Until recently, robotic vacuums were mostly an expensive toy for pets.
Unfortunately, high price, low suction power, primitive navigation and short battery life radically limited their popularity. But over several decades, developers have solved almost all the problems. Auto recharging, self-emptying dock, highly efficient navigation with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and RGB camera, multi-floor mapping, mopping mode with vibration technology and auto wipe lifting above the carpet, auto filling the on-board water container, washing and drying the wipes at the dock, increased suction power, technologies for cleaning edges and corners, and finally connecting the base to sewerage and water supply have radically increased the cleaning automation level. In fact, the list of manual functions has been narrowed down to periodic maintenance, including cleaning brushes, programming cleaning schedules, replacing the garbage bag and detergents at the station. But, of course, this is only true for fairly expensive flagship models starting at $ 1,000.
Of course, unprecedented progress is accompanied by an increase in their popularity in the consumer market, and companies responds adequately to it. Today the market offers a very wide range, including American iRobot Roomba brand, which is a pioneer in this industry, very popular Eufy robotic vacuums and Shark models, etc. But Roborock and Dreametech are vying for innovation dominance in this segment. It’s funny, but competing with each other, both companies are part of the Xiaomi ecosystem. Chinese Dreame Technology Co, Ltd (Dreame Technology or Dreametech) was founded by Yu Hao in 2017 and immediately entered the Xiaomi Corporation ecosystem. Roborock was created in 2014 as a sub-brand of Xiaomi. Today this division has a staff of more than 500 people, its own office and an assembly line with quality control.
Roborock and Dreame Bot
Roborock’s lineup includes the S5, S6, S7 and the newest S8 series, each of which contains Pure, Pro, MaxV and Ultra versions.
They offer fairly high suction power, superb ReactiveAI navigation with RGB camera, innovative VibraRise mop and Auto Mop Lifting technologies, etc. But the unprecedentedly high automation level is due the new station for last year’s flagship Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra. In addition to traditional recharging and self-emptying, it supports auto-filling of the on-board robot water container, rinses the wipes, etc. Today its price ~$ 1,200 – $1,300.
This year, the developers have already introduced the S8 RockDock Ultra series, including the S8, S8 Plus and S8 Pro Ultra. Increased suction power to 6000Pa and an additional brush roll increase the cleaning efficiency of carpets. The S8 Pro Ultra price reaches ~$ 1,600.
Dreame range evolution includes:
– 2017 – Dreame F9 (RVS5-WH0) – up to 2500 Pa;
– 2019 – D9 (RLS5-WH0) and D9 Pro (RLS5-BL0) – 4000 Pa;
– 2020 – Dreame Bot L10 Pro (4000 Pa, X – Chinese, L – global version) and Z10 Pro (RLS5D) with self-emptying base;
– 2021 – W10 (RLS5C) – 4000 Pa;
– 2023 (improved versions) – Dreame Bot F9 Pro (RLF22GA), D9 Plus (RLD11GD), D9 Max (RLS5-BL1, 4000 Pa), D10s (RLS3L, 5000 Pa), D10s Pro (RLS6A), D10s Plus (RLS6AD), D10 Plus (RLS3D, 4000 Pa, without DToF module), W10 Pro (RLS6TAC), L10 Prime (RLL11GC), L10s Ultra (RLS6LADC), L10s Pro (RLS6L).
But, of course, the flagship Dreame Bot L20 Ultra and L30 Ultra became the main sensation of the year.
In fact, they offer the highest cleaning automation level in the industry today. For reference, Dreame Bot L20 Ultra costs ~ $ 1,050.
Dreame Bot L20/L30 Ultra
Dreame Bot models are considered one of the most effective in dry vacuuming mode, due to their high suction power. This is achieved through the use of high-speed brushless motors, the rotation speed of which reaches 160,000 and 180,000 rpm. The founder of the company, Yu Hao, began developing them while still a student. According to the company, today it has the technology to increase speed to 200,000 rpm. For comparison, a few years ago the maximum rotation speed of competitors did not exceed 125,000 rpm.
In fact, Dreame Bot L20 Ultra Complete (RLX41CE) is a slightly simplified version of the flagship L30 Ultra. Depending on the region, the difference in their prices varies from $ 100 to several hundred. However, the list of differences is very short and includes (L20 Ultra Complete vs L30 Ultra):
– 7000 Pa vs 7300 Pa suction power;
– cold water vs hot water (58°C / 136°F) for mops at self-cleaning in dock;
– no vs auto adding of detergents;
– no vs built-in voice assistant.
Otherwise the models are identical. Dock has 4L/4.5L dirty/clean water containers, and 3.2L dust bag for ~75 days.
A 450 ml detergent cartridge is placed between containers.
Dock:
– washes and dries wipe using detergents;
– fills the robot’s on-board container with water;
– sucks out garbage from the on-board container.
Both models use improved Pathfinder navigation (LiDAR + front-camera) and can connect to water and sewer. But it requires a water hookup kit, which costs $ 100 or more, depending on the region.
