An affordable robot vacuum with decent performance is hard to come by, so I’ve been testing the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2, and it ticks all the boxes (if you have the right flooring)

The Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 comes with an affordable sub-$300 price tag and impressive performance on hard flooring, making it an ideal option for an entry-level robot vacuum, but is it the best robot vacuum you can buy? No, but the price tag makes it far more appealing.

It has a sleek, compact design, but can hold 90 days of dust in the base station. The easy-to-use app also makes the experience a breeze, and the fast mapping means there’s no waiting around to get started on the cleaning. But the low suction power means it’s not the best choice for carpet, and the mopping function is very basic and won’t be suitable for busy and messy homes.

To find out if this could be the best fit for you if you’re looking for your first robot vacuum, keep reading this full Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review.

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Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Specs

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Price & availability

The Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 is available to purchase at Amazon for $299 / £179. This makes it one of the most affordable self-emptying robot vacuums you can get your hands on, but is it worth your money? Well, after testing, I was impressed with its capabilities on hard floors, and that price point is stellar.

The most affordable robot vacuum I’ve tested is the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Pro, which costs $199, but it doesn't have a self-emptying dock like the Dreame D10, so the Dreame is worth a little bit extra for that added convenience.

When on hard floors, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 cleans like some far more expensive robovacs, such as the Roborock Qrevo Curv, priced at $1,799. However, the Roborock has extra features like smart home compatibility and three times the suction power of the Dreame. But if you want something that looks like the Qrevo Curv for a fraction of the price, the D10 Plus Gen 2 can tick that box.

The Lefant M210 Pro Omni, for example, was infuriating to use and costs $999 — whereas the Dreame is a literal dream for a fraction of the price. But it even does better than some robot vacuums in a similar price range, like the EZVIZ RS20 Pro.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Design

The Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 is sleek and looks great in my house. Design-wise, the base and robot are both white with gold accents. Compared to other robot vacuums with docking stations, like the Roborock QV 35S ($749), the Dreame is small, but it doesn’t have a water tank emptying system in the base. Instead, the base simply houses a dust bag, and any water needs to be manually refilled in the robot’s onboard tank.

The base station measures 16.8 x 15.9 x 11.7 inches and isn’t invasive at all. Since it’s quite short, it looks relatively unobtrusive when compared to others. It weighs 8.3 pounds, so when I was deciding where to place it and moving around the house, it didn’t feel like a chore. The robot measures 13.8 x 13.8 x 3.8 inches, which is standard, and lines up with most other robot vacuums on the market. Again, this isn’t too heavy and weighs 7.1 pounds.

On board, the robot has a dust bin with a capacity of 14.1 fluid ounces, and this self-empties into the larger 33.8-fluid-ounce dust bag. The robot also has a detachable water tank with a capacity of 5.3 fluid ounces.

The mop attaches directly to the water tank with velcro backing. This is easy to remove between uses for washing. If you’d rather ditch the mop altogether and simply use the Dreame as a vacuum, then you can remove the whole water tank unit with the flip of a switch on each side. This is automatically recognised in the app and will disable controls for the mopping function.

Debris, like hair, is picked up with a rubber roller brush. Some hair got tangled up, but the vacuum has a dual-ended brush and cutter for detangling. This is conveniently stored under the hood of the robot vacuum, which flips up to reveal the internal dustbin.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: App

The Dreame home app is one of my favorites to use. It‘s very smooth with no lag, and everything is labelled, so the app is easy to navigate. I was able to control all the settings for the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2, including suction power, water flow, and mapping.

This app is free to download from the app store on Android or iOS, and if you have a few different products from Dreame, it’s easy to control your smart home from here after linking the product with your Wi-Fi, which only took me a couple of minutes to set up.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Mapping

The mapping process with the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 was straightforward, and much like all other robot vacuums I’ve tested, I simply hit a button, and it set off on a journey to log where everything is.

