Asus Zenfone 10 review: pint-sized powerhouse

Small in stature yet big on features, the Asus Zenfone 10 stands tall amongst its Android rivals.

While there are plenty of great flagship Android smartphones on the market, they can often be quite a handful – literally – so tall and wide that they’re difficult to hold comfortably in one hand. The Asus Zenfone range has always bucked that trend, with the new Zenfone 10 following in the footsteps of last year’s slender Asus Zenfone 9.

Mostly sticking with its tried and true formula, the Asus Zenfone 10 is another serious contender in the Android field. It bumps up the price by $100, which makes it a slightly harder sell when inflation is biting and people are tightening their belts.

Asus Zenfone 10 review

• First impressions
• Specifications
• Features
• Quality
• Who is it for?

Asus Zenfone 10 first impressions

At first glance, there’s very little to separate the Zenfone 10 from its predecessor. Its height and width are identical, yet it’s 3mm thicker and 3 gm heavier. The added thickness and straight edges of the aluminium frame do make it feel a little chunky in your hand – it’s not drab but it’s certainly not a fashion icon.

The back remains a composite polymer with a textured, soft finish – which feels comfortable to the touch but doesn’t look as premium as glass or aluminium. On the back, you’ll also find a large dual camera housing and accompanying text, text which is scaled down from the Zenfone 9 so it looks a bit more subtle and elegant.

The ZenTouch power button accesses a range of useability features.

Along the right edge of the handset, you’ll find a volume rocker near the top and a power button in the middle which doubles as a fingerprint reader. It’s actually more practical to use your thumb (assuming you’re right-handed), at which point the power button sits a little low for my liking but would probably suit those with smaller hands.

The smaller screen also makes it easier to reach things with your thumb, without over-balancing the phone and losing your grip.

Interestingly, the Android set-up process also draws your attention to Android’s one-handed mode, which moves things to the bottom of the screen so they’re easier to reach. You can also enable the Asus Smart Key swipe feature, which lets you swipe your thumb over the power button to drag down the quick settings and notification shade.

Asus actually dubs the power button the “ZenTouch” key because there are so many ways to customise it from accessing shortcuts to scrolling through web pages.

Across the top edge, the handset retains an old-school 3.5mm audio jack, while across the bottom edge of the phone, you’ll find a USB-C port along with a nano-SIM slot. There’s no microSD slot for expanding the storage.

Unlock the phone and you’re presented with a bright, crisp 2400×1080 pixel AMOLED display, unchanged from the Zenfone 9. It features a few optimisations to improve the colour accuracy and support HDR10+, plus it supports refresh rates up to 144Hz (up from the Zenfone 9’s 120Hz).

That said, the 144Hz refresh rate can only be enabled in ‘Game Genie’ mode while playing mobile games. Realistically, if gaming is a high priority then you might place more importance on a larger screen.

Asus Zenfone 10 specifications

Display size	5.9 inches, 20:9 aspect ratio
Display resolution	2400×1080 pixel
Display technology	AMOLED, 1100 nits peak brightness
Bands	2G, 3G, 4G, 5G sub 6
SIM	NANO SIM/NANO SIM, support DSDS 5G+5G
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
CPU	SM8550 Octa-core CPU 3.2 Ghz
GPU	Qualcomm Adreno 740
Rear cameras	50 MP Sony IMX766 – 1/1.56″ sensor, 1.0µm pixel size Quad Bayer technology – 12.5 MP, 2.0 µm large effective pixel size 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabiliser 2.0 F1.9 aperture 2×2 OCL PDAF Single LED flash 23.8 mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm film camera
	Ultrawide Camera 13 MP sensor 120 ̊ field of view, 12.5 mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm film camera
Front camera	32 MP sensor (Uses pixel binning to output 8MP image and the equivalent pixel size is 1.4µm pixel size) RGBW Technology
RAM	8GB or 16GB LPDDR5X
Onboard storage	256GB of 512GB UFS4.0
microSD slot	No
Charging	USB-C up to 30W, PD3.0 PPS / Direct Charge / QC4.0 adapter 30W USB power adapter supplied 15W wireless charging
Battery	4300 mAh
Wi-Fi	WiFi: 802.11 be/ax/ac/a/b/g/n, 2×2 MIMO Supports Tri-band 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz/ 6 GHz WiFi, WiFi Direct
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3 (HFP + A2DP + AVRCP + HID + PAN + OPP), supports LDAC, AAC, Qualcomm aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless
Operating system	Android 13
Security	Fingerprint reader, Face Unlock
Ruggedness	IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min)
Dimensions	146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4 mm
Weight	172 gm
Colours	Midnight Black, Comet White, Eclipse Red, Aurora Green, Starry Blue
Price	from $1,299 RRP
Warranty	One year
Official website	Asus Australia

Features

Asus hasn’t held back when speccing up the Zenfone 10 so it can stand toe-to-toe with flagship rivals. It ships running Android 13, with the promise of two OS updates and four years of security updates – which is an improvement from Asus but still far from best in class.

