Our Rating System
A rating without a public grid means nothing. Here’s ours, in full.
The six criteria
- Suction (20%)
- Real-world power, anti-tangle brush, performance on carpet
- Mopping (20%)
- System, wash temperature, mop lift, edge cleaning
- Navigation (15%)
- Mapping, obstacle avoidance, threshold climbing
- Dock (15%)
- Emptying, washing, drying, refilling — and what’s still left to do by hand
- App (10%)
- Multi-floor mapping, no-go zones, usability, updates
- Value for money (20%)
- What you get for your money, at the real price right now
What each criterion measures
Suction. Power in pascals is the number everyone looks at — and the most misleading one. A robot rated at 42,000 Pa with a brush that tangles in hair performs worse than one at 25,000 Pa with a dual anti-tangle brush. So we rate the whole picture: power, brush type, and especially performance on carpet, where most robots give up.
Mopping. This is the criterion that truly separates Dreame’s tiers. A rotating mop washed in cold water and one washed at 100°C don’t leave you with the same floor after a month. Automatic mop lift (to keep rugs dry) and side-extension (to clean along baseboards) carry a lot of weight here.
Navigation. Obstacle-climbing has become the battleground of 2026: 10 cm on the X60 Pro, 6 cm on the Aqua10, 2 cm on a L50 Ultra AE. That gap decides whether your robot clears the bathroom threshold or gets stuck in front of it.
Dock. A dock that empties, washes, dries and refills itself lets you forget the robot exists for weeks at a time. An incomplete dock nags you every three days. We rate what’s actually still left for you to do by hand.
App. Not very differentiating for Dreame — the app is shared across the whole lineup, and it’s pretty good. Hence its limited 10% weighting.
Value for money. The only criterion that moves over time, because it depends on the real price right now, not the price tag at launch.
The scale
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| 9.0 – 10 | Dominates its category on multiple criteria. Rare. |
| 8.0 – 8.9 | Very good robot, no deal-breaking flaw. |
| 7.0 – 7.9 | Good robot, with a clear trade-off (price, mopping, climbing). |
| 6.0 – 6.9 | Decent, but outdated or overpriced. |
| < 6.0 | Avoid: another model does better for the same price. |
We only rate what we can justify. A rating rests on the model’s standard spec sheet and documented real-world feedback. It doesn’t claim to predict three-year reliability — nobody can, and sites that claim otherwise are just guessing.
Why our ratings don’t track prices
If our grid were lenient, ratings would rise with price. They don’t: the L50s Pro Ultra at 749 € (8.9) beats the L50 Pro Ultra at 1 099 € (8.1), because it suctions one and a half times harder for 350 € less.
That’s the mechanical result of a grid applied without exception — and exactly what a ranking aligned with commercial interest would never produce.
Frequently asked questions
Is a rating of 8/10 good?
Yes. Our scale isn’t lenient: 8/10 means a very good robot with no deal-breaking flaw. Above 9, a machine needs to dominate its category on multiple criteria at once. We don’t hand out 9.5 to everything that comes out.
Why does value for money carry so much weight?
Because it’s the question you’re actually asking. An excellent robot at 1 400 € that doesn’t outperform a very good one at 750 € isn’t a good buy, whatever its raw performance. The rating reflects what you get for your money, not just what the machine can do.
Does the rating change over time?
Yes, and that’s by design. Value for money depends on the price: a model discounted by 40% sees its rating rise, one superseded by its successor sees it fall. Every page carries its update date.
The best picks right now
Dreame L40s Pro Ultra
Dreame X50 Ultra Complete
