• L50s Pro Ultra: 30,000Pa of power with self-cleaning mop
• L50 Ultra AE: almost as powerful, even more affordable
• Priced from £549

We've been very impressed by Dreame's vacuums, which include stick, cordless and robot models; they deliver a lot of power for the price and we've been particularly impressed by the robot models. And now there's a new duo of robo-vacs that, according to Dreame, deliver flagship performance without the price tag.

The pick of the pair is the Dreame L50s Pro Ultra, which is designed for homes with pets and homes that have complex layouts. It delivers 30,000Pa suction, and its detangling 'DuoBrush' removes tangled hair and pet fur strands up to 30cm long. It's a dual-brush system that combines one bristled rubber brush with a TPU rubber brush to deliver effective dust and debris pickup across different floor surfaces.

Dreame L50 Ultra AE and Dreame L50s Pro Ultra: pricing and availability

The L50s Pro Ultra mops as well as vacuums, and features Dreame's ThermoHub self-cleaner. That uses water heated to 100C to deep-clean the mop pads, removing even difficult residues. Its dual arms extend to reach into corners and around furniture, and there's an extendable side brush for better corner coverage. The mop can extend up to 4cm for 99% edge coverage, and the side brush automatically lifts during mopping so the brush doesn't get wet.

If you've ever despaired at some robots' inability to overcome obstacles you'll appreciate the upgraded EasyLeap system here. It positions claw-shaped climbers in front of the wheels, enabling the L50s to overcome obstacles of up to 4cm high. So it shouldn't get stuck moving from room to room or surface to surface.

The second robot vacuum is the Dreame L50 Ultra AE, which upgrades the L40 Ultra AE by boosting the suction power from 19,000Pa to 28,000Pa. There's a self-cleaning mop with temperatures from 75-100C, an anti-tangle TriCut brush, and the same dual flex arm system as in the Pro Ultra.

We reviewed the Dreame L40 Ultra back in 2024 and rated it highly: we gave it four and a half stars out of five, praising its obstacle avoidance, excellent mapping and handling of pet and human hair. The new L50 Ultra AE is significantly more powerful, but comes in significantly cheaper too.

Both of these models are priced very competitively. The L50 Ultra AE has a recommended retail prices of £549, while the L50s Pro Ultra has an RRP of £650.

Dyson changed the haircare game when it released the original Airwrap. This innovative gadget used directed air, rather than scorching hot barrels, to shape hair into curls. The Airwrap was good news for hair health, but bad news for your wallet — even that original version was a pricey proposition.

It took a while for decent Airwrap alternatives to start to appear. The air-based curling, using a phenomenon called the 'Coanda' effect, was the thing other brands seemed to be struggling to replicate. However, now — almost a decade on — there are plenty of Coanda-equipped multi-stylers on the market to choose from. I tested a whole load of top multi-stylers in my previous role as Homes Editor, and I've collected together my favorite recommendations below. The main brands to look for are Shark and Dreame, both of which have their own established styling tool line.

The Shark FlexStyle is probably the key Airwrap competitor, and does a great job of mimicking Dyson's efforts. I called it "versatile" and "well designed" in my review, and praised the range of compatible attachments. I wasn't so enamored with the newer Shark Glam, which adds in hot plates to smooth things even further, but it could be a winner if you're a fan of the ultra-glossy look.

The Dreame AirStyle Pro is one of the best-looking options around, and the new Dazzle (US only) is especially hi-tech, with attachment recognition. I'll be honest, though, the Airwrap alternative I find myself reaching for most often is my Dynamic Radiance Pro (UK only) — a cheap option that does the job with minimal fuss, and comes with an especially great brush attachment.

Awesome Airwrap-alikes

The real thing...

Considering buying the real thing? The model I'd recommend is the Airwrap i.d., which has a switch to launch an automated wrap > curl > cool shot sequence that takes all the skill and effort out of creating perfect coils. However, if you really want to push the boat out, the newest option is the Co-anda 2X, which has all the same tricks as the i.d. but in a lighter and more powerful package. At the other end of the price spectrum is the Airwrap Origin, which lacks the automation features but is much more wallet-friendly.

• Dreame debuted its Laundry Care L10 Center at Dreame Next
• It combines four washer-dryers with a closet and a robot vacuum
• It doesn't yet have a price or release date

Dreame isn’t unfamiliar with robot vacuum innovation, being one of the first brands to showcase step climbing cleaners — but this latest model might be its weirdest yet: a robot vacuum hub meets closet meets four washer-dryers. All in a single machine.

Debuted at its Dreame Next showcase in San Francisco, the Laundry Care L10 Center is one of the strangest appliances I’ve ever seen — and that includes the robot-arm equipped fridge Dreame also showcased here at the event.

The four washer-dryers are designed to help you finally separate your cleaning loads, because if you’re like me, it all goes in at the same time on the same setting. The largest 10kg drum handles the bulk of your clothes, a 3kg drum tackles shoes, and the pair of 2.5kg ports are designed for underwear and baby wear respectively.

The idea is that each drum can maximize its effectiveness at cleaning your garments, while also helping you better organize your washing.

Beyond your typical water and detergent, this machine also deploys ultrasonic vibrations to dislodge dirt, and ‘AI Lingus’ to ensure your garments are appropriately cleaned and dried (rather than still being damp in spots) — and don’t come out tangled.

Meanwhile, the garment closet section is designed to refresh and smooth your shirts and dresses between wash cycles.

One more thing

Of course the final piece of this all-in-one cleaning machine is the robot vacuum and mop, which hides itself in a compartment at the bottom of the washing machine stack, recharging its battery, emptying its debris, and refreshing its water supply as if it were in a standalone dock.

The complete package sounds like the ultimate cleaning machine — all that's missing is that the robo vac doesn’t appear to be the Z1 Laundry bot that goes around your home and picks dirty clothes up for you, though I expect it’s only a matter of time before that changes.

The other dampener on the announcement is a lack of pricing and a release date for the all-in-one cleaning closet. My impression, however, is that it won’t be cheap if and when it does launch.

I also wonder if this is a less-is-more scenario. While the 6-in-1 package sounds neat, I do fear that its complex nature could make it a nightmare to maintain, or fix if things go wrong.

What’s more, how useful is a dedicated baby clothes cleaning drum? Kids grow up, and not everybody has them to begin with. Maybe one or two drums makes sense, but four does feel like overkill.

As with some smart home tech, this feels like a flashy concept, but likely not something every home should have. Though perhaps that’s intentional — announce a flashy washer dryer to get people interested, and then sell them on the more mundane but solid standard cleaner, and a separate robo vac.

We’ll just have to wait and see if Dreame’s tech can prove me wrong — maybe this 6-in-1 robo vac closet washer dryer is the home-cleaning gadget we didn't know we needed.

• Dreame debuted a pair of Aurora phones at Dreame Next
• The standard model boasts some impressive modular attachments
• The Lux designs look more like fashion statements than smartphones

Following its rocket car debut on day 1, and its army of armed smart home appliances on day 2, Dreame Next day 3 has showcased a pair of smartphones — and I don’t know if I love the design, or if I need to go throw up.

I’m not talking about the more standard Dreame Aurora model with its Nex attachments — this thing looks pretty neat. Borrowing the sort of giant circular camera bump you’d find on the Oppo Find X9 Ultra or OnePlus 13 Pro, this thing boasts a 200MP camera with a 1-inch sensor.

Plus, with a 7,000 mAh battery, I expect this phone actually to live up to its all-day battery promise.

The standout aspect of the design, however, is the Aurora Nex add-ons. A kind of mag-safe like attachment collection with various uses: there’s the 50MP action camera with lightning-fast autofocus, the 50MP telephoto snapper with LOFIC sensors for one-shot HDR, a satellite communication module to stay connected no matter where you are, a cooling module (a.k.a. a fan) to keep your phone cool during intense gaming sessions, and the Agent module which looks like an AI companion of sorts — though details were a little limited on exactly what its support would look like.

Dreame suggested other add-ons might launch down the line, and it’s an interesting approach to smartphone modularity — though we’ll have to try these discs out to determine if they live up to the promise.

Luxury, or ugly

Where things start to get a little sickly is the Dreame Aurora Lux — intricately designed smartphones coated in vibrant prints, jewels, and effects that they look more like a purse than a smartphone.

With names like Imperial Totem, Regalia Shield, and Axiom Geometry (yes, these are real phone names, not JRPG ultimate attacks), there’s an undeniable pomp to these designs that definitely stands out from the crowd of iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones of the world. However, they aren’t to my taste personally.

We also got a look at the Aurora OS 1.0. A stand at the show gave me an early impression of the OS, and right now it seems a little like a work in progress — the Android 16 underlying architecture is very plain to see, still making the OS feel more like an aesthetic theme than its own true take on Android.

There was also talk of AI and the usual personal context assistance all phone companies have been promising — combining data between apps to help organize your real and digital lives — but again, the presentation felt light on specific details of how this would be achieved.

Additionally, two key details are also lacking: price and release date.

Dreame Next has been an odd showcase, and the lack of firm commitments on when this tech will be available has put a dampener on the festivities — it’s tough to get excited about tech I might never get to really try.

If you’re after a gaudy phone, keep your fingers crossed that the Dreame Aurora devices see the light of day soon, though for now you might need to settle for the blingy iPhone case.

Sitting inside San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, in almost the exact same spot I was seated two months ago for Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and Galaxy Buds4 launch, I can’t help but feel bombarded by déjà vu — and the sensation is entirely intentional, according to my hosts, smart-home brand Dreame.

“It's why we picked the venue,” a spokesperson cheerily admitted while giving me a brief tour of the show floor.

I’m back here to experience Dreame Next, a four-day-long tech showcase featuring the company's products — although with day one including the unveiling of a rocket-powered electric car (yes, really), the term 'product showcase' feels rather inadequate.

Dreame isn’t just broadening its scope of its products with reveals such as its car. It’s using the event to showcase upgrades to its existing appliance lines, as well as announcing two smartphones, bone-conduction headphones, two smart rings, a smart watch and a pair of diamond-encrusted regular watches, a TV with robotically adjusted speakers, a robot that can do your laundry, a fridge with a fingerprint scanner and a robotic arm, smart glasses, and a closet that includes four distinct washer-dryers and a robot vacuum home. And I think I might have missed a few things.

The intentional Samsung mimicry makes sense in this context. While it's perhaps best known for its TVs, wearables and smartphones, Samsung makes just about every kind of tech device you can think of, from household appliances to speakers and smart car tech.

Dreame wants to be seen as a titan, on a par with the South Korean tech giant.

At the same time, Dreame’s showcase is very much in a category of its own. I’ve sat through dozens of conferences as a journalist, but never have I seen the typical announcement routine — hype-filled trailer, audience applause, 15-minute-long deep dive into a “world-first” innovation, followed by a wrap-up screen with product details — applied to an air conditioning unit before.

Many of its reveals are the kinds of announcements you might get a quick press release about from another brand. Dreame is instead treating each one like it's a flying car. It’s surreal, yet endearing.

Total domination

The whole events exudes a weird charm — be it teleprompter hiccups, a 20-minute business lecture on changing consumer spending habits, watching NBA Hall of famer Dwyane Wade be told he has to take over a dozen photos at the end of his on-stage segment (one with every Dreame exec individually, and more with various groups), or seeing attendees spray ketchup on the floor so that they can then clean it up with a vacuum to win a prize. It's a charm which disguises the company's true intentions.

Dreame wants to take over your world.

That robotic arm-equipped fridge I mentioned? It’s designed to organize and scan everything in your fridge, and then, in conjunction with data collected from your Dreame scales and Dreame smart wearables, help you decide on the perfect meal for your health needs. Your robot vacuum will use its robotic arm and your washing machine to do even more chores for you. Your ring and your phone can control, and get updates from, all the appliances in your home — that is, if you’re all in on the Dreame ecosystem. Your Dreame TV is your smart-home hub.

The idea of an interconnected ecosystem isn’t new. Samsung has pitched a similar vision of complete integration between all the tech in your home and on your person, but Dreame’s vision wants to go from one to 100 faster than its rocket-boosted EV.

It’s impossible to judge its efforts yet, though. None of its new tech is available to the public at the time of writing, meaning we haven’t been able to test it and verify Dreame’s extravagant promises.

What’s more, despite the hyperbolic tone of its announcements, most of the tech here has been debuted already, at the CES or AWE shows earlier this year. However, we still don’t have firm release dates or pricing for these devices — some don’t even have release windows yet, and might remain concepts indefinitely.

So while I want to get excited for Dreame’s vision, I can’t; at least not right now. If it can make good on its promises, the tech world had better watch out for this upstart smart-home brand. And if it falters… well, at least I'll always remember Dreame Next as the strangest tech show I’ve ever been to.

• Dreame demonstrated a concept fridge at its showcase in San Francisco
• It uses AI to scan and sort your food, with a robotic arm to organize items
• It also scans your smartwatch and fingerprints to recognize you, and give you personalized nutrition advice

Maybe it’s because I’m in the process of buying a home and looking to buy my own appliances for the first time, but Dreame’s high-tech refrigerator with AI-powered nutrition tracking isn't just one of the best things I’ve seen so far at the Dreame Next product showcase — it’s also the most unsettling.

I'm here in San Francisco to get a glimpse at all of the smart home tech the brand is developing, and although Dreame has showed this futuristic fridge before, I'm particularly interested in the way it uses your health data.

The fridge itself sounds pretty impressive, with a robotic arm that will properly sort your food into appropriate chambers, cameras that will track your food’s freshness, and an AI system to help you find recipes to use items before they decay. There's also a water dispenser that can carbonate your water to serve it sparkling.

However, I'm more intrigued by the way it determines who's opening it by scanning your face, fingerprints, or smart wearables. Once it knows who you are, it can use health data from your scales, smart watch, or smart ring — plus the info on what’s in your fridge — to find recipes that’ll help you hit your health targets.

This is all apparently handled privately through a collaboration with Google Cloud, allowing the fridge to identify over 10,000 ingredients with an over 97% accuracy, and not compromising your personal information when offering eating tips.

It's all fascinating, but I’m not sure I want a judgemental fridge sitting in my kitchen. Nor do I love the idea of it having my biometric information, or my health data, even if it could arguably help my eating habits.

Dreame doesn’t have a price or release date for this fridge, but even as just a concept, it does seem like the way smart home tech will evolve as brands like Dreame and Samsung promote AI-fuelled interconnectedness between our various gadgets.

Hopefully the final form of this integration won’t feel invasive — otherwise I might want to stick with as dumb a fridge as I can possibly find.

Shark SilkiPro Straight review: two-minute review

The Shark SilkiPro Straight is a wet-to-dry hair straightener that combines a dryer fan, ceramic plates and three interchangeable combs in a single product. It launched in February 2026 and costs £249.99 in the UK and $249.99 in the US.

At this price, it's the most affordable entry in the growing wet-to-dry styler category. It's significantly cheaper than the GHD Duet Style at £379 / $429 and the Dyson Airstrait at £449.99 / $499.99, plus it's the only one of the three to include a range of attachments and accessories as standard.

It isn't the most intuitive styler. The grip takes some getting used to, and the location of the combs requires some deliberate – at times awkward – positioning. Working in small sections is non-negotiable if you want a consistent finish or you don't want to trap your hair and pull it out with each pass.

If you can get past this, though, the results are great. The SilkiPro consistently made my fine, mid-length, naturally curly hair look shiny and frizz-free when used in Wet mode. This mode is designed to dry and straighten your hair straight from the shower.

It's not the fastest entrant in our best hair dryer list, taking as long as 8.5 minutes for a standard styling session. As a result, it's unlikely to save you a lot of time compared to drying and straightening separately, but it is more convenient. Dry mode works well enough as a finishing step, but it's technically a glorified ceramic straightener, and a large, awkward, and clunky one at that.

The three interchangeable combs are where the SilkiPro really earns its crust, especially if you have curly or coily hair. The wide-tooth comb rough-dries and detangles from the roots on very wet hair; the gentle comb gives a softer, more natural straight; the precision comb delivers a sleek, flat finish. No competitor offers anything like this, and it feels like a feature designed with natural hair in mind, rather than an afterthought.

Elsewhere, the Shark SilkiPro's motion-sensing auto-pause, which cuts airflow after three seconds when you stop moving, is useful in theory but annoying in practice. It interrupts the rhythm, and the constant shift in noise levels as the airflow speeds up, slows down, and stops gets old quickly. At 70dB on high, it's obviously louder than a non-airflow straightener but quieter than a full-power hairdryer.

For fine or straight hair, there are simpler, cheaper tools that will do the same job as the Shark SilkiPro. However, for curly or coily hair where wet-to-dry styling genuinely changes the routine, it's a well-priced, well-equipped choice.

Shark SilkiPro: price & availability

• Price: £249.99 (UK) / $249.99 (US)
• Launch date: February 2026
• Availability: UK / US

At £249.99 in the UK and $249.99 in the US, the SilkiPro Straight is the most affordable entry in the growing wet-to-dry straightener market, by quite some margin.

It's sold directly from Shark as well as third-party retailers, including Amazon and Boots. It's currently available in two colors, called Plum Satin and Rose Petal in the UK, and Rose and Plum in the US. A Turquoise Wave model is also in the works.

Both the UK and US versions ship with the styler plus three attachments: a wide-tooth comb, gentle comb, and precision comb. The UK model also has a heat-resistant storage pouch in the box, but the US version doesn't.

At this price, the SilkiPro Straight is almost half the price of the Dyson Airstrait at £449.99 / $499.99, and more than £100 cheaper than the £379 / $429 GHD Duet Style, which are the most like-for-like 2-in-1 stylers to the Shark SilkiPro. All three take hair from wet to dry, but they go about it slightly differently.

The GHD Duet Style uses heated plates with airflow to deliver the glossiest finish of the three. The Dyson Airstrait has no plates and instead sends high-pressure air through narrow gaps to straighten the hair for a softer, more natural result.

The Shark uses the same plates-plus-airflow approach as GHD but undercuts both it and the Dyson on price. And it's the only one to include interchangeable combs.

The SilkiPro Straight does enough to justify its price, particularly for anyone with curly or coily hair who'd genuinely use the wet-to-dry features every day. If you already have fine or straight hair, you may not see the full value of all of its features – and a cheaper dryer and/or straightener will suffice – but you will appreciate the all-in-one design for a lower price than its rivals.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Shark SilkiPro: specs

Shark SilkiPro review: design

• Larger and heavier than a regular flat iron
• Three interchangeable combs for different hair types
• Split controls for airflow and temperature

There's very little that's subtle about the Shark SilkiPro Straight, from the color to its shape and features.

The top of the body looks like a conventional flat iron with ceramic plates controlled by a hinge, but the chassis is noticeably wider to accommodate both the comb track that runs along the side and the air vents that direct airflow down through the plates.

The main part of the handle sits just below the hinge and just above a vented grille, and the control buttons are stacked along the side of the lower body into two rows.

Along the top row is where you select the SilkiPro's three airflow settings, cycling through them in order. Below this is the button to cycle through the three heat settings, and the wet/dry mode toggle sits at the bottom alongside the gold power button. On the opposite side of the arm is a lock switch that keeps the plate closed when being stored.

The specific temperatures of the plate's heat settings depend on whether you're in Wet or Dry mode.

• Wet mode: 212-248F / 100-120C
• Dry mode: 320-428F / 160-220C

In Wet mode, which is designed for use on hair that's at least 70% dry after rough-drying from the roots, the plates run between 212F / 100C and 248F / 120C.

Dry mode, which is used for finishing and touch-ups on already-dry hair, runs the plates much hotter – between 320F / 160C and 428F / 220C – and works like a conventional ceramic straightener.

I reviewed the Plum Satin model, which has a two-tone purple/lilac matte body with gold cool-touch strip, gold-toned ceramic plates, and a matching cord. It's a fun, if slightly cheap-looking, mix that stands out in a sea of traditionally white-and-black stylers, but won't suit everyone.

On first glance, I assumed the two-tone design was purely aesthetic, but it acts as a reference point when styling your hair to show which direction the air is flowing.

The three combs – wide-tooth, gentle, and precision – clip into a track that runs along the back of the tool, locking in with an audible click. When attached, they sit flush to the styler, which not only keeps them close to the plates but doesn't add more to the chunkiness of the overall design. As they only sit on one side of the styler, you need to be very deliberate about how you hold and use the SilkiPro. This can take a lot of getting used to.

Swapping between the combs is easy, although Shark stressed you shouldn't change combs immediately after using Dry mode, as the hot plates may burn your hands.

In terms of weight, at 1.72lbs / 780g, the SilkiPro is heavier than a standard flat iron, and you can feel it, particularly during longer styling sessions.

The swivel cord helps reduce wrist strain, and the cool-touch gold strip gives you a reliable place to grip, but with such a small handle and a top-heavy design, it's not the most comfortable styler to maneuver.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Shark SilkiPro review: performance

• Delivers smooth, frizz-free results quickly
• Auto-pause airflow can be annoying
• Dry mode doesn't offer more than a conventional flat iron

Although it looks simple enough, the SilkiPro Straight isn't the most intuitive styler to use.

Its larger size and the specific location of the combs and airflow mean the grip and positioning don't come naturally. You also have to work in small sections to make sure you not only get a consistent finish, but also don't trap hair outside of the plates. Once you've mastered all that, it's a great styler, if a little slow and awkward at times.

In Wet mode, the mix of airflow and plates does a good job of drying and straightening at the same time, with impressive results on my naturally curly hair. Even without a comb attached. It gave me shiny, sleek and frizz-free hair every time, but having to meticulously move around your head in small sections means it's not a quick job.

During my tests, it took as much as 8.5 minutes to dry my entire head of fine, mid-length hair on the fastest airflow and heat setting. For comparison, most dryers I've tested average around five minutes.

The wide-tooth comb is the best place to start on very wet hair, rough-drying the roots while stretching and detangling before you begin straightening. Switching to the gentle or precision comb for the straightening pass creates a clean finish.

In addition to angling the airflow so it blasts up at the roots, and thus adds volume, you can also use the SilkiPro like a standard dryer. Without any hair inside, close the plates to activate the air, and angle the flow at your roots or anywhere you want to quickly blast away water.

Dry mode works well as a finishing step for smoothing flyaways, but at that point, it's effectively just a regular straightener – albeit a larger, less comfortable one.

A built-in HeatSense sensor reads the plate temperature 1,000 times per second and automatically adjusts the heat based on how much moisture remains in the hair, applying less heat when it's wetter and more as it dries.

Shark goes quite hard on the benefit of its motion-sensing auto-pause feature, which cuts airflow after three seconds when you stop moving it. In theory, this sounds great. In practice, it's annoying. Pausing to clip away a finished section is enough to trigger the auto-pause, and the interrupted rhythm gets old quickly. Not to mention the constant change in noise levels between the motor sound when the plates are open, the airflow noise when the plates are closed, and the constant on and off of the auto-pause.

Speaking of which, noise is reasonable for a tool with a built-in fan. It's obviously louder than a straightener that doesn't have an airflow option – averaging at 70dB – but it's quieter than most hairdryers, even at full power.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

How I tested the Shark SilkiPro review

I tested the Shark SilkiPro Straight over four weeks, using it as my go-to styling tool on both wash days and when I wanted to style second-day hair.

I tried all three combs across a range of scenarios, starting with the wide-tooth comb on freshly washed hair to rough-dry and detangle from the roots; moving to the gentle comb for straightening, and finishing with the precision comb on dry mode to lock in the style.

