GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb: two-minute review
The GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs are a fantastic addition for anyone looking to add some smart and (per the name) dynamic lighting to their smart homes. While GE offers all sorts of different lighting options, the smart bulbs comes in two versions: A19 and B30. The first, reviewed here, fits into most traditional light fixtures, while the B30 is ideal for recessed lighting.
You don’t need a hub for the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs, so adding them into a smart home is pretty straightforward. That said, they are limited to certain ecosystems – a minor travesty in this day and age where Matter certification is becoming more widely adopted.
Overall though, the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs belong in the conversation for the best smart lights due to, not only their easy implementation, but the wide range of colors and effects on offer.
The A19 bulbs fit most standard light fixtures (Image credit: James Holland)
Physically, the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs look like most smart bulbs in that they keep the same basic shape of the bulb form factor. The outer part of the bulb is an opaque white while the lower portion towards the base is covered in a matte white casing presumably covering the more digital components of the bulb.
The A19 version reviewed here is on par with a 60 watt light bulb ,offering 800 lumens in terms of brightness with a color temperature of 2,700k. Since this is a bulb with a focus on dynamic lighting, there are 16 million colors and white tones available, and the brightness can be fully adjusted.
The GY Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs offer 16 million colors to choose from, and different temperatures of white light (Image credit: James Holland)
Likewise, pairing the light bulb is very easy and straightforward, consisting of physically installing the bulb, turning on the lamp, and going through the setup prompts on the Cync app. Having dealt with a number of smart bulbs over the years, I have found that cheaper ones (aka budget brands) can have connectivity issues during pairing and sometimes even during use.
The GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects bulb might be a little spendy compared to other models, but its connectivity is rock solid. In fact, the closest I‘ve had to any issue is a second or two of lag when turning off through the app, but that’s only if the light’s been on for a while.
Setting up the bulbs using the mobile app is refreshingly straightforward (Image credit: James Holland)
I also tested it with Alexa The setup took just a few steps, and Alexa responded quickly to my voice commands. Unfortunately, this smart bulb only has access to Google Home and Alexa. While that accounts for a good number of smart home ecosystems, it leaves plenty of people in the cold, something that Matter certification would help with, and which isn't on offer here. What’s surprising is that GE does have some Matter-supported bulbs, such as in the reveal and direct connect models.
The GE Cycle Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs work with Alexa and Google Assistant, but not Apple HomeKit (Image credit: James Holland)
Most of the magic for this smart bulb is accessible via the app. Each installed light bulb shows up as its own entry in the app, and shows up as a boxy tile with an on/off toggle and a slider to adjust brightness. Tapping the tile doesn’t open more menu diving as one would expect. Instead, you’ll end up turning the light on or off depending on its current setting.
To dig deeper, there’s a little inward pointing arrow at the edge of the icon that, when pressed, moves the tile to the side to reveal four smaller icons. The first gives access to a color wheel where you can really fine-tune the color you want. If there aren’t 16 million colors available here, then it’s probably close. There are some other options in this section of the app where you can just select some preset lighting including different shades of white and some basic colors.
The app allows you to set a color for the whole bulbs, or divide it into sections (Image credit: James Holland)
I won’t say shame on you if you stick to these settings, but you’re missing out on what this light bulb can do if you don’t go beyond that. The second of the four smaller icons allows you to subdivide the lightbulb into four differently colored sections for when you want to get a little wild, but still want static lighting.
The third icon is probably the most unique to the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb as this is where the actual dynamic effects are available. First, it should be noted that the dynamic effects are subdivided into two sections of effects, selectable by pressing on ‘light shows’ or ‘music shows’ at the bottom.
Whichever is selected will show a number of presets already loaded onto the bulb, as well as a section of other presets to explore and preview that can be downloaded as well. All the dynamic effects can be customized, though the level of customization depends on the effect itself. Usually, you can change the brightness and selected colors used (many of the presets cycle through different colors for their effects) at the minimum.
The bulb's 'light shows' are a fun addition, and all dynamic effects are customizable (Image credit: James Holland)
The light shows are fun, but are a bit more static than the music shows, which use the microphone on your smartphone (and you can select the sensitivity) to respond to aural stimulus. It’s really cool to see the smart bulb change color and intensity according to the dynamics of a song. The only minor issue is that it responds much better with the volume up. So, when I have a music show effect loaded and am listening to music at a comfortable level that one could talk over, the effect only seems to respond to the peaks of the audio and is off otherwise. To get the full experience, I have to turn up. While cool, I have to consider my neighbors when choosing to turn it up.
Lastly, the fourth icon is for settings. While I won’t spend too much time on this, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a feature here called ‘Trueimage’ that lets you take a picture to set as the background of the smart bulb tile, and preview changes even if you're not in the same room.
TrueImage is a tool that lets you preview changes to the color of your smart bulbs even when you're in a different room (Image credit: James Holland)
The Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb looks great, whether on a white light setting – regardless of the warmth (I do like to go warmer) – or one of the dynamic effects with its full color array.
Really, the only shortcomings of this light bulb is the lack of Matter support. While somewhat expensive on a per-bulb basis, it’s not an unreasonable price. And, the dynamic effects are worth the cost.
GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb: specs
GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb: price and availability
Prices start at $19.99 (about £20 / AU$40)
Available now
Available in the US and Canada
Getting a two-pack of the A19 size direct from GE will run you $37.99, while a single bulb costs $19.99 MSRP. Their availability is limited to the US and Canada, as they unfortunately do not work in the UK or Australia. The B30 is priced very similarly with a single bulb, though it’s listed at a range from around $17 to $26 depending on the retailer.
Pricewise, the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs are a little on the higher end, considering that a two-pack of the Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb goes for $23.99 / £23.39. Of course, there are some trade-offs, particularly the fact that the Govee’s brightness and the app design could be better.
However, $20 a bulb is not an inappropriate price point. Nanoleaf Matter Essentials costs $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$39.99 for an A19 bulb. While Nanoleaf’s app is a bit buggy compared to the rock-solid setup of the GE Cync, it does come with Matter certification is more universal in application.
Should you buy the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb?
Buy it if
You want dynamic effects
The dynamic effects available here are a treat, especially the ones that respond to audio, and set it apart from the competition. Get enough of these and you could probably throw your own rave.
You want easy connectivity
This smart bulb is incredibly easy to set up and use, not to mention that its connectivity is rock solid.
Don't buy it if
You don’t want to spend too much
At about $20 per bulb, the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb is on the pricier end. If you’re trying to stretch your budget (maybe you’re trying to get a bunch of bulbs), there are plenty of smart bulbs that are much more affordable.
GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulb: also consider
Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb
If you’re on a budget, the Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb might be the way to go. Sure, the colors could be a little brighter and the app could be better designed, but you can get two Govee bulbs for almost the price of one GE Cync smart bulb. The Govee likewise supports Google Home and Alexa.
The Nanoleaf Matter Essentials might need a hub for Apple HomeKit, but it's Matter-certified, meaning that you can use it with any smart home ecosystem. If you have something outside of Google Home or Alexa, that immediately puts it above the GE Cync bulbs. On the flip side, their setup is not quite as rock solid as the GE Cync’s.
How I tested the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs
Tested over a couple weeks
Tested all the different features including multiple dynamic effects
Used with a voice assistant
I spent a couple weeks using the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects Smart Bulbs to get an idea of how they function against how they’re advertised and to see if they’re worth the price. I tested the various presets, from static colors to various dynamic effects. I even connected it with Alexa to see how it would work with a voice assistant.
After having tested the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Smart Bulbs, I found them to be ideal for those who want a little extra from smart lighting, particularly those engrossing dynamic effects.
I’ve spent the last few years reviewing all sorts of gadgets from audio equipment and robot vacuums to laptops and more with a detailed eye on whether the product works as advertised and is beneficial to those who might be interested in it. For more details, see how we test, rate, and review at TechRadar.
Dreame Technologies hasn’t been around long but, since its inception in 2017, the brand has made some excellent robot vacuums, including the Dreame L20 Ultra. The X40 Ultra succeeds the older model (as well as the X30 Ultra), bringing much-improved intelligence and tracking compared to lesser bots, as well as a fairly unique collection of features. For those who want something slightly cheaper, it's well worth checking out our Dreame L40 Ultra review.
Like most robovacs, the X40 Ultra handles both vacuuming and mopping and comes with a base station that empties the robovac’s dustbin, dispenses water, and cleans the mopping system. Where it stands out is the ability to leave the mop pads behind when vacuuming, the automatic dispensing of floor-cleaning fluid, the wide array of sensors, and the ability to recognize a large number of objects using its cameras.
Getting the X40 Ultra up and running is relatively simple, and upon first activation, it will map your home with an array of sensors. The test space for this review was my own home with a built-in area of 80 sqm, and it took the bot about 10 minutes to poke its robotic nose into every room. The quality of the resulting map is excellent, and any adjustments are easy to make within the Dreamehome app. The X40 is great at identifying and avoiding obstacles like shoes or cables and can even recognize your pets and give them space when cleaning. While very functional overall, the app can be a little clunky at times, like lack of consistency in how navigation gestures work, and a convoluted layout to reach certain settings.
If activating a scheduled or single-time clean, selecting CleanGenius mode lets the robovac use its own smarts to decide exactly what is needed, and it will vacuum, mop, and go back over areas as it sees fit. While the results were good, I found the robovac went a bit overboard and wanted to mop my polished wooden floors every day. Instead, I set a schedule for a daily vacuum and reduced mopping to once a week. I also configured shortcuts in the app to trigger custom cleanups, like an extra vacuum or mop by the front or back door for when my dog walked in with muddy paws.
The X40 Ultra is equipped with an extendable and liftable side brush for getting into corners and under furniture, plus dual spinning mop pads – one of which can also protrude further out as needed. The mop pads are magnetically attached, so the bot can leave them behind at the base station when vacuuming carpets, avoiding any chance of spreading damp mop water or contamination.
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After three months of daily use, it’s hard to find fault with the vacuuming prowess of the X40. It works equally well on hard floors, carpets, or rugs, and the extendable brush does a great job of getting into corners and cleaning debris from along walls. The spinning extendable mops are likewise very effective, and the X40 Ultra can keep your floors shiny or quickly get rid of sticky messes. It also very thoroughly cleans the mop pads with hot water – then dries them with hot air – to avoid odors. Overall, the wearing parts on the X40 Ultra (like the mop pads, filters, and corner brush) are fairly robust and don’t need to be replaced too often.
Importantly, it has pet feces detection – and it really does work – which allows the robovac to spot and avoid any accidents, ensuring you won’t come home to a horror show of smeared messes. It can also detect wet patches, so it won’t spread or vacuum over any puddles it encounters.
As great as the robot itself is, the suction on the auto-empty station is a bit weak. I found I had to change the bag more often than expected – and these can get quite expensive. The X40 Ultra itself is not cheap – it’s one of the more expensive models on the market – but when you compare the actual technology and features included, it provides decent value overall.
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Dreame X40 Ultra review: Price and availability
How much does it cost? Starting from $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,799
When is it available? Available to buy now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
The Dreame X40 Ultra was announced in May 2024 and can be bought directly from the Dreame website if your country has a local online storefront or from authorized local retailers, which can include Amazon. It has a rather steep asking price of $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,799 and, so far, has only attracted modest discounts. That said, it shouldn’t be too long before we start seeing worthwhile discounts, which would make the X40 Ultra worth investing in if you want a complete and autonomous cleaning solution for your floors.
However, using the X40 Ultra will incur ongoing costs, specifically the replaceable dust bags. I’ve included the accessories pricing below for the US, UK, and Australia. Notably the Dreame website doesn’t sell the side brush in the US, or the brush cover in Australia. You can also get a kit that contains 2x dust bags, 2x dust filters, 1x main brush, 2x side brushes, 6x mop pads – rather useless ratios of these consumables as they don’t match the usage rates.
For households like mine that have people (or pets) with long hair, Dreame sells an optional TriCut brush that’s designed to shred hair and avoid tangles and clogs. This upgrade does a much better job at keeping hair from tangling compared to the standard brush, and I think it’s well worth the added $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$199.95 – though Aussie buyers pay a very steep premium compared to the US and UK.
If you don’t need all the features offered by the X40 Ultra, or have a simple home layout with few obstacles, then a cheaper robovac like the Dreame L10s Ultra or D10 Plus may be a better buy. You can also opt for options from Ecovacs, with some models like the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus ($649.99 / £499 / AU$999) and Ecovacs DEEBOT T20 Omni ($1,099.99 / £951.65 / AU$1,799) offering good value for money.
The X40 Ultra has a fairly standard design and complements the typical round robovac form factor with a base station for charging, dustbin emptying, floor-cleaner dispensing, mop washing and drying – plus containers for clean and dirty mop water. In the box, you get the robovac itself (including mop pads), the base station, two dust bags, a cleaning tool, and 200ml (6.7 ounces) of floor-cleaning solution. Setting it up is very easy – the base station needs the ramp attached, but otherwise, it’s ready to go once plugged in and charged. After installing the app, you scan a QR code on the robovac, and it walks you through the rest of the process in just a few minutes.
The base station is tall (60cm / 24-inches) but relatively skinny (35cm / 14-inches) and only needs 5cm (2 inches) of clearance on each side. The dust bag and floor cleaner dispenser are hidden under a front-opening cover on the dock, while the mop water is accessed from under a hatch on the top – meaning it’s not suited for placement under a bench. Dreame will also soon release an optional kit to allow the base station to be plumbed into a fresh-water supply and a waste-water outlet, enabling the mop water changes to be fully automatic. The availability of this kit is to be confirmed.
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The robovac sports a multitude of sensors to help navigate your home, ensure the best clean, and avoid any pets or places where it could get stuck. The front of the bot has two cameras (one infrared), as well as 3D Dual-Line Laser sensors and LED headlights. The underside has a carpet sensor, along with downward-facing cliff sensors to detect steps or other drops. The sides of the robovac have edge sensors, and on top, it features a microphone and a laser distance sensor (LDS). All these work together to allow the bot to recognize over 120 different types of objects – including obstacles like cables that could cause a tangle when vacuuming.
The X40 Ultra offers four suction levels – Quiet, Standard, Turbo, Max, and Max+ – with up to a very high 12,000Pa of pull. Notably, the highest suction level (Max+) is only available for a one-off clean and can’t be used with a schedule or a customized shortcut clean. This means the full advertised suction (up from the X30 Ultra’s 8,300Pa) feels like marketing spin, rather than an actually useful upgrade.
