Dreame Bot L30 Ultra: OBJECTIVELY THE BEST Robot Vacuum of 2023

Dreame Bot L30 Ultra is the new top robot vacuum cleaner of 2023. The model is a global version of the previously released Dreame Bot X20 Pro PlusThe same design, features, integrated technologies, and even color. The X-series is designed for the Chinese market, while the L-series is fully adapted for the global market, including Russia. So, below, I'll show you how the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra is built, what it's capable of, and how it performs its primary function. Afterwards, I'll highlight the robot's pros and cons based on a detailed examination. And, of course, I'll share my opinion on whether it's worth buying and, most importantly, whether it's a contender for the title of best robot vacuum cleaner of 2023, as its price is on par with premium counterparts from other brands, starting at $1,100 or $1,200 at the exchange rate at the time of writing. So, let's get started!

Equipment

The robot vacuum cleaner arrived in a branded box like this:

In addition to the robot and station, the standard delivery package includes:

1. Two napkin holders.
2. Power adapter.
3. A tank with a detergent for installation in a station
4. Operating instructions translated into Russian.
5. A spare bag for the station, which is stored in the compartment with the installed bag.

The kit includes a standard set. You can also purchase an additional module for connecting to sewer and water supply systems. Its price at the time of writing starts at $120.

The kit includes compartments for dirty and clean water, a base for installing the module in the station, a magnetic control unit through which water flows from the water supply to the station, as well as various tubes, adapters, connectors, and other accessories for connecting the station to the power grid. Detailed instructions in Russian for connecting the module to the utility lines are also included.

Appearance

Now let's take a look at the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra's design. Let's start with the robot vacuum itself. It's black with gold accents. It looks very stylish. The plastic itself is matte and stain-resistant. The body is round and measures approximately 104 mm in height.

A wall sensor is mounted on the right bumper. An active camera is located in the front for recognizing objects on the floor and remotely monitoring the home. 3D sensors and LED backlighting are located on either side of the camera, enabling the robot to accurately recognize objects in complete darkness. The backlighting turns on automatically.

The control panel features three mechanical buttons. Navigation is handled by a lidar sensor. It has a spring-loaded cover. The top cover is completely removable and held in place by magnets. Underneath is a 350 ml dust container. The filtration system consists of a mesh filter and a HEPA filter. The dust container and filter are washable with water. The water tank is hidden inside the robot and is automatically filled at the station. The capacity of the tank is 80 ml.

There are four fall protection sensors. The side brush is a three-beam, quick-release unit. A carpet sensor is located next to the swivel roller. The central brush unit is floating. The turbo brush is silicone, not the bristle-petal type found on the Dreame Bot X20 Pro. Both sides can be removed for cleaning hair and pet hair.

If necessary, you can purchase a regular bristle-petal turbo brush, which cleans carpets better.

And now for the answer to a question that's been on everyone's mind: is the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra compatible with the new turbo blade brush included with the Dreame Bot X30 Pro? Yes, this brush is compatible in size and design, so you can purchase and upgrade your L30 if desired. A test of the new turbo blade brush will be demonstrated in the X30 review, which will be released soon.

The robot comes with napkin holders. The holders are equipped with magnets, and the napkins are held in place with Velcro. It's worth noting that the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra can automatically pick up the napkins when it enters carpeted areas. This is a plus.

And here's how one of the robot's key features works—the so-called retractable cleaning cloth holder. The arm extends to the right, allowing the cleaning cloth to extend beyond the robot's body. There's no blind spot between the edge of the robot and the baseboard. A very clever solution, which has already been appreciated in the X20 Pro!

The station is highly functional. It self-cleans the dust bin, washes the cleaning cloths with hot water, dries them with warm air after cleaning, and even automatically mixes detergent into the water during washing and when refilling the robot's tank. Conveniently, the ramp for the robot's entry and the tray for cleaning the cleaning cloths are removable. The waste bag is located in the center behind the lid.

An important point: the robot's entry platform itself is equipped with magnetized pins. These allow the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra to release the cleaning pad holders at the docking station when needed. This allows the robot to exit the docking station for dry cleaning only, without the cleaning pads, completely eliminating any contact between wet cleaning pads and the carpet. A unique and highly effective solution.

