Dreame has launched in the UK with two quality robot vacuum cleaners and mops, the high-end Dreame L40 Ultra and the mid-range L10S Ultra Gen 2. While they both look similar from the outside, and have some similar features, we’ve reviewed both in-depth to tell you what the real differences are.
Price
The Dreame L40 Ultra is available for £999/$1499.99, putting it in the high-end category, while the L10S Ultra Gen 2 is considerably cheaper at £599/$899.99.
The L40 Ultra has a more powerful docking station
Both robots have a self-empty, self-clean docking station. These have the same 4.5-litre tanks for fresh water, which is used to fill the robots’ mopping tanks and for cleaning the mopping pads, and 4-litre tanks for dirty water.
An optional kit, available for both, lets you plumb the docking stations into your mains water and drainage so that you don’t have to manually fill and empty the water tanks.
Both robots also use detergent to improve cleaning quality, mixing it automatically. Replacement detergent costs £12.99/$25.99 for a 1-litre bottle.
The main difference is that the L40 Ultra uses hot water for mop washing, while the L10S Ultra Gen 2 uses cold water. Hot water is good for sanitising mop pads and also helps with mopping quality.
In addition, the L40 Ultra cleans the washboard automatically while the L10S needs this job to be done manually.
Both docking stations take the same 3.2-litre dust bags, which should hold around two months’ worth of dirt before needing to be replaced (£14.99/$19.99 for a pack of three bags).
The L40 Ultra can drop its mopping pads off
Underneath, the robots both have dual microfibre mopping pads which rotate to agitate and remove dirt. When carpet is detected, the pads can be lifted off the ground to avoid soaking the fibres (a high 10.5mm, which is enough for most short pile carpet).
The L40 Ultra has an extra trick, as it can also drop off its mopping pads in the docking station. That means that the robot can move over deep-pile carpet without wetting it, and it can also go on a vacuum-only run without needing to take wet mop pads with it.
Edge performance is similar but the L40 Ultra has a SideReach brush
Cleverly, both robots have a similar mopping system, with both using an extendable mop pad that can swing out to get right to the edges of rooms.
The L40 Ultra augments this with a SideReach brush that can also extend, designed to tease dust out from the corners and edges of rooms. This makes a bigger difference on carpets; on hard floors, the extendable mop pads make the edge performance similar with both robots.
Both use LiDAR but the L40 Ultra has better obstacle avoidance
LiDAR makes both robots fast at mapping, and they’re good navigators, too, easily moving from room to room and skirting around objects. The sensors at the front of the L10S Ultra Gen 2 let it get close to furniture and avoid relatively small obstacles; however, it’s not a camera-based system, so pet mess, shoes and cables can’t be recognised and avoided.
The L40 Ultra does have a camera at the front, which allows it to easily avoid common obstacles, including the fake pet mess that we put down.
This camera can also be used for Stain Recognition, letting the L40 Ultra spot marks on the floor, giving them extra attention while cleaning.
The L40 Ultra is better at dealing with hair
Dreame provides the L40 Ultra with a TriCut brush bar, which pushes hair into the bin without tangling. It worked brilliantly in our tests, having no issues when dealing with long hair. The L10S has a standard brush bar, which does get tangled with hair. If you live in a house with pets or people with long hair and don’t want to have to cut away the tangled mess, the L40 Ultra may be a better choice.
Both robots use the same powerful app
With both models, you get the Dreamehome app. Using this, it’s easy to set up rooms, no-go and no-mop zones, and even add furniture. Cleaning options are powerful on both, with options to clean the entire house, a zone, a room (or rooms) or around selected furniture.
With a wide choice of vacuum power modes, the amount of water to use in mopping, and the type of route to take, both let you choose excactly how to clean your home to make sure that it’s clean.
Vacuuming performance is similar
The L10S Ultra Gen 2 has a rated suction power of 10,000Pa, while the L40 Ultra has 11,000Pa. In our tests, we didn’t notice much difference on carpet or hard floors. Set to make two passes, we found that both robots could easily vacuum tough stains on carpets and hard floors. You can see this below in our example shots of the clean carpet after two passes (L40 Ultra on the left and L10S Ultra Gen 2 on the right).
Mopping is better with the L40 Ultra
Although both robots have a similar mopping system, the hot water washing and Stain Recognition feature on the L40 Ultra made it better in our tests, and able to deal with our very tough ketchup stain.
Not that the L10S Ultra Gen 2 is bad at mopping: it coped with regular marks on the floor, and it was only for the toughest stains that we had to bring out a regular hard floor cleaner. See the example shot below of the ketchup stain after cleaning (L40 Ultra on the left and L10S Ultra Gen 2 on the right).
Verdict
The L40 Ultra has several advantages, including hot water washing, stain detection and obstacle recognition, an anti-tangle floor brush, and the ability to drop its mop pads off at the docking station. For more complicated environments and for dealing with the toughest stains on hard floors, the L40 Ultra is a great choice.
With that said, the L10S Ultra Gen 2 offers many of the same features as its big brother but for a lot less. It’s as capable a cleaner on carpets, with similar suction power too. If you’ve got lighter requirements or are on a tighter budget, it’s hard to beat the L10S Ultra Gen 2 for value.
