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A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, April 11 (game #670).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #671) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SIN
• SEC
• SUN
• TAN
• FLASH
• BOTS
• FALL
• CAME
• BIT
• BUCK
• KEN
• STRAY
• NET
• JIFF
• ERR
• SPUR

NYT Connections today (game #671) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Brief moments 
• GREEN: Fail
• BLUE: Ballers 
• PURPLE: Add letters to make countries

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #671) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SHORT PERIOD OF TIME 
• GREEN: DO WRONG 
• BLUE: N.B.A. PLAYER 
• PURPLE: STARTS OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #671) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #671, are…

• YELLOW: SHORT PERIOD OF TIME BIT, FLASH, JIFF, SEC
• GREEN: DO WRONG ERR, FALL, SIN, STRAY
• BLUE: N.B.A. PLAYER BUCK, NET, SPUR, SUN
• PURPLE: STARTS OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES BOTS, CAME, KEN, TAN

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

I immediately guessed that we were looking for words that meant fractions of something, but I didn’t realise time was the common thread.

That led me to make a mistake looking for a group of things that were slightly off-target, with STRAY instead of JIFF giving me "one away". Then I remembered my grandmother always saying she’d be “down in a jiff” when she was getting ready to go out.

Another phrase, “ERR on the side of caution”, delayed me getting DO WRONG – but with FALL, SIN and STRAY locked in, it was the only other option. As well as being cautious, err also means doing something wrong.

Despite limited US sports knowledge I got the singular NBA PLAYER words easily enough. A good thing, as STARTS OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES was far from my thoughts when I looked at the words remaining.

At a push I’d have guessed BOTS, CAME, KEN and TAN were presenters of a YouTube prank show with 800 subscribers or the IATA codes for Australian airports, but never the start of Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, and Tanzania.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 11 April, game #670)

• YELLOW: SOURCES OF VITAMINS CITRUS, LEAFY GREENS, SUNSHINE, SUPPLEMENTS
• GREEN: PLACES USED IN RETAIL SUFFIXES CITY, LAND, TOWN, WORLD
• BLUE: PLACES TO FIND STARS AMERICAN FLAG, GALAXY, RED CARPET, UBER RATING
• PURPLE: WORDS AFTER "GO" ALL OUT, BETWEEN, KART, STEADY

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Experienced traders share real-world tips on how to barter with your community. People are more open to the idea than you may realize, they say. 

(Image credit: Photographs by Getty, Alannah Hurley, and Cyndi Benitez)

• Google is offering the US government a “temporary” 71% discount
• Gemini was the first AI assistant to get FedRAMP High Authorization
• $2 billion in savings, a 99% uptime SLA, interoperability and more are promised

Google has revealed plans to shatter Microsoft’s dominance when it comes to being the main software provider for the US government by introducing significant discounts to become more competitive.

Google Workspace is now being offered to all federal agencies at a huge 71% discount via a government-wide deal, Tony Orlando, GM Specialty Sales for Google Public Sector, confirmed in a blog post.

“Government agencies rely on IT providers to provide secure, compliant, and efficient technology to help complete their vital missions,” Orlando wrote.

Google Workspace now 71% cheaper for US government agencies

Orlando confirmed that “Workspace is a FedRAMP High authorized communication and collaboration platform,” combining popular apps like Drive, Docs and Meet with more modern developments like Gemini AI and enhanced collaboration. Gemini was also the first AI assistant to receive FedRAMP High Authorization.

Google already supports “hundreds of thousands” of workers from across the Department of Energy and the Air Force Research Laboratory with its software, and it hopes to be able to attract more users away from Microsoft’s ecosystem.

The company reckons Federal agencies could save up to $2 billion over three years with government-wide adoption, and although the comparison is not cited, it’s possible that this is a dig to current Microsoft contracts.

The 71% discount across Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Assured Controls Plus is seen as a temporary discount to coincide with Trump’s desire for the government to be treated as a single buyer through the centralization of IT contracts and purchasing.

Speaking about the benefits of Google Workspace, Orlando noted strong security, a 99% uptime SLA, excellent interoperability, AI-enhanced productivity and new efficiencies.

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• Audeze LCD-S20 are its cheapest planar magnetic headphones
• Closed-back, with SLAM tech for big bass
• Available from May 2025, for £499 / $499 (about AU$1,045)

There are two things I know to be true: planar magnetic headphones sound fantastic, and planar magnetic headphones are often terrifyingly expensive. But the newly announced LCD-S20 headphones from Audeze are a fraction of the price of the same firm's flagship cans, at a mere £499 / $499 / about AU$1,045.

