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• Car rental giant Hertz confirms suffering a data breach
• The attack occurred through Cleo, a file transfer service provider
• The threat actors abused a zero-day to get in

Car rental giant Hertz has confirmed suffering cyberattack which saw it lose sensitive customer information.

In a data breach notification letter published on its website, the company said that the incident involved Cleo Communications, a software company that provided file transfer services for Hertz “for limited purposes”.

The report says an unidentified threat actor exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the Cleo platform to exfiltrate sensitive data in October and December 2024. The attack was spotted in mid-February 2025, prompting an investigation, with the analysis concluding some customer data was taken.

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Hallucinating malware

“We completed this data analysis on April 2, 2025, and concluded that the personal information involved in this event may include the following: name, contact information, date of birth, credit card information, driver’s license information and information related to workers’ compensation claims,” the announcement reads.

“A very small number of individuals may have had their Social Security or other government identification numbers, passport information, Medicare or Medicaid ID (associated with workers’ compensation claims), or injury-related information associated with vehicle accident claims impacted by the event.”

The exact number of affected individuals is not known at this time, with a company spokesperson saying it would be, “inaccurate to say millions” of customers are affected.

The identity of the attackers, or the nature of the breach, is also unknown at this time. It most likely wasn’t a ransomware attack, since it took the company months to realize it was hacked. That being said, this was most likely a simple data smash-and-grab.

To mitigate the damages, Hertz is offering two years of identity monitoring and dark web monitoring services to potentially impacted individuals, through Kroll, at no cost.

At press time, there was no evidence that the stolen data was misused in any way.

Via TechCrunch

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The letter obtained by NPR marks a rare bipartisan critique from Capitol Hill of the administration's immigration policy.

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Prosecutors say the operation was aimed at gathering information to foil lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry over damage communities have faced from climate change.

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General education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs.

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A whistleblower tells Congress and NPR that DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data and hid its tracks. "None of that ... information should ever leave the agency," said a former NLRB official.

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Ryan Routh, accused in the golf course attempted assassination of Donald Trump, will appear in a Florida federal courtroom Tuesday for a hearing involving evidence that will be presented in the case.

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Here's a summary of NPR's findings about the report that a whistleblower filed to Congress about how DOGE violated security protocols and could have removed sensitive labor data.

Such attacks have become common in north-central Nigeria, where gunmen exploit security lapses to launch deadly raids on farmers in a fight over land resources.

(Image credit: Greg Baker)

More than 250 companies have signed the “Secure-by-Design” (SBD) pledge from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). By committing to the voluntary pledge, software manufacturers are promising to increase multi-factor authentication (MFA) for products; better enable customers to do their own patching; reduce default passwords; and decrease vulnerabilities, among additional proactive, protective practices.

By embedding cyber defense from the outset of product development and system architecture, SBD is intended to transform cybersecurity from an afterthought to an essential, core element of design. Companies that fail to adopt this approach run the risk of falling behind in their security and compliance maturity, while losing consumer trust. They also could run into some very expensive problems, as the average cost of a data breach has increased to $4.88 million – up from $4.45 million in 2023.

Implementing an SBD strategy

So how do organizations effectively implement an SBD strategy? They can start by looking at the financial services sector, which is often more willing to invest in innovative approaches to security upskilling and additional preventative measures than other industries. These institutions are taking such steps because, frankly, they have to, given the immense challenges they face:

Increasing – and more costly – threats

If history has taught us anything, it’s that cyber criminals always follow the money. Financial organizations are experiencing 1,115 breaches a year, which ranks #4 among all verticals.

Regulatory pressures

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) require financial organizations to achieve higher levels of governance and security. As part of the ongoing compliance process, the industry’s developers must bring verified skills to properly configure sensitive databases, payment gateways and portals.

The critical – and fragile – state of consumer trust

Financial service firms’ customers expect no less than the absolute fortification of their personal data and transactions. If an institution suffers an attack that compromises any of this, it runs the risk of losing consumer trust with potentially devastating market/revenue consequences – if not extinction.

SBD developer readiness

Fortunately in our research, we have found that the financial industry is doing an exceptional job of positioning for SBD developer readiness. There is no quality that is more “make or break” in significance than the upgrading of the skills and tools of the people who innovate, develop and disseminate code at the heart of our digital systems.

Indeed, in taking a closer look at what these companies are doing, we get a better sense of the level of developer risk management this industry is pursuing– and can help lift other industries as they “shift left” in seeking to make good on the CISA pledge.

Investments in upskilling

On average, in organizations, there are less than four software security group (SSG) specialists for every 100 developers. Given how few of these specialists are on board, it’s no wonder that code-level vulnerabilities continue to plague most verticals.

This speaks to the urgency of developer upskilling, with a focus on flexible, dynamic training programs that align learning within the context of “real life” threats – a “learning by doing” approach. The financial sector is considered an early adopter of these and other initiatives aimed at building security into the software development life cycle (SDLC), and has achieved high maturity rates here as a result.