The robovac can extend its side brush to get deep into corners, clean along edges or under the lip of low furniture – and even lift it to avoid spreading liquids. The bot can also magnetically drop and pick up the mop pads from the base station, giving it extra cleaning flexibility. While the bot can lift the pads when vacuuming carpet, the clearance is 10.5mm (0.4 inches), so for deeper carpet piles or rugs, leaving the mop pads behind ensures there’s no chance of dampness or cross-contamination. The right-hand side mop pad is also extendable – meaning the X40 Ultra can reach into corners, mop along the edges of kitchen cabinets, or even clean a little way under the edge of low appliances like a fridge.
Design score: 4 / 5
Dreame X40 Ultra review: Performance
Somewhat noisy at full power
Amazing obstacle recognition
Weak base station automatic emptying
Overall, the X40 Ultra does a very thorough job of vacuuming and mopping – and aside from picking up larger debris by hand and the occasional spot clean, I didn’t have to do any extra floor cleaning myself. The robovac has a CleanGenius mode that lets it choose the cleaning parameters for you – though I found it mopped much too frequently, and I preferred using the scheduled cleaning function (as well as shortcuts) to create my own customized cleaning regime.
The X40 Ultra isn’t especially fast, and during my testing, it took around 1 minute per square meter when vacuuming, and takes about the same amount of time to mop. That said, it can vacuum and mop at the same time if needed, which allows for a quicker cleaning run. The 6,400mAh battery is rated to provide up to 198 minutes of vacuuming and mopping at Standard suction strength, covering up to an area of 308m² (3,315ft²) in Quiet mode. It’s a little frustrating that Dreame rates the runtime and area coverage at different vacuum power levels – the exact amount of coverage per charge depends on your specific home and cleaning settings. During my testing, the X40 Ultra was able to vacuum my small 80m² two-bedroom home at Max suction level, then do a full mop, and still have 80% charge remaining. Extrapolating from that, I think it will have no trouble cleaning up to 200m² per charge.
Overall performance score: 4 / 5
Mapping and obstacle avoidance
After setup, the X40 created a very accurate map of my home – with no adjustments needed in the app aside from giving rooms specific names. When vacuuming, the array of sensors and cameras does a great job of spotting anything on the floor, and it’s especially careful to stay clear of anything that might cause a tangle – like shoelaces or cords. Handily, the bot records a picture (viewable in the app) of any obstacle it encounters, making it easy to move it before the next clean.
The X40 Ultra has the smarts to recognize your pets (in my case, just the paws of a Great Dane) and will keep clear if it spots them snoozing. It records a few pictures of any interactions – viewable in the cleaning log via the app – so you can see how your pet reacts to the vacuum. It’s also possible to set up zones for the robovac to stay out of, like around a pet's bed or feeding area. Even more importantly, the robovac can recognize any pet droppings and will steer well clear when cleaning. My dog doesn’t make any messes at home, so I faked a test using food, and the X40 Ultra had no trouble identifying the fake feces and dutifully stayed well clear.
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Using the app, you can also stream live video from the robovac’s main camera while it’s working, or take over and remotely steer it – though this can be a bit laggy. You can also command the bot to navigate to a specific spot in your home, use it to have a two-way conversation, or even have it automatically search for your pets and snap a picture.
Impressively, the robovac only got stuck twice in three months of testing – and both times were my fault. The first time was because it half-ingested a USB-C cable I had knocked down next to the base station, and the second was from vacuuming up a loose tile in my (very old) bathroom. In both cases, no damage was caused, as the bot knew it was stuck and waited patiently until freed.
Overall, the X40 Ultra did an amazing job of navigating my home and had no problem cleaning around always-changing obstacles – big and small – left in its way. It’s a great choice for anyone with a busy, complex home, or if you don’t want to have to worry about picking every last thing up from the floor before cleaning.
Mapping and obstacle avoidance score: 4.5 / 5
Vacuuming
I tested the X40 on polished wooden floors, as well as tiles and rugs. Aside from vacuuming every day for three months, I also performed a number of specific tests to gauge how effective the robovac is at cleaning up a variety of spills and debris types. I used flour, sand, rice, oats, dry dog food, and some dry leaves – scattered in a corner on hard floors and then on a short-pile rug.
Whether on carpet or hard floors, the flour, rice, oats, and leaves were 90% (or more) cleaned up after one pass – and fully gone after two. The dry dog food was all sucked up in one go, while the sand took three passes to capture it all (although a few grains remained on the rug). Importantly, the X40 Ultra’s side brush is relatively slow-spinning, so it doesn’t tend to flick any material away from the vacuum. Anything larger than about 10mm x 8mm (0.4 inches x 0.3 inches) will generally be recognized and avoided by the robovac, as it could get stuck behind the main brush.
I found that the standard vacuum level is fine for picking up pet fur, dust, and light debris on hard floors – but needs to be bumped up to Turbo or Max for carpets. The higher suction modes were also best for sand, heavier dirt, or chunkier debris like oats and dry dog food. This means a daily vacuum in the standard mode with a single pass will capture almost all the lighter debris in your home, but may leave a small amount of heavier debris behind. This isn’t much of a problem, as you can customize scheduled cleans on a room-by-room basis to accommodate different needs.
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On lower suction levels, the sound isn’t too intrusive – and could be set to vacuum overnight – but with the suction turned up, the noise level is not far off a stick vacuum. Measuring at 1 meter (3.3 feet) with a decibel meter, the bot produced 43 dB on Quiet, 46 dB on Standard, 51 dB on Turbo, 55 dB on Max, and 60 dB on Max+. When the robovac is driving without vacuuming, it produces 41 dB, while mopping sits at 35 dB most of the time – with occasional peaks up to 45 dB when moving fast. The base station emptying the robovac dustbin hits 57 dB, while mop washing is 33 dB with peaks up to 50 dB when the water pump runs. These results are normal, but not particularly quiet – so you'll want to position the base station away from living areas where you relax or watch TV.
My home has two people who shed a lot of long hair, and in my testing, the side brush stayed relatively tangle-free – as did the main wheels and mop pads. The front roller does slowly collect hair – as does the main brush – though the TriCut brush (which is available to buy separately) is much better in this regard. Thankfully, both these areas are very easy to maintain, and the X40 Ultra’s design keeps the hair from getting sucked deeper into the inaccessible innards of the robovac.
Vacuuming score: 4.5 / 5
Mopping
I’m not a frequent mopper at the best of times, so I started my X40 Ultra’s testing with a deep clean – then reduced the mopping frequency to once a week – and my floors have never looked better! I found it handy to turn on an extra mopping schedule during wet weather, so areas near the front and back door were kept clean of muddy shoe and paw prints.
Like its side brush, the X40 Ultra can also extend the mop pad on the right side, and I found the robovac easily cleaned areas where a handheld mop struggled to reach. The automatically dispensed cleaning solution (a bottle is supplied in the box) also helped cut through grime in a way that robovacs using plain water can’t manage.
To further test the mopping ability, I spilled two puddles of soy sauce – one of which I allowed to dry – and also smeared wasabi paste and sticky honey on a section of tiled and wooden floor. I found that the liquid soy sauce was cleaned away in a single pass, while the thick, dried soy took two passes to remove. A third pass was needed to get the floor squeaky clean. The wasabi paste and honey both took two mopping passes to fully clean up, leaving no trace behind.
The bot washed the mop pads between each test – removing any contamination from previous cleanups. That said, the X40 Ultra is not designed to mop more than a small amount of liquid, as the pads are meant for scrubbing, not sponging.
The only issue I noticed is that the strong magnet in the mop pads (used to attach them to the vacuum) tends to pick up tiny particles of magnetic dirt. It’s normal for some dirt to be slightly magnetic (due to iron content), and this accumulates on the plastic spindle of the mop pads. The mop washing process doesn’t remove this dirt – in fact, it increases wear on the base station – and the slightly rusty residue can stain the mop pads or potentially other flooring during mopping. To avoid this, regularly wipe away any residue remaining on middle of the mop pads.
Mopping score: 4.5 / 5
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Dual scrubbing mop pads.
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The mop pads can be left behind in the base station.
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One mop pad can extend out to reach into corners and under the edge of furniture.
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The magnetic mop pad attachment can accumulate iron rich dirt.
Base station performance
Dreame rates the 3.2-liter (108 oz) dust bag in the base station for up to 75 days of use – but how long it lasts for you will depend on how large or dirty your home gets. The robovac itself has a 0.3-liter (10 oz) dust bin that is emptied by the base station as needed when full, or it can be set to empty after every room.
While I was impressed with the suction on the bot itself, the base station suction is weaker than expected. I found it didn’t always manage to fully empty the bin in the robovac, leaving debris to build up if not manually cleaned. Worse, despite all its smarts, the robovac couldn’t sense when the base station had not successfully emptied its bin – or tell that it was clogged and not vacuuming effectively. That meant it would often do an entire home vacuum while clogged and not pick up anything.
Even when the base station successfully empties the robovac’s dust bin, the low suction means the debris tends to form a clog right at the mouth of the dust bag. This clog would further reduce the suction, worsening the emptying problem. I found the situation could be somewhat alleviated by setting the base station’s auto-emptying frequency to the highest setting and occasionally manually triggering an extra empty cycle. It also helped to ensure the dust bags were very carefully installed with no folds of fabric near the inlet – or to occasionally manually shift the collected debris further into the bag. Even so, I needed to change the bags well before they were full, and I found they only lasted half as long as the 75-day rating from Dreame.
This is the main reason I would find it hard to recommend the X40 Ultra for a household with pets that shed hair (like golden retrievers or huskies) or one with a lot of debris to vacuum up – as the base station suction just isn’t powerful enough to ensure problem-free operation and economical use of the dust bags.
On the plus side, the mop washing system works very well, and I only encountered one minor downside during my testing. The base station heats water and dispenses it into the washing system, then circulates it against the mop pads while the robovac spins the mop pads against plastic scrubbers to remove any contamination. The used water is then sucked out and stored in the dirty water container, and the mop pads and cleaning system are dried using hot air to avoid any odors. The washing process is a little noisy at time, like when the pumps runs, and the drying fan does make a quiet whir for a few hours.
Base station performance score: 3 / 5
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Dreame X40 Ultra review: App control
Deep customization of scheduled cleans
Homescreen widgets and shortcuts
The app is sometimes laggy and feels unpolished
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While the X40 Ultra can be controlled in a limited way using the buttons on top of the circular bot, the app is the best option for everyday use. It makes it easy to interact with the map of your home – created immediately after setup and updated during each clean – and allows you to customize cleaning sessions. The depth of control is noticeably better than competitors such as Ecovacs, and you can fine-tune much of the robot’s day-to-day operations, as well as check the comprehensive cleaning history.
I found the layout and navigation of the app frustrating at times. For example, many frequently used options – like adjusting scheduled cleans – are buried a few layers deep in the menu system, and such settings are locked out when the robovac is in operation.
In my three months of testing, the X40 Ultra only failed to start a scheduled clean once (with no discernible reason) and completed the next day's clean without a problem. The robovac will only connect to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, and I found it sometimes had issues with a typical dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) mesh network – like you’d find in our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems. At one point, the X40 didn’t want to connect to my network, and a few times it reported low signal strength despite being right near the router. I found it much more stable to configure a dedicated 2.4GHz Wi-Fi SSID for the robovac to connect to.
While the Dreamehome app is less polished than expected for such a premium robovac, it’s not better or worse overall compared to the competition. Sure, brands like Ecovacs and Eufy offer apps that are nicer to use in many ways – but neither provides the same depth of control options, and they still suffer from lag and the occasional missed clean.
App score: 4 / 5
Dreame X40 Ultra review: Consumables and maintenance
The X40 Ultra comes with everything you need to get started right away, but there are only two dust bags included, along with one small refill of floor cleaning fluid. This means you need to either buy spare bags when purchasing the vacuum, or order them within a month or two. The X40 Ultra consumables (main vacuum brush, mop pads, floor cleaning solution, vacuum bags, side brush and robovac dust bin filters) are mostly only available via the Dreame website in the UK and Australia, whereas in the US they are easier to buy from Amazon than they are from Dreame.
The Dreame app keeps track of each cleaning session and provides an estimated remaining life (in hours) for the consumables and wearing parts. The estimates generally seem quite conservative, and I expect many parts – like the main brush – will last longer than rated and need less frequent changing than expected. Maintenance for the Dreame X40 Ultra is fairly simple and takes about 10 minutes a month. It’s not messy or difficult to do and mostly involves giving the robovac a check-over, dusting off the sensors, and removing any trapped hair if needed. The latter involves removing the main or side brush and simply sliding the wrapped hair off – and I didn’t have to cut any free during my testing.
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Extrapolating my three months of testing to a full year, and using the remaining life estimates in the Dreame app, the X40 Ultra consumables include 10 to 12 dust bags, one filter, one side brush, a container of floor cleaner, one set of replacement mop pads, and one replacement TriCut brush – adding up to around $200 / £163 / AU$500. For a larger home, this cost could easily double or triple. Notably, in Australia (where the X40 Ultra was tested for this review), the TriCut brush is 170% more expensive compared to the US and UK – so using the normal brush saves AU$150 a year.
While using the official Dreame accessories is recommended, there are third-party consumables available from online retailers like eBay and Amazon. The best are nearly indistinguishable from the official Dreame parts, while the worst are of very poor quality and won’t work correctly. Until Dreame offers affordable bulk packs of dust bags, it’s hard to pass on third-party alternatives – provided you can find good-quality ones.
Consumables and maintenance score: 3.5 / 5
Should I Buy the Dreame X40 Ultra?
Buy it if…
You want a premium robovac with the latest features There are very few competitors that can come close to matching the extensive functionality offered by the X40 Ultra.
You need excellent obstacle avoidance The X40 Ultra is very skilled at avoiding anything that might cause it to get stuck, as well as cleaning around obstacles or even accidents from your pets.
You have deep pile carpets The X40 Ultra’s party trick is being able to leave the mop pads at the base station, allowing it to vacuum through the plushest of carpets with zero chance of dampness or cross contamination.
Don’t buy it if…
You have pets that shed more than average The robovac itself is great at picking up fur and other debris, but the base station auto-empty system lacks suction and the bag needs to be changed before it’s full to avoid clogging.