That's still high-priced among the best wired headphones, but these could be excellent: we've reviewed Audeze's planar magnetic gaming headphones, the Audeze LCD-X, and thought they were phenomenal (and heavy, something of an Audeze tradition: these new headphones are 550g).

We said that "The LCD-X goes toe to toe with some of the best dynamic driver headphones on the market without breaking a sweat." So I'm intrigued by the new LCD-S20, which promise similar sonics for considerably less cash.

Audeze's headphones promise serious sound for people with strong necks: they're 550g (Image credit: Audeze) Audeze LCD-S20: key features

The Audeze LCD-S20 headphones are closed-back models, meaning they'll passively block out some outside sound, and they're the first planar headphones to get Audeze's SLAM technology. That's short for Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator and we first saw it in the flagship – and nearly $6K / £4.5K – CRBN2 electrostatic headphones last year.

SLAM uses finely tuned acoustic channels to deliver more linear diaphragm movement, and according to Audeze that means significantly improved and more accurate bass as well as better imaging. The promise here is something closer to open-back sonics with closed-back isolation.

The drivers are 90mm and feature a trio of Audaze technologies: Fluxor magnets, Fazor waveguides and Uniforce voice coils that "deliver the accurate, ultra-low distortion sound quality that Audeze is known for."

The chassis is based on the one from the Maxwell headset and features a spring-steel headband, forged aluminum yolks and high-strength glass-infused nylon parts.

The LCD-S20 is the first Audeze headphone with a new magnetic earpad attachment system that enables you to quickly and easily swap or replace the earpads. And the cable is detachable and swappable between left and right to suit your setup.

They're out in May 2025, and we can't wait to compare them to the best over-ear headphones – we love a planar.

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• Wix introduced Astro, a new AI chatbot
• The tool is designed to track and optimize websites, and more
• It is available for English users right now

Wix, one of the best website builders on the market, has just launched a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) business assistant, designed to track and optimize websites, create new content, expand business, and more. The AI tool, called Astro, boasts “hundreds” of different skills and capabilities, with more being added every day.

“Astro seamlessly integrates powerful capabilities into a single interface, making it easier than ever for users to manage their businesses efficiently,” said Guy Sopher, Head of the AI Platform Group at Wix. “With this being the largest collection of skills we’ve ever incorporated into a single assistant at Wix, boasting hundreds of different skills and capabilities, with more added every day, Astro acts as a trusted guide, and provides real-time insights and personalized recommendations to help users optimize their sites.”

With Astro, users will be able to query and perform different business and back-office tasks through conversational input.

Available now

In a press release shared with TechRadar Pro earlier this week, Wix explained the different capabilities of the business assistant, including data-driven insights and optimization (users can track their site’s performance and analyze visitor behavior), content creation (users can generate and manage blogs, media, email marketing, and social copy), business expansions (by adding new products, exploring dropshipping options, and more), and seamless subscription and permission management (users can manage premium plans, personalized recommendations, and more).

At first, the tool will be available for Wix and Wix Studio users in English, with a “gradual” rollout for other languages.

The company also said that Astro will be the first in a series of agents planned to be rolled out to Wix users, “setting the stage for enhanced productivity and providing more opportunities to monetize and grow their businesses.”

Wix has been adding AI assistants to different parts of its offering for a while now, including the AI theme assistant, a virtual agent for customers, and the Business Launcher.

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• QR code phishing is on the rise
• These attacks claimed over 1,300 victims in 2024
• Cybercriminals are disguising their QR codes as legitimate payment methods

A relatively new cyber threat, “Quishing”, or QR code phishing is claiming more victims in the UK than ever, with Action Fraud receiving 1,386 reports of incidents last year, a serious increase from 2019 where 100 attacks were recorded, the BBC reports.

These are especially prevalent in “contactless payment hotspots” like parking meters and restaurant menus, where criminals will stick their own malicious QR code over an existing legitimate QR code.

Victims of these scams are urged to scan a malicious QR code using their phones, and then redirected to websites controlled by criminals, and are prompted to hand over their financial information by a fake payment page, or malware is deployed to their device.

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Caution is key

These attacks are difficult to spot even after the fact, as criminals often take smaller amounts but more frequently, disguising the payments as legitimate-looking subscriptions or parking charges for example - which fly under the radar and aren’t always reported.