The water tanks are located under the top cover. Between the tanks, an additional cover conveniently stores the robot's cleaning tool and a 450 ml detergent cartridge. The water tanks are larger in capacity. The clean water tank holds 4.5 liters, while the dirty water tank holds 4 liters. The clean water tank does not have a silver-based disinfection module like the X20 Pro, which is another minor difference between the robots. However, you can purchase this module separately and install it in the L30 Ultra's tank. This module simply attaches to the tube, and the tubes are the same size, so the module is perfectly compatible.

As a reminder, the station is equipped with fittings for connecting to the sewer and water supply. They are hidden behind the cover. I described in detail how to connect the robot to the sewer and water supply in the review. Dreame Bot X10 ProThe station is the same, so I won't repeat myself.

I'll just note that I've now laid out the plumbing more neatly: I installed a surface-mounted outlet next to the station, which I simply glued to the wall tile, and also hid the hoses in the baseboard, one of which is connected to the water supply via the included pass-through elbow, and the other is connected to the trap under the sink. So, I didn't initially plan for the station during the renovation, but that didn't stop me from doing everything neatly once the renovation was complete. You can take this idea into consideration.

Ultimately, we see that a number of improvements have been made that have increased the robot's efficiency and autonomy. In my opinion, the only thing left to do is make the robot's body D-shaped so it can fully sweep into corners. I believe this will be the next breakthrough in the Dreame line in 2024!

Technical specifications

The main characteristics of the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra, as stated by the manufacturer:

Robot vacuum cleaner:

• Li-Ion battery 6400 mAh.
• Suction power up to 7300 Pa.
• Operating time up to 260 min.
• Dust collector 350 ml.
• Water tank 80 ml.
• Obstacle clearance up to 20 mm.
• Dimensions: 350*104 mm.

Station:

• Clean water tank: 4.5 l.
• Dirty water tank: 4 l.
• Bag in station: 3.2 l.
• Dimensions: 607*426*499 mm.

Of the specifications, the only important thing to highlight is the claimed high suction power, which will be verified in tests. The robot has become even more powerful! Even compared to the Dreame Bot X20 Pro, the power has been increased by another 300 Pa! For those interested, the height of the station with the lid raised is 87.5 cm.

Functional capabilities

Speaking of features, the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra is controlled via the proprietary Dreamehome app. It connects to the network without any issues, and there are no regional locks or workarounds. The app is in Russian, and the robot itself also speaks Russian. Everything is convenient and intuitive.

The main functions of the robot are displayed on the screen:

• Self-cleaning dust collector.
• Wash napkins with hot water (58°C).
• Drying napkins with hot air.
• Automatic addition of detergent.
• Lifting napkins on the carpet.
• Recognizing objects on the floor.
• Camera illumination in low light conditions.
• Remote home monitoring via smartphone.
• Saving multiple cleaning maps in memory.
• 3D map of the room.
• Automatic zoning of premises into rooms.
• Selecting areas and rooms for cleaning.
• Virtual walls and no-go zones (and for wet cleaning mode).
• Suction power adjustment.
• Setting the frequency of rinsing wipes (by area, by zones).
• User mode.
• Ultimate mode.
• Cleaning log.
• Setting up cleaning according to a schedule.
• Automatic power increase on carpet.
• Carpet cleaning in wet cleaning mode.
• Automatic removal of napkin holders at the station.
• Proprietary built-in voice assistant.
• Yandex.Alice support.

There are numerous options for customizing cleaning parameters. It's worth noting that the proprietary voice assistant understands commands even in Russian. However, it's still in beta testing and doesn't respond to commands immediately. Nevertheless, I was able to demonstrate the voice assistant's functionality.

So, you simply give the robot a command by voice, and it carries it out. No third-party devices are required. It's incredibly cool, and it's the first robot vacuum cleaner with a built-in voice assistant adapted for the Russian market. Bravo to the Dreame engineers!

Another new feature is the Ultimate mode, which automatically determines the cleaning pattern based on the level of dirt on the floor, activating a second cleaning cycle or independently adjusting the power level and the wetness of the cleaning pads. This is also a smart solution that improves cleaning efficiency and further integrates artificial intelligence into the robotic vacuum's algorithms.

I'll also demonstrate the remote home monitoring feature via smartphone. Entering a password you choose activates the camera, which transmits real-time images to your smartphone screen. The image quality is high.

You can either control the robot manually or specify a location on the map where you want it to go automatically. You can also take photos, which will be saved in a separate folder, and send voice messages through the robot's speaker. Another useful feature is to direct the robot to a specific location, where it will rotate in one spot and automatically take photos of the room from all sides. This is called guard mode. Very convenient.