I was surprised at how quickly the Dreame mapped the space — and it was accurate. Obstacle avoidance is a little hit or miss (literally). The robot would bump into new obstacles, but it was quite gentle, so it didn’t do any damage, although it hit my leg a few times. But if there’s extra clutter you want the vacuum to avoid, you can set up no-go zones in the app.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Cleaning

Like most other robot vacuums, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 excels on hard floors. It has a suction power of 6,000Pa, which isn’t very impressive when you consider the Roborock QV 35S has a power of 10,000Pa, and the Lefant M210 Pro OMNI has 18,000Pa of suction. But 6,000Pa gets the job done on hardwood flooring. The cheaper Ecovacs Deebot N20 also performed well on hard floors, but doesn’t have the perks of a docking station.

With other robot vacuums, you can select how many times the robot passes over the room while cleaning, but the Dreame only does one pass of the floor with each clean. You can, however, adjust the suction power (up to 6,000Pa) and/or water flow to achieve a deeper clean.

Vacuuming

I tested the vacuuming capabilities of the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 against our standardized lab testing criteria. While it was impressive for its budget price, it struggles on high-pile carpet. I used the highest suction level for this testing.

Hardwood floor:

This is where the robot vacuum performed the best, as you can see from the results table below. The rotating side brush flings around the bigger debris like Rice Krispies, but the Dreame did a good job of chasing them down and picking them up afterwards.

This performed better than a lot of more expensive vacuums on the market, and impressed me with its ability to deal with hair on the floor with ease

Low-pile carpet:

Here we start to see the robot vacuum suffer from lower-rated suction power. The Dreame struggled to pick up hair from the floor. However, it did a great job of dealing with solid debris.

This means that the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 is one to skip for pet owners with animals that shed a lot. I wish there were an option to make the vacuum do multiple passes of the room. I think this would have improved our res

High-pile carpet:

This is the toughest challenge for any robot vacuum, but with a suction power of 6,000Pa, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 never really stood a chance. As you can see from the results below, it struggles with hair pick-up, and smaller things like flax seeds evade the suction too.

Mopping

The Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 has a 5.2 fluid ounce water tank on board. This needs to be filled and emptied after every use to ensure the upkeep of the robot. This doesn’t use any cleaning detergent, so it carries out a very basic clean and is more for a first point of call when wiping up messes.

I put some soy sauce, mayonnaise, and muddy footprints on the floor and let them dry down. While the robot was able to mop some of it up, there was still residue on the floor afterwards. The Dreame would be great for more innocent spills, like juice or soda on hard floors that don’t require any scrubbing, but for anything more intense, you’ll need to grab the mop and bucket.

For a robovac that can provide a deeper clean when mopping, look to the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 ThermaCharged NeverTouch ($1,199), which has detergent in the water tank. This robot vacuum also self-fills and empties the water, and it cleans and dries the mop pad on the dock. This is a far better option if you want something to make your floors sparkling without any additional elbow grease — but the convenience comes with a bigger price tag.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Storage & maintenance

For storage, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 just requires you to find a place where the dock is accessible to the vacuum but out of the way to keep your home clutter-free. Although this can be made a little harder by the short power cord.

If you’re using the mopping function on the vacuum, you’ll need to remove and wash the mop attachment, but this is easy enough, as it can be thrown in the washing machine and attaches easily with velcro. Otherwise, the vacuum is self-sufficient for up to 90 days according to Dreame, although this will depend on how regularly you use it. The small bin onboard the vacuum automatically empties into the 33.8-fluid-ounce dust bag in the docking station.

A spare dust bag is included with the vacuum, which needs to be swapped out. You can purchase spare dust bags from Amazon. Just make sure they’re compatible with the specific vacuum model.

Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 review: Verdict

Overall, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 is a helpful addition if you live in a home with all hardwood flooring. This is where the robot vacuum really excels since it has a suction power of 6,000Pa, which isn’t enough for carpet.

A sleek and minimal design makes this vacuum seem like a part of the furniture, and since it self-empties with storage for up to 90-days, you can literally forget about the clean-up for months at a time (which is my ideal of a great cleaning companion). I also liked that the app is easy to use.

The affordable price tag makes this model more appealing, but with it comes some sacrifices, like that suction power. And the basic mop function won’t suit anyone with pets or small children who create sticky messes.

But with that said, the Dreame D10 Plus Gen 2 is a great option for an entry-level vacuum that won’t break the bank.