“QR codes were designed to make things more convenient but threat actors have taken advantage of this and cleverly made cloned and fake sites that look authentic at the end of a click,” comments Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity advisor at ESET.

“QR scams can often be difficult to protect against as there is very little that immediately meets the eye to make the user aware of anything fraudulent. It can be difficult to tell these codes apart especially when the link that the QR code generates doesn’t look any different to what you may expect such as a parking payment website.”

As with all social engineering attacks, the key to staying safe is staying vigilant. Only scan QR codes you are 100% certain are safe, and never hand out your payment information to an unverified source.

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"It's very hard to get artists and creators to use models that have been trained on their own work," said co-founder and CEO Naeem Talukdar.

• Visual Suite 2.0 brings lots of new AI features to Canva
• Canva Sheets sits somewhere between a spreadsheet app and a project manager
• You can build your own custom, interactive mini-apps with Canva Code and Anthropic

In a bid to maintain its market share of the creative market amid increased pressure from Adobe, which has bid big on artificial intelligence, Canva has announced a series of upgrades to enhance worker efficiency.

With the Canva AI Assistant, users can generate images, copy and design ideas to set them off in the right direction, with document and mock-up creation handled by the assistant.

AI’s utility deepens with the launch of Canva Code, via a partnership with Claude-maker Anthropic, because users can also create their own min-apps like maps and calculators without extensive coding or development knowledge.

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Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins shared an overview of all the new features in a blog post, noting the company’s goal to make design “simple, joyful, collaborative, and truly accessible.” The self-proclaimed “biggest product launch yet” comes in the form of Visual Suite 2.0, which promises to bring together all use cases such as presentations, videos, whiteboards and websites into one new format.

Among the key launches is Canva Sheets, a new spreadsheet template that sits somewhere between being a conventional spreadsheet for quantitative data and a project management app. Magic Insights and Magic Formulas use AI to “do the heavy lifting for you,” and the integration with the rest of Visual Suite 2.0 makes it easy to link to other content.

Boasting about the more than 16 billion times users have access Canva Magic Studio, Perkins shared some other handy AI enhancements, such as a text-filling Magic Write tool and Magic Resize for creating images in different aspect ratios for social media campaigns.

Adding even more functionality into the creative suite, Canva Code allows users to use natural language prompts to describe ideas for interactive elements, which are then built automatically without the need for any hardcore programming.

Visual Suite 2.0 is now available to try from the Canva homepage.

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• ChatGPT's next big upgrade could arrive next week
• GPT-4.1 would be the successor to 4o
• Just yesterday, Sam Altman announced major memory upgrades coming to the chatbot

The next generation of OpenAI's GPT models could launch as soon as next week, with a new report hinting at the arrival of ChatGPT 4.1 to replace 4o.

An exclusive from The Verge reveals sources close to OpenAI have confirmed that the next major ChatGPT release is just around the corner. The report claims "one source describes [the new model] as a revamped version of OpenAI’s GPT-4o multimodal model."

The source claims OpenAI will launch "GPT-4.1 alongside smaller GPT-4.1 mini and nano versions as soon as next week." This release would mark a major step forward for ChatGPT.

Over the last few months, Google Gemini and DeepSeek have continuously improved, closing the gap with OpenAI's flagship model. You'd expect these new models to propel OpenAI back to the top spot.

AI engineer Tibor Blaho found code in the new ChatGPT web app version mentioning "o4-mini", "o4-mini-high" and "o3" which would imply the new GPT models are likely to arrive very soon.

Just yesterday, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, announced major memory upgrades coming to ChatGPT which means the AI chatbot can remember every conversation it has with a user.

This upgrade, which is likely to be part of any new GPT means ChatGPT can now take that next step to becoming your personal assistant. Whether that's referencing previous conversations or the AI having full awareness of your past interactions, a new memory upgrade is a major improvement coming to ChatGPT.

we have greatly improved memory in chatgpt--it can now reference all your past conversations!this is a surprisingly great feature imo, and it points at something we are excited about: ai systems that get to know you over your life, and become extremely useful and personalized.April 10, 2025

What's in a name?

The name of the incoming update is not confirmed, although The Verge believes it will be called GPT 4.1.

If OpenAI goes down the 4.1 route, it will continue to make the AI giant's model naming scheme incredibly convoluted. At the end of last year, OpenAI mentioned that the company hoped to create an all-encompassing model in the future, which would not require the user to select between models.