Benchmarking

To ensure upskilling initiatives are working, organizations must establish baselines and benchmarks to assess whether SBD is recognized as an indispensable part of their DNA. Such benchmarking should cover the state of developers’ security skills, awareness and the measurement of their success profile against that of other industry members. With this, these leaders will truly know if their teams have earned a “license to code,” and that the inherent risk of developers with low security skills is being managed and effectively improved.

Proactive threat modeling and testing

Financial services providers are quite good at regularly conducting threat modeling to address risks sooner rather than later – preferably before an attack ever has a chance to strike. The industry also relies upon strict code reviews, testing and audits to reveal vulnerabilities and additional areas of concern.

By following financial institutions’ lead in establishing a baseline for developer risk management activities and implementing the described best practices, organizations across the board will cultivate a winning developer-driven security culture. This environment will prepare developers to implement robust, secure code from start to finish, to the point in which this emerges as a habit they can perform at speed.

That’s when companies of all kinds will demonstrate they’re doing far more than simply signing CISA’s pledge – they’re delivering on its promise to make SBD a universal norm by acting now to defend the future.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Roborock Qrevo Edge: Two-minute review

Roborock has been making excellent robot vacuums for a while now, with the Qrevo series stepping it up over the Q and S series bots. With more suction power and a wider feature set compared to older models, the Roborock Qrevo Slim and Roborock Qrevo Curv performed really well in our tests. The Roborock Qrevo Edge joined its siblings in January 2025 and is quite effective at autonomous cleaning… provided you use it for the daily (or regular) cleaning tasks.

It’s essentially the love child of the Curv and the Slim: it uses the exact same technology as the former with an identical bot, but inherits the self-cleaning dock design from the latter. So instead of a curvy dock, it’s a more traditional design that’s simple to set up and use.

It’s a nice-looking dock, but I question its lack of proper sealing. The lid of the dirty-water tank in the unit sent to me for this review had tiny gaps even after being clipped closed and I found that if I didn't clean it out soon after a mopping run, it would begin to smell.

It’s similar with the dust bag too, wherein I found that it can emit a slight odor when the bin in the bot is being cleaned out automatically. That means you might have to replace the dust bag sooner than necessary which, in turn, will increase the ongoing costs of running the Qrevo Edge.

There’s not a lot to complain about when it comes to the robot vacuum’s cleaning prowess as long as it’s not expected to handle tough spills. There’s 18,500Pa of suction power, which I found to be good enough to clean up a carpet with hair or fur tangled in the fibers, although a few strands always get left behind as robot vacuums are meant as ongoing maintenance cleaners rather than being the primary cleaning appliance.

It’s also quite good at picking up fine powders and slightly larger debris like oats, but it regularly misses room edges. That’s not unique to the Qrevo Edge but, given its name, I was expecting slightly better edge-cleaning performance.

Mopping, too, is also good when it comes to day-to-day cleaning on hard floors and I found it was excellent at sensing the change in floor type to raise its mop pads when necessary. However, despite the extending mop pads, it often missed about an inch along the edges of a room during my testing, and it can spread tough wet spills (like ketchup or milk) across a floor if you aren’t careful with setting up the correct cleaning routine.

Roborock claims that the Qrevo Edge can handle thresholds of up to 4cm, which is true, but it's worth noting that it takes time to cross over, trying to determine the best angle for it and the amount of power it needs to push itself over.

While it excels at being an effective autonomous cleaner for the daily or regular cleaning tasks – and its SmartPlan feature is a game changer in those circumstances – its inability to tackle tough spills when doing a zone clean and get to room edges consistently makes it hard to recommend at its premium price point.

The Roborock Qrevo Edge is a good bot, but it belies its name when it comes to edge cleaning (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Roborock Qrevo Edge review: price & availability

• List price: $1,599.99 / AU$2,799 (“coming soon” to the UK)
• Launched: January 2025
• Available: In select markets, with wider availability later in the year

The Qrevo Edge was released a few days before the Roborock Saros 10 series was announced at CES 2025 in January. In fact, the Edge is now part of a duo, with the Qrevo EdgeC joining it in March at a lower price point and with some missing features.

The Roborock Qrevo Edge will set you back $1,599.99 / AU$2,799 in the US and Australia at full price, but it’s already discounted down to $1,299.99 / AU$2,499 when purchased directly from the Roborock online store. Some authorized retailers are also offering the same or a better discount in most markets where it’s already available.

UK pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed, but it’s definitely being added to the Roborock catalogue as it’s listed as “coming soon” on the British website.

Despite the discount, the Qrevo Edge is still an expensive robot vacuum cleaner. That’s exacerbated when you consider that the more powerful Roborock Saros 10 (22,000 Pa suction compared to 18,500 Pa in the Edge) is the same price in the US and AU$200 more in Australia. It costs £1,499.99 in the UK. In fact, the Saros 10 has a retractable LiDAR puck that allows it to go under furniture to clean, potentially making it a better investment.

