The Polar Loop is, on the surface, what a lot of folks want. It’s a lifestyle-friendly wearable like the popular Whoop MG, but one that doesn’t come with a mandatory monthly subscription.
It’s screen-free, with a lightweight body and fabric strap for maxed-out comfort. Polar has kept the Loop simple, offering a limited set of features rather than trying to cram in lots of extras. It tracks your sleep, your steps and has a crack at recognising and logging activity sessions — runs, walks and so on. This part is patchy, but the Polar Loop was never going to be that big a hit as a one of the best fitness tracker with the hardcore exerciser crowd anyway.
The Polar Loop’s issues are largely software-based. You have to get on with the Polar app to make the Loop fun to use, and its interface and presentation of data could really do with a rethink. This is planned for the future, but for now, this isn’t quite the Whoop-killer you may be hoping for. It’s shown up on that front by the cheaper Amazfit Helio Strap.
As is, what you get is a decent screen less tracker, but one that may be better later into its lifespan – after a software update, at least.
Polar Loop: Specifications
Component
Polar Loop
Price
$199 / £149.50 / AU$299
Dimensions
42 x 27 x 9mm
Weight
29g with band
Case/bezel
Stainless steel/Plastic
Display
N/A
GPS
N/A
Battery life
Up to 8 days
Connection
Bluetooth
Water resistant
Yes, 3ATM
Polar Loop: Price and Availability
(Image credit: Future / Andrew Williams)
$199 in the US
£149.50 in the UK
AU$299 in Australia
The Polar Loop launched in early September 2025 as a subscription-free alternative to the Whoop band. This is a little over a year since the launch of the Polar 360, a business-oriented wellness wearable that’s ultimately pretty similar to this consumer version. It costs $199 in the US, £149.50 in the UK and AU$299 in Australia.
While there are no explicit ongoing costs, there is a totally optional subscription called Polar Fitness Program, which works out an adaptive training plan for you. This costs 9.99 Euro a month after a free trial. This is far better value than the Whoop, which doesn’t sell you the device at all – just an expensive subscription. But for a fitness tracker that doesn’t actually do a lot, it’s still quite highly-priced.
Value score: 3.5/5
Polar Loop: Design
(Image credit: Future / Andrew Williams)
Screenless
Steel accents
Comfortable stretchy bands
The Polar Loop is similar enough to the Whoop band that Whoop has sued Polar claiming the company nicked its design. However, what this really boils down to is a couple of conventions already seen across the screenless wearables landscape.
Polar uses a fabric strap that weaves, buckle-like, over the wearable’s main unit. It covers where the screen would be in a normal watch. The Loop uses a velcro-style fastener and is clearly designed to look like a lifestyle wearable over a hardcore fitness gadget. While much of the core brick is plastic, the top and outer parts are brushed bronze-shade steel. It’s there to provide a touch of class.
These screen-free wearables are intended to be the kind of gadget you set and forget, at least until the battery runs out. The Polar Loop weighs 29g, strap included, light enough not to pick up any real momentum as you swing your arms unlike a watch like the Apple Watch Ultra, which weighs close to 60g. But you are still gong to see those familiar skin indents when you occasionally take the watch off, pressing its contours into your wrist.
Is it comfy? Sure, these slightly stretchy fabric bands are ace for comfort. But I’ve found the Amazfit Helio Band slightly easier to forget I’m wearing, no doubt because it’s even lighter: just 20g.
The Polar Loop has no buttons and no LED status indicator. You can’t interact with it if you try. There’s not even a vibration motor: it’s about as stripped-back as Polar could make it. Water resistance is rated at WR30, which in other wearables is often seen as not enough for safe swimming, while Polar says the Loop is fine for “bathing and swimming” under the ISO22810 standard, just not diving or snorkelling.
Design score: 4/5
Polar Loop: Features
(Image credit: Future / Andrew Williams)
No subscription
Very little interaction
Precision Prime heart rate sensor from 2018
One of the core appeals of the Polar Loop is, of course, that there is no mandatory subscription. There is a paid part of the app, though.
It’s called Polar Fitness Program, which costs around $11 a month (9.99 Euro). This launched in April 2025, provides tailored workout plans. It would work much better when paired with Polar’s more conventional fitness watches, like the Polar Grit X2, than a Loop.
The Polar Loop’s own feature set is very stripped-back. You can’t, for example, make the watch broadcast its heart rate data to be used by another device. There’s no altimeter, so counting of steps climbed is not recorded. You cannot use the Polar Loop as an alarm as there’s no vibration motor. When the Polar Loop is running low on battery you’ll simply get an incessant reminder to charge on your phone. You know the funny bit? Polar actually released a tracker called the Loop 2 in 2015 that did have vibration, and a half-hidden screen made up of 85 LEDs.
Neither that band nor the Polar Loop records blood oxygenation data either, despite the heart rate array making use of green, red and orange LEDs. Polar calls this its Precision Prime array, and it has been around for absolutely ages. A similar design was found in 2018’s Polar Vantage V. That’s a lifetime ago in tech terms, but the basics still work well.
Features score: 2.5/5
Polar Loop: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Andrew Williams)
8 days of battery life
Some activity tracking errors
HR data testing similar to Garmin Elevate V5 sensor
Despite the lack of a screen, Polar says the Loop lasts eight days, which is actually a bit less than some of its watches with displays. This is basically on the money. You can expect it to last around a week. With no GPS or screen, there should be little variation in how long it lasts based on your activity level.
Like any wearable, the Polar Loop is heavily reliant on its heart rate sensor for any data beyond your steps. This wearable has a pretty good one, despite using older hardware. While this is not a replacement for a full-on runner’s watch due to its lack of GPS, its HR data during runs is pretty similar to that of a Garmin Forerunner 970 (one of the best Garmin watches) and its Elevate V5 sensor, wore concurrently during most of my testing.
The Polar Loop doesn’t tend to mess up the start of workouts, or show unexpected major HR spikes during the work day when you do little more than potter about. There was one unexpected spike during a tracked run, but in general the results are solid here.
By default, the Polar Loop will record basic stats 24/7, and then automatically log any slightly extended stretches it believes you’re exercising. Go for a 12-minute walk? You can expect to see that pop up in the Polar app. It’s not entirely flawless, though; during one run, the Loop only clocked half of the hour-and-change workout, seemingly stopping during a brief break, only to fail to register the second half. The durations of some sessions are off too, although you can always take a more active approach to tracking: in the Polar phone app, you can manually start a tracked session, select the Loop, and use it as the source for HR data.
That aside, the Polar Loop has a good stab at recording your daily steps. And it of course tracks sleep, too, estimating your time spent in the light, deep and REM sleep zones, and records interruptions. The Polar Loop is more sensitive to these than another wearable’s full-on wakeful moments detection, so you may well see your sleep records peppered with these tiny interruption blips.
The lead stats Polar wants you to focus on are sleep duration, sleep solidity and regeneration — basically how much that sleep is getting your body back where it needs to be. However, there’s also an ANS Charge (autonomous nervous system charge) section in which you can check out breathing rate and heart rate variability.
All the basic data is here, and it’s sound enough. The Polar Loop’s biggest issue is the phone app isn’t really all that enjoyable to use, may look dated to some and doesn’t really direct the user that well as to what they should focus on.
The app’s home screen is Diary, which acts like a feed of your day, showing recent auto-tracked exercises, your step count and so on, in semi-chronological order. This is not as effective as the software in Amazfit’s rival Helio Strap app, which is more intuitive and has a handy traffic light-style system to alert you to any stats that may be out of the ordinary.
Screen-free wearables are massively reliant on their apps for the overall quality of experience. And Polar’s could do with some work. It’s just not that inviting a space to hang out in. Polar does plan to fully revamp the app in future, but right now we can only work with that we have.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Polar Loop: Scorecard
Category
Comment
Score
Value
The lack of a forced subscription is good but this is not the most aggressively priced tracker around.
3.5/5
Design
It’s comfortable, it looks decent and has some higher-grade steel elements, plus you get a choice of colours.
4/5
Features
A watch like this doesn’t need scads of features, but it does miss out on a few elements that could be handy.
2.5/5
Performance
Heart rate accuracy is decent but you may not want to rely on auto exercise recognition for accurate session logging.
3/5
Polar Loop: Should I buy?
Buy it if...
You like its style
An important factor here is how the Loop doesn’t look like a fitness watch, with a two-tone fabric outer strap with steel accents.
You want a subscription-free experience
While you can pay for a training plan subscription, there’s no mandatory subscription with a Polar Loop.
You want pure passive tracking
With no screen, and even no vibrate or buttons, this is a zero-interaction wearable for those who want no wrist distractions.
Don’t buy it if…
You are expecting big health insights
At the time of review the Loop doesn’t present its data in the most cogent way, and also has fairly basic hardware.
You want better software before buying
While Polar has plans to overhaul its software and interface, we don’t know when that will happen at the time of review.
Also consider
Whoop MG
The screen-free band that made this category sing, but requires a pricey subscription.
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is a compact capsule coffee maker with optional milk-frothing for cappuccinos and macchiatos, plus hot and cold milk foam. It's excellent at the fundamentals, and Lavazza's A Modo Mio pods are superb – affordably priced and packed with great quality coffee, with no flavored or sweetened options.
The Deséa is simple to use, as you'd expect from a capsule coffee maker, and is exceptionally quiet. During the testing period, it reached a maximum of only 50dB during brewing, making it the quietest machine I've tested to date.
It uses the same milk-frothing system as the Lavazza Assoluta (an automatic coffee maker that adapts its own settings to suit your chosen beans). This comprises a large glass cup with a lid containing a rotating electric whisk and a steam pipe. It works reasonably well with full-fat dairy milk, but in tests it produced very little foam when used with oat milk. This was very different to my experience with the Assoluta, so I suspect the much smaller Deséa may not be able to generate the same level of steam pressure.
Overall, it's a likeable little espresso machine that would be a good option for small kitchens, particularly if you're the lone coffee-drinker. The price of its capsules won't make you sweat, even if you enjoy several cups a day.
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: specifications
Name
Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg
Type
Capsule coffee maker
Dimensions (H x W x D)
11 x 5.7 x 15 inches / 280 x 145 x 380mm
Weight
9.9lbs / 4.5kg
Water tank capacity
37oz / 1.1 liters
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: price and availability
Similar price to other capsule coffee makers with milk foaming
Available in Europe and Australia, but not currently sold in the US
A Modo Mio coffee pods are much cheaper than alternatives
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa has a list price of £249 / AU$349 (about $330), but is often available at a discount. For example, at the time of writing, it could be found on sale for £199 in the UK in Lavazza’s online store, and $261.75 in Australia. Currently, this model isn't available in the US.
That price is about standard for a capsule coffee maker with a built-in milk frother. For comparison, the De'Longhi Lattissima One is currently priced at $429.99 / £259.99 / AU$519.
What sets the Deséa apart from the competition is the price of its capsules. A pack of 16 Lavazza A Modo Mio capsules retails for £6.45 / AU$15 (about $9), and the cost per drink drops significantly if you buy a bundle instead. That makes the A Modo Mio capsules some of the cheapest around, and much less expensive than Nespresso Vertuo or Tassimo alternatives.
A Modo Mio pods offer up lots of choice when it comes to coffee blends, roasts and terroir, but you won’t find any hot chocolate or coffee with added flavors. Your options are espresso, espresso, and more espresso. During testing, I found the freshly ground and vacuum-sealed beans excellent – but note that if your drink of choice is pumpkin spice, you won’t find it here.
Value score: 4.5/5
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: design
Compact and smart-looking
Includes milk-frothing system
Milk frother only works with supplied mug
Dishwasher-safe components
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is available in black, white, cream and a deep burgundy (different retailers keep different colors in stock). It has a robust-feeling, glossy case with the company logo embossed on the side, and although it isn't quite as sleek as the Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg, it certainly isn't a slouch in the looks department. Gloss finishes can sometimes be a magnet for fingerprints, but I was pleased to find that this wasn’t an issue with the cream-colored model I tested.
Image 1 of 2
You can adjust the height of the drip tray to suit different cups (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
The Deséa takes Lavazza A Modo Mio capsules, which can be composted industrially (Image credit: Future)
The Deséa is particularly compact, even for a capsule coffee maker. At just 11 x 5.7 x 15 inches / 280 x 145 x 380mm (H x W x D), it will easily tuck away into the smallest of kitchens – and can be stashed in a cupboard when not in use (provided it’s properly cleaned and dried beforehand). Despite this, it has a larger water tank than most pod coffee machines, holding 37oz / 1.1 liters. That’s because this isn’t just an espresso machine; it can also foam milk for lattes and cappuccinos using high-pressure steam.
The Deséa has an unusual milk-frothing system that uses a special glass mug with a lid containing a steam tube and a whisk. It's the same system used by the Lavazza Assoluta I tested a couple of months ago, and although it isn't as effective as a proper steam wand, it works reasonably well – provided you use the right type of milk.
However, bear in mind that you can only make milk-based drinks in the glass mug; the special lid doesn't fit onto other cups. Unless you buy a second (they are $22.70 / £15 each), you and your partner won't be able to enjoy lattes as the same time.
Image 1 of 2
The milk system uses a glass mug with a lid containing a steam pipe and a rotating whisk (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
The water tank holds almost a liter and has a sturdy lid and handle to prevent spills (Image credit: Future)
Most removable components (including the cup, drip tray and used pod container) can be safely cleaned in the top rack of your dishwasher, although they take only a moment to wash by hand, too.
The drip tray can be detached and positioned higher up to avoid splashes if you’re using an espresso cup, which is a welcome touch. Used pods drop into a bin that can be accessed by removing the tray and pulling out a drawer on the front of the machine.
Design score: 4/5
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: performance
Produces excellent espresso
Extensive drinks menu
Milk system doesn't work as well as a steam wand
Performs better with dairy than plant-based milk
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa has a cleverly designed control panel that displays the different menu options depending on the cup you’re using. Place an ordinary cup of any size under the dispenser and you’ll see options for brewing an espresso, long espresso (lungo), and long coffee. Push the milk-foaming cup into place and the options for milk-based drinks will light up. The full menu includes:
Espresso
Long espresso (lungo)
Long coffee (Americano)
Cappuccino (regular or large)
Latte macchiato
Hot milk foam
Cold milk foam
You can adjust the volume of your coffee pour, which is a nice feature that you won’t find on many capsule coffee machines. All the drink size options are customizable; just hold the appropriate button on the control panel for three seconds to begin dispensing, then press it again once you have the desired volume. When you hear two beeps, you know the new setting has been saved successfully, ready to use next time.
Like the Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg coffee maker I tested recently, the Deséa brews excellent, well-rounded espresso in just a few seconds, and does so extremely quietly. Using a decibel meter, I measured an average volume of 50dB when extracting coffee, which is about the same as the murmur of a quiet office (although Lavazza claims the volume doesn't exceed 43dB).
After your coffee has brewed and the lights on the front panel have re-illuminated, lift the lid and after a second or two you’ll hear the used pod drop into the collection bin.
Image 1 of 2
Espresso is consistently delicious, and the machine's pump is exceptionally quiet (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
Used pods drop into a bin, ready to be collected for commercial composting (Image credit: Future)
The milk system is a little louder when injecting steam, reaching a maximum of 70dB for a couple of seconds as it incorporates air, but it's quieter than the squeal and rip of a manual steam wand, and the whisk is whisper-quiet.