If ChatGPT 4.1 releases next week, we'd really be hoping to see that all-encompassing model sooner rather than later, as trying to explain the differences between 4.1, 4.5, and o3 would start to get very complicated indeed.

Naming aside, a new OpenAI AI model is a huge deal, and if these sources are correct and we see a new launch in the next week or so, it could be another major step towards the AI future these tech CEOs are pursuing.

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• Microsoft’s published a new article featuring Windows 11 tips that doubles as a prod to upgrade to the newer OS
• The trouble is there’s a baffling selection of ‘strong’ points highlighted
• There are some good reasons to upgrade to Windows 11, but none of them are presented by this document

In case you hadn’t noticed (unlikely), Microsoft wants Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 – if it’s at all possible and their PC fulfils the spec requirements for the newer operating system – and we’ve just caught wind of another attempt to prod folks to make that leap.

This is a new article on Microsoft’s ‘Learning Center’ portal noticed by Neowin which is called ‘7 tips to get the most out of Windows 11,’ and is an effort to persuade Windows 10 holdouts.

Microsoft begins the piece: “So, you’ve heard the buzz about Windows 11, but is it worth the upgrade? From productivity tools to sleek designs, Windows 11 is packed with features that make your life easier. If you’re still on Windows 10, now’s a good time to make the switch – especially with support for Windows 10 ending in October 2025.”

Essentially, the idea appears to be that it’s a list of tips which double as strong points of Windows 11. So, buckle up, let’s take a look at this collection and see what we make of it.

The initial tip is to ‘Make the Start Menu your own’ and it points out that it’s easy to customize said menu. Microsoft informs us: “You can pin your favorite apps, rearrange tiles, or even resize the whole thing to suit your vibe.” You can indeed, but highlighting the Start menu is an odd choice here, seeing as it’s a piece of Windows 11 that a lot of folks aren’t that happy with for one reason or another.

Also, customization is relatively limited in some respects. For example, want to get rid of the ‘recommendations’ section? You can’t – but to be fair, this ability might be inbound in a major redesign for the Start menu, so Microsoft appears to be listening to feedback, thankfully.

Then we have a couple of tips for rather niche features. The second point is to use snap layouts, which consist of multiple apps ‘snapped’ or fitted neatly together to enable them to be viewed simultaneously across your monitor screen. They’re a nice idea, but really something that you’ll use, or you won’t – and there are a good many folks in the latter category. The third tip, to use virtual desktops to keep, say, your work life and personal desktop separate, is something that the majority of Windows users won’t ever go near.

Then we’re told widgets are great – hmm, some folks might enjoy them, but again, they’re more of a minority thing, albeit a feature Microsoft seems unhealthily obsessed with – and we’re reminded that you can use focus sessions for better productivity (once more, most people won’t, though).

Tip six points out that you can use Windows Hello for login (you can on Windows 10, too, though to be fair, the feature is enhanced on Windows 11), and Microsoft’s final tip is to use dark mode (again, this is present on Windows 10, albeit the implementation is better on the newer OS once more).

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Analysis: Some odd choices indeed

Overall, this represents an odd collection of tips and possible reasons to hop on the Windows 11 train. There are certainly more compelling arguments to take the plunge with Microsoft’s newest OS, including better security under-the-hood for starters, and smoother overall performance compared to Windows 10.

Indeed, there are some neat features for PC gamers, such as Auto HDR mode, or DirectStorage for speeding up games considerably (where it’s supported, and that’ll eventually be a much wider array of titles).

Or what about some of the great accessibility features that Windows 11 has introduced? Or the new AI features that’ve been drafted in (some of which are for Copilot+ PCs only, admittedly, but not all of them).

Microsoft’s article fails miserably in terms of the meat here to persuade people to pull the upgrade trigger, and even rather falls flat when it comes to pointing out the bits of Windows 11 that you really need to know about for those who’ve just installed the OS and need some initial tips to help find their way around.

Of course, with Windows 10’s End of Life now looming very large, you’re going to have to examine the realities of a Windows 11 upgrade before long, anyway – that or the alternatives such as paying to maintain Windows 10 support for another year through to October 2026.

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• Amazon sees itself as the world’s largest startup
• Aggressive AI investments are key to future growth
• CEO Andy Jassy continues to advocate for in-person working

Emphasizing how aggressive investments into artificial intelligence can realize long-term financial gains, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted in his most recent shareholder letter that the ecommerce and cloud computing giant intends to spend over $100 billion on capital expenditure in 2025, with most of it going to AWS AI projects.