Under the bonnet, it packs a top-shelf Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, accompanied by 8 or 16 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of storage. While it’s great to have so much power at your fingertips, you could argue that it’s overkill and opting for a bit less grunt might have allowed Asus to keep the price down or make improvements in other areas.

Along with a shedload of grunt, the Qualcomm power plant also brings support for Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless Bluetooth format – should you get your hands on a pair of compatible earbuds like the NuraTrue Pro.

Bucking the big phone trend, the Asus Zenfone 10 is a good fit for any hand.

Along with size and performance, multimedia is certainly one of the Asus Zenfone 10’s key selling points. It features dual stereo speakers, with Qualcomm WSA8835 smart amplifiers for louder, deeper and less distorted sound. Meanwhile, high-end audio fans will also appreciate that it delivers Hi-Res 192k Hz / 24-bit audio via the 3.5mm headphone jack so you can make the most of high-end headphones.

Meanwhile, the camera array is respectable but a bit more middle-of-the-road than some of the handset’s other features. You’ve got the same 50 MP Sony IMX766 main shooter as the Zenfone 9, but the 12 MP ultrawide is slightly higher-res and wider than last year’s model. 

On the plus side, you benefit from an upgraded 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabiliser designed to take the shake out of your photos and videos. As a trade-off, you miss out on features like a dedicated micro and telephoto lens which you’ll find on many rivals.

The bigger improvement comes with the front-facing selfie camera, which has leapt from 12 MP to 32 MP while delivering improved low-light performance thanks to an RGBW sensor and 1.4 μm pixels.

When it comes to power, the Zenfone 10 retains the 9’s 4300 mAh battery, which should be good for around a day and a half. Support for wireless charging is a welcome addition, but some people will be frustrated that the Quick Charge 4.0 wired charging is limited to 30W when we’ve come to expect more these days.

Quality

It’s little surprise that the Asus Zenfone 10 makes light work of the GeekBench 6 benchmarks. By default, when the handset detects benchmarks running it engages high-performance mode, delivering very impressive CPU scores of 2028 single-core, 5711 multi-core, and an OpenCL graphics score of 8812. Dial the power setting back down to everyday dynamic and it still delivers a very respectable 1775, 4870 and 8939.

As you’d expect, all that grunt ensures that apps run silky smooth and the handset makes light work of multitasking and runs high-performance games. 

See Also

02/11/2023

Cheapest SIM plans in Australia – November 2023

When it comes to the camera, the overall picture quality is middle-of-the-road and not on par with what you tend to get with premium handsets. Colours can be a little oversaturated and the cameras can struggle a bit with difficult lighting – if you’re not careful, you end up with a shot that’s muted or overblown.

Who is the Asus Zenfone 10 for?

If you want a compact Android handset without sacrificing performance then the Asus Zenfone 10 is hard to beat. But the balance of price and features is not quite perfect: a few tweaks could improve the value proposition. If you’re looking for a great allrounder then you’ll need to weigh it up against the likes of the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S range.

One key question to consider is whether you really need all of that grunt, when a few features like the camera quality and charging speeds lag behind what you might expect at this price point.

GadgetGuy occasionally uses affiliate links and may receive a small commission from purchased products.

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Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 review: bright and clear security

8

People up to no good want to use the cover of darkness to be places they should not be. The invention of the sensor light has done a lot for security and safety, illuminating locations when any friend or foe is in the vicinity. A companion to the E340 Security Video Doorbell, the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 takes this to a new level with not one but two security cameras and a very bright floodlight.

Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 review

• Floodlight security cameras explained
• Features
• Specifications
• Using the camera
• Who is it for?

Floodlight security cameras explained

A traditional sensor light uses an infrared sensor to detect movement. A floodlight security camera is a motion-active security camera with a spotlight integrated into the device. The expectation from this style of light is that it is bright enough to illuminate a driveway, for example.

The trigger mechanism for the light to switch on could be an infrared sensor or movement detected by the camera.

The advantage of a floodlight security camera is that any video image captured at night will be easier to see and be in colour versus a grainy black-and-white image. These Floodlight cameras are excellent as a deterrent and to record events and send alerts.

Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 features

The Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 has two cameras with up to 3K resolution and 8x digital zoom, combined with a 2000-lumen spotlight.

Pan and Tilt dual camera.

Note that although this camera connects wireless to your home Wi-Fi network, it does require a 240-volt connection and must be installed by a licensed electrician. It supports Wi-Fi 6, giving you the best chance for a high-quality connection at the furthest supported distance. It can connect up to 20 metres, depending on construction materials.

Depending on how you mount this camera, it will determine what area the camera can cover. The camera housing can pan and tilt almost 360 degrees. However, you are most likely to mount it on a wall or ceiling, so your field of view would be 180 degrees from the mounting surface. One camera captures 3K-resolution footage at a 135-degree field of view, which on the vertical plane is approximately the same as what you can see with your own eyes. Although the second camera has only a 2K resolution, it provides 3x optical zoom versus the wide-angle view from the other camera. Using digital zoom, you can magnify the image up to eight times.

The benefit of a dual camera setup is that the main camera gives you a wide view of your monitored area whilst the zoomed lens gives you detail on your front door or perhaps something valuable. If it detects movement, the camera’s default setting is to follow the subject. Brighter than an old-school outdoor spotlight, the 2000-lumen spotlights help capture colour footage at night at a range of up to 15 metres.

Rainproofed with an IP65 rating, you can confidently mount the Eufy Floodlight Camera outdoors. It also supports two-way audio so you can communicate remotely.

To store footage, you need an SD card, for up to 128GB capacity. Alternatively, if you have a Eufy HomeBase 3, an expandable wireless local storage hub, you could increase the storage to 16TB. Cloud storage is also available for less than $5 a month, so you can access recordings online if something happens to the camera.

Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 specifications

Camera resolution	One 3K camera, one 2K camera
Spotlight	Two floodlights, 2000 lumens brightness
Capacity	Up to 128GB on optional SD card
Power	240-volt AC, 2000-lumen spotlight
Durability	IP65
Dimensions	32 x 17 x 22 cm
Price (RRP)	$450
Website	Eufy Australia
Warranty	One year

Using the camera

You set up the camera before installing and wiring up the 240-volt connection. Simply install an SD card, plug in a USB-C cable and download the Eufy security app. You then follow the instructions via the app: easy. After mounting the camera in its permanent position, you again use the app to fine-tune the features.

One of the first things I noticed was an independent sensor for the spotlight versus the camera. In other models I have tested, movement picked up by the camera triggers the spotlight and recording. This could potentially mean if your preset position for the camera is in a certain direction, an out-of-camera view could trigger the light without triggering the camera. On further investigation, an out-of-view detection setting can be switched on, which will overcome this, but is not set as default.

Spotlight activated by intruder.

Eufy Cam with Spotlight on.

Eufy Cam with Spotlight off.

Because the camera can pan and tilt, a preset position will set a default direction in which the camera will point. You can set up to four preset positions and program the camera to cycle between them. There is also a 360-degree function that pans the camera to sweep all available angles. This, however, is a single action and not a permanent sweep that you could set up as a live view.

Battery-powered security cameras quickly consume battery if they record a lot. The benefit of a mains-powered camera is it can record 24 hours a day. This is a significant advantage from a security perspective. Personally, I ran battery cameras until now and have often been asked for footage from my cameras facing the street. Until now, I was unable to as recording only started when movement was detected on my property. Now, storage space allowing, I can record on a loop 24-7.

Customisation

False triggers from a tree on a windy day or car movement on a street can be excluded from activating recording by defining the trigger zone with a six-point activity zone. Here, you can drag six joined dots around the screen to select specific areas the area where you want recording triggers to occur.

Sometimes, there is content that you do not want to capture, such as a neighbour’s window. Privacy zones let you blur out specific areas in a recording to protect others’ privacy.

The last feature I like is a manual alarm, which creates a loud, ear-piecing siren and flashes the lights. Suppose you detect someone on your property remotely. In that case, you can set off this manual alarm, hopefully scaring off any would-be thieves.

During my review, I discovered an interesting button labelled “Donate”. It’s not for sending money but instead allows you to share images with Eufy for promotional or customer service purposes. I also found that although you can play back at up to 16x speed, the Wi-Fi bandwidth could not cope, so images were staggered.

Who is the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 for?

This is a very feature-rich solution at the going price for a security spotlight camera. The Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 would suit small businesses and homes, especially when a driveway or backyard requires surveillance and illumination. As the pictures above show, the floodlight provides significant illumination to replace an existing light fitting on your house.

The dual camera suits an application where you need both detail and a wide view of a situation, such as watching an item of value. It’d be overkill for general use, where a single high-res camera would provide a cheaper alternative.