I tested the 2-in-1 styler on damp hair at varying levels of dryness to get a sense of how the heat-sensing plates worked, and paid particular attention to how the results compared to my usual two-step routine of hairdryer followed by straighteners. I also tested it on dry hair in ry mode alone, using it as I would a standalone flat iron.

Throughout, I noted how easy it was to use, noise levels using the DecibelX app, and the finish and hold.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed April 2026

• Dreame has announced its RGB mini-LED TV is coming to the US
• It boasts speakers that physically move to adjust the sound based on where you're sat
• It was showcased at Dreame Next in April 2026

If you can say anything about Dreame, it’s that the smart home brand isn’t afraid to stick robotic moving arms anywhere it can justify it — and that now extends to TVs with the Innix Aura Mini LED R8000F. This unique TV has made its American debut at Dreame Next in San Francisco, and is set to actually become available in the future in the US.

Instead of a grabber reaching out from your screen, the robotic element is Dreame’s world-first dynamic sound engine. This 6.2.2-channel audio setup features mechanical, extendable, rotating speakers that adapt to the viewer’s position (using AI to decide how to mode, naturally) to create the best sound experience.

So no matter where you sit in your living room, or even if you decide to get up and sit elsewhere mid-movie, Dreame says you should get a standout sound performance with all positional effects recreated perfectly for you.

In addition to the sound innovation, Dreame promises the next-gen RGB mini-LED display can achieve incredible color accuracy, with the Dreamind Master AI processor optimizing visuals and audio in real time.

Now, we’ve already seen the impressive RGB mini-LED tech in other TVs — including Samsung's world-first 130-inch version at CES, and a great-looking demo from Panasonic — and so Dreame’s display is likely to be as visually dazzling as those, depending on how well its processing works.

The really big question is those robotic speakers.

While Dreame Next did have an R8000F TV for me to marvel at the hall, the crowds and high cluttered ceilings are not acoustically ideal when it comes to getting an early impression of TV sound. Nor were the sounds of vacuum cleaning from the demonstration happening literally right in front of the screen.

But we do know that physically moving and turning speakers in your space can improve audio performance, so the basic principle is certainly a valid one. Following the user to improve sound quality using virtualized changes in the sound is a principle used in the LG Sound Suite Immersive Suite 7 Pro setup, and as part of Trueplay tuning if you use a Sonos soundbar such as the Sonos Arc Ultra — but those don't actually move the speakers.

It all depends how effective the TV’s speaker movements are, how accurate the AI smart adjustments are, and also how the speakers handle multiple watchers spread around your room and not just a single person.

We’ll also need to test the TV out for ourselves to judge if it can hold a candle to a proper surround sound setup, and if it’s solid value for money, but we're really looking forward to trying it out.

Pricing and release date information aren’t yet available for the R8000F, but we’ll hopefully get our hands on this TV before the end of 2026.

Alongside the R8000F, Dreame gave us another look at its S100 TV.

The Aura mini LED display features "QLED+" technology to enhance its visual details, with its black crystal screen boasting anti glare and low reflections to help maintain visual clarity in bright conditions.

Sound-wise, while it doesn’t offer adjustable speakers like Dreame’s R8000F, the S100 does house a 4.1.2-channel sound system built into the screen, apparently.

It debuted at CES earlier this year and is set to land at some point before 2027 with a starting price of $1,299 (around £960 / AU$1815) for its smallest 55-inch size model.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.

T3 Aire 360: two-minute review

It's only been two years since T3 first launched the Aire 360 which was, at the time, the world's first ceramic air styler and it's quickly become one of the best hair dryers on the market. That hasn't stopped T3 revamping and relaunching the styler as what it's calling the "next-generation" T3 Aire 360.

Like the original, the new Aire 360 is a ceramic air styler designed to dry, smooth, and curl hair in a single tool. It launched in the US in March 2026 at $349.99 and is due to launch in the UK towards the end of the summer.

At $349.99 (about £260 / AU$490), the next-gen model is $50 more than the original and the headline upgrades are dual voltage, a shorter handle and a lighter base. Thankfully, the styling system itself that made the original so good has stayed the same.

The CeraGloss ceramic curling barrels remain the tool's best feature: they consistently create bouncy, glossy curls that hold well into the next day. Especially on my fine hair. The ceramic coating makes a visible difference here, not just to the finish but to style longevity. Plastic-barrels just don't come close.

The SoftAire concentrator dries faster than its compact size suggests too. My fine, mid-length hair was ready for styling in just over three minutes, even though the wand shape of the base makes directing airflow at the roots awkward and uncomfortable at times. T3 recommends starting with hair that's around 80% dry before moving to the attachments but this means very little in reality. It takes a fair amount of experimentation (and patience) to get the very best results but the Aire 360 still creates "good enough" styles, even while you're on this learning curve.

The oval brush takes the most practice of the four attachments, which was a surprise given that it's effectively just a hot brush. However, its large size coupled with the 1.3lb / 590g weight of the base feels awkward at times. Its bulk will also only likely suit mid-length to long hair and short hair styles may not see the full benefit.

All that said, the rewards outweigh the effort. The oval brush turns even fine hair into voluminous styles that are hard to achieve with a round brush alone. Elsewhere, at 71dB, the Aire 360 isn't loud and isn't quiet; it's comparable to most standard hair dryers I've tested.

Compared to its closest rivals, the case for the T3 Aire 360 is strong. Not only does it undercut its most like-for-like, ceramic air styler the Shark Glam, it also sits well below the Dyson Airwrap range while matching, and at times bettering both, in terms of performance. If you're buying a multi-styler for the first time, or even looking for an upgrade, you could do a lot worse than this flagship styler.

T3 Aire 360: price & availability

• List price: $349.99
• Available: US only / UK coming summer 2026
• Launch date: March 2026

There are currently two versions of the T3 Aire 360 on sale.

The original launched in 2023 at $299.99 / £249.99. This is currently the only model on sale in the UK. In March 2026, T3 launched what it's calling the next-generation Aire 360 in the US. Since launching the next-gen version, the original has been discontinued in the States and we're assuming that when it eventually comes to the UK later this year, the original will also be removed there, too.

This review covers the next-generation model, which costs $349.99 for the Standard bundle, or $359.99 for the Diffuser version. It's sold directly from T3 as well as Sephora and Amazon in Satin Blush or Milk Grey colorways.

For $50 more than the original, you're getting a lighter, redesigned base, a shorter handle and dual voltage for international travel. The styling system itself – the CeraGloss ceramic barrels, Aire 360 airflow technology, SoftAire concentrator and oval brush – is the same as before.

At this price, the next-generation T3 Aire 360 lands in the thick of what's become a competitive (and growing) multi-styler market. The closest like-for-like in terms of price is the Shark FlexStyle that also retails for $349.99. However, the FlexStyle lacks the ceramic barrels of the T3 version.

To get the same ceramic design and finish, as well as range of attachments, you need to pay an extra $100 for the $449.99 Shark Glam. The Dyson Airwrap is the most expensive alternative, ranging from $549.99 / £399.99 for the Origin up to $749.99 / £579.99 for the latest Co-anda 2x. The most like-for-like comparison is the Airwrap i.d. at $649.99 / £479.99, which adds Bluetooth connectivity and personalized curling options on the Dyson app.

If you already own the first-generation Aire 360, and rarely travel abroad, there's limited reason to upgrade. However, if you're buying a multi-styler for the first time, this is the model to get because it represents considerably better value than the Dyson and Shark alternatives without sacrificing much on results.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

T3 Aire 360 Next-Gen: specs

T3 Aire 360: design

• Slim, lightweight base with a shorter handle than the original
• Four twist-and-lock attachments
• Three heat settings plus cool shot, three speed settings

As has been the case since the Dyson Airwrap put the multi-styler category on the map, the next-generation Aire 360 looks more like a curling wand than traditional hair dryer.

It has a slim, cylindrical shape that, at 1.3 lbs / 590g is almost half the weight of the original Aire 360 and on par with the Airwrap i.d. The handle has been shortened, compared to the original Aire 360, and this makes the whole styler more balanced, even when the attachments are in place.

The styler comes in Satin Blush and Milk Gray; the Satin Blush leans into what's become a crowded market of blush-toned tools but the Milk Gray model that I reviewed is more traditional and understated. I was worried the glossy, plastic finish would pick up fingerprints but it's slightly dusty rather than shiny which makes it easy to grip without leaving marks or smudges.

All of the controls run down the front of the handle: the top button cycles through the three speed settings; the middle button controls the three temperatures including the Cool shot function, and the power switch sits just below.

Each are within easy reach during styling but don't get in the way, which means you don't have to worry about knocking them mid-session. The heat and speed buttons also sit ever-so-slightly below the surface of the handle, too, meaning every press needs to be deliberate.

At the base of the handle are two LED indicators that show which voltage the styler is running at – 110 V or 220 V – and the filter sits on its own with a magnetic cover that twists off easily. Albeit a little too easy sometimes, mid-style.

The Standard Aire 360 ships with four attachments. The Diffuser bundle adds a ceramic diffuser to the mix. You can get the diffuser with the styler for $359.99 or buy it after the fact for $29.99.

• SoftAire drying concentrator: Softens the airflow for fast drying; works like a traditional blow dryer nozzle but is more compact and directional.
• 2 x CeraGloss ceramic curling barrels (left and right): These use a mix of airflow and ceramic heat to wrap hair and create curls.
• Oval brush: SmoothGrip bristles and T3's CeraGloss ceramic surface smooth and lift. It sits somewhere between a round brush blowout and a hot brush.
• Ceramic diffuser: Gently disperses airflow over natural curls and wave patterns.

All of these attachments twist and lock onto the base with a single hand movement and stay in place until you flick the unlock switch on the rear of the handle. The two curling barrels are handed, one for each side of the head, and both have T3's CeraGloss ceramic coating designed to hold the heat more than plastic rivals.

The SoftAire concentrator is small and nozzle-shaped, doing a similar job to a traditional blow dryer concentrator but more compact. The oval brush is then the chunkiest of the four, with SmoothGrip bristles on a ceramic surface. This is designed to smooth and lift at the roots but the size will suit mid-length to longer hair better than shorter styles.

Everything packs neatly into the included vegan leather tote, which is one of those details you don't think much about until you're trying to travel with four attachments and a styling base.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

T3 Aire 360 review: performance

• Fast and gentle drying
• Curling barrels produce bouncy curls that last well
• Oval brush delivers a smooth, lifted finish but takes practice

The Aire 360's central promise, that it can style hair with airflow and ceramic heat rather than direct, damaging heat, is bold but for the most part, it holds up.

The SoftAire concentrator, which is where most sessions begin, dried faster than I had expected from something so compact; knocking most of the moisture out of my fine, mid-length hair in just over three minutes on the highest heat and speed setting. The wand shape takes some getting used to for just drying; directing airflow at the roots with any precision requires a bit more wrist work than a traditional dryer.

T3 recommends starting with hair that's around 80% dry before moving to the styling attachments but in reality, it's hard to know exactly what this means. If your hair is too wet, it can take a while to get the best finish, but if it's too dry, the style won't hold.

From my tests, I found that hair that's no longer damp but which still feels slightly cool when you run your fingers through it is about right. It's also worth working in sections, and if you're unsure, err on the side of slightly wetter rather than drier.

The styler itself runs warm rather than hot. My hair felt noticeably less frazzled after drying than it does with a traditional dryer and the airflow is powerful enough to be useful but not so aggressive that it sends fine hair flying in every direction. This is a balance that's harder to strike than it sounds.

The curling barrels, which are the Aire 360's best feature in my opinion, are easy to use once you've got the hang of which barrel best suits which side of your head. One barrel makes curls wrap from your face, while the other wraps them towards your face and while this sounds simple, it makes a big difference to the look you're trying to achieve.

To use each one, you move the styler towards a section of hair and the airflow does the wrapping; pulling the hair towards and around the barrel. You then hold the hair in place for around 10 seconds, depending on your hair type, how tight you want the curl and how damp the hair is. It takes a session or two to get the positioning and timing right, particularly on fine hair where letting go too soon can loosen the curl before it's set.

Once you've found the right rhythm, though, the results are impressive: bouncy, glossy curls that look natural and which last well into the next day on fine hair. This is undoubtedly down to the ceramic coating on each barrel. Ceramic holds heat better than plastic and this makes a noticeable difference to the finish; there's a shine to the curl that holds rather than dropping to a frizzy wave by mid-afternoon.

I had expected the oval brush to be the easiest attachment to use but it also required a bit of practice and technique to get the best results because the positioning and size make it awkward to move around your head.

On my fine, mid-length hair it smoothed well and added a lifted, voluminous finish at the roots that's difficult to achieve with a traditional round brush alone, unless you're skilled at blow-drying. The ceramic surface again adds a shine that lasts, and the SmoothGrip bristles are gentle enough that they don't snag or pull.

In my experience, it works best on hair that has a little more moisture than is needed for the curling barrels, for example, and it also rewards the kind of tension and wrist action that takes a few attempts to get right and which can ache after a while. Its large size was also ideal for my hair length, but it will likely have limited benefits to short hair styles.

Noise-wise, the Aire 360 runs at an average of 71dB, it's not offensive but it's not subtle either which is on par with most standard hair dryers.

Across the board, the Aire 360 rewards patience. The first session is unlikely to produce the results you're hoping for, and fine hair in particular needs some experimentation with heat and speed settings before you land on the right combo.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

How I tested the T3 Aire 360

I tested the next-generation T3 Aire 360 over three weeks, using it as my go-to styler on both wash days and when I wanted to refresh second-day hair.

I have fine, mid-length naturally curly hair, which gave me a good sense of how the tool performs on hair that needs both volume and definition, without being weighed down.

I worked through all of the attachments across a range of scenarios starting with the SoftAire concentrator to rough-dry freshly washed hair, moving to the curling barrels to style, and using the oval brush on days when I wanted a smoother, more polished finish rather than curls. I tested the curling barrels on hair at different levels of dryness and paid particular attention to how well the curls held across different heat and speed settings. I also used the oval brush on both damp and dry hair.

Throughout testing I noted how easy each attachment was to use, how long the results lasted into the following day, and noise levels using the DecibelX app. I didn't test the ceramic diffuser, which is sold separately.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed April 2026

Revamp Tri-Care Infrared: two-minute review

The Revamp Enigma Tri-Care Infrared Ionic Hair Dryer is a mid-range dryer with an ambitious spec sheet. Alongside three speed and heat settings and a cold shot, it uses constant infrared heat to dry hair from within as well as switchable red (625nm) and blue (440nm) LED modes, designed to stimulate scalp circulation and support hair growth over time. Three magnetic attachments, a curl diffuser, wide concentrator and slim concentrator, are then included in the price.

On high speed and high heat, my medium-length, fine hair went from wet to dry in around four minutes with a surprisingly sleek finish — smooth enough that I stopped having to reach for my straighteners. The lower heat settings feel genuinely gentler too, with the infrared seemingly doing a lot of the work rather than compensating with more surface heat. Hair felt noticeably softer across my testing period.

The light therapy modes are easy to switch between: one button on top of the barrel cycles between off, red and blue, but as with any light therapy device, the real benefits take months of use to show up. It's also worth noting that fitting any of the attachments blocks this light, so getting the full benefit means spending most of your routine nozzle-free.

Where the Tri-Care falls down, though, is in the handling. The weight sits in the barrel rather than the handle and this makes it tiring to hold even in short styling sessions. The heat and speed buttons sit exactly where your fingers naturally rest, which means they're always in reach, but also means you accidentally change settings mid-style.

At £199.99 (about $270 / AU$380), the Tri-Care sits at the upper end of the mid-range of the best hair dryers, but it fills a gap that nothing else currently occupies. If you want a dryer that takes hair health seriously without spending in excess of £300, the Tri-Care makes a strong case, ergonomic frustrations and all.

Revamp Tri-Care Infrared: price & availability

• List price: £199.99 / €149.99
• Availability: UK / EU

Revamp's Tri-Care dryer, or to give it its full, long-winded name, the Revamp Professional Enigma Tri-Care Infrared Ionic Hair Dryer, costs £199.99 in the UK and €149.99 in Europe and is sold at Revamp, Amazon and Boots.

For this price you get the dryer plus three magnetic attachments: a curl diffuser, wide concentrator and slim concentrator.

At £199.99 the Tri-Care sits at the upper end of the mid-range. The mdlondon BLOW is on par, price wise, but it ships with two attachments and lacks the infrared, red and blue light therapy found on the Revamp model. The most direct infrared comparison in the UK is the Nicky Clarke Infrared Pro at £129.99. It uses far-infrared technology to dry hair from within but, again, lacks the red and blue light options and ships with only one nozzle.

To come closer to the range of features and attachments of the Revamp Tri-Care, you're looking at paying £399.99 for premium dryers like the Dreame Miracle Pro. In Dreame's favor, you do get an essence mister to soften you hair, extra attachment and storage case but you're paying twice the price for those privileges.

At the time of writing, the Revamp Tri-Care isn't available in the US so the closest rival if you're in the States, in terms of features and attachments, is the L'Oreal AirLight Pro. At $475 it uses infrared rather than red light therapy, with the focus on faster drying rather than scalp health, but it comes with an app for precise heat and airflow controls. A novel and welcomed extra.

This means, at £199.99, the Tri-Care sits in a gap in the market that nothing else currently fills and while £200 isn't an insignificant amount of money, you are getting great value for your money.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Revamp Tri-Care Infrared: specs

Revamp Tri-Care Infrared review: design

• Matte black finish with wide circular barrel
• Two sliders on the handle for heat and speed
• Button on top switches between red and blue LED modes
• Three magnetic attachments: diffuser, wide concentrator and slim concentrator

The Revamp Tri-Care looks like a cut-price Dyson Supersonic and for the most part, that's exactly what it is.

Its barrel-over-handle shape has a black matte finish with silver accents around the front of the barrel, and on the filter that sits at the base of the handle. In a sea of increasingly funky colorways from rivals — Dyson, I'm looking at you with your Apricot Topaz and Jasper Plum models — there's something classy about this muted design. Even if, from a distance at least, the dryer errs on the side of looking cheap.

Once you hold the Tri-Care, its weight and soft plastic give it much more premium feel. As do the heat, speed and Cold shot buttons that sit flush with the handle. There's an extra button on the top of the barrel, used to switch between red and blue LED modes, and the On/Off slider sits on the rear of the handle.

Looking at the Tri-Care face-on and you can then see the central infrared beam sitting in the middle, a ring of alternating red and blue LEDs around it, and the four ionic emitters at the outer edge.

At 1lb / 460g, Revamp's dryer is noticeably heavier than most rivals — the Dreame Miracle Pro, by comparison, is 0.9lbs / 420g – and it's not well balanced. A lot of the weight sits in the barrel, which makes sense when you consider how much tech has been crammed in, but it also makes it uncomfortable to use for long periods. In fact, this heft is noticeable during short styling sessions too and while, size-wise, it's not unwieldy, you will feel the difference in your arms and wrists.

The three attachments are all magnetic and swap over in seconds. Just align the pin and they click into place.

The slim concentrator is for working through sections precisely, the wide one for faster general drying and the diffuser for curls and volume.

Sadly, it's missing the attachment recognition feature (which knows which nozzle is attached and remembers your previous heat and speed settings) but this is a small complaint. Selecting settings manually each time is hardly a major inconvenience.

A much bigger inconvenience, though, is how easy it is to accidentally switch between settings. The buttons sit exactly where your fingers naturally rest and while this means they're in reach should you want to change them mid-style, they're too sensitive.

There wasn't a single styling session throughout my whole Revamp Tri-Care review period where I didn't accidentally change the speed or heat. Similarly, because of the relatively short handle, I wasn't able to shift my hand's position without blocking the filter or without the poorly balanced weight aching my wrists further.

Beyond these largely standard dryer design features, the standout addition for me is the use of infrared and LED modes:

• Infrared
• Red light (625nm)
• Blue light (440nm)

The infrared light runs constantly and is invisible. Its job is to dry the hair from within, rather than just blasting heat at the surface. This results in less exposure to heat and, eventually and with consistent use, healthier hair and scalp.

The red LEDs sit at 625nm and work on the scalp rather than the hair itself. Red light causes blood vessels to widen, which increases blood flow and the delivery of nutrients in this blood to the hair follicle. There's decent clinical evidence behind this. Stanford Medicine, among others, published a report that showed consistent use (over months) can help your hair grow longer and stronger.

The blue LEDs, at 440nm, are less well known about but still validated. A University of Bradford study found that blue light at 453nm can prolong the anagen phase – the active growth stage of the hair cycle — and there's also evidence it reduces scalp inflammation, which is a more common driver of hair loss than many people realize. It should also be noted that one report said the effects are stronger on Asian and caucasian hair and less effective on African hair. Other research suggests the two wavelengths work better together than either does alone.

Both the blue and red light are visible in use, without being distracting, but as is also the case with the Dreame Miracle Pro, as soon as you use an attachment, large portions of this light are blocked.

If the light therapy is the main reason you're buying this, you'll want to spend part of your routine without a nozzle attached.

• Design score: 3 out of 5

Revamp Tri-Care Infrared review: performance

• Dries hair quickly with a smooth, frizz-free finish
• Quieter than most dryers at this price
• Light therapy modes easy to switch between but benefits hard to assess short-term

For all my complaints about the Revamp Tri-Care's design, its a fast and incredibly capable dryer.

The three speed settings and three heat settings give you enough combinations to work with most hair types. High speed and high heat are great for a fast rough dry; medium heat and speed is good for everyday styling; and low heat is ideal for fine or damaged hair. The cold shot is then quick and does a good job of setting a style in place.

On high speed and high heat, my medium-length hair went from wet to dry in around four minutes with a surprisingly smooth finish. So much so, I've stopped reaching for my straighteners after use to knock out the last evidence of frizz.

On the mid and lower heat settings, drying took longer but felt noticeably gentler, which is where the infrared technology likely earns its place – you're not compensating for the slower dry with more heat, the infrared is seemingly doing a lot of the work from within. My hair was noticeably softer across the board too.

Switching between the red and blue LED modes takes one button press on top of the barrel and is simple enough. As with any light therapy device, it's hard to quantify the true impact because they require consistent use over months to make a difference, and even then the difference is unlikely to be so stark that it's fully noticeable.

The magnetic attachments click on and off quickly and stay secure in use. The curl diffuser works well for enhancing natural curls without disrupting it too much, and the slim concentrator gives enough precision for working through sections. That said, while the attachments don't add a lot of extra weight, they do change how and where you hold the dryer in relation to your head. This highlights the poor balance and bulk of the dryer even more.

Elsewhere, the filter twists off the base of the handle for cleaning, which is easy enough to do weekly.

Noise-wise, the Tri-Care is on the quieter side for a 1600W dryer at this price, with an average of 72 dB. The Dyson Supersonic Nural at the same wattage measures around 79 dB (and has a more shrill, annoying motor noise).

In my tests, the average readings for each of the modes were:

• Cool: 70 dB
• Low speed: 73 dB
• High speed: 77 dB

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

How I tested the Revamp Tri-Care Infrared

I used the Revamp Enigma Tri-Care as my main hair dryer for four weeks, replacing my usual dryer daily on my fine, mid-length hair.

In the first week I worked through each heat and speed combinations, all three attachments, and both LED modes systematically. I then settled into more natural everyday use to get a realistic sense of how it performed over the remaining three weeks.

I timed sessions across the different settings and tracked decibels using the DecibelX app. I also compared the results to other dryers I've tested at similar and higher price points, including the £399 Dreame Miracle Pro.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed March 2026

No one wants to spend a fortune on something as mundane as a vacuum cleaner, but choosing a cheap vacuum is a risky process – pick the wrong one and you'll be wasting your money on a model that won't clean properly and needs replacing before its time.

