I have a reputation for being a clean freak, and worse still, I’m proud of it. So you can imagine the importance of a decent vacuum in my household.
To add a bit of background, around six months ago the battery in my cordless Dyson was on its last legs. The cost of replacements isn’t cheap, so when my Shark steam mop also kicked the bucket (isn’t it funny how these devices die in tandem?), I figured it’d be more cost effective to try an all-in-one robot.
Lots of research later, I settled on the Dreame L10s Ultra Gen 2. It’s a brand I’ve never experienced before, but the price and feature set seemed agreeable for a mid-range solution.
Today, that same robot vacuum cleaner is down to £379 at Amazon UK, which according to price watch I set up at the time, is the lowest price on record.
Dreame L10s Ultra Gen 2
“Dreame L10s Ultra Gen 2 cleans hidden debris under low-profile furniture and tight spaces up to 4cm deep. Edge recognition and adjustable mop extension ensure 165% edge cleaning, navigating around tables, chairs, and skirting boards.”
Good opportunity to bag one for yourself, and if you’re wondering if it’s worth it, I’m happy to share some details I couldn’t find in the various reviews I pored over.
Firstly, I’ll go out on a limb and say a robot vacuum categorically isn’t as good as a human doing the job manually. What you lose in effectiveness, you gain in convenience, and that’s a trade-off you need to be willing to make.
In our busy household, the time saving has proved valuable, and the robot does a good enough job, heading out twice a week to first vacuum and then mop the ground floor. It can vacuum and mop at the same time, but this isn’t ideal as you’re effectively wetting the dust and dirt, creating gunk that can clog the machine.
Sending out the droid, as I like to call it, to first vacuum, then return to empty itself, and then out again to mop, is the preferred option, but this does extend the time taken somewhat dramatically. Our Dreame begins its shift at 8am on a Monday morning and it’s almost noon by the time the ground floor is done.
That’s a lengthy period, and you might want to set it to run when nobody is home. Our little one is terrified when ‘Buzz,’ as she calls it, is on the go, and there’s only so long a child can sit glued to the sofa with her feet up.
There’s also a matter of noise. I saw plenty of reviews suggest the robot is quiet enough to run during the night, but I’ve not found that to be the case. It’s noisy, especially when it extends the mechanical arm to reach into corners, but then I am a light sleeper. Heck, even in the upstairs office right now, I can hear it whirring away.
Quirks out of the way, there are plenty of positives. Once the app is configured just how you want it, the cleaning process is largely automated, requiring little day-to-day intervention. There are occasional tasks such as emptying or refilling the water tanks, or cleaning the mop pads, but there are notifications to let you know when, and on the whole Dreame just does its thing. Plus the dock looks sleek enough in most rooms.
Setting up multiple users proved tricky, with Dreame seemingly unable to reliably deliver verification codes during registration, but we’ve resorted to using the same login across devices with no ill effects.
More importantly, vacuum performance on carpets is good, and even better on hard floors. Then there’s mopping, which is where the robot excels, and having seen it in action, I’d list the ‘MopExtend’ functionality a must-have, enabling it to reach right up to the edges.
Another plus point is that the robot is quite slim, allowing it to pass beneath our sofas, and other hard-to-reach areas that otherwise would be vacuumed infrequently. Better yet, it’s possible to map other floors and manually take the robot upstairs. This means we now hoover underneath the beds far more frequently, and it saves me having to get on my knees.
As a combination vacuum and mop, the Dreame L10s Ultra Gen 2 does a respectable job at the £379 price point, and is a sound investment for anyone wanting to save a little time in household chores. Mine’s going strong after a few months, and though I wouldn’t say no to a larger battery – there’s not enough juice to do the ground floor and upstairs without a recharge – I’m more than satisfied with the overall experience.
As far as smart-home gadgets go, this is one I’m happy to recommend. Now you know the limitations, there’s good reason to enjoy the satisfaction of returning to a freshly vacuumed and mopped home.