We've also added new experimental features. For example, we're testing an automatic power boost mode when detecting dirt. When tested in a room with a lot of dirt, the robot didn't increase power, so it's not working yet. The same goes for the manufacturer's stated feature of automatically raising the turbo brush when detecting puddles. I spilled various liquids on the floor and activated dry cleaning mode. In my opinion, this is the most dangerous mode when there are puddles. The robot drove through the puddles, throwing the liquids into the dust collector. The turbo brush didn't raise, so I can't confirm this feature. It might work in other modes, but I didn't want to experiment and risk such an expensive device any further. If anyone has had positive experiences with the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra, either bypassing puddles or raising the turbo brush, please share in the comments which mode the robot used and how it performed.

Testing

A detailed video review of the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra, including all tests, has already been prepared and published on the channel:

Navigation

And finally, let's move on to the tests. First, we'll test the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra's navigation in a room with obstacles. The robot vacuum first moves around the perimeter of the room, then cleans the entire accessible area in a serpentine pattern. It carefully navigated around the legs of the dryer. It also swept around the box and chair legs separately, before returning to the station. The test was successful.

Speaking of navigation within the house, the robot vacuum cleaner cleans room by room, following the perimeter, then in a serpentine pattern. After every 20 square meters of cleaning, as I've determined, it returns to the station and washes its cleaning pads, then resumes cleaning from where it left off. There are no uncleaned areas left; this model has excellent navigation!

Object recognition

Speaking of the floor recognition system, it's very accurate. The robot vacuum successfully recognized six out of six objects. While scanning a sneaker, it accidentally knocked over a pet's surprise with its back end. However, when driving near it, it correctly identified it, carefully circled it, and highlighted it with a corresponding icon on the map. It also did the same with other objects.

The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra performs slightly worse when it comes to object recognition in complete darkness. This time, it drove over a pet's surprise and slightly moved a bathroom scale. In other words, it avoided four of the six objects. Therefore, compared to similar systems, Dreame has one of the most accurate object recognition systems, but it's still not perfect. In any case, the robot vacuum cleaner navigates around objects very carefully and barely touches furniture, but Dreame's engineers still have some room for improvement!

Suction power

The suction power was a pleasant surprise. The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra easily sucked up debris from even a 10mm gap. This is definitely a very powerful robot vacuum.

Dry cleaning

The collection performance of various types of debris on laminate floors is good. It only retains a small amount of debris in corners, where round robot vacuums can't reach. But even in corners, it swept slightly better than most other round robot vacuums. See for yourself. The central brush barely picked up any hair or fur, which is its main advantage. All debris was collected in the dust bin. Test passed!

Carpet cleaning

The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra does a great job of cleaning carpets. The cleaning quality on carpets is very high, thanks to both its high power and the floating turbo brush module. Test passed!

Wet cleaning and carpets

When it comes to wet cleaning on carpeted floors, you can choose from three different robot behaviors. The first is to automatically lift the cleaning cloths when entering carpets, allowing the robot vacuum to simultaneously vacuum and mop the floor, leaving the carpets dry and clean.

The second option is to enable the automatic carpet avoidance feature in wet cleaning mode. And the third mode is unique. The robot vacuum first performs dry and wet cleaning of hard floors, then returns to the base, automatically detaches the cleaning pads, and returns to the cleaning process, having vacuumed the carpets without the pads. This is especially useful for high- and medium-pile carpets, as it completely eliminates any contact between the pad and the carpet if necessary.

The idea is very cool. Not only does it completely eliminate contact between wet wipes and carpets, but it's also a more reliable solution than simply lifting the wipes on carpets. A so-called lift can wear out faster if used frequently.

Wiping off dirt

This robot vacuum cleaner does a good job of removing dirt. And you can see that the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra's retractable cleaning cloth thoroughly removes dirt right up to the baseboard. There's still a blind spot, but that's only in the corners, where the round cleaning cloth can't reach.

But here's another important point: the Dreame Bot L30 Ultra has an updated mopping mode for cleaning floors along baseboards and in corners. Now, when it enters corners, it backs up, effectively cleaning the floor in the corners as thoroughly as possible. A truly brilliant solution that deserves special mentions and special mentions!