He described the tech as a “once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know,” with promises to revolutionize everything from customer experiences to workplace productivity.

The letter came around two months after the company posted its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results for 2024, with total revenue up 11% year-over-year to $638 billion.

Andy Jassy believes aggressive AI investment is the best plan for the future

Jassy noted that the “rapid rate of change in technology, customer habits, and new products” makes it hard for Amazon to deliver year after year on its core goal: “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.”

On a similar note to Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke’s recent comment about long-term learning, Jassy also advocated for leaders and workers to continue learning throughout their entire career.

It’s not just aggressive investments that liken Amazon to some startups – the CEO highlighted how organized chaos can also create a more innovative environment. “[Tolerate] messy meetings,” he said… “You can’t book 60 minutes to invent Amazon Prime, or AWS.”

Where Amazon might differ from smaller and more modern companies is in workforce agility and flexibility, because Amazon is notoriously pro-office-based working. In recent post-pandemic years, the company has pushed for a widespread return-to-office, and Jassy reiterated the purported increase in ad-hoc collaboration and brainstorming when workers are together.

As his letter draws to a close, Jassy highlights seven traits that make Amazon similar in nature to startups: a focus on solving a real customer problem or meaningfully improving a customer experience; a need for ‘builders’ who dissect and improve; a desire for ‘owners’ who take responsibility; speed; relative team leanness; a willingness to take risks; and a commitment to deliver results for customers.

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Roborock Qrevo Master: two-minute review

Originally launched in May 2024, the Roborock Qrevo Master is a high-end robotic vacuum and mop that produces an impressive blend of power, intelligence and convenience. Boasting 10,000Pa suction, dual rubber rollers and flexible side brush, the Qrevo Master effectively tackles dust, debris and pet hair on a variety of surfaces, while its dual spinning mops and consistent downward pressure ensure a very decent level of hard floor cleaning and light stain removal.

Navigation is always a key standout feature among Roborock models and this one's no different. The Qrevo Master's LiDAR mapping and AI-powered obstacle avoidance allows the bot to maneuver around furniture and most larger household objects. However, when it comes to small obstacle avoidance there are more efficient models out there that perform better in this regard.

The Qrevo Master's self-maintaining dock, meanwhile, adds an extra layer of convenience, automatically emptying the dustbin, refilling the robot's water tank and washing and drying the two mop pads. For those seeking a premium, low-maintenance floor cleaning solution, the Qrevo Master is an excellent choice, and holds its own against the best robot vacuums on the market, despite not being the very newest model out. Read on for my full Roborock Qrevo Master review.

(Image credit: Future) Roborock Qrevo Master review: price & availability

• List price: $1,599 / £1,199 / AU$2,199 (regularly discounted in all territories)
• Launched: May 2024

At list price, the Roborock Qrevo Master costs $1,599 in the US (although at time of writing, it was down to $899.99, which is the kind of price you should expect to actually pay for this model). In the UK it's £1,199, but again you should expect not to have to actually pay that – at time of writing it's down to £799.99. In Australia, the list price is AU$2,699 but it's currently discounted to AU$2,199.

Even at those discounted prices, it's still a premium robot vacuum. However, it's far from the most expensive model on the market – most brands' newest flagship models are well into the four figures in the US and UK.

At time of writing the Qrevo Master is still a relatively new model – it launched May 2024. However, the world of robovacs moves fast, and there are now several newer bots in the Roborock range. It occupies a spot somewhere in the middle of the Qrevo lineup, between the basic and budget-friendly Qrevo Q5 Pro+ and the expensive but excellent Qrevo Curv. The latest options to join the lineup are the Saros 10 and Saros 10R, both of which cost far more than the Qrevo Master and introduce some cool (if not wholly essential) new tech.

(Image credit: Future)

While not the best or most advanced robot vacuum in the Roborock lineup, the Qrevo master is still a mighty fine option that delivers on many fronts, not least its excellent navigation and vacuuming skills.

While there are other sterling robot vac manufacturers out there – namely Dreame, Eufy and Narwal – I personally always gravitate to the Roborock brand simply because the Chinese company's products are so reliable and usually ahead of the curve. Where Roborock goes, others follow.