You will need to consider ongoing costs as well. The dust bag will be the most frequent purchase you make but, at some point, you will need to replace the mop pads too due to wear and tear. These aren’t too expensive as you won’t need to replace them too often (the dust bag has a 2.7L capacity that could last you 2-3 months, depending on use), but if you take into consideration the Roborock detergent for mopping, that will quickly add up.

If you’re after good value, something like the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni (or the T30 Pro Omni) would be ideal. It cleans just as well as the Qrevo Edge, if not better, although it lacks some of the features you’ll find on the Roborock. Still, the bang for buck you get from similar models to the Deebot is a lot more.

• Value score: 3.5 out of 5

The front of the robot has a camera and a light, alongside navigation sensors (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Roborock Qrevo Edge review: specs Roborock Qrevo Edge review: design

• Sleek, modern dock
• Easy to set up, but may require frequent cleaning
• Extending side mop and brush, anti-tangle split main roller

The Roborock Qrevo Edge’s design isn’t particularly standout – it’s nothing we haven’t seen before – however, its white body (dock and robot) makes it look sleeker than its actual footprint would suggest.

The robot is of a similar size to other models, and the dock’s tray – where it sits to get cleaned and recharge – barely extends out beyond its radius, giving the impression of not taking up too much space.

It’s quite a tall dock though, so you may not be able to tuck it under a countertop or kitchen island, like you can with the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni, and you’ll need a good amount of clearance to lift the two tanks out of the dock. So it’s going to need a little open space around it.

The dock is nice looking, but just doesn't exude 'premium-ness' (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Robot design

The bot in particular will be very familiar to anyone who’s ever seen a robovac before, let alone used one. The most obvious feature on the circular robot is the puck-like LiDAR housing on the top. The puck has the Roborock logo in a silver-grey color that adds a touch of class.

Also on top is a magnetic cover to keep the 325ml onboard dustbin out of sight, with cutouts for the LiDAR puck and two buttons. You won’t need to access the dustbin much – only to clean the filter every once in a while or if the self-empty function fails. Even the buttons need to be used sparingly.

On the front there's a camera and additional navigation elements. You can use the camera to run security checks while you’re away or look in on your pets remotely. There’s also a light on the front that comes on automatically if the robot is cleaning in a dark area or room.

A semicircular bumper protects the front, and it’s got just enough give to absorb bumps into furniture and larger obstacles.

Image 1 of 2

The side brush is attached to a flexible arm for better edge cleaning... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

..and the bristle angle helps too (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The undercarriage has a lot going on. Two large wheels catch your attention first and these help the Qrevo Edge traverse thresholds of up to 4cm high. Roborock calls this AdaptiLift, which has been inherited from the Curv and found its way into the newer Saros 10 as well. There’s also a smaller wheel towards the front of the robot for better maneuverability.

The main roller brush is quite unlike any other I’ve seen before. Instead of being a single bar, it’s made up of two pieces and split in the middle. Both halves have bristles and fins and, to avoid getting hair and fur tangled in said bristles, Roborock says the split design helps strands get pushed to the middle from where they’re sucked into the bin.

There’s also a spinning side brush and, again, it’s designed differently to what’s commonly seen on other brands. The brush has only two sets of long bristles (compared to the usual three), both curved to avoid hair entanglements and push dirt and debris towards the main roller.

The arm that the brush is affixed to can extend outward to give the bristles a longer reach. Roborock calls this FlexiArm technology and it’s also used to extend the mop pads as well.

Image 1 of 2

The central brush is designed to push hair or fur towards the middle... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

..which means the roller is essentially two pieces (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Again, it’s a familiar design for the mops – two circular pads attached to the plates via some seriously strong Velcro. During my testing I found that the pads extend out individually, never both at the same time as I’ve seen on other brands, and both can be raised 10mm to avoid medium and high-pile carpets from getting wet.

Unlike other premium models like the Dreame X40 Ultra, the mops don’t detach if you want a vacuum-only run.

There is, of course, a small water reservoir tucked away somewhere inside the robot, but the design is such that you can’t see it at all. It gets filled automatically from the clean-water tank in the dock every time the bot needs to do a mopping session.

A magnetic lid covers the onboard dustbin, but has cutouts for the LiDAR puck and the control buttons (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Dock design

Like many other premium all-in-one robot vacuums, the Qrevo Edge’s self-cleaning dock is a do-it-all pit stop.

It houses two water tanks inside which can be pulled up from the top. They’re both marked by different silver drops on a corner of their lids to differentiate them – one for clean water, the other collects dirty mop water.

Both look identical, but closer inspection reveals a small difference in shape, which allows the clean-water tank to have a larger capacity of 4L compared to 3.5L of dirty water. That’s quite a bit and should allow for two mopping runs of an average two-bedroom home, if not more.