Eufy Floodlight Camera E340

The Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 lets you capture wide-angle and high-resolution footage at any time of day, thanks to its 2000-lumen lights.

Features

9

Value for Money

8

Performance

7

Ease of use

9

Design

7

Positives

Very bright spotlight

No extra cloud costs (optional)

Pan, tilt and zoomable image

Negatives

Camera and light triggers are not out of the box and may need some adjustment

8

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New Arlo Essential security range tested: smart and sharp

With a sharper picture and smarter object detection, the latest Arlo Essential range makes it easy to check in on home while you’re out and about.

Initially, security cameras around your home were primarily intended for catching uninvited guests. These days there’s a greater focus on checking up on everyday events – whether it’s kids getting home from school, pets getting up to mischief or couriers coming to the door.

Arlo’s latest Essential range is designed to cater for those shopping on a budget – forgoing some of the bells and whistles of the more advanced models in order to keep the price down.

Specifications

The original Arlo Essential range provided an easy setup at a great price back in 2021. Now, a second generation of Arlo Essential devices is out, including the Essential 2K Outdoor Camera (VMC3050-100AUS), Essential 2K Indoor Camera (VMC3060-100AUS), and Video Doorbell 2K (AVD4001-100AUS).

Arlo Video Doorbell 2K

Maximum video resolution	1944 x 1944
Field of view	180-degree diagonal
Video and audio features	Night vision (black and white) 12x digital zoom 10-feet motion detection Two-way audio Built-in siren
Battery life	Up to four months
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4GHz
Price (RRP)	$229
Warranty	One year
Official website	Arlo Australia

Arlo Essential 2K Indoor Camera

Maximum video resolution	2560 x 1440
Field of view	130-degree diagonal
Video and audio features	Night vision (black and white) 12x digital zoom Two-way audio Built-in siren
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4GHz
Price (RRP)	$129
Warranty	One year
Official website	Arlo Australia

Arlo Essential 2K Outdoor Camera

Maximum video resolution	2560 x 1440
Field of view	130-degree diagonal
Video and audio features	Night vision (colour) 12x digital zoom Two-way audio Built-in siren 300-feet line of sight range
Battery life	Up to four months
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4GHz
Price (RRP)	$159
Warranty	One year
Official website	Arlo Australia

Arlo Video Doorbell 2K

The Arlo Video Doorbell 2K lets you check your doorstep from afar.

In some ways, a video doorbell has become the cornerstone of the modern home security system because it’s so versatile. The $229 second-generation Arlo Video Doorbell 2K lets you keep an eye out for family and friends, intruders coming through the front yard and couriers on your doorstep.

You might also invest in the wireless $79 Arlo Chime 2, which also connects to your Wi-Fi network so you can place the chime anywhere in the house.

Unlike some video doorbells, the Arlo Video Doorbell 2K offers the choice of running on a battery or hard-wiring it to the power. The wide 180-degree field of view and 1:1 square aspect ratio offer a wider view than some doorbells, meaning you can see a visitor from head to toe as well as a package on the ground. The camera can also see in the dark.

While you can answer the door in real-time from your smartphone, it’s worth noting the doorbell won’t actually save any recordings unless you sign up for Arlo Secure. Unfortunately, this model doorbell lacks the “foresight” feature of the premium Arlo models, which shows the video leading up to an event so you’re more likely to capture what happened and get a good look at someone.

As with most smart home gear these days, a subscription is required to unlock many of the advanced features. You also see a video history of events up to 30 days past, but only if you pay for one of Arlo’s subscription services; Arlo Secure ($4.99 p/m single camera, $14.99 p/m unlimited cameras) or Arlo Secure Plus ($21.99 p/m unlimited cameras).

Additionally, you can upgrade to continuous video recording at $12.99 p/m for a 14-day archive or $24.99 p/m for 30 days.

With a subscription, you can cut down on unwanted notifications thanks to the ability to specify zones within the camera’s field of view. Meanwhile, smart object detection can distinguish people, animals, vehicles and packages – although Alro says for the best results with package detection you should have the camera installed up high, which isn’t very practical for a doorbell.

Arlo Essential 2K Indoor Camera

The Arlo Essential Indoor Camera adds a physical privacy shield.

When it comes to watching what’s happening inside, the $129 second-generation Arlo Essential Indoor Camera adds an automated privacy shield that can be activated via the Arlo app. While it’s a welcome addition, which slides up to cover the lens, it’s a shame that it relies on the app and can’t be manually engaged by anyone in the room who needs a little privacy.