Is the Qrevo Master good value? I'd say it sort of is given that most robot vacs with this level of smarts retail for around the same price. Nevertheless, there are some outstanding cheaper options around if you know where to look. (In the UK, the phenomenal Xiaomi X20+ performs almost as well as the Qrevo Master for around £500 less – it's the best budget robot vacuum I've tested, by some margin).

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Master specs Roborock Qrevo Master review: design

• Slightly basic looking hybrid bot, and a little on the tall side
• Dual rubber brush rollers and rotating mop pads
• Comprehensive dock, including mop cleaning and drying

I guess I've been spoiled by the clean Scandinavian-style design aesthetics of Roborock's latest premium models, the Saros 10 and 10R, because the Qrevo Master's robot unit looks a bit old fashioned with its large, plastic LiDAR unit and oversized bumpers. At 10.3cm in height, it's also quite tall which means it will have trouble passing under some low-slung furniture.

Roborock's newer (pricier) robots outshine the Qrevo Master in this area – the Saros 10 has a puck that can pop up and down, and the Qrevo Slim and Saros 10R don't have a puck at all. All look significantly slicker and more modern than the Qrevo Master.

I'm not too enamored of the medical white color scheme of my review model – I much prefer the back version that appears in the studio photos in this review.

(Image credit: Future)

Let's tackle this model's navigation system first. Like all the very best robots, the Qrevo Master uses LiDAR and an RGB camera to find its way around a home, and its accuracy is second to none. In fact you can see the results during its very first mapping run in real time on the Roborock app. The RGB camera can also be used to monitor a room by driving the robot around like a remote controlled car.

(Image credit: Future)

However, while the Qrevo Master's large obstacle avoidance (furniture legs, etc) is above par – its Reactive AI software can identify and avoid 62 objects across 20 categories – its obstacle detection isn't as precise as the company's very latest navigation systems. After all, today's technology moves at such a pace that something considered groundbreaking a few months previous is very soon superseded by another that's lightyears ahead.

You do get a very decent tranche of vacuuming tech with this unit, including very effective dual rubber brush rollers with an anti-tangling device and an automatically extendable side brush that pops out in corners of a room. This model boasts 10,000Pa which is short of its higher-end stablemates but still perfectly acceptable for practically all cleaning scenarios, bar perhaps very deep pile carpet.

There are five levels of power to choose from – Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, Max and MAX+. Since the robot's battery is more than up to the task of vacuuming a large space (it has a running time of about 60 minutes in Max mode) , I would always opt for Max or MAX+ because, well, why wouldn't you?

(Image credit: Future)

On the mopping front this model comes with two circular toweling pads and, like many current high-end models, one of the mopping pads can also extend outwards to clean along skirting boards and around furniture legs. Both mops are pushed into the floor while they spin at 200rpm, giving any hard floor a good seeing to. This style mop tends to do a more effective scrubbing job than the static D-shaped pad still found on many robot vacuums – even the high-end models.

The mops themselves are pre-dampened by a small onboard 80ml water tank that is in turn filled in the dock just before going out on a mopping run. You can select up to 30 levels of water flow in the excellent Roborock app.

Of course, one wouldn't want any damp mops running slipshod over one's lovely carpets so the mops on this model lift by a few centimeters whenever the bot is traversing carpets or rugs. Likewise, its vacuum brush rollers also rise up whenever the robot is mopping or returning to base.

Dock design

At 521 x 340 x 487mm, the Qrevo Master's dock is considerably taller than many of its peers and that means it will be harder to position without it being too conspicuous. In fact this dock shares some design aesthetics with the Dreame L40 Ultra I reviewed a while back, including a very similar looking dust bag cover. But thankfully Roborock steered away from giving it any tasteless gold colored details.

(Image credit: Future)

It's not the most unpleasant looking dock I've seen, but compared to the gorgeous mirrored finish Roborock has applied to its Saros range, it certainly could do with a bit of a facelift. Thankfully the black option doesn't look quite as ungainly because, well, it's black and therefore less noticeable in a room filled with wooden furniture.

Like all good contemporary hybrid robot cleaners, the Qrevo Master's dock offers a fully automated maintenance system that empties the contents of the robot's small internal 220ml bin into the dock's larger 2.2-liter dust bag whenever it has finished a vacuum session. Having a robot with a self-emptying feature is an absolute must, especially if you have shedding pets in the home. Without one you will need to continually empty the robot's tiny bin yourself, sometimes halfway through a cleaning session and, believe me, that's no fun.