MopExtend technology is a main innovation. In fact, it uses Position Sensitive Detector and an eccentric, which extends the wipe to clean edges without a ‘blind area’.
Key Features
The model uses:
– wall sensor on the right bumper;
– front camera for recognizing objects on the floor and remotely monitoring the house;
– 3D sensors and LED backlight on both sides that automatically turns on in the dark;
– LiDAR on top with spring-loaded cover;
– carpet and fall protection sensors on the bottom panel;
Both robots support Mop Raising option above the carpet.
In dry cleaning mode, magnetized pins on the platform ‘unfasten’ the wipe holders from the robot, eliminating their contact with carpets.
Unlike the Chinese X20/X30 Pro version, the global L20/L30 version comes without disinfection module with silver, which is optional.
Connecting a dock to sewerage and water supply is not difficult, but it requires at least primitive skills. Once connected, the app asks testing and after its successful completion activates this function.
A fully charged Li-Ion 6400 mAh battery provides cleaning time of up to 260 minutes. Dreame Bot L20/L30 are controlled via the Dreamehome app. It supports a wide range of functionality, including:
– 3D mapping, saving cleaning maps, auto zoning, selection of zones and rooms for cleaning, virtual walls and restricted areas, cleaning schedule;
– adjusting the suction power, avoiding movement on the carpet in mopping mode and setting the frequency of wipe rinsing.
– remote tracking through the front camera, which transmits the image to the smartphone screen in real time.
This function supports shooting, saving photos and transmitting voice messages through the robot’s speaker. But, of course, the use of this function requires agreement with all family members;
– Custom and Ultimate modes.
Ultimate mode automatically determines the robot movement trajectory, if necessary, activatesa repeated cleaning, and changes the power and moisture level of the wipes depending on floor contamination.
Testing
Testing confirmed the robot’s superb navigation. Despite periodically returning to the dock to wash with wipe, it accurately returned to the interruption point, providing a complete cleaning. The model also successfully recognized and avoided all small obstacles on the floor, including socks, wires and toys. Unfortunately, the quality of this option is significantly reduced in the dark.
The actual suction power is quite consistent with that indicated in the specs. Dreame Bot L20 / L30 quickly and thoroughly suck out debris even from 10 mm cracks.
The floating turbo brush module and high power easily clean even mid-pile carpets. The model offers three modes for this purpose:
– auto lifting the wipe over the carpet;
– auto carpet avoidance in wet cleaning mode;
– combined mode – the robot performs dry and wet cleaning of hard surfaces, enters the dock, automatically unfastens wipes and vacuums carpets without wipe. This mode is ideal for long-pile carpets.
Clean wipe and MopExtend technology provide very high quality cleaning of surfaces without streaks and ‘blind spots’.
The new Dreame Bot easily overcomes black surfaces. As known, many models mistakenly perceive dark surfaces as dirt, which causes their programs to crash. The noise level in the range of 56-72 dB is quite adequate to the high suction power and corresponds to background level.
Pros
– price just over $ 1,000;
– 7000 / 7300 Pa suction power;
– MopExtend technology;
– superb Pathfinder navigation;
– front-camera;
– widely functional dock with the ability to connect to sewerage and water supply;
– high-quality carpet cleaning;
– set of the popular options, including Mop Raising, LED backlight, etc;
– settings via Dreamehome app.
Cons
– not ideal corner cleaning;
– deterioration in overcoming obstacles in the dark.
Conclusions
Dreametech Dreame Bot L20 Ultra Complete and L30 Ultra top the list of innovation leaders for the first time, offering the highest level of cleaning automation. Their dock washes and dries the wipe using detergents, fills the robot’s on-board container with water, empties garbage from the on-board dust container and supports connection to water supply and sewerage. Moreover, the model offers superb Pathfinder navigation (LiDAR + front camera), unprecedented 7000 / 7300 Pa suction power, innovative MopExtend technology and several new features including automatic wipe detachment/attachment, Mop Raising and LED backlight. The wide functionality of the Dreamehome app, a large number of settings and smart cleaning in Ultimate mode triumphantly complete the list of their pros. Finally, the launch price of Dreame Bot L20 Ultra Complete only slightly exceeds $ 1,000 and may decrease after its traditional correction. These factors provide superb value for money, promising the model excellent marketing prospects and a place among the bestsellers of 2024.
Of course, last year’s Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra costing $ 1,200 – $ 1,300 and the newest Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, costing ~ $ 1,600, are also great. They offer a similar automation level and specs, but are more expensive.
The automation level and specs of iRobot Roomba, Shark, Eufy models and other famous competitors are significantly lower. But this factor requires a good budget and is important when the consumer claims a very clean apartment with minimal effort and time. Most modern budget and mid-budget models costing only a few hundred provide quite acceptable cleanliness in relatively small apartments, especially without carpets.
This video shows the newest Dreame Bot L20 Ultra.