I've tested dozens of vacuums at different price points, and I have good news: there are affordable vacuums about that do a sterling cleaning job, without breaking the bank. Below, I've rounded up the best cheap vacuums to buy, and found the best deal on each to save you from having to shop around.

I've tested two of the three personally, and all come from reliable, respected brands that have considerable expertise in this area. In fact, the #1 pick also sits right at the top of my best cordless vacuum ranking. Read on for my favorite cheap vacuums...

1. Dreame R20

The Dreame R20 is just a really solid all-rounder for a very affordable price. It's relatively easy to find around the £200 mark, and you're getting features and extras that usually command a much higher price. There's automatic suction adjustment based on dirt detected, generous runtimes, and a separate soft floorhead designed for hard flooring (it'll get right up close to the surface and buff it clean without risking scratches). There's also a mini motorized upholstery tool that's amongst the best I've used at removing pet hair from furniture.

In my review the Dreame R20 achieved solid scores across the board when it came to cleaning, performing especially well in my deep carpet and pet hair tests. It's not the suckiest cleaner I've used (the V8 below is a better choice if outright power is your priority) but it'll be more than adequate for most people's needs.

2. Dyson V8 Advanced

If your priority is suction power, this is the affordable vacuum I'd go for. It's simpler than the Dreame – there's no automatic suction adjustment, and just two power modes to toggle between – and it comes with fewer attachments. However, what it lacks in bells and whistles, it makes up for in outright power. If you have lots of carpet or shedding pets to clean up after, this is the vacuum to go for.

The V8 is the oldest model in the current Dyson cordless lineup, and there is a very slightly updated version with 130AW of power rather than the original 115AW. Slightly confusingly, there's also an even more updated option, called the Dyson V8 Cyclone – it's better all round, but deals are rare so expect to pay more if you opt for that version.

3. Shark Corded Stick vacuum HZ500UKT

Opting for a corded vacuum rather than a cordless one is a great way to maximize your bang for buck, and this one from Shark is excellent value for money. As a general rule of thumb, corded vacuums tend to deliver better suction than cordless, and last longer overall too.

While I haven't tested this exact model, we have reviewed other, similar corded stick vacuums from Shark and they've impressed us (here's an example review). In fact, Shark is one of my favorite vacuum brands, and consistently earns high scores. The features look good too – there's no automatic suction adjustment, as you'll find on the Dreame (#1), but this vacuum has a handy forward-bending wand for cleaning under furniture, an anti hair-wrap floorhead and comes with three detail tools including a mini motorized head for upholstery.

Dreame makes some of the best robot vacuums on the market, and I had a sneak peek of its newest flagship at CES 2026. The Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete is available for preorder now in the US, and it boasts a number of big upgrades over its predecessor. Given that model scored a near-perfect 4.5 stars in our Dreame X50 review, I have very high hopes for this updated version.

The X50 is one of a few Dreame robot vacuums to be showcased at CES – other models include the Cyber10 Ultra, with an arm that can pick up different tools, and the Cyber X, which comes with a pod that'll enable it to climb up and down stairs. (In fact, these eye-catching bots weren't even the most headline-grabbling part of Dreame's showcase: the brand used CES to announce its expansion into a massive number of new tech categories – but that's a different story.)

However, the X60 is the flagship, and the option that's the most realistic choice for most people. Let's take a look at three big ways it improves on the X50...

1. It's much thinner

The headline feature that Dreame is focusing on is how thin the new bot is. Like its predecessor, the Dreame X60 Max has a top-mounted LiDAR puck that can retract until it's flush with the top of the robot. This happens when the robot senses it's entering a low-height space.

However, the X60 is significantly thinner than the X50 in the first place. With its puck retracted, it comes in at 3.13 inches / 7.95cm tall (in contrast, the older version came in at 3.5 inches / 8.9cm). That's down there with the shallowest robot vacuums on the market – in line with the likes of the Roborock Saros 10R, or possibly even a touch thinner.

Why is height important? It affects where the robot can and can't clean. It might, for instance, be the difference between the bot being able to vacuum under your sofa or not. That's a big benefit, because these inaccessible places will often collect dust, and are out of reach for manual vacuums too, unless you commit to a big furniture reshuffle.

2. It has scorching hot mop washing

Like most premium robot vacuums, the X60 has a dock that can clean the bot's mop pads. Here, Dreame has increased the temperature of the mop washing to a scorching 212F / 100C – boiling point. The idea is that it'll cut through any lingering grease and ensure your pads are squeaky clean before their next mopping session. In comparison, the X50 could clean up to 176F / 80C, which is still nice and hot.

3. It can vault itself over even taller thresholds

The X50 introduced Dreame's ProLeap system: tiny little feet that raise the bot up and enable it to cross steps up to 2.4 inches / 6cm in height. For the X60, that system has been improved, and the robovac can now manage obstacles of up to 3.47 inches / 8.8cm.

Like the thinner build, this improvement is all about expanding the number of places this bot can reach. If you have a particularly tall threshold, that could potentially make a room – or even a whole section of your home – inaccessible to the robot vacuum. That is, unless you take the time to lift it over the threshold manually each time, which somewhat negates the hands-off benefit of opting for a robovac in the first place. With the new ProLeap system, the X60 can roam free, bumping itself over steps and obstacles as it goes.

Big benefits

Those are the big, headline improvements, but there are plenty more tweaks and changes under the hood that could make a big difference to certain users. For example, the X60's dock has a dual-solution compartment that means it can dispense not only regular floor cleaner but also a specific solution designed to eliminate pet odors. The basics have also had a boost, with Dreame promising faster navigation and speedier responses, improved sensors that can detect things like pet hair and pale liquids, and more powerful suction.

At present, the X60 Max Ultra Complete is US-only – it's available for preorder from dreametech.com now, with shipping from 10 Feb. At list price it costs $1,699.99 (equivalent to around £1,260 / AU$2,525), but I suspect it won't regularly be sold at that price – the current 'super early bird' offer knocks $340 off, and bundles in accessories, cleaning solution and an extended warranty.

Dreame has a strong presence in the UK and Australia, and I anticipate the X60 making its way to both markets before long.

Dreame began life as a robot vacuum brand, before going on to add other air-focused appliances like manual vacuums and hair dryers to its roster. It's only been around since 2017/18, but in that time it has established itself as a major player in these markets – it features prominently in both my best cordless vacuum and best robot vacuum rankings.

So I was excited to see what Dreame would be showcasing at CES 2026. I was expecting a new robot vacuum, perhaps some innovative air purifiers. What I was not expecting was for Dreame to announce its entry into literally every corner of the home. I'm not exaggerating – if you can think of a home appliance, Dreame now has one in its lineup.

It has a TV, soundbars, a projector, a surround sound speaker setup. There's a Dreame action camera, smart rings, smart glasses and a smartwatch. It has smart lights in all shapes and sizes. It has security cameras, smart locks and motion sensors.

There are fridges, a dishwasher, a microwave and a selection of ovens. There are air fryers, coffee machines, and a stand mixer. It has a washing machine, tumble dryer, and steamer. There's a chainsaw and a hedge trimmer, electric toothbrushes, razors, IPL machines and an LED face mask.

It's still at prototype stage, but there was even a car sitting incongruously on the Dreame stand.

The vision, according to the press release, is to evolve from "a standalone smart device brand to a comprehensive provider of connected lifestyles with an ecosystem now covering the home, garden, outdoors, and on the move". The tagline it's going with is "All dreams in one Dreame", which makes no sense at all.

Too far, too soon?

I've tested a number of Dreame gadgets, and have almost always been impressed, but I'm wary of this latest expansion. It all just seems too fast and too wide-reaching for it to have been done with the required care and expertise. The difficulty I've had in getting any information about the individual products I was most interested in hasn't reassured me any further.

Previously, Dreame's category expansions have made sense. There's crossover between the mechanics of a vacuum cleaner and a hair dryer, for instance. I can see how a brand that knows its way around a robot vacuum could also make a great lawnbot.

But I'm struggling to see how those skills might translate into coffee machines or TVs – both categories that are highly specific, and which require specialist knowledge and skills to excel in. The same goes for things like smartwatches and action cameras.

Of course, I haven't tested any of the new gadgets yet – I've only seen them displayed and demoed, which isn't a reliable way to judge any product. The proof will be in the testing, and I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Dreame makes some of the best robot vacuums around, and I've just had a sneak peek of its newest flagship at CES 2026. It looks amazing. Its called the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, and it comes with all the bells and whistles I'd expect from this brand.

But I'm struggling a little bit to get too excited about it. Part of that is because Dreame has set the bar so high. We absolutely loved this robovac's predecessor – the X50 Ultra. The X60 has many of the same headline features, albeit with tweaks and improvements.

I'm talking: a navigation puck that can retreat so it's flush with the top of the robot when it senses it's entering a low-height space; little stilts that boost the bot up and over tall room thresholds; a dock that can wash the mop pads with hot water, and dry them off too.

Go shorty

Where the X60 is significantly different to its predecessor is in its height. Dreame has shrunk this guy right down, and now claims it's the "industry's thinnest robot vacuum". Coming in at just 3.13in / 7.95cm tall (compared to 3.5in / 8.9cm for the X50), that might well be true.

It's certainly right at the sveltest end of the market, which is great news if you want it to be able to sneak under low furniture. But it's only a hair shorter than the best Roborock has to offer – I measured the Roborock Saros 10 at 3.1in / 8cm, and that's rounded to 1 decimal place, so there's really nothing in it.

What other improvements can you expect over the older X50? Perhaps the most notable changes are in the dock. Dreame has boosted the temperature of the mop cleaning to a whopping 212°F / 100°C, i.e. boiling point. That feels a little extreme to me, although I guess it will truly get everything squeaky clean.

Dreame has targeted pet-owners with an unusual two-part detergent dispenser that contains not just your regular cleaning fluid but also a specialized one for eliminating pet odors.

The X60 Max Ultra Complete's navigation system has been improved, and threshold-crossing limit raised. The 'Dirt Detection' mode can now apparently spy – and respond to – less obvious messes like pet hair and pale liquids. Of course, suction power has had a further boost too.

I'm excited to see how these upgrades perform in a real-world scenario when we get our hands on a model to test.

The new bot will have a list price of $1,699.99 (approx £1,265 / AU$2,540 – although actual UK and AU pricing are TBC, along with availability and launch dates.). I suspect it won't typically be sold at that price. Preorders are now open in the US, with discounts already available.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI. You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

CES 2026 is well underway, having opened to the public on January 6, and the world's biggest tech show has debuted some wild new camera gear which has caught my eye.

Birdbuddy's 2 Mini stands out – it's an affordable bird feeder camera that can identify birds by sight and sound. And there's a surprising new player in the action camera market – robovac maker Dreame, with what looks like a DJI and Insta360-beating modular action cam. Hohem also unveiled probably the most advanced camera gimbal I've seen yet – the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro.

I've rounded up those three intriguing new cameras and accessories below and more, and will add to this list should there be any further announcements during the show that are worth digging into.

Birdbuddy 2 Mini – a bird feeder camera that can see and hear birds

• Birdbuddy's smallest and most affordable bird feeder camera
• It's like the 'Shazam for birds', able to identify birds by their song

Following up its flagship Birdbuddy 2 bird feeder camera announced last year, Birdbuddy unveiled the 2 Mini at CES. The second generation models share the same core specs; an upgraded 2K camera that's able to shoot video in horizontal or vertical format, faster wakeup time, slow motion recording, plus AI bird detection that can see and hear birds. That's right, with upgraded mics, Birdbuddy can identify birdsong – consider it the 'Shazam for birds'.

Where the two smart bird feeder cameras differ is in design – the new 2 Mini is smaller and lacks an extended perch, while it's powered by a (rechargeable) internal battery only. The larger Birdbuddy 2 has built-in solar panels for continuous power. Despite its simpler design, the 2 Mini could even be the better option for tight spaces, apartments and balconies, thanks to its smaller housing, plus it costs around 35% less (unless you fork out for the optional solar panel).

The Birdbuddy 2 Mini costs $129 (compared to $199 for the Birdbuddy 2), and pre-orders are expected to open mid-2026 at Birdbuddy and shipped later on this year. UK / Australia pricing is TBC.

Dreame Leaptic Cube – a tiny, modular 8K action camera

• Robovac makers Dreame branch out into action cameras with the Leaptic Cube
• It's a '8K AI tiny' modular action cam like the DJI Osmo Nano

Robovac makers Dreame had a surprise up its sleeve for CES – it debuted the Leaptic Cube, it's first ever action camera. I've not tested the Leaptic Cube yet, but its design bears a striking resemblance to the DJI Osmo Nano – a tiny modular action cam that can magnetically attach to a pod with a screen.

And Dreame looks to up the ante over DJI and indeed Insta360, with 8K video recording in 10-bit, 50MP stills and a 1/1.3inch sensor. It says the Leaptic Cube has gyro AI stabilization – a feature usually reserved for bulkier action cams – 200 mins run time, pre-recording, wireless control from the pod and gesture control.

There's also AI editing skills which should speed up producing dynamic videos. It all sounds very promising, and refreshing to see a new player in a space dominated by DJI and Insta360. We'll be reviewing the Leaptic Cube soon, while pricing is TBC.

Hohem iSteady MT3 series – our favorite gimbal maker's most advanced model yet

• Hohem's latest camera gimbal with increased payload and advanced subject detection skills
• It comes with a 1.4-inch touchscreen module for remote control

We rank Hohem's iSteady M7 as the best phone gimbal, and much of its smart tech – including AI subject detection tracking and a 1.4-inch touchscreen module for wireless control – can be found in the serious new MT3 Pro and MT3 camera gimbals.

The new MT3 series of gimbals is a heftier proposition than those for mobile, being designed for larger cameras, and it supercedes the existing MT2 series with improved torque, higher payloads, and refined AI subject detection skills.

DJI might enjoy a lion's share of the camera gimbal market, but Hohem seemingly deserves a slice of that pie with what looks like a formidable camera gimbal. We've already received a sample of the MT3 Pro advanced kit to test and will share our review soon. Cost-wise, the MT3 Pro will be $449 while the Pro Kit will be $549, with an estimaed sales start date of January 20.

SmallRig's logo-free mic

• SmallRig unveils a tiny, discreet, logo-free wireless mic
• The kit is powerful and super affordable

OK, so discreet design is hardly innovative, but it is completely welcome when we're talking wireless mics. Take a look at my best wireless mics guide and you'll find plenty of tiny options like SmallRig's new S70 Wireless Microphone, but none like it where logos can easily be completely hidden. That's how you wear the S70 tie clip mics – with the 8.8mm tiny clip front-facing, and the SmallRig logo hidden.

On the technical front, SmallRig says its new S70 wireless mic is tuned by a Grammy Award Winner, delivering 24-bit in 360 degree clarity, with 3-level noise reduction and clipping protection, backed up with 40 hour battery life. The kit pictured above which comprises two transmitters (mics) and two receivers only costs $90 (around £66 / AU$134), too, with a bonus mobile receiver included for free at launch. That's what I like to hear!

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 live news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

So farewell, 2025 – you were frequently exciting, regularly chaotic, occasionally frustrating but always interesting. And that’s how we like it around here.

It was a year in which often fairly iterative improvements to hardware were overshadowed by rapid and significant advances on the computing side of things. I’m talking, of course, about AI, which is now so dominant within the tech world that it’s increasingly hard to find a device that doesn’t have an AI brain.

Not that I’m complaining, because the leaps made in 2025 by the likes of OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini were truly astonishing; the pace of change is such that it feels like we’re squeezing about a decade’s worth of advances into each year now, and I wouldn’t like to predict what the state of play will be in 12 months’ time. Well, other than to say that we’ll be taking for granted things which seem almost impossible right now – although as our AI Editor Graham Barlow notes below, maybe we’re already doing that.

In comparison, it often looked in 2025 as though things were slowing down on the hardware side. Could Apple really make its already-excellent MacBooks much better? Could Samsung improve much on the superb Galaxy S series? Was there much scope for OLED TVs or wireless headphones or mirrorless cameras to develop?

The answer was yes, yes and yes. Though the upgrades to many models may not have been as big as those on the software side, they were frequently excellent in their own right. The improvements to battery life, screen tech and camera lenses may not be as flashy as those on the AI front, but they can make a real difference to how we use our devices on a daily basis. In many ways, tech fans have never had it so good.

Whether that will continue in 2026 remains to be seen. AI now looks to be having a direct – and negative – effect on component prices, which could make your favorite new phone or laptop more expensive in the coming year. We might also see stock shortages in some areas, which could further inflate those price tags.

It looks like we’re set for another year of exciting, chaotic, frustrating and interesting news, then – and we’ll be here with you every step of the way. Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading TechRadar in 2025, and have a happy New Year!

My year in tech

I bent reality, but I failed to bend an iPhone

This year was marked by astonishing leaps in AI capabilities, which I tried to not only report on but experience in full. From my first experience with ‘vibe coding’ to wild leaps of fancy with Veo 3 (and later the Sora app) to creating my own digital double, AI’s fast-changing capabilities constantly amazed me.

Never in four decades of covering emerging technologies have I seen anything like it: AI’s rise continues to be a heady mixture of enthusiastic adoption tinged with white-knuckled fear about what it all means for jobs, and for humanity, and nothing we saw in 2025 did much to resolve that anxiety.

However, it was my conversations with those leading the AI and wider innovation charge that stood out. My interviews with Amazon’s Panos Panay about Alexa+ and Google’s Sameer Samat about the future of Android were particularly memorable, as was the moment when one of Apple’s top executives threw his brand-new iPhone Air to me during a video podcast and insisted that I try to bend it.

The rise of humanoid robots was a trend that shocked and pleased me in equal measure, though I’ve tried to temper my enthusiasm with the knowledge that clever marketing and eye-popping videos will only get us so far. We all want the ultimate home robot, but I still don't think many of us are willing to pay $20,000 to get it.

Away from all the AI and robots, I spent much of the year trying new phones, including redesigned iPhones and an incredibly thin folding Samsung phone, along with a wide range of wearable technology that included the Galaxy XR headset, and some very exciting AR glasses from Meta and Google’s Android XR group. Experiencing these felt like peering into our near technological future, which increasingly will be filled with on-demand AI, flexible phones, and maybe those robots.

The year in AI

This was the year we started taking AI for granted 

For all the talk of breakthroughs and hype, 2025 felt less like the year AI changed everything and more like the year it quietly became unavoidable. While the much-hyped arrival of super-powerful artificial general intelligence (AGI), predicted for 2025 by many, simply hasn’t materialized, the year has still been a strong one for companies such as OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Google. That said, there have also been some massive flops; and as for Apple, it feels like yet another year in which it slipped further behind in the AI race.

ChatGPT maintained its vice-like grip as the most popular AI chatbot in the world, though it hasn’t been plain sailing for OpenAI. Legal challenges, particularly the copyright infringement claim brought by The New York Times, have continued to dog the company, and in June its servers crashed for a couple of days, giving the world a brief taste of life without the ubiquitous chatbot.

OpenAI then fumbled the ball with the release of its GPT-5 model, which came across as cold and unemotional compared to the previous GPT-4o. For millions of users who’d come to rely on the chatbot as something closer to a trusted companion it felt like a best friend had undergone a personality transplant overnight, forcing OpenAI to make the legacy 4o model available again.

The company has also lost a little ground to Google’s Gemini in recent months. The arrival of Gemini 3 Pro in November was well received, and on the image front, Gemini’s Nano Banana and Nano Banana Pro proved superior to ChatGPT for image generation. OpenAI responded with a new image-generation model in December.

AI-powered pets and toys also began to appear this year. We took Moflin for a spin, until we accidentally fried its battery. More broadly, the dominant theme of the year was that every product must now have AI built into it in some form, and no company exemplifies this approach better than Microsoft, which has spent the year enthusiastically stuffing Copilot into just about everything it makes.

Finally, the year looks set to end on a high note for Amazon. Alexa+, the AI-powered version of Alexa that Amazon has been promising all year but hasn’t yet managed to fully roll out, may finally be getting a web version, at least in the US.

THE YEAR IN PHONES

Slim pickings for thin phones, and hints of a tri-fold future

2025 was the year of the super-thin phone, writes Roland Moore-Colyer, Managing Editor, Mobile Computing, with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in the first half of the year, and the iPhone Air in the second. These handsets grabbed headlines with their svelte proportions, but so far sales figures have yet to match the hype.

That’s likely due to their relatively high prices in the face of already pretty slim iPhones and Galaxy and Pixel handsets, all of which saw the expected yearly upgrades with the iPhone 17, Galaxy S25 and Pixel 10 lines respectively. While the upgrades to the iPhone 17 family appeared incremental at first glance, I'd argue they're a bigger deal when you dig into the details: there was a new design and cooling system for the Pro phones, the standard model finally got a 120Hz display, and Apple's 48MP 'Fusion' camera came to every iPhone in the lineup, including the Air (the Plus model went the way of the dodo).

AI found its way into more phones and more features, with Google’s Pixel phones in particular boasting a whole host of genuinely useful smart tools. Meanwhile, Apple just about managed to distract us from the shortcomings of Apple Intelligence with its flashy Liquid Glass design and the eye-catching Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro.

Some of the most interesting phones came from smaller brands, with the Nothing Phone 3 offering something a little different without scrimping on flagship features. There was the Oppo Find X9 Pro with its strange but useful camera kit, while the OnePlus 15 was the only phone to earn a maximum five-star review from us this year. There were also a clutch of affordable phones from the likes of Motorola and Xiaomi, proving that you don’t have to pay a lot to get a very capable smartphone these days.

We saw further evolution in the folding phone space, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 leading the way, and Samsung also unveiled its first tri-folding phone, with the Galaxy Trifold joining Huawei's Mate XT, and teasing a future of devices that truly blend phones and tablets. We may even see a foldable iPhone in 2026, but don’t hold your breath.

THE YEAR IN COMPUTING

RAM drama enlivens a year of evolution over revolution

When it came to computing, 2025 didn't start off as the most promising year. While 2024 felt like a year of revolutionary change, with the explosive growth of AI, the fall of Intel, and the rise of Arm-based laptops that were actually worth buying, this year has felt more like we're in a holding pattern, as the innovations of the past few years are iterated on and refined.

The year kicked off with Nvidia launching its latest generation of consumer graphics cards, the RTX 5000 series, at CES 2025, and they encapsulated the ‘evolution, not revolution’ theme, with some great new features that haven't fundamentally shaken up the industry, as the introduction of ray tracing with the RTX 2000 series did. Of course, making a great product even better is no bad thing, and our components editor and GPU expert John Loeffler was suitably impressed, enthusing in his RTX 5090 review that “If you're a gamer, you'll still get impressive gen-on-gen performance improvements over the celebrated RTX 4090, and the Nvidia RTX 5090 is really the first consumer graphics card I've tested that can get you consistent, high-frame-rate 8K gameplay.”

I have an RTX 5090 and I love it, and I've also been impressed by its 8K performance in modern games, but with the majority of PC gamers still playing at 1080p, this high-end GPU might be a bit too expensive to justify. Other releases from AMD and Intel, plus Apple’s latest M5 chip, continued the theme of impressive releases that don’t massively change the computing landscape.

Perhaps the biggest event in 2025 was the continued rise of AI. Recently, the AI boom has led to a global shortage of memory, which has in turn caused an increase in the prices of devices that use it. All of a sudden, PCs, RAM, and GPUs look set to get increasingly expensive, though some, like our computing editor Christian Guyton, aren’t too worried – yet. Personally, the end-of-year drama is making me nostalgic for those early months when 2025 felt rather boring.