(Image credit: Future)

Since this model also wet mops hard floors, it comes equipped with a mop cleaning facility that washes both mops with hot water at 60C to break down dirt and bacteria. Aside from emptying the mucky contents of the 3.5-litre dirty water tank, filling the 4-liter fresh water container, and very occasionally removing the entire mopping tray from the dock to rinse and scrub it under tap, there's very little human interjection required with this machine.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Master review: performance

• Very good vacuuming and mopping performance
• Reliable LiDAR navigation but poor obstacle avoidance
• Effective dock with minimal human interaction needed

This robot vacuum does a lot of different things, so to keep everything clear, I've separated this section into a range of different performance elements. I'll start with navigation performance, then move on to obstacle avoidance. Next I'll get into vacuuming and mopping performance and finally I'll cover how well the dock held up during testing.

Navigation performance

Top marks as usual to Roborock for this bot's navigation prowess. From the moment you set it all up – a breeze, it must be said – the bot trundles off without getting lost and quickly maps your entire floor plan in about five minutes. It then returns to its charging station and proceeds to dock as accurately as a spaceship.

(Image credit: Future)

I've since placed the Qrevo Master in our village hall – an extremely demanding 127 square metres of wooden flooring – and the Qrevo Master has never once lost its way or missed a section. Sometimes very large spaces with lots of reflective windows can affect a robot vac's LiDAR navigation performance and this usually manifests itself as a strange anomaly on the app's map interface where the room is mysteriously multiplied in size. This happened on a couple of occasions with the Dreame L40 Ultra. By contrast, the Qrevo Master's complex three-room map hasn't altered at all in three weeks of regular use.

Obstacle avoidance

This is the only test where the Qrevo Master showed its Achilles Heel. For my test I used a collection of small and large dog toys, plus a phone cable. At first the Qrevo Master simply steamrollered even some of the larger toys. Activating the 'Pet' setting in the Reactive Obstacle avoidance menu in the app makes a big difference to Roborock bots' detection skills, but I double-checked and I had indeed already selected this option.

I then ran the test again and, for some bizarre reason, it behaved a little bit better – as if it was going through a learning process. Nevertheless, like the vast majority of bots I've tested, it ran right over the small nylon dog bone and failed to extricate itself. And, while it at first appeared to avoid the charge cable, it soon changed its mind and simply ran over it and then dragged it around the rug.

(Image credit: Future)

It's difficult to tell why this model had such issues with obstacle avoidance, but in its defense, its day-to-day schedules have always gone without a hitch – when it has encountered a stray dog toy, it's simply pushed them to the side when not actively avoiding them. However, I agree that this is not ideal given the cost of the machine in the first place.

Hence, if you have a messy home with small items littering the floor, you'd be better off with the Roborock Qrevo Curv, the newer Roborock Saros 10R or the Dreame L40 Ultra. All three of these bots excel at obstacle avoidance.

Vacuum performance

For my hard floor test I measured 22 grams of oats, uncooked orzo, cornflakes, flour and a crushed cheese cracker. I then set a cleaning zone in the kitchen and commanded the robot to perform two passes using Max power. While some of the debris was scattered by the spinning side brush (a common occurrence with all robot vacs), it generally performed extremely well, collecting 21g when measured on the scales.

Image 1 of 2

Before the vacuuming test... (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

... and after (Image credit: Future)

Granted, a few remnants of oats remained and some flour was left in the cracks but this was easily fixed by using a standard stick vac to finish the job. While not as successful as, say, the Roborock Saros 10R or Dreame L40, the Qrevo Master still proved to be very adept at hard floor sweeping.

Before (left) and after the vacuuming test on a rug (Image credit: Future)

I then set up a similar medium-pile rug test using the same 22g of ingredients. This test produced excellent results, with 22g back on the scales. However, it had also collected some extra pet hair and dust in the process so I would say pickup was nearer to 21g. That's an excellent result in my opinion. Best of all, I couldn't see any remnants on the rug from head height – and that's about as much as anyone could wish for.

Mopping performance

I'm not a big fan of robot vacs that also mop because I don't believe any of them are capable of replacing a human's ability to deeply wash a hard floor or target a specific area using either an old fashioned mop and bucket or one of those newfangled wet-and-dry cordless mops that are doing the rounds.

For instance, I would never consider going through the rigmarole of sending a robot mop to attend to an accidental spill when I can get the job done in a fraction of the time. However, I can see robot mops being useful at keeping on top of a pre-cleaned floor if programmed to run a series of regular mopping schedules.