You only have carpet The X40 Ultra does a fantastic job of mopping and keeping its mop pads clean, but if you don’t have much in the way of hard floors, you’ll save a lot of cash opting for a cheaper vacuum-only robovac.
You want a cheaper option The X40 Ultra is great, but it’s also one of the most expensive robovacs available. For those on a budget, there are plenty of other great options at more affordable prices.
Also consider
Not sold on the Dreame X40 Ultra? Below are a few alternatives that are worth considering.
Dreame L10s Ultra This slightly older model doesn’t have quite as many features as the X40 Ultra and isn’t as powerful, but it’s still a great option and can often be found for less than half the price. Read our full Dreame L10s Ultra reviewView Deal
Eufy Omni S1 Pro One of the few robovacs that can compete directly with the X40 Ultra, the Eufy Omni S1 Pro is a feature packed robovac with an innovative rolling cylinder mopping system. Read our full Eufy Omni S1 Pro reviewView Deal
Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo While not as good at dodging cables as the Dreame X40 Ultra, the Deebot T30S Comboi stands out with a stick vacuum that slots into the base station, keeping it ready to go for any extra cleanup. Read our full Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo reviewView Deal
How I tested the Dreame X40 Ultra
I used the X40 Ultra as my main vacuum cleaner for three months
My testing space included hard floors and carpet
I performed specific grain-size and wet-spill tests
I used the Dreame X40 Ultra daily for three months in a home with a dog and two adults. I tested the X40 Ultra on polished wooden floors, tiles, carpet, and medium-pile rugs. The weather during the test period included both wet and dry conditions. I started with an initial deep clean, followed by ongoing daily vacuuming, with mopping once or twice a week – plus extra spot cleans as needed. I tested both the automatic CleanGenius mode and customized cleans using schedules and shortcuts.
I documented cleaning performance over the testing period and conducted a range of specific tests with different debris sizes to further gauge vacuuming ability. I also tested dry and wet spills to evaluate the mopping prowess. Additionally, I strategically placed debris – including fur, leaves, and hair – in problem areas such as corners to assess the robovac’s effectiveness in daily use.
During my testing period, I changed the base station vacuum bag three times, manually cleaned the mop cleaning system in the base station, and performed the full range of maintenance checks.
Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop two-minute review
Launched to great acclaim at Europe’s biggest tech show, IFA (where it snagged two awards), the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is a successor to the brand's Freo X Ultra. Significant upgrades include dual RGB cameras, LiDAR navigation, and an increase in suction power from 8,200 to 12,000Pa. In layman’s terms, it’s better at obstacle avoidance and adaptive cleaning, plus it sucks up more dirt!
In my tests, I found the Z Ultra excelled at both mopping and vacuuming on hard floors (of which I have many) but it was less cool on carpet. To be fair, I’ve tested some of the very best robot vacuums and am yet to find one that can handle dusty carpets as well as the best manual vacuums for carpet, which always have more power and better filters.
I loved all the smart automation, which meant I didn’t have to zone off carpets to stop them getting soggy or worry about what power level or speed to set. As a germophobe I also really appreciated how hygienic this robot is; cleaning and drying itself after every session.
Its mapping powers were also great, but I would have liked a quick option for spot cleans. Many robots allow you to mark a zone on the map where there’s a spill and send the robot straight there to clean. The only way I could work out to do this was in video mode, where you can manually navigate the vacuum. The issue here was the video was glitchy about connecting and often flatly refused – not ideal if you have spilt something that could stain and needs speedy attention.
I also had a few bin-related issues, and mopping was deadly s-l-o-w, but absolutely worth the wait. Ideal for large homes with mostly hard surfaces, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra suits tech-savvy homeowners who appreciate an integrated app and can get their head around fine-tuning settings. Technophobes and the impatient (and anyone on a budget) might prefer to steer clear.
Read on for my full Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review.
Narwal Freo Z Ultra review: price & availability
List price: $1499.99 / AU$2,499
Launch date: October 2024
Availability: US / AU
The Narwal Freo Z Ultra launched in October 2024 and at time of writing is available to buy in the US and Australia, with a list price of $1,499.99 or AU$2,499. That places it firmly in the premium price bracket. There’s no getting away from it, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is a pricey robot vacuum sitting at the very top of the market in both Australia and North America. You can save a few dollars by waiting for seasonal sales (the Black Friday deals often include some big robovac price-drops).
There are two accessories pack options. Option 1 will set you back an extra $259.99, and costs of a whole raft of brushes, detergents, dust bags and mop pads. Option 2 gets you a few of the most-used accessories, for $100. You can also add a one-year extended warranty plan for $79. Buying the accessories individually will soon add up – a replacement detergent is $29.99 – so it’s worth doing the math before you decide which option to start with.
While the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is an investment appliance, it will save you a LOT of time and it’s by far the best mopping robot I’ve tested. I wouldn’t buy it purely for vacuuming, but as a combo, it might be worth the spends.
Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop specs
Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: design
Stylish robot with mopping and vacuuming skills
Large mop heads and spinning brushes for getting close to edges
Decent capacity water reservoirs
Arriving in a huge box, I needed an extra pair of hands to unload the Z Ultra and was grateful for the hand grips in the base station when positioning the heavy unit next to a power point. It comes with a simple instruction card for first-time setup, as well as a more comprehensive user manual. I used the former to install the side brushes, insert the detergent and add clean water. My daughter got a lot of satisfaction from removing a gazillion instructional stickers from both the base station and vacuum unit.
Box size comparison with 11-year-old Bonnie! (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
The design of the Freo Z Ultra, and base station, is very stylish indeed, which is just as well given that it’s hard to hide! Choose from Galaxy White or Space Gray. All the edges are softly curved and, with its two camera ‘eyes’ in the front, has the cute vibes of Pixar’s Wall-E, which is exactly how I like my robot vacuums. The various lids and covers pop off without breaking any fingernails, and everything is easy to access.
(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
Underneath, this robot has two large microfibre style mops that Velcro on, as well as two rotating side brushes that are a good length for getting into corners. The main roller brush has a rubber flipper part as well as brushes to suit both hard floors and carpets, plus its anti-hair tangle design does actually work. As I have two daughters and two spaniels who seem to molt year-round, I was delighted to swerve the odious task of cutting swathes of hair from around a roller. (Effective anti-hair wrap brushrolls are a key feature amongst the best robot vacuums for pet hair.)
One unusual feature I’ve not seen anywhere else is a fluffy baseboard duster that attaches with Velcro on one side and is designed to gather dust from the tops of your skirting boards as it goes along the edges of the room
The large mops lift up when vacuuming. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
The Narwal Freo Z Ultra’s base station has two large containers for clean and dirty water. These are are easy to lift in and out, but you'll want to make sure the dirty water reservoir’s lid is properly clipped on, or you may have to clean up a mini flood.
The dirty water bin is very satisfying to empty! (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
There’s also a dust collection bag and compartment into which to slot the bottle of floor cleaning solution that’s supplied. The bot does work without the detergent module in place, which is handy given they cost nearly $30 a pop. There’s a cool little window strip in the base that shows the water being ionized. It’s not clear why the water needs to be ionized but if you like watching bubbling water, take a peek.
Design score: 4 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: performance
Amazing at obstacle avoiding and navigation
Great at mopping, poor on carpet
Self-cleaning is great, but self-emptying hit and miss
The first job any robot vacuum has to complete is a map of the house, which this little beauty did in 17 minutes – impressive given we have quite a few little rooms, and many obstacles. (Here's more on how to prepare your house for a robot vacuum, if you're unsure.)
The mapping was precise and accurate. I liked how the map shows where the rugs and carpets are; often you have to add your own, which requires some guesswork on precise positioning. I’ll discuss the App in more depth later, but it was easy to name each room and set up no-go zones and divide rooms. Another bonus of the Freo Z Ultra is the ability to choose from a wide menu that covers mop, vacuum, mop & vacuum, and mop then vacuum. Some models I’ve tested don’t allow you to just mop.
The robovac didn't get quite as close to the edges of rooms as I'd like (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
Once I’d got to grip with the controls, I loaded up the water tank and tasked the Freo Z Ultra to vacuum and mop my entire ground floor, which is mostly engineered wood, with some terracotta, porcelain, luxury vinyl and of course rugs and carpet. Pretty diverse then.
While it was possible to set my own cleaning parameters, the Freo Z Ultra has an AI mode that uses various sensors and cameras to automatically adapt to different floor types and dirt levels. This takes the brainwork out of setting up and ended up being my go-to mode throughout my three-week trial period.
The first thing I noticed was how good the Freo Z Ultra was at obstacle avoidance – no banging into furniture or corners and no dragging cables or dog toys around the floor with it. (TechRadar's article on how robot vacuums navigate walks through the typical approaches brands use.) I never once got a message to say the roller brush was stuck, which is the usual warning that a robot has eaten something it shouldn’t! It was also excellent at powering over thresholds and the annoying chair legs I have that robot vacuums usually get grounded on, and spin like mad until sending a stuck error message.
(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
The second thing I noticed was how it doesn’t get terribly close to the edges in mopping mode. When vacuuming, I could see the little spidery side brushes pulling dog hair and dander in from the edge but in mop mode there was a clear inch or more of bone-dry flooring around the perimeter of the room and any floor-level furniture like our kitchen units and sideboard.
And on the subject of edges, I’m sorry but the little fluffy baseboard duster on the side of the robot is only going to work if you have super low baseboards. Like many heritage properties, the baseboards in our Victorian home are quite high so it doesn’t reach the tops, aka the only bits that need dusting.
The mop edging wasn't brilliant, especially alongside the kitchen kickboards. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
The Freo Z Ultra doesn’t carry any water onboard, which is unusual. Instead, it loads its mops up with warm, soapy water at the base station before heading out to clean. I was concerned this would result in dry patches of flooring, but the dampness levels were perfect – not too wet (important on real timber flooring), nor too dry.
The only downside is it has to make repeat returns to load up with more water, which can elongate the cleaning time, especially in rooms that are furthest from the base. For example, it took 1hr 19mins to mop our utility and hallway, which is an area of just 40 sq m. To vacuum and mop the whole ground floor, 68.3sq m, the Freo Z Ultra took a tedious 2h 41mins. Imagine how long it would take if I asked it to vacuum and then mop, rather than do it consecutively. I didn’t want to find out! I’ve never tested a robot that spends longer than two hours on the job.
When the robot returns to base after mopping and vacuuming, it automatically empties the bin and cleans its mop heads and then dries them. The latter takes a couple of hours but it’s incredibly quiet, so you won’t notice it. I did have to set the bin emptying to every run on the app, otherwise it clogged up and couldn’t self-empty itself. Hardly surprising given how microscopic the onboard bin is. Even then, there were a few times the bin just wasn’t self-emptying, even though it said it was, which was frustrating.
(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
There are a handful of extra features – perhaps the most interesting one being that in Video mode you can see through your robot’s 'eyes' and remote control it around your home. That means you can use it as a security bot, or to check up on pets and send it off to specific locations. This mode isn't authorized by default, you'll need to manually switch it on if you want to use it.
Cleaning tests
When it came to running our standard vacuuming tests – one using a fine mix of biscuit and flour, and another using oats to represent larger particles – the results were a mixed bag. The Freo Z Ultra did well on the hard floors, eventually anyway. It took at least three passes and full power mode to get everything up.
I used multiple ‘no-go’ zones on the map to create my 1m x 1m test area, but the robot still seemed to spend far longer cleaning around the area I had made my test spills than it did actually dealing with the mess. This led me to seriously question Narwal’s claims that it homes in on and targets dirt using its beady little cameras and sensors.
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Flour on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Flour on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Flour on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Oats on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Oats on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Oats on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
With oats on carpet, the results were middling. The robot pushed things around a fair bit and it took three runs before they were gone. The dog may have helped!
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Oats on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Oats on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Oats on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
On carpet, the fine mix removal was very disappointing. I gave up after three attempts and got my cordless vacuum out. Although this isn't great news, I'd argue that it's not often you'll experience this level of concentrated 'dust' and I was always happy with its carpet cleaning results in general.
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Flour on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Flour on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
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Flour on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
Next, I tried out the mop function by 'spilling' first Ribena juice and then ketchup, which I left to dry, on the porcelain tiles in our cloakroom (I didn’t want to risk stains on our timber floors). These results were much better, although the dried-on ketchup required two passes to complete the job. According to Narwal, this impressive mopping is achieved via dual rotating mop heads that press down with 1.2kg of force and spin at 180 RPM. Other robot mops I’ve used either just drag a static mop pad along, or have a vibrating mop, this spinning tech is the closest I’ve come to mimicking real mop work. And the results show it.
Apparently, this robot also analyses the waste water to decide if another cleaning run is required but I had to make that decision myself with the ketchup; the Freo Z Ultra thought it was done after one attempt.
To check navigational skills, our final test involves placing a sock (in a similar shade to the flooring) a shoe and a charger cable on the floor. The Freo Z Ultra absolutely nailed this test, not touching any of the objects but getting close enough to clean sufficiently around them.
All these common objects were successfully swerved. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
The Freo Z Ultra takes around 2.5 hours to charge, which is a bit speedier than normal, and has a run time of just over 2 hours 15mins (in vacuum and mop mode), which is about the standard for a high-end robot. It automatically returns to the base to charge if it runs low on juice during a cleaning cycle, which is also the norm. If I was asking it to do the whole house, it never managed on a single charge but I usually tackle the dirtiest rooms (kitchen and hallway) more frequently and that was easily done without the need to stop to recharge.
Noise-wise, I am quite noise intolerant and as I work from home, I don’t like having noisy robots rattling around the house while I am trying to focus. Happily, I found the Freo Z Ultra one of the quietest robots I’ve tested, especially in mopping mode, with my decibel meter App recording between 60-70dB max. This is way below the noise levels you would get from a regular vacuum, but if they still bother you, just schedule the robot to work while you’re out of the house.
Maintenance
I found the Freo Z Ultra easy to clean and maintain, the internal bin pops out for emptying, if it hasn’t emptied automatically into the base station, and the mop heads are automatically washed with hot water and dried after every use. This is important to prevent bacteria breeding in the mop heads and before being dragged all over your home. All this self-cleaning did mean it rattled through the clean water in the tank and I had to refill it before most cleaning runs, but that’s a small price to pay I’d argue.
Like all robot vacuums, it’s important to keep the sensors and charging contacts clean, which is an easy wipe-over task. The roller brush didn’t clog in the three-week test period, but if they had, they do clip out very easily. I also didn’t fill the dust bag in the base station but it just clips out and pops straight in the bin when full.
