Dreame D20

The D20 is a robot that vacuums and mops in the same pass, with a dock that only charges it. A laser turret on the lid measures distances and builds a map of the home, saved after the first run, on which the Dreamehome app organises cleaning room by room. The robot first follows the edges and walls, then covers each room in an S-shaped pattern. It does not recognise obstacles: there is no camera and no microphone on board, and it finds furniture and objects on the floor with its bumper. Cables, socks and toys therefore have to be picked up before a run.

The main brush is a pair: a rubber roller with bristles for grout lines and a rubber one for carpets, both designed not to wrap hair and pet fur. Mopping is done by a flat pad under the 350 ml water tank: a pad of this kind dampens the floor and picks up fine dust more than it scrubs. Moisture is set in the app, and on carpets the mop assembly has to be removed by hand. The robot climbs thresholds up to 2 cm.

Without a self-emptying dock, the 700 ml dust box is emptied by hand and the pad is washed after every use. The washable filter and the main brushes are cleaned every two weeks; the pad and the filter are replaced every 3-6 months, the main brushes every 6-12. A full charge takes about six hours, and the robot resumes an interrupted run by itself. Wi-Fi is 2.4 GHz only, and voice commands go through Alexa, Google Home or Siri, which need a separate speaker or phone. It suits a first robot with a map, for someone willing to empty it by hand.