When you want to use the milk system, take a good look at the fill lines on the side of the glass cup that indicate how much milk to add for different drink sizes. Add too much milk and it risks splashing; too little and it won’t foam properly.
During tests, the Deséa didn’t fare very well when texturizing oat milk, which was very different from my experience with the Lavazza Assoluta. Despite the two machines using the same cup-and-lid system, the Assoluta produced inches of creamy oat foam, whereas the Deséa heated the milk (a little too much – it reached 70ºC, whereas the optimum for coffee is about 60-65ºC), but didn’t actually create any froth, even with the "extra foam" option selected.
The milk system works much better with dairy than plant-based milk (Image credit: Future)
The Deséa’s milk system worked much better with full-fat dairy milk, although I found that it still didn’t produce quite as much foam as the Assoluta. This might be because the smaller Deséa can’t generate as much pressure and inject as much steam into the liquid.
The Deséa can also prepare cold milk foam. To do this, add your cup of milk, drop in a coffee pod if required, hold the temperature +/- button on the front of the machine until the foam and latte lights turn blue, then press the one you want. Again, during my tests this worked better with dairy milk. It’s a nice feature, but bear in mind that the Deséa can only brew hot coffee, so if you want to make a cold latte then you’ll need to add a shot of hot espresso when the milk is ready, which will raise the temperature. You might like to add a few ice cubes to the drink once it’s made (but not before, as they could damage the whisk).
The whisk produces large bubbles rather than fine microfoam, so the froth tends to break down relatively quickly (Image credit: Future)
Finally, a word on waste. Lavazza’s A Modo Mio capsules are compostable, but you can’t simply toss them into your household waste or add them to a compost pile. They have to be processed in an industrial facility; currently Terracycle is the only service that offers this in the UK. There’sno home collection or postage system as there is with plastic and foil coffee pods, so you’ll need to gather your used capsules and take them to a drop-off point. If there isn’t one near you, you can apply to create one.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Should you buy the Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa?
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
Similar price to other capsule coffee makers with milk frother, but the pods are much cheaper.
4.5/5
Design
Compact and smart-looking, though milk system only works with supplied mug.
4/5
Performance
Doesn't foam milk as well as a steam wand, but espresso is consistently excellent and the whole machine is very quiet in use.
3.5/5
Buy it if
You have a compact kitchen
There aren't many coffee machines this small with a milk-frothing system, and the Deséa is light enough to easily move around your home and tuck into a cupboard when it isn't in use.
You're a frequent coffee-drinker
Other capsule coffee makers may be cheaper to buy, but the pods can be very expensive, particularly if you drink several cups a day. Lavazza's A Modo Mio pods are super affordable, and packed with great-quality coffee.
Don't buy it if
You prefer plant-based milk
The Deséa's milk system works best with full-fat dairy, which is true of many automatic coffee makers. If you want to stick with oat or soya, you might be better choosing the Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie, which arrives with a standalone milk frother.
You want to make a round of coffees
The milk system only works with Lavazza's own mug; you can't fit the lid onto your own favorite cup. Again, a more basic Lavazza A Modo Mio machine and a separate milk frother would be a great alternative.
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: also consider
If you're not sure whether the Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is the best coffee maker for you, here are two other options for your shortlist:
De'Longhi Lattissima One
This smart coffee maker uses Nespresso Original pods (the ones shaped like top hats) and has a milk system that produces foam more like a conventional steam wand. You can use any cup and the froth is thick; but the capsules cost more than A Modo Mio ones.
Want to move on from capsules? This little manual espresso machine costs about the same as the Deséa and is a great introduction to fresh speciality coffee. It has an excellent steam wand as well.
I used the Lavazza A Mio Deséa for two weeks, making at least two drinks per day and using all of the available drink options (including hot and cold milk foam). I used it with dairy and oat milk, both of which were freshly purchased and chilled. I used two different types of Lavazza A Modo Mio coffee capsules, with different intensities.
I measured the temperature of the prepared milk with a food thermometer, and used a decibel meter app to measure the machine's volume.
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is a compact capsule coffee maker with optional milk-frothing for cappuccinos and macchiatos, plus hot and cold milk foam. It's excellent at the fundamentals, and Lavazza's A Modo Mio pods are superb – affordably priced and packed with great quality coffee, with no flavored or sweetened options.
The Deséa is simple to use, as you'd expect from a capsule coffee maker, and is exceptionally quiet. During the testing period, it reached a maximum of only 50dB during brewing, making it the quietest machine I've tested to date.
It uses the same milk-frothing system as the Lavazza Assoluta (an automatic coffee maker that adapts its own settings to suit your chosen beans). This comprises a large glass cup with a lid containing a rotating electric whisk and a steam pipe. It works reasonably well with full-fat dairy milk, but in tests it produced very little foam when used with oat milk. This was very different to my experience with the Assoluta, so I suspect the much smaller Deséa may not be able to generate the same level of steam pressure.
Overall, it's a likeable little espresso machine that would be a good option for small kitchens, particularly if you're the lone coffee-drinker. The price of its capsules won't make you sweat, even if you enjoy several cups a day.
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: specifications
Name
Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg
Type
Capsule coffee maker
Dimensions (H x W x D)
11 x 5.7 x 15 inches / 280 x 145 x 380mm
Weight
9.9lbs / 4.5kg
Water tank capacity
37oz / 1.1 liters
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: price and availability
Similar price to other capsule coffee makers with milk foaming
Available in Europe and Australia, but not currently sold in the US
A Modo Mio coffee pods are much cheaper than alternatives
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa has a list price of £249 / AU$349 (about $330), but is often available at a discount. For example, at the time of writing, it could be found on sale for £199 in the UK in Lavazza’s online store, and $261.75 in Australia. Currently, this model isn't available in the US.
That price is about standard for a capsule coffee maker with a built-in milk frother. For comparison, the De'Longhi Lattissima One is currently priced at $429.99 / £259.99 / AU$519.
What sets the Deséa apart from the competition is the price of its capsules. A pack of 16 Lavazza A Modo Mio capsules retails for £6.45 / AU$15 (about $9), and the cost per drink drops significantly if you buy a bundle instead. That makes the A Modo Mio capsules some of the cheapest around, and much less expensive than Nespresso Vertuo or Tassimo alternatives.
A Modo Mio pods offer up lots of choice when it comes to coffee blends, roasts and terroir, but you won’t find any hot chocolate or coffee with added flavors. Your options are espresso, espresso, and more espresso. During testing, I found the freshly ground and vacuum-sealed beans excellent – but note that if your drink of choice is pumpkin spice, you won’t find it here.
Value score: 4.5/5
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: design
Compact and smart-looking
Includes milk-frothing system
Milk frother only works with supplied mug
Dishwasher-safe components
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is available in black, white, cream and a deep burgundy (different retailers keep different colors in stock). It has a robust-feeling, glossy case with the company logo embossed on the side, and although it isn't quite as sleek as the Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg, it certainly isn't a slouch in the looks department. Gloss finishes can sometimes be a magnet for fingerprints, but I was pleased to find that this wasn’t an issue with the cream-colored model I tested.
Image 1 of 2
You can adjust the height of the drip tray to suit different cups (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
The Deséa takes Lavazza A Modo Mio capsules, which can be composted industrially (Image credit: Future)
The Deséa is particularly compact, even for a capsule coffee maker. At just 11 x 5.7 x 15 inches / 280 x 145 x 380mm (H x W x D), it will easily tuck away into the smallest of kitchens – and can be stashed in a cupboard when not in use (provided it’s properly cleaned and dried beforehand). Despite this, it has a larger water tank than most pod coffee machines, holding 37oz / 1.1 liters. That’s because this isn’t just an espresso machine; it can also foam milk for lattes and cappuccinos using high-pressure steam.
The Deséa has an unusual milk-frothing system that uses a special glass mug with a lid containing a steam tube and a whisk. It's the same system used by the Lavazza Assoluta I tested a couple of months ago, and although it isn't as effective as a proper steam wand, it works reasonably well – provided you use the right type of milk.
However, bear in mind that you can only make milk-based drinks in the glass mug; the special lid doesn't fit onto other cups. Unless you buy a second (they are $22.70 / £15 each), you and your partner won't be able to enjoy lattes as the same time.
Image 1 of 2
The milk system uses a glass mug with a lid containing a steam pipe and a rotating whisk (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
The water tank holds almost a liter and has a sturdy lid and handle to prevent spills (Image credit: Future)
Most removable components (including the cup, drip tray and used pod container) can be safely cleaned in the top rack of your dishwasher, although they take only a moment to wash by hand, too.
The drip tray can be detached and positioned higher up to avoid splashes if you’re using an espresso cup, which is a welcome touch. Used pods drop into a bin that can be accessed by removing the tray and pulling out a drawer on the front of the machine.
Design score: 4/5
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: performance
Produces excellent espresso
Extensive drinks menu
Milk system doesn't work as well as a steam wand
Performs better with dairy than plant-based milk
The Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa has a cleverly designed control panel that displays the different menu options depending on the cup you’re using. Place an ordinary cup of any size under the dispenser and you’ll see options for brewing an espresso, long espresso (lungo), and long coffee. Push the milk-foaming cup into place and the options for milk-based drinks will light up. The full menu includes:
Espresso
Long espresso (lungo)
Long coffee (Americano)
Cappuccino (regular or large)
Latte macchiato
Hot milk foam
Cold milk foam
You can adjust the volume of your coffee pour, which is a nice feature that you won’t find on many capsule coffee machines. All the drink size options are customizable; just hold the appropriate button on the control panel for three seconds to begin dispensing, then press it again once you have the desired volume. When you hear two beeps, you know the new setting has been saved successfully, ready to use next time.
Like the Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg coffee maker I tested recently, the Deséa brews excellent, well-rounded espresso in just a few seconds, and does so extremely quietly. Using a decibel meter, I measured an average volume of 50dB when extracting coffee, which is about the same as the murmur of a quiet office (although Lavazza claims the volume doesn't exceed 43dB).
After your coffee has brewed and the lights on the front panel have re-illuminated, lift the lid and after a second or two you’ll hear the used pod drop into the collection bin.
Image 1 of 2
Espresso is consistently delicious, and the machine's pump is exceptionally quiet (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
Used pods drop into a bin, ready to be collected for commercial composting (Image credit: Future)
The milk system is a little louder when injecting steam, reaching a maximum of 70dB for a couple of seconds as it incorporates air, but it's quieter than the squeal and rip of a manual steam wand, and the whisk is whisper-quiet.
When you want to use the milk system, take a good look at the fill lines on the side of the glass cup that indicate how much milk to add for different drink sizes. Add too much milk and it risks splashing; too little and it won’t foam properly.
During tests, the Deséa didn’t fare very well when texturizing oat milk, which was very different from my experience with the Lavazza Assoluta. Despite the two machines using the same cup-and-lid system, the Assoluta produced inches of creamy oat foam, whereas the Deséa heated the milk (a little too much – it reached 70ºC, whereas the optimum for coffee is about 60-65ºC), but didn’t actually create any froth, even with the "extra foam" option selected.
The milk system works much better with dairy than plant-based milk (Image credit: Future)
The Deséa’s milk system worked much better with full-fat dairy milk, although I found that it still didn’t produce quite as much foam as the Assoluta. This might be because the smaller Deséa can’t generate as much pressure and inject as much steam into the liquid.
The Deséa can also prepare cold milk foam. To do this, add your cup of milk, drop in a coffee pod if required, hold the temperature +/- button on the front of the machine until the foam and latte lights turn blue, then press the one you want. Again, during my tests this worked better with dairy milk. It’s a nice feature, but bear in mind that the Deséa can only brew hot coffee, so if you want to make a cold latte then you’ll need to add a shot of hot espresso when the milk is ready, which will raise the temperature. You might like to add a few ice cubes to the drink once it’s made (but not before, as they could damage the whisk).
The whisk produces large bubbles rather than fine microfoam, so the froth tends to break down relatively quickly (Image credit: Future)
Finally, a word on waste. Lavazza’s A Modo Mio capsules are compostable, but you can’t simply toss them into your household waste or add them to a compost pile. They have to be processed in an industrial facility; currently Terracycle is the only service that offers this in the UK. There’sno home collection or postage system as there is with plastic and foil coffee pods, so you’ll need to gather your used capsules and take them to a drop-off point. If there isn’t one near you, you can apply to create one.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Should you buy the Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa?
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
Similar price to other capsule coffee makers with milk frother, but the pods are much cheaper.
4.5/5
Design
Compact and smart-looking, though milk system only works with supplied mug.
4/5
Performance
Doesn't foam milk as well as a steam wand, but espresso is consistently excellent and the whole machine is very quiet in use.
3.5/5
Buy it if
You have a compact kitchen
There aren't many coffee machines this small with a milk-frothing system, and the Deséa is light enough to easily move around your home and tuck into a cupboard when it isn't in use.
You're a frequent coffee-drinker
Other capsule coffee makers may be cheaper to buy, but the pods can be very expensive, particularly if you drink several cups a day. Lavazza's A Modo Mio pods are super affordable, and packed with great-quality coffee.
Don't buy it if
You prefer plant-based milk
The Deséa's milk system works best with full-fat dairy, which is true of many automatic coffee makers. If you want to stick with oat or soya, you might be better choosing the Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie, which arrives with a standalone milk frother.
You want to make a round of coffees
The milk system only works with Lavazza's own mug; you can't fit the lid onto your own favorite cup. Again, a more basic Lavazza A Modo Mio machine and a separate milk frother would be a great alternative.
Lavazza A Mio Modo Deséa: also consider
If you're not sure whether the Lavazza A Modo Mio Deséa is the best coffee maker for you, here are two other options for your shortlist:
De'Longhi Lattissima One
This smart coffee maker uses Nespresso Original pods (the ones shaped like top hats) and has a milk system that produces foam more like a conventional steam wand. You can use any cup and the froth is thick; but the capsules cost more than A Modo Mio ones.
Want to move on from capsules? This little manual espresso machine costs about the same as the Deséa and is a great introduction to fresh speciality coffee. It has an excellent steam wand as well.
I used the Lavazza A Mio Deséa for two weeks, making at least two drinks per day and using all of the available drink options (including hot and cold milk foam). I used it with dairy and oat milk, both of which were freshly purchased and chilled. I used two different types of Lavazza A Modo Mio coffee capsules, with different intensities.
I measured the temperature of the prepared milk with a food thermometer, and used a decibel meter app to measure the machine's volume.
We liked the RP-BE58 range extender from Asus, which provides dual-band Wi-Fi 7 with good performance at a competitive price. However, most people are still using older PCs and mobile devices that don’t support Wi-Fi 7 yet.
There are also many brand-new PCs and laptops now available that don’t have Wi-Fi 7 either (yes, Apple, we’re looking at you). And, of course, there’s no need to buy a range extender with Wi-Fi 7 if you’re still using an old router that only has Wi-Fi 5 or 6. In that case you might want to look at the Asus RP-AX58 range extender instead, which sticks with Wi-Fi 6 and an even more affordable price.
Admittedly, its dual-band Wi-Fi does run at a relatively modest 3.0Gbps, but that should still be more than adequate for streaming video or gaming in most homes, and the RP-AX58 will be a good, affordable option if you just need to boost your Wi-Fi into an upstairs bedroom or other area that suffers from a Wi-Fi deadspot.