In any case, when it comes to wet cleaning performance in a domestic environment, this is the best result to date! No streaks or dirt marks remain; the test was passed!

Removing difficult stains

The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra struggled with tough stains. It managed to remove coffee stains, but stubborn dried-on sauce stains proved unbearable. Its cleaning performance is inferior to some premium competitors. Nevertheless, I believe the wet cleaning function is more than sufficient for everyday use. However, Dreame's engineers still have some room for improvement in future flagship models.

Washing quality of napkins

Now I'd like to test the effectiveness of the station itself. Let's start with the cleaning performance of the wipes. In everyday use, after cleaning the floor of dirt, the wipes are in a terrible state. And after washing the wipes, I can say they are actually clean. A minimal amount of dirt is removed under the pressure of warm water. That's a plus!

But tough stains don't wash out very well on the wipes. Then again, such tough stains are only easily removed by a washing machine with detergent. So, I think the heated water feature is a better solution, as it slightly, but still improves the cleaning performance of the wipes.

Cleaning the station itself is easy. Just remove the wipe tray and the robot entry ramp. Rinse with water in the sink and return it. The station is clean!

Self-cleaning quality

The self-cleaning performance of the dust bin is good. I ran the robot vacuum in a room with a lot of debris. It cleaned everything up, and we saw that the dust bin was completely full. We returned the robot vacuum to the docking station and saw that the dust bin was almost clean after self-cleaning. One clump of hair stuck to the curtain, but that was probably an isolated incident.

Obstacle clearance

The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra easily navigates the 2 cm thresholds, lifting up the napkins in the process. That's a plus!

Driving on black surfaces

It's also not afraid of black surfaces, easily driving on completely black carpet. This is another advantage of the robot!

Noise level

As for the noise level, it ranges from 57 to 72 dB. The noise level is quite standard for this model, considering its high suction power.

Personal opinion

The Dreame Bot L30 Ultra has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. our evaluation system he managed to gain 219 points and of course to lead Overall rating of tested robotic vacuum cleaners, surpassing its predecessor, the Dreame Bot X20 Pro. I'll highlight the robot's pros and cons, then share my own opinion. I liked the following:

1. A retractable cloth allows the robot to thoroughly clean areas along baseboards and furniture.
2. The presence of a system for recognizing objects on the floor, which does not go blind in the dark.
3. Remote home monitoring by connecting to the robot's camera via a smartphone.
4. Combined station for self-cleaning, rinsing and drying of wipes.
5. Effective drying of napkins with hot air.
6. Washing napkins with hot water.
7. Automatic removal of napkin holders at the station for complete dry cleaning.
8. Automatic supply of detergent when washing napkins.
9. Increased capacity of water tanks.
10. An optional module for connection to utility networks is available.
11. High-quality self-cleaning and washing of napkins.
12. Ultimate mode, thanks to which the robot independently selects the cleaning algorithm.
13. An improved algorithm for cleaning floors in corners, in which the robot moves its rear end as far into the corner as possible, using the cleaning cloth as a support.
14. High-quality dry and wet cleaning on any surface.
15. The turbo brush makes it easier to clean hair and fur.
16. Automatic lifting of napkins when driving onto carpets.
17. Convenient maintenance of the robot and station.
18. A large number of functions for flexible adjustment of cleaning parameters.
19. Good cross-country ability.
20. The robot vacuum cleaner is not afraid of black floor coverings.
21. Stylish design.
22. High-quality assembly and high brand authority.
23. Complete Russification.
24. Yandex.Alice support.
25. Support for the proprietary voice assistant.
26. Availability of warranty and service.

There are also some disadvantages, the main ones being:

1. Doesn't completely sweep out debris in the corners.
2. Not capable of removing difficult stains.
3. The object recognition system requires some improvement.
4. The built-in proprietary voice assistant does not work correctly, although it is stated to be in beta testing.
5. Large station dimensions.

Ultimately, I can say that all of the above criticisms are actually very minor and are more like suggestions to Dreame engineers on what needs to be improved to make this robot vacuum cleaner closer to the ideal solution. By 2023 standards, this is OBJECTIVELY the best robot vacuum cleaner in terms of design, integrated technologies, features, and, most importantly, cleaning efficiency. It's also very stylish, easy to maintain, extremely autonomous, and tailored to the Russian market. So, if you're looking for the best robot vacuum cleaner in 2023, this is the one for you.

On that note, I'd like to end this review. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Happy shopping. Bye!