The robot of the future, Dreame announced and will arrive in a few months in 2025, will be able to overcome obstacles up to 5 centimeters and in this it already marks the territory compared to the new Roborock Qrevo Curv which presented an adaptive frame with its three wheels that rise to overcome obstacles of 4 centimeters such as the tubes of chairs. While waiting to find out, here are three of the proposals for the home seen at IFA 2024 and available already in September.
The exponential progression of Dreame
Dream It is the company that has made the most progress in recent years, with an incredible technological acceleration that risks overshadowing the excellent reputation that Roborock has earned itself in 10 years of activity, celebrated this year at IFA 2024. The Chinese from Dreame, with a successful range of products, have invested a lot in research, and in 2025 a robot vacuum cleaner will arrive that can surpass the performance of the Roborock. However, the war is already fierce today: the latest innovation from Dreame is called L40 Ultra and it is a top of the range model that does not compromise on performance but at the same time is aggressive in its price: €1,199 list price minus a €100 launch discount (1.099€).
On this new model we find almost the same performance as the X40 Ultra: 11,000 Pa of suction power (the X40 has 12,000, but it doesn’t make a difference unless your house is invaded by stones…), the possibility of extending one of the two side mops to wash the edges and the extendable arm also for the side brush that carries the dust to the suction group located in the centre of the robot.
To clean better there is the base which heats the water to 65 degrees so as to sanitize the mops (Roborock reaches 75 degrees): the frequency with which it does this depends on the degree of dirtiness of the floor and can also be set manually from the app. Here, the app: essential for setting and controlling the robot, the Roborock one is still slightly more pleasant than the Dreame one, but it should also be considered that Roborock costs several hundred euros more at launch.
War on hair
With Qrevo CurveRoborock focuses on robot vacuum cleaners that reduce the risk of tangling hair around the brushes thanks to the combination of short bristles and spiral blades.
The opponents are not standing by and watching. Eureka has presented Eureka J15 that cuts them with a hidden blade that solves the problem in a drastic but effective way. Once this is done, a suction power of 16,200 Pa takes care of bringing everything into the tank and then discharging the dirt into the self-cleaning station equipped with a long-lasting bag.
Then it’s curious difference in the communicationwhich seems to reward Eureka over Roborock. The latter has in fact declared a 100% hair removal as certified by the research body SGS. In reality, during the presentation of Eureka, the technicians communicated that they used the same SGS body for their certification, and that the rate of the J15 is 99%, throwing a dig at Roborock for having rounded too freely. Since perfection does not exist, one might be more inclined to believe Eureka, but only the test will show whether Roborock will be able to live up to its absolute.
Also Eurekalike Dreame, is one of the companies that has made great strides: it has a long history, but has only recently arrived in Europe. Yet it has managed to solve some small bugs in the application in less than a year and, with updates that arrive silently directly to the robot, the top of the range Dreame J20 has made great strides and now works like clockwork. If on the J20 there is a roller that collects dirty water in a tank and at the same time cleans itself with clean water without returning to the base so often – an advantage against stains such as mayonnaise or liquids compared to robots with counter-rotating mops that spread everything on the floor – with the Dreame J15 Pro Ultra you choose a different path.
Here are the counter-rotating mops, the ones that Roborock has only recently used since it previously used a vibrating cloth with less efficiency. In addition to the mops, there is also theIA: thanks to this, the robot stops before passing over liquids, turns on itself exposing the mops and makes several passes to clean the stain or absorb the fluids on the floor. Then it returns “front-facing” and sucks up any dust or solid particles without dirtying the brush.
Even J15 Pro Ultra does not forget about the edges: it has a system that extends the brush and mops, but does so without straining an electric motor so as not to oppose too much resistance to the wall or any lateral obstacles such as the legs of chairs or a curved profile of furniture and walls. This allows the mop to follow the shape of the lateral obstacle, ensuring greater longevity for the robot, as well as fitting like a glove against the surface in question for a more complete cleaning compared to products without an extendable “arm”. The price is also competitive: €1,099 in Italy for launch in September 2024.
Robots like cars: the fundamental sensors
By now all these products are equipped with Lidara sensor that in a very short time creates a 3D view of the house, a bit like a map complete with doors and walls. By combining this reconstruction with data from the cameras, Dreame, Eureka and Roborock create the rooms, recognize the furniture and navigate avoiding obstacles such as toys, slippers, cables or… any gifts left by the four-legged tenants.
In short, on a technical level (and from testing previous-generation models), all three brands have demonstrated that they are well capable of navigating the unpredictability of a lived-in home made up of different objects on the floor. Roborockhowever, wants to maintain its premium price of 1.499, 99€while the opponents have raised the technical bar and, at the same time, are lowering prices.
But there is one constant challenge between the various brands: during the presentation of Dreame, for example, the Roborock staff curiously observed the competitors to adapt its strategy on the fly, and this is perhaps why the company announced that it will do a launch promotion,
but did not communicate it in a press conference waiting to know the price positioning of its competitors. The launch of Qrevo Curv is scheduled for September 9, will Roborock be able to offer a competitive discount?