Asus RP-AX58: Price And Availability
How much does it cost? $79.99/£64.99/AU $103.62
When is it available: Now
Where can you get it: US, UK, Australia
Sticking with Wi-Fi 6 means that the RP-AX58 is currently available for a very competitive $79.99/£64.99/AU $103.62.
That makes it one of the most affordable range extenders we’ve seen recently, and it’s considerably cheaper than Asus’ RP-BE58 with Wi-Fi 7, as well as rivals such as TP-Link’s BE3600. It’s available in most regions and, as Wi-Fi 6 is a few years old now, you can find it discounted online quite often if you want to shop around.
Value: 4/5
(Image credit: Future)
Asus RP-AX58: Design
Compact, slimline design
No cables, plugs directly into mains socket
2x internal antennae
The RP-AX58 looks virtually identical to its Wi-Fi 7 stablemate from Asus, with a similar slimline design that hides its two Wi-Fi antennae inside the body of the range extender.
It measures just 150mm high, 72mm wide and 87mm deep and, like most range extenders it’s designed to plug directly into a mains power socket, so its compact design ensures that you can simply plug it into any convenient socket in any room around your home or office.
There’s a Gigabit Ethernet port on the right-hand side of the range extender that can provide a wired connection as well (although the RP-AX58 will still connect to your main broadband router via Wi-Fi).
Design: 4
(Image credit: Future)
Asus RP-AX58: Features
Supports Asus AiMesh technology
Compatible with most routers
App feels a little clumsy
The Asus RP-AX58 provides dual-band Wi-Fi 6, running on the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequency bands, which ensures compatibility with most PCs, consoles, and mobile devices.
Its 3.0Gbps performance isn’t going to break any speed records, but it should be more than adequate for use with most home broadband services, and fast enough to eliminate any Wi-Fi deadspots in rooms or other areas that suffer from poor Wi-Fi. The RP-AX58 will work with broadband routers from most manufacturers, but it also supports Asus’ AiMesh technology, which allows it to act as part of a mesh Wi-Fi network in conjunction with Asus’ own routers or mesh systems.
The Asus Extender app has a few rough edges, though. As I’ve seen before, the opening screen of the app displays some jumbled text on the screen of my iPhone (although that’s not a problem on the larger screen of an iPad).
However, even when the text is clear it’s... well... still a bit unclear. The app tells you to enter the ‘default password’ for the Wi-Fi network created by the range extender, when in fact the network doesn’t initially require a password.
It’s only after connecting the RP-AX58 to your existing Wi-Fi network that the app gives you the opportunity to set a password. You can create an entirely new network name and password just for connecting to the RP-AX58, or if you want to keep things simple you can just tell the app to use the same name and password as your existing Wi-Fi network.
The low price of the RP-AX58 means that there’s not much in the way of additional features, but that’s not a problem as long as it delivers the goods when tackling your Wi-Fi deadspots.
Features: 3/5
(Image credit: Future)
Asus RP-AX58: Performance
Dual-band Wi-Fi 6
3.0Gbps speed
1x Gigabit Ethernet port
The use of Wi-Fi 6 and a top speed of 3.0Gbps seems almost quaint when compared to the blazing speeds of the latest Wi-Fi 7 devices. Yet few people really need multi-gig speeds for their home or office Wi-Fi, so the RP-AX58 should still provide all the speed you need for most home broadband services.
Asus RP-AX58 benchmarks
Ookla Speed Test – 2.4GHz (download/upload)
Within 30ft, three partition walls: 120Mbps / 120Mbps
20GB Steam Download - 2.4GHz
Within 30ft, three partition walls: 120Mbps
Ookla Speed Test – 5.0GHz (download/upload)
Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps / 150Mbps
20GB Steam Download - 5.0GHz
Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps
It worked well with my own Wi-Fi deadspot, located in an office towards the back of a building that my normal office router struggles to reach. I installed the RP-AX58 in a hallway just outside that office and immediately said goodbye to the dead zone – and to the PowerLine adaptors that I normally use to provide a wired connection in that room.
My office broadband runs at 150Mbps, and the slower 2.4GHz band provided by the RP-AX58 was able to provide a perfectly reliable speed of 120Mbps in the back office for Steam downloads and the Ookla Speed Test.
Admittedly, the RP-BE58 range extender from Asus ran slightly faster on that frequency band, hitting 135Mps, but the RP-BE58 is more expensive because of its up-to-date support for Wi-Fi 7, and 120Mbps will still be enough to handle web browsing and streaming video with no trouble.
And, as expected, the faster 5.0GHz band delivered the full 150Mbps available with our office broadband for both Ookla and Steam. Owners of newer devices that support Wi-Fi 7 might prefer a more up-to-date router or range extender that can deliver the higher performance of Wi-Fi 7, but if you just need to boost the Wi-Fi in one or two rooms around your home then the RP-AX58 will do the trick without breaking the bank.
Performance: 3/5
Should You Buy The Asus RP-AX58?
Asus RP-AX58 Scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Score
Value
It’s very much an entry-level option, but the RP-AX58 is an affordable option for dealing with Wi-Fi deadspots.
4 / 5
Design
A slimline design that plugs directly into a mains power socket and doesn’t take up too much space.
4 / 5
Features
Entry-level price means entry-level features, but the RP-AX58 does the job of boosting your home Wi-Fi.
3 / 5
Performance
Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 running at 3.0Gbps is far from breath-taking, but it should still be able to handle most online tasks with ease.
3 / 5
Final Score
It’s last-gen Wi-Fi, but still a perfectly good option for those of us that haven’t upgraded to the latest Wi-Fi 7.
3.5 / 5
Buy it if...
You’ve got a deadspot It does what it says on the tin – extending the range of your existing Wi-Fi network to reach into a room that struggles with poor Wi-Fi.
You're on a budget It’s very much a no-frills option, but the RP-AX58 is very good value for money and suitable for use with most home broadband services.
Don’t buy it if...
You’re an early adopter If you own a PC or any mobile devices that already have Wi-Fi 7, then you should probably spend a little extra for a more modern range extender.
You need 'whole home' Wi-Fi Range extenders are great for reaching just one or two rooms, but larger homes with several bedrooms may need a mesh Wi-Fi system with greater range.
Also Consider
If you're undecided about the Asus RP-AX58, I've compared its specs with two other options that might be a better fit.
Asus RP-AX58
TP-Link AXE5400
Asus RP-BE58
Price
$79.99/£64.99/AU $103.62
$139.99/£119.14
$99.99/79.99/AU$150
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi Speed
3.0Gbps
5.4Gbps
3.6Gbps
Antennae
2 (internal)
4 (external)
2 (internal)
Ethernet ports
1x Gigabit Ethernet
1x Gigabit Ethernet
1x Gigabit Ethernet
Dimensions
150 x72 x 87mm
348 x 106 x 80mm
150 x 72 x 87mm
It’s one of the biggest range extenders we’ve ever seen, but the four antennae used by the AXE5400 provide tri-band Wi-Fi 6E running at a healthy 5.4Gbps.
The Wi-Fi 7 version of the RP-AX58 is a little more expensive, but also a little faster at 3.6Gbps. It also includes Wi-Fi 7 features such as MLO that further help to boost performance.
Cuisinart is a renowned brand in the kitchen appliance space, and the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor proves why. This food processor appliance offers a 1.1L capacity, providing a reasonable amount of space for everyday use without occupying a large amount of storage space. But don’t let its compact size fool you, this is a powerhouse of an appliance.
The FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor comes with three attachments: a reversible shredding disc (offering fine or medium shredding/grating), a whipping disc for creams, and a sharp chopping blade, which can also be used to purée and emulsify foods or for tasks such as combining pastry. Shredding and chopping take mere seconds, depending on the food type, while this food processor also saves time (and energy) on more tedious tasks, including whipping double cream or blending nuts into butter. We found minimal food to be left unprocessed at the end, or stuck under the disc/blade. Handwashing was fairly easy, too, especially given that the attachments and bowl are dishwasher safe.
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However, results aren’t always even. While this is largely a minor issue, with carrot or courgette gratings being of varied sizes (though still grated), it was more apparent with a couple of tests/ We found that chopping almonds resulted in some being left whole, while others were almost a powder, while puréeing the almonds into a butter results in half of the nuts (those on the bottom half) being more processed than the other.
The power this food processor packs seems to be part of the issue, as its speed can let down its precision at times. You have little control over this power, too, as the FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor only comes with two main functions: on and pulse. Pulse gives you a bit more control, but we’d have loved to have had the option to increase or decrease the power level as needed. We’d also have liked the inclusion of a slicing attachment, which we’ve seen with similar products, such as the Magimix 4200XL.
These issues are relatively minor, however, and the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor is overall a superb kitchen appliance. And, with a £70 price tag, you’d be hard pressed to find a food processor that offers as high quality for such good value.
Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor: price and availability
£70 at Cuisinart UK or $89.95 for US model (FP-5)
Unavailable in Australia
Available at third-party retailers, including Amazon and Lakeland
Regular discounts can see it dropped to around £50
The Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor (Model FP5U) is available in the UK for £69.99 at Cuisinart UK, while the US equivalent model (FP-5) is $89.95. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this food processor isn’t available in Australia.
This places this food processor firmly in the budget range, and the quality on offer for that price tag is exceptional, especially considering that there are regular discounts on this appliance. It doesn’t offer the variety of functions we see with some of the premium products on our best food processors list, such as the Breville the Paradice 16 ($699.95 / £579.95 / AU$899) or Nutribullet Triple Prep System ($244.99 / £229.99 / AU$349.95), but it’s considerably more affordable.
So, if you want one of the food processors that does the basics well, you can’t go wrong with the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor. If you need a slightly larger capacity, but don’t want to fork out for a premium appliance, it’s worth considering the Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro FP8 food processor, priced at £125/ $99.95.
5.9in (D) x 13.3in (W) x 8.1in (H) / 150mm (D) x 338mm (W) x 206mm (H)
Dishwasher-safe
Yes (on top rack only)
Guarantee
3 years
Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor: design
Storage hub for chopping blade
BladeLock system for safe handling
Compact size
No control over power
No slicing attachment
Out of the box, the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor comes with a compact, silver housing base, a 1.1L work bowl, a lid featuring a feed tube, a pusher for that tube, a stem adapter, a metal chopping blade, a reversible shredding disc (for fine and medium shredding), a whipping disc, and a storage hub for the blades. On the outside of the base are two black buttons: on and pulse/off.
What’s immediately striking is how compact the appliance is. As such, it doesn’t offer a huge capacity, but plenty for those preparing smaller batches of food. The appliance is fairly straightforward to assemble, with the work bowl locking into the base, and then your disc or blade locking into the accompanying stem adaptor, which is then locked into the work bowl. Cuisinart’s BladeLock system ensures the blade or disc remains locked in place when processing or pouring, offering an extra layer of safety. The lid then locks into the work bowl, with the pusher slipping easily (but tightly) into the lid’s food tube.
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Our main issue with the setup was that, while the accompanying user manual is quite thorough, it’s mostly text-based, with very few images, making it initially challenging to ensure we’d set up the appliance correctly before its first use, which is critical when sharp blades are involved. We appreciated the storage hub that allows you to safely store the chopping blades and stem adapter, and fits into the workbowl but wish it could fit the discs, too.
The Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor’s two buttons make it easy to use, with Pulse used for short bursts of power and On for consistent processing. However, this food processor packs a punch, so while your food can produce results quickly, there’s a fine line between it potentially becoming overprocessed. At one point in our testing, the machine began shaking back and forth on our countertop with the power, and some grated carrot jumped out of the feeding tube as we tried to add more.
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It’s also incredibly loud; we found it registered a 99 decibel reading when chopping onions, comparable to the volume of a boiler room. We also wish a slicing attachment were included, as this is a common function for food processors and would have offered slightly more variety.
Overall, we found this to be a safety-conscious food processor that is easy to use, has a sleek and compact design, and values basic practicality over extra bells and whistles.
We began testing using the chopping blade to chop a medium-sized red onion. While the user manual includes a user guide for different food types, suggesting the tool, function, and directions to use for each, it offers few instructions for vegetables, bar a suggestion to cut raw ingredients into even, 1cm pieces before inserting them into the work bowl. This user manual also doesn’t suggest optimal quantities of food (or any quantities).
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We were taken aback by how quickly the appliance chopped the onion in its consistent On mode. It took a few seconds (less than 10) for the onion to be entirely chopped, with no unchopped ingredient left under the blade, and the result was largely even cuts, with some outlying larger pieces – though not enough to present an issue. The speed was impressive; however, the power means you should use the Pulse feature for chopping, to have more control and prevent overprocessing.
Chopping bread with this blade, too, produced excellent results. As the user manual suggested, we tore three slices of multi-seed bread into pieces before using Pulse (for just one second) three or four times, before setting the processing to On. It took between five and 10 seconds to produce evenly chopped bread crumbs, with no bread caught underneath the blade.
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Chopping almonds, however, produced less consistent results. We added 250g of whole almonds to the work bowl before using the Pulse setting to break up the nuts. It took around 25 one-second pulses to break up the almonds, but we found that while some of the almonds were chopped well, others in the same bowl were either a powder-like consistency or still whole.
After checking the consistency, we pressed the On button to continue processing to make almond butter. In around 10 seconds, the chopped almonds transformed into almond flour, but it took around six minutes to produce butter. The issue with this was that the bottom half of the work bowl’s produce had become butter, but the top half hadn’t, and wasn’t getting access to the blades as evenly, even when we used a spatula to scrape down the edges (when the appliance was off). The result was very hard butter at the bottom, with smoother butter nearer the top.
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We did, however, find the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor a dream when combining shortcrust pastry with this chopping blade. After adding our flour and butter to the bowl, we pulsed the mixture around 20 times before adding a couple of tablespoons of water and setting it to On.
It took around 45 seconds for the pastry to come together, resulting in perfectly mixed pastry. You need to keep a close eye on the appliance when using it for this task, however, as the speed and power of the machine means it your dough can quickly become overworked.
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We next tried the reversible shredding disc, which offers two options: fine shredding or medium shredding. You choose your shred by inserting the disc with the corresponding side (there is small writing that indicates which side is which) facing upwards. We started with a standard courgette on the fine shredding side. A full courgette wouldn’t fit through the feeding tube, so we sliced it vertically down the middle to fit. With the food processor on, we were able to slowly insert the courgette through the tube and into the spinning shredding disc.
The appliance shreds quickly, but you don’t feel it pulling the ingredients in at an unsafe speed. Instead, the pressure you apply feels largely in your control. In less than 20 seconds, or courgette was shredded. While the result was well-shredded pieces, with minimal residue left on the lid, the pieces weren’t all evenly sized: some pieces were shorter and others longer.
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Our results with shredding carrots on the medium shred blade were similar. Again, we had to cut our two carrots down the middle vertically to fit them in the tube, but they grated in less than 20 seconds – though some carrot pieces shot out of the tube as we added more. The carrot was grated well, but again, the pieces weren’t consistently even with each other. Much like with the courgette, this isn’t a huge issue in the cooking process, but it is something we’ve seen achieved by competitors.
Finally, we tested the whipping disc with 240ml of double cream. Whipping cream can be a real chore, but this food processor produced perfectly whipped cream (that we could hold upside down without drippage) in around 40 to 50 seconds. While some residue was stuck under the blade and not entirely mixed in, we were pleased overall with the results.
