Robot vacuum cleaners are growing arms and legs?! I’m scared and intrigued at the same time…

CES 2025 took place last week and all anyone could talk about during the event was robot vacuum cleaners. Robot vacuums and mops were definitely the stars of the show, mainly due to the insane advancements that they’re getting, including retractable arms and legs, and the ability to climb up the stairs – but are robot vacuums getting a little too out of hand?

Almost every robot vacuum brand you can think of showed off its latest designs during CES, including eufy, Switchbot, Dreame, Roborock, Narwhal, and more. While the technology varied from model to model, most of the robot vacuums on display seem to tackle areas that its predecessors were missing, namely climbing stairs and picking up obstacles.

The robot vacuum cleaner I was most surprised by was the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete which has retractable arms and legs. While this might sound creepy – and in my opinion, it is! – the new Dreame robot vacuum has been given these human-like features to be able to get into hard-to-reach areas and climb the stairs.

Cleaning stairs is one job that robot vacuums fail to do, as the surface area is so small, and it’s more hassle than it’s worth, as you have to physically move the robot vacuum from step to step. So, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete somewhat solves this problem.

Along the same vein, Roborock debuted its Saros Z70 robot vacuum which has a robotic arm protruding from the top. The arm looks like a terrifying claw but rather than grab at your ankles – although I wouldn’t be surprised if you could make it do that – the Roborock Saroz Z70 is designed to pick up socks, toys and other small objects to help with cleaning.

For me, these two robot vacuums from Dreame and Roborock are slightly terrifying. Robot vacuums being able to climb the stairs could definitely make stair cleaning easier, but I don’t like the idea of waking up in the night to my vacuum climbing up to my bedroom – no, thank you!

The robotic arms I’m more on board with, although even when I use my normal vacuum cleaner, I do tend to just pick things up before hoovering. But for parents with young children who often have toys and clothes flung everywhere, it’ll definitely come in handy, and Roborock plan to develop the Saros Z70 in the future so it can lift heavier objects.

Where I’m more interested in is robot vacuums that can tackle multiple household tasks. A good example of this is the eufy 3-in-1 E20 which also debuted at CES 2025. It has a FlexiONEy design which allows it to function as a robot, handheld and cordless vacuum.

In my experience with robot vacuums, I tend to use my corded one to reach certain areas and to cover the stairs. As the eufy 3-in-1 E20 offers three vacuum functions in one device, this means you don’t need multiple vacuum cleaners to clean your house, which not only cuts the costs but almost completely takes you out of the cleaning equation.

Another interesting model is the SwitchBot K20+ Pro, a multi-tasking household robot that offers vacuuming, delivery, security and air purification. How it does this is it comes with the robot vacuum and docking station, along with multiple accessories, including a fan, security camera and air purifier which you place on top of the robot.

To give you an idea on how it works, you could also place the air purifier on top of the robot vacuum and send it on its way to clean and circulate air around your home. If you’re out of the house and want to check on your pets, you can place your security camera atop the robot – ahead of time, of course – and ask the robot vacuum via the app to do a lap of the house so you can check in on your animals.

While I think the SwitchBot model doesn’t put cleaning at the forefront of its design – it’s quite small and has no mopping features – it has a completely different idea to what most people want from a vacuum cleaner. It could be interesting, and as it combines multiple functions in one, it can cut down on the amount of appliances you need.

I do question how effective each accessory would be, though but I imagine you can place devices you already own onto it rather than having to buy one directly from SwitchBot, like a security camera. The cost of these new robot vacuum cleaners are definitely something to consider as well, as I imagine a model with arms and legs won’t come cheap compared to other non-limb-wielding models.

If this is the future of robot vacuum cleaners, I’m both intrigued and terrified. The robot hands and legs definitely aren’t for me, but the multi-tasking and ability to turn into multiple vacuums is definitely a trend I can get on board with.