(Image credit: Future)

Since this model uses two circular spinning mop pads, I knew before even starting my test that it would be efficient enough for a pass. And sure enough it mopped up all traces of the milk and soy sauce mix I spilled on the floor – in a single sweep no less. It even continued to move over the same spot a number of times, just for good measure. However, like most robot mops I've tested, it did leave a slightly sticky but invisible residue behind after the floor had dried. After the cleaning test, the robot duly returned to its dock to have the mops cleaned and dried using hot air to help keep mold at bay.

(Image credit: Future) Dock performance

Since I have two Labradors and three cats, my home is always full of hair. In fact, I often find odd strands of Labrador hair in the most surprising places. As a consequence of all this hair, some robot vac docks I've tested have become blocked due to an excessive amount of hair stuffed into the robots' tiny bins.

If the dock's suction isn't powerful enough, chances are a bundle of hair will block the air intake, either where the robot meets with the dock's suction tube or, more than likely, at the end of its travel where the suction tube connects with the dock's dust bag. This kind of anomaly is easily rectifiable but also unnecessarily messy, especially given the fact that you buy a robot vac to do all the graft so you don't have to.

(Image credit: Future)

Well I'm pleased to say that the Qrevo Master's dock suction levels are easily high enough to draw everything out of the robot's bin and into the dock's large 2.2-liter disposable dust bag with no issues whatsoever. (I'd rate it amongst the best robot vacuums for pet hair in this regard.) In fact, the dock's suction was powerful enough to draw a heavy snooker cue tip into the dust bag, and not many robot docks are capable of that level of suction.

(Image credit: Future)

As a postscript, I should add that this robot has been employed full-time in our village hall for several weeks now, and the hall's main floor, its kitchen and toilet area have never looked cleaner. The Qrevo Master vacuums this enormous 127 square metre space three times a week and mops it twice a week. At no time has it ever got stuck in five weeks of regular use. It deftly vacuums the entire hall (even beneath a pile of chairs in one corner), keeps the hall's loos spick and span and stays on top of any kitchen mess. This just goes to prove that robot vacs – and mops – are just as suitable for commercial use as they are for domestic settings.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Roborock Qrevo Master review: app

• Highly customizable
• Easy to navigate
• Extremely comprehensive

I've said it before and I'll say it again – right now there is no better robot vac app for sheer comprehensiveness and ease of use than Roborock's. This app has it all, from scheduling and specific zone tasks, to a myriad of deep customization tweaks. That includes changing the amount of time the bot returns to the dock to have its dustbin emptied, editing the room surface and direction of wooden flooring, adding no-go zones, even adding furniture icons to the map so it looks like something out of the Sims.

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(Image credit: Roborock / Future)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Roborock / Derek Adams)

Another great thing about this app is that you can programme a set of ‘Routines' like ‘vacuum the lounge' or ‘mop the kitchen' and save them all on the home screen for instant access. Roborock's tech bods left no stone unturned when developing this app and the results speak for themselves.

• App score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Roborock Qrevo Master? Buy it if...

Your home has a complex layout

The Qrevo Master's navigation is top dollar.

You have pets in the home

This model handled my two dogs' and three cats' hair extremely well.

You need a robot that also mops

The Qrevo Master does a very decent job of mopping, and the comprehensive dock also takes care of various maintenance tasks.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best of the best

Newer Roborock models have more cutting-edge features, including things like retractible navigation pucks for cleaning under low furniture.

You have a cluttered home

The Qrevo Master isn't a master of obstacle avoidance, so you'll want to tidy up before sending this bot out.

You're on a tight budget

There are lower-priced options on the market, albeit with less comprehensive docks.

How I tested the Roborock Qrevo Master

I lived with the Qrevo Master for several weeks to get a real feel for its performance. I also TechRadar's standard robot vacuum tests to assess performance.

The first thing we're looking for is overall suction performance on different floor types. For this, I spilled a selection of loose ingredients on both hard flooring and carpet and observed the results. Did the robot sweep it all up in a single sweep or did it snowplough everything? Did it scatter the ingredients in the process? Did it leave anything behind after a few passes? I then ran similar tests using liquids, to test this hybrid robot's mopping efficiency.

Aside from performance, I also looked at the design of the robot and self-emptying dock, tested the effectiveness of its obstacle avoidance, and considered how quickly it mapped my home's floor plan when first taking it out of the box. I spent time digging into its app to see how extensive and usable it is, and if any improvements could be made.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed April 2025

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