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Overall, the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor offers high-quality results, but not necessarily precision. Its power is its greatest strength, as it offers tremendous speed, but it is also its biggest weakness, as it can easily overwork foods if you’re not careful.
Performance score: 4.5/5
Should you buy the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor?
This food processor may not come with the variety of functions seen with premium products, but offers high quality for a budget price tag.
5/5
Design
Its compact size means this food processor won't need a lot of storage room. It's also incredibly easy to use, but we do wish we had more control over its power levels.
4.5/5
Performance
This is a powerhouse food processor, shredding, whipping, and chopping with impressive speed, but this does come somewhat at the cost of precision.
4.5/5
Buy it if
You want a quality, budget food processor
For its budget price tag, this food processor offers quality results. While it can only perform a handful of (fairly basic) functions, it offers excellent value for those who want an affordable food processor to handle day-to-day food prep.
You value speed over precision
This food processor offers a huge amount of power, which means it produces its results with impressive speed. The pieces may not always be even, and you need to keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t overwork your food, but if speed is the most important factor to you, this is a great option.
You want to save on storage space
The Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor is surprisingly compact, taking up minimal room. So, if you’re struggling for storage space, this is an excellent choice.
Don't buy it if
You want a wide variety of functions
The Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor can shred, purée, chop, whip, and emulsify, but doesn’t come with some of the functions we’ve seen in competitors, such as slicing. If you want an all-singing-all-dancing food processor, this may not be the one for you.
You want control over power levels
While this is a powerful appliance, it can be too powerful at times, and there’s little control over it. If you want a food processor that has more options for power levels, therefore giving you more control over the final results, then you may be better considering an alternative.
You need a large capacity food processor
This food processor’s 1.1L work bowl offers decent capacity for smaller households or for those who plan to use it for smaller batches of food prep, but if you have a bigger household or need to make larger batches, we advise considering a food processor with a larger capacity bowl.
Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L Food Processor: also consider
If the Cuisinart FlexPrep 1.1L isn't quite the right food processor for you, here are two alternatives that are worth considering:
Breville The Paradice 16
This premium food processor delivers the precision that the Cuisinart FlexPrep lacks, albeit for several times the price. It's incredibly well made and has an attachment for virtually every kitchen job, from peeling to whisking and everything in between. Highly recommended if your budget will stretch this far.
Three appliances in one (a food processor, jug blender, and smoothie maker) for much less than buying them separately. Works particularly well for larger quantities, but not so well with small servings, and the pitcher's blades can't be removed for cleaning, which is a shame.
With the Ninja name comes an expectation of quality. From air fryers and coffee machines to blenders and ice cream makers, Ninja kitchen appliances are among the most popular on the market – with several of their products topping our buying guides lists. The Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker MC1101UK offers the level of quality you’d expect while combining the power of multiple appliances into one compact package. This multicooker offers the capabilities of a rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, and hob in one appliance, helping reduce your need for kitchen storage space and the amount of washing up after a meal.
The PossibleCooker offers eight main functions: sear/sauté, slow cook, white rice, brown rice, pasta (without drainage), porridge, steam, and keep warm. During our testing, we found results were consistently excellent. The 6L cooking pot offers plenty of space, while the appliance itself isn’t as bulky as you might imagine. And, thanks to a thorough user manual and clear markings inside the pot, it’s easy to ensure your liquid-to-oat/rice ratio is accurate with every cook.
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While this multicooker will likely become a firm favourite in your household, it’s not flawless. Some cooking functions, like rice cooking, take longer than they maybe would on the hob, though the results are worth the wait. And while using the appliance is straightforward, its small digital display is quite basic, indicating a preheating function only via symbols and offering no timer for rice cooking functions.
We also found that the non-stick coating on the inside of the pot began chipping away within a week of testing, despite carefully following the cleaning instructions. Ninja says the cooking pot and lid are dishwasher-safe, but we’d recommend handwashing where possible, especially as it’s easy to do even with stubborn residue.
Overall, for £119.99 ($129.99 / AU$249.99 for non-UK models), the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker is an excellent value multicooker for households big and small who want more efficiency in the kitchen.
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker: price and availability
MC1101UK model costs £119.99 at Ninja UK
MC1101 model available for $129.99 in US, and AU$249.99 in Australia
Available at third-party retailers like Amazon, John Lewis, and Staples
Regular discounts at Ninja and third-party retailers
The Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker MC1101UK (which is the model I tested here) retails for £119.99 at Ninja UK, while non-MC1101UK models are available in the US and Australia for $129.99 and AU$249.99, respectively.
Considering the quality of the results, the pot’s 6L capacity, and the functions on offer, we believe it‘s excellent value for money. Especially when you consider what buying a dedicated rice cooker, steamer, and slow cooker would cost combined.
What’s more, we regularly see discounts on this appliance at Ninja and third-party retailers, so keep an eye out for these to pick it up for even less.
Value score: 5/5
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker: specifications
Review model
MC1101UK
Color
Midnight Blue
Number of baskets
1 cooking pot
Number of cooking functions
8 cooking modes
Cooking functions and modes
Sear/Sauté, Slow Cook, White Rice, Brown Rice, Pasta, Porridge, Steam, Keep Warm
280mm (H) x 420mm (W) x 290mm (D) / 11in (H) x 16.5in (W) x 11.4in (D)
Dishwasher-safe
Yes (but we don't recommend it)
Guarantee
2 years
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker: design
6L capacity cooking pot
Fairly compact and quiet
Minimal effort needed to clean
Non-stick coating on pot can easily come off
Digital display can be confusing
Out of the box, the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker MC1101UK comes with a silver main unit (with a black control panel), a 6L midnight blue cooking pot, a glass lid, a rice cup, a rice spoon, and a steam rack, plus a thorough user manual and recipe booklet.
Immediately, we were surprised by how compact the appliance is, given its capacity. When assembled, the PossibleCooker takes up less than one kitchen counter space, making it a great choice for those with fewer storage options or a smaller kitchen work surface.
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On the main unit is a fairly straightforward control panel, listing the eight cooking functions on the left, beside a small digital display. On the right-hand side are arrow buttons for function, time, and temperature, alongside a start/stop button.
The cooking pot has a black non-stick coating inside, with clear lines indicating where to fill up to with water for white rice, brown rice, and oats, corresponding to the number of cups you’ve added. The included recipe booklet provides more thorough instructions on this in its grain and pasta chart, which covers a variety of rice types (and certain pasta), alongside handy cooking tips. So, if, like me, you struggle to get your ratios right, keep it near. This recipe manual also offers guidelines for commonly slow-cooked meats and steamed vegetables, plus some recipes to get you started. We did, however, find the recipes weren’t as flavoursome as they sound, and some of the instructions aren’t particularly clear.
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Using the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker is straightforward, but we highly advise reading the user manual first to understand how each cooking function works. Though the advice given in the manual can sometimes contradict the recipe book: for example, in the manual it advises to keep the lid on during cooking, while the recipe book recommends removing it after boiling.
To use the appliance, turn it on, use the function buttons to navigate to the relevant function, and then (where applicable) adjust the temperature and timing settings before pressing start. Some functions kick in straight away, while others have a preheat period. This preheat period is indicated by progress symbols (lines) in the display window, but the user manual doesn’t make the preheating process particularly clear, or how long it will last. For searing/sauteéing, these progress symbols are followed by the instruction to add food, but for other functions, this isn’t the case. After several uses, we got to grips with this feature, but it can be confusing initially.
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When running, the PossibleCooker is quiet, but lets out a loud beep when cooking is complete. The appliance has markers indicating which parts will get hot during the process (and not to touch with bare hands), and the user manual makes it clear, too. So, if you’ve got little ones, we advise moving it away from the edge of your counter and ideally positioning it near or under an extractor fan (it gets steamy).
After letting the appliance cool down, the main unit can be wiped down with a cloth, and you can hand-wash the cooking pot with ease – though avoid using anything abrasive on its non-stick coat. However, despite carefully following the instructions, the coat began to chip off around the rim of the pot, possibly due to wear from the lid, within a week. So, while Ninja claims the pot is dishwasher safe, we advise (as we do with any non-stick coated appliance) to only hand-wash for longevity.
Design score: 4.5/5
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker: performance
Eight cooking functions, including rice and slow cooking
High quality results across all modes…
But expect a wait for some products
Medium slow cook temperature would be beneficial
We started our testing of the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker MC1101UK by using its white rice function. Cooking perfect rice every time is no mean feat, and this reviewer regularly gets the ratios wrong. Fortunately, the rice chart made it easy. We added two cups of long-grain white rice to the cooking pot and filled it with water to the corresponding mark.
It’s initially a bit unclear whether the appliance is on. Following the progress symbols, the display doesn’t show anything, so you’re left in the dark about how long the rice will actually take to cook. On average, it can take around 30 to 40 minutes to cook this amount of rice. We, however, waited slightly longer.. The result was perfectly fluffy rice, but it took around 40 to 50 minutes. We will caveat, however, that you can expect this wait with some other rice cookers.
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We had the same results with brown rice, which has its own function. This time, we tried the Cajun Dirty Rice recipe from the booklet, which first requires you to cook 360g of brown rice (two cups) using the corresponding function. The booklet suggests this will take approximately 50 to 60 minutes, but we found it took 75 minutes altogether. Brown rice typically takes longer to cook than white, and you may wait longer than the booklet suggests, but the result was perfectly cooked grains once again. Well worth the wait, as long as you expect it. If speed is your priority, though, this may not be the appliance for you.
The Cajun Dirty Rice recipe allowed us to test efficiency and the multi-functionality of the PossibleCooker. After removing the rice, we easily cleaned out the inside of the pot with a cloth, ensuring it was dry before the next use. When you use more than one function of this multicooker for a recipe, expect extra waiting times for the pot to cool enough to be cleaned. Fortunately, the pot was quickly washed up, and I selected the sauté function (which requires a preheat) for the next section: browning off pork and beef mince.
The cooking pot essentially acts as a pot or pan on a hob when this function is selected, though the controls only let you select High, Medium, or Low temperature (giving you less control over the heat). It works a treat, though, and the digital display shows how long the pot has been heated for, so you can easily keep track of your timings. After cooking my minced meat, followed by my veg, I added stock and brought the pot to the boil before folding in the brown rice. The recipe itself was a bit flavourless, but the result was perfectly cooked rice, meat, and veg.
This multifunctionality is also useful when slow-cooking. Rather than the abundance of pots and pans I usually use for my go-to beef stew recipe, we were able to soften the veg in the pot using the sautée function before adding liquid and beef. After four hours at High temperature, we were thoroughly pleased with the results: the beef was tender, the vegetables soft but not mushy, and the sauce reduced and flavoursome without being watery or congealed.
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We had similar results with a Beef Tinga recipe, a Ninja recipe accessed via the QR code on the appliance’s box. This one didn’t require using the sautée function, but allowed us to test the slow cooking function’s capabilities on the Low temperature setting. After adding all the ingredients to the pot and setting the time to eight hours, the meat was melt-in-your-mouth, but the recipe was (again) a bit bland. Our main takeaway here is that the functionality of the appliance is great, but maybe use it for your own recipes.
The steaming and pasta functions are perhaps the only ones that we had a couple of issues with. Following Ninja’s guidelines, we chose to steam 200g of Tenderstem broccoli. The guidelines tell you the amount of water to add to the pot. You then place the provided steaming rack inside the pot and place the broccoli in a single layer across it before placing the lid on top. The digital display, again, showed the progress bar indicating preheating, but it’s not entirely clear what the appliance is doing at that time. Building up its steam?
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Either way, this heating time isn’t taken into account when you set your timer. So, for example, we set our timer for eight minutes as recommended, but the preheating/presteaming process wasn’t accounted for in those eight minutes, so you may need to account for that when cooking. We also found water bubbled around the lid of the pot during steaming, with a little water coming out the top. Overall, the broccoli was steamed well: with a slight crunch but not too floppy. It may have been easier to steam it the old-fashioned way, however.
Pasta, too, offered mixed results. The guidelines in the recipe book recommend the amount of water to add for the weight of pasta you’re using (the lines in the pot don’t apply to this). The booklet advises adding the pasta first, followed by the water, and then select the function. The pasta function seems to work more like the rice function, not giving you control over (or insight into) temperature or time, but telling you when it’s done.
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The draw of the pasta function is that it allows you to cook pasta without needing to drain the water, but the time it takes almost makes it not worth it. After preheating for about six to nine minutes, it’s meant to take around 18 to 20 minutes to cook (again, it’s unclear if preheating is taken into account), but the appliance didn’t beep for over 22 minutes, at which point we stopped the cooking because the pasta was starting to make a skin on the bottom of the pot. While the timings were questionable, and the skin gross, the actual resulting pasta was perfectly al dente. And, in fairness, we didn’t have to drain any water.
Overall, the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker's results are excellent, but you may need to wait a little longer than you expect from some cooking functions – and spend some time getting used to its quirks.
Performance score: 5/5
Should you buy the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker?
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
This is a budget to mid-range appliance that's well worth its value when you consider the price of purchasing individual appliances and the quality on offer.
5/5
Design
Compact, quiet, but with a 6L capacity, this appliance is a great fit for bigger and smaller kitchens – and it looks pretty sleek, too.
4.5/5
Performance
While you may need to be patient with some of its functions, this multicooker provides consistently excellent results across its eight cooking functions.
5/5
Buy it if
You want to save kitchen space
If you’re struggling to fit a steamer, rice cooker, and slow cooker in your kitchen cupboard, this multicooker could help you save some space by combining these appliances into one, fairly compact package – without sacrificing capacity.
You want a quality, multi-functional cooker that won't break the bank
The Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker provides excellent results across its eight cooking functions, but at £119.99, it is much more affordable than other premium instant cookers. It’s great value for money considering the quality and multi-functionality on offer.
You suck at making rice
If, like me, you struggle cooking perfect rice every time, it’s well worth considering this appliance. With a handy ratio guide that covers everything from white rice to sushi rice, the PossibleCooker makes rice cooking easy – even if you have to be a bit patient.
Don't buy it if
You'll only use one cooking function
While the PossibleCooker is great value for money, you need to actually get your money’s worth. If you want to use just one of its functions, and don’t care much about the others, you might be better off buying an appliance solely dedicated to that cooking function.
You're impatient
This multicooker provides great results, but you may need to wait a little longer for them. We found that two cups of brown rice took over an hour to cook, pasta took over 20 minutes, and white rice took over 40 minutes. If you can’t be bothered waiting, you may be better with a stove.
You want an multicooker with a pressure cooker built in
If you're not swayed by the PossibleCooker's functions, and would prefer a similarly priced instant cooker with pressure cooker capabilities, we highly recommend the Instant Pot Duo Plus, which retails for $119.99/ £99.99. Instant Pot is the go-to name in instant cookers, and this one has some excellent cooking functions, including pressure cook, slow cook, sous vide, yogurt, and sauté, without breaking the bank.
Nowadays, rice cookers aren’t simply rice cookers. Many double as multicookers, offering a multitude of cooking functions that make them multifaceted kitchen appliances. The Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is one such rice cooker, offering more than 10 cooking modes that cover sautéeing, steaming, and even jams and cakes. However, this appliance falls short in what it should do best.
