Welcome to Capsule Considers, where we try out and review the latest products on the market and offer our honest, unbiased opinions, free from any obligation or expectation because if you’re parting with your hard-earned money based on any of our recommendations, we’re gonna make sure it’s damn well worth it – this week, Alice reviews the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Tracks S robot Vacuum review…
“God, I wish an adult was coming to save us,” I said to my husband.
We were both on our death beds, fighting fevers, fatigue and body aches as we tried to work out which one of us was going to get up and get dinner organised for our kids – who were also in the grips of fighting Influenza A. Oh, and added fun round of gastro.
No adults were coming to rescue us in our germ-infested home. We were on our own. (Yes, this is all very dramatic, I know. But having the flu at the same time as you have to be a parent is its own very special version of hell).
I’ve always been wary of robots (yes, we’re going in a completely different direction here for a second, but please bear with!) and movies like iRobot and Terminator have only cemented my suspicions of their intentions and motivations. But at that moment, I would have welcomed any robot (but, preferably a nice one, like Rosie from The Jetsons) into our home to help us the hell out.
Which is when, during some sort of fever daydream I was having about Rosie the Robot, I suddenly recalled that we bloody had a robot! We’d just set it up a few days earlier. No, he couldn’t make the kids dinner, or organize UberEats, or bring me another round of pain killers, but this robot could bloody clean our home. We may not be able to run around the house cleaning, but this little guy could!
This robot in question is a Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Tracks S robot vacuum, a new generation of vacuum cleaners. These guys are revolutionary and can do so much more than those first robot vacuums that hit the market (which yes, did have a tendency to be quite dramatic, constantly getting stuck around the house, or – worse – finding a spill and then tracking it through the house).
THE GOOD
I was loaned one to try, and, heck it saved our bacon (and has been very handy to have around the house since. It not only looks pretty darn stylish, but it’s bloody clever. It can clean carpets AND hard floors. It’s robust, able to get around our house with very little trouble – plus it’s able to extend its brush and mop track to reach into edges and corners. It can even climb up over thresholds up to 6cm. It can’t make it up and down our staircase, but if you have single-layer steps of up to 4.2cm or double-layer ones up to 6cm, it can get up and down them (I discovered this is also perfect if you have a rug that has bunched up! It can easily just climb over the folded up area.)
Plus, it’s excellent at cleaning up after itself at the end – it heads back to the dock and empties its own bin, detangles hair from its dual brushes and it can wash its own mop pads with 100 degree water to ensure it also stays as clean as possible.
Past robot vacuum cleaners I’ve tried have needed a fair bit of prep work, making sure there aren’t any obstacles to trip them up on (the corner of the duvet, toys, any clothes on the floor – god forbid it find a stray sock!). Yet the Aqua 10 has a decent camera that helps it identify and avoid obstacles. It’ll map out your house and make its way around independently, but if you prefer, you can view the camera remotely and drive the robot around yourself.
But, it does a good job making its own way around, particularly when we were ill, there was more on the floor for it to navigate, and it had zero issues. Even a little clear ziplock bag, discarded by my toddler after eating all the snacks inside, and a bunch of different cords around the place were of no concern.
It can even get around easily with a cat to navigate (our cat is afraid of doorways, sudden movements and her own shadow, but somehow has zero fear of the Dreame). It actually comes with a function where it automatically generates a pet vlog. It captures photos of your pets and documents the life of your pet (which it gets a special look into) – and then you download it to your phone. Also, while we’re on pets, after you’ve owned it a while it works out the patterns of your pet’s activities and then performs secondary cleaning in areas where it now knows your pet frequently is. That’s on top of its ability to detect stains and start working on a plan to improve them.
But even before I got to the cleaning part of trying out this unit, I could already tell this was going to be a different experience – mainly because I could barely lift the large box it arrived in. This thing is seriously heavy – which, I guess makes sense given how much technology is involved, as well as all it’s different functions. Honestly, this thing is ridiculously clever.
THE NOT SO GOOD
It feels a bit mean saying these things, when the robot can do so much – but if they find a way to get up and down a flight of stairs, I’d love them even more.
The only other gripe I have is dust bag. I’ve just got so used to stick vacuums, with no bags, so having to think about them and having the faff of buying replacements. There’s also a cleaning solution and deodorizer to worry about. But, I guess, when the robot is worrying about everything else, the least I can do is re-order consumables for it.
It’s also a teensie bit louder than I expected – but, the joy of this little guy is that I can set him to go to work while we’re out.
THE VERDICT
This machine is a cleaning genius. It feels like you’re living in the future when you can leave your home, invite no one in, and yet come home to freshly cleaned floors.
It has a truly impressive list of features – from its ability to easily get around the home, dodging obstacles, yet still provide a thorough cleaning even in difficult to reach corners, to how it can clean itself, detect stains, and even keep tabs on your pets?
It’s definitely not a cheap option, but it feels like it will pay for itself in the time it ends up saving you, surely.
The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Tracks S retails for $3,499. Alice was gifted one to review. All opinions are her own.