THE YEAR IN TVS

The era of giant, cheap TVs is here

This year saw two really interesting developments in TV technology, with the first being the arrival of a whole new kind of ‘Tandem RGB’ OLED TV panel from LG. This appeared in the LG G5, helping it to score the maximum five stars in our review, and in the fantastic Panasonic Z95B, enabling both TVs to hit stunning levels of brightness and color depth, but with reduced power consumption.

However, this new screen technology didn’t win either of those sets our TV of the Year award – that went to the Samsung S95F, which not only earned its own perfect 5-star review, but was also voted the top TV in the most categories by the judges in our flagship OLED TV showdown, which pitted it against the LG G5, Panasonic Z95B, and Sony Bravia 8 II.

The second big tech development was the arrival of RGB mini-LED tech – and, make no mistake, this is the next big thing. It’s more efficient than current mini-LED tech, and is capable of richer colors and less light leakage from bright areas to dark ones, and it could be the tech to finally knock OLED off its perch.

We know that Samsung, LG, TCL and Hisense will all launch RGB mini-LED TV ranges in 2026, but the Hisense UX116 was the only TV to use it in 2025 – and it was a mixed bag, with performance issues that disappointed given its eye-wateringly high price. Still, we’re excited to see how this tech develops.

But the biggest thing in TVs this year was the TVs themselves – as in, they got big and they got affordable. TCL and Hisense launched 85-inch and 100-inch TVs that were within the budgets of regular mortals, and 75-inch TVs are becoming positively cheap, while still being good. While new tech is exciting, huge TVs like the Hisense U8N and TCL QM7K becoming more affordable is the change that made the biggest difference for customers.

THE YEAR IN VR/AR

Android XR arrives to challenge Meta’s dominance

This year XR or 'extended reality' took center stage, thanks in large part to Android XR hardware finally breaking cover in the shape of the Samsung Galaxy XR headset. We also tested prototype Android XR glasses ahead of their expected release in the coming year, and they’re impressive (the glasses at least, the headset less so right now). Google, along with its Android partners, looks set to seriously challenge Meta in 2026.

For its part Meta debuted several new smart wearables over the past 12 months, including two pairs of Oakley smart glasses – the stylish HSTNs and the sporty Vanguards, the latter of which are perfect for runners when used with a compatible Garmin watch. We also saw a Gen 2 model of the Meta Ray-Bans, and the company's latest step towards full-on AR specs, the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which as you can probably guess feature a display for the specs to relay info visually. We’ve tested them, and they’re everything Google Glass wanted to be, but right now they're not easy to get hold of.

What about VR headsets proper? Valve surprised no one (because the device was so heavily leaked before launch) with its Steam Frame headset announcement. Key details like the price are still a mystery, but it will be landing in 2026 – and when it does, the spec sheet teases a device that could seriously challenge the reigning champion of VR, the Meta Quest 3. Depending on how Valve handles the launch, I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes all other headsets feel obsolete – even the Galaxy XR and Apple Vision Pro.

Talking of Apple's mixed-reality spatial-computing headset, we got a new version with an M5 chip and comfier strap, but while it's a worthwhile upgrade the price still feels too high.

THE YEAR IN AUDIO

The year the big dogs bit back

If 2024 was the year niche UK hi-fi brands took over the dance floor amid a hiatus from audio's heavy hitters (see Bowers & Wilkins' fantastic Pi8 earbuds or Cambridge Audio's inaugural, affordable, adorable P100 cans), 2025 was the year the big dogs returned to the party and got their groove back.

We got five major headphones releases in 2025, starting with the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds in February. The hotly anticipated update to the 2019 Powerbeats Pro proved that Apple could indeed deliver heart-rate monitoring in its earbuds.

Cut to May and Sony's WH-1000XM6 landed, to finally knock the 2020-issue WH-1000XM4 off the top spot in our best headphones guide. It was a similar story with the June arrival of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), quickly followed by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) in September – a two-pronged attack on the market that saw Bose reinstated as the king of ANC.

However, this roundup wouldn't be complete without a nod to the biggest launch of them all: the fall arrival of Apple's AirPods Pro 3. The shape's different, the ANC is twice as good, and yes, like the Powerbeats Pro 2 they also keep tabs on your ticker, in a slightly different way, and with increasing third-party fitness-app support. Still the most popular earbuds in the world? Absolutely.

Elsewhere, Spotify Lossless finally landed, at no cost to Premium subscribers, offering almost-as-good-as-Apple-Music resolution at up to 24-bit/44.1kHz. While Lossless wasn't a huge hit with fans initially, the big green streaming machine's popularity continues to grow, despite concerns over artist payments.

Oh, and if you take note of just one audio brand name this year, let it be WiiM. As Sonos continues to tackle trust issues among its once-loyal fanbase, the plucky multi-room underdog unveiled its WiiM Sound (and now the WiiM Sound Lite) premium hi-res speakers – and the firm would love to help you build your wireless sound system around them.

THE YEAR IN CAMERAS

A memorable year for glass as well as for cameras

2025 was full of pleasant surprises for photographers. The Sigma BF was truly out of the ordinary, being dubbed ‘the camera Apple would have made’, while the Caira with its Nano Banana AI skills showed us a glimpse of how on-the-go generative editing can work in an actual camera.

Fujifilm and OM System showed us that user experience matters with the quirky X half and retro OM-3 respectively, while Hasselblad and Nikon delivered strong offerings of their own – my favorite stills camera ever, the X2D II, and a new player in the cinema-camera game, the Nikon Zr. A special shoutout goes to Nikon for becoming the best-value camera brand this year, notably for the excellent Z5 II, which is our Camera of the Year, and Z50 II.

It was arguably an even better year for new lenses than cameras, with Sigma, Sony and Viltrox in particular knocking it out the park with world-first and affordable optics. Canon continues to lock out third parties from its full-frame camera lineup, but that decision feels more justified after it launched the affordable and capable 45mm F1.2 STM prime.

A sense of order was restored towards the end of the year when Canon and Sony launched their anticipated mid-range full-frame cameras: the EOS R6 III and A7 V, both of which are integral to their lineups.

The long-threatened US ban on DJI products finally came into effect, and we saw a couple of major product launches from the brand in the build-up to it: the incredible (sort of) sub-250g Mini 5 Pro, and the DJI Osmo 360 – its first foray into 360 cameras, and rival to both the Insta 360 X5 and GoPro’s new Max 2. DJI is also being tipped to launch its first 360 drone soon, but Insta360 got there first with the truly innovative Antigravity A1.

Overall, it’s been a good year for camera fans, with demand seemingly remaining strong in the face of competition from increasingly capable smartphones. I’m predicting that the consumer and cinema camera spaces will continue converging in 2026, and I hope the likes of Viltrox expand our options with new and affordable autofocus zoom lenses.

The year in gaming

The Switch 2 makes waves, and GTA 6 looms over 2026

Gaming in 2025 was largely dominated by the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s a safe improvement on the original Switch, and one that epitomizes the ‘evolution not revolution’ approach to console development.

The specs sheet won’t blow anyone’s socks off, but it’s a superb package that cements the Switch's position as the go-to handheld console; and it was so popular in the pre-order and launch phases that it took months for retailers to catch up with demand. It’s been backed up by some excellent games too, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Kirby Air Riders, and Pokémon Legends Z-A.

Sony had its own say in the gaming handheld space, breathing new life into the PlayStation Portal handheld device, which is now capable of excellent cloud streaming. This has elevated the handheld, which we were already big fans of, to impressive new heights.

The PS5’s game library got a bump with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei, as well as titles including Borderlands 4, Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders and TechRadar Gaming’s Game of the Year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Elsewhere, indie games ruled, with the likes of Blue Prince, Hades 2, and Hollow Knight: Silksong proving standouts in a strong year for releases.

It’s been a year to forget for Xbox, however, and its woes only accentuated the aforementioned successes for Nintendo and Sony. For starters, more Xbox games – including Gears of War: Reloaded – arrived on PS5, while others are set to follow, including the symbol of Xbox itself, Halo. Meanwhile studios were shuttered and prospective games cancelled, and to make matters worse the Xbox X/S were outsold by a tiny family console, the Nex Playground, over Black Friday. All in all it’s been tough going for Team Green.

As for 2026, it’s beginning to feel like the pace of progress towards next-gen consoles will quicken, and the game release calendar looks well stocked. However, a titan looms: Grand Theft Auto 6 is now slated for release in November after being originally planned for late 2025, and the whole gaming world is going to revolve around its arrival.

THE YEAR IN FITNESS

Time’s finally up for wasteful wearables, thanks to Google

Last year, I ended my contribution to this round-up by predicting a move away from fitness watches towards screenless trackers, such as a new WHOOP model, writes Matt Evans, Senior Editor, Fitness, Wellness & Wearables. Well, we got not one, but two new WHOOPs, and they were… fine. But, as prices rose, I found the ongoing subscription model far too expensive.

However, my prediction that we’d move away from smartwatches hasn’t really been borne out. Wearable tech isn’t changing much in the mainstream, with the highest-profile releases being a slate of new watches from Garmin, Apple, Samsung, Google and OnePlus, and they’ve been as popular as ever.

Look beyond those big releases, however, and interesting new stuff is out there. A subscription-free WHOOP competitor band was launched by Polar, while Core Devices, the resurrected Pebble watch company led by its original founder, unveiled a pair of watches inspired by the original Pebble designs, complete with low-power LCD-style screens, and open-source software that anyone with the know-how can tinker with.

Core Devices also launched a new kind of smart ring with a button and a microphone, which the company says acts as “external memory for the brain”. Elsewhere, the AirPods Pro 3 now have built-in heart rate sensors, and Meta teamed up with Garmin to bring us the Oakley Meta Vanguard sports specs. Cool new wearable innovations are happening, but it all still feels quite fringe.

My innovation of the year, however, came from Google. The Google Pixel Watch 4 is the first properly repairable smartwatch, as you’re able to take it apart and replace the battery and display. This enables you to change individual parts rather than the whole watch, reducing your contribution to e-waste, and saving you money in the long run.

Almost every other piece of wearable tech from every other company is still a sealed unit that will ultimately end up being disposed of, and I hope Google's move could be the catalyst for change that the wasteful wearable tech industry sorely needs.

THE YEAR IN ENTERTAINMENT

Streaming sensations, box-office flops, and merger madness

The biggest story of 2025 broke late in the year, and it concerned off-screen studio machinations rather than on-screen drama. Netflix’s $82.7bn bid for Warner Bros. sent shockwaves through the industry when it was announced in early December, and provoked a counter-bid from Paramount Skydance. There’s still a long way to go before a deal is approved, but should Netflix acquire one of the film world’s most iconic studios it would be a landmark moment for the streaming sector, and would represent a seismic shift for the entertainment industry as a whole.

Turning to the year's big theatrical releases, and numerous new movies flopped at the box office, including some with huge names attached (I’m looking at you, Dwayne Johnson and The Smashing Machine). Heck, with Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps all underperforming, even the usually reliable Marvel Studios didn’t have a money-spinning hit on its hands. I wonder how many people predicted that animated and live-action/CGI hybrids would rule the theatrical roost, led by multi-billion dollar-spinning flicks like Lilo & Stitch, Zootopia 2, and Ne Zha II…

As for the major streaming services, users endured more of the now-customary annual price hikes, while Max raised eyebrows by rebranding itself – again – to HBO Max. On the screen, unexpected hits such as HBO medical drama The Pitt, plus Netflix's ‘one-shot’ drama Adolescence and pop-culture phenomenon Kpop Demon Hunters, proved that not even the savviest industry exec can really be sure what viewers will latch onto. Add in the return of unmissable shows including Severance and Stranger Things amid the glut of great and not-so-great film and TV releases, and there was plenty to keep our eyeballs engaged. Now, what have you got in store for us, 2026?

The Year in Smart Home

If the subscriptions don't get you, the fridge ads will

It's been a slow but not insignificant year in home technology as legacy brands scramble to keep pace with bigger, already tech-savvy players vying for their spot in our homes – whether that's Breville reinventing the toaster with a proprietary optical sensor, IKEA launching new renewable energy solutions, or Eufy and Dreame duking it out to give us the most effective stair-climbing robot vacuum.

Some brands were less innovative than others though. Dyson left some of us feeling snubbed with its 'new' (read: decade-old) vacuum, while Shark's TurboBlade Cool + Heat failed to impress despite its noble attempt at mimicking other SharkNinja product's viral fame.

Elsewhere we saw big plays from Amazon and Google in the smart home space, with the arrival of their AI-bolstered home assistants. Amazon's Alexa+ and Google's Gemini for Home both entered Early Access beta in the US, and while the early reviews for both have been mixed, it's a promising glimpse into the future of the connected home.

Both of those services are subscription-based offerings, and subscriptions look set to become a major battleground for smart-home brands, and a bone of contention between brands and their customers, as companies attempt to lock users into their ecosystems, as we've already seen with video doorbells. Between that, and brands like Samsung using screen-loaded appliances as advertising billboards around the home, now might be a good time to really think about which brands you want want to invest in as you build your smart home.

Dreame V20 Pro: two-minute review

The Dreame V20 Pro is nimble and competent cordless stick vacuum that blends impressive performance with some genuinely useful everyday features. Its 210AW of suction power deliver reliable cleaning on both hard floors and carpets, while intelligent dirt detection automatically adjusts power to balance cleaning efficiency and battery life. In use, it feels responsive and refined, making it a suitable option for regular whole-home cleaning or quick blasts as required. In all, this has been one of the best cordless stick vacuums I've so far reviewed. There are some specific features that help it stand out from the crowd, though.

One of the Dreame V20 Pro's USPs is its innovative front-edge cleaning design – essentially, a barrier extends forwards that drops down when the vacuum senses it's approaching the edge of a room, to clear any dust and debris that may be lingering there. In practice, it delivers hands-down the best edge cleaning I've ever seen.

Its practicality is also worth praise, namely the wand that can be released to bend forward for far easier cleaning beneath sofas and beds without any awkward bending (a feature popularized by Shark). Likewise, the wide selection of tools covers everything from upholstery to crevices and high surfaces, and you'll get an extra floorhead especially for hard flooring.

Another thing that makes this model stand out from any other stick vac I've reviewed is the weighted stand, which allows the V20 Pro to stand freely with no wall mounting required. While it takes up extra space, this unique system keeps the V20 Pro fully charged, upright and accessible at all times.

However, it's not quite all roses and sunshine. The on/off and mode buttons are easily confused, some of the accessories are difficult to remove and fit, and the bagless bin is small and a bit fiddly. Other than that, this is a very polished alternative to some more established premium cordless models doing the rounds. Read on for my full Dreame V20 Pro vacuum review.

Dreame V20 Pro review: price & availability

• List price: £379 / €329
• Launched: September 2025
• Available: UK and Europe

Dreame has a policy of occasionally launching different models to different global markets. In this instance the V20 Pro is available in the UK and most of Europe, where it sells for £379 and €329, respectively. It is currently not available in the USA.

At its typical £349 to £379 price point, the Dreame V20 Pro sits in the mid-range of cordless stick vacuums, below premium options like Dyson's top models and above more budget-oriented sticks. Compared with the Dreame R20 (£189) I reviewed earlier in 2025, the V20 Pro packs more advanced features like edge cleaning, a flexible tube, more suction power and a unique weighted stand, giving it more versatility and everyday practicality.

Given that many stick vacuums below this price don't offer the same level of suction performance or edge-to-edge cleaning, the V20 Pro represents very decent value for money for buyers seeking strong all-round performance without stepping up to the premium tier. However, if your needs are basic and budget is paramount, cheaper models still deliver very decent cleaning for quite a lot less.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Dreame V20 Pro specs

Dreame V20 Pro review: design

• Moderately heavy but very easy to steer; comes with floor base
• Innovative edge-cleaning drop-down flap and useful LED screen
• Small bin and fiddly emptying

There are numerous manufacturers of cordless stick vacuums, with market reports identifying at least 20 major global companies in the high-end segment alone. And that's without including the likes of other big players like Hoover, VAX, Gtech, Roborock and, in this instance, Dreame. When it comes to choosing a specific cordless stick for your needs, I feel your pain.

Whether the new Dreame V20 Pro is the vac for you is uncertain because, while it is a sterling stick vac in its own right with some fantastic on-board innovations, there are also a few minor design anomalies I haven't been too enamored with, including stiff connections and an awkward bin system.

The main body alone weighs in at 3.4 lbs / 1.6kg, and with suction tube and hard floor head in situ that increases to a moderately hefty 7.1 lbs / 3.2kg. That's heavier than than the (less fully featured) Dreame R20 I reviewed earlier in 2025, which came in at 6lbs / 2.7kg with wand and main floorhead. Mind, I don’t think the weight of this model should be an issue for the majority of users and that means it can be taken upstairs or carried from room to room without much effort.

Like the Dreame R20, the V20 Pro is encased in a smooth, rounded, bash-proof, gunmetal-colored plastic housing with gold trim for added aesthetics. It's not a bad looker by any means, though I find it a bit too bling for my liking.

With a capacity of 0.5 liters, the V20 Pro's bin is on the small side – you will have to make several trips to the kitchen bin to empty it. That's especially true if you have shedding pets (a large dust cup is one of the key priorities when looking for the best vacuum for pet hair).

The emptying process is as far from the semi-automated Dyson system as it's possible to get. In fact I had to resort to the instruction manual to locate the release catch, which is an imperceptibly small grey button on the bottom of the bin housing. This lifts the entire bin canister off the main unit so there's no need to take the whole vac with you when emptying. To release the lower bin door for emptying, locate the rear latch and give the bin a shake. Thankfully it's an almost completely dust-free process.

The bin and filter system comprises the main transparent canister, a corrugated HEPA-style filter insert and a metal cyclone unit with extra filter attached. The good news is that all of these parts can be washed under a tap, though you're advised to let everything dry for at least 24 hours before refitting.

Head to the rear of the hand unit you'll see a 3.5-inch / 9cm circular color display and two buttons, one for turning it on and off and the other for changing the vacuum modes. I do wish Dreame had differentiated these buttons a little more, because I've continually activated the wrong one, whether it's been to turn it on or off or change modes. In fact I've found myself turning the whole unit off when all I wanted to do was change the mode. It's not a deal-breaker but it sure is annoying.

The V20 Pro comes with three vacuum modes: Auto, Eco and Max. Auto is unquestionably the best mode to choose for most scenarios, because it's the only mode that automatically switches between different suction strengths. You can not only hear this occurring on a regular basis, but if you look at the rear-mounted graphical interface you'll see it switch from green (clean) through orange (dusty) to red (filthy), depending on the amount of debris that's been detected by the automatic dust sensor.

Eco mode basically drops the power and is a good choice for deep-pile carpets or mild dust sweeping on hard floor, while Max (or Turbo, Boost, Mega – whatever you want to call it) ramps the power up to the model's maximum 210 Air Watts.

The V20 Pro's 210AW is less than the Dyson V15 Detect's 240AW and quite a lot lower than the Gen5detect, which packs a whopping 280AW. Nevertheless in my testing I never felt the V20 Pro lacked power.

Before I get to the brush heads and accessories it comes with (including the unique charging plinth it stands upon), a quick shoutout to the split, bendy wand which mimics the Shark system for easy reach deep under sofas and beds without the need to crawl around on the floor.

The Dreame V20 Pro ships with two main motorized brush heads: a velvet roller for hard floors with side-mounted LED lamp to emulate Dyson's famed laser beam dust detector, a hard-ribbed multi-floor brush roller for carpets and rugs with front-mounted LED headlights, a motorized mini brush head for pet beds, car seats, sofas and carpeted stairs, a soft dusting brush and a crevice nozzle with discretionary brush for reaching down the side of car seats and sofas. Praise to the maneuverability of both main brush heads, which are wonderfully easy to steer around furniture legs and awkward angles.

Let's concentrate on the hard floor roller because it's quite frankly ingenious. Every other hard floorhead I've used, including those from Dyson, has refused to collect any detritus along the edge of a skirting board, whether I approach it head-on or along the direction of the wall. I'm talking the little bits of dust and debris that lurk right in the 90-degree recesses of an edge.

Well Dreame's hard floorhead has a thin, flexible rubber strip attached to the full width of the front end and – get this – it drops to the floor mechanically whenever its infrared sensor detects a wall. It's called GapFree and I had to get down on my knees to watch it work because it drops down to floor level – flush with both the floor and the wall – at the precise moment the sensor detects the wall. In essence it seals off the wall area so the suction behind the strip can collect everything that's been trapped as you pull it back. It's difficult to describe and tricky to illustrate but it works like a dream and should be mandatory on every stick vac in the land.

Oh, and just one more thing. This model comes with a heavily weighted charging stand which negates the need for any wall mounting. Simply locate the unit's rear contacts with the ones on the base – tricky in dark areas – and the whole shebang stands upright ready to grab at a moment's notice. The downside is that the plinth is quite large, and with all the accessories attached to its base, it also looks a bit ungainly. But, hey, it addresses a common issue with cordless stick vacs – the inability to stand up on their own – it's sturdy and it makes storage and access a lot easier.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame V20 Pro review: performance

• The best edge cleaning I've seen
• Excellent pick-up performance
• Nimble, with great manoeuvrability

I've been exceedingly impressed with this vac's cleaning power during day-to-day use. It's been an excellent performer on my hard engineered wood flooring and there's no denying the efficiency of the hard floorhead's GapFree innovation. It has genuinely collected everything trapped along the edges of my skirting boards without me having to reach for the nozzle. A big high five to Dreame's tech bods for coming up with this.

The V20 Pro has also performed amazingly well on my carpets and rugs, including a very thick pile carpet in the upstairs bedroom. And the great thing is that I've been able to use it in this room in Auto mode (with the air intake slider on the front of the floorhead slightly open) without the roller brush grinding to a halt. With my Dyson Gen5Detect I have to switch to low-power Eco mode with the front air vent all the way open or the brush head simply stops revolving.

For my over-the-top hard floor test I used a selection of ingredients – oats, crushed cereal, muesli and flour – and, using the velvet roller head, it gathered every single piece of debris and all the flour leaving a pristine strip in its wake. I then tried an edge test using some oats and was blown away by how well the GapFree tech worked. I've never seen a function like this on any other vac, and frankly I'm astounded that no-one has thought of this before.

I then used the same set of ingredients on a large, short-pile carpeted rug and mistakenly used the velvet hard floorhead. Not that it mattered because it collected everything bar a few remnants of flour. So I tried again, this time using the proper carpet head, and everything, including the flour, went straight up the suction tube and into the bin. This is five-star performance in my book.

So what didn't I like? Well, the bin system isn't my favorite I'll admit, but I've got used to it now that I know where all the hidden buttons and latches are. Also, while the accessory fittings have loosened up a little through use, I still have trouble removing and refitting the hard floor brush head. It's basically a struggle to get off and I've had to push it firmly onto the shaft so I can hear it click into position or it may fall off when the unit is carried around. (Other testers have had the same issue with other Dreame vacuums, and it's something the brand really should address.)

Very minor anomalies aside, I've been immensely impressed by this cleaner's performance in all disciplines, its excellent maneuverability, its handy stand and, above all, its novel GapFree edge-dusting function which really does work wonders.

