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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CES 2026 live: all the news, announcements, and innovations from the show floor and beyond
I’ve been reviewing robot vacuums for almost a decade, and one question I hear repeatedly is “When will it clean my stairs?”
Well, we finally have an answer. Sort of. At CES 2026 this week, Roborock launched the Saros Rover, a robot vacuum with articulating legs on wheels that let it climb a full staircase in order to clean multiple floors and also clean each step along the way.
I saw a live demo of the Rover on the show floor, and it was impressive. Its legs move in a froglike manner, fluidly and with lots of flexibility. It can raise and lower each one independently, do small jumps, and change direction quickly — moving much more smoothly than most robot vacuums.
I’m skeptical this will eliminate the dust bunnies on my stairs, but it’s a big step up
As for stairs, it climbed them by using its legs to lift its body, then lowering itself onto the step before pivoting on one leg to vacuum along it. It then proceeded to the next step.
The process was fairly slow, taking just under three minutes to climb five stairs, and there were a few moments where it teetered on the edge of a step and I was sure it was going to tumble backwards — but it didn’t. While I’m skeptical that this will entirely eliminate the dust bunnies in the corners of my stairs, it’s a big step up for sure.
The Saros also successfully navigated a slope, rolling down it smoothly with control. Roborock said its engine enables it to brake and stop, turn around, and move backward up a slope. In the demo, it also did a small hop, which should let it navigate multi-level room thresholds by jumping over them.
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