo P is transparent on the top. The self-cleaning base station is fully transparent.

The Romo comes in three models: the flagship, fully transparent Romo P, which starts at €1,899 (around $2,200); the Romo A, which pairs a transparent robot with an opaque white base, for €1,599 (around $1,700), and the all-white Romo S, priced at €1,299 (around $1,500). All three are now available in Europe at store.dji.com.

Specs-wise, the three are nearly identical (see chart). The P’s dock adds a few extras, but mostly you’re paying that €300 for the cool factor of the transparent tech.

This chart details the differences between the three Romo models. Image: DJI

While I love a good piece of transparent tech as much as the next gadget nerd, I’m skeptical as to how good this will look in your living room after six months of hard work cleaning your floors. Still, as a robot vacuum reviewer, it was neat to get to see inside the vacuum and the dock.

That said, this is a very expensive vacuum for its specs — and seeing inside your vacuum has been done already (thanks, Dyson). Aside from navigation (more on that in a bit), the Romo line is very similar to Roborock’s less expensive Qrevo Curv series. The curved base stations have a similar design, and the bots have the same split roller brush that funnels hair into the center to be sucked away, along with an extendable side brush for reaching into corners.

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