During our testing, we found the rice results to be overly dry, with clumps of overcooked grain. Far from inedible, but not the quality you’d expect from a rice cooker of this price range. The Cosori Rice Cooker’s other cooking functions present mixed results, too. In some cases, the results were excellent.
When it comes to making cakes, compotes, boiled eggs, and porridge, the quality is extremely high. However, we found its Slow Cook function a tad disappointing, and we wish we had more control over the temperature of some of the modes available.
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The design of this rice cooker is top-notch, however. It’s exceptionally easy to clean, compact for its 5L capacity, and the digital touchscreen display is a joy to use. It’s not overly pricey either, at £119.99 / $99.99 (about AU$150).
If you don’t mind experimenting a bit to get optimal results, the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is well worth considering. But we can’t help but compare it to similarly priced competitors offering higher-quality results.
Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: price and availability
$99.99 / £119.99 at Cosori
Sold at Ubuy and Amazon in Australia for between AU$197.57 and AU$249
Available at third-party retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy
At $99.99 / £119.99 (about AU$150), the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is a budget-to-mid-range appliance. You get extra value for your money here, as it also doubles as a multi-cooker. While it’s not the best Instant Pot alternative we’ve tested, it’s more affordable than the likes of the Instant Pot Pro ($129.99 / £149.99) and the Instant Pot Duo Crisp ($229.99 / £229.99)
However, when stacked against the likes of the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker, which is another rice cooker that doubles as a multicooker and falls in a similar price range at $129.99 / £119.99 (about AU$200), there’s no contest. While the Cosori Rice Cooker has its benefits, performance isn’t as consistent, nor its results as high quality, as the Ninja.
Value score: 4/5
Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: specifications
Review model
CRC-R501-KUK
Number of baskets
1 cooking pot
Number of cooking functions
10+
Cooking functions and modes
White Rice (Long Grain, Short Grain, Quick), Brown Rice (Short Grain, Long Grain, Quick), Grains (Quinoa, Porridge, Mixed), Steam, Slow Cook, Soup, Sauté, Jam/Sauce, Cake, Keep Warm, Delay Timer
12.3in (D) x 10.6in (W) x 9.2in (H) / 312mm (D) x 269mm (W) x 234mm (H)
Weight
9.81lbs / 4.45kg
Dishwasher-safe
Yes (but we don't advise it)
Guarantee
2 years
Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: design
5L capacity cooking pot
Large, touchscreen buttons
Easily clean pot and accessories
Lines in pot indicating required water levels
Out of the box, this Cosori rice cooker comes with a black, silver-topped main base, a 5L non-stick cooking pot, a soup ladle, a measuring cup, a standing rice paddle, and a 3L steam basket. Assembling the appliance is straightforward thanks to its thorough user manual, though you may find its inner lid and steam cap a tad confusing to insert the first time.
This rice cooker isn’t overly chunky, taking up less than one kitchen counter space, and its modern matte black base, silver-topped design means it shouldn’t look out of place, no matter your kitchen’s style.
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When on, the touch-screen digital display on the front of the rice cooker lights up, displaying the rice preset options, a Keep Warm button, and a Mode button, allowing you to access other cooking functions such as Sauté and Steam. The touchscreen is easy to use, with the large buttons and digital timer display (which is even bigger) clear to see, even from a few feet away.
To open this rice cooker, you simply click the silver button on its top, and the lid springs open, revealing the heating plate and temperature sensor inside. The 5L non-stick-lined cooking pot effortlessly inserts into the space and provides a decent capacity for small to medium households. Inside the pot are lines on either side indicating where to fill the pot with water when steaming or cooking white rice, brown rice, etc., corresponding to the number of cups of grain you’ve added. These lines, when combined with your measuring cup and the user manual’s quick reference chart, make it easier to balance your water-to-grain ratio when cooking.
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This non-stick pot was probably the easiest cooking pot we’ve cleaned in our time testing appliances. By filling the pot with warm soapy water and wiping it with the soft side of a sponge, we found rice, porridge, and even compote residue could be removed with minimal effort. While Cosori says the pot and accessories are dishwasher safe, we don’t advise cleaning anything with a non-stick coating in a dishwasher, as it could damage the non-stick lining.
Just ensure you also clean the inner pot lid and its steam cap after each use. This has a few more crevices, and the lid needs to be disassembled for proper cleaning, but the process is, again, pretty easy. The same can be said of the inside of the base, which can be easily wiped with a cloth.
The accompanying 3L steam basket neatly fits into the inner pot, but we wish it had some non-metallic handles to make removal after cooking easier (and safer).
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In addition to its user manual, the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker comes with a quick reference guide that includes tips for cooking, the grain chart, and a quick rundown of how to set up the appliance and cook white/brown rice. This is handy if you don’t want to flick through the user manual. The rice cooker also comes with a recipe book featuring global recipes that utilise its various functions. We always love the flavour of Cosori recipes, so we highly recommend trying these out.
Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: performance
Variety of cooking modes and rice presets
Rice was overcooked
No control over temperature
Cake function is excellent
The Cosori 5L rice cooker is positioned first and foremost as just that: a rice cooker. Unfortunately, we found its rice cooking capabilities to be lower quality than its other cooking functions.
This appliance has several presets for rice and grains. For white and brown rice, you can specify short grain, long grain, or quick cook (which takes less time but results in harder rice, according to the user manual). We added two cups of washed, long-grain white rice to the pot, filled it to the respective line in the pot, and selected the White Rice/Long Grain option, which takes 50 minutes. This is in line with some rice cookers, but slightly longer than cooking on the hob.
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When running, the rice cooker is surprisingly quiet, registering around 32 decibels (about the volume of a whisper), but when cooking is complete, it lets out several loud beeps that you can easily hear from another room. After using the rice paddle to fluff the rice, we found clumps of overcooked rice in the batch, and the results were, overall, quite dry. In case it was an error on our part, we tried again with the Quick Cook option, which takes 39 minutes. While the dry clumps were less prevalent, there were still enough to make the results less than ideal.
We had the same issue with long-grain brown rice. On the relevant preset, it took 75 minutes, much longer than on a hob, even though brown rice takes longer to cook. Again, we found the results to be overcooked and quite dry, with several clumps of chewy grain. Edible, but not the high quality we’d expect.
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It’s disappointing, as the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker’s other functions work pretty well. We tested several recipes from the Recipe Booklet, which utilises the different cooking functions, and were generally impressed by the results (though it was a mixed bag).
Following the Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup recipe, we used the sautée function (accessed through Modes) to sauté onions and cumin seeds to perfection. Our only gripe here was that the pot gets very hot, and there seems to be no control over its temperature settings, so you need to be careful not to overcook in this mode. After sautéeing, we were able to seamlessly move to the Soup function, and after 45 minutes, we had a lovely chunky soup with soft carrots ready for blending.
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The Jam/Sauce mode is impressive, too. We followed the Strawberry-Thyme Compote recipe, which requires the lid to be open, and had a delicious compote after 15 minutes: soft chunks of strawberry, plenty of tang, and just the right consistency.
This (perhaps minus the thyme) pairs well with porridge. We were surprised that, despite the rice cooking issues, the Porridge preset (under Grains) provided excellent results. We added two cups of rolled oats to the pot and filled the pot to the corresponding water/liquid line for porridge. While it took 30 minutes to get there, the porridge consistency was spot on.
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The Steam function, too, provided great results. For steaming, you add water to the steam line in the pot, then place the steam basket into the pot. We followed the recipe for a soft-boiled egg, adding two eggs to the basket. For steaming, there’s some preheating required. While it doesn’t tell you how long preheating takes, the digital display shows when the rice cooker is preheating and beeps when finished. We were concerned this preheat time would impact cooking, as the eggs were in the basket during that time, and it wasn’t accounted for in its six minutes of cooking time, but the results were excellent. The egg yolk was runny and yellow, the white cooked but not overdone.
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Again, following a recipe from the provided book, we made the Slow Cooked Sunday Sauce, which utilises the Sauté and Slow Cooker modes. We found the pot’s width to be somewhat of a restriction here. The recipe advises cooking your meat in batches, and we did, but there wasn’t a huge amount of room to ensure our chuck beef could layer along the bottom without several batch cooks.
The pot prioritizes depth capacity, so don’t expect it to act as a de facto hob in Sauté mode. After sautéeing our meat and veg in several batches and adding the necessary ingredients, we set the appliance to Slow Cook for four hours. After four hours, the sauce itself was delicious. However, the fat on the beef chuck hadn’t rendered, despite braising, and we were left with inedible, chewy fat on our meat. It’s a shame, because the meat was otherwise cooked well, though not necessarily melt-in-your-mouth.
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The best results we got by a mile, however, were for cake. Of all things. We were understandably very sceptical of a rice cooker’s ability to bake a cake. We followed the Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe in the book, which requires making the batter separately before pouring it into the greased inner pot and selecting the Cake mode. After 70 minutes, we had a (slightly oddly shaped) chocolate cake that was delicious. The cake was moist but not wet and somehow light. In my husband’s words: “It’s the best chocolate sponge I’ve ever had.”
The Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is a mixed bag when it comes to performance, but we’re particularly disappointed in its rice-cooking abilities. You potentially could, with some experimentation (like adding more water than suggested), get better results, but if you want a rice cooker that makes perfect, fluffy rice each time, this may not be the appliance for you.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Should you buy the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker?
Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
This rice cooker is good value for what it offers, but competitor products offer better performance for the same price range.
4/5
Design
A dream to clean and use, this appliance is quiet and easy to use.
5/5
Performance
We had subpar results with rice cooking and a mixed bag when it came to other cooking modes.
3.5/5
Buy it if
You will use its various cooking functions
This rice cooker offers a multitude of cooking functions, covering sautéing, steaming, and even cooking cakes or jams. If you like to cook a range of dishes in your kitchen, or just experiment with new things, it's worth considering this appliance. Not sure where to start? We highly recommend trying the recipes in the accompanying recipe book.
You're looking for a budget-to-mid-range multicooker/rice cooker
Considering this rice cooker doubles as a multicooker, its £119.99 / $99.99 price tag is good value, especially compared to the $200+ price tag of some multicookers. So, if you’re on a budget, it’s worth considering if you think you’ll make the most of its various functions.
You want an easy-to-clean appliance
This is probably the easiest-to-clean appliance I've ever tested. Whether you’re dealing with porridge or compote residue, minimal elbow grease is needed due to the cooking pot’s exceptional non-stick coating.
Don't buy it if
You want effortless, perfect rice every time
As we’ve said, we found this appliance’s rice-cooking capabilities subpar. With some experimentation, you may be able to achieve optimal results, but if you want perfect fluffy rice every time, with minimal exertion, you may be better off considering an alternative.
You won't use all its functions
If you simply want a rice cooker – nothing more, nothing less – then this may not be the appliance for you. There’s no point getting an appliance that doubles as a multicooker if you won’t use its multi-cooking functions. Instead, you can purchase a quality rice cooker, with no extra bells and whistles, for less than $100.
You want consistency across all cooking functions
While we were hugely impressed by several of the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker's functions, others didn't quite hit the mark. So, if you want exceptional quality across the board, it's worth considering an alternative, such as the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker.View Deal
The Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra is a feature-packed combination robot vacuum and mop, paired with a comprehensive base station. In theory, it should deliver an almost completely hands-off cleaning experience; everything you could want from one of the best robot vacuums. However, the performance was somewhat mixed during testing.
Narwal Robotics has been around since 2016, with a primary focus on developing innovative robot vacuums. The Freo Z10 Ultra is the latest flagship model of the Z-series lineup. It's an updated version of the Freo Z Ultra, which offered impressive mopping but struggled with carpets. The Z10 Ultra delivers higher suction power (18,000Pa) and adds edge-reaching technology to the mops. For a slightly more affordable option, there's the Freo Z10.
I tested the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra over a couple of weeks, and when it comes to everyday vacuuming tasks, I was impressed. It did a solid job of clearing most particles – including dog fur, pine needles, and excessive amounts of crumbs – from both hard flooring and carpet in my home. However, edge vacuuming wasn't a strong suit (which was especially apparent under my kitchen cabinets) and it also struggled to clear larger spillages, even when using the highest suction level.
Mopping on the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra was up there with the best I've seen. There's no water tank on the robot itself; instead, the two triangular, microfiber mops are loaded with hot water and detergent at the base before being sent out to clean. Admittedly, this made the cleaning longer and required the water tank to be refilled more often, but the results were worth it.
Beyond consistently mopping up mud puddles left by my dog and small food spills, the mops successfully cleaned a large, dried ketchup spill when using the wettest mopping level. With the Freo Z10 Ultra's edge-reaching technology, the mops even extended right up against walls, getting into places other robots often miss. The dock's mop maintenance features also worked extremely well.
I was equally impressed with the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra's navigation and obstacle avoidance. Dual AI cameras and a LiDAR sensor enable it to avoid furniture, cables, shoes, and other clutter.
Unfortunately, the Freo Z10 Ultra is far from the most reliable bot to control. On many occasions, I would send the robot to complete a task, and it would either skip entire selected rooms or roll out of the base and return without doing anything at all. A "smart" AI cleaning mode, which should adjust cleaning settings based on dirt levels and floor type, only exacerbated the problems.
No matter which settings I used, I couldn't get the bot to auto-empty consistently. I suspect this issue is to do with a unique feature where both the onboard dustbin and the dust bag in the dock are dried to prevent bacterial growth. I'd argue this feature is unnecessary in the first place.
The Narwal Freo app isn't the most intuitive, either, due to the excessive number of settings and customizations. I've tested numerous robot vacuums, and still had to resort to Reddit on several occasions to figure out how to adjust certain settings, such as getting the robot to do basic things like vacuum carpets.
Clearly, not everything on the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra is perfect, but when I got it to do what I wanted, the results were very solid. If you have the patience and experience, this robot vacuum is great for larger homes with average cleaning needs. Some flaws could even be overlooked if you're able to snag it on sale, which it often is.
Availability: Widely, including US, UK, and Australia
The Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra launched in September 2025. It's available in the US, UK, and Australia, with a list price of $1,299.99, £1,299, or AU$2,499. While the initial price tag might seem eye-watering, I've never seen this robot vacuum available for full price, at least in the US. In fact, it's often $400 or more off. Unfortunately, I haven't seen these deals in the UK or Australia. Chances are good you'll find decent savings during seasonal sales like Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day.
Even with a discount, the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra sits on the premium end of the robot vacuum market. However, with features including dual AI cameras and mops equipped with edge-reaching technology, plus a base station that self-empties and hot water washes the mops, its price aligns with other higher-end robot vacuums. Based on the feature list it seems like solid value for your money, but unfortunately not all those special features behave as they should in practice.
Beyond the robot vacuum, base station, and a couple of replacement parts that come in the box, Narwal also offers the option to purchase the "Advance Kit". For an additional $259.99, you'll receive all the accessories needed to use this vacuum for years, including an extra main brush roller, side brushes, mopping pads, floor detergent, dust bags, and more. It's not cheap, but buying these items separately can add up quickly, too (just two mopping pads will set you back $20, while the kit comes with six). The UK and Australia offer similar accessory packs for £119.99 or AU$399.99, respectively.
Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra specs
Max suction:
18,000 Pa
Robot size:
14 x 13.8 in / 35.5 x 35 cm
Robot height:
4.3in / 11cm
Dock dimensions (W x D x H):
17 x 18.2 x 15.2in / 43.1 x 46.2 x 38.8cm
Mop type:
Dual spinning triangular discs
Max threshold clearance:
Not stated
Dust bin volume (onboard):
0.48L
Dust bin volume (base):
2.5L
Water tank volume:
4.5L (clean) / 4.1L (dirty)
Base functions:
Charge, empty dust, wash mop pads with hot water, dry mop pads, dry dust bag
Runtime:
~2.5 hours (tested)
Recharge time:
~3 hours (tested)
Sensors:
Dual AI Cameras, LiDAR 4.0, and side sensor
Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra review: design
Stylish but bulky base station with a wide range of features
Spinning mop pads deliver up to 8N of pressure and extend to reach edges
Anti-hair wrap technology on the main brush and side brushes
Like most robot vacuums with an auto-cleaning base station, the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra arrived in a massive box that weighed over 44lbs (20kg); it's best to have an extra set of hands to help get it inside.
After lifting out all the box's contents, including the bulky base station, which had handles to make life easier, I found that there were absolutely no instructions aside from the plentiful stickers on the different components. I've set up my fair share of robot vacuums before, so it's second nature to me, but for those new to robot vacuums, it was a glaring omission. You can find instructions online, but it's still not ideal.
(Image credit: Future)
The lack of instructions aside, the setup was fairly straightforward. All I had to do was install the side brushes, add the included detergent for the mops, fill the clean water tank, and connect to Wi-Fi. Also, be sure to remove the cover on the front camera sensor of the robot vacuum. I missed this step, and as a result my floor map on the app wouldn't save. I eventually resorted to Reddit to figure out the problem. Again, physical instructions would've prevented this problem.
Robot design
Once I had everything together, I was impressed with how well this bot blended into my room. Most robovacs / docks come in white or black, but this model is a stylish gray. This was a nice change of pace and it happened to perfectly match the walls in the room.
The circular design is typical of most robot vacuums, while on top is your traditional LiDAR puck, which spins inside its casing to help with mapping. Unfortunately, that sensor makes the robot vacuum a little too tall to fit under lower furniture, something other robot vacuums have addressed – models like the Roborock Qrevo Slim and Dreame X50 Ultra have retractable pucks that tuck in when the bot enters low-height areas. Within Narwal's own range, the higher-end Narwal Flow has its LiDAR module mounted within the body of the robot rather than sitting on top.
Other sensors include dual 136-degree cameras with dual AI chips, located at the front of the robot. These cameras also take pictures of obstacles or can be used to scan your space, similar to a security camera. The bot also comes kitted out with a bright light that automatically activates for navigation and obstacle avoidance in darker spaces. There's a further sensor on the side for even more assistance in navigating spaces.
(Image credit: Future)
Flip the robovac over and you'll find the main roller, with rubber fins and short bristles suitable for both carpets and hard flooring. This also incorporates anti-hair wrap technology – given that I have a fluffy Keeshond constantly leaving clumps of hair around, this is a huge boon. The side brushes also feature detangling technology and have more movement than typical side brushes.
However, the most notable feature is the two triangular microfiber mops that velcro on. These mops spin at 180RPM, applying up to 8N of mopping pressure, and can also extend out to get into corners, edges, and hard-to-reach places.
Controls on the robot vacuum are minimal: on the top you'll find Start/stop and Return to dock buttons. Voice control can also be used to manage cleaning – Alexa, Siri, and Google Home are all supported. But like all robovacs, you'll probably be mainly controlling it using the Narwal app.
(Image credit: Future)
An easily liftable magnetic cover hides the onboard dustbin. This is an average size for robot vacuums and can easily be removed for manual emptying if required. Rather unusually, it features a special insert to separate wet and dry debris.
Also unusual is the fact that this robot vacuum doesn't have a water tank on board. Instead, the mops are loaded up with warm, soapy water at the base station, and a consistent amount of water is spread about the floor during the cleaning.
Base station design
Moving on to the base station. This is large, occupying a considerable amount of space, but I loved the space gray finish and soft, rounded edges. A special ionized water feature bubbles and illuminates a little bar when cleaning the mops, adding a nice space-age touch.
The Freo Z10 Ultra base station is packed with features. On top is a flip-to-open hinged lid featuring a tiny LCD that allows you to send the vacuum out without using your phone. It can turn the AI-powered "Freo Mind" mode on/off, recall, start/stop, and start mop washing/drying. However, I reviewed the Narwal Freo in 2023, and that older model's touchscreen was easier to use and allowed you to do far more. I was disappointed by the downgrade, but it's still a unique feature that I've only ever found on Narwal's robots.
(Image credit: Future)
Once you open that lid, the clean and dirty water tanks with handles are revealed and simple to take out for filling or emptying. Around front is an easy-to-remove magnetic cover that reveals the dust bag and detergent mopping solution (you can still use the mops without the detergent installed).
(Image credit: Future)
In the bottom compartment, where the robot vacuum resides and charges, is a mop washing station. AI detects the type of dirt on the mop and cleans it at different temperatures. After cleaning the mops, hot air drying helps prevent bacterial growth. Another unique feature is pre-drying, where the vacuum's dustbin content is dried before being emptied into the dust bag in the base station, preventing odors and bacterial growth. The dust bag in the dock can also be dried. It's a cool addition, but not a feature that I personally care about (or even think about) when it comes to my robot vacuums.
Design score: 4 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra review: performance
Sold vacuuming for everyday use, but struggles with large spills
Excellent mopping but uses a lot of water
Doesn't reliably follow instructions, and "smart" features make things worse
Similar to just about every robot vacuum I've tested, you must start by mapping your space. That means connecting to the Narwal Freo app and Wi-Fi. The app guided me through the connection process, and although it failed to connect on the first attempt, the robot was ready to proceed after the second try.
I sent it out to create a map of my space, and it took about 10 minutes. However, upon return, the map wouldn't save. It appeared to navigate my space with ease, avoiding furniture, obstacles, and even a step into the family room. I did the process over and over again. Eventually, resorting to a handful of problem-solving techniques, like restarting it, changing base station positions, and more.
Little did I know that a cover over the dual cameras with AI chips would prevent the map from saving. After finally coming to this realization (with some research help from Reddit), the robot vacuum went out for a final time; it took about 15 minutes, and the map was finally saved.
I was impressed by how accurate the map was. While it didn't divide all the rooms perfectly, almost every space in the lower floor of my home was included, noting some furniture, obstacles, and even floor types. It missed a small bathroom, but I believe that was due to a fluffy rug blocking its path. The family room was also not included, as a step down was required to access it. Luckily, you can save multiple maps, so in addition to the lower level, I created maps of the upper level of my home and the family room. To clean these spaces, I had to move the robot vacuum to a specified starting point since the base station was inaccessible.
I learned the hard way about an extremely frustrating setting regarding the maps: you must adjust settings to vacuum on carpeting and rugs. I failed to do this, and the robot would literally just go over the carpet or rugs during vacuuming tasks without vacuuming them. Even massive area rugs and the carpet that covers nearly the entirety of the upstairs would be ignored during vacuuming. I had to go through and individually change the settings on all the rugs and carpets on the app's map to actually get them vacuumed. This is not something I've experienced with any other robot vacuum.
The Narwal Freo app has a menu of different cleaning options: Mop, Vacuum, Mop & vacuum, or Mop then vacuum. With each of those cleaning options, it's possible to select a specific mode. "Freo Mind" intelligently adjusts the cleaning parameters based on the floor type and dirt levels, while "Customize" allows you to fine-tune suction levels, mopping water levels, coverage precision, and more myself. You can either select rooms or highlight zones for the robot to clean.
Navigation and obstacle avoidance
During my average, everyday cleanings, the Narwal Z10 Ultra easily navigated my space. The lower level of my house consists of hardwood, tile, and laminate flooring, along with numerous medium-pile rugs, as my dog is afraid to walk on hard flooring.
Even on rugs that were accidentally lifted, the robot managed to move around the obstacle and continue the task. Rescuing was only required a couple of times, which is impressive given the clutter in my home. The map on the app even noted the obstacles encountered during a cleaning, taking pictures of items in the way. I have shots of shoes, cables, and a few hilarious candids of my dog being a little too curious.
(Image credit: Future)
I also ran a special test for object avoidance. During these, the vacuum successfully went around a sock, but then managed to vacuum up a shoelace and a charging cable simultaneously, despite having already noted these obstacles on the map. I'm not sure what happened, and I was disappointed by the results.
This test was likely a fluke. I never had a problem during my regular cleaning tasks, during which the bot successfully avoided multiple shoes, cables, and a whole host of other items. The Freo Z10 Ultra also navigated around larger furniture and bigger obstacles like a champ.
In fact, my only real complaint about the obstacle avoidance was that it was sometimes a little too meticulous. Specifically, I had an issue with mopping around rugs. The robot consistently lifted its mops when going over a rug and never got any rugs wet, but it also left a large, unmopped margin around the perimeter of each rug. If two rugs were situated close together, it wouldn't mop the area between them at all.
Also, the robot struggled to detect when a rug had been removed. So even when I wanted it to mop an area where the rug used to be, it would still skip that spot and leave it uncleaned.
Mopping performance
Aside from being over-zealous about avoiding rugs, in general the mopping performance was surprisingly good, and especially effective when it came to tackling cleaning edges and corners. The lack of edge mopping was a notable issue on the Narwal Freo Z Ultra that TechRadar reviewed in 2024. However, the new extension feature managed to get into those harder-to-reach places, such as under kitchen cabinets.
Due to the lack of an on-robot water tank, the robot would frequently return to the base station for mop cleaning, adding to the total cleaning time. Luckily, the vacuum had an impressive battery runtime; it lasted nearly 2.5 hours before reaching 15% power and needing to return to the base station to recharge. That was plenty of time to vacuum & mop the bottom floor of my house. Recharging back to 100% only took about 3 hours, which is far faster than other robot vacuums I've tested.
The mops really had their work cut out for them, too. During my review period it was snowy where I live in western New York, and my dog was constantly traipsing mud and snowballs all around the house. The mops easily picked up the muddy spots and wet puddles left in her wake. It also had no trouble tackling everyday messes including coffee drips, dried yogurt, and other smaller food spills. When emptying the dirty water tank on the robot, I could see just how well the mops were doing their job.
(Image credit: Future)
I also put the mops through more intensive testing. I poured a big puddle of water on the tile in my corridor, and sent the robot out to 'Vacuum & mop' that exact zone using the Freo Mind mode. Unfortunately, the robot didn't detect the water and simply ran right through the puddle, failing to activate the mops and instead spreading the water all around.
Sending the robot out to just 'Mop' rather yielded much better results, as the water was spread evenly around the floor, allowing the puddle to dry faster than it would have done. However, this wouldn't be ideal if the spillage had been, say, milk rather than water.
For a second test of the mops, I spread ketchup on the kitchen laminate and allowed it to dry. Using the Freo Mind and 'Mop' settings, I sent the vacuum out to clean up. While Freo Mind mode is meant to detect messes, analyze dirty water at the base station, and adjust accordingly, it didn't seem to notice the ketchup, mopping up only a small amount before calling it quits and returning to the base station after just one pass.
I sent the robot out a second time, but this time I used 'Customize' mode rather than Freo Mind, and selected the highest mopping level – 'Wet mopping'. The result was significantly better. Almost all the ketchup was removed in the first pass-through, while the second pass got the rest of the ketchup off the floor.
Vacuuming performance
After I'd figured out how to get the bot to actually clean my rugs, the Freo Z10 Ultra's everyday vacuuming performance was generally great. It did a solid job of clearing most light debris, such as dog hair, crumbs, and pine needles, from both hard floors and medium-pile rugs. Not every speck of dirt was gone every time, but it definitely performed better than some other robot vacuums I've tested.
The main brush and side brushes feature anti-tangle technology, and it worked wonderfully. All the brushes had virtually zero hair wrap at the end of my testing period. That's a huge feat considering my dog and my own long hair.
(Image credit: Future)
It's not quite perfect, though. When traversing rugs on its way back to the base station, the Freo Z10 Ultra would occasionally spit out some of the debris it'd just cleaned.
I also found it wasn't amazing at vacuuming the edges of rooms, especially around the kitchen cabinets, where the robot was just a little too tall to fit under the overhang. Those spots were still littered with crumbs and debris even after multiple cleanings.
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Just like the mops, I performed more intensive testing of the vacuum functionality. One test used a mix of ground-up biscuits and flour to represent dust and fine particles, and another used oats to represent larger debris. I spread the messes out in a one-meter area of the hard floor and on medium-pile carpet, setting each area as a 'zone' for the vacuum to clean using the app.
The vacuum struggled to pick up the biscuit and fine particle mess from the hard floor. At the lowest setting, 'Quiet', it picked up about half, and spread the rest of the mess around, causing it to end up well beyond my outlined cleaning area. Even with three passes using the highest setting ('Vortex'), the mess wasn't completely removed. That's not great – you don't need much suction to clean hard flooring.
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Luckily, the robot vacuum's performance with oats on hard flooring was much better – even in 'Quiet' mode, it picked up almost all the oats. I noticed that the side brushes weren't moving, which helped keep the mess contained. However, the smaller, dust-like oat particles weren't as easily cleaned up. Still, after deploying the most powerful suction level, nearly everything was cleared up.
These same tests yielded similar results on carpeted floor, except here the fine biscuit and flour mixture ended up ingrained into the rug. The side brushes also kicked the oats around more than they had on hard flooring, which was a surprise.
In the end, I had to grab my upright vacuum to clean up the mess on both types of floors. While these test results might not seem ideal, a robot vacuum would rarely be required to vacuum up such a concentrated level of debris. When it came to general vacuuming performance, I still found it to be above average for robot vacuums, particularly when cleaning rugs and carpeting.
Dock performance
When it comes to maintenance, upkeep is effortless. The base station washes and hot dries the mop to prevent bacteria and odor. Even after a couple of weeks of use, the mopping pads had no odor and looked almost as good as new. Just note that this base station appeared to guzzle water, and I regularly had to empty the dirty water tank and top up clean water.
(Image credit: Future)
Like many robovacs, the Freo Z10 Ultra has the ability to auto-empty its onboard bin into a larger bag in the dock (which should hold around 120 days' worth of dust). To start with, I used the "Smart empty" mode where the robot should figure out when it needs to empty itself.
However, in practice the bot didn't always empty when it needed to. In fact, even after toggling settings in the app so it would empty after every clean, it remained hit-or-miss whether the auto-empty would kick in.
This could be due to the – in my opinion, unnecessary – dustbin/bag drying and disinfecting happening in the base station. Bacterial growth has never even been a concern when using robot vacuums, and this disinfecting process took more than five hours to complete. At least when the self-emptying did happen, it worked efficiently, with all the contents of the onboard bin being removed.
(Image credit: Future)
Smart feature performance
Overall, I've found the Freo Z10 Ultra's 'smart' features to be more of a hindrance than a help. Beyond the not-so-smart auto-emptying, the Freo Mind mode would often lead to entire rooms or zones being skipped during cleaning, even when I specifically selected to have these spaces mopped and/or vacuumed. I also found that bigger messes didn't get the extra attention required, even though this mode is designed specifically for that situation.