The tanks close via a hinged lid that clips into place, but the seal isn’t as good as I’ve seen in other all-in-one robovac models. This allowed a bit of nasty odor to escape when I forgot to clean out the dirty water after one cleaning session, meaning you might want to ensure the left-hand tank is washed out as soon as possible.

Image 1 of 4

The internals of the dock are well designed, allowed it to be as low maintenance as possible (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 4

The lid of the dirty-water tank doesn't close properly, which could lead to you smelling nasty odors (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 4

Each tank is denoted by a droplet icon – one for clean... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 4 of 4

..and the other for dirty mop water (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Below the water tanks is a covered nook for the dust bag. The cover comes off very easily and replacing the bag is also just as easy.

As with other all-in-ones, the base tray that the robot sits on has ridged sides, which allows the mop pads to be scrubbed when they’re being washed. Not only can the dock refill the bot’s onboard water reservoir, empty the bin, wash the mop pads with hot water (167ºF / 75ºC), then dry them with warm air (113ºF / 45ºC), but it can also self-clean that tray.

Overall build quality isn’t too bad, but the lids on the water tanks not closing properly takes away from the premium-ness of the whole design. Moreover, the plastic dock – which isn’t uncommon at all – just doesn’t quite exude oomph despite the silver details. It’s not that it looks cheap, it just doesn’t look… well, premium.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Access to the dust bag is easy, as it changing it out. It's the same bag as used in the S-series Roborock robovacs (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Roborock Qrevo Edge review: performance

• Excellent vacuuming on higher settings; can handle tangled hair in carpet fibers
• Mopping also very good on higher settings, but regularly misses edges
• SmartPlan is efficient in terms of navigation and battery life, but the automated cleaning may not suffice

If there’s one thing Roborock does well, it’s providing an easy setup for its robot vacuums. My colleagues have said previously that they’ve not faced any setup issues with other models from the brand and it was the same here. In fact, you don’t even need the manual to get you started, it’s all quite intuitive.

As soon as the robovac was connected to my Wi-Fi network, I checked how much battery it had and immediately sent it off on its initial mapping run. This took just six minutes to complete in a test space measuring approximately 40sqm and containing a carpeted bedroom and tiles in the rest of the apartment.

The initial map was quite accurate in the layout of the test space, and I was then able to edit the rooms: adding furniture and dividing up open-plan spaces into their correct assigned names.

The test space was single-storey, so I wasn’t able to see how well the cliff sensors function. It also had no pets, so I can’t comment on how well the Qrevo Edge’s pet avoidance features work, but I conducted all the other standard TechRadar tests to see how it held up.

The Qrevo Edge is very good at identifying changing floor types (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Vacuuming

The Qrevo Edge’s 18,500 Pa suction power shows itself off quite well when it comes to its vacuuming prowess. I found it very hard to fault it, even when on lower suction settings – albeit on hard floors that aren’t too dirty. The higher suction options are very effective on carpets, even those with entangled hair within the fibers.

As with other Qrevo machines, there are five power levels to choose from: Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, Max and Max+. Importantly, the app allows you to choose from just a single vacuum-only run or two, meaning it can take on some tough jobs.

As good as the Qrevo Edge is at vacuuming, I do have to note that you shouldn’t expect perfection. I found that hair on carpets are mostly sucked up – say about 98% of the strands – but some will remain. This is more so if you happen to have hair, fur or dirt along the edges of a carpeted room as the side brush just doesn’t have the force to gather these up and pull them towards the central roller.

The proof is usually in the pudding and when I looked at how much dirt the Qrevo Edge collected after its first vacuum-only run (done at the Max+ setting) in a single carpeted room, I was impressed that its higher suction did a far superior job than the 11,000 Pa Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni that it replaced in my home.

Even the Turbo and Max modes do a good job on carpets, provided you don’t have pets shedding on them copiously – they’re effective for the usual dust-sucking chores. And I had no issues with tangled hair on the main roller brush.

To test how well the Qrevo Edge can handle other kinds of dirt and debris, I conducted TechRadar’s standard tests by sprinkling some oats, tea dust (from a teabag) and tea leaves onto a mid-pile carpet.

I first set the Qrevo Edge to do just a Zone clean for the carpet only, which defaults to the SmartPlan setting wherein the bot chooses its own suction mode depending on floor type. As you can see from the video clip below, it does a pretty good job, although its navigation in this mode is a little erratic.

While all the oats and tea leaves were cleaned up, I could see some tea dust still on the carpet. As a comparison, I sprinkled a little more dust from a teabag and used my Dyson V15s Detect Submarine in Auto mode to clean it up and saw similar results. I repeated the tea dust test with the Qrevo Edge on the carpet in Max+ mode and found no reason to complain.

It’s a different story on hard floors though. For the exact same test performed on tiles, I found that the side brush scattered the larger debris (oats) when doing a Zone clean on the default SmartPlan settings. The scattering happens on all other settings, but when changed to doing a 2x vacuum at Max, it did a better job.