Narwal recommends cleaning the filter once a week, which involves clipping it out from under the top cover on the robot and tapping out the dust – simple. It should be replaced every three-six months.
(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)
Performance score: 3.5 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: app
Very easy to work out without assistance
Lots of options to customize cleaning (or not)
Mildly glitchy connection
The Narwal Freo Z Ultra app is user-friendly and intuitive (I never needed to use the Help Center), making it easy to create custom cleaning schedules, adjust settings, and monitor cleaning progress in Real Life. Make sure you connect using a 2.5GHz wi-fi link, not 5GHz.
If you love an easy life (as I do), you can clean in Freo Mind mode, which leaves all the decisions about power levels, patterns and passes to the robot. If you’re a control freak, each cleaning program comes with various adjustment options, such as mopping humidity, coverage precision, detergent use etc.
You can choose which rooms to clean, but I also liked that I could set the cleaning sequence for a full home clean. For example, I set it to start in the kitchen, then hallway, then dining room (where my desk is), so that it gets those rooms I spend most time in done first (while I’m taking the kids to school). You can also split rooms, merge rooms and add no-go zones.
The app also provides cleaning history and notifications to ensure you stay informed of cleaning progress. I did experience quite a lot of delays between opening the app and the robot syncing, but we’re only talking seconds. And it often annoyed me that there was no Spot Clean option but that may well come with a software upgrade.
App score: 4 out of 5
Should you buy the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop?
Buy it if…
You’ve got lots of hard floors
You’ll probably need to give carpets a thorough clean with a more powerful vacuum once a week or so, but you can save your mop for emergency spills – this robot has got regular mopping covered.
You want to spy on your pets
In Video mode you can see through your robot’s 'eyes' and remote control it around your home to hunt out and check up on pets while you're out.
You’ve got a messy home
While it’s always worth picking up stray toys and shoes etc. before your robot cleans, sometimes you just don’t have time. Luckily this robot has amazing obstacle avoidance – I never had issues with it its roller brush getting blocked by shoelaces or charging cables.
Don't buy it if…
You’re on a water meter
Okay, so it’s not so thirsty your water bill will rocket but you will need to refill the large water tank (and empty the dirty one) a lot, depending on area. For me, it was every full ground floor clean. You can adjust the reduce water use in the app, but I didn’t find the results as good.
You’re impatient
Frequent returns to base to wash the mopheads and replenish with clean water takes its toll on timescales. This was by far the slowest robot I’ve tested. I tended to set it going when I knew I’d be out of the house for a couple of hours.
You’ve got loads of carpet and rugs
This is robot is too expensive to not take full advantage of the mop mode, and there are more powerful suckers out there for a lot less if you have mostly carpet.
How I tested the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop
I tested the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop for three weeks on the ground floor of my four-bed historic home. With the exception of thick-pile carpet, we have all manner of flooring types from porcelain and terracotta tiles to vinyl and engineered oak. I ran the robot in various rooms, in every cleaning mode, every day and tried cleaning in both automatic smart mode and fully customized. I also set schedules and conducted controlled tests where I had the robot vacuum flour, crushed biscuits and oats from hard floors and rugs, as well as mop wet and dried on spills from the porcelain tiled floor.
The fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat blends a terrific redesign with the smart features that we've all come to expect from the company's devices. Google arguably set the bar very high back in 2011, with a control set that mirrored an iPod, and the ability to learn your cooling or heating schedule from the get-go.
Between the facelift that makes it look more like a piece of art on your wall and the 'AI' power infused into its already well-regarded learning features, the fourth-generation Learning Thermostat is a pretty easy recommendation for most folks. Even when accounting for the price increase of up to $280, the fourth-generation model is more than a bit smarter, and now includes a temperature sensor in the box as well.
I especially liked the smaller changes, including the ability to accept or decline suggested temperature changes to my schedule, but besides the design, the best functionality change is the adjustable and more helpful display. Displaying the active temperature and visual for the weather from afar, and showing highs and lows as I get close, the FarSight feature means the new Nest Learning Thermostat is useful even when I'm not using it to adjust temperatures.
Setup within the Google Home app was easy for me, but my colleagues weren't as lucky, and most of the experience with the app is pretty basic. It might be intentional, but something a bit more full-featured would have been nice. Even so, adding Matter will make the folks waiting to use a Nest natively in the Apple Home app pretty darn happy. Myself included.
As a whole, the fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat evolves into the modern age of the smart home in a successful fashion, which I think will make folks upgrading from a previous model quite happy (even though it's not plug-and-play). People new to Nest will find it to be feature-filled. That makes the decision of only releasing the fourth generation in the United States and Canada a bit more baffling.
Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen: price and availability
The Nest Learning Thermostat Fourth-Generation is available in the United States and Canada. You get your pick of Polished Gold, Polished Silver, or Polished Obsidian for $279.99 in the United States, or $379.99 in Canada. A temperature sensor is included in the box, but you can buy a single additional unit for $29.99 or a three-pack for $99.99.
As of now, there is no timeframe for when the fourth generation might launch outside the United States or Canada.
Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen: design
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
The new Nest Learning Thermostat looks stunning.
It was a simple install, though it's not plug-and-play if you're upgrading from an existing Nest.
The larger, upgraded display steals the show and navigation is still impressively simple.
While the fourth generation model still inherently operates like the original Nest Learning Thermostat that dropped way back in 2011, it’s by far the biggest redesign the device has ever received. When mounted on the wall, it looks more like a piece of art hanging than a thermostat – especially in the ‘Polished Gold’ that I’ve been testing, which gives major rosy vibes when the light hits it right.
It’s the best-looking smart thermostat around, neither screaming 'technology' nor resembling a classic plastic thermostat. It’s sort of a cross between the two, with a design that allows the true smarts of the Nest Thermostat to shine through. More on that later.
Rather than a small, thick circular thermostat that gets placed on a bracket and then a mounting plate if you so desire, the Nest Thermostat fourth-generation has a slightly larger footprint on the wall itself. That’s not a bad thing, because this circular piece is attached via the bracket to your wall, acting as the stand for the thermostat's slim and elegant main hull.
It’s kind of like a supersize Google Pixel Watch 3, with the 3.9-inch circular, almost bezel-free dome giving the impression that it’s floating. You’ll turn this whole piece to the right or left to raise or lower the temperature. Google’s design team is still adamantly against touchscreens here, so you’ll click and turn it to complete most other tasks too (including some parts of the setup process), but you'll mainly use it to adjust heating and cooling modes.
The installation was really a breeze; in my apartment in New Jersey, where I’ve been testing the fourth-generation Nest Thermostat for several months, it took me no more than about 15 to 20 minutes to install. I wasn’t upgrading from a previous Nest, but considering the plate here is a different size, you will need to swap those out if you are. That's kind of a bummer, as it’s not a super simple swap for the faithful already invested in the ecosystem.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
Still, Google provides mostly everything in the box, including the main bracket and a helpful wiring guide. Essentially, you’ll install the main steel bracket and use the included screws to get that on the wall. Then you have the thermostat base, which you’ll guide the wires through. You also get the mounting plate, which I opted to use, but that's optional.
The idea is that if you're currently using the Nest app, it will push you to use the Google Home app instead, and if you’re new, you’ll need to start with Google Home. Even if you bought the Nest Learning Thermostat for its Matter capability so you can use it with Apple's Home app (which does work eventually), you need to start with Google Home. Luckily, the team brought the easy installation help to the Google app, which will perform some checks, including a test of heating and cooling modes.
Once it's set up in Google Home, you get to take advantage of the major benefit of the Nest Learning Thermostat, and that’s the Matter support. Oddly enough, there is no Thread connectivity here, which is a strange omission. If you select your Nest Learning Thermostat within the Google Home app and then navigate to Settings > Device information > Linked Matter apps & services, it will generate a code that you can scan or send to Apple’s Home app, for example. You can also select and review the Matter code on the Nest Learning Thermostat itself.
You’ll need to set it up with a Google account in the Google Home app first, but the nice thing about a Nest thermostat is that the app eventually fades away, and you can focus on controlling it from the device itself or let the smart scheduling take the wheel.
As far as the classic mechanic, it’s smooth as ever with just the right amount of resistance to maneuvering the dial I’ve had more than a few friends ask me what it is when spotting it on the wall in the front of my apartment – it’s simply an eye-catcher.
The 3.9-inch LCD screen almost appears like it’s hidden behind the finish – a cool effect – and the content can change based on where you are. For example, if it doesn’t detect you directly nearby, it will use larger graphics that can be seen from a distance. If you approach, the Soli sensor – read as radar – will detect you and adjust the content as you get nearer. It’s dubbed the ‘Farsight’ display, and you can adjust it to show high and low temperatures, air quality, and even weather. You’ll set these from the device itself, but the weather animations are really neat.
It’s also a point of difference with competing thermostats like those from Ecobee, which tosses a speaker and a microphone into select models. I think the Nest Thermostat packs features that make more sense. Seeing the weather quickly as you’re heading out the door or picking what coat to wear is neat.
The display feels inherently meshed with this new look – it won’t steer away the folks who have loved Nest from the beginning, and it really looks dynamite. There also isn’t a better control system than just turning to the left or right and pushing in. Apple had it first with the iPod, but considering multitouch, I think it’s the gold standard for thermostat control.
Design Score: 4.5/5
Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen: Performance
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
The Google Home app is pretty basic, and it has some connectivity issues.
Yes, the Nest finally works with Apple Home.
The AI-infused learning features impress and make cooling or heating a home easier.
I’ve been testing the Nest Thermostat Fourth-Generation for several months, which means I’ve used it for a few seasons, including summer, fall, and winter. That’s pretty important to see how the smart scheduling reasoning and, ultimately, the functionality of the Nest handle the swap from cooling to heating.
Much like any other gadget released in 2024, Google has tossed in some AI capabilities, mainly affecting how the Nest Thermostat adjusts the temperature. This makes the previous learning aspects of Nest – arguably, the main appeal – a bit smarter and quicker once you get in a rhythm, but also more actionable. For instance, with the new Smart Schedule feature, you can accept or decline the adjustments it suggests, whether that’s a degree or cooler at night or warmer in the morning.
Further, as it begins to notice the change from cooling or heating, it takes a few days to stop suggestions and focus on learning before updating and delivering a custom schedule that you can manage if you like.
These minute changes that the Nest Thermostat suggests could lower your energy bill (aka the cost of cooling or heating your home), but you may not see those impacts immediately. What you might be able to do here in the United States is to see if your utility provider offers any rebate for the cost, as the latest Nest isn’t the cheapest.
Beyond learning from your habits and adjustments – on the thermostat, via the app, or through a smart assistant – it will consider conditions around your home. For example, if it’s a warmer day in the winter, it might lower your heating temperature to save on energy and factor in that your home might stay warmer for longer on its own. It's the same thing for a cooler summer day, and it works quite well. Similarly, if your forecast predicts a frigid temperature turn, it might turn the heating on earlier to ensure you’re still at a comfortable temperature in your home.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
As with previous Nest thermostats, you can expect all of these to get better as you spend more time with the unit, and that’s exactly what I’ve found. I wouldn’t go into it expecting it to master your desired temperatures after just a few days, but you need to spend a week or two with it to see meaningful suggestions.
The thermostat also comes with a pebble-shaped sensor, which helps measure the temperature more accurately inside your home. The idea is to place this somewhere in your house away from the Nest Thermostat, which contains its own sensor, so it can get a proper read of the temperature and ensure the desired conditions are found throughout.
Including this in the box is pretty nice, and helps to make up for the price increase to $280. Unfortunately, although the Nest Thermostat works with Matter and therefore Apple Home the sensor doesn’t seem to move over. There were also several occasions when adjusting the temperature in the Apple Home app didn't work properly the first time, especially shortly after I first installed the unit. Thankfully that's now become far less frequent, and I’ve successfully controlled it from a range of Apple devices and through Siri. You can also integrate it through automation within Apple Home; the same goes for Google Home’s automation.
As far as the Google Home app goes, it’s pretty basic for controlling the Nest Learning Thermostat, but that might be intentional as the real appeal is these AI-infused learning features, which ultimately still impress. The fourth-generation Nest Thermostat shows an evolution in terms of features and revolution with design, but it’s still a compelling experience that lets you spend less time fiddling with a thermostat.
Performance Score: 4/5
Scorecard
Should I buy theNest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen?
Buy it if...
You want an easy-to-use, good-looking thermostat
There's never been a better-looking thermostat than the fourth-generation Nest, and luckily, it keeps the impressive controls that made it a winner back in 2011.
You want a Nest Thermostat that works with Apple Home
Thanks to Matter support, after setup in the Google Home app, you can easily generate a code and add the Nest to your Apple Home.
You want a thermostat that factors in environmental conditions and does the heavy lifting for you...
Like every Nest thermostat before it, the learning features are the stand out feature here and it now factors in your local weather to see if it needs to adjust the temperature.
Don't buy it if...
You're not in the United States or Canada
Sadly, the fourth-generation Nest is only available in the US and Canada, so you'll need to consider a different model.
You don't want to use the Google Home app
You'll need to have a Google account and use the Google Home app to setup and get the most out of the Nest Learning Thermostat.View Deal
With a much more affordable price tag, the Nest Thermostat E is an excellent model to consider if you can find it in stock as it utilizes the same easy controls that put Nest on the map.View Deal
The Govee Table Lamp 2 is listed at $69.99 / £69.99, although, at the time of writing, there’s a sale on the Govee website lowering the price to $55.99 / £58.99. This may seem a little steep for a small light-up lamp but, if like me, you’re a fan of anything bright and colorful, appreciate extensive customization options, and enjoy the convenience of a smart lamp, then it’s definitely worth the cost.
When it’s off, the design of the Govee Table Lamp 2 looks pretty nice. It’s got a modern aesthetic, with silver-colored accents and a pearly finish on the circular control panel. The lamp's outer doesn’t have the cheap, unattractive finish that many lower-cost RGB lamps do; in fact, it looks like it could be made of glass, and the ridged titanium-colored inner makes for a nice feature.
(Image credit: Future)
The only slight negative I found was that the outer surface proved to be a bit of a dust and fiber magnet. I noticed a subtle texture on the side of the cylindrical lamp and realized that fibers had accumulated after only a few hours of use. This isn’t hugely noticeable, though, and our reviews office sees a lot of cardboard boxes and products daily, so the dust levels are certainly higher than average.