The 130-degree field of view offers a decent view of the room if placed strategically, with a flexible stand and mounting thread on the back. The camera’s not battery-powered, so you’re limited by the fact that it requires access to a power socket.

Stepping up from 1080p to 2K resolution, combined with 12x zoom, lets you zoom in on details to see what’s happening. With an Arlo Secure subscription, you’ve got smart object detection, smart activity zones and animated previews that display a short clip on your phone’s lock screen.

Arlo Essential 2K Outdoor Camera

The Arlo Essential Outdoor Camera is designed for to handle the weather.

When it comes to guarding the perimeter, the $159 second-generation Arlo Essential Outdoor Camera also steps up to 2K resolution with colour night vision to make it easier to see what lurks in the shadows.

Like the indoor camera, it supports 2K resolution and 12x zoom, while an Arlo Secure subscription adds smart object detection and smart activity zones.

The camera is battery-powered, which makes for easy installation using the supplied mount, but the trade-off is that it needs to be taken down occasionally for charging. It features an integrated spotlight, which is unusual in a battery-powered outdoor camera and will naturally take a toll on the battery life if used regularly.

Who is the second-generation Arlo Essential range for?

Altogether, the new Arlo gear makes for a pretty tight ecosystem, especially if you’re prepared to cough up for a subscription. Considering that most cameras need a subscription to unlock their best features, it’s certainly more economical to ensure that your doorbell and other cameras are from the same vendor.

The fact that the Arlo ecosystem talks to Alexa, Google, SmartThings and IFTTT is also handy if you’re looking to integrate it into your existing smart home setup. You’re missing a few bells and whistles but, as the Arlo Essential name suggests, the Essentials range might have you covered if your needs are simple and your budget lean.

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Slimmer and sleeker PS5 console launch details confirmed

After its reveal earlier in the year, Sony has announced a 6 December release date for its new slim PS5 model in Australia, with pre-orders open now.

It’s a welcome revision to the popular console, considering the November 2020 launch model’s imposing size was tricky to fit comfortably on TV cabinets. Functionally the same as the larger launch model it will replace, the slim treatment applies to both the disc drive-less PS5 Digital Edition and the standard PS5. Sony reduced the console’s volume by more than 30%, shaving weight by as much as 24%.

Another change introduced by the slim PS5 is that it comes with four cover panels instead of two. Separated by a racing stripe-like gap, these panels might be easier to remove for storage upgrades than the original’s rigid panels. It’ll also support an attachable Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Drive if you want to upgrade the digital version of the console later on.

Different from the initial console release, the slim PS5 models come with a horizontal stand instead of a vertical one. If you prefer standing your console upright, or space constraints limit laying it sideways, a vertical stand is a separate $49.95 purchase.

A slight storage upgrade also comes to the PS5 facelift: 1TB up from 825GB. It’s not yet known how much of this will be usable but it’s an upgrade nonetheless. If you play a lot of games, many of which take up 100GB+ of storage each, you’ll likely still want to add an expansion drive like the WD Black SN850 or Samsung 990 Pro.

PS5 slim release date and price

As confirmed by local Sony reps, the PS5 slim release date is 6 December 2023, so not too far away. Both the digital and disc drive console versions will cost the same as the older, chunkier model. Although the digital version is slightly cheaper, you might want to consider the likelihood of wanting to add a disc drive later on. At $159.95 for an attachable drive, the cost combined with the console runs higher than buying a disc-based console in the first place.

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive: $799.95
• PS5 Digital Edition: $679.95
• Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive for PS5: $159.95
• Vertical stand: $49.95

Sony also confirmed that many of its colourful PS5 Console Covers will launch with slim-compatible versions early next year. This includes a matte black cover and several Deep Earth Collection colours like Volcanic Red, Cobalt Blue, and Sterling Silver. Covers for the original PS5 tend to cost around $80, with exact pricing for the new versions to be confirmed.

Read more gaming news on GadgetGuy

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Dreame L20 Ultra review: king of the robot vac pack

Robot vacuums have come a long way since the first commercially successful models appeared around 2005. In just about every way, they’re better at cleaning and mopping, and there are now quite a few models in Australia to choose from. And with Dreame, another brand officially appearing on our shores, it’s fair to wonder if its L20 Ultra robot vac brings anything different to the table than what’s already available.

Dreame L20 Ultra review

• Specifications
• Features
• Smarts
• Setup
• Cleaning
• Obstacle avoidance
• Security
• Who is it for?

