Dreame L60 Ultra PE Review: A Strong Mid-Range Robot Vacuum

Introduction

The Dreame L60 Ultra PE is the mid-range choice in the new L60 family, which also includes the L60 Pro Ultra, the L60 Ultra, and the L60 Ultra FE. The PE and the FE are both value models in the family, but they have different feature sets and a few different testing scores in important areas. The Ultra PE retails for a few hundred dollars less than the Pro Ultra and the Ultra. The L60 family is the follow-up to the very successful L50 Ultra, which held a top spot in rankings for several months.

Vacuuming Performance

The vacuum uses Dreame’s Vormax suction with a rating of 30,000 pascals, and it comes with the Hyper Stream Duo brush. The side brush also resists hair tangles and extends to the side for coverage in corners that a fixed side brush won’t reach. In a deep clean carpet test, where sand is embedded into a medium pile carpet, it scored way above the average with 94%. This was the second highest score of all time in that test, out of a data set of nearly 200 robots. It also scored a rare 100% in a flattened pet hair pickup test.

The duo brush design is tapered at one end to funnel long hair into the dust bin so that it doesn’t get tangled. This design has done very well in tests with an almost perfect track record, and 0% of the hair got wrapped around the brushes. The FE version, by comparison, comes with Dreame’s tri-cut brush, which is a single brush with teeth that slice hair. While the FE did all right with 7% of the hair wrapping, results from the tri-cut design have been mixed. So, if long hair is a factor for you, the HyperStream dual brush is a feature you might want to look for in a Dreame robot.

The L60 Ultra PE was good at its primary job of sweeping debris of varying sizes from the surfaces of both hard floors and carpet with only a small amount of scattering of fine debris on hard floors. It also performed right at the average in a crevice test.

Obstacle Avoidance

Obstacle avoidance is another pro for the Ultra PE, and this is an area where the differences between the PE and the FE are significant. In the Ultra PE, obstacle avoidance is a multi-technology stack with an AI-powered camera and 3D time-of-flight sensors. The FE, by comparison, is equipped with a simple laser system, and this made a huge difference in tests. Where the PE model got an incredible score by avoiding 21 total objects out of 24, the FE version got the worst score on record for a robot vacuum with obstacle avoidance.

Another feature of the Ultra PE is that it has more advanced threshold handling than the FE version. The Ultra PE is able to climb a single threshold of 22 mm and an additional 18 mm for a tiered threshold, while the FE is only rated for a single threshold of 20 mm. In tests with single thresholds, the Ultra PE was able to cross 19 mm without any problem, but it failed at 25 mm. So, you’ll want to think of that 22 mm single limit as a pretty firm number with more advanced options showing up in the L60 Ultra and Pro Ultra.

Mopping Performance

The mop is another pro. It has a dual spinning mop pad design and the pad spins at 165 RPM using 13 Newtons of downward pressure. One of the mops extends to the side for coverage along the edges of walls and furniture and the pads lift 10 and 1/2 mm over carpet. This means that the robot can clean a mix of hard floors and carpets without having to do the vacuuming and mopping separately.

The stain removal test was one place where the Ultra FE performed better and the Ultra PE scored a little below the average. It did use a very small amount of water even when retested and cranked up to its highest setting and this low water usage probably made the stain removal less effective. Low water output is generally a good thing because a lot of water left behind on the floor can cause streaking, but in this case a little more water probably would have been a good thing. In any case, its combined mopping score was still a good amount above the average and it was even slightly above the X60 Max Ultra Complete, which has held a top spot in recent weeks.

Navigation and Battery

Navigation was a pro. The entire L60 family uses a top mounted spinning lidar in order to map and route the cleaning path. Routing was efficient and the robot covered more square meters per minute than the average. This helps the robot move around more effectively, which prevents wasted effort and battery life. And while the battery efficiency itself was just below the average, the efficient navigation brought up the square feet covered per charge to be just above the average. This model supports recharge and resume as well as fast charging in the dock, which helps offset some of those average numbers.

The Dock and App Experience

Speaking of the dock, that was another pro and the base stations across the L60 line have a lot of strong upgrades. The L60s all use boiling water to clean the mop pads, so that bacteria and grime do not build up and cause odors. Hot air drying also supports cleaner mop pads, and the dock self-cleans with boiling water as well. The robot empties debris into a disposable bag, which Dreame says has up to 100 days before it needs replacing, and a mop water tank automatically refills with clean water and detergent.

Dreame’s app is a big pro, and it’s one that is really easy to use. The interface is intuitive, and the features get pretty granular as far as robot controls and customizations. In addition to schedules, robot settings, and room edits like no-go and no-mop zones, you can set the robot to clean along the direction of the floor to prevent the appearance of streaks. The robot has an onboard voice assistant for verbal commands, and it supports Matter protocol for smart home integration.

Things to Consider

Something that was noticed with this model that’s not a con exactly is in a bench test for suction and air flow. Both the suction and the air flow for this model were low, a little more than half the average, but since this had no negative effect in its performance in vacuuming tests, it appears that this is not a real problem, just something picked up in testing. The L60 vacuums in general also have a fairly small dust bin, which can be a problem for homes with a lot of bulky debris.

Buying Advice

Even with a handful of average scores, the L60 Ultra PE was an impressive robot, and it was all the more so for its price range. These results sent the L60 Ultra PE straight to the top of a top 20 robot vacuum list. The L50 Ultra was a reigning champion for several months, so it’ll be interesting to see if the L60 Ultra PE can hold a spot at the top as long as its predecessor did. This was a strong vacuum with very capable obstacle handling, and it’s a good candidate for homes with a lot of cables and other sorts of small clutter on the floor.

Conclusion

The Dreame L60 Ultra PE is a strong mid-range robot vacuum that excels at vacuuming performance and obstacle avoidance. Its feature-rich dock and intuitive app add significant value. While it has a few average scores in areas like stain removal and battery efficiency, its overall performance and price point make it a compelling choice for many homes.