Dreame L10s Ultra review: An efficient robot vacuum cleaner for your home

The Dreame L10s Ultra robot vacuum cleaner

Times are changing and new technologies are encapsulating all areas of our lives. Amidst our busy life, juggling all responsibilities can sometime leave little time or energy for household chores. That's where robot vacuums come in – while they occupy a small space, they can do a pretty good job to keep your floors spic and span by taking care of the dirty work.

Robotic vacuum cleaners are slowly becoming popular, with a few companies already launching their offerings. I recently received a similar product - the Dreame L10s Ultra robot vacuum cleaner from Dreame, a technology company specializing in smart home cleaning solutions with a presence in over 120 countries.

After using the device in my home for about two weeks now, here are my thoughts:

Look and feel:

The premium-category Dreame L10s Ultra has two main components – the base station that weighs at around 9 kg and houses the 2.5-litre water tank that allows for up to 200 square metres of cleaning area on a single refill, along with separate areas for detergent and dust collection; and the robot vacuum cleaner which is shaped like a heavy and thick-sized frisbee. The entire device is made of durable plastic which should be able last for a long time. However, my review unit was white in colour that attracted a lot of dust, so the black colour would be preferable for long-term use.

Dreame L10s Ultra vacuum cleaner at my house, post initial setup (Image - Moneycontrol)

The circular vacuum cleaner, which weighs at 3.7 kg, looks futuristic with an array of cameras placed strategically around its body for optimum cleaning benefits. The machine uses artificial intelligence (AI) through an RGB camera and 3D structured light sensors to learn the home’s floor pattern rapidly, and devise cleaning strategies accordingly by auto-generating paths according to the type of obstacle, flooring, and room. Once started, the robot vacuum accurately quickly created a 3D map of my living room, bedroom, etc. For this, it uses technologies such as LIDAR scanning, which helps it to create high-resolution maps.

The vacuum cleaner comes plush with features such as auto-emptying and automatic mop cleaning.

After unboxing the device, I placed it on my flat’s empty drawing room, quite far away from my Wi-Fi router. Although it is advisable to place the device near the router, my device had no problem in latching on to the 2.4 Ghz band. I had to configure the machine through the company’s own smartphone app called ‘Dreamehome’. After installing the app, the initial setup process to add and configure the device was self-explanatory.

Dreame L10s Ultra during setup on the app (Image - Moneycontrol)

Once my device was connected, I had to do a one-time mapping of my entire flat via the app. Once started, the Dreame L10s Ultra vacuum cleaner took a good 30-45 minutes to scan my entire 3BHK-flat by going into each room and taking a note of the furniture placements across the flat. Whenever it came in collision distance from immovable objects or wires, I had to mark that area as ‘no-go zone’ in the app. This essentially made the device aware of the obstacle, which it would avoid going ahead while the cleaning process was on.

Dreame L10s Ultra during mapping setup on the app (Image - Moneycontrol)

Performance

So how is the cleaning performance? I found the Dreame L10s Ultra to perform excellent cleaning of the floors, even the challenging areas that I had intentionally kept dirty to test the device. One point of gripe would be that the cleaner only cleans in circular motion and can’t reach the edges of the floor.

The vacuum cleaner’s powerful 5,300 Pa of suction power works on any dirt, dust, or rubbish found on carpets and floors, while the bristle-less rubber brush avoids hair from getting tangled while combing carpet fibres. When it comes to mopping, the L10s Ultra has rotating mop pads that apply just about the right amount of pressure and spin at 180 RPM offering powerful scrubbing, especially on tile and hardwood floors. Those who do not want their carpets to be mopped can even set it to avoid carpets or have it automatically lift the pads when needed.

Dreame L10s Ultra's mops after the first cleaning cycle (Image - Moneycontrol)

Before the first wash, I had to fully charge the device via the dock. Once the ‘start washing’ command was given on the app, the device would start a five-minute process to fill up with water and detergent from the charging dock, following which it comes out of the dock and starts cleaning. The vacuum cleaner cleans the entire mappable area with precision, starting in circular motion where it first drops a bit of water and then follows it with the mopping. The app provides options to customise the cleaning process – one can choose ‘dry’ or ‘wet’ washing modes, adjust suction power, tweak water flow for mopping, and more with the app, which I found to be minimalistic and intuitive. One can also schedule the cleanings.

Since my 3BHK flat measures about 1200-sq ft, the entire process of cleaning the hall took about 30 minutes while each room took 15-20 minutes. So in case one is in a hurry, they can choose to clean only a part of the entire mappable area. I also used the remote cleaning mode, where my flat was locked and I was out. One hour before entering the flat, I started the cleaning process via the app and by the time I had come back, the Dreame L10s Ultra had cleaned my entire flat with precision.

Dreame L10s Ultra while cleaning (Image - Dreame)

One nifty feature of the vacuum cleaner is the full self-cleaning base station. After each cleaning, the L10s Ultra returns to the dock where the dustbin gets automatically unloaded into a large 3-litre disposable dust bag. Also, the dirty mop pads get scrubbed clean against the grooved base plate and later dried with hot air circulation to prevent any sort of odours or mildew. Emptying the dirty water tank or the dust bag is quick and simple and makes the whole cleaning process low-maintenance.

Verdict

The Dreame L10s Ultra is a hi-tech premium robot vacuum cleaner that cleans your home with low maintenance. The device's powerful cleaning helped by AI-powered navigation and easy maintenance makes it easy to be set once and entrusted with all the heavy floor cleaning. If a buyer is looking for an automated home cleaning solution, then this can be a good choice. However, I still feel the app can be made simpler and the voice command from the vacuum cleaner is too feeble and robotic, which Dreame should work on. Also, the price of Rs 74,999 can seem prohibitive for a lot of users, especially when competitors have launched similar products at much cheaper price.