Where it fails quite badly is edge cleaning. I expected most of the tea dust I had scattered along a room edge on a hard floor to be picked up, but sadly that wasn’t the case. Even running it on a 2x vacuum-only run at Max+ made no difference. I had to use the crevice tool on my Dyson to clean up the tea dust remaining on the floor.

Moreover, if you have gaps between tiles or wood panels on your floor, fine dust will invariably get moved into the grouting or the gaps and even the Max+ setting does nothing to clean that up. Larger debris getting caught in those spots, though, will get cleaned, provided you use the maximum suction setting.

To be fair to the Qrevo Edge, though, robot vacuums weren’t designed to be your primary cleaner, but rather for ongoing day-to-day or regular cleans. You'll still want to have one of the best vacuum cleaners on hand for the more difficult jobs, particularly for carpets and sucking up dirt from nooks and crannies.

Mopping

Like its vacuuming prowess, the Qrevo Edge does a good job of mopping too – again, only if it’s not taxed by too many spills. The regular cleaning jobs of dusty footprints and spilt water is excellent.

This mopping performance is helped by four water-flow levels – Low, Medium, High and Custom/Gentle. I found the Low and Medium weren't very effective for the kind of tiles I had in my test space, as the pads didn’t saturate enough for my needs and barely dampened the floor. While this is excellent for sensitive floor types (like some wood panels), the High setting was perfect for me and that’s what I left it at for the various Routines I set up via the app.

The Custom setting, while allowing you to choose the water-flow level, doesn’t ‘scrub’ as well as the other three and that, again, is good for sensitive floor types. If you do need a better clean, you can set the robot to sense areas of excessive dirt and it will automatically return to do a second mop after it has washed the pads following the first attempt. During my testing, though, this feature failed most of the time.

Depending on your cleaning needs, you can set the bot to mop-only, vacuum then mop, or do both at once. Personally, I’m not fond of the last option as I'm a little paranoid that the mop pads will pick up more dirt and won't get washed properly.

I found that it was also a good idea to assign the order in which it cleans rooms as this can reduce track marks from its own wheels over an area it has just mopped – this can be done in the app by just editing the saved map.

Like I did for vacuuming, I performed a couple of mopping tests to see how well the Qrevo Edge does.

While we usually use ketchup in our standard mopping test, I had none at the time and used oyster sauce instead. I allowed a small spill to dry out a little, but also plopped some of the fresh viscous liquid on another part of the floor to test the scrubbing action on dry and wet messes.

Even with the water-flow rate set at High, the Qrevo Edge had minimal effect on the dried-out sauce on the Standard ‘route’. The route is how the robot moves through a space while cleaning and there are four options for both vacuuming and mopping. After setting the robot to do a 2x mop run in the Deep+ ‘route’ setting, though, most of the dried oyster sauce was cleaned, but not fully. I ended up wiping that spot myself.

No matter how often I mopped my floors, the dirty water was... very dirty (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Cleaning up a wet spill was another matter altogether. On a default Zone run (which uses the SmartPlan option), the sauce was mopped but, of course, got stuck on the side brush (I’m glad I was able to rinse it), smeared the undercarriage and the mop pads left long, brown streaks as the bot moved on.

After allowing it to go back to the dock for a mop wash, I immediately set the Qrevo Edge to a 2x mop at the High water setting to clean up the remaining mess, which it did well.

I’d expect situations like these are extreme and most users wouldn’t allow their robot vacuum to encounter such messes, but it’s worth noting that it doesn’t handle bigger dry messes well either. For example, I sprinkled copious amounts of talcum powder on a wet bathroom floor, then allowed that to dry completely. On a High water-flow setting, white streaks were left on the bathroom floor, much like the oyster sauce.

While I can’t fault the Qrevo Edge’s mopping issues as it’s not unique to it, I regularly found that it didn’t go all the way to the edge of a room despite the extended mop pads. More often than not, about an inch of floor space along skirting boards would remain unmopped. And that was disappointing, particularly since this robot vacuum comes at such a high price and, conspicuously, has 'Edge' in its name.

Obstacle avoidance could be better – the Qrevo Edge couldn't identify a cable in its path (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Navigation and obstacle avoidance

For a day-to-day regular cleaning run, I found the Qrevo Edge’s navigation to be impeccable. There are two Routes (or paths) you can select in the app when it’s vacuuming or vacuuming and mopping at once – Fast and Standard – but you’re provided four when you opt for mop only – Fast, Standard, Deep and Deep+. These Routes determine how much of the floor gets covered and, after testing all of them, I found that the Qrevo Edge follows the chosen Route correctly.

The Route you opt for will, of course, affect battery life and the app gives you a warning every time you change navigation. Despite that, I personally preferred the Standard (for vacuuming) and Deep for mopping as the results were the best.

Importantly, selecting a 2x cleaning run will automatically prompt the Qrevo Edge to clean in the opposite directions for the two sessions, which I thought resulted in even better results than a single Deep mopping session.

