Although they do not have the forms anticipated in science fiction stories (humanoid, with wheels instead of feet and arms like those of Inspector Gadget), home cleaning robots (increasingly) show their infinite robotic arms that scrub, polish, clean, vacuum and return to their station to recharge until the next mission. And among them there are classes, Those who do some tasks, those who do several tasks and those who do all tasks.. The L20 Ultra from Dreame falls into this last category.
This robot does not go unnoticed at all. Its charging station (battery, water and self-cleaning) measures 60.7 cm high, 42.6 cm wide and 49.9 cm deep. Much of this body is used to store water or dust bags. The great advantage of the L20 Ultra is also one of its disadvantages: It has many options and the ease of use is deceptiveOn the one hand, it is very easy to plug it in and start it up. This is the easiest option, but the least advisable given its price (€800): we will lose numerous options.
Barely installed, the L20 Ultra will automatically create a 3D mapidentifying different surfaces and taking note of immovable obstacles such as walls and furniture. Plus: the map updates on the fly if we move furniture or put in new ones.
However, many of the robot’s additional functions are complicated to activate or even to understand. Tip: To take advantage of all its options, it is best to take half an hour and read the manual. Yes, it is cumbersome, but it is worth the time and surprises.
The dust bag has a capacity of 3.2 liters of dust before it needs to be replacedwhile the water tank and waste water tank hold 4.5 liters. That’s what allows you to forget about it for weeks. Because the L20 Ultra mops, sweeps, vacuums…
One of the most pleasant surprises of its qualities is that It has a “retractable arm” that allows it to avoid body profiles and make sure it cleans all the corners. Inside there are two mops and a three-pronged side brush, but they don’t stick out too much.
At the top of the robot are its LIDAR scanner and three control buttons, which provide some functionalitybut using the app is still much more convenient. When it’s cleaning, it has two front lights that can be incredibly bright, but this just means that its LIDAR is effective regardless of whether your house is well-lit or not, and it will only turn on its lights if the lighting is poor.
That’s the first part of the L20 Ultra’s process; the second is mopping, which it does with its two built-in mops. Overall, it works very well and left the floors spotless (the Deep cleaning mode is recommended for the kitchen, where stains tend to be more stubborn.s). Of course, this mode takes longer.
One thing I wasn’t prepared for when it first started was its microphone. I didn’t expect it to inform me in the middle of a cleaning routine what it’s doing. Once I got used to it, it wasn’t hard to get it to respond to commands I gave it – a very useful accessibility feature, but it’s also quite scary if you forget you’ve scheduled a cleaning. Compatible with Siri and Alexa, another advantage.
Another nice surprise is that the L20 Ultra empties itself, so No need to worry about removing its contents after each cleaning sessionThe provided dust bag lasts 75 days, according to Dreame, and more can be purchased when it runs out. It’s virtually autonomous in many more ways than most feature-rich robots.
The battery lasts about three hours, it returns to the charging station and, if it has not finished its routine, it continues from where it left off. Even if it has finished with one surface (carpet, for example) and needs to start on another (wood), it automatically detects them. In fact, it generally leaves carpets for last: it lifts the mop pads and Reduces its speed to better suck up thicker material. Regarding the mops: it has a dryer for them, which prevents the formation of mold inside the station.
The other strong recommendation, along with reading the manual, is to download the mobile application. It is The simplest and most understandable way to manage the robotDuring a cleaning, the app tells you the size of the cleaning area, the battery percentage, how long it has been cleaning and how much time it has left. And after cleaning, you can check its route, which items are classified as an obstacle and a history of its routines. There is also a scheduling tool for future cleanings and another for selecting specific zones.
Verdict:
It is expensive, yes, but if we take into account that we can leave it performing its functions daily and guarantee excellent cleaning, we are talking about a price of 2 euros per day for a year. If we use it for longer, obviously much less. an investment that is worth it if we have an apartment or a house that has more than one roomthere are no problems with pets and we like to control appliances remotely.