• Performance score: 5 out of 5

Dreame V20 Pro review: battery life

• ~34 mins in Auto; ~80 mins in Eco, 5 in Boost
• 4 hours to recharge
• Battery removable and swappable

In terms of battery usage, the V20 Pro lasted about 80 minutes in Eco mode and just 5 minutes (one minute less that officially stated) in Turbo mode. Runtimes in Auto mode will vary depending on the floor type and dirt levels you're tackling, but I managed to eke 34 minutes out of the battery in Auto mode on thin-pile carpet.

The Eco runtime is good – anything over an hour is impressive for a cordless stick vacuum. And while the Max runtime is short, do factor in that not all Max modes are as powerful as each other, and Dreame may have prioritized oomph over a long runtime here. The battery is fade-free, removable and swappable.

• Battery life score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame V20 Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dreame V20 Pro

I've lived with the V20 Pro for the past few weeks, using it daily between my army robot vacs and sweeping the areas they often miss. I tested this model using a variety of dry ingredients on both hard floor and carpets of various pile. I also tried it on deep-pile carpet and was impressed that the brush head didn't bog down and stop. Likewise, my hard floor test went without a hitch, while the edge-cleaning tech made my jaw drop to the floor. In all, I'd say this has been one of the best cordless stick vacs I've so far reviewed. Highly recommended.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed December 2025

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra: Two-minute review

Innovation in the world of robot vacuum cleaners is evolving by leaps and bounds – you only have to look at the Dreame Matrix10 Ultra and the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone to see how far we’ve come. While the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra isn’t so groundbreaking, it still boasts industry-leading vacuum suction (30,000Pa) and features I’ve not seen anywhere else – like all brushes getting raised when mopping and the mop getting covered when rolling over a carpet. In fact, this is Dreame’s first robovac to get a roller mop.

While these unique features are welcome additions, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra shines where it matters the most – cleaning floors. I’ve previously said the same thing in my Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni review, but this Dreame does a better job of vacuuming carpets.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in that 30,000Pa of suction as that spec doesn’t always translate to 100% hair pickup on very dirty carpets, but I’d say it gets close – 98% to 99% – which is much better than most other robovacs I’ve tested. Edge cleaning on carpets, though, is a little disappointing in comparison, but this isn’t unique to Dreame – most side brushes don’t have stiff bristles to sweep up embedded hair, fur and fibres along room edges of wall-to-wall carpets, and suction power isn’t distributed evenly across the entire length of the central bar brush. In fact, even my Dyson V15s Detect Submarine finds it hard to get right to the edge where carpet meets wall – unless I use the crevice tool.

Hard-floor cleaning, however, is 100% pickup of all visible dirt and debris. Importantly, there's very little scattering of larger debris as the side brush is raised when it senses excessive dirt. And mopping by the roller results in perfect stain removal, no matter how old and deep-seated it is. I love that it dries the dust bag after each cleaning run, which means it can safely go over a little wet area and suck up some moisture, although I would still hesitate to send it over a large wet spill.

Mobility is fantastic, with extremely silent wheels, although the raising mechanism can be heard and the robot dropping back to its normal position after crossing a threshold sounds like something is breaking. And despite some teething issues when I first set it up, I found its navigation abilities quite efficient. I will admit, however, that it does occasionally clean one spot repeatedly even though it’s not excessively dirty, and that eats into its battery life.

Battery use is also affected slightly by the fact that its suction kicks in as soon as the robot exits its dock, so it’s using up precious power even before it gets to its starting point. In my tests, the battery would drop by 1% to 2% depending on which room I would send it to before it began its task. This isn’t a deal breaker for some homes, but it may not finish cleaning larger spaces in one go.

Another minor complaint I have is the app. As nice as it looks, it takes a little getting used to and, even for someone like me who has ample experience with robovacs, I struggled to find some necessary settings (in my case, carpet-cleaning options). Again, not a deal breaker – and I’m yet to meet a robot vacuum with the perfect app (Roborock comes close) – but a touch of streamlining would make it a lot easier to use, especially if you’re going to shell out a four-figure sum on the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra.

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Price & availability

• List price: $1,599 / £1,299 / AU$2,999
• Released date: November 2025
• Available in most major markets, including the US, UK and Australia

With a suggested retail price of $1,599 / £1,299 / AU$2,999, there’s no denying that the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra sits firmly in the premium robovac space, although it’s not as expensive as the $1,999.99 / £1,399 / AU$3,499 mop-swapping Dreame Matrix10 Ultra. It’s still a flagship model and has features to justify its high asking price but, if clean floors is what you’re after, you can get something a little cheaper and not compromise on what’s important.

Case in point is the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni: it performs wonderfully well although, like most robovacs, its app leaves much to be desired, and you get flagship cleaning for $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$2,499 at full price. Given how often robot vacuums get discounted, this Deebot can be had for around the $800 / £800 / AU$1,500 mark, if not cheaper. I suspect the Aqua10 Ultra will also see a similar treatment during major sales, but its full price stings a little.

In comparison, the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone brings some cutting-edge tech to the table – fast charging and an agentic AI helper to name just a couple – and does away entirely with the replaceable dust bag. It costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,999 and potentially offers better value for larger homes.

Dreame, however, is known for pricing its robot vacuums quite high – the X50 Ultra Complete, which uses traditional mop pads instead of a roller and doesn’t have all the fancy features of the Aqua10 Ultra, has a list price of $1,699 / £1,299 / AU$2,999.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Specs

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Design

• First Dreame robovac to get a roller mop
• Boasts step-vaulting feet and a retractable navigation turret
• Boxy and classy dock design with dual-detergent dispenser drawer

The moment I took the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra out of its box, my first thought was, “It looks like a large Marshall speaker!”. If you aren’t familiar with this speaker brand, they’re quite boxy and most of the models I know about have a black finish. This is in no way a complaint; it’s my brain making connections I didn’t expect it to – and I love the look. It’s very classic, with clean lines and metallic accents that ooze ‘premium-ness’. Somehow even the green light around the main control button of the robot while it's charging makes it look fabulous rather than garish.

There are a lot of thoughtful design elements here other than the looks, like soft rubber washers that make it easy to remove the dock cover, a dual detergent dispenser drawer and a retractable navigation puck on the top of the robot. It even comes with a brush to clean the wash tray, which I’ve even used to scrub the dirty-water tank.

Robot design

Sticking with the usual round robot, the Aqua10 Ultra isn’t all that different from many of its premium competitors, with a sleek look – a black robot in my case – that’s enhanced by a retracting navigation puck. When docked, the puck stays lowered and has a ring of green light when it’s moving up or down, or when it’s charging – but is unlit when fully topped up and on standby.

The top of the puck is brass coloured and houses the main controls. It looks like a single button that’s divided in two, with one half to power the robot up or down, while the other half is to send it back to its dock (home button).

Around the puck is a fully removable lid, under which you’ll find a dust box which, strangely, is a lot smaller than I’ve seen in competing models. It’s just 220ml and while it’s not affected my cleaning routines, I suspect it will be emptying itself a lot more frequently in homes with pets.

Under the lid is also the Wi-Fi indicator light and the all-important QR code to get you set up with the companion app. Watch out for how much you handle the robot, though, because it’s highly prone to picking up fingerprint smudges that aren’t easy to wipe off (I’m fussy, what can I say?).

The front of the robot, as with all others like it, is the camera window that houses not one, but two AI cameras with HD quality that, Dreame says, allows it to capture a 3D image of the robot's surroundings. A side sensor window is also visible towards the end of the bumper.

The undercarriage is where all the action is and here’s where the Aqua10 Ultra differs from many of its competitors. Firstly, it has a dual-brush system for better cleaning on carpets and hard floors alike without hair tangles.

Second, it’s the first Dreame robot vacuum to get a roller mop and here too there’s been some innovation. The roller is made from slightly more bristly fibres than fluff or microfibre to allow it to get into cracks or grouting to ‘scrub’ as it passes over hard floors. It also has a fluffer that spins in the opposite direction to the roller to keep the fibres, well, fluffed so it’s effective at all times.

Importantly, this is the first robovac I’ve tested that actually has a cover for the roller that engages automatically when it senses a carpet. I couldn’t even see the cover when it was doing a mop and went over my living room rug, but no part of my colorful carpet was damp, something I’ve experienced with other robot vacuum cleaners. The roller also extends to clean along edges, although it does miss corners like pretty much every other robovac I’ve tested.

Like its X50 Ultra and Matrix10 Ultra siblings, the Aqua10 also gets the ProLeap system that allows the robot to traverse shallow steps – it can climb 4cm in one step, and another 4cm in a second step if it needs to. It’s no stair climber though, this only helps it get across higher thresholds that some other robots would have trouble with. At setup, the app will even ask you if you want it to use one ‘foot’ at a time, like a human, or raise both feet and roll over.

I’ve gotten to a point where I wish robovac makers would use stiffer bristles for the side brush because I’ve seen them all struggle to push dirt when moving over carpets, although they work very well on hard floors. It’s the same here – stiffer bristles on my fully carpeted bedroom would have been fabulous. This isn’t a complaint, more a wish for the next iteration.

Dock design

I was sent a black unit for this review, although I’ve seen pictures of a white model too. Either way, the base station for the Aqua10 Ultra looks darn good. Sharp corners and clean lines are reminiscent of mid-Century architectural aesthetics and, as I’ve said before, I get Marshall speaker vibes. And that’s a compliment – I love it!

A lot of thought has gone into the various parts of the base station too. For example, I love that the front cover that hides the dust bag and detergent dispenser is tight thanks to a rubber washer around it, but it comes off and slips on smoothly – no harsh clicks or excessive elbow grease needed as I’ve experienced with other such models that make me feel like I’m about to break something.

I have to mention the dispenser here before moving on. It has two slots for different solutions (there’s a bottle of detergent and pet odor neutralizer in the box – color-coded so you know which goes in what slot), so you could switch up your detergent use if you wish, but the grip to pull the dispenser out of the base station is designed for right-handed people. That’s not to say left-handers can’t remove it, it will just need a little wrist twisting.

Above this slot is the covered hatch for the two water tanks, while below is the housing for the robot itself. Inside, the wash tray can be removed for cleaning as necessary and you’ll find a brush in the box to aid with that. In fact, I found the brush to be handy in scrubbing out the dirty-water tank when I’ve forgetfully let a little ecosystem grow inside it.

Handily, the rear of the base station has a niche for your fingers when you need to move it to another location, plus cable management that is missing from some robovacs I’ve previously reviewed.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Performance

• Arguably the best vacuuming and mopping I’ve experienced with a robovac
• 100ºC/212ºF roller mop washing
• Mostly good navigation and battery life, but it could be better

Getting the Aqua10 Ultra connected to my phone and set up for mapping barely took any time. Before the map creation, though, I allowed the robot to charge fully while I tried to get familiar with the app.

Mapping took no more than seven minutes in the test space for this review, which was a one-bedroom apartment of about 40sqm/430sq ft area. It has mixed flooring, with wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedroom and two types of tile flooring everywhere else. The map was accurate for the most part, but I merged and divided a couple of rooms to delineate the open-plan space.

One thing I loved about the initial mapping process was that I didn’t hear the robot at all. Other such models I’ve tested, I’ve at least heard the wheels – here, not a sound. Wheels are well oiled and very smooth, at least on the tiles in my test space.

I then had some teething issues with the Aqua10 Ultra in that my very first task for it was a single-room clean, which it refused to do. I kept getting a ‘destination not found’ error. Even after a full reset and remapping, the issue didn’t go away. I later got it to do a full-home clean (what Dreame calls “global cleaning” in the app) and everything worked a charm after that, even custom routines or single-room cleans.

Vacuuming tests

Dreame lists the suction power at an industry-leading 30,000Pa, but don’t get taken in by that number – a few factors go into how well a robot vacuum can suck up hair, dirt and debris, including airflow through the inside of the bot. That said, the Aqua10 Ultra doesn’t disappoint.

I don’t think I’ve been better impressed by any other robovac as much as I’ve been by this Dreame. I made sure there was a lot of hair embedded into the carpet fibers of the bedroom before its first real test and it did a fantastic job on its Intense setting (there is a Max suction too). On hard floors, Standard is more than enough for regular cleaning tasks, although I would recommend switching it up to Intense if you’re trying to clean up a relatively dirty section of tile or wood.

The Aqua10 Ultra is a rare robovac that also managed to get bits of dirt out of grout too. I tested this by sprinkling some tea from a bag into spaces between tiles in my kitchen and not a speck of black was visible on the white background after it was done on its Intense suction setting. Other premium models I’ve tested have struggled with this task.

Another vacuuming feature I love is the raising of the side brush. This happens every time the robot senses a very dirty area with larger pieces of debris (oats in testing) to prevent scattering. And that translates to 100% pickup across the entire area.

The only time I used Max suction power was when I allowed dust and hair to collect on the bedroom carpet over three weeks and pickup was about 98%, with only the edges suffering from a not-so-good vacuuming. The reason that edge cleaning on the carpet suffers is not unique to Dreame, it’s all robovacs – the bristles of the side brush just aren’t stiff enough to push all hair and debris within carpet fibers along room edges towards the central brushes.

I tried the lowest suction setting (Quiet) only once and I wasn’t particularly impressed – it might be fine if your floors are cleaned daily and you don’t have pets or kids.

Mopping tests

Mopping is probably what the Aqua10 Ultra was truly designed to do and it does it very well. Not only is the roller continually washed with fresh water as it’s mopping, but you also get two choices of pressure the roller can apply on floors. The latter might seem like a good thing on paper but, to be honest, Light pressure is fine for daily mopping when the floors are relatively clean. I would think Normal pressure is what most users would need on a regular basis.

With water levels set to high (level 27) to suit the kind of tiles in my test space, I found the Aqua10 Ultra was capable of tackling most dried stains. Dusty footprints are very easy for it to remove, but it also managed to get rid of spilt-and-dried tea. It even got rid of an unidentified caked-in stain close to my living room rug that my previous robot vacuum wasn’t able to mop up.

For the first time when testing a robovac I felt comfortable sending it to mop up a small wet spill – and that’s only because Dreame promised that the central and side brushes would be raised. Sure enough, a few drops of water weren’t an issue and any moisture that got sucked into the onboard dust box and, hence, into the dust bag, isn’t going to be an issue as the bag in the dock is dried after every single vacuum or mop-after-vacuum session is complete.

Admittedly this test is based on small spills, like a few drops of water on the bathroom floor or a tiny bit of milk on the kitchen tiles, but I’ve previously avoided sending any robovac over something wet, no matter how small. That being said, I’d still be very hesitant to get the Aqua10 Ultra to clean a larger wet spill as I’d worry about the filter inside the onboard dust box.

If you’ve got mixed flooring, you can choose what action the robot takes when mopping – avoid carpets altogether, raise the roller mop or cross without cleaning. I had the Aqua10 Ultra set to mop-raise at all times and, the best part, the roller has its own cover that automatically engages as soon as it senses a carpet.

I’ve never been able to see the cover engage, but I’ve had no damp patches on my carpets, not even the edges or corners where other robovacs would be too slow to raise mops.

Mopping can be done with detergents and a small bottle ships in the box to get you started. Dreame doesn’t specify that the floor cleaner needs to be proprietary, but I’d err on the side of caution and purchase what the brand recommends to avoid damaging the internal mechanisms and voiding warranty.

Dock performance

The standout feature here is the dust-bag drying, which you will need to toggle on in the app under Dock Settings. When switched on, the dock will dry the dust bag with warm air after every cleaning session. This prevents odors building or an ecosystem growing inside if moisture gets trapped when the robot vacuums over a few drops of water or any other small spill.

That's not all, though, because the Aqua10 Ultra also looks after the roller well by washing it at 100ºC / 212ºF. That's as good as sterilization and eliminates any odors, washes out stains and gets the roller ready for its next clean. This feature is optional and, if you don't have pets, you could just have the roller cleaned with warm water, sterilizing it every once in a while. The usual hot-air drying takes place to make sure the roller is dried between uses.

The first time I used the Aqua10 Ultra, though, I thought it was using a lot of water, but from the second mopping run onwards, water use has been quite efficient and I didn't need to constantly ensure the clean-water tank was topped up. The only thing that needs doing is ensuring the dirty-water tank is cleaned frequently or you will have nasty odors to contend with. However, not only does the tank have a tight lid, but there's another lid (not hermetically sealed, though) between you and the bad smells. You still wouldn't want to leave dirty water in there for long.

The Aqua10 Ultra dock also allows you to ensure the wash tray is cleaned thoroughly. This is done via the app to start, wherein clean water is poured over the washboard and excess moisture is removed from the roller. The robot will then exit the dock so you can use the provided brush to scrub the tray – just click on finished button on the app when you're done and the dock will take care of the drying once the bot is nestled back in.

Long story short, dock functionality is just as good as the robot's cleaning.

Obstacle avoidance & navigation

Not only does the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra clean well, but its obstacle avoidance is superb. Every robot vacuum I’ve tested until now has gotten thin charging cables entangled with the central bar brush – not so here. Even when unfurled (lying stretched out on the floor), the Aqua10 Ultra’s sensors can spot a cable and it just cleans right along the side without trying to roll over it (as pictured below).

I have one area in my living room where most robovacs get confused – a narrow section of hard floor edged by a wall on one side, a carpet on the other, plus a couch and a slim-legged chair to add to confusing textures. Not only did the Aqua10 Ultra navigate around the legs of the chair well, but it also managed to ensure the strip of hard floor was cleaned each time without the mop rolling over the rug.

The automatic 4cm raising of the robot, however, is a little temperamental. Even with a threshold marked in the app – which should tell the robot to rise, step over and carry on – I found the Aqua10 Ultra didn’t often register the threshold and would try to navigate it as any other low-rise obstacle, trying to find the best way over it. When it did rise automatically on its wheels, it was a fun sight to see.

Overall, navigation is great, although I have to note that I had teething issues. Immediately after setup, I wanted to test the robot’s functionality in just one room and it just couldn’t “find the designated area”. A full reset and remapping didn’t fix the problem either. However, it worked just fine if I opted to do a full-house clean (what Dreame calls a “global” cleaning), after which choosing a single room or a zone was fine.

Battery life

Running on a 6,400mAh battery, which is quite standard these days, the Aqua10 Ultra should, on paper, give you upwards of 200 minutes of cleaning. In reality, that’s not going to be the case as most users won’t be running it on its lowest settings to conserve battery life.

In my testing, I found battery use inefficient during its first few runs where the drain was quite significant – dropping from full to 40% on Intense vacuuming after running for 30 minutes. That improved to falling to 62% on the same setting for the same duration as I used the bot more.

Depending on what kind of custom cleaning routine you choose, it’s possible an average one-bedroom home could be cleaned without needing additional time at the mains, but larger homes will definitely have a full-house cleaning interrupted due to battery drain. This is more so if you have mixed flooring as the robot automatically increases suction on carpets.

One small issue that Dreame could consider fixing is not getting the suction to start as soon as the bot leaves the base station. I found that a minimum of 1% battery would always drain before it reached its starting point. That might not seem like much, but that clocks up when it needs to empty its dust box regularly during a single vacuuming session. And unlike the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone, it doesn’t have fast charging to top up a little while its mop is being washed.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: App and voice control

• Nicely designed app, but some setting options are unclear
• Custom routines have limitations
• Voice control is easy, but has limited functionality

The Dreame companion app in its current form isn’t bad at all – in fact, it’s one of the more appealing apps, with perhaps just Roborock outdoing it. However, it took me a while to wrap my head around the app as right from the get go I found no option to start the mapping process. A bit of playing around with it solved that problem, and the resulting map was accurate and I found it easy to edit.

What I love about the editing process is that I could manually add thresholds, something I’ve not seen on any other robot vacuum app – although I will admit that didn’t work as I expected it to (the bot sometimes didn’t even realize it needed to raise itself). In fact, the map adds room names intelligently as it’s being created, but it doesn’t always get it right.

Dreame gives you a heck of a lot of control over the cleaning routines, like adjusting cleaning parameters such as suction strength or mop water flow rates on a per-room basis, while scheduling, remote control and notifications help keep cleaning convenient. This is the first time I’ve seen a robovac brand offer extensive control over the ‘intelligent’ automatic mode – I could choose my own suction and water levels here, while all other brands use machine learning to set these automatically. Dreame calls this the CleanGenius mode.

It took me a while to figure out how to set up custom Shortcut routines, like Bedroom Clean, or Daily Clean. Even then, I had to ensure I'd saved and tapped on any tick icons or it didn't save anything. Roborock and Ecovacs, on the other hand, have made setting up custom routines a lot simpler.

I also couldn’t figure out why none of the carpets in my test space were getting vacuumed as they’re set to be ‘avoided’ by default and the app doesn’t make that clear – even when you choose to vacuum carpets first. These are little things, but small changes could make the app a lot more streamlined and easier to navigate.

I've also noticed that the Dreame app is slower to respond compared to some other brands I’ve tested – it’s just a few seconds of lag between choosing a clean and the robot exiting the dock, but I’ve seen other brands work a little quicker.

Smart home integration with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant is available, but the Dreame voice assistant is quite quick to respond if you wake it up. The voice commands you give it are limited in nature, like telling it to start a saved Shortcut or returning to the dock, but it’s an excellent hands-free experience. There’s even Matter support on board for future smart home integration if you ever set up a central hub.

• App & voice control score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Also consider

How I tested the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra

For this review, I used the Aqua10 Ultra for a period of five weeks, running it on mixed flooring an average of twice a week (there were times when I ran it about four times in a day for various tests).

I initially had issues with the robot unable to navigate to its designated area, but that issue was solved after it did a full-home clean. The test space, as mentioned earlier in this review, was a small one-bedroom apartment with carpet in the bedroom and tiles everywhere else.

I spent quite a lot of time trying to understand the app, but once things were set up as I wished them to be, running the Aqua10 Ultra was easy. I performed full-home cleans, custom routines, single-room cleans, even zone cleaning for some tests. I used the shower divider in the bathroom to test its ProLeap system to clear thresholds.

I also used the provided detergent and odor neutralizer in the dock.

I put the Aqua10 Ultra through TechRadar's usual tests for vacuuming and mopping (using oats and tea from a bag for the former, and a dollop of chutney for the latter). I also conducted our standard obstacle avoidance test, but paid special attention to how it handles cables as Dreame does advertize it to be excellent.

As you've probably already read, the Aqua10 Ultra passed all its tests with flying colors, and my complaints were mostly minor.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

[First reviewed December 2025]

Dreame has been pushing boundaries in the robot vacuum space for a while now. One of its robvacs has tiny little feet that launch it over tall room thresholds, plus a retractable navigation puck that lets it sneak under low furniture. In its most recent launch, the brand has focused its attention on improving the mop setup. And it hasn't done it by half-measures. In TechRadar's Dreame Matrix10 Ultra review, our tester called it "probably the most advanced hybrid robot floor cleaner [he'd] ever reviewed".

The Matrix10 uses dual, spinning mop pads to mop floors. Nothing new so far (although, for the record, that is my preferred robovac mop style – in my experience testing today's best robot vacuums, it tends to deliver a more thorough clean than a D-shaped pad, and have fewer irritating issues than a roller mop... but maybe that's a separate article). What is new is that Dreame has decided that one pair of mop pads isn't enough.

Every other bot I'm aware of uses the same mop to clean anywhere you ask it to. You might wash the pad(s) manually when its done, or the dock might be smart enough to take care of that for you, but the cloth that's being used to clean your bathroom is the same as the one that's being used to clean your kitchen.

Dreame has deemed this unacceptable, so the Matrix10 Ultra comes with three sets of mop pads. What's more, each pair has a different design, suited to a slightly different kind of mopping task.