Even without Freo Mind mode activated, the vacuum would sometimes fail to complete tasks. On multiple occasions, I sent the vacuum to clean a room, and it would only clean a small area before returning and claiming the "task completed". Sometimes, it would just roll out of the base station and immediately return. It was extremely frustrating to deal with.
(Image credit: Future)
Not all the added features were flops. I appreciated the video mode that lets you use those dual AI cameras like a security camera. The robot vacuum can be controlled similarly to a remote control car, traversing your space, and allowing you to spy on your home. It was great for checking in on my dog when I was out of the house.
Noise levels
As someone sensitive to noise, I found the sound levels on the robot vacuum to be tolerable, averaging 60dB when vacuuming and mopping. It's significantly quieter than an upright vacuum, sounding more like a wall unit air conditioner. However, the base station's emptying is much louder and always surprised me when it happened, reaching nearly 80 dB. Luckily, when drying/cleaning the mops and dustbin/bag, the base station was extremely quiet, blending with other house noises.
Performance score: 3 out of 5
Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra review: app
Ample customization options can be overwhelming
Some basic features are hard to find, even for an experienced user
Saves multiple, easy-to-edit maps for multi-story homes
The Narwal Freo app has a lot to offer, but it isn't as intuitive as I would've liked. I found all the different functions, features, and customizations overwhelming – and I imagine even more so for robovac novices. Even after several years of testing robot vacuums, I still had to resort to Reddit to figure out how to change certain settings (like carpeting vacuuming) – some features are buried deep within the app and easy to miss.
As I noted, the combination of a LiDAR scanner and AI cameras on the vacuum created a decently accurate map of my space. Within the app, it's easy to merge rooms, split rooms, rename rooms, update floor material, set no-go zones, and more. Other furniture, rugs, and obstacles can be marked, but it's hard to get the position of these items 100% accurate – and not really necessary. A 3D map is available, but I've never found these maps useful. I also saved multiple maps for different levels of my home, a huge boon for those in multi-story houses.
(Image credit: Narwal / Future)
Adjustments to cleaning parameters, such as suction level, mopping humidity, coverage precision, and the number of passes, are all fairly straightforward. Theoretically, the Freo Mind mode should take care of making those decisions for you, but in testing, this mode didn't perform as expected, and I found manual selection was by far the best option.
It's possible to create cleaning schedules or provide shortcuts on the main homepage. I loved setting the cleaning sequence of rooms or specific zones to be cleaned – I could ask it to target the areas my dog likes to hang out in while we're out, and then focus on rooms like the study or dining room. During cleaning, the map on the app shows real-time updates of where the vacuum is in the cleaning process and notes obstacles in its path (with photos). It's even possible to receive phone notifications. Cleans are logged so you can check out the full cleaning history.
(Image credit: Future / Narwal)
If you're looking for smart home integration, Siri, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa are all supported. The app features a dedicated 'Third-Party Controls' section to set the robot vacuum to respond to voice commands. There are plenty of other settings too, including accessory management, base station adjustments, and a 'Family with pets' toggle for extra caution when navigating, and that's just scratching the surface.
App score: 3.5 out of 5
Should you buy the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra?
Attribute
Notes
Rating
Value
Premium-tier, and packed with features to justify the higher price tag – although they don't all work as intended. Often significantly discounted.
3.5 / 5
Design
Stylish yet bulky base station packed with features. Bot has extendable mopping pads, anti-hair wrap, and dual AI cameras. Strangely, no onboard water tank.
4 / 5
Performance
Solid vacuuming, great (if water-intensive) mopping, and strong obstacle avoidance. However, often fails to do as it has been told, and the "smart" features make things worse.
2.5 / 5
App
Overwhelming app filled with all the functions, settings, and customizations one could ever need or want. Allows for easy editing of multistory mapping.
3 / 5
Buy it if...
You have mostly hard floors
The mopping here is a cut above average, with especially good edge cleaning. Beware, though, it does use a lot of water.
Your house is cluttered
This robot vacuum reliably avoided my dog, cables, furniture, shoes, and decor that were littered throughout my home during testing.
You spot a great deal
The unreliable behavior might be a deal-breaker, but if you spot a big discount you could potentially get a strong featureset for your money.
Don't buy it if...
Your home is mostly carpet
A highlight feature of the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra is its mopping abilities, and you're paying for the impressive 8N pressure, edge reach technology, and hot mop washing base station. If you don't have many hard floors that require mopping, you'll get much better value from a vacuum-only robot.
You're a first-time robovac owner
This robot vacuum has numerous settings and customizations, making it a bit overwhelming. Additionally, certain features don't always work as intended or are difficult to adjust within the app. These quirks will be extremely frustrating.
You're tight on space
If you live in a smaller apartment or house, this robot vacuum will likely be overkill for your cleaning needs. The base station is also bulky, occupying a significant amount of valuable wall space.
How I tested the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra
I tested the Narwal Freo Z10 in my family home for just over two weeks during the holiday season. It's a two-story home with a sunken family room and almost fully carpeted upstairs. Most of the testing was conducted on the bottom floor, which consists of hardwood floors, vinyl, tile, and tons of medium-pile rugs. A fluffy Keeshond also resides here, leading to excess amounts of fur, debris, and snow in my home.
Beyond sending the robovac out to do everyday vacuuming and mopping tasks, I put it through more rigorous tests. For the vacuum, I spread oats and a flour/biscuit in a one-meter area on both hard flooring and carpet, observing the pickup at different suction levels. To test the mops, I spread a generous amount of ketchup on the floor, letting it dry before sending the robot out to clean. I also observed the mop's ability to pick up a bigger water spill. As for obstacle avoidance, I placed a small charging cable, a floor-matching sock, and a sneaker in a room to observe how well the vacuum navigated around them.
I also experimented with the Narwal Freo app, adjusting settings on both the robot and base station. A decibel meter app on my phone was used to measure noise levels.
Innovation in the world of robot vacuum cleaners is evolving by leaps and bounds – you only have to look at the Dreame Matrix10 Ultra and the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone to see how far we’ve come. While the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra isn’t so groundbreaking, it still boasts industry-leading vacuum suction (30,000Pa) and features I’ve not seen anywhere else – like all brushes getting raised when mopping and the mop getting covered when rolling over a carpet. In fact, this is Dreame’s first robovac to get a roller mop.
While these unique features are welcome additions, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra shines where it matters the most – cleaning floors. I’ve previously said the same thing in my Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni review, but this Dreame does a better job of vacuuming carpets.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in that 30,000Pa of suction as that spec doesn’t always translate to 100% hair pickup on very dirty carpets, but I’d say it gets close – 98% to 99% – which is much better than most other robovacs I’ve tested. Edge cleaning on carpets, though, is a little disappointing in comparison, but this isn’t unique to Dreame – most side brushes don’t have stiff bristles to sweep up embedded hair, fur and fibres along room edges of wall-to-wall carpets, and suction power isn’t distributed evenly across the entire length of the central bar brush. In fact, even my Dyson V15s Detect Submarine finds it hard to get right to the edge where carpet meets wall – unless I use the crevice tool.
Hard-floor cleaning, however, is 100% pickup of all visible dirt and debris. Importantly, there's very little scattering of larger debris as the side brush is raised when it senses excessive dirt. And mopping by the roller results in perfect stain removal, no matter how old and deep-seated it is. I love that it dries the dust bag after each cleaning run, which means it can safely go over a little wet area and suck up some moisture, although I would still hesitate to send it over a large wet spill.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Mobility is fantastic, with extremely silent wheels, although the raising mechanism can be heard and the robot dropping back to its normal position after crossing a threshold sounds like something is breaking. And despite some teething issues when I first set it up, I found its navigation abilities quite efficient. I will admit, however, that it does occasionally clean one spot repeatedly even though it’s not excessively dirty, and that eats into its battery life.
Battery use is also affected slightly by the fact that its suction kicks in as soon as the robot exits its dock, so it’s using up precious power even before it gets to its starting point. In my tests, the battery would drop by 1% to 2% depending on which room I would send it to before it began its task. This isn’t a deal breaker for some homes, but it may not finish cleaning larger spaces in one go.
Another minor complaint I have is the app. As nice as it looks, it takes a little getting used to and, even for someone like me who has ample experience with robovacs, I struggled to find some necessary settings (in my case, carpet-cleaning options). Again, not a deal breaker – and I’m yet to meet a robot vacuum with the perfect app (Roborock comes close) – but a touch of streamlining would make it a lot easier to use, especially if you’re going to shell out a four-figure sum on the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Price & availability
List price: $1,599 / £1,299 / AU$2,999
Released date: November 2025
Available in most major markets, including the US, UK and Australia
With a suggested retail price of $1,599 / £1,299 / AU$2,999, there’s no denying that the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra sits firmly in the premium robovac space, although it’s not as expensive as the $1,999.99 / £1,399 / AU$3,499 mop-swapping Dreame Matrix10 Ultra. It’s still a flagship model and has features to justify its high asking price but, if clean floors is what you’re after, you can get something a little cheaper and not compromise on what’s important.
Case in point is the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni: it performs wonderfully well although, like most robovacs, its app leaves much to be desired, and you get flagship cleaning for $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$2,499 at full price. Given how often robot vacuums get discounted, this Deebot can be had for around the $800 / £800 / AU$1,500 mark, if not cheaper. I suspect the Aqua10 Ultra will also see a similar treatment during major sales, but its full price stings a little.
In comparison, the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone brings some cutting-edge tech to the table – fast charging and an agentic AI helper to name just a couple – and does away entirely with the replaceable dust bag. It costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,999 and potentially offers better value for larger homes.
Dreame, however, is known for pricing its robot vacuums quite high – the X50 Ultra Complete, which uses traditional mop pads instead of a roller and doesn’t have all the fancy features of the Aqua10 Ultra, has a list price of $1,699 / £1,299 / AU$2,999.
• Value score:3.5 / 5
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Specs
Max suction
30,000Pa
Robot dimensions (W x H)
35cm x 120cm (LDS raised) / 35cm x 9.75cm (LDS lowered)
Robot weight
5.8kg
Dock dimensions (H x D x L)
50.5cm x 44cm x 42cm
Dock weight
11.1kg
Robot bin volume
220ml
Dust bag capacity
up to 3.2L
Dock water-tank volume
4L clean / 3.5L dirty
Mop type
Roller
Battery capacity
6,400mAh
Robot max clearance
4.2cm single step / 8cm double step
Navigation
Retractable LiDAR
Dock type
Charge, dusty emptying, roller hot-water washing, roller drying, auto-dispensing one of two detergents
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Design
First Dreame robovac to get a roller mop
Boasts step-vaulting feet and a retractable navigation turret
Boxy and classy dock design with dual-detergent dispenser drawer
The moment I took the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra out of its box, my first thought was, “It looks like a large Marshall speaker!”. If you aren’t familiar with this speaker brand, they’re quite boxy and most of the models I know about have a black finish. This is in no way a complaint; it’s my brain making connections I didn’t expect it to – and I love the look. It’s very classic, with clean lines and metallic accents that ooze ‘premium-ness’. Somehow even the green light around the main control button of the robot while it's charging makes it look fabulous rather than garish.
There are a lot of thoughtful design elements here other than the looks, like soft rubber washers that make it easy to remove the dock cover, a dual detergent dispenser drawer and a retractable navigation puck on the top of the robot. It even comes with a brush to clean the wash tray, which I’ve even used to scrub the dirty-water tank.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Robot design
Sticking with the usual round robot, the Aqua10 Ultra isn’t all that different from many of its premium competitors, with a sleek look – a black robot in my case – that’s enhanced by a retracting navigation puck. When docked, the puck stays lowered and has a ring of green light when it’s moving up or down, or when it’s charging – but is unlit when fully topped up and on standby.
The top of the puck is brass coloured and houses the main controls. It looks like a single button that’s divided in two, with one half to power the robot up or down, while the other half is to send it back to its dock (home button).
Around the puck is a fully removable lid, under which you’ll find a dust box which, strangely, is a lot smaller than I’ve seen in competing models. It’s just 220ml and while it’s not affected my cleaning routines, I suspect it will be emptying itself a lot more frequently in homes with pets.
Under the lid is also the Wi-Fi indicator light and the all-important QR code to get you set up with the companion app. Watch out for how much you handle the robot, though, because it’s highly prone to picking up fingerprint smudges that aren’t easy to wipe off (I’m fussy, what can I say?).
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(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
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The front of the robot, as with all others like it, is the camera window that houses not one, but two AI cameras with HD quality that, Dreame says, allows it to capture a 3D image of the robot's surroundings. A side sensor window is also visible towards the end of the bumper.
The undercarriage is where all the action is and here’s where the Aqua10 Ultra differs from many of its competitors. Firstly, it has a dual-brush system for better cleaning on carpets and hard floors alike without hair tangles.
Second, it’s the first Dreame robot vacuum to get a roller mop and here too there’s been some innovation. The roller is made from slightly more bristly fibres than fluff or microfibre to allow it to get into cracks or grouting to ‘scrub’ as it passes over hard floors. It also has a fluffer that spins in the opposite direction to the roller to keep the fibres, well, fluffed so it’s effective at all times.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Importantly, this is the first robovac I’ve tested that actually has a cover for the roller that engages automatically when it senses a carpet. I couldn’t even see the cover when it was doing a mop and went over my living room rug, but no part of my colorful carpet was damp, something I’ve experienced with other robot vacuum cleaners. The roller also extends to clean along edges, although it does miss corners like pretty much every other robovac I’ve tested.
Like its X50 Ultra and Matrix10 Ultra siblings, the Aqua10 also gets the ProLeap system that allows the robot to traverse shallow steps – it can climb 4cm in one step, and another 4cm in a second step if it needs to. It’s no stair climber though, this only helps it get across higher thresholds that some other robots would have trouble with. At setup, the app will even ask you if you want it to use one ‘foot’ at a time, like a human, or raise both feet and roll over.
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I’ve gotten to a point where I wish robovac makers would use stiffer bristles for the side brush because I’ve seen them all struggle to push dirt when moving over carpets, although they work very well on hard floors. It’s the same here – stiffer bristles on my fully carpeted bedroom would have been fabulous. This isn’t a complaint, more a wish for the next iteration.
Dock design
I was sent a black unit for this review, although I’ve seen pictures of a white model too. Either way, the base station for the Aqua10 Ultra looks darn good. Sharp corners and clean lines are reminiscent of mid-Century architectural aesthetics and, as I’ve said before, I get Marshall speaker vibes. And that’s a compliment – I love it!
A lot of thought has gone into the various parts of the base station too. For example, I love that the front cover that hides the dust bag and detergent dispenser is tight thanks to a rubber washer around it, but it comes off and slips on smoothly – no harsh clicks or excessive elbow grease needed as I’ve experienced with other such models that make me feel like I’m about to break something.
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I have to mention the dispenser here before moving on. It has two slots for different solutions (there’s a bottle of detergent and pet odor neutralizer in the box – color-coded so you know which goes in what slot), so you could switch up your detergent use if you wish, but the grip to pull the dispenser out of the base station is designed for right-handed people. That’s not to say left-handers can’t remove it, it will just need a little wrist twisting.