The controls on the device include power and two brightness adjustment buttons on the top panel, as well as color and scene cycling buttons that can be customized within the Govee Home app, meaning I was able to assign eight different colors/lighting effects to each button respectively.
(Image credit: Future)
Naturally, the design really came to life when the Govee Table Lamp 2 was on, and the effects were as beautiful as anything from the best smart lights. There’s a huge array of fantastic effects on offer via the Govee Home app, including several preset color collections, an RGB color wheel, plus another sectioned color wheel to choose colors. The latter had different emotions assigned to different color areas; choices included jolly, surprised, concerned, disappointed, and aggravated. I’m not sure I associate purple with “horrify” myself, but the assigned emotions amused me, anyway. There were over 60 scene presets to choose from, with collections of lighting effects arranged under themed tabs such as natural, festival, and sleeping, and I had great fun investigating them all.
(Image credit: Future)
My personal favorite scenes were some of the most colorful (naturally): Rainbow produced a beautiful gradient of pastel colors that slowly swirl about the outside of the lamp, and Fish Tank showed colorful shapes swirling around the center of the lamp. A great additional feature with some of these presets is that I could alter the speed, so I could set them to be as calm or as energetic as I fancied. On the few occasions I didn’t want colorful lighting effects, say when I wanted a warm light to read with, or to brighten the immediate area up, this lamp had me covered with a temperature range of 2700 – 6500K.
As if the huge array of scene and color presets weren’t enough, the AI feature was fantastic. It was like an easy-to-use online chat format, and I could ask it to create a scene via text or voice command, or take or attach a photo. I decided to take a photo of a stack of boxes in the office, and the AI bot recommended a “vibrant, dynamic lighting effect that dances and shimmers, mirroring the colorful packaging”. I accepted the recommendation, and the resulting light effect was a gorgeous pale lavender and pastel orange gradient that slowly waved from the bottom in an upwards diagonal direction – I was then able to save it to my DIY library.
(Image credit: Future)
The Govee Home app was delightfully easy to navigate and provides a great user experience. The different light features are laid out simply under labeled icons, and I really appreciated that the app allowed me to adjust the layout to suit my needs, allowing me to sort, hide, and show the quick access and modes right where I needed them.
Wonderfully bright and colorful even in a well-lit office, the Govee Table Lamp 2 was even more so in darker environments. Even on the bright white setting in darkness the light is diffused enough not to be harsh on the eyes, and the warmer lights targeted toward reading and night-time were soft and comforting.
One thing I noticed is that the Table Lamp 2 became warm after a little while, but not to a concerning extent. As I tested it in the winter, it actually proved to be a positive, as it was nice to feel a slight warmth when using the touch controls.
(Image credit: Future)
After an enjoyable period of testing and other than it collecting a little dust, there was nothing I didn’t like about the Govee Table Lamp 2. When unlit, it was unobtrusive and attractive, as much as one of these lamps can be. And when switched on it provided beautifully eye-catching and colorful light displays with what felt like endless scenes, combinations, and customizations.
As a lover of anything colorful with plenty of options to mix things up, I’m a huge fan of this smart little lamp, so if this is something you’re in the market for, you won’t feel let down by the Govee Table Lamp 2.
Govee Table Lamp 2 review: Price and specs
Should you buy the Govee Table Lamp 2?
Buy it if...
You want a light with lots of options and customization This table lamp certainly isn't lacking when it comes to preset scenes and options to make your own. From personalized color collections to speed and brightness levels, the intuitive Govee app makes it light work to create the effects you want.
You want to go hands-free The fantastic app isn't the only smart feature here as you can easily connect the Govee Table Lamp 2 to smart home tech like Alexa or Google Assistant, plus it has Matter connectivity too.
Don't buy it if...
You want a lamp that's super bright as well as smart It's perfectly bright enough for reading or when working close to the lamp. However, as one would expect from a lamp of this size, it isn't going to illuminate a room.
You want something cheap and cheerful While this lamp certainly gives some bang for your buck, it is on the pricey side. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives floating about – just be mindful that the build quality may be lacking, and you might be hard-pressed to find anything with such a satisfying array of features.
Govee Table Lamp 2 review: Also consider
Philips Hue Twilight If you've got (a lot) more to spend, and you're a die-hard Philips smart home tech fan, then this purpose-built wake-up light could be the one for you. It features two light sources, one at the rear of the lamp that scatters color up the wall, and one inside the lampshade. It features an attractive, modern design, and two buttons for automation and light control, but you'll need a Hue Bridge to make the most of all the features. If you'd like to learn more, check out our full Philips Hue Twilight review.
How I tested the Govee Table Lamp 2
I thoroughly enjoyed using the Govee Table Lamp 2 for one week
I tested the different features and customizable settings
I observed the brightness and visibility of the scenes in light and dark environments
I used the Govee Table Lamp 2 as a calming and mood-lifting addition to my desk setup in the TechRadar reviews office for one week. I evaluated the usability and performance of the Govee companion app and went down the rabbit hole playing with all the different settings.
I enjoyed exploring the various presets within the app. I also made some of my own color sequences, and used the AI scene creator from photos and prompts.
I assessed the different light modes in brighter and darker conditions to see how visible they were in daylight and bright office lights, and to see just how vibrant the colors were in the dark.
Although sporting a lower-profile design than some rivals, the Roborock Qrevo Slim is otherwise a full-size robotic vacuum and mop that is powerful, intelligent and packed with features. The redesigned LiDAR system means it can slide more easily under low furniture, getting to floorspace that other robots can't, without any noticeable compromise in navigation performance.
The well-appointed Roborock app serves up no fewer than five suction levels, plus configurability for the cleaning route and mopping performance. It also smartly raises its dual spinning mops when carpet is detected, and features a spinning side brush that pivots outwards to reach into the corners of every room.
With up to 11,000Pa of suction power, the Qrevo Slim is more powerful than many rivals, including the pricier Eufy Omni S1 Pro, and you can even view a live stream from the front-facing camera in the Roborock app, turning the vacuum cleaner into a pet monitor.
The Slim does not feature the bouncy 'AdaptiLift Chassis' found on the Roborock Qrevo Curv, which launched alongside the Slim in September 2024. However, perhaps thanks to the improved navigation system, the Slim robot itself still tackles thick rugs and raised door thresholds with a confidence missing from most rivals. It's also worth noting that despite the low profile, this is still a relatively large robot, with an equally large docking station, so it's best-suited to medium and larger homes. That's the short version; read on for my full Roborock Qrevo Slim review.
(Image credit: Future)
Roborock Qrevo Slim review: price & availability
List price: $1,399
Launched: September 2024
Availability: US
The Qrevo Slim launched in September 2024 and sits in the premium price bracket. It comes with a list price of $1,399, but you might be able to avoid paying that – I've spotted it discounted to around $999. At time of writing (because this market moves fast!) it sits at the top of Roborock's Qrevo range at, which itself occupies the middle tier of the company's robotic vacuum offering.
Below it you'll find the budget Q Series, and above you'll find the flagship S Series family, where prices start just below the Qrevo Slim (you'll pay $1,300 for the S7 Max Ultra), and extend all the way up to the range-topping, $1,800 S8 MaxV Ultra.
A four-figure vacuum may sound expensive, but that $1,300 buys you a lot of smart technology, and in this case your money goes into an interpretation of LiDAR known as 'StarSight', which is unique among robot vacuums, and is responsible for the Qrevo Slim's reduced height. You also get very high suction power – and in fact, at 11,000Pa, the Slim is more powerful than even Roborock's flagship S Series, which peaks at 10,000Pa. For comparison with other brands, the equally expensive Eufy Omni S1 Pro is rated at just 8,000Pa.
There is no ongoing subscription cost for the Qrevo Slim, although you'll need to purchase replacement dust bags every couple of months (Roborock says they get full in about seven weeks), and the side brush and mopping pads will eventually need replacing too.
Value for money score: 4 out of 5
Roborock Qrevo Slim specs
Roborock Qrevo Slim review: design
Low-profile design fits under furniture
Self-cleaning and emptying charge dock
Dual rotating mop pads
The ‘slim' part of this robot's name refers to how it doesn't have a spinning LiDAR sensor on top. This makes it shorter than most rivals, and at 8.2 cm tall it can drive places other robotic vacuums cannot. Roborock has replaced the conventional LiDAR sensor with a system it calls StarSight. This includes a dual-light, solid-state LiDAR system, plus a 3D time-of-flight sensor, a camera and infrared sensors. (Head to TechRadar's article on how robot vacuums navigatefor a deep-dive into this area.)
(Image credit: Future)
The rest of the Qrevo Slim's design is similar to other self-cleaning robovacs in the Roborock range. The robot is circular, with dual spinning mops at the rear (this style of mop is typically better at scrubbing than the fixed, D-Shaped pad style), a rotating brush at the side that cleverly extends to reach into corners, and a pair of rotating rubber brushes underneath. The charge dock has a dust bin and a pair of water tanks – one clean and one dirty – to work with the robot's mopping function.
(Image credit: Future)
The robot itself measures 350mm (13.8in) wide, 353mm (13.9in) deep and 82mm (3.23in) tall, while the dock is 340mm (13.4in) wide, 487mm (19.2in) deep (including a ramp the robot parks on) and 521mm (20.5in) tall, although you'll need to leave space for the water tanks, which are removed by lifting them upwards from the dock.
Roborock also sells the Qrevo Slim with a refill-and-drainage system. This works in the same way, but plumbs into your home's water supply, so can refill and drain the mopping water tanks automatically. This dock is the same width and depth, but is shorter, at 405 mm (15.9in). For this review we're looking at the regular model with the larger, manually-refilled and emptied water tanks.
(Image credit: Future)
As with other such robots, the Qrevo Slim dock charges the robot's battery and empties its dust bin into a larger bag that Roborock says only needs changing every seven weeks, although that will vary depending on what you're asking it to pick up. The robot also has its mopping pads cleaned with warm water and dried during charging, while the onboard water tank is emptied into the dock.
Back to the robot itself, and the Qrevo Slim can automatically lift and lower its mops, depending on the floor surface and what cleaning task is required. The side brush and one of the spinning mops can also move outwards, touching the walls and skirting boards for a complete clean.
There are three buttons on the top of the robot for quick access to key functions, like powering up, pausing and sending it back to its dock. Removing the magnetic cover gives access to the dust bin and filter, which can then be removed and cleaned or replaced.
The robot and dock take up a fair bit of space, and it's recommended that you place the dock against a wall, but with enough space either side for the robot to drive into, ensuring it cleans every last bit of your floor. You don't have to do this though, and you can sit the dock in a corner if needed; just make sure the ramp is clear for the robot to drive onto.
Design score: 4.5 out of 5
Roborock Qrevo Slim review: performance
Handles thick rugs and raised thresholds with ease
Automatic switching between vacuum and mop
Cleans deeply and reliably
Right away, I want to highlight how good the Roborock Qrevo Slim is at driving through thick rugs and over raised doorway thresholds. These are both tasks other robotic vacuums can really struggle with, and even flagship models with four-figure price tags have failed to clamber their way from my exposed-floorboard hallway into the carpeted bedroom.
Not the Qrevo Slim though. It drove over every threshold, every time. It even managed to wade its way through a thick rug in the lounge – something no other robot has achieved reliably – during its first exploratory drive. During that drive it used its camera and imaging sensor to create a map of my flat, which it automatically split into labeled rooms. It got most of the labelling correct, but I still had to jump into the app and make a few edits before saving the map.
Its off-roading abilities meant I could leave the Qrevo Slim to get on with its job, safe in the knowledge that it would drive into every room, clear the rug (and automatically vacuum it, too) and return to base without me checking if it had got trapped. On a couple of occasions, it briefly got stuck on a raised threshold, but always managed to clear it by reversing and driving forward again at a higher speed.
The automatic mode selection also impressed me. Since it's so often a challenge for robotic vacuums, I usually roll the rug up and set a robot to mop and vacuum the wooden floor. But with the Roborock I left it to do its own thing, where it vacuumed and mopped the wooden floor, then automatically raised its mop to vacuum the rug, before lowering it again to continue mopping the floor and ensuring the rug stayed dry.
As well as recognizing the difference between floor types, and where each room ends, the robot can also spot common household items like beds, sofa and television stands, which it then adds to the map.
(Image credit: Future)
On test, the Qrevo Slim's navigation was usually very good, driving confidently into small gaps, not crashing into anything at speed and not getting stuck. But on one occasion it got confused and failed to find its way back to the dock. Understandable if it was stuck under the sofa, or somewhere else far from the charging station, but it was just a foot or so from the dock, yet after lots of spinning around it declared defeat via an app notification. I don't know what caused this, but it only happened once during several weeks of testing.
Onto the specific cleaning tests. I begin by scattering a mix of oats and flour across approximately one square meter of wooden kitchen floor. I began in the quietest, least powerful vacuuming mode, with the robot driving a standard pattern and completing the route only once.
At just 60 dB, Quiet mode really is very quiet indeed, with the vacuuming itself no louder than the motors driving the robot around. As expected, this mode didn't do a particularly good job at picking up debris. It's okay for dust (or flour in this case) but struggled with the oat mix. Just like most other robotic vacuums, the Qrevo Slim's rotating side brush tends to flick debris around the room, and out of the robot's path. Telling it to perform the route twice mostly fixes this, as the flicked debris will be collected on the second pass.
(Image credit: Future)
Turning the vacuum power up to Balanced (one level up from Quiet) and telling the robot to clean the same area twice made a big difference. Despite only being slightly louder (about 63 dB), this setting sucked up almost all of the oat mix, with just a few pieces flicked out of reach by the side brush. Turbo mode is the next step, but at 65 dB it's only slightly louder than Balanced, but clearly has more power and was able to pick up all of the flour and almost every piece of oat.
Max vacuum strength is noticeably louder, at 69 dB. This is when the Qrevo Slim starts to really sound like a vacuum cleaner, but it's still the sort of volume you can talk over with a slightly raised voice. The cleaning power is also ramped up, providing an excellent clean.
However, on this run I noticed how when you create a zone for the robot to vacuum, it won't go right to the edges of a room, even if the zone you create overlaps the walls of the room map. This means you'll be left with a line of debris – in this case flour – swept to within a few inches of the wall but not collected. This is despite me telling the robot to clean right up to the wall. It also frequently failed to clean up directly in front of its docking station. Telling it to clean the whole room fixed this.