The only reason it didn't chew up the cable was because it had already partially swallowed a sock (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The only time navigation was erratic was if I had chosen a Zone clean for a quick session, which defaults to the SmartPlan navigation. This uses deep learning to determine which part of the zone or room the Qrevo Edge should clean first and I found its movements weren’t as precise on a carpet. It was slightly better on hard floors though.

Still, the SmartPlan navigation is quite efficient. Having learned that there is a medium-pile rug in my living room, for example, the Qrevo Edge always did a vacuum-only clean first on the rug, then went back to the dock to wash its mop pads to clean the rest of the tiled living-room floor. On the rug, though, it wouldn’t always move in straight lines, but I didn’t see that it missed any spots.

A lightweight obstacle just gets pushed around as it moves (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The Qrevo Edge’s obstacle avoidance could be better though. While it manages to identify some obstacles in its path and place a marker on the map, this functionality wasn’t consistent. To test this further, I placed its own packing box in its path once and it didn’t add a marker on the map, but it did so for a chair I had moved from its original location.

To check its effectiveness avoiding smaller objects, I ran the standard TechRadar tests of placing a cable, a sock, a slipper (aka flip-flop or thong, depending on which part of the world you live in) and a shoe in the robot’s path.

It nearly swallowed the little sock, which got stuck on the central roller, and because of the sock taking up space on the undercarriage, it ran over the cable without getting entangled. The first time it encountered the slipper, it went over it, but the subsequent times it just pushed the lightweight rubber footwear along in front of it. The shoe was the only obstacle it managed to avoid each time it encountered it on its path.

Its camera quality isn't the best, but it's good enough for a security check (or looking in on your pets if you have any). You can even use the call button to speak to your kids or pets (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise though as most robot vacuums have difficulty with the smaller obstacles and would chew up a slim charging cable or a sock. That’s why all brands recommend you pick up the smaller items before you do a cleaning run.

That said, Roborock does call out the Qrevo Edge’s obstacle avoidance, so I expected more. It’s perfectly fine for general cleaning, but the performance doesn’t quite match its high price tag.

The robot can use its onboard camera to take a picture of the obstacle and, when you tap on the corresponding marker (if any) on the map in the app, it will come up. Every time I wanted to try this feature with a specific obstacle, it didn’t place a marker on the map. The only time it worked was for a chair that is permanently a part of the map.

Dock performance

Other than the bit of bad odor I could smell when I hadn’t cleaned out the dirty water the day of the cleaning run, I can’t fault the dock’s performance. There’s plenty of suction that pulls out nearly every bit of dust, debris and hair from within the onboard dustbin.

The only thing I found in the bin after a self-empty was a thin film of fine dust along the sides, which is perfectly normal and can be washed out. Just be sure to fully dry out the bin before placing it back into the robot again.

Image 1 of 2

A white indicator light on the dock says everything is A-OK... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

..but turns red when you've removed a tank or it's not sitting correctly, or there's something else the matter (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Even the washing seems adequate. At the time of writing, I’d used the Qrevo Edge for two months, running it a couple of times a week, and the mop pads still look good to me. That said, I found the mop pads looked a lot better after three months of using the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni, and I also found the air drying to be more effective in the competition as it uses hot air rather than warm as in the Qrevo Edge.

This means the mop pads take longer to dry on the latter and, if there’s not a lot of ventilation in the area you’ve positioned the robot vacuum, you could smell the pads if there's even a little dampness left. During my testing, I had to increase the air-drying time to eliminate any smells.

Another indicator of how well the mop washing works is the color of the dirty water in the tank – it was always dark brown, even if I ran the robot on subsequent days, thinking the floor wouldn’t be too dirty. Boy, was I wrong.

The dock’s self-cleaning features also includes one for the tray the robot sits on (and uses to scrub the mop pads). That can get grimy too and the 5-minute self-cleaning session means you need the least amount of work to maintain this machine.

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The brand-new mop pads before the first use... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

..and their condition after about 8 weeks of use, two to three times a week (not too shabby) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Battery life

Battery life is where the Qrevo Edge truly shines. It’s got a 6,400mAh pack that easily did a full clean session on Max suction and Standard/High mop (on a vacuum-and-mop run) in one go in my test space and still usually had about 36% battery left.

If I set the robot to do 2x cleans at its highest settings, then it would run down to about 12% battery, head back to the dock for about three hours, top up till about 48% and finish the rest of its cleaning. That’s an impressive battery performance in my books considering it was doing power-intensive sessions.

Roborock says that the Qrevo Edge is capable of fast charging (up to 30% quicker than previous models apparently), but I saw no evidence of that during my testing. Considering it took about three hours to get just 40% topped up during my testing, I think the best time to run these kinds of modes is when you’re away for the day – that way, you can return to a clean home and not get impatient with half a job done.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

A light can automatically come on if the Qrevo Edge is cleaning a dark room or under the bed (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Roborock Qrevo Edge review: app

• Very detailed app as compared to some of the competition
• Offers plenty of precise control
• Matches system dark mode that looks very classy

The Roborock app is arguably the best-designed I’ve used for a robot vacuum cleaner. When you first download it, it will ask if you want it to match your phone’s system settings, which means it will automatically convert into dark mode and I found that it looks very nice indeed – colors pop and everything is clearly laid out.