One set has nylon bristle strips amongst the softer loops, to deep-clean especially dirty floors and tackle grease. One set is thicker and more absorbent, for areas where there might be water spillages on the floor – such as in your bathroom. And then there's a general-purpose set for everything else.

A hands-free helper

'What am I meant to do, swap over out the mop pads manually?' I hear you ask. No, no, no. This is meant to be a hands-free helper, so Dreame has built you your own mop-dispensing dock.

The spare pads slot into the back of the door, and a little trolley picks up the appropriate set for the task at hand and delivers it to the bottom of the robot vacuum's hutch area. The bot reverses in and picks them up, using magnetic connections. It's rather like a vending machine for mop pads, or a jukebox if you prefer.

That's just the start of it, though. If you're going to have different mop pads, why not also have different cleaning solutions? Here there are three: a general-purpose one, another that's specialized for tackling pet odors, and another for wooden floors (which need delicate treatment). Again, the dock handles the dispensing for you – the three solutions are hidden inside and the machine will add the correct one to the bot's cleaning reservoir as required.

Oh, and on top of that the dock will still clean your mop pads for you, using hot water to cut through any grease and grime, and dry them with hot air, so each set is fresh, clean and ready to be called on at all times.

Is it necessary? I'm on the fence. I wouldn't use a bathroom-cleaning cloth to also wipe down my kitchen surfaces, but when I test wet-and-dry vacuums I will happily use the same roller on any of the floors that are in need of a mop.

I can see the benefit for those concerned about cross-contamination though, or anyone with particularly challenging mopping needs (let's say you're house-training a puppy, for instance, and it's still at the 'sometimes pees on the floor' stage).

The intricacy of the mopping setup does mean the Dreame Matrix10 Ultra won't be for everyone. It'll be overkill for owners of small homes – who would probably have to rule it out based on the proportions of the dock anyway (it's about the size of an under-counter fridge). However, if you have complex mopping needs, lots of different hard flooring areas, or even a small commercial space that needs a serious robovac to stay on top of the upkeep, it could be a game-changer.

A robot vacuum can be a major effort saver – and especially welcome during the hectic festive season. Prices vary hugely, with the cheapest bots coming in at around the $100 / £100 mark and ranging right up to a couple of grand. It can be tricky to know how much to spend – and with the Black Friday sales delivering all kinds of discounts, things can be even more confusing.

I'm here to help. I manage TechRadar's best robot vacuum guide and have tested bots from a range of brands at all different price points. Here's my take: cheap robot vacuums are still worth considering, provided you stick to a few golden rules.

Read to learn exactly what those rules are – and if you decide it's time to invest in an automated home helper, hop to the bottom of the article for my pick of the best deals in the current sales.

1. Stick to a good brand

The most important thing, for me, is to go for a good brand. That way, you can be confident you'll at least get the basics: decent cleaning, reliable navigation, and an easy-to-use app. These are the three essentials; if you don't have them, the bot isn't worth buying (at any price). It probably goes without saying, but avoid all those weird, no-name brands on Amazon, no matter the low price.

My favorite brands are Roborock and Dreame – their robovacs consistently earn high review scores, regardless of how expensive they are. I've personally tested a budget Roborock and a budget Dreame robot vacuum, and was very impressed with both. In fact, the Dreame is still installed in my parents' house, where it takes care of cleaning the bedrooms.

I'm sorry to say that I'd also avoid buying a Roomba this year, even though on the surface of things, the deals look good. The brand recently replaced its entire fleet of robot vacuums, and the updated options have failed to impress (here's our Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo review, as an example). Parent company iRobot is in serious financial trouble, and it looks like it might not be sticking around much longer, which has knock-on implications for aftercare, too.

2. Make sure you can handle the maintenance

One major difference between cheaper and more expensive robot vacuums is in the things the dock can do – and as a result, the maintenance tasks that you'll need to take on yourself. The cheapest robovacs will have a dock that just charges the bot up and nothing else. Make sure you aren't making a rod for your own back by picking a robovac that requires too much from you.

For example, if you have shedding pets, I would recommend shelling out a bit more for a bot with an auto-empty dock. The bin onboard the robot itself is tiny, and you'll end up having to empty it with annoying regularity if the bot is trying to stay on top of the pet fuzz.

If you have lots of vinyl or tile flooring and want your robot vacuum to do a fair bit of mopping, consider the mop setup. The cheapest models require you to fill the water tank and attach the mop pad manually before every use (then remove it afterwards). Spending a bit more could get you a bot that can lift its mop pads when traversing carpet and has a dock that can refill the onboard water tank. You could even invest in one that has a dock that can wash the mop pads, although that might be a decent step up in price.

3. Price-check some fancier alternatives

Before you hit the buy button, I'd check out some fancier alternatives, because in some cases, a bit more cash can get you a much better bot. The robot vacuum market is competitive, with brands releasing new models very regularly, and as a result, it's common to see big discounts on 'older' options that are still extremely capable. I've spotted some especially strong deals in the Black Friday sales – I've included them below so you can see what you can get for a bit more money.

The best cheap robot vacuum deals in the US

The best cheap robot vacuum deals in the UK

Knowing how much to spend on a robot vacuum can be difficult. You can find bots for close to $100 / £100, ranging right up to well over a grand. So are cheap bots a false economy? Will you regret not spending a bit more?

I manage TechRadar's best robot vacuum guide and have tested models at every price point, and here's my take. Cheap robot vacuums can be well worth it, provided you're willing to take on some maintenance tasks yourself, and you stick to known, trusted brands.

Right now is an especially good time to shop, because the Amazon Prime Day sales are in full swing, with lots of affordable robovacs discounted even further (my pick of the bunch in the Dreame D9 Max Gen 2, now $149.99 (was $279.99) in the US and £139 (was £199) in the UK, and incredible value for that price – hop down the page for more info.)

Pick the right brand, and your budget bot will still offer strong cleaning, reliable navigation, and an easy-to-use app (these are non-negotiables for me). However, it likely won't come with an auto-empty dock, which means you'll have to commit to emptying the small onboard bin yourself. If it has a mop function, it'll probably be basic – you'll need to attach and pre-dampen the mop pad before mopping, and wash it afterwards. If those are acceptable compromises, you'll have plenty of great cheap robot vacuum options to choose from.

A quick note on brands. Roborock and Dreame are probably my favorites, and – as you might expect – I'd steer well clear of weird, no-name brands on Amazon. I personally would also avoid iRobot Roomba – the cheap bot I tested from this brand was a bit of a nightmare when it came to navigation.

Which budget robot vacuum should I buy?

Many cheap robot vacuums are much of a muchness, and the deciding factor will be price at the time you want to buy. Here's the best option I've found today:

I tested this model in my own flat, where it performed well in all my cleaning and navigation tests (read my full Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 review). After that, it got rehomed to my parents' house, where it lives under a bed on the first floor, and helps my Mum stay on top of dust buildup in the carpeted bedrooms. It's been sent out two or three times a week for the past seven months, and we've never had any issues or complaints with the performance.

• Shop Amazon's full Prime Day US sale / Prime Day UK sale

Who should pick a fancier model?

For some people, it'll be worth investing in a fancier, pricier robot vacuum. Docks that can auto-empty dust from the small onboard bin will be worth the extra spend for many people – they don't tend to come with a massive price bump, and they just make everything that much more hands-off.

Shift higher up the mid-range bracket and into premium, and you'll gain access to advanced features like docks that can refill the bot's water tanks, dispense detergent, clean and dry the mop pads and even clean and dry themselves. You'll also unlock higher suction levels. 6,000Pa and above will be fine for most people's needs, but if you have loads of carpet or pets, perhaps a suckier bot will be worth the extra investment.

• The Dreame Miracle Pro is a new premium hair dryer that's packed with tech
• Features red light therapy and a nourishing mister
• Can also sense distance from head and adjust temperature in response

Dreame's new Miracle Pro doesn't just blast out hot air – oh no. It's like a full spa for your head, packed with tech and features geared towards delivering luscious, healthy locks. I got to try it out in person – and I barely knew where to start.

The headline feature is an Auto mode that senses how close the dryer is to your head, and adjusts airflow and temperature in response. It's designed to protect your hair and scalp – if the dryer is right up close to your head, the power drops and the temperature cools, so you don't get unnecessarily blasted with heat and air.

The idea makes sense, although during my brief hands-on time I wasn't blown away (no pun intended) by the execution. I could only really feel the windspeed amping up and down – placing my hand near the barrel was still uncomfortably hot. It also took a bit of time for the dryer to respond to its new position.

This feature is surely inspired by the Dyson Supersonic Nural – the latest iteration of Dyson's uber-popular dryer, and one of the very best hair dryers on the market right now. The Nural has a very similar feature, although that model only adjusts temperature and not airflow.

Dyson's effort also uses sensors, while Dreame claims its Miracle Pro is powered by AI (although why you'd need AI to be involved, when distance sensors can provide all the information required, is beyond me). On test it felt like the Supersonic Nural responded much quicker than the Miracle Pro.

However, the Miracle Pro has several tricks you won't find on Dyson's dryers. Around the nozzle of the dryer is a light ring that delivers dual-wavelength red light therapy, at 633 and 1064 nanometers.

Red light therapy is one of the hot skincare trends right now – masks like the Shark CryoGlow issue red light to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Here, it'll apparently stimulate micro-circulation in the scalp, encouraging more oxygen and nutrients to reach the hair follicles. Over time, this should support stronger hair growth and help hair feel more resilient.

On top of that, this dryer also has a built-in mister. A tiny capsule slots into a gap at the top of the dryer, and sprays an essence over your hair as you dry. This essence is water-based, and designed to nourish your hair, shield it from heat, and make it smell nice. The capsule is removable and refillable.

This was perhaps my favorite feature on test. Sure, spritzing your hair with a heat protectant before drying it is an easy alternative, but this feels much more luxurious. There is apparently a scent, but it's not overwhelming – I couldn't smell it when holding the dryer.

The shape is that streamlined look that was popularized by the original Dyson Supersonic but has since become common. The Miracle Pro is a little chunkier than the Supersonic Nural, but still compact and is light enough to be comfortable to wield, despite the volume of tech packed in there. It also stands out from the pack with the same faux-leather finish that the brand used in its Dreame AirStyle Pro. Like that muti-styler, it also comes in a very smart storage case.

Price-wise it's an investment, coming in at $399.99 / £349. However, it's not quite as expensive as the Supersonic Nural ($499.99 / £399.99 / AU$749 at list price), and arguably justifies its price tag better with all those features.

It's already on sale direct from Dreame US, and I'm currently confirming the UK on-sale date, along with pricing and availability in Australia. I couldn't test everything properly during my 10 minutes of hands-on time in the Dreame showroom, but I've got a full review in the works, look out for our official verdict.

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• Dreame Matrix10 Ultra can swap between three different mop pads
• Picks the style best suited to the task or room it's cleaning
• Also has three cleaning solutions, including one for wood and one for pet odors

Robot vacuum mopping tech is getting ever more advanced, but Dreame's new bot has an especially extensive mopping setup. The Matrix10 Ultra comes with a whole range of cleaning kit, and cherry-picks the right tools for the specific task at hand.

I had a chance to check it out in person yesterday, and I'm equal parts impressed and intimidated. As far as I'm aware, it's the only robot vacuum to offer this kind of setup, and in a market that's filled with copycat bots, that's unusual. If you have lots of hard floor and need something that can offer customized cleaning, this could be the best robot vacuum for you.

First up, there are three different mop pad options. This bot uses the popular dual spinning disc style setup, but the pads themselves are designed to suit different scenarios.

There's a pad with rough nylon bristle strips amongst the softer loops, designed for tackling grease or heavy stains. This would be well suited to cleaning the kitchen, for example. There's also a pad with a sponge layer inside to boost absorbency. This one is a great choice for bathrooms, where there might be excess water that needs mopping away.

Finally, there's the standard option, which Dreame says has some kind of thermal properties that enable it to "maintain a consistent temperature for enhanced cleaning". I'm not entirely sure what this means, which is why I'm quoting the press release at you.

A number of Dreame's robot vacuums have magnetic pads that can be picked up for mopping, and then dropped off in the dock when they're not needed, so you don't have to worry about damp pads coming into contact with your carpets. The Matrix10 Ultra uses the same setup, but the mechanism by which it swaps its mops is especially cool.

The pairs of pads are stacked up against the inside of the door of the dock. A kind of mop trolley, on roller tracks, picks the correct pads up, then whizzes down a ramp, slides into the space where the bot will dock, and drops off the pads into the base, ready to attach to the underside of the robot vacuum.

Scrubbing solutions

Multiple pads aren't the extent of the Matrix10's mop tricks. It also comes with three different floor cleaning solutions for different kinds of messes: a general one, plus a specialist one for pet odors, and another for wooden floors.

Again, you can specify the solution to be used in each room. The solutions are all housed in the dock, and accessed via a side door. I wasn't able to take a look, though, because the bot apparently needs to be charged up in order to access this compartment (odd), and the display model was not.

The slight down-side to having a whole utility room's worth of cleaning kit in a robovac dock is that said dock does end up being rather bulky, but that's the way things seem to be going for modern robot vacuums. If you have a home with lots of hard floors and need something to tackle different kinds of messes – or just prefer to keep things ultra-hygienic by keeping your bathroom cleaning kit completely separate from your kitchen cleaning kit – the Matrix10 Ultra looks like a nifty solution.

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• Dreame is a Chinese manufacturer of TVs, hairdryers and more
• The company announced Dreame Automotive at the IAA Mobility Show
• A full concept of the Bugatti rival will go on display at CES 2026

A Chinese manufacturer of robotic vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, hair dryers and televisions has stated that it will launch into the automotive market next year, with its first ultra-luxury pure-electric product scheduled to go on sale in 2027.

While it is not unusual for Chinese companies to pivot from other industries into EVs (BYD used to make rechargeable batteries for consumer tech products, for example), it is rare for a company to attempt to take on supercar royalty with its first model.

Yu Hao, Founder and CEO of Dreame Technology, has stated that the company will unveil a concept version of its Bugatti-rivaling EV at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with a production version ready as early as 2027.

So far, all we have seen are a handful of early renders that, if we are to be polite, look like somebody has punched "stretched Bugatti Chiron" into an AI image generator and distributed the results.

Sent over email by the company’s UK-based PR firm, the 'renders' feature wayward cloned bushes in the background, wheels that defy the laws of physics and what appears to be three rows of seats inside.

The interior images are also choc-full of AI image generation easter eggs, including garbled iconography, surfaces that magically change material and mis-matching door handles.

It is common practice for established automotive brands to reveal conceptual imagery of upcoming models or designs studies, but very few look as amateurish as these.

What’s more, it looks so much like a Bugatti's back catalogue that the VW-owned brand is likely to launch a law suit if this thing goes on public display in its current form.

It was all a Dreame

Despite the lazy renders, Dreame says that it is 100% committed to an automotive future, stating that the company has been considering a manufacturing site in Germany to "leverage the region’s mature localized supply chain for key automotive components".

There are very few details about the car itself, other than it will be ultra-luxurious and leverage the company’s deep technological expertise.

Dreame says that unlike traditional luxury cars, Dreame’s EV will feature “AI-driven designs focused on vitality and scalability, pioneering intelligent interaction to enhance the user experience".

That is the dictionary definition of word soup, but the company claims it has filed 3,155 patents globally and submitted a total of 6,379 applications, although it isn't clear whether that relates to its consumer technology business or its plans to dominate the luxury EV market.

What's more, this reflects badly on the Chinese automotive industry as a whole, as most brands have been working overtime to establish themselves as serious propositions, rather than something that pumps out cheap imitations of western brands.

All eyes are on CES 2026 to see if the Dreame becomes a reality, what it will actually look like and how angry Bugatti will be.

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Dreame U20 cordless vacuum: two-minute review

Hailing from parent company, Xiaomi, Dreame is fast becoming a popular sub-brand with an extensive product lineup. Ranging from wet-dry vacuums, air purifiers, robot vacuums (including a robot lawnmower), cordless stick vacuums and hair dryers, Dreame has it all, and across different budgets, too.

While its high-end robovacs are items to dream about (pun intended), as you can see in our Dreame X50 Ultra review, I’m in love with a much cheaper product that helps me clean up after my pets. The affordable Dreame U20 has become my lifesaver, combining Dyson-like tech with the signature Dreame style. It’s a versatile and lightweight cordless vacuum that delivers great performance for an exceptionally low cost, as it’s very frequently discounted.

Its color scheme belies its budget price point – available in a gorgeous gold and beige colourway, the Dreame U20 looks far more premium than its $249.99 / £250 / AU$399.99 price point suggests.

What I found even more impressive is its suction. For the price, its 120AW power isn’t bad at all, which isn’t too far off the Shark Cordless Detect Pro’s 123AW of suction, and yet it was more than enough to clean my pup’s fur off my sofa and carpets well. Needless to say, it handles hard floors very easily, making it a candidate for being one of the best cordless vacuum cleaners.

It comes with the standard attachments, including a multi-surface brush head with LED blue lights to illuminate dark areas, a mini motorized brush for cleaning upholstery, a crevice tool and a removable battery that's rated for up to 60 minutes.

Realistically, though, you'll get no more 37-40 minutes when using the two motorized attachments on the lowest suction, but that's fine for smaller homes – I can easily vacuum my living area, two bedrooms and two bathrooms within that time. However, if you mostly have carpets, I found it can take longer to get it clean as you may need to go back and forth a few times, thus consuming more battery. The only battery indicator on the U20 is a tiny light on the end cap, which is hard to see while in use, and it blinks when it’s running low. There’s also no quick charging here, and the vacuum can take up to 3.5 hours to fully recharge.

The only other downside to this otherwise great buy is that the dustbin capacity is only 0.5L, meaning you might need to empty it frequently if you have a large home with pets. If you don't need any more bells and whistles, the Dreame U20 is easy to recommend as a top-notch budget cordless vacuum cleaner.

Dreame U20 review: price & availability

• List price: $249.99 / £250 / AU$399
• Availability: Sold in the US, UK and Australia at third-party retailers

The Dreame U20 can be picked up in the US at Target for a list price of $249.99. It’s also available on Instacart, with supplies stocked at Costco and other smaller retailers. It is currently not available on Dreame's US store.

In the UK, the list price is £250, and you can pick it up from Amazon UK or Curry's, but again, the vacuum is currently unavailable at the brand's UK store.

For customers living in Australia, Amazon AU lists it for AU$399.99, but it's typically discounted to AU$199.99. Even in Australia, the U20 isn't available on the Dreame website.

The Dreame website lists 27 countries where its devices are available, including the U20. If you're having trouble finding the product, check their website to see if it's available where you live.

Even at full price, the Dreame U20 represents superb value for money, particularly if you can find it at a discounted price. Admittedly it's a very basic model, so if you want a touch more suction, Dreame has other mid-range models, with the Dreame R20 review scoring very well for balancing price and performance.

• Value for money score: 5 out of 5

Dreame U20 review: specs

Dreame U20 review: design

• Compact cordless stick vacuum in a lovely color scheme
• Five attachments, including LED multi-surface brush, mini motorized brush and combination tool
• Can be used as a stick vacuum or a small handheld vacuum

I’m new to the world of vacuum testing, with just one other for sister site Tom’s Guide under my belt. Needless to say, the Dreame U20 has been quite the dream, especially when it came to design. For me, the gold and beige colorway was a winner, a stray away from the typical grey or black of other competitors. It lends the affordable vacuum a classy look.

Other than that, the Dreame U20 has a stock-standard design which allows it to become a handheld unit quickly for cleaning cars, sofas, mattresses and, hey, even dog beds. To pair with the handheld unit, there’s a motorized mini brush in the box that would be handy for said dog bed and the sofa. It could even be used on carpeted stairs.

It has a trigger, like most Dyson models, but you don’t need to keep this pressed at all times to run the machine – you just need to click it on and off. There’s just one other control button on the motor’s end cap to change suction modes and that should be easy to reach for most users with the thumb when holding the U20.

The main floor-cleaning attachment is called the Multi-Surface Brush, which features LED blue lights that help illuminate the floor in front of the brush head but don’t highlight miniscule dust particles like Dyson’s Fluffy tool does. And that’s OK because it still helps you see in dark areas – for example, I was able to see scattered kitty litter in an unlit bathroom.

The other attachment in the box is a combination crevice tool, but a wall-mount kit also ships with the vacuum in case you want to stow it away in a convenient place without compromising floor space.

Weighing 3.3kg / 7.27lbs, the Dreame U20 isn't exactly lightweight (in comparison, the Shark Cordless Detect Pro weighs 2.7kg / 5.9lbs), but it's still very easy to push around. It measures 16cm x 30cm x 68cm with the extension rod attached.

The 120AW motor is capable of running at three different speed modes, indicated by three lights on the end cap of the motor. You can switch between the speed settings (low, medium and high) by tapping the button directly below the lights and switching it on by using the trigger. For most cleans, I found I tended to flick between medium and high, especially when cleaning carpets.

According to Dreame, the U20 motor has a multi-layer filtration system that captures up to 99.9% of fine dust and particles. Its HEPA filter also keeps debris out of the air and inside the bin while vacuuming, which is pretty standard for any cordless vacuum cleaner these days.

For its price point, the 0.5L bin is quite standard, but it'll likely fill up fast if you have, say, a two-bedroom or larger home with pets, meaning you'll need to make more trips to empty it. The bin has a handy sticker on the front (which I did refer back to many times) that indicates how to insert or remove it to empty, and its as simple as pushing the button on the base and twisting the canister clockwise. After detaching, all you have to do is unscrew the filter from the container to remove the debris – finer dust or crumbs fall out easily, but you may need to get your fingers inside to remove clumps of hair from the bin.

The detachable battery pack could be handy for some users as you can clip it into the wall-mount attachment and begin charging it while you’re emptying the vacuum for example. However, if you’re a renter who can't drill holes into your wall – like me – you can leave the battery attached to the U20 and keep the vacuum propped up against a wall or in a cupboard for topping up.

It lacks an LCD screen to show suction modes or time remaining before the next charge. Instead, the battery life is displayed by a small vertical light on the pack itself, which flashes when it needs charging. It's unfortunate that it faces forward, so it’s not visible to the user, and neither is it a very noticeable light – and this is my biggest complaint with the Dreame U20 as there were a few instances where the machine shut down mid-clean during my testing.

The U20’s multi-surface brush head is quite similar to many floor-cleaning attachments from other brands, but it features blue LED lights on the front that illuminate two small triangular sections of the floor immediately in front of the brush head. While it looks similar to Dyson’s green dust-illuminating light on the Fluffy Optic, this blue light doesn’t highlight invisible dust on the floor, but I found it’s bright and vivid enough to help walk around in a dark room without bumping into things. Case in point: it perfectly showed scattered kitty litter in an unlit bathroom that was, at the time, pitch dark.

The brush also has V-shaped bristles with comb-like teeth – in my experience, this not only prevents tangles effectively, but can pick up human hair and pet fur from low-pile carpets just as well.

This brush head is quite flexible, rotating 90º around chair legs and furniture. It’s also not as large as you’d find on other (more expensive) vacuum cleaners and I found it can get into corners, which is particularly helpful in my pet hair-filled home.

My favorite attachment, however, is the motorized mini brush, which clips in just under the bin for handheld use. It’s just right for sucking up fur from my couch and cushions – it’s both maneuvrable and anti-tangle.