Finally, it's time for Max+, which even comes with a warning that it will shorten battery life due to being so power-intensive. This mode peaked at 70 dB and did a great job of collecting the debris, but the routing still meant some oats were flicked across the room and left behind; I also spotted how the robot drove over some flour without the vacuum on, then left a line of white tire tracks that it failed to pick up on subsequent passes. Requesting another clean, on a lower power setting, addressed this.
To summarize, cleaning whole rooms twice using Turbo or Max mode is best in most cases.
(Image credit: Future)
I then repeated these tests on carpet, and saw very similar results. The Quiet and Balanced modes are fine for a little-and-often approach, but failed to pick up all debris. Turbo and Max modes performed better, while Max+ feels like overkill for regular cleaning, but is still a nice-to-have. If I'd just moved into a new home, I'd be using the full 11,000 Pa of suction with Max+ in every room to start with, then switch to Routine or Turbo for scheduled cleaning.
Turbo mode is the best all-rounder, mixing an ability to suck flour out of a reasonably dense carpet, with a low volume level. I still wish the robot was better at collecting debris flicked around by the rotating brush, but this is only apparent when faced with very specific tests. You won't notice this during regular cleaning, but might need to occasionally pick up a few bits of debris with a handheld vacuum.
(Image credit: Future)
Finally, the mop. The Qrevo Slim has a pair of mops that spin at 200 rpm and push downwards for a deep clean. There are three preset water flow options (low, medium and high), plus a custom option where you can pick from a flow rate between one and 30. You can then tell the mop to clean an area once or twice, and pick from four route options, ranging from the quickest, through to Deep+, which is more thorough but takes much longer.
For my test I scattered some hot sauce across the wooden kitchen floor, left it to partially dry, then set the Roborock to work. I asked it to mop the entire room, using a moderate water flow (number 20 of 30), with two cleaning passes, and the Standard route option. In short, it did a great job. The right-hand rotating mop extends outwards, so that it can clean right up against the walls or skirting boards on an initial lap of the room, before tucking back into its default position and working together with the left-hand mop to give the entire floor a thorough wipe.
All of the hot sauce was removed, but only because I set the robot to make two passes; some stains were still visible after the first pass.
The side brush spins slowly during mopping, so it's best to use the mop on a dried stain instead of a fresh spill, as any liquid will be wiped by the brush and require manual cleaning later. It's also worth remembering that the mop uses only warm water and no detergent. (You can find premium robot vacuums that offer hot water mopping, although it's rare – the option to add detergent is more common and is included on other Roborocks, including the S8 MaxV Ultra).
(Image credit: Future)
The mopping process is all very quiet, ranging from 44 bB to 58 dB as the water tank is filled from the docking station, then emptied again, and the mop is cleaned using hot water and dried with warm air. The mop takes three hours to fully dry, but during that time you can ask the robot to either mop again, or do some vacuuming. The dock base (the part the robot sits on while charging) self-cleans with a pair of rotating scrapers, but can also be removed for a manual scrub. After several weeks of testing, the base still appeared as-new.
There's even a sensor in the charge station that checks how clean the robot's water is, then cleans the mops more thoroughly if required.
Lastly, the robot has a voice control system that responds to the command 'Hello Rocky'. It can be asked to 'vacuum the bedroom', 'mop the kitchen' or 'dry the mop', for example. The robot responds quickly and accurately, making voice commands a convenient way to access basic functions without finding your phone and diving into the app for more granular control.
The Qrevo Slim's battery life is a claimed 180 minutes. This feels fairly accurate, but will vary considerably depending on which settings are used.
Performance score: 4.5 out of 5
Roborock Qrevo Slim review: app
Easy to use, but…
Lots of customization on offer. Almost overkill
SmartPlan and homescreen widgets are handy one-tap solutions
The Roborock app works like most other robotic vacuum controllers. There are several customizable cleaning parameters to adjust, including five levels of suction power, three levels of water flow for the mopping function, and the option to clean an area once or twice, plus an option to pick between the standard or faster, more efficient cleaning route. Or, it can be set to only vacuum or mop a certain room or area, depending on your needs.
There's also the SmartPlan, which uses artificial intelligence to learn your cleaning habits and preferences, then creates a customized vacuuming and mopping plan.
(Image credit: Roborock)
On top of all that are the routines. If you don't want to clean the whole map, or a single room, you can instead select the After Meals routine, which can be configured to clean only the kitchen and dining room, for example. Routines appear on the home screen of the app, and can be activated with just one tap. iPhone users can create a homescreen widget with one-tap access to a couple of your most-used routines. With that set up, it's a case of unlocking your phone and tapping once on the widget to start a cleaning routine.
There are even a few pet-friendly app features, including a function where the robot will go and look for your pet without the vacuum running, using its forward-facing camera to show a live stream of what's going on.
(Image credit: Roborock )
As with other robotic vacuum apps, there are options to reconfigure your map and rename rooms. There are also masses of settings to adjust, if you wish, from cleaning schedules, to how the robot uses its lifting mops, what temperature water it uses to clean the mops, how often it empties its dust bin, and much more.
These can almost all be left to their default setting, but I strongly urge pet owners to enable pet mode in the Reactive Obstacle Avoidance page of the settings menu, since this ensures the robot recognizes and avoids pets and their waste with extra precision.
App score: 4.5 out of 5
Should you buy the Roborock Qrevo Slim?
Buy it if...
You have low furniture
It might sound a bit niche, but its lack of height is the defining feature of the Qrevo Slim. It can drive into and clean places other robots can't reach, while the side brush and one of the mops cleverly pivot outwards to clean right up against every wall.
You need lots of power
Despite its more compact design, the Qrevo Slim is currently Roborock's most powerful robotic vacuum cleaner, with 11,000Pa of suction. The most powerful setting consumes lots of power, and is fairly loud, but it does a fantastic job of cleaning carpets and hard floors alike. Much quieter settings are also available.
You want an equally impressive mop
The Qrevo Slim's dual-rotor mop is impressive. Both mops push downwards and spin at 200 rpm, while the amount of water used is highly configurable and the robot automatically works harder on tougher stains.
Don't buy it if...
You're tight on space
Despite the name, this robot is only compact in one dimension – height. The diameter of the robot is still on par with other high-end rivals, and so too is the considerable size of the docking station. A smaller dock is available, but you'll need to be able to plumb it into your water supply.View Deal
You value simplicity
While this robot can function in a simple, one-tap way, to even get to that stage requires a fair bit of setup. There are pages and pages of settings to tinker with, routines to create, a voice assistant to learn phrases for and all manner of configuration, including no fewer than 30 levels of water flow for the mop.
You're on a budget
Although it isn't quite the most expensive robotic vacuum around, the Qrevo Slim is right up there. I think it still represents good value as a premium product, but there are also plenty of options for shoppers wanting to spend less. Roborock itself has the more affordable Q Series, for example.
How I tested the Roborock Qrevo Slim
I set up the Qrevo Slim and used it as my only vacuum cleaner for several weeks. After using it for general vacuuming and mopping duties, I performed a series of tests to appraise its cleaning abilities, as well as its noise levels and how well Roborock's smartphone app works.
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is an affordable digital photo frame that uses the third-party Frameo app to enable you to easily share your snaps via the frame. Right out of the gate, the first thing you’re likely to notice is that price; while its $149.99 / £169.99 retail price isn’t anything to write home about, during sales season we've been seeing prices around $89.99 / £89.99 – that’s a seriously low price for such a sizeable digital photo frame.
Connecting with the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame is nice and easy. Once you’ve powered it up and connected it to your Wi-Fi, you can scan an on-screen QR code to download the Frameo app. Now, simply press the "Add a Friend" button on the Arzopa’s screen, punch in the code that appears into the Frameo app, and you’re ready to start sharing pics. Even better, you can repeat this step to set up friends and family so they too can share their snaps with your frame.
Not everyone wants to share their photos with the cloud, particularly if they’re security conscious or have young children. If this is you, then the Arzopa’s offline storage will be music to your ears. The frame includes 32GB of internal storage and, should you fill this up, you can easily expand its storage capacity up to 128GB via its SD card port. This does fall short of what some of the best digital photo frames offer, but it still isn't bad, all things considered.
All digital photo frames built on the Frameo app work in the same way and, generally speaking, I’d say this is a positive. The app is easy to use: you can browse your device’s whole image library or just specific albums, adding individual photos or uploading up to 10 at a time. Unfortunately, if you want to upload more than this in one go, you’ll need to upgrade to Frameo+. The cost of this isn't exorbitant at $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year, but you'll need to bear this in mind when calculating if this frame is the right price for you.
As I mentioned in my Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame review, I’m not entirely keen on the way the Frameo app handles cropping images for digital photo frame’s auto-rotate feature. When uploading each image, you’ll set a circular focal area that the frame will ensure remains in frame in either orientation. However, this can still leave some images oddly centered or cropping out details you hadn’t anticipated. I’d rather just have the option to manually set the crop for each image.
(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
Once your shots are on the Arzopa, its 15.6-inch display definitely delivers your snaps with impact; the frame feels generously sized compared to many of the other affordable frames out there. Since its 1920 x 1080 resolution is shared over that larger screen estate, pixel density does fall somewhat next to rivals such as the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame at 212ppi. However, images still look pretty crisp; rendering my macro shot of a bumblebee, the Arzopa frame shows off every grain of pollen and every hair of her fuzzy coat in decent detail.
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(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
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(Image credit: Josh Russell)
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(Image credit: Josh Russell)
Unfortunately, where things start to come undone is with color. On my iPhone 16 Pro’s screen, a photo I took of a fireworks display reveals a shower of magenta and violet stars in a glowing pink nebula. But when I uploaded it to the Arzopa, the red and pink hues looked washed out, completely robbing the image of any punch. Similarly, floral shots completely underwhelmed, the lack of vibrancy going far beyond slight variations in color profile to looking actively anemic and poorly shot.
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch does fare better when it comes to black-and-white photography at least. Thanks to its deep blacks and bright highlights, its display is sufficiently contrasty to deliver monochrome landscape and architectural shots with impressive details. The Arzopa frame definitely shows off HDR photography to a high standard.
However, even this bold contrast was slightly undermined by its screen. Perhaps even more than its muted hues, the lack of a matte finish really damages the Arzopa’s performance in bright light. Without any treatment to diffuse incoming light, my photos were always obscured by hard-edged, geometric reflections of the panel lighting in the TechRadar offices; it was almost impossible to ignore since it made it difficult to make out details in the images. Worse, this reflectiveness means the frame is almost certainly unusable in direct sunlight, further restriction its position in your home.
This tendency toward glossiness extends to other elements of the frame’s design. The Arzopa’s frame feels a little cheap and plasticky, but thanks to its black color, this doesn’t feel so in your face. However, the frame’s bezels are much harder to ignore – despite the fact their beveled edges are designed to make them look more like mounting, the white plastic is so cheap-looking and reflective that it does detract from the overall quality of the frame.
Plus, there are other unusual design choices: the frame’s stand is literally just a plastic stick that screws into one corner of the frame. While it seems to do an okay job of supporting the frame in either horizontal or vertical orientation, I’m not convinced it’s sturdy enough to withstand becoming damaged over time.
Buy it on sale, however, and the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is available for an astoundingly good price – and it’s almost certainly better quality than some of the bargain-basement frames you’ll find on Amazon. In terms of crispness of picture, contrast and ease of use, it’s great value for money. However, its muted hues, overly reflective screen and the cheapness of its finish do make my recommendation here equivocal – if you can only find it at a higher price, some of the similarly priced best digital photo frames might make a better choice.
(Image credit: Future)
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: price & release date
MSRP of $149.99 / £169.99 but currently reduced to $89.99 / £89.99
Available now in both the US and UK
Frameo app free or $1.99 / £0.99 a month for Frameo+
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is available now in both the US and UK.
Its price varies to quite a degree, which has a huge impact on the value you’re getting. At its full price of $149.99 at Amazon US or £169.99, at Amazon UK, it effectively costs as much as the $159.99 / £149.99 Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame, which I'd argue is a much higher-quality frame, thanks to its anti-glare screen and delivery of bold colors. However, some of the sale prices we’ve seen bring the Arzopa frame down to around $89.99 / £89.99, which makes it a far more appealing option, especially if you can’t stretch to the more expensive Pexar.
One other important consideration here in terms of price is the Frameo app. While the base tier is free, to upload more than 10 photographs at a time or videos longer than 15 seconds, you’ll need to upgrade to Frameo+, which costs $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year. That will allow you to upload 100 images at a time, send two-minute video clips, and manage the content on your Arzopa remotely via the app.
(Image credit: Future)
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: specs
(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
Should I buy the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch?
Buy it if…
You want a big, crisp screen At 15.6-inches, the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi delivers a lot of screen estate on which to display your snaps. And while pixel density is lower than the 212ppi of the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame, photos still look crisp and clear.
You can get it on sale Whether the Arzopa frame delivers good value very much depends on the price you pay for it. Pick it up for the sale price of around $89.99 / £89.99 and you’re getting a very good deal, but you don’t have to spend much more than its MSRP of $149.99 / £169.99 to get a superior product.
Don’t buy it if…
You want your colorful snaps to pop Vibrant hues aren't the Arzopa frame’s forte – colorful subjects such as flowers and fauna can look muted at best, and downright drab at their worst. Fans of black-and-white photography needn’t worry – but if you want your walls to be a riot of color, other frames might prove a wiser investment.
You want to use it in bright rooms The Arzopa’s glossy screen means it's entirely unforgiving when it comes to reflections – whether using it during the day or at night, I found natural and artificial sources of light completely overwhelmed the brightness of the screen. Fundamentally, if it's to sit opposite windows or under harsh lighting, you’d be better off looking for a frame with a matte screen.
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: also consider
Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame The Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame scarcely costs any more than the Arzopa at full price, at $159.99 / £149.99; however, performance is superior. It offers a 2000 x 1200 resolution across its smaller 11-inch screen, delivering higher pixel density, while colors are far more vibrant. Plus, its matte, anti-glare screen keeps reflected light to a minimum. Read our full Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame review.
Aeezo Portrait 01 If you’re unable to stretch to the Arzopa – or can’t find it at a reduced price – the Aeezo Portrait 01 is a bargain alternative that also includes internal storage and costs just $69.99 / £55.99. You’ll get bolder albeit sometimes slightly unnatural, colors; but the sacrifice is resolution at only 1280 x 800, rather than the Arzopa’s 1080p. Read our full Aeezo Portrait 01 review.