Dreame is a Chinese company founded in 2017. It designs and manufactures a range of smart home appliances including cordless vacuums, wet and dry vacs, hair dryers and straighteners, although only its robot vacs are available in Australia. Dreame’s founder and CEO, Yu Hao, has a background in aerospace and believes that technology is key to creating high-quality products. The company invests heavily in R&D, with 4,090 patents held, and sells in 120 countries and regions, with five million users worldwide.

Part of the Dreamebot range, the Dreame L20 Ultra is the brand’s flagship robot vacuum. Like Ecovacs’s range-topping X2 Omni ($2,499) and Roborock’s S8 Pro Ultra ($2,699), the L20 Ultra features both vacuuming and mopping, along with an automatic, self-cleaning dock. It’s priced similarly at $2,799, however, bear in mind that you should be able to buy these models for less during the upcoming sales. At this price point, and like the others, the L20 Ultra is intended to help you “forget” about vacuuming and mopping, by taking care of everything. I have been using the L20 Ultra around the house for the past few weeks to see if it can do just that.

Dreame L20 Ultra specifications

Dreame L20 Ultra robot vacuum	Detail
Price	$2,799
Official website	Dreame Australia
Warranty	Three years
Product Dimensions	350 x 350 x 103.8mm
Weight	4.3kg
Battery Capacity	6,400mAh
Dust Box Volume	350mL
Water Tank Volume	80mL
Maximum Suction	7,000Pa
Threshold Crossing	2cm
Lowest Noise	63dB(A)
Smart home assistants	Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant

See Also

8.8

07/11/2023

Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni review: simply the best robot vacuum

L20 Ultra auto-cleaning base station	Detail
Product Dimensions	606.5 x 426 x 499mm
Weight	13.3kg
Dust Bag Volume	3.2L
Clean Water Tank	4.5L
Maximum Runtime – Vac or Mopping	260 mins (Vacuuming or Mopping in Quiet Mode)
Maximum Runtime – Vac and Mopping	180 mins (Vacuuming and Mopping in Quiet Mode)

The L20 Ultra can both mop and clean, and its auto-emptying, auto-cleaning dock takes care of the rest. This holds clean and dirty water tanks, and a dust bag. It’s also capable of cleaning, drying and even removing the mop heads. There’s also a “Water Hookup” kit for plumbing water to and from the dock, but this isn’t available in Australia yet.

The dock is quite high but I managed to fit it beneath my desk. You can also see the detachable mop brushes left behind while the robot is out vacuuming.

While you could buy a robot vac with just a simple charging dock for a lot less money, according to Dreame, the dock will give you around 75 days of blissful hands-off use before you need to empty out the 4.5-litre dirty water tank and 3.2-litre dust bag. Without a dock, you’ll probably need to empty your robot vac’s onboard dust and water reservoirs every two or three uses.

Key features

And when it comes to cleaning, the L20 Ultra has some standout technology. First, it uses a high-speed motor to create 7000Pa of suction. This is quite high, only topped by the Ecovacs X2 Omni, which has 8000Pa. Meanwhile, the Roborock’s S8 Pro Ultra, the oldest of the trio, has 6000Pa of suction. There’s a spinning rubber brush to tackle most of the dirt, dust fur and hair, and this can raise and lower for different carpet pile heights. There’s also an adjacent spinning sweeper attachment to one side with bristles that extend outwards to reach edges and corners.

The L20 Ultra is a more serious mopper than many robot vacs. This is thanks to a pair of rotating mop heads rather than the conventional ‘vibrating pad’ type of mop found on many other models. Called “DuoScrub”, the brushes rotate quickly and silently, applying pressure on the floor to actually ‘scrub’ it rather than just wipe it down. The auto-dispensing floor detergent aids in the cleaning, and provides confidence that the floor is actually clean. This gets topped up from a reservoir in the dock. 

Top and bottom view – the bottom view shows the detachable mop brushes, spinning rubber brush and sweeper brush.

Another clever feature is that the brushes will retract by 10.5mm to prevent dampening low pile carpet as the vac travels over it. However, even smarter, is the ability to automatically detach the mop brushes, leaving them behind in the dock. This enables the L20 Ultra to vacuum medium and high pile carpets, which otherwise would get caught up in the mop brushes.

And thankfully, you don’t need to worry about cleaning or even drying the mop brushes. This is completely taken care of by the dock, with a self-cleaning, hot-air drying mechanism. Otherwise, the mops would get mouldy and start to smell. There’s even a feature to automatically flush out and drain the mop cleaning area when it gets dirty, reducing your maintenance.

