Taking over what was once a common house chore, robot vacuum cleaners have stuck around and proved to be a trend that will be a permanent part of our future. It’s all but become normal to see pizza-sized pucks roaming around the house, doing their own cleaning with little intervention needed from its owner.
However, Dreame Technologies’ new entry has caught our eye, as the 5-year-old household appliance company is pushing the envelope with a very special machine that not only looks different, it will change the interaction between man and machine once more, with even less intervention needed. Here’s our look at the Dreametech Bot W10 Self-Cleaning Robot Vacuum and Mop that is being showcased at CES 2022.
The Dreame W10 Robot Vacuum Mop
Photo: Dreame Technology
More than a Wet Wipe: Motorized Mop
Last year I came to be acquainted with robot vacuums that also mops - which I thought is good for some light spills, or for cleaning extra dust off the floor as a wet wipe, and nothing more serious than that.
However, the Dreametech Bot W10 is more than a damp cloth - the two thick scrubbing pads are made of absorbent bristles - more similar to a traditional mop heads, giving them a much higher absorbency compared to usual moist pads.
Other than being more absorbent that’s good for larger spills, the two motorized scrubbers provide a scouring action at 180 RPM, so that even dried up spills and more stubborn stains can be picked up by the Dreametech Bot W10.
The W10 charging station cleans and dries the mop autonomously
Photo: Dreame Technology
Ultimate Self Cleaning Mop
It’s all well and good to have powerful scrubbers attached to the robot vacuum, but will the robot then drag around two pads filled with wet mess around the house? Dreame’s solution to this: a full self cleaning AND drying station.
When the W10 returns to its charging station, the scrubbers will then be sprayed with jets of clean water, the dirty water extracted, then blown dry with hot air so that you end up with mops that will last longer before odor and bacteria build up.
The cleaning station contains two 4-liter water containers: one for clean water, and the other for dirty water. So for the user, the task of vacuuming and mopping is reduced to just keeping the clean tank filled and emptying the dirty tank.
The W10's 'D' Shape allows it to reach corners that other robot vacuums can't
Photo: Dream Technology
Unique ‘D’ Shape for Better Reach
I have always wondered about puck-shaped robot vacuums, on why they are round in the first place? Perhaps it’s for turning and manuevouring, but it’s round shape limits its reach into corners where dust and dirt easily hides (Which is why good traditional vacuum cleaners provide suction from the side of the heads).
Dreame’s solution to this limitation is to make the W10 a ‘D’ shape, which still keeps the general puck-shape for manuevouring, but has two added ‘points’ that can then reach into tighter, hard-to-reach corners. With the spinning arm mounted in one of these points, the Dreametech Bot W10 can almost reach into right-angled corners - something round robot vacuums just can’t do.
The W10 can reach 4,000 Pa of Suction
Photo: Dreame Technology
Top of Class Suction and Battery life
With most robot vacuums generating 2,500 Pa suction power, Dreame’s 4,000 Pa is an impressive number that will clean up what competing vacuums can’t. But Dreame is doing this without compromising battery life, as it promises 300 square meters of cleaning area as opposed to the 200 square meters for competing robots of its class.
Some quick math says the W10 is cleaning almost twice as hard, for an additional 50% area between recharges, making it hands down the most hard working robot vacuum cleaner around.
The W10 can save up to 3 separate floor plans
Photo: Dreame Technology
Triple Maps for Multi-floor Layouts
After the initial exploratory trip for robot vacuums, where the whole floor plan of the house is scanned and saved, it makes the subsequent planning and cleaning routines more efficient for robot vacuums.
However, most robot vacuums can only save a single map in its memory, which makes it a pain for people with multiple floors in the house. The most common solution to this I’ve seen is simply to have a robot for each floor, which is a costly endeavor.
The Dreametech Bot W10 solves this dilemma by being able to store up to 3 different floor plans. Whether it’s 3 stories, or even between home and office, the W10 is able to create systematic cleaning paths to ensure both optimal speed and thoroughness.
The Dreame W10 Robot Vacuum and Mop
Photo: Dreame Technology
Final Verdict
A self washing and drying mop was once only a magical fantasy in Disney's 1940 The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Who knew that it would become a reality 80 years later through Dreame? (minus Mickey and wizardry, that is.)
We’re definitely on the way towards a future when robots will be doing our house chores without our intervention, and the Dreame W10 brings us a step closer to that future with its new self-cleansing robot vacuum mop.
For its innovative breakthrough, we’re awarding the Dreametech Bot W10 Self-Cleaning Robot Vacuum and Mop the IBTimes Best of CES 2022 badge.