How I tested the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch
I tested the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch over several weeks. I uploaded a range of photos to it using the Frameo app and connected multiple other people to enable them to share images with the frame, too.
To test the performance of the frame, I uploaded a wide array of portrait and landscape images and included everything from brightly colored shots of flowers and animals to monochrome architectural shots. Additionally, I positioned the frame in multiple places around my home and the TechRadar office and changed its orientation between portrait and landscape.
I have many years of experience taking photos, both on my Canon DSLR and my iPhone 16 Pro and, over the past 15 years, I’ve taken over 40,000 photos. I’ve also spent many years working in print publishing, doing post-production on photos and preparing images for print. This means I have a lot of experience in making images look as close to their source as possible.
The Blink Outdoor 4 is an outdoor-intended camera that offers weather resistance and a simple, easily fixed square design that's perfect for placing up in the corner of a roof or sitting on a windowsill. Its best feature is a phenomenal two-year battery life, powered by two easily replaceable AA batteries – though if you really want, the camera can be powered via a USB-C connection.
Available for $99 / £92.24 / AU$149, this outdoor, battery-powered camera may be attractive just for its low cost. Blink is Amazon’s budget home security brand, and unlike its premium brand Ring, Blink is focused on affordability. Still, the camera works quite well and has a worthwhile range of features. With the included Sync Module 2, offline video capture and storage can be facilitated, provided you have a USB-A device connected (below 256GB).
Aside from this offline solution, you may instead wish to subscribe to one of Blink’s paid memberships, which offer additional features like unlimited 60-day cloud storage and photo capture. However, for most of my time with the Blink Outdoor 4, I used the free subscription with the Sync Module 2, and found it to be a perfectly fine experience.
Setting up the Blink Outdoor 4 was extremely easy. Everything happens through the Blink app for Android and Apple handsets, where you’re prompted to set up an account (you can link to your Amazon account in the app). Pairing your Outdoor 4 with your Sync Module comes next – and as long as they’re both on the same Wi-Fi network, everything works seamlessly. You can place the Sync Module 2 anywhere in your home provided it has power.
After setup, I could check-in on the camera at any time through an always-online live feed. This offers decent (if a bit grainy and motion blurry) 1080p stream, along with two-way audio with sound quality that isn’t terrible, but isn’t the clearest either. Motion-triggered notifications are available with all three subscriptions, but motion event recording, live view recording and person detection are restricted to paid subscriptions.
Motion detection is reliable and you are given the option to turn up the sensitivity in the settings (you can even adjust retrigger time between events). Person detection is serviceable and I generally didn’t have any problems with it, testing it both inside and out.
On the hardware side, the Blink Outdoor 4 is easily mounted on the outside of a home with the included bracket, and its IP65 rating gives it a fair amount of resistance to the elements. A basic mounting kit and power adapter is included in the box, but I’ve happily had the Outdoor 4 sitting on my windowsill over the past couple of months with no mount attached.
Adjusting privacy zones in the app is easy, but selection is limited to an array of rectangular zones on the display (privacy zones will be completely greyed out). The same goes for setting activity zones, though you are given slightly more depth of customization with this setting.
In terms of quality, you may be left unimpressed with the Blink Outdoor 4 if you’re after a replacement for a premium outdoor camera from Ring or Eufy. The 1080p resolution is perfectly fine for a first time home camera, but it’s no premium device. Selecting the ‘best picture quality’ setting will resolve some issues with moving object blur, but you may still find it a bit too grainy. Improving the video quality does reduce battery life. It may be unattractive to you if you already have a robust security system, and it's more intended as a first-time device.
Overall, you’ll be impressed with the Blink Outdoor 4 if you’re after a cheap and reliable battery-powered camera for outdoor or indoor use. It’s not the best security camera on the market but it’s a good entry-level pick for a security-minded homebody. Check out our article on the best home security cameras if you’re shopping for an alternative.
Blink Outdoor 4: price and availability
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)
List price: $99 / £92.24 / AU$149
Availability: US, UK, and Australia
Release date: November 2023 (October 2024 in Australia)
The Blink Outdoor 4 is available at quite a low price when compared to other home security cameras, but it’s designed to be an affordable solution. It's been available in the US and UK since November 2023, but only made its way to Australia (along with the Blink brand) in October 2024.
Directly compared to its predecessor, the Outdoor 3, the Outdoor 4 sports a slightly wider field of view (143 degrees versus 110), upgraded night infrared vision, better motion detection, dual-zone motion alerts and person detection. Additional purchases for things such as mounts may be required depending on where you want to place the Outdoor 4 in your home.
Being able to store all footage locally is a huge plus, but note that you’ll need to use the included Sync Module 2 and your own USB-A storage device (up to 256GB). Stored footage can be viewed through the Blink app.
Value score: 4 / 5
Blink Outdoor 4 subscription offers
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)
Blink has two subscription tiers to choose from, both offering unlimited recording cloud storage for up to 60 days. Monthly or yearly billing is available.
Blink Basic: $3p/m | £2.50p/m | AU$4.95p/m
Blink Plus: $10p/m | £8p/m | AU$15p/m
Blink Basic includes support for one device, motion event recording, live view recording, automatic local storage backups, instant video access, video sharing, person detection and photo capture. Blink Plus includes all Basic features, along with unlimited device inclusion, moments capture, notification snoozing and 10% off Blink devices.
Blink Outdoor 4: specifications
Blink Outdoor 4: design and features
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)
Easy setup
No privacy cover
No remote control capabilities
Setup for the Blink Outdoor 4 couldn’t be more simple. After slotting in the batteries, all I had to do was download the app, scan the barcode on the back of the device, and follow the prompted steps. Setup for the Sync Module 2 is similarly simple.
The Blink Outdoor 4 is only available in Black, and though a basic mounting kit is included in the box, you can get by with just sitting the Outdoor 4 on a flat surface. There’s no motorized movement, meaning you’ll need to make any position adjustments by hand.
The basic mounting kit can be screwed into the wall or ceiling, but note that you’ll likely want it to be within easy reach to replace the batteries. There’s no privacy cover and no ability to simply cut recording unless you physically remove the batteries.
Setting privacy zones is easy enough, but you may be left underwhelmed by the lack of customization. Zones can only be created as collections of rectangles, as can activity zones (though activity zones are given slightly smaller rectangles to modify, allowing for greater coverage control). If you so wish, you can disable video recording or disable the audio connection.
Design and features score: 4/5
Blink Outdoor 4: performance
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)
Two years of battery life
Some lag and pixelization
Can be positioned almost anywhere
I reviewed the Blink Outdoor 4 in two different positions – sitting atop my lounge room shelves (keeping an eye on the room) and sitting on the windowsill (keeping an eye on my front door/lawn). In these spots, I tried out all the different recording qualities and, predictably, was most satisfied with the highest quality selection. Two years of battery life is quite a long time to begin with, so I’m not too worried about running the device flat too quickly.
Accessing these settings is easy. Go to the app, then tap the three dots displayed in the corner of the camera’s view, then click device settings. If you have multiple devices set up, you may want to tap the settings icon in the bottom right corner, then access Device and System Settings, then tap the ‘System’ you want to edit, followed by ‘All Devices’, then the camera you want to modify.
All of the video quality options are quite acceptable for the price. Graininess and blurred movements are fine at this end of the market, and ultimately the quality was never so insufficient that the camera was unusable. The camera is set to ‘Standard’ mode out of the box, with lower quality ‘Saver’ mode and ‘Best’ also available. Night vision was also sufficiently capable, but it’s not presented in colour, owing to the lack of an LED light on the device.
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / Future)
Audio quality was fine and is most comparable to a standard intercom buzzer for an apartment. Back and forth communication is easy with microphones and speakers on both ends (on the camera and on your smartphone), but Ring fans may find it lower quality than what they’re used to. Motion sensitivity was fine, and for the duration of my review, I had it set to the default setting of five. I could turn the sensitivity up if I wished, but I found no need.
It’d be nice if the Blink Outdoor 4 had the option to view footage on a browser or computer, or any device without the smartphone app. Being limited to your small phone screen for your home security is disappointing, so hopefully this is changed at some point.
Finally, obviously the two year battery life is an estimation provided by Amazon. Unfortunately I’m not a time traveller, so I can’t provide a good estimation of my own on this – though over my two months of use, it hasn’t had any battery issues (the battery is still reportedly ‘OK’ in the app with no percentage offered). Most of my use was inside however, so I could have easily gotten by with USB-C delivered power.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Should I buy the Blink Outdoor 4?
Buy it if…
You want a security camera that saves locally
Though you have to bring your own storage device, the included Sync Module 2 allows you to store footage for ready access.View Deal
You want to save money
The Blink Outdoor 4 is built to save you money and you get decent value with what’s on offer.View Deal
You want a long battery life, wireless camera
Two years of battery life with two AA batteries is nothing to balk at!View Deal
Don't buy it if...
You already have a robust home security system
The Blink Outdoor 4 isn’t compatible with anything outside of the Blink ecosystem (apart from access through Alexa). It doesn’t mix with Ring, despite being owned by the same company.View Deal
You want the highest quality footage
Recording at a maximum of 1080p, the Blink Outdoor 4 doesn’t shoot the highest quality footage, and you may find videos grainy and blurry at times.View Deal
You dislike using apps only
Though the Blink camera app is quite well designed, you can’t currently access your camera system through a computer app or browser, meaning you’re limited to a smartphone or tablet display when previewing footage.View Deal
Blink Outdoor 4: also consider
Blink Mini 2
A sibling to the Outdoor 4, the Mini 2 is a wired-only alternative, capable of shooting in the same resolution and sold at a cheaper price point. It might be more attractive if you intend to place the device indoors, but setting it up outside will require extra handiwork. Read our Blink Mini 2 review.View Deal
Arlo Ultra 2
Shooting at up to 4K and offering HDR night vision, the Arlo Ultra 2 is a more premium wireless outdoor camera than the Outdoor 4. That being said, its six month battery life is nothing compared to the Outdoor 4’s two years of charge, and it’s considerably more expensive. Read our Arlo Ultra 2 review.View Deal
How I tested the Blink Outdoor 4
Tested it over two months in my home
Assessed the device on sound and video quality
Set it up in several different spots in several different configurations
From the moment I received the Blink Outdoor 4, I got to work testing it. I put it through its paces as a casual device, not putting it into a hardcore testing environment and instead treating it as something I would use in my own home.
For most of my review period, the Outdoor 4 was positioned at the top of my shelves, looking over my lounge room. It was given a decently lit and sized room to allow for motion and person capture, and I was given the ability to test privacy and activity zoning with a lot of freedom.
I tested audio quality by giving the camera to a friend and going to the next room, allowing us to have a conversation over the two devices. I frequently checked the camera through the app and would use it to make sure I closed my front door.
I assessed the Blink Outdoor 4 as a first time device, as somebody who has never had a home security camera.
DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo Frame two-minute review
Investing in one of the best digital photo frames is a great idea if you have lots of images you want to display, but you don't want the hassle of printing them out. With a digital frame, you can have the latest snaps on display; and such frames even make great gifts for relatives.
The Dragon Touch Classic 15 Pro is a decent mid-sized frame, and would suit being placed on a sideboard or similar, where you can hide the power cable away. While Dragon Touch’s marketing materials show it mounted on a wall, bear in mind that you will have to find a way to conceal the power cable, since there’s no battery-powered option available.
Looks-wise, the Classic 15 Pro is fairly simple and straightforward. There are certainly more attractive designs on the market; but it's inoffensive and unobtrusive, allowing your pictures to take centre stage.
The display is Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. Photos are a little soft on close examination, but at the distance at which you’re likely to be looking at your images, they appear sharp enough. The frame is bright enough in most conditions, although you might find if positioned in a particularly bright room, then it loses some visibility.
With 32GB of memory built in and Wi-Fi connectivity, you can quickly and easily add (or remove) photos to the frame, while initial setup is super simple, too. If you’re looking for a gift for someone who isn’t particularly tech savvy, then the DragonTouch Classic should be relatively straightforward to use. If you don’t want to send photos via Wi-Fi, there’s a USB port, too.
A word of warning for non-US users, however. Although you can buy this in other territories, it arrives with a fixed plug adapter – as such, you’ll need to buy either a US-World adapter, or a power supply for your own country; just be sure to get the right size to fit the socket.
The DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro digital photo frame is ideal for showing off family photos (Image credit: Amy Davies)
DragonTouch Classic15 Pro: Price and Release Date
$99 / £80 (roughly)
Available in the US; elsewhere via import
Look out for deals
At the time of writing, you could pick up the Dragon Touch Classic 15 Pro for $89.99 at Amazon; but the usual price is $99.99. While the frame isn't officially available in the UK, you can import it very easily via Amazon or similar.
This makes it one of the cheapest digital photo frames you can buy, even with international shipping charges applied. In fact, it remains reasonably priced even after factoring in the purchase of an extra power cable.
That said, if you’re not in the US, I’d almost certainly advocate buying a frame that's more readily available in your home territory. Any problems will be more easily resolved; you'll get the correct power cable; and you won’t have to feel guilty about shipping goods across the world.
The frame is available to buy now.
Internal storage is generous, so you should have plenty of room for all your photos (Image credit: Amy Davies)
DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo Frame review: specs
The DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro digital photo frame works well on a mantelpiece where you can hide the cable from view (Image credit: Amy Davies)
Dragon Touch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo Frame: Design
Understated design
Touchscreen interface that’s quick to setup
Use an app to quickly transfer your shots
With its white border and matte-black frame, the Classic 15 Pro has an understated look; but that isn't necessarily a criticism, since it means it doesn’t distract from your photos. That said, there are some more interesting / stylish frames out there – for example, wood effect – if that’s more your style.
The DragonTouch frame is quite thick, but it can’t stand without support. Instead, a leg is provided that you can insert to prop up the frame. It does detach, though, so you can turn the frame on its side if you want to display images in portrait orientation. Note that if you leave the frame in landscape format, your portrait images will display in portrait, but only in the central part of the screen.
Note that the frame does offer the ability for mounting to the wall, if you wish. However, you'll need to find a way to hide the ugly black power cable that will likely run in full view down the wall. As such, in my view this frame is far better placed on a sideboard, mantelpiece or similar.