If it wasn’t for the missing display to check battery life, I’d say that Dreame would deserve top marks for the U20’s design.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Dreame U20 review: performance

• Excellent maneuverability
• Impressive performance on hard floors and low-pile carpets
• Lower suction than competitors but still tackles pet hair well

I've spent a few months with the Dreame U20 (as of publishing this review) and I still can’t get over how impressive its maneuverability is. The 90º rotating main brush head makes it very easy to clean around chair legs and furniture and I had no trouble handling the 3.3kg / 7.2lbs vacuum. That said, if you are using the extension tube to clean ceiling corners, the U20 could begin to feel heavy for some users quickly.

The controls are well placed, which are as simple as pushing the end cap button to select the speed and hitting the trigger underneath. And as I’ve mentioned previously, there’s no need to keep the latter depressed continuously for power like a Dyson.

Speaking of power: sure, we could ask for higher suction than its 120AW, but given its price point, it’s hard to argue with what it has. If you do need better performance, you could consider the Dreame R20 (if it’s available where you live), but I found the U20 does an admirable job nonetheless. It can struggle on some carpets as you will need to go over a particular spot multiple times to get a deeper clean, and I've found myself needing to push with full shoulder force on occasion.

Throughout my testing, the Dreame U20 impressed in more ways than one. I performed TechRadar’s standard tests for vacuum cleaners, sprinkling a smattering of oats and tea from a bag on both my hardwood and carpeted floors. As an extra measure, I also made sure the floors had extra pet debris – i.e. kitty litter and fur – which were my two motivations for purchasing the U20 in the first place.

During the hardwood mess test, the U20 performed remarkably well on the lowest speed setting in picking up most of the oats. I needed to boost the speed to the second (or medium) setting to do another pass to pick up every last speck of oats, though, but that left the hard floor entirely clean.

As for the tea, the U20 did a better job, sucking it all up in one go on the low setting, so it handles lighter and smaller dirt better than larger debris. It was the same for pet hair on hardwood – all strands got sucked up in one pass on the low setting. The vacuum struggled a touch with kitty litter, leaving a few specks behind on hard floors in a single pass, but it was cleaned up in the second go.

I wasn’t expecting as impressive a performance on carpets, but the U20 did better than I had anticipated on a low-pile carpet in my tests, quickly removing the oats and tea dust from a bag in one pass on the low suction setting. It will, however, struggle with medium and high-pile carpets, particularly if the dust and debris is deep-seated, although loose dirt will come away if you give the area a few gos with the U20.

In terms of pet hair on carpet, the U20 did indeed struggle at the lowest setting, leaving more than a few strands behind after the first pass. The U20 performed the best with pet hair on the same low-pile carpet at maximum suction, and didn't require several passes to get the job done. The kitty litter yielded a similar result to the hardwood floor test, but I needed to boost suction again to pick up every last piece.

While it can tackle low-pile carpets with ease, pet hair embedded in medium- or high-pile carpets will remain even after several passes – you can expect about 80% off the fur to be sucked up from these kinds of flooring.

As a pet mum, it was important to me to own a vacuum cleaner with a tangle-free brush, as I’ve often painstakingly cleaned out wads of hair from cleaning attachments of older machines. I was thrilled to find that the U20's V-shaped bristles were especially impressive at leaving no evidence of entanglements. That's made ongoing maintenance of the vacuum easier.

This sentiment also rang true for the mini motor brush when cleaning my couch and cushions. It does, however, require several passes when using the handheld motor and mini brush to clean up pet hair due to its smaller footprint, but it still worked a treat.

The U20 collects a nice volume of hair in its 0.5L bin, and I have particularly enjoyed how easy it is to empty the bin with a twist of the base. If you are a pet owner with a shedding furry friend, then I would recommend the U20 for a quick, daily tidy-up, but you might want to consider other pet-focused vacuum cleaners, like the Shark Stratos Pet Pro (IZ400), as they usually have a larger-capacity bin and boast more suction power.

Despite its relatively lower suction and smaller bin, the U20 performs very well, given its budget price – it's very easy to recommend for quick clean-ups.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame U20 review: battery life

• Average battery life for an affordable cordless vacuum
• 3.5-hour charging time
• Expect shorter runtimes if the floor is dirty

According to Dreame, the U20 has a battery life of up to 60 minutes on a full charge, and takes around 3.5 hours to top up from practically empty. Take that number with a pinch of salt, as it indicates runtime when using non-motorized tools, which in this case is the combination crevice attachment only.

With a motorized head like the main floor cleaner and the mini brush, I found that it lasts a maximum of 37 minutes on its lowest setting – and there’s no dynamic suction here to drain the battery faster. At TechRadar, we've tested over a hundred vacuum cleaners over the last decade, and we've found that the average battery life for a budget cordless vacuum is around 40 minutes, which puts the U20 on par with others, including the Dyson V8 .

Higher the suction, the faster the battery will drain, of course and, in testing, I got about 17 minutes of runtime on a full charge when set to maximum. That’s not bad, considering some premium models like the Dyson V15 Detect can give you lesser runtime on Boost mode (about 8 minutes on a dirty mid-pile carpet), although it automatically adjusts suction power to suit the amount of dirt it detects.

So while the U20 has average battery runtime, I’d recommend it for smaller homes or something for the shed, perhaps.

• Battery life score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame U20?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Dreame U20: alternatives to consider

How I tested the Dreame U20 cordless vacuum

TechRadar adopts a strict testing regime for all its products so potential buyers know exactly what they're getting. To comply with the testing, I used the machine for a few months before putting it through some rigorous carpet and hard-floor tests using common pantry items, such as tea and raw oats. I also took into account the device's ergonomics, design and overall experience to determine my final verdict.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed September 2025

• The Dreame Cyber10 Ultra is a robot vacuum with a mechanical arm
• It has a pincer to move clutter, but can also select detail tools to sweep or dust with
• It's a little slow and clunky, but plenty of potential

For the past year or so, robot vacuum brands have been weirdly preoccupied with adding mechanical arms to their bots. So far, we've only seen one example actually make it to market – the Roborock Saros Z70, which I found looked cool but wasn't actually that useful in practice (it hasn't made it into my best robot vacuum recommendations list).

However, I've just seen Dreame's take on the idea at IFA 2025, and it adds some new functionality that could change my mind about arm-equipped robot vacuums.

Like Roborock's model, the Dreame Cyber10 Ultra's arm has a pincer for tidying away clutter. However, where it differs is that the Cyber10 can also select from a range of detail tools, which attach to the end of the arm and enable it to perform other cleaning tasks.

Currently, there's a brush for cleaning into the corners of rooms, and a duster for dusting baseboards. I saw the former in action and it didn't quite blow me away, but I think the concept has tons of potential.

First the bot approached the dock – which has hutches that contain the extra tools – and very slowly selected the correct tool for what it wanted to do. It then docked the tool on the end of its arm, before making its way over to the corner of the demo area to do some dusting.

There's apparently a suction channel within the arm, so the bot is actually vacuuming (presumably quite gently) on the end of its arm. The cleaning process appeared very lethargic, and the tool didn't look very secure on the end of the arm, but imagine the effort-saving potential if the design was developed and improved.

I don't have a release date or pricing specifics, but there's enough information available to make me think this bot might be making its way to market before too long.

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• Eufy and Dreame have both announced stair-climbing robot vacuums at IFA
• The Eufy MarsWalker and Dreame Cyber X both use independent arms and roller tracks to scale steps
• Eufy's will go on sale 'next year', but Dreame's is at concept stage

You wait years for a robot vacuum that can climb stairs, and then two come along at once. There are plenty of cool new robovacs making their debut at IFA, but none quite so exciting as the Dreame Cyber X and Eufy MarsWalker.

One of the biggest problems with robot vacuums is their inability to move unassisted between floors. Even today's best robot vacuums are only able to clean one story of your home at once – which puts a significant cap on how truly autonomous it can be. Of course, you can carry your bot between floors, but once it's done you'll need to carry it back to charge (and maybe also empty its bin and clean its mop pads), which means you need to present throughout the cleaning process.

All that might be about to change, though, with two leading robovac brands both unveiling bots that can traverse full flights of steps: the Eufy MarsWalker and Dreame Cyber X. I've seen both in action at IFA 2025, and for me, there's a clear winner.

Design-wise, the concepts are very similar. Both have four, independently-moving arms that rotate to bump the robovac onto the first step, and then roller tracks that guide it down (or up) the flight in a controlled manner. In both cases, the arms aren't attached to the robot itself, but are part of a separate module into which the robot vacuum docks.

This acts like a little robovac transportation pocket to carry the bot up the stairs and deposit it on its new floor (both brands say their bots can identify stair type – ones that go straight up, ones that turn a corner halfway, and so on). It'll then leave the pocket to do the cleaning.

At first I was disappointed the arms weren't on the robot itself. In that sense, it's not really a stair climbing robovac. However, the benefit here is that the stair-climbing module could presumably be paired with a range of different bots, rather than being tied to just one.

Design-wise, the biggest difference is that the tracks on the Eufy MarsWalker are just on the main part of the climbing module, whereas on the Dreame Cyber X they run along the full length of the arms, too. The benefit of Dreame's approach is that it might be slightly more secure.

However, having seen both in action, Eufy's is the bot I'd choose. It climbed up and down the stairs more smoothly and with more confidence, and got itself up / down onto the first step much more quickly too. (The Dreame model approached this initial challenge at the speed of a geriatric turtle.)

Overall, the Eufy model seemed much more complete than the Dreame – at least, based on what I saw. Eufy's had its own charge dock for the stair module, which it maneuvered itself back onto one it had dropped off the bot. I am also told this bot will go on sale 'next year'.

In contrast, the Dreame effort is still at concept stage. No sign of a charge dock and we had to wait ~10 minutes for it to 'rest' before it could embark on any run.

You can see the Eufy in action below, but beware there is some seriously off-putting strobe lighting in this video.

For the past year we've been seeing more and more bots that can bump themselves over especially tall room thresholds (perhaps the most notable example is the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete with its tiny feet, but plenty of brands have been exploring this problem). This represents something quite different, though, and if it works reliably, will be a major breakthrough in robot vacuum technology.

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• The Dreame V20 Pro has a telescopic wand that can also bend to 90 degrees
• A barrier on the floorhead senses when the vac is approaching an edge, then extends and drops down
• Designed to reach neglected spots in your home

Try as you might, there are some corners that end up getting missed when cleaning with a stick vacuum. But there's a new vacuum I've just seen at IFA 2025 that looks like it might finally be able to get into those neglected nooks and crannies.

It's the V20 Pro from Dreame. This brand's R20 vacuum sits right at the top of my best cordless vacuum ranking, so if you haven't heard the name before, it's worth paying attention.

The V20 Pro has a wand that bends forward so it's at a right angle to the handle, which means you can clean under furniture without having to bend right down. It's a feature we've seen before – many of the best Shark vacuums have forward-bending wands.

However, where the Dreame V20 Pro has the edge is that the wand is also telescopic, so it can extend three times to clean areas previously out of reach.

Add to that an innovative approach to edge cleaning. I watched as a Dreame representative approached the edge of some furniture with the V20 Pro – a barrier running along the front of the floorhead reached out and dropped down, sealing off the area and sucking everything within it up. The demo was on a curved edge, but this feature will really shine when tackling straight edges.

Together, it's a formidable setup. It looks like the hair and dust that's been happily hanging out along the baseboards beneath the back of your sofa is about to have its final reckoning.

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• Dreame Aqua10 is designed to revolutionize robovac mopping
• It comes with a roller mop that cleans itself as it mops
• Also features a carpet guard, roller fluffer, and hot water bath in the dock

Dreame is quickly becoming a brand to watch when it comes to robot vacuum innovation. We loved the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete, with its tiny feet and retractable navigation puck, when we tested it. That model was designed to clean in places traditional bots can't reach, but for its newest bots, Dreame has turned its attention to a different challenge: mopping.

Most of the best robot vacuums on the market can mop as well as vacuum, but the mop functions don't tend to be all that good, even on pricey bots. With the Aqua10 Series, Dreame aims to change that.

Rather than a fixed mop pad – either the D-shaped style or dual spinning discs – the Dreame Aqua10 uses a roller mop. When the pad rolls back into the underside of the bot, a scraper removes any dirt. It's then sprayed with fresh water before it meets the next patch of floor. That means if it's going over a spillage or dirty area, the grime won't stay on the pad and end up spread further across the floor. The pad spins at 100RPM, and clean water is applied evenly via 12 spray nozzles.

"We realized it’s not only about how strong the mop is – it’s about how clean the mop stays," says Sean Chen, a Dreame Managing Director.

There are a handful of robot vacuums on the market that use a roller for mopping. Current examples include the Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni and the Eureka J20, the latter of which we tested out and were very impressed with.

However, with its Aqua10, Dreame has taken a few steps further, introducing three special features that the brand says are industry firsts. My personal favorite is the 'FluffRoll' roller fluffer. This spins around rapidly (1,000RPM!) in the opposite direction to the main mop roller, and ruffles up the fibers to make the pad softer and better at getting into grout lines and uneven tiles, and ultimately better for cleaning.

Dreame has also added a roller guard. This automatically closes over the roller when the bot approaches carpet or rugs, to prevent the damp roller from coming into contact with carpets.

Once the mopping is complete, the dock has the facilities for the roller to take a bath in its 'ThermoHub'. It'll soak in water of up to 100 °C to remove grease and grime.

The rest of the robot vacuum looks almost equally tech-packed, with an incredibly strong 30,000Pa of suction, and the same little threshold-hopping legs and retractable puck that we liked so much on the X50. Navigation and object avoidance come courtesy of AI powerhouse Nvidia, and there's Matter support for smart home integration.

The Dreame Aqua10 series is scheduled to go on sale starting Q4 2025 (so from October). Where and how much for is currently a mystery.

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Dreame X50 Ultra Complete: two-minute review

Dreame’s latest robot vacuum, the X50 Ultra Complete, sets a new standard for the best robot vacuums, offering a litany of genuinely useful features and excellent cleaning results. It’s low-maintenance, thorough and features all of the bolts and whistles you’d expect from a premium robot vacuum.

While its 2.4in / 6cm threshold-hopping legs have been the main talking point, it's this robot's cleaning performance that prompted me to award it such a high score. It's highly capable at both mopping and vacuuming, though its battery life does leave something to be desired. Plus, its DToF sensor tower can quickly sink into the main body of the vacuum when it needs to clean beneath low-threshold furnishings.

From its extending side brush and mop pads to its excellent mapping, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete makes full use of its arsenal of cleaning tools, rounded out by efficient 20,000Pa suction. This powerful robovac only really struggles when faced with fine powders on high-pile or tightly bound low-pile carpets; a fairly common issue for vacuums of all shapes and sizes.

When it comes to object detection and avoidance, the X50 Ultra performed fairly well, although it missed crumpled up paper and shorter wires on occasion. It also failed to spot (fake) pet poop during one test – turning on Pet mode helped improve matters.

If you can stretch your budget to buy the X50, you won’t be disappointed in its value proposition. It’s fantastically low-maintenance, the app is easy to use and the results speak for themselves. That's the short version; read on for my full Dreame X50 Ultra Complete review.

Dreame X50 Ultra Complete: price & availability

• Announced January 2025, on sale from spring 2025
• List price: $1,699.99 / £1,299 / AU$2,999

At its $1,699.99 / £1,299.00 / AU$2,999.00 list price, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete is one of the most expensive robot vacuums you can buy today. It's available to buy directly from Dreame, as well as via third-party retailers such as Amazon.

Thankfully, Dreame isn’t afraid of a good deal, and in the months since its release I've seen the price drop by $340 / £150 / AU$200. At its list price, it’s toeing the line of being overpriced, but its early deals make for a strong value proposition. It's fairly common for flagship bots to cost well into the four figures these days, and the features here are in line with (or exceed) what you'd get elsewhere for a similar price.

Plus, Dreame is generous with accessories. Out of the box, you not only get the vacuum and base (which are pre-loaded with a dust bag, filters, a side brush and brush rolls), but you also get a full bottle of Dreame’s Multi-surface floor cleaner, two pre-loaded mop pads and ten replacement pads, two spare side brushes, two spare roller brushes, three spare filters and a cleaning brush for the water tanks, making for low maintenance costs in the first year or so.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Dreame X50 Ultra Complete specs

Dreame X50 Ultra Complete: design

• Robot's navigation puck can retract to enter low spaces
• Underneath are tiny legs to hoist the bot over tall thresholds
• Comprehensive dock with heated mop cleaning and UV light treatment

Looks-wise, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete doesn’t break any conventions. Both the vacuum and its dock are fairly neutral, clad in either white or black with gold or gunmetal accents.

The base is slim at 13.4 x 10.2 x 23.2 in / 34 x 26 x 59cm – although you'll need to add space for the ramp and maneuvering room for the robot to dock. Lift up its lid and you’ll find both the fresh and waste water tanks, while the dust bag and detergent tank are behind the accent panel on the front of the base. It’s also compatible with the Dreame Water Hookup Kit if you wanted a fully automated water refill and drainage system, which is a nice added benefit; I didn’t test this for my review, but broadly speaking, these hookup systems are fairly reliable.

Behind the scenes, there’s a lot more going on in the base; it's self-emptying and refilling, but also packs cleaning tech for both the dust bin and mop pads, offering heated water mop wetting and hot air drying as well as UV light treatment for bacteria removal.

The robot itself similarly manages to pack ample features and functionality into its relatively compact body. It benefits from the direct time of flight (DToF) sensors situated within the sensor tower for accurate navigation and mapping. This can sink into the robovac in order to reach beneath low-clearance furniture, where it relies on its front-facing camera for navigation and obstacle detection instead. You can remove the lid of the robot vacuum to access the dust bin and set up QR code.

The underside is where the action happens. Here is where you’ll find its array of cleaning tools. Let’s get the bad news out of the way; while the extending side-arm is fantastic for edge cleaning, my robovac nemesis as a long-haired person are bristled side-arms. Hair is easily tangled, but I’ve yet to test a robovac where I don’t face this problem. Thankfully, the dual brush rollers (Dreame calls these the Hypersteam Detangling Duobrush) are super effective, making light work of pet and human hair alike.

You’ll also find the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete’s golden goose amidst the cleaning tools: two stumpy 'legs' that allow the vacuum to safely propel itself over small thresholds and furniture legs.

• Design score: 5 out of 5

Dreame X50 Ultra: performance

• Thorough vacuuming, superb mopping, and excellent edge cleaning
• Threshold clearing is impressive, but descents are alarmingly noisy
• Pop-down puck consistently identified low thresholds

After a painless five-minute setup and quick mapping, the Dreame X50 Ultra is a dream-e come true, passing almost all of my standard robovac tests with flying colors.

Let's start with the special features. The tiny legs could be a game-changer for anyone with tall thresholds. The vacuum will square up against the surface and extend its legs to vault itself up and on to the surface. This part is a little slow, but overall works extremely well. You can see it in action below (filmed at a press event, where I could capture a clearer view of the mechanism in action).

Moving downhill is a little less graceful, and involves charging off the ledge and landing with an alarming crash.

The pop-down puck also worked well on test. I found it consistently identified low-threshold obstacles and receded into the vacuum. The inaccessible area beneath my sofa has never been cleaner.

Cleaning tests

Now on to the general cleaning performance. For this, I ran a range of vacuuming and mopping tests on different floor types.

On hard floors, the X50 Ultra Complete was easily able to collect a majority of the large, small and powder debris on its first pass of the area. While its side brush did send some debris flying, the vacuum returned for second and third rounds of cleaning to collect any mess it had missed the first time around. The story was much the same on my low and high-pile carpets, though as I’d expect, there was some residue left behind from the powder and fine debris.

When it comes to mopping, I was most impressed with the X50 Ultra, offering the most thorough mopping I’ve experienced so far, with ample controls in-app to customize your clean. I put the X50 Ultra to the test with sticky spills, wet spills and dried-on stains, and it cleaned each with ease, though did leave some small streaks. You can either mix in the Dreame-approved detergent directly to the water tank or use the built-in automated detergent tank; I found both worked well.

Edge cleaning is similarly impressive, thanks to the extending side-arm and mop pads, which paired with the X50 Ultra Complete’s excellent mapping to offer the most rigorous edge clean I’ve personally experienced.

The X50 Ultra Complete successfully identified all of the flooring types in my apartment, automatically adjusting the level of suction and mopping based on floor type and dirt levels. It features the increasingly popular mop-pad-lifting tech that keeps your carpets from getting soggy.

Broadly speaking, its obstacle detection is solid, though there were some exceptions; you’ll want to make sure small obstacles like shorter wires, crumpled paper and socks are cleared before setting of the X50 Ultra Complete.

Poop detection, however, has a quirk. Before I turned on Pet mode, the X50 Ultra Complete repeatedly failed to spot and avoid my mock pet poop. Instead, it barreled headfirst into the fake feces multiple times, especially when navigating between rooms, in low-light or on dark backdrops. However, its dodge rate improved significantly with Pet mode turned on. The X50 was able to avoid my fake pet poop 95% of the time with this mode on. (This is one of the settings we recommend you adjust when using any robot vacuum.)

Similarly, floor type and dirt detection worked really well for me, and while I’ve seen some reviewers found it didn’t always clock carpet, I didn’t face that issue in my testing. As a result, I also found the lift-off mop pads worked well and kept my carpets nice and dry.

When it’s done with clean-up, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete returns to its base for self-cleaning and drying, which I was really impressed with. It not only washes the pads with hot water, but also dries them, and uses dual UV lamp bacteria removal technology to keep both the mop pads and the dust bag fresh and clean. Overall, it’s pretty low-maintenance, benefiting further from its effective dual-roller Hypersteam Detangling Duobrush requiring little-to-no hair removal. The side brush, however, is prone to clumps of tangled hair.

One of its only other failings is the battery life; Dreame quotes a 200 minute runtime on quiet mode and a 4.5-hour recharge. When tested in my home, I got an average of 90 minutes use out of the vacuum, which is certainly lower than I’d hope for such a pricey device. I’d assume that’s down to some of the more intelligent features, given the Dreame X40 Ultra features the same 6400 mAh battery but fared better in our testing.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should I buy the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Dreame X50 Ultra Complete: also consider

How I tested the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete

I used the Dreame X50 Ultra for two months as my primary robot vacuum, completing regular cleaning cycles in addition to my deeper testing. To test pickup performance, I used everything from fine powder (cornflour) to oats and grains to see how well the vacuum clears up debris both in the middle and at the edges of rooms. To test mopping performance, I made wet, sticky and dry spills for the device to clean up, and I also left various obstacles around my flat to test navigation and object detection.I’ve been testing robot vacuums for three years, and in that time I’ve tried everything from cheaper models to premium devices like the Dreame X50 Ultra, which means I’ve got a solid understanding of what makes a robot vacuum worth the money.

Here's more on how we test robot vacuums

Even by recent standards, there’s been an absolute deluge of products that have launched over the last week. And that can only mean one thing: even more top gear for TechRadar’s testing labs to put through their paces. So pull up a pew, kick back, and check out our recap of all the hottest gadgets we got our hands on this week.

First of all, we’ve been appraising Samsung’s astoundingly clever Galaxy S25 Ultra to see how its slick design, super-intelligent AI features, and much larger screen stack up compared to other premium flagships. In addition, we’ve been checking out how Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5080 powerful graphics card compares to the RTX 5090 and which is more worthy of your spend. And there’s way more where that comes from, so make sure you catch up below.

1. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra marks a real step forward for the brand’s premium flagship. It features a streamlined design that’s thinner and lighter than before and feels more like a phone than a phablet, despite still integrating an epic 5,000mAh battery and finding room to stow that S Pen. It also features the largest display to ever grace the Ultra and its cameras have had an, admittedly quite modest, boost, with the ultra-wide lens being upped to 50MP.

