DJI Romo 2 is the May 11 robot vacuum launch that quietly proves DJI’s drone instincts translate to home cleaning. DJI announced the Romo P2 and Romo A2 in China with 36,000Pa suction, a radar-adaptive 123-degree robotic arm, drone-grade obstacle avoidance and prices starting at 5,499 yuan, around £570.
- DJI announced the Romo 2 series — Romo P2 and Romo A2 — in China on 11 May 2026, less than a year after the original Romo launched.
- Suction climbs to 36,000Pa with an intelligent carpet boost mode, and the obstacle system combines laser radar, fisheye cameras and ToF sensing borrowed from DJI’s drone stack.
- Romo P2 prices start at 5,999 yuan (around £625) for the water-tank version, rising to 6,499 yuan (around £675) for the auto water supply and drainage base station; Romo A2 starts at 5,499 yuan (around £570).
- The dock supports high-temperature self-cleaning, hot-air drying, UV sanitisation and automatic sewage cleaning; pre-orders are China-only with no confirmed global rollout.
Why the DJI Romo 2 matters in the robot vacuum race
The DJI Romo 2 reframes robot vacuums as drone-adjacent kit. DJI is leaning on the same obstacle stack it ships on Mavic and Avata airframes: laser radar, fisheye vision and ToF sensing, with software trained to handle cables, pet pads, transparent objects and the small chaos of a real home floor. That is a genuinely different starting point from Roborock and Dreame, both of which built their navigation from a vacuum-first perspective. The 36,000Pa suction figure is a marketing number more than a useful spec, but the rest of the data sheet is serious: 8.5cm dual-layer obstacle climbing, a 123-degree robotic arm that adds 4.5cm of effective reach near walls, and anti-tangle roller brushes for hair.
The wider home robotics conversation has shifted fast in 2026. The DJI Romo 2 lands in the same window as Beatbot’s AquaSense X pool robot and a flood of new humanoid and home-helper concepts, and it fits the pattern of brands betting that the next consumer robotics win is appliances, not androids. The UK robot vacuum market alone is forecast to push past £400 million in 2026, and the cheaper Romo A2 at 5,499 yuan is priced as a direct shot at Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra and Dreame X40 territory once it crosses the China-only barrier.
DJI Romo 2 specs and the radar arm difference
The headline DJI Romo 2 feature is the radar-adaptive robotic arm. The arm swings up to 123 degrees and pushes the cleaning edge an additional 4.5cm closer to the wall versus the previous Romo generation. That is exactly the use case robot vacuums historically failed at — corners, table legs and the awkward strip of floor beside a sofa. Combined with the 36,000Pa suction system and the carpet boost mode, the Romo 2 is targeting the “actually replaces an upright vacuum” claim that Roborock and Dreame have been chasing for two generations.
The dock is where the spec sheet gets unusually thorough. DJI is including high-temperature self-cleaning, multiple antibacterial features, hot-air drying for the mop pads, UV sanitisation and automatic sewage cleaning. There is also voice control, remote video communication via the on-board camera, dirt heatmaps and 55W fast charging for the robot itself. That feature set is identical in intent to the top-end UK robot vacuum picks, but the actual implementation borrows directly from DJI’s drone software discipline.
DJI Romo 2 prices, variants and the China-first problem
DJI launched four configurations across the DJI Romo 2 line. The Romo P2 with a manual water tank starts at 5,999 yuan, around £625 at current exchange. The premium Romo P2 with the auto water supply and drainage ultra-thin base station moves to 6,499 yuan, around £675. The slightly more affordable Romo A2 water-tank model starts at 5,499 yuan (around £570) and rises to 5,999 yuan (around £625) with the same auto-refill base station. Pre-orders are live in China through DJI’s official online and offline channels.
| DJI Romo 2 variant | China launch price | MTW read |
|---|---|---|
| Romo P2 (water tank) | 5,999 yuan / ~£625 | Mainstream flagship pick if dock space is tight. |
| Romo P2 (auto water + drainage dock) | 6,499 yuan / ~£675 | The version anyone with a utility cupboard should buy. |
| Romo A2 (water tank) | 5,499 yuan / ~£570 | Cheapest entry point; expect minor sensor downgrades. |
| Romo A2 (auto water + drainage dock) | 5,999 yuan / ~£625 | The value sweet spot if global pricing follows the same gap. |
The China-only launch is the catch. DJI brought the original Romo to Europe via Germany, France, Spain and Italy in October 2025, but there is no confirmed UK timeline for the Romo 2. The brand’s regulatory difficulties in the US are well documented and unrelated to this product, but the Romo 2’s path to the UK is more about DJI’s own rollout strategy than any policy hurdle. The DJI UK newsroom on MyNewsDesk still hosts the first-generation Romo press kit; a Romo 2 European release should follow the same channel.
What UK robot vacuum buyers should take from the DJI Romo 2
Three lessons. First, robot vacuums are now genuinely an appliance category that brands outside the traditional Roborock/Dreame/Eufy axis can win. DJI’s drone-grade sensing is not marketing — it is the same hardware-software stack the company has shipped for years, and its arrival in the robot vacuum aisle changes the competitive dynamics. Second, the £600-plus tier is where the meaningful feature gaps now sit. Sub-£500 robot vacuums will keep getting better, but mop drying, auto-empty, sewage cleaning and corner-reaching arms remain premium-only — and DJI has just made them the new baseline at that price point. Third, UK buyers should hold off on a flagship purchase until the Romo 2’s European launch lands.
The realistic UK arrival is probably autumn 2026 if DJI repeats its first-Romo rollout cadence. That puts the Romo 2 in a direct head-to-head with whichever Matter and Thread-friendly smart home flagship Roborock and Dreame have shipped by then. The bigger question is whether DJI cares enough about Western retail to compete on after-sales, replacement parts and app support — those are the categories where Roborock has historically beaten newer entrants. For now the DJI Romo 2 is the most credible new flagship robot vacuum announcement of the year, even if you cannot buy it here yet.
MTW verdict
The DJI Romo 2 is the year’s strongest robot vacuum debut, with drone-grade sensing and a 123-degree corner arm that actually justifies the premium dock pricing. UK buyers should wait for the European release rather than shopping import sellers.
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