Setup is quick and simple. Once you’ve plugged in the DragonTouch Classic and switched it on, use the touchscreen interface to guide you through setup. Connect it to your Wi-Fi and you can use it with the free "VPhoto” (Android and iOS) app to transfer your photos across.
You can transfer up to 50 images at a time in one quick motion. And because uploading images is app-based, you can even get friends and family to install the same app and send their pictures across to the frame, too. In fact, as long as both the frame and the app is connected, you can send photos from anywhere in the world – so if you want to upload the latest snap of your kid to their grandparents' frame, for example, then you could do just that.
With 32GB of built-in storage, the DragonTouch Classic is likely to happily cater to most people's needs. However, if you do find yourself running short of space, the USB port on the rear of the frame means you can always add some more.
A power cable – a corded plug with a barrel connector – is supplied. The review sample arrived with a US plug, but I’m in the UK. As such, I could either buy a US to UK adapter, or buy a new adapter. However, picking up the right size may prove tricky: there are several available and the size of the unit included isn't listed in the manufacturer’s specifications.
I got around this issue by purchasing a plug from Amazon with multiple size adapters; the correct size in this instance is 2.5/0.7mm. However, it would have been better had the frame arrived with a USB power supply, as you could use it with any of your existing power supplies, or at least more easily find the right one to use with it. Note, too, that it's important to make sure you get the correct voltage / amp. This frame uses a 12V/1A power adapter, for example, whereas others in the Dragon Touch range use 5V / 2A or 12V / 3A adapters.
You can display the DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro digital photo frame in either horizontal or portrait orientation (Image credit: Amy Davies)
Dragon Touch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo Frame: Performance
Full HD (1920 x 1080) display
Images look a little soft
In bright spaces, maximum brightness could be better
So now that you’ve set up the Dragon Touch Classic 15 Pro, how well does it display the images?
Well, the Full HD (1920 x 1080) display is likely good enough for most users. It looks a little soft if you get up quite close to the screen, but since it's likely to be sitting a short distance away on a sideboard or mantelpiece, images will look just fine.
Brightness could be a bit better, though. In low light and standard indoor surroundings, images display fine on the DragonTouch Classic frame; but if positioned near a window in bright daytime settings, the frame could would benefit from being a little brighter than it gets at its maximum brightness setting. In a very bright room, then, images can look a little dull. This is perhaps a relatively minor gripe, but it might be worth thinking about when considering the frame's positioning in your home.
The DragonTouch Classic can be set up to display photos in a slideshow, at different timed intervals and using different transitions, very easily. This gives you superb control over how exactly your pictures will be displayed – you could leave one photo up for hours at a time, or you could have the frame flipping through photos every couple of seconds. Having the flexibility is very handy.
A simple app lets you transfer images across to the frame – others can also send photos remotely (Image credit: Amy Davies)
Should I buy the DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro Picture Frame?
Buy it if…
You’re looking for a cheap and cheerful digital photo frame At under $100, the DragonTouch Classic comes in at a great price. It isn't the brightest nor sharpest on the market, but it looks perfectly fine from normal viewing distances. Whether bought for yourself or as a gift, it’s a good compromise between price and quality.
You want a collaborative digital frame
Images can be shared with family and friends quickly and easily via an app.
You want a frame for a sideboard, where you can hide cables
Place the DragonTouch frame on a sideboard or table and you'll easily be able to hide the cable from view. The frame even comes with a stand allowing it to be positioned in both horizontal and portrait format – which is handy.
Don’t buy it if…
You want a frame to wall-mount or move around the home
While this frame can be mounted on a wall, you'll have to consider how best to conceal the power cable; not impossible, but it could prove tricky. In addition, there's no battery-powered option, so you also can’t use it as a “go anywhere” frame.
You’re not prepared to buy an additional power cable
If you’re in the US, the supplied power cable will be fine. But elsewhere, you’ll likely need to buy an additional unit – and you’ll need to make sure you get the correct size, which can be a bit of trial and error.
You want a super-sharp and bright display
If you're looking for the best display possible, then this isn’t it. And note that to get that, you'll likely need to spend far more money than the DragonTouch will set you back.
DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo Frame review: also consider
Aura Walden The Aura Walden is a super-attractive premium option, offering a larger 15.6-inch screen and a gorgeous finish to its mount and frame. Its app is easy to use and offers free unlimited cloud storage – which definitely gives it the edge over subscription-based products. It does come in at a much higher price, though, and its lower pixel density does show off some pixelation at close range. Read our full Aura Walden review.
Aeezo Portrait 01 If you’re looking to spend even less than the DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro, the $69.99 / £55.99 Aeezo Portrait 01 is likely your best option. It utilizes the Frameo app to allow friends and family to share photos and videos, and offers internal storage or the option to add an SD card / USB stick to give you more space. Unfortunately, it isn't as solid a performer as some others: its 1280 x 800 pixel resolution is much lower and it’s much less bright at 227 nits. Read our full Pexar 11-inch review.
How I tested the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame
I tested the DragonTouch Classic 15 Pro Digital Photo frame over a period of three weeks. I uploaded many different photos to the frame using the VPhoto app, and asked others to do the same.
I uploaded many types of images, including shots in both portrait and landscape orientation, brightly coloured images and black-and-white vintage shots. I changed the position of the frame and also tried it in different places around my home (and even at a family event) to assess how it looked in different lighting conditions.
I'm a professional photographer and journalist of many years and have a good understanding of how images should look on a display. I tried to think of this from the perspective of somebody who is likely to be an amateur photographer at best, and is simply looking for a frame on which to show off family snaps, considering the price point.
Founded in Melbourne in the 1980s, Australian company Swann may not be a household name. However, it does have an excellent reputation across the security industry thanks to a wide range of smart indoor and outdoor security cameras. We’ve reviewed many of them here at TechRadar, and though they they’re not always the most stylish, they tend to be some of the most reliable on the market – solidly built with intuitive software and offering decent performance (see our guide to the best home security cameras for our top recommendations).
The Swann 4K Video Doorbell appears to be no exception. Visually it’s quite similar to the Yale Smart Video Doorbell we reviewed recently. That’s to say it’s chunkier than some of the doorbells out there, but feels well made.
Setup is reasonably straightforward. Once the doorbell fully charged using the USB-C charging port, simply download the app to your smartphone. Then, using the QR code on the back of the device, you can pair the device with your Wi-Fi network (compatible only with 2.4GHz wireless networks, not 5GHz).
Alternatively, for those who don’t want to have to remove the device for charging every few weeks, and who have a bit of DIY skill, it’s possible to connect the Swann to an AC (mains) power supply using the terminals supplied. However, we didn’t test this out, preferring to use the device’s rechargeable battery instead.
One problem we faced was with the mounting bracket which the video doorbell slots into. Because it is made of metal, it’s slightly little less flexible to install on the architrave of a Victorian door - ie. the wooden mouldings of the frame – than if it’s made out of plastic. It’s also quite fiddly screwing the anti-tamper screw in at the bottom of the doorbell – useful if you want to prevent people from stealing the device from your front door!
(Image credit: Chris Price)
Certainly, when it comes to features, the SwannBuddy 4K ticks most of the boxes. Probably the most useful of all is the built in MicroSD storage. A 32GB card is provided with the doorbell as standard, but it will support up to 128GB. This means you don’t have to pay an expensive monthly subscription to store video clips as you do with other models (although a subscription plan is available if you want it).
Less useful, but much more likely to grab headlines, is SwannShield. Described somewhat prosaically as an ‘AI-driven voice assistant’ by the manufacturer, it’s really little more than a set of pre-recorded messages at present, though it’s still in beta mode.
Basically, when someone presses the video doorbell at your property, a screen appears on your phone with a series of options underneath the video image. These include ‘push to talk’ so you can talk to the person at the door and a ‘voice prompts’ option that brings up various pre-recorded voice messages.
(Image credit: Chris Price)
As soon as someone presses the doorbell, a ring can be heard from the speaker at the bottom of the video doorbell as well as the small, standalone battery-powered chime provided. Designed to be placed in the room where you are most likely to hear the doorbell, this features several melodies including one of a cuckoo clock and another of a dog barking menacingly (great for deterring intruders.)
Of course, the video doorbell is much more than a device for talking to people at the door. It can also be used as a standard security camera, recording footage as soon as the motion detection sensor is triggered. Capable of distinguishing between different types of movement (person, pet, car, package etc), it’s possible to store videos by type – particularly handy if you want to find out when a parcel was left on the doorstep. Alternatively, you can store videos in chronological order on the built-in MicroSD card.
SwannBuddy4K: subscription plans
Includes 60 days cloud recording, priority support, 36-month extended warranty, device insurance, exclusive offers. Costs £3.99 a month/£39.99 a year
SwannBuddy4K: price and availability
How much does it cost? $199 / £169 / AU$299
When is it available? Available since March 2024 (with SwannShield since October 2024)
Where is it available? US / UK / Australia
When you consider everything that video doorbells offer in terms of functionality, they really aren’t that expensive. Currently available online for around £129 (but with a recommended price of £169), the SwannBuddy is a little more pricey than some of its competitors, including the Yale Smart Video Doorbell (about £99).
However, a huge advantage is that, although you can sign up to a subscription package for £3.99 a month or £39.99 a year should you wish (see details above), it’s not necessary in order to use the camera fully.
Instead, on the back of the video doorbell behind a plastic panel lies a MicroSD card slot with a 32GB card fitted for storing your recordings (the SwannBuddy supports up to 128Gb). Another benefit is that a doorbell chime is included as standard whereas sometimes these are sold separately - though it’s worth noting the battery powered chime isn’t the best.
Value score: 4/5
SwannBuddy4K: design
Sturdy well-built model
Metal mounting bracket
IP65 water resistance
Made in China, the Swannbuddy 4K is very similar in looks to other video doorbells we’ve tested. Water resistant (IP65 rating), it’s certainly quite a sturdy unit – solid in the hand and measuring around 14cm long, 5.5cm wide and nearly 3cm thick.
At the top of the device is the camera while underneath are the microphone and night detection sensor. In the middle is the doorbell button itself which lights up different colours according to its mode (for example, solid blue during charging and red when recording footage). Underneath the doorbell button is the passive infrared (PIR) sensor which detects movement and a speaker button which enables the user to hear the doorbell when pressed. Behind a rubber cover on the back of the unit lies the MicroSD card slot, set/reset buttons and the USB-C charging port. Alternatively, it can be hard wired into the AC mains.
(Image credit: Chris Price)
Swann recommends mounting around ‘chest height’ – between 1.2m and 1.6m high. Provided is a small metal mounting bracket which the doorbell slots into. However, this isn’t great if you are trying to install at a slight angle on the architrave of a door because it doesn’t provide enough flexibility. And while the double-sided sticky tape provided may be an alternative option, it’s not really ideal for a device of this size (it also removes the paintwork).
To help stop the doorbell from being stolen, an anti-tamper screw connects the bottom of the bracket to the video doorbell itself. However, we found this slightly difficult to insert when the camera was mounted on the door frame and had to move the device to a flat surface instead.
Design score: 3.5/5
(Image credit: Chris Price)
SwannBuddy4K: performance
4K ultra high-definition resolution
Two-way audio
SwannShield voice prompts
Like most Swann models we’ve reviewed, the SwannBuddy 4K doesn’t disappoint. Thanks to clear, intuitive instructions complete with voice commands, pairing the device with your home’s Wi-Fi is simple (though it only supports 2.4GHz networks). The software on the app is straightforward too with well laid out menus.
Various options are provided to help you customise the video doorbell, including a detection setting which allows you to exclude certain parts of the camera’s view from being recorded. That’s useful, especially if you live on a busy road and don’t want to record passers-by or cars going past. Adjustable sensitivity settings and recording schedules are also provided to limit unnecessary recording time.
(Image credit: Chris Price)
At first, I thought the video quality of the SwannBuddy 4K was extremely poor, until I realised the device had defaulted to low quality mode. However, in high quality 4K the image is excellent even when recording at night. Unlike traditional security cameras which tend to offer more landscape images, video doorbells are obviously much more portrait in orientation. That said, the viewing angle is still a respectable 165 degrees, more than adequate for most set-ups.
As soon as someone presses the doorbell, a push notification is sent to your smartphone telling you the front doorbell is ringing. Once you answer, it then ‘wakes up the camera’ in a matter of seconds so you can see who is at your door. Included are various options including ‘push to talk’ which enables you to speak directly to whoever’s at the door. Alternatively, the SwannShield feature allows you to play pre-recorded messages to your visitors.
(Image credit: Chris Price)
To set this up you can choose from one of three demeanours (polite, interested or disinterested) with various pre-recorded messages available, all delivered in a slightly scary Australian accent. There’s even one telling the person to leave your property as the police are on their way! And if that doesn’t do the job there’s always the siren button to scare them off. It all feels a little unwelcoming and probably not entirely suitable for most interactions.
Performance score: 4/5
Should you buy the SwannBuddy4K?
Buy it if
You want pre-recorded voice messages
This video doorbell offers several pre-recorded voice messages to play to those who come to your door.
You don’t want to pay for a monthly plan
The Swann 4K video doorbell is one of the few to feature local storage (up to 128GB).
Don't buy it if
You want to install at an angle
The device’s smallish metal bracket and fiddly anti-tamper screw are tricky to install on the architrave of a front door.
You are on a limited budget
Although it’s not expensive by any means, there are cheaper video doorbells out there to choose from
SwannBuddy4K: also consider
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro (battery)
Available in black or white, this outdoor security camera from Amazon-owned Ring boasts two 3000°K spotlights. You can also buy a mains-powered version as well as a separate solar panel.
A solidly-built camera from a well-respected name in the security industry. We particularly like thefittings provided with the camera for easy installation, and the doorbell’s clear images.
I set it up myself using the fittings supplied by the manufacturer
The video doorbell was installed in two places on my front door
I set up the SwannBuddy 4K in two locations on my front door. Firstly, on the door frame itself and then on the side of the porch covering an existing analogue door entry system. During testing many people came to the door, although I only used the pre-recorded voice messages with people I knew.
On one occasion a friend who came round was quite shocked by the response of the SwannShield feature when I deliberately played a message telling him (in an assertive Aussie accent) to ‘leave my property’ before sounding the siren loudly. But he later saw the funny side when I explained it was an experiment for a product test!
After two weeks on the front door, I brought the video doorbell indoors to test it as a security camera in my home office. During this time, I noted that despite being very responsive to movement and recording plenty of footage, it still had nearly 50% charge left on the battery after three weeks.