It will take time to get used to the app, though, but that’s only because there’s a lot going on. In fact, I kept discovering quirks and better ways to use the robot all through my two-month testing period. While my test space was a single-storey home, the Roborock allows you to save multiple floor maps and swap between them, although you will have to go through the Edit Map menu to do so.

Map editing is a lot more straightforward here than I’ve found with other robovac apps, and it identified carpets and hard floors in the test space correctly, requiring minimal intervention on my part. You can add furniture if you wish. The usual features of adding no-go zones and virtual walls is also available.

The Roborock app is very detailed, starting from map building and editing (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Diving into what the robot can actually do is time consuming, particularly if you plan to set up custom Routines. The app gives you some default options that you can edit, but it’s not always as straightforward as its map editing.

For example, a couple of full-home routines I tried to set up refused to show me a vacuum-only option, but only gave me a vacuum-and-mop. I had to then break up that option and have two Routines for a full-home clean.

You can always edit those Routines as you learn more about the app, but it really shouldn’t be as difficult as it is currently set up.

There are also plenty of options in the settings to go through (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Perhaps the best part of the app is the SmartPlan option you’ll see as soon as you select the robot vacuum. While you can run this from the get go, you won’t get the best clean early on.

I found that it’s the most effective after you’ve run the robovac a few times throughout the home on specific Routines. It will use this information, leveraging some AI smarts, to customize the best cleaning path, suction and mop settings for subsequent runs.

There are some other advanced features in the app that you can use, including using the onboard camera to do a quick security check around your home while you’re away. You can guide it remotely using the app navigation, but you can also keep the camera on while it is cleaning.

You can set up custom routines or enable Rocky, the onboard voice assistant (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

You can even photograph obstacles or conduct a video call with your pet. The camera features are turned off by default, which is a good thing, and all photos and videos are saved locally, according to Roborock. Moreover, you’ll even need to be the primary account holder to enable these camera features, adding a layer of security.

Roborock has its own voice assistant called Rocky, which is available to use on the Qrevo Edge, but the prompts it can understand are very limited. There are more Siri voice prompts, but even these I found to be a little unreliable. You can connect the Qrevo Edge to Google Home or Alexa, which offers better control but, again, quite limited prompts. In general, I think the app itself should be your go-to for full control of the robot vacuum and its dock.

• App score: 4.5 out of 5

The mop pads lift up 10mm and I never found a damp streak on my living room rug (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Should you buy the Roborock Qrevo Edge? Buy it if...

You have thresholds around the home

The Qrevo Edge can tackle heights of up to 4cm and, even though it might look like it’s struggling, it takes time to figure out how much power it needs and the best angle to get over the threshold.

You want an efficient robovac for day-to-day cleaning

Despite its impressive specs and features list, the Qrevo Edge is better at tackling the easier regular cleans, rather than handling the tough jobs. It's navigation, though, is arguably its best feature, arguably being one of the most efficient I've seen.

You want a low-maintenance robot vacuum for the most hands-off experience

Other than having to regularly clean out the dirty-water tank, the Qrevo Ege is arguably the most hands-off robovac I’ve tested. Its dock can take care of a lot for you, including cleaning up the mop-pad washing tray. Even the 2.7L dust bag won’t need replacing too often thanks to the larger capacity, but be wary of smells.

Don't buy it if...

You want value for money

Given its issues, I’d be hard pressed to recommend the Qrevo Edge at its full price. There are plenty of other cheaper options available that perform just as well, if not better. Although be aware that you will need to make a few sacrifices if you opt for cheaper models, like not having the same amount of suction or a self-cleaning mop-washing tray.

You want a simple robot vacuum

The Qrevo Edge is a do-it-all robovac with an app that has a heck of a lot of detail. If you don’t need all its bells and whistles, and would prefer a simpler self-emptying option, there are plenty to choose from and you’ll also save money in the bargain.

You want the very best in mopping and edge cleaning
While the regular mopping runs with the Qrevo Edge are very good, its penchant for creating more messes on the tougher spills is disappointing. Other models like the Eureka J20 (with a roller mop) and the cheaper Ecovacs T30 Omni are better moppers, and even handle edge cleaning more efficiently.

Roborock Qrevo Edge: alternatives to consider

Dreame L40 Ultra/X40 Ultra

If money is no object and you’re after one of the best in autonomous cleaning, consider the top-of-the-range Dreame L40/X40 Ultra. The L model is widely available in most markets, but the X option is available in Australia. Both offer similar specs and performance, including excellent suction and mopping, plus a few smart features that make cleaning as hands-off as possible.

