I've seen 2027's new robot vacuums — here are 3 major trends set to level-up their cleaning, from drop-down suction boosters to… steam?

The robot vacuum market is continuing to move at breakneck pace, with most brands releasing multiple models each year.

Despite the proliferation of new vacs hitting the market, there are often clear feature trends that pop up across multiple brands at around the same time.

I got a preview of the new fleet of flagship robot vacuums at IFA 2026 last week, and I was interested to see what the bot brands had focused on for their 2027 models.

Three key themes emerged almost immediately, and I've rounded them up for you below.

Which of these trends will see their way into any upcoming updates to our best robot vacuum ? I'll be watching with interest, and look forward to seeing how the new features stand up in real-world testing.

For now, let's dive into what's heading your way in the world of robot vacuums.

Step it up For a few years now, robovac makers have been focused on finding ways to get their bots over chunky room thresholds.

It makes sense: in the UK at least, old homes with uneven floors and tall door frames aren't uncommon, and if a robot can't make it over a certain threshold, and that threshold is in the wrong place, it can curtail the vac's journey quite dramatically.

Most of the main brands now have models with secondary wheels and/or a special chassis to allow for step clearance, and the incoming fleet of flagships have especially lofty aspirations.

Dreame's new bot (in the video above) can clear single steps up to 5cm, or double steps up to 10cm.

That was impressive in the context of last year's flagships, but this year it's been well and truly outdone.

DJI's Romo 2 can handle a single hop of 4cm and a double hop of up to 8.5cm.

Roborock's latest flagship, the Saros 20 Flow Complete, can go even higher: it can manage double-layer thresholds of up to 8.8cm.

Where will it end? Getting steamy On the wet-cleaning front, the big trend is for pre-treating dried-on stains by spraying them with moisture before the mopping begins.