Dreame innovations: The vacuum cleaner lies flat, the robot extends brushes

Just in time for the IFA tech fair, which starts on 6 September, Dreame is launching two new vacuum cleaners on the market, both of which play in the upper league in terms of features and price and offer exciting innovations.

L40 Ultra: Robot extends mop and brush

The new L40 Ultra is specially designed for thorough cleaning of edges and borders. To do this, it can not only extend the side brush, but also raise it. This allows dust and crumbs to be wiped out of corners and under edges and then vacuumed up by the robot. If the brush is not needed, for example on carpets, the robot pulls it upwards. The combination of these two features was previously only available on Dreame's most expensive model, the X40 Ultra Complete.

One of the two round mops can also be extended to the side so that the edges of the room are actually mopped. The damp mops can be raised by 10.5 millimetres so that they are not dragged across the floor when not in use. If the L40 Ultra vacuums larger areas such as carpets where mops are not needed, they can simply be dropped into the base station, deposited there and automatically docked back on later. This is also practical if the floor is only being vacuumed.

The L40 Ultra offers a comprehensive range of features: the dust is extracted in the base station, the water is topped up and the mops are cleaned with water heated to 65 degrees and then dried with hot air. The robot is said to be able to recognise and avoid over 100 different obstacles. In addition, the suction power has been increased again compared to its predecessor - from 7300 Pa to 11,000 Pascal. This is almost as much as the top-of-the-range X40 Ultra model, which offers 12,000 pascals.

The Dreame L40 Ultra will be available from 6 September. The manufacturer's recommended retail price is 1099 francs.

H14 Pro: also cleans under (not too low) furniture

The H14 Pro is the counterpart to the robot hoover, so to speak - but for manual operation. In other words, it vacuums and mops wet, but you have to push and navigate it yourself. The big innovation with the new model is that you can fold the wet and dry vacuum cleaner flat and lay it on the floor. The water tanks are designed so that no water leaks out.

This allows you to mop under furniture. The brush head is 9.8 centimetres high, but the housing with the tank is 14 centimetres high. Depending on the situation, this may not be enough, for example if you have a sofa or bed that you have to push the vacuum cleaner completely under. You cannot extend the brush head on any of these wet and dry vacuum cleaners in stick form.

For comparison: the new robot vacuum cleaner with its 10.4 centimetre height has a better chance. My normal hoover with hose and nozzle is only eight centimetres high. After all, the previous Dreame models and many other wet and dry vacuum cleaners cannot be laid flat at all.

The H14 Pro vacuums with a maximum of 18,000 Pascal. A fresh water tank with 880 millilitres and a waste water tank with 650 millilitres are integrated. There is also a separate tank for cleaning solution with 120 millilitres.

The brush can then be automatically cleaned and dried on the base station. You can read about how this works with the predecessor, which cannot be folded, in this test:

The H14 Pro will be launched in mid-September and will then also be available in our shop. The manufacturer's recommended retail price is 649 francs. <p