Floor cleaning smarts

When it comes to mopping, my favourite innovation is the L20 Ultra’s edge cleaning ability. Called “MopExtend”, one of the rotating mop heads is fixed on a little robotic arm that can extend outwards up to 4cm to run along the edge of a wall. When not needed, it retracts, and this helps keep the vac’s footprint small too. This is pretty unique and the only other vac that has an extendible edge brush is the Dyson 360 Vis Nav but this isn’t for mopping.

In terms of navigating around your home and avoiding obstacles, the L20 Ultra has a load of sensors: there’s LiDAR – called the Laser Distance Sensor – an AI visual sensor, a laser sensor, cliff sensors, and a camera. Then there are a pair of LED fill lights that turn on to illuminate darker areas.

The sensor data gathers information to support a variety of functions. There’s an AI-based obstacle avoidance system that can recognise up to 52 objects and plot them on your map. Speaking of which, there’s automatic 3D mapping of your home, which you can edit via the Dreame app to place virtual boundaries, no-go areas, and label different rooms, etc.

The sensors also help with the L20 Ultra’s “Intelligent Dirt Detection”, which essentially regulates how hard the vac works, and how much cleaning gets applied to areas of your home depending on how dirty they tend to be. This means that the vac will learn what areas are most dirty and clean them more often. It will, for example, mop an area twice if it needs it, or reduce suction on surfaces that are cleaner. This means less battery drain, less water used and a faster cleaning process overall.

Setting up

The L20 Ultra is similar to most robot vacs that I’ve set up. You attach the sweeper brush and rotating mop brushes to the vac, download the app, and then follow the instructions to connect it to your home’s Wi-Fi. The dock is relatively high at about 61cm compared to about half that for the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra’s dock, so if you plan to put it under a desk like I did, this is worth considering. However, the advantage of a higher dock is more space for larger water and dust containers, meaning less frequent emptying and refilling. There’s also a spot where you can add cleaning fluid. Otherwise, all you need to do is fill up the clean water tank, empty the dirty water tank, insert the cleaning fluid bottle and attach the dust bag to get started.

On its first run, the L20 Ultra will map your house and create a virtual map that you can view and edit. You can add virtual barriers, and add, merge and rename rooms that it identifies. It did a reasonably good job of mapping my apartment, however, the LiDAR system sees through windows so my balcony and shower areas were included as spaces to clean. Adding a simple virtual barrier set things straight. I also needed to define the boundaries between my wood-floored kitchen and carpeted dining room, which the system thought was all the same space.

The Dreamehome app makes it easy to manage your robot including mapping your home and making cleaning mode settings.

In general, the Dreamehome app is quite easy to use. Apart from the map, you can choose and configure your cleaning routine, choose rooms to clean and schedule cleaning intervals. There are a plethora of other settings, or if you don’t want to use the app, there are direct buttons on the L20 Ultra’s top for starting a clean, returning to home and spot cleaning. There are also buttons on the top of the dock to send the robot in or out of the dock, starting the cleaning routine or drying the mop brushes.

Operating and cleaning

When it comes to cleaning, there are different modes including the ‘CleanGenius’ which is an automatic mode that vacuums and mops at the same time and generally figures everything out for you to maximise performance and cleaning. There’s a setting for an automatic ‘Deep Cleaning’ too. Then there’s a Custom mode where you can select suction strength, cleaning cycles, mop water flow, choose by room, or perform a spot cleaning. There are home screen presets too so you can set the vac to clean just the kitchen and eating areas, for example, at the touch of a button.

For my very first use, I chose the Custom mode and set it to “Mop after Vac” for a thorough cleaning. This means one pass strictly for vacuuming, and another for mopping the hard surface areas like my wood-floored kitchen and tiled bathroom. The rest of my flat has low-pile carpet and there’s a medium pile rug.

The L20 Ultra’s dual mop brushes and ‘MopExtend’ in action. The brushes actually scrub the floor and one brush can extend outwards by 4cm for better edge cleaning.

The Dreame L20 Ultra can also do vacuuming and mopping in a single pass, which is more efficient, but I wanted to see what it would do when separating the two. As such, the L20 Ultra started by leaving its mop brushes in the dock for the vacuuming phase, and then returned to the home base to collect the brushes after the vacuuming was completed.

While it accomplished its tasks, some of the paths it decided to take after the vacuuming mode were a little curious. For example, it seemed to want to explore some of the carpeted areas with the mop brushes attached. It travelled beneath the dining room table and behind my exercise bike, took a look around, thought better of it and moved to the kitchen and started mopping. Perhaps the AI hadn’t thoroughly figured out which surfaces were which during its initial mopping phase. Not a huge problem, as the L20 still mopped my kitchen floor and the two tiled bathrooms, but it did quite a bit of exploring first. It’s good to see that the problem didn’t persist in the CleanGenius cleaning mode.