Read our full Dreame L40 Ultra review
Read our full Dreame X40 Ultra review

Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni

As one of the best robot vacuums representing excellent value for money, the T30 Omni might not have the same suction power as the Qrevo Edge, so it won’t be as good on a dirty carpet, but if you predominantly have hard floors, I can’t recommend this highly enough. The Pro model, which doesn’t cost much more than the standard, is just as good, but you get a couple of additional features – voice assistant support and better mopping.

Read my in-depth Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni review

How I tested the Roborock Qrevo Edge

• Used in single-storey, one-bedroom apartment with mixed flooring
• Used two to three times a week for eight weeks
• Tried various settings and modes, with specific tests for fine dust and larger debris

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

I used the Roborock Qrevo Edge regularly for a period of two months in an approximately 40sqm one-bedroom apartment that has both full carpet and hard floors (tiles). This test space has no pets, but I did my best to make sure there was enough of my own hair on the carpet to make for tougher cleans.

I also set up several custom routines, running each at least two or three times to test for not just cleaning abilities, but also consistency. I even ran it on some default settings and modes, particularly testing the SmartPlan option several times for Room and Zone cleaning.

I ran TechRadar’s usual tests for suction, mopping and obstacle avoidance, plus did an extra test to test for cleaning fine dust and powder (using talc).

I compared its performance with other robot vacuums I’ve tested previously, having gone from the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni directly to using the Qrevo Edge.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners

[First reviewed April 2025]

The amendment bans public events held by LGBTQ+ communities and allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify people who attend prohibited events.

(Image credit: Robert Hegedus)

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 15.

If you’ve managed to steer clear of ChatGPT all this time, just know you might be using an OpenAI AI model soon without even realizing it.

OpenAI unveiled a new suite of models aimed at developers looking to embed some AI into their software. The GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and GPT-4.1 nano models might not declare themselves, but they seem purpose-built for subtle inclusion in other products.

These aren’t the chatbots you open for conversation and then close after getting your trivia question answered to go back to your email inbox. These models power your inbox, to-do list, or budgeting app. They could fuel a recipe manager and adjust ingredient portions for any last-minute additions to the dinner party.

What makes GPT-4.1 and its smaller, slightly speedier siblings different from past releases is that it is explicitly designed for developers rather than for developers in addition to a role with ChatGPT. These are workhorse models optimized for instruction-following, coding, and reasoning from vast chunks of information.

That means they are very good at doing exactly what you tell them to do in a format familiar to any software developer. OpenAI also boasts about its speed and cost relative to its power, making it even more enticing for developers with an ingenious app idea but limited resources.

OpenAI has ideas about apps getting much smarter thanks to its models and the clever way developers can deploy them. Picture your expense tracker automatically and accurately, immediately categorizing purchases or your notes app, producing a summary of everything that happened during a particularly chaotic day at work. Your photo editor might offer captions that don’t sound like they were written by a robot or at least like a robot that has spent some time around people.

This is AI as infrastructure – not a product, not a personality, but a quiet presence that makes everything run smoother and better.

OpenAI inside

We’ve seen glimmers of this before. Gmail’s autocomplete, Photoshop's image suggestions, and other tools have plenty of AI underlying their features. However, what OpenAI is semi-obliquely promising with GPT-4.1 is that plugging AI into an app will be easy, fast, and cheap.

Of course, relevant questions are raised about whether users should be alerted about the AI model since they might consciously avoid it in its more visible form. Plus, the usual privacy questions about apps get more complex with AI involved. If your grocery app starts predicting your purchases before you search, is that convenience or surveillance?

Many apps might never tell you they’re using GPT-4.1 under the hood if they don't have to, especially if it’s just powering something like a search function or summarizing your reading list. There’s a good chance millions of people will be using OpenAI models every day without ever realizing it, for good or ill.

Broad adoption of the models by developers might actually help with public acceptance. If AI is more like a utility and not an in-your-face feature, people might be more comfortable with it. It could be like Wi-Fi.

You don’t think about the Wi-Fi noting your location when you check the weather; you simply expect it to work. AI moves from spectacle to plumbing, annoying when it fails and invisible when it works.

That also means who we define as an AI used will change. Instead of someone who opens ChatGPT or Midjourney, an AI user will just be someone using an app, like how everyone using an app is technically a software user.

For OpenAI, there's also a possible shift in power in their favor. By moving away from direct engagement and toward app integration, you’re ultimately relying on OpenAI whether you signed up for ChatGPT or not. Smarter tools are often more helpful, less annoying, and better at dealing with whatever task they're assigned.

But it also means more of your digital life will be shaped by a handful of foundational models operated by companies that aren’t always transparent about how those models are trained, what data they’ve consumed, or what they might get wrong.

So, if you’ve been proudly avoiding AI tools, get ready to either massively extend your list of software to avoid or be prepared to parse some user agreements to check for GPT-4.1's quiet reshaping of your digital world.

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Riverbank stabilization, lead and asbestos contamination are just some of the projects tribes planned to address before the Trump administration froze funds.

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