But inevitably – as we’re living in 2025 – the most noteworthy advances involve AI. It’s deeply baked into the phone at every level, offering an AI experience that barely any of the best phones can rival and blending Galaxy AI, Google Gemini and Bixby into a mostly seamless package, although some seams still show. Generative AI features are also seriously impressive; adding generative elements on top of your photos is a breeze, while whole-cloth image generation is impressive, even if some prompts still provoke odd responses. All in all, it’s an incredibly smart gadget that will likely reveal its true utility the longer you use it.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

2. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 goes a long way toward making the Nvidia RTX 4090’s game-changing performance more accessible for the average gamer. Admittedly, it’s still not the cheapest GPU you can buy, and it’s not quite as ridiculous a powerhouse as the RTX 5090. Also, the biggest performance boost you’ll see will require DLSS 4 – the inclusion of which entirely relies on the game developer in question.

Despite this, the RTX 5080 is currently the best graphics card you can get your hands on in the mainstream consumer bracket. It offers impressive performance, a slimmer design, and more effective cooling, making it a great upgrade for anyone who couldn’t quite stretch to the previous gen’s top-tier GPU.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

3. KEF LSX II LT review

The KEF LSX II LT are a pair of highly competent hi-res wireless speakers that prove excellent sound neither requires bulk nor boxy design. Not only are they fun-size enough to fit on a desk or shelf, but they’re acoustically optimized to avoid parallel lines. As a result, they sound agile and utterly convincing, offering smooth yet pleasing reproduction across their full frequency range. Naturally, they can’t entirely fill a room with sound quite like a pair of floor standers, but they still offer plenty of low-end punch.

The LSX II LT also offers various connectivity options that rival some of the best wireless speakers. Setting aside dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, they provide HDMI ARC, digital optical and USB-C inputs, and a subwoofer pre-out. Although the lack of an analog input here does mean you won’t be plugging in a wired turntable – or any other non-digital source. Still, though, they can offer an excellent all-in-one (alright, two) streaming system that won’t eat up all your space.

• Score: 5 / 5

4. Dreame R20 cordless vacuum review

The Dreame R20 is a lightweight, easily maneuverable cordless stick vacuum that nonetheless offers impressive suction power and a wide selection of tools that rivals some of the best cordless vacuum cleaners. Not only does it function great on hard floors, with its 'intelligent dirt detection' system making short work of whatever grime we encountered, but it performs admirably on deeper carpets, too. And it’s easy to duck under furniture and weave around chair legs as needed.

It can occasionally sound a bit whiney, which may or may not irritate you based on your personal tolerance of such things, while it’s not always that easy to empty its bin when it’s filled with things like hair. Our main quibble, though, is its power trigger – it’s sensitive enough that we found it easy to accidentally switch it off during use, which can be occasionally frustrating. However, with its competitive price, it’s still a great value performer for the price.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

5. Canon EOS R1 review

The Canon EOS R1 is pretty much the fastest camera the brand offers, making it one of the best professional cameras you can buy when it comes to sports or wildlife photography. It offers staggeringly fast shooting speeds and autofocus, making it a snap to catch unerringly crisp shots of subjects in movement. Additionally, 6K Raw video capture is the icing on the cake, allowing you to shoot hi-res footage while you’re at it. Its solid build quality and new secure grip coating mean it should be at less risk of sustaining damage.

However, if you’re more interested in shooting static subjects, you may find the Canon EOS R1 has more cameras than you need. Not only do Canon cams like the EOS R5 Mark II offer higher resolution, they come in cheaper too, making it a more suitable choice for anyone who doesn’t have a need for speed. For action photography though, the EOS R1 simply can’t be beat.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

Dreame L20 Ultra: Two-minute review

If you just care about how the Dreame L20 Ultra cleans; it’s a dream. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it one of the best robot vacuums you can buy right now, but it has to be, as it’s also one of the most expensive, and it’ll cut through grime as efficiently as it cuts through your savings.

Dreame has a huge variety of robot vacuums in its line-up and the L20 Ultra is the biggest and best, bristling with features, tools, and tricks.

Its suction is one of the most powerful on the market and it comes with retractable mops, customizable cleaning plans, smart AI to avoid obstacles, and adjust cleaning based on surface type; the list goes on. Your home will be clean with the Dreame, and it constantly surprised me with what it could scrub up during the testing period.

This comes at a price. Not only is the Dreame L20 Ultra one of the most expensive robot vacuums you can buy, but it has lots of parts that you’ll have to replace regularly. The funds will keep leaving your account even after that hefty up-front payment, so this is only really an option for people who can afford the most premium model available. It's certainly one to look out for in the Black Friday robot vacuum deals too.

From the get-go, ease of use is a major boon. The L20 Ultra will automatically create a 3D map, identifying different surfaces and making a note of immovable obstacles like walls and furniture. It can update that map on the fly if you move furniture around (or leave the box it came in in a stupid location and keep shifting it because you can’t figure out where best to store it).

However, lots of the robot’s extra features (that are, after all, what you’re paying for) are fiddly to activate or even understand. If you’re not tech-savvy, you’re probably not going to be able to make the most of what you’re paying for. 

Its obstacle recognition isn’t quite there yet, either: it worked wonders 90% of the time in my home, but the Dreame started trying to eat shoelaces a few more times than I’d consider healthy.

That’s not to be down on the Dreame L20 Ultra; I started this introduction by calling it one of the best robot vacuums and that’s not wrong. It’s stacked with features and excels at its job – it’s just a little tricky to recommend over rival devices that’ll do a similar job and won’t cost nearly as much.

Dreame L20 Ultra review: price and availability

• Unveiled August 2023
• Costs $1,499.99 / £1,099 / AU$2,799 
• Extra price for regular part replacement

Announced at the annual August tech event, IFA 2023, the Dreame L20 Ultra was available to buy in the US by September of the same year, though took a little while to roll out to other regions.

The Dreame L20 Ultra isn’t for the faint of heart or light of funds – it’s one of the priciest robot vacuums you can get, and will certainly cost you more than simply hiring a cleaner. It’s actually a lot pricier in the US, so if you live in the UK, you can ignore lots of my price criticisms.

You’ll have to shell out $1,499.99 / £1,099 / AU$2,799 for the unit, which is pretty fair when you consider all the top-tier features and abilities the Dreame L20 Ultra has, and most robo-vac brands have similarly priced offerings. However, if you’re on a budget, you’ll find plenty of more affordable options from brands like Eufy, iRobot, Ecovacs or Shark — and Dreame itself.

The financial drain won’t end with the up-front cost though, as lots of the device requires frequent replacing or refuelling. Hide your bank cards, and hide your PIN numbers, for this is the full price list: 

You can buy all of the above (save the cleaning solution) in one bundle for $89.99 / AU$199.95 (around £74). Just note that we couldn’t find these parts on sale in the UK as of writing.

That is to say, you will likely be spending upwards of $100 or equivalent each year just keeping the device running (not including water or electricity), so it’s a real financial investment.

• Value score: 2/5

Dreame L20 Ultra: Specs

Dreame L20 Ultra review: Design

• Large rounded cylinder
• Giant base station
• Onboard microphone

The Dreame L20 Ultra package consists of two, equally-comically-large parts: there’s the flying saucer of a robot vacuum itself and its humungous base station.

Let’s start with the base station: it’s 60.7 cm tall, 42.6 cm wide, and 49.9cm deep (when you factor in its ramp, though for the majority of its body, it’s a little shallower). Much of this body is for water storage or dust bags. A towering black monolith, you’ll need somewhere in your home with sufficient space for it and one that offers easy access at the lower level for the vacuum itself.

The dust bag fits 3.2 liters of dust before it needs to be replaced, while the water tank and waste water tank both hold 4.5 liters. That's 'forget about it for weeks' levels of quantity. 

The robot vacuum itself is also pretty big compared to some rivals; you wouldn’t want to face this at Robot Wars. It’s 10.3 cm tall, and Dreame rather vaguely says that its body is 35 x 35 x 35cm. Either way, it’s a big circular entity, and heavy too at 4.3kg, though its heavyweight status doesn’t reduce its ability to clean (or to fit in small areas!). 

Atop the robot are its LIDAR scanner and three control buttons, which provide some functionality, but using the app is still a lot more convenient. When it’s cleaning it has two front-facing lights that can be incredibly bright, but this just means its LIDAR is effective whether or not your home is well-lit, and it'll only turn on its lights if the lighting is poor.

Underneath are its two mops and tri-pronged side brush, but they don’t poke out too much, meaning the Dreame has a circular body to look at top-down.

There’s also a microphone on the robot, which keeps you updated with what it’s doing or what order you’ve issued it. This is a really handy accessibility feature, though it’s also pretty scary if you forgot you scheduled a clean!

• Design score: 3.5/5

Dreame L20 Ultra review: Performance

• Powerful suction, plus mopping power
• Creates and updates 3D map
• Sometimes fails to recognize obstacles

The name of the Dreame L20 Ultra’s game is ease of use – as you’ll read about in the ‘App’ section below it’s easy just to press ‘play’ and let the robot do all the work for you.

The robot has a suction power of 7,000 Pascals – that’s significantly better than Dreame’s previous robots, with the 10s Ultra hitting 5,300Pa, and given that the average for a robot vacuum is around 6,000Pa, it shows that this is great for picking up dirt. Over the testing period, there was not a single time that the Dreame failed to pick up something it should have done, and it even collected some items I expected it to miss.

That’s the first part of the L20 Ultra’s process; the second is mopping, which it does with its two built-in mop pads. This mostly worked great too, resulting in squeaky-clean floors, though there were a few marks around my flat that it didn’t manage to remove. Good for spilled coffee stains, but not so great for angry kitchen muck, though its Deep Clean mode (which takes a lot longer) got rid of most of the marks missed by the standard mode.

Every time you run the Dreame, it’ll create a new 3D map based on the existing one, so it can recognize if you’ve moved furniture or closed a door that was previously open. This was generally very handy as it meant I didn’t need to be so fastidious about tidying the testing area, though a wall-long mirror at one side of the apartment constantly confused the thing. Don’t worry, Dreame, that’s not a whole new room I’m asking you to clean!

I did sometimes cause cleans to finish early by accidentally standing in the way when it was scanning an area. Even though I moved straight away, the Dreame assumed that an area was blocked, and didn’t bother trying again. So it’s best to keep out of the thing’s way, lest you dissuade it from doing its job.

One word of warning: while you can enable a quiet cleaning mode, the robot is loud. Dreame cites the minimum noise as 63dB, which is just above the average sound of conversation. It’s loudest at the end of a clean when it empties its tank. If you’ve got a nervous pet (or just hate loud noises), make sure to turn on quiet mode, or only activate it when you're out of the house!

The L20 Ultra is self-emptying, so you don’t need to worry about removing its contents after every session. The dust bag provided lasts 75 days according to Dreame, and you can buy more once you run out. You’ll need to replace the water more frequently (and empty out the dirty water), but each will last you several hundreds of meters squared of cleaning before you need to do so (though I’d recommend cleaning out the water more frequently, as it can get nasty!).

For a vacuum of its size, I was surprised by how effectively the Dreame cleaned in nooks and crannies, with its mop extension managing to fit into corners that could easily have been overlooked. 

The Dreame is smart enough to detect different surfaces, and amend its cleaning plan; my floor is largely vinyl wood with a few carpets, and the robot could identify these latter emplacements. It’d avoid these during its cleaning routine, returning once everything else was finished; it’d know to lift the mop pads and slow down its speed to better vacuum in the thicker material.

If you have a home with various floor types, you can rest safely knowing that the robot will clean them all equally – without your input to boot, as I never had to program in different cleaning areas (though there is the option to mark carpeted areas in the app).

An issue I had several times during the L20 Ultra’s testing phase is that the robot didn’t always accurately identify smaller objects like pieces of string, wires, and shoelaces, and would end up getting itself caught when it sucked these things up. More often than not it was smart enough to recognize and avoid obstacles, but I did have to rescue it on occasion when it got itself tied up (literally). One could call the object recognition 'hit or miss'.

At other times the obstacle recognition was a little overzealous. In the app, it would frequently flag things that weren’t obstacles at all: edges of carpets were the main offender but hanging fabrics that didn’t touch the ground (and wouldn’t get in the vacuum’s way) were also culprits.

• Performance score: 5/5

Dreame L20 Ultra review: App

• App is easy to use...
• ... but hard to master
• Onboard camera can be activated through app

To use the L20 Ultra, you have to download the Dreamehome app, available on the Play Store and App Store. This lets you set up the vacuum (which took a few tries for me, as it struggled to find the robot at first), check on its status, and set up various cleaning modes.

Simply telling the robot to clean is easy, with a simple play button on the first page (and another telling it to return to the base station), but if you like you can get further in depth, for example setting carpeted areas, deciding on the cleaning order or setting how frequently the Dreame will return to its base station and clean the mop.

During a clean, the app tells you the size of your cleaning area, its battery percentage, and how long it’s been cleaning for. And after the cleaning, you can check its route, which items it’s classified as an obstacle, and a history of its cleans. There’s also a scheduling tool for future cleans which is hidden in the menus.

The Dreame L20 is a feature-heavy robot, and this means that the app has lots of options and menus too, but this means that some of its tools are a little buried or hard to find. I couldn’t quite figure out how to use the zoning or room tools, for example, and I literally review tech for a job – some users will find the app too fiddly, with a steep learning curve when you first buy the L20.

You can also use the Dreamehome app to activate a camera on the L20 Ultra, letting you watch the robot as it trawls your home. There’s even the ability to pilot the thing yourself, turning it into a roving ersatz security camera. An alarm on the robot goes some way to mitigate security concerns, as you’ll be able to hear if someone remotely turns on the camera – though in a big enough home, you could miss this sound.

Smart-home owners will find plenty of options with Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google's Google Assistant all letting you control the robot using voice controls. Well, you can start, stop and pause, but for other functions, you'll need to stick to the app.

• App score: 3.5/5

Dreame L20 Ultra review: Battery life

• Lasts 180 minutes at a push
• That figure is even higher without multi-clean
• Hoover is fairly slow

You’re going to need a fairly large house to find the Dreame L20 Ultra’s battery lacking. The company states that its 6,400mAh battery will last you for 180 minutes (or 3 hours) of cleaning. That goes up an extra 30 minutes if you only want either mopping or vacuuming alone!

In my testing, the Dreame seemed to go through 1% of battery every two and a half minutes: to me, 180 minutes seems to be the high end of what you’d achieve.

That’s an absolutely stellar battery life, although depending on the size of your home, you might need it. The Dreame doesn’t exactly move at Ferrari speeds, and it took up to 45 minutes to do one lap of my flat which has roughly 20m2 of ‘cleanable’ floor space (ie, not covered by furniture, drawers or the massive box the vacuum cleaner came in). It sometimes did this a lot quicker though, with a record of 28 minutes for that same space (perhaps with some furniture moved here and there though).

By default, the Dreame will do two laps too: one for vacuuming, and one for mopping, though you can change this if you don’t need either, and the latter was quicker. Either way, for me that was generally around an hour of cleaning.

Still, that means I was only using part of the Dreame’s battery, with the 3-hour cleaning limit smashing loads of rival devices. If you have a larger house, you’ll find that the robot will dock mid-clean to power up, which can take a few hours to get to full.

• Battery score: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Dreame L20 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

The Dreame L20 Ultra is a great robot vacuum, but it's not without competition. Here are some alternatives you might want to consider before splashing out.

How I tested the Dreame L20 Ultra

I set up the Dreame L20 Ultra myself, physically connecting the base station and wirelessly connecting to the robot, in order to fully understand the process. 

The testing window for the Dreame was three weeks, although I continued to use it after that while I was writing this review. In this window I ran cleaning tests every two or three days; for some of these, I artificially added solids like mud or foodstuffs to ensure the flat was dirty enough to clean (not that I needed the help with that…). I also varied the process after the first week, testing out different cleaning modes and not tidying up obstacles (other than the ones that would stop the robot from accessing the entire flat).

The testing size for the flat has already been mentioned; the Dreame app calculated the cleaning space as around 17m² to 20m² depending on how much furniture I moved out of the way. The area was largely vinyl wood flooring but included a kitchenette and bathroom (both tiled) and two large carpets: one shag and one acrylic.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed October 2023

Every year, we’re seeing more and more robot vacuum cleaners hit the market from an increasingly diverse range of manufacturers, and at IFA 2023 was a perfect demonstration of how the market is growing.

However, there’s one pretty crucial area where the industry isn’t diversifying; the vacuums themselves.

Now, I’m impartial to some of the best robot vacuums; I’ve been using the iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ for almost a year and it’s been a real game-changer, helping me keep on top of my floorcare in my busy schedule, and reducing the impact of dust in my home.

Yet as I strolled the sprawling halls of IFA 2023, checking out stands from established brands like Ecovacs, Roborock, and EZVIZ as well as newer robovac manufacturers like Narwhal and SwitchBot, quite frankly I found myself rather bored.

Whether it's because many robot vacuums look exactly the same, bases are getting bigger and bigger, and fundamentally many of them only seem incredibly capable when whizzing around a pre-conceived and well-designed rectangular testing space at shows, I'm just not that impressed by this upcoming year's plucky suckers.

 Oh, oh, you think you're something special

Now don't get me wrong; there were some neat-looking vacuums, especially if you're looking to upgrade from an older, less powerful, or intelligent vacuum, or if you're a first-timer. There are even some iterative upgrades that stand to make a pretty big difference with how we use our robovacs.

So, let’s start with a rundown of the key players and what they were displaying at IFA.

Roborock

First on my list was Roborock, which presented two new robot vacuums; the Q5 Pro (which adds mopping and larger dustbin capacity to the existing standard Roborock Q5) and the Q8 Max, as well as "Plus" versions which include auto-emptying docks. 

Both models feature LiDAR technology and have a significant power boost compared to previous models in Roborock's mid-range and affordable Q line, as well as better in-app features like intelligent no-go zone suggestions and fast-cleaning modes.

These also include Roborock's new DuoRoller brush system, introduced earlier this year in the S8 series, which sees two diverging rubber brushes designed for a more efficient clean.

Additionally, the Q8 Max adds other features historically seen only in Roborock's more premium vacuums; namely, the Reactive Tech Obstacle Avoidance system to improve navigation.

Both of these vacuums are just 'fine', in my slightly-snobby robot vacuum user opinion. I don't see either offering a fully comprehensive deep clean of your home, but I can appreciate the much more manageable price tag.

• Price: The Q5 Pro will be $429.99 or $699.99 for the auto-emptying Q5 Pro Plus. The Q8 Max will be $599.99 or $819.99 for the Plus version. UK pricing TBC.
• Release date: TBA, likely October

Ecovacs

Next up was Ecovacs, creator of the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo N8+, which, as of writing, is among our favorites from recent years. At IFA, Ecovacs showed off the the Deebot X2 Omni, which is an upgraded version of its flagship robovac, the X1 Omni.

The big unique selling point here is that it’s now square, making it better for corner cleaning, and the team claims it has finally nailed down the navigation challenges typically associated with this form factor in the latest model. 

Outside of its different shape, Ecovacs has also moved to a side-mounted dual-laser LiDAR navigation technology, doing away with the top-mounted laser and thus giving the vacuum a lower clearing height for cleaning underneath furniture. Additionally, the AI obstacle detection and suction power have been improved, the mop can lift 15mm to reduce water transfer onto carpets, and the dock itself has also been given a more pared-back look. 

I can't help but be cynical of the claims made by Ecovacs regarding solving square robovac navigation issues, but I could well eat my hat upon testing. Plus, the low clearing height of the retractible mop pads has me a little unconvinced.

• Price: TBC, available in the UK and US.
• Release date: TBC

Dreame

Dreame also had exciting flagship news, announcing the release of the DreameBot L20 Ultra, which, credit where it's due, does have a pretty innovative new feature: the ability to remove its own mop pads to keep carpets dry.

If you prefer, you can also use the Dreame app to instruct the vacuum to instead raise its mop pads, or avoid carpets altogether.

Now, I personally prefer how my iRobot Roomba navigates this challenge, lifting the mop pad from its lid down to the ground when on hard floors, but Dreame's solution means you don't have to sacrifice the power and thoroughness of rotating mop pads.

Plus, the L20 also can extend its mops to the walls to ensure a comprehensive clean, which is probably the best robovac mopping mechanic I've seen so far. Otherwise, the L20 offers improved suction power, as well as better mapping and obstacle avoidance. Much like the SwitchBot S10 vacuum I saw this week, you can also opt to purchase a plumbing kit to allow for automatic water tank drainage and refills.

However, there are two major drawbacks; the base is absolutely enormous, and with the base being so huge, I can't see the new plumbing kit being much of a boon for many users.

• Price: $1499.99 / £1199
• Release date: September 1st

The best of the rest

While the aforementioned brands were the main players exhibiting at the show, a few smaller brands made themselves known.

I've mentioned SwitchBot a few times already, largely because it was such a surprise to see it enter a more complex robotics space with its first robot vacuums. These new floorcare products are the S10 (pricing and availability TBC) and the adorably teeny K10 Plus (US-only at $499, available in November. UK pricing and availability TBC as of writing). The S10 offers a fully hands-free vacuum and mop around your home thanks to its plumbed-in water station which automatically drains and refills the bot's water tank; plus, SwitchBot will be selling its Humidifier 2 in tandem, which the bot can refill in between cleaning jobs.

Much like the brand's flagship product, the SwitchBot Bot, the K10 robot vacuum has stolen my heart, with its itsy-bitsy 3.6 x 9.8-inch / 9.1 x 24.9cm (h x d) frame being perfect for smaller homes with lots of little nooks and crannies to clean. However, both vacuums didn't exactly "wow" me with the actual vacuuming or mopping hardware, opting for more budget-friendly components that I don't expect to offer the most comprehensive cleaning.

Narwhal was also in attendance showing off its Freo robovac, which launched earlier this year in China and is now making its way to the US ($1,598.99) and some European countries. There's no word on UK pricing and availability as of yet. The Narwhal Freo has some familiar features such as like dirt-sensing technology and advanced edge mopping, but Narwhal's big unique selling point is its automatic water exchange system, which automatically drains dirty water from mop pads and refills them with clean water… I'm beginning to sense a theme here.

Yeedi also took the opportunity to announce the Yeedi Cube, its first auto-emptying robot vacuum, and mop that can wash, dry and refill the mop. It launches on September 5 at a very affordable price of $699 (UK price and availability TBC). Both the device and dock are pretty compact, but the bot can still lift its mop by 8mm when traveling over carpets and adjust the mop pad angle by 8 degrees to account for uneven surfaces.

Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright

What we're really seeing here is an unfortunate consequence of popularity and market dominance; a stifling of innovation. 

To my eyes, the problem is that there are more vacuums available than there are people actually interested in buying them, generally speaking, and that’s especially true in markets where people typically live in multi-storey homes. The market moves incredibly quickly, and I'm willing to bet that's a big part of why more people aren't investing in these pricey devices in the knowledge a better upgrade will be available in six or 12 months.

That's not to say there weren't exciting developments on display at IFA; SwitchBot and Dreame's head-to-head over plumbing-connected robot vacuums is exciting, as is SwitchBot's micro-robovac and Ecovacs' supposed fix for square-bot navigation. 

I just think that robot vacuum manufacturers could do with chilling out for a year or two, and working to solve some of the bigger issues facing the devices; chiefly, high prices, middling results, and the perennial enemy of all robots: stairs.

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