Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Heat review: first-class vacuum cleaner, second-class price

The term Heat in the product name says it all: this robot vacuum from Dreame has a hot extra built in. The rest of the name is misleading – despite the Pro and Ultra, the L10s isn’t the manufacturer’s top model, but a kind of upper-mid-range one among the more than 20 robot vacuum cleaners in our Dreame range.

There are cheap models for less than 500 francs or euros. The middle range goes from CHF 500.– to CHF 800.– Top models, on the other hand, cost over 1,000 francs or euros. These include the L20 Ultra Complete, which topped our big comparison.

Or the new top model X40 Ultra Complete, which will be available in the next few weeks and is already in my test garage.

On paper, the L10s Pro Ultra Heat isn’t that much worse than its big brothers – but at just over 800 francs or euros, it costs considerably less. But can it really hold its own in the top vacuum cleaner league?

Why the heat isn’t just hot air

The L10s Pro Ultra Heat can both vacuum and mop your floor. Its two round mops are then washed and dried in the base station. It’s the same with the competition. Instead of cold water, the Dreame uses water heated to 58 degrees.

That definitely makes a difference. I tested the robot for several weeks. The mops stayed nice and clean and didn’t smell unpleasant even after several cleaning sessions. The more regularly you mop your floor, the more the warm water makes sense. For hygiene reasons, I’d still put the mops in the washing machine every two months when cleaning regularly.

Hot take: the L10s Pro Ultra Heat has a hot water feature, but the more expensive Dreame L20 Ultra Complete doesn’t. For me, it’s definitely a useful additional feature I wouldn’t want to do without.

The mop extends – if I force it to

The L10s Pro Ultra Heat has adopted a second special feature from the more expensive models. Its right-hand mop can be extended to the side. This means the Dreame can both vacuum edges and clean them with the damp mop.

However, I missed the feature the first time I tried it. I watch the cleaning process, but never see an extended side arm. I look through the settings in the Dreamehome app and find the menu item Intelligent Mop Settings. It’s set to Intelligent, meaning L10s Pro Ultra Heat decides for itself when to extend the mop. How exactly and at what intervals? No idea.

Fortunately, there are two other available options. In Standard mode, edges are cleaned once a week during a general clean. However, I opt for High frequency, as I often clean individual rooms and areas separately and not just the whole apartment twice a week. In this mode, edges are always wiped with a damp cloth.

To do this, the robot runs along edges an additional time with the mop extended. On my tiled bathroom floor, I can clearly see that pretty much everything that can be reached by the round gadget is being cleaned.

What I’d like to see: an option to customise the mop extend feature directly when I programme a clean.

Quickly set up, well scanned

I’ve been able to concentrate on the special features in this review so far because the rest works well and without any problems. This starts with installation. I use the app to connect the robot to my Wi-Fi. The Dreame is now ready for map creation.

Small tip on the side: make sure you clean up well, it’s worth it. After all, your room plan is the basis for cleaning. Thanks to the lidar sensor, which measures distances, the L10s Pro Ultra doesn’t have to cover every room in detail. It’s enough if it rolls through and scans everything around it. My 4.5-room apartment is scanned after twelve minutes.

Even the room layout is pretty good. I change the name and separate the hallway from the living room. Then I correct the mistakes that every robot vacuum with a lidar scanner has made for me so far. The sensor «sees» through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors and also enters part of the balcony into its plan.

I haven’t yet been able to delete these areas with any manufacturer. Instead, I always had to define it as a restricted zone. On the L10s Pro Ultra Heat, they can at least be hidden with a single click. This is the second-best solution – one that also works with other areas that the robot isn’t allowed to enter.

With the plan I’ve created, I now have an incredible number of cleaning options. I can have the entire apartment, individual rooms or even just certain areas cleaned. One-off or regularly, just the way I want it. Only vacuuming or mopping – first one, then the other – and you can also define suction power, intensity and degree of dampness when mopping.

The battery life is impressive. For 72 square metres of floor space, the robot takes 110 minutes in standard mode with vacuuming and mopping – and still has 68 per cent remaining battery life.

Precise navigation – cloud-assisted

The L10s Pro Ultra didn’t get lost once during the entire test. If I select a specific room for cleaning, the robot moves there quickly with purpose, cleaning it all and returning to the base station. There it’s cleaned and dirt is automatically sucked into a bag. However, as with the competition, this makes a lot of noise.

Another drawback: the Dreame is pretty tall because of the sensor attachment. It doesn’t clean under furniture with ten centimetres or less between it and the floor. Some competitor models are smaller.

Important to know: the app uploads all information to the cloud. Sure, Dreame complies with the usual data protection standards. Ultimately, however, you have to trust the manufacturer.

The L10s Pro Ultra Heat also records images of obstacles. Cables, table legs or cat food dispensers – the robot recognises everything. If I put something away, I remove the notification. If not, the cleaner remembers the obstacle and avoids it the next time. This is very practical for power cables, for example, as the brushes can get caught in them.

You can also deactivate the recording and analysis of photos so that the camera no longer records anything. It’s even possible to play back a live image via the app, transforming the robot into a mobile surveillance camera. However, this function is deactivated by default and must first be activated via several safety steps.

Any differences to the pricier models?

Is it still worth buying a more expensive model like our test winner Dreame L20 Ultra Complete? The biggest difference is that the L20 drops off its two mops in the base station when it’s only vacuuming. This is an advantage with high-pile carpets, as the mops won’t drag across them. The L10 lifts the mops 10.5 millimetres, in many cases this will be enough.

The more expensive model is a little better in many other areas. For example, it’s a little quieter and the battery is slightly larger. But these differences are hardly noticeable in everyday life. What I definitely noticed, however: the L20 is a little faster at everything. It only needs six minutes to map my flat – the L10 takes twice as long.