A vacuum cleaner with robotic arms that move to clean better, we test the Dreame L40 Ultra

The technology of the 21st century is characterized by many things, but one of them is to try to make as many things as possible intelligent to facilitate the daily life of users. A simple example is smart light bulbs, which also help us to keep burglars away, especially in second homes, when we go on vacation, etc. But there is also one that is also in every home in Spain and that sometimes goes unnoticed: smart light bulbs. vacuum cleaners.

Roomba kicked things off with its models but it has been the Chinese manufacturers who have popularized this segment. due to their good value for money. However, there are still high-end proposals, such as those offered by Dreame. This company has arrived in Spain with high-priced models but with functions that we have not seen in other brands.

In the review of the Dreame L20 Ultra we already told how we noticed the use of a robotic system for mops that allowed scrubbing in places where other vacuum cleaners could not reach, and now they have taken this a step further. At the IFA in Berlin they have presented the successor to the aforementioned model. The Dreame L40 Ultra (€1,199 on offer until the end of September at €1,099) is more impressive and, at the same time, more contained in size, which is appreciated.

Reducing the base

One of the few drawbacks of the Dreame L20 Ultra was that its charging base was huge. This could be a problem for some users, especially in Spain where the size of houses is not particularly large. The Dreame L40 Ultra has changed that with a charging base that retains almost all the functions but that ostensibly reduces its size.

The only thing you lose is the ability to store the manual cleaning brush inside the base and being able to put cleaning fluids inside instead of refilling a small tank, which is what the L40 Ultra does. Both of these decisions are more than wise because. the reduction in size is more than noticeable.

The Dreame L40 Ultra is a high-end vacuum cleaner.The Dreame L40 Ultra is a high-end vacuum cleaner, and this is demonstrated by the inclusion of features such as automatic washing and drying of mops, which is done by using magnets, so no human intervention is needed. There are also new features when it comes to managing cleaning using the app.

Cleaning

The cleaning process of the vacuum cleaner is very effective, and depends on the program chosen in your application. It is possible to let the vacuum cleaner itself choose the most appropriate one depending on what its sensors detect. For this purpose, it has several, among which the following stand out a camera which allows the vacuum cleaner to not only literally see what’s in front of it, but to know where it needs to clean more thoroughly.

The previous model already had a motorized system that. pulled the mops out so that they could be cleaned in the corners.which has always been a problem with this type of device. But the L40 Ultra has included the same system in the side sweep brush.. This now makes it much easier to pick up those lint or hairs that get stuck in the corner. In addition, by having an artificial intelligence element detection system, it is able to dodge objects so it doesn’t get stuck.

All this is helped by the extreme suction power of up to 11,000 pascals, which are activated only in some of the 5 suction levels. In the sales box, in addition to the normal cylindrical brush, there is one with an anti-tangle system, which facilitates the subsequent cleaning of the vacuum cleaner, something that will have to be done every few uses.

Using the technology Dreame VersaLift the vacuum cleaner is able to scan its environment from a greater distance than its competitors, making it faster. In addition, if there are small bumps to dodge, such as a two-centimeter threshold or a very thick carpet, it has a lift system that allows it to move up. And if it detects that it is a carpet, it can move both the brush and the mops so as not to dirty anything.

Once the vacuum cleaner has finished cleaning, return it to the charging base, where it will will empty the dust into a dust compartment that will not need to be emptied for more than two months.. In addition, it is capable of refilling the water tank and disposing of the dirty water by pouring it into another of the base tanks. These are slightly smaller than those of the L20 Ultra, but still allow you to leave the vacuum cleaner behind for many days.

One of the few downsides to the hardware of this vacuum cleaner is that being so high there will be some furniture that it can’t clean underneath. This is not a failure of this model as it happens to all those that have so many functions and have a system to avoid obstacles and small steps of up to 2 cm. As they are higher, it is more difficult for them to pass under certain places. In our case it has been able to clean under the bed or under the furniture, but not under the sofa, where simpler vacuum cleaners do reach.

Safety

The integrated camera also can be used as a surveillance system as it allows the cell phone to access what the vacuum cleaner sees. Thus, if we have a security system at home and a motion alert has been triggered in a room, it is possible to manually move the vacuum cleaner there with a virtual remote control in the app and activate the camera to see what is happening.

It is even possible to directly send the vacuum cleaner to an area and order it to take some photos so we can see them on the mobile device, even if we are thousands of miles away. If we want we can use the integrated voice assistant to tell it to go to one room or another, although it will not work if we have renamed those rooms. This is one of the few software flaws that could be corrected. Of course, this vacuum cleaner is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Should I buy it?

If anything is clear after using this vacuum cleaner is that we are dealing with a model that, by design, construction, functions and price is a high-end model.. The Dreame L40 Ultra does not aim to be a vacuum cleaner for everyone, but it does want to be a vacuum cleaner for everyone. an option for those who are looking for something particularly effectivewith many functions and that cleans better than competing models.

Dreame is positioning itself as a high quality brand.which does not leave everything in the hands of the price, despite the fact that direct rivals such as Roomba models cost almost 50% more. But it is in the reliability or in the design where they have their strong point. And this is not trivial, more than one person has mentioned to us how well this model fit in the room it was in, it looked like a piece of furniture.