See Also

8.5

23/06/2023

Roborock S8 Pro Ultra review: effortless cleaning at your fingertips

In terms of how well it cleaned, the L20 Ultra, like any robot vacuum is more of a ‘maintenance cleaner, in my opinion, than a heavy-duty cleaner. So, for example, you might need to get out your regular vac for a large ‘bag of oats’ type spill, or down on your hands and knees to scrub a really stubborn dried-on stain. But once done, the L20 Ultra will keep your floors tidy and mopped without any fuss. I was happy to see that it picked up hairs and fur, dust and crumbs and other small-diameter items dropped on the carpet and hard floors. The mop was probably the most impressive and you could really see that it was working on even dried-up splotches in the kitchen.

Obstacle avoidance

I tried out the obstacle avoidance by dropping things like shoes and tissue boxes in front of the L20 Ultra’s path. As it had traversed the area before with no objects, these were new items that it needed to dynamically avoid, which it did without making contact. Occasionally it would still rely on its physical bumpers, such as on very thin chair legs, after which it would just plot a course around it. There’s also a pair of LEDs to illuminate darker areas, so it can use light-dependent sensors such as its cameras at night.

The L20 Ultra is pleasingly adept at getting over raised objects, avoiding cliffs and not getting caught up on different surfaces.

It’s also worth pointing out that the mop heads can raise 10.5mm to get over low-pile carpets and rugs. Anything higher and it will go and detach the mop heads in the dock. The vac can manage floor divisions up to 2cm in height, so it can get over most borders between, say, a carpeted area and a tiled bathroom.

The intelligent dirt detection feature is interesting too. It shows on the map where dirty areas are, so it can then plan a cleaning route where it spends extra time (and energy) on these places. There’s even a feature to increase suction for large particles, such as cereal. Neat.

The L20 Ultra is rated to clean homes up to 300 square meters. This means it will clean, return to the dock to charge, and go out and clean again if it can’t do it all on one charge. There’s a 6400mAh battery, which is quite large and seems to get the job done in my two-bedroom apartment. For larger homes, it may need to top up part way through.

Security patrol

For added security, you can use the Dreame app and the onboard camera to see what the L20 Ultra sees, so you can keep an eye on pets, and even engage in two-way communication via a built-in speaker and microphone.

A view from the L20 Ultra’s onboard camera.

There’s a Cruise mode that sends the vac to a spot you pick on the map and it will take pics of its surroundings and report back. You can also mark a point on the map and send the robot there, then look around via its camera. For the privacy minded, while in operation a voice prompt will say that the camera is active every 3 minutes, and there’s a PIN code to access the camera view.

Who is the Dreame L20 Ultra for?

It’s fair to say that the Dreame L20 Ultra is one of the most advanced robot vacuum cleaners available. It has all the technology you’d expect, a dock that takes nearly all the maintenance out of using a robot vac, and some clever features like the removable rotating mop heads and extending robot arm for cleaning edges. It’s versatile too, with the ability to drop off its mop heads giving it clearance for mid and high-pile carpets, and the rotating brush and mop heads can raise 10.5mm.

Dreame L20 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop Cleaner with Auto Mop Cleaning and Drying, Self-Refilling and Self-Emptying Base Station

• Our most advanced and powerful suction system yet: the powerful Vormax suction system provides a suction power of 7000 Pa* for excellent cleaning results, and the liftable rubber brush ensures that hair is detangled and therefore easier to remove.
• Thorough cleaning of edge areas: The innovative MopExtend unit automatically increases the range of the mops, so that even areas that Dreame L20 Ultra robot vacuum cleaner with wiping function suction station can usually be difficult to clean.
• Fully automatic base station: Automate your daily cleaning and find freshly cleaned floors at home. Thanks to the automatic emptying, mop cleaning and drying, filling the water tank, adding cleaning solutions and much more, your L20 Ultra vacuum and mop robot always stays in top shape.

$ 2,349.00

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Yes, there’s some excellent competition out there, with the likes of Roborock, Ecovacs and Dyson, however, the Dyson doesn’t mop, but otherwise, each has their advantages. The Roborock has a more compact base station, the Dyson has the most powerful suction and an extendable edge cleaner, and the Ecovacs is a great all-around package. I really liked the DreameBot L20 Ultra, however, and it does a very decent job keeping my floors vacuumed and its mopping system is the best I’ve used. It’s easy to operate and the large dock means that I can forget about vacuuming and mopping it for a very, very long time, which is exactly what I want.

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