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Above this slot is the covered hatch for the two water tanks, while below is the housing for the robot itself. Inside, the wash tray can be removed for cleaning as necessary and you’ll find a brush in the box to aid with that. In fact, I found the brush to be handy in scrubbing out the dirty-water tank when I’ve forgetfully let a little ecosystem grow inside it.
Handily, the rear of the base station has a niche for your fingers when you need to move it to another location, plus cable management that is missing from some robovacs I’ve previously reviewed.
• Design score: 5 / 5
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Performance
Arguably the best vacuuming and mopping I’ve experienced with a robovac
100ºC/212ºF roller mop washing
Mostly good navigation and battery life, but it could be better
Getting the Aqua10 Ultra connected to my phone and set up for mapping barely took any time. Before the map creation, though, I allowed the robot to charge fully while I tried to get familiar with the app.
Mapping took no more than seven minutes in the test space for this review, which was a one-bedroom apartment of about 40sqm/430sq ft area. It has mixed flooring, with wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedroom and two types of tile flooring everywhere else. The map was accurate for the most part, but I merged and divided a couple of rooms to delineate the open-plan space.
One thing I loved about the initial mapping process was that I didn’t hear the robot at all. Other such models I’ve tested, I’ve at least heard the wheels – here, not a sound. Wheels are well oiled and very smooth, at least on the tiles in my test space.
I then had some teething issues with the Aqua10 Ultra in that my very first task for it was a single-room clean, which it refused to do. I kept getting a ‘destination not found’ error. Even after a full reset and remapping, the issue didn’t go away. I later got it to do a full-home clean (what Dreame calls “global cleaning” in the app) and everything worked a charm after that, even custom routines or single-room cleans.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Vacuuming tests
Dreame lists the suction power at an industry-leading 30,000Pa, but don’t get taken in by that number – a few factors go into how well a robot vacuum can suck up hair, dirt and debris, including airflow through the inside of the bot. That said, the Aqua10 Ultra doesn’t disappoint.
I don’t think I’ve been better impressed by any other robovac as much as I’ve been by this Dreame. I made sure there was a lot of hair embedded into the carpet fibers of the bedroom before its first real test and it did a fantastic job on its Intense setting (there is a Max suction too). On hard floors, Standard is more than enough for regular cleaning tasks, although I would recommend switching it up to Intense if you’re trying to clean up a relatively dirty section of tile or wood.
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The Aqua10 Ultra is a rare robovac that also managed to get bits of dirt out of grout too. I tested this by sprinkling some tea from a bag into spaces between tiles in my kitchen and not a speck of black was visible on the white background after it was done on its Intense suction setting. Other premium models I’ve tested have struggled with this task.
Another vacuuming feature I love is the raising of the side brush. This happens every time the robot senses a very dirty area with larger pieces of debris (oats in testing) to prevent scattering. And that translates to 100% pickup across the entire area.
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The only time I used Max suction power was when I allowed dust and hair to collect on the bedroom carpet over three weeks and pickup was about 98%, with only the edges suffering from a not-so-good vacuuming. The reason that edge cleaning on the carpet suffers is not unique to Dreame, it’s all robovacs – the bristles of the side brush just aren’t stiff enough to push all hair and debris within carpet fibers along room edges towards the central brushes.
I tried the lowest suction setting (Quiet) only once and I wasn’t particularly impressed – it might be fine if your floors are cleaned daily and you don’t have pets or kids.
Mopping tests
Mopping is probably what the Aqua10 Ultra was truly designed to do and it does it very well. Not only is the roller continually washed with fresh water as it’s mopping, but you also get two choices of pressure the roller can apply on floors. The latter might seem like a good thing on paper but, to be honest, Light pressure is fine for daily mopping when the floors are relatively clean. I would think Normal pressure is what most users would need on a regular basis.
With water levels set to high (level 27) to suit the kind of tiles in my test space, I found the Aqua10 Ultra was capable of tackling most dried stains. Dusty footprints are very easy for it to remove, but it also managed to get rid of spilt-and-dried tea. It even got rid of an unidentified caked-in stain close to my living room rug that my previous robot vacuum wasn’t able to mop up.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
For the first time when testing a robovac I felt comfortable sending it to mop up a small wet spill – and that’s only because Dreame promised that the central and side brushes would be raised. Sure enough, a few drops of water weren’t an issue and any moisture that got sucked into the onboard dust box and, hence, into the dust bag, isn’t going to be an issue as the bag in the dock is dried after every single vacuum or mop-after-vacuum session is complete.
Admittedly this test is based on small spills, like a few drops of water on the bathroom floor or a tiny bit of milk on the kitchen tiles, but I’ve previously avoided sending any robovac over something wet, no matter how small. That being said, I’d still be very hesitant to get the Aqua10 Ultra to clean a larger wet spill as I’d worry about the filter inside the onboard dust box.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
If you’ve got mixed flooring, you can choose what action the robot takes when mopping – avoid carpets altogether, raise the roller mop or cross without cleaning. I had the Aqua10 Ultra set to mop-raise at all times and, the best part, the roller has its own cover that automatically engages as soon as it senses a carpet.
I’ve never been able to see the cover engage, but I’ve had no damp patches on my carpets, not even the edges or corners where other robovacs would be too slow to raise mops.
Mopping can be done with detergents and a small bottle ships in the box to get you started. Dreame doesn’t specify that the floor cleaner needs to be proprietary, but I’d err on the side of caution and purchase what the brand recommends to avoid damaging the internal mechanisms and voiding warranty.
Dock performance
The standout feature here is the dust-bag drying, which you will need to toggle on in the app under Dock Settings. When switched on, the dock will dry the dust bag with warm air after every cleaning session. This prevents odors building or an ecosystem growing inside if moisture gets trapped when the robot vacuums over a few drops of water or any other small spill.
That's not all, though, because the Aqua10 Ultra also looks after the roller well by washing it at 100ºC / 212ºF. That's as good as sterilization and eliminates any odors, washes out stains and gets the roller ready for its next clean. This feature is optional and, if you don't have pets, you could just have the roller cleaned with warm water, sterilizing it every once in a while. The usual hot-air drying takes place to make sure the roller is dried between uses.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
The first time I used the Aqua10 Ultra, though, I thought it was using a lot of water, but from the second mopping run onwards, water use has been quite efficient and I didn't need to constantly ensure the clean-water tank was topped up. The only thing that needs doing is ensuring the dirty-water tank is cleaned frequently or you will have nasty odors to contend with. However, not only does the tank have a tight lid, but there's another lid (not hermetically sealed, though) between you and the bad smells. You still wouldn't want to leave dirty water in there for long.
The Aqua10 Ultra dock also allows you to ensure the wash tray is cleaned thoroughly. This is done via the app to start, wherein clean water is poured over the washboard and excess moisture is removed from the roller. The robot will then exit the dock so you can use the provided brush to scrub the tray – just click on finished button on the app when you're done and the dock will take care of the drying once the bot is nestled back in.
Long story short, dock functionality is just as good as the robot's cleaning.
Obstacle avoidance & navigation
Not only does the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra clean well, but its obstacle avoidance is superb. Every robot vacuum I’ve tested until now has gotten thin charging cables entangled with the central bar brush – not so here. Even when unfurled (lying stretched out on the floor), the Aqua10 Ultra’s sensors can spot a cable and it just cleans right along the side without trying to roll over it (as pictured below).
I have one area in my living room where most robovacs get confused – a narrow section of hard floor edged by a wall on one side, a carpet on the other, plus a couch and a slim-legged chair to add to confusing textures. Not only did the Aqua10 Ultra navigate around the legs of the chair well, but it also managed to ensure the strip of hard floor was cleaned each time without the mop rolling over the rug.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
The automatic 4cm raising of the robot, however, is a little temperamental. Even with a threshold marked in the app – which should tell the robot to rise, step over and carry on – I found the Aqua10 Ultra didn’t often register the threshold and would try to navigate it as any other low-rise obstacle, trying to find the best way over it. When it did rise automatically on its wheels, it was a fun sight to see.
Overall, navigation is great, although I have to note that I had teething issues. Immediately after setup, I wanted to test the robot’s functionality in just one room and it just couldn’t “find the designated area”. A full reset and remapping didn’t fix the problem either. However, it worked just fine if I opted to do a full-house clean (what Dreame calls a “global” cleaning), after which choosing a single room or a zone was fine.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Battery life
Running on a 6,400mAh battery, which is quite standard these days, the Aqua10 Ultra should, on paper, give you upwards of 200 minutes of cleaning. In reality, that’s not going to be the case as most users won’t be running it on its lowest settings to conserve battery life.
In my testing, I found battery use inefficient during its first few runs where the drain was quite significant – dropping from full to 40% on Intense vacuuming after running for 30 minutes. That improved to falling to 62% on the same setting for the same duration as I used the bot more.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Depending on what kind of custom cleaning routine you choose, it’s possible an average one-bedroom home could be cleaned without needing additional time at the mains, but larger homes will definitely have a full-house cleaning interrupted due to battery drain. This is more so if you have mixed flooring as the robot automatically increases suction on carpets.
One small issue that Dreame could consider fixing is not getting the suction to start as soon as the bot leaves the base station. I found that a minimum of 1% battery would always drain before it reached its starting point. That might not seem like much, but that clocks up when it needs to empty its dust box regularly during a single vacuuming session. And unlike the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone, it doesn’t have fast charging to top up a little while its mop is being washed.
• Performance score: 4.5 / 5
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: App and voice control
Nicely designed app, but some setting options are unclear
Custom routines have limitations
Voice control is easy, but has limited functionality
The Dreame companion app in its current form isn’t bad at all – in fact, it’s one of the more appealing apps, with perhaps just Roborock outdoing it. However, it took me a while to wrap my head around the app as right from the get go I found no option to start the mapping process. A bit of playing around with it solved that problem, and the resulting map was accurate and I found it easy to edit.
What I love about the editing process is that I could manually add thresholds, something I’ve not seen on any other robot vacuum app – although I will admit that didn’t work as I expected it to (the bot sometimes didn’t even realize it needed to raise itself). In fact, the map adds room names intelligently as it’s being created, but it doesn’t always get it right.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Dreame gives you a heck of a lot of control over the cleaning routines, like adjusting cleaning parameters such as suction strength or mop water flow rates on a per-room basis, while scheduling, remote control and notifications help keep cleaning convenient. This is the first time I’ve seen a robovac brand offer extensive control over the ‘intelligent’ automatic mode – I could choose my own suction and water levels here, while all other brands use machine learning to set these automatically. Dreame calls this the CleanGenius mode.
It took me a while to figure out how to set up custom Shortcut routines, like Bedroom Clean, or Daily Clean. Even then, I had to ensure I'd saved and tapped on any tick icons or it didn't save anything. Roborock and Ecovacs, on the other hand, have made setting up custom routines a lot simpler.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
I also couldn’t figure out why none of the carpets in my test space were getting vacuumed as they’re set to be ‘avoided’ by default and the app doesn’t make that clear – even when you choose to vacuum carpets first. These are little things, but small changes could make the app a lot more streamlined and easier to navigate.
I've also noticed that the Dreame app is slower to respond compared to some other brands I’ve tested – it’s just a few seconds of lag between choosing a clean and the robot exiting the dock, but I’ve seen other brands work a little quicker.
Smart home integration with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant is available, but the Dreame voice assistant is quite quick to respond if you wake it up. The voice commands you give it are limited in nature, like telling it to start a saved Shortcut or returning to the dock, but it’s an excellent hands-free experience. There’s even Matter support on board for future smart home integration if you ever set up a central hub.
• App & voice control score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
Should I buy the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra?
Attributes
Notes
Score
Value
Competition is high and there are now models with cutting-edge technology at the same price point.
3.5 / 5
Design
With clean lines and a sleek robot, the Aqua10 Ultra looks classic and modern at once.
5 / 5
Performance
Arguably the best robovac I've tested to date, but its battery use might not be best for large homes.
4.5 / 5
App control
A well-designed app with a comprehensive list of features, but the learning curve is a touch steep.
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You have rigorous cleaning requirements
Whether it's vacuuming, mopping or doing both, the Aqua10 Ultra will not disappoint. While it's excellent for homes with pets, expect it to keep emptying its small onboard bin frequently.
You live in a home with plenty of obstacles
Whether that's kids toys, a pet running across the robot's path or just a charging cable you've forgotten to pick off the floor, you can trust nothing is going to get gobbled up or collided with.
You're wary of odors building
With intense hot-water washing for the roller and regular dust-bag drying, the Aqua10 Ultra eliminates any issues with bacterial or fungal growth. Just be sure to clean out the dirty-water tank regularly.
Don't buy it if...
Money is an obstacle
There's no denying the Aqua10 Ultra is expensive, and even with discounts, there'll always be something a lot cheaper. However, at a discounted price, I'd definitely recommend it over many of its competitors.
You don't need too many bells and whistles in a robot vacuum
If you don't have pets or live in a large home, you could well not need all the features the Aqua10 Ultra offers. That could save you a lot of money too.
You live in a home with wall-to-wall carpets
If you don't have hard floors, buying a robovac that mops is a moot point. Not only that, the edges of the rooms will remain dirty as I am yet to meet a robot vacuum that can do edge cleaning on carpets well.
Dreame Aqua10 Ultra review: Also consider
Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni
Despite missing out on some of the features that you'll find on the Dreame, this Deebot proved to be an excellent cleaning machine, even along room edges. Importantly, it's cheaper even at full price, but is now frequently discounted. Read my Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni review to learn more
Roborock Saros 10R
Our reviewer called it the "perfect hybrid robot vacuum cleaner even for the most cluttered of homes". Improved navigation and a low profile means it can get to places other robovacs will typically avoid. It's also quiet, has excellent vacuum and mop skills, and it's pretty much a master of its trade. Read our in-depth Roborock Saros 10R review for more details
How I tested the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)
For this review, I used the Aqua10 Ultra for a period of five weeks, running it on mixed flooring an average of twice a week (there were times when I ran it about four times in a day for various tests).
I initially had issues with the robot unable to navigate to its designated area, but that issue was solved after it did a full-home clean. The test space, as mentioned earlier in this review, was a small one-bedroom apartment with carpet in the bedroom and tiles everywhere else.
I spent quite a lot of time trying to understand the app, but once things were set up as I wished them to be, running the Aqua10 Ultra was easy. I performed full-home cleans, custom routines, single-room cleans, even zone cleaning for some tests. I used the shower divider in the bathroom to test its ProLeap system to clear thresholds.
I also used the provided detergent and odor neutralizer in the dock.
I put the Aqua10 Ultra through TechRadar's usual tests for vacuuming and mopping (using oats and tea from a bag for the former, and a dollop of chutney for the latter). I also conducted our standard obstacle avoidance test, but paid special attention to how it handles cables as Dreame does advertize it to be excellent.
As you've probably already read, the Aqua10 Ultra passed all its tests with flying colors, and my complaints were mostly minor.
The Tassimo Finesse Friendly from Bosch is a compact capsule-based coffee maker that's an affordable alternative to similar machines from Nespresso and Keurig. It works in much the same way as its rivals, accepting proprietary capsules, piercing them, and forcing hot water through to brew your drink.
Unlike some other small coffee makers, it can also brew milky drinks such as lattes if you use separate pods for the milk and the coffee, with impressive results. The downside is that these capsules (known as T-Pods) can be quite expensive, particularly for drinks with two components.
The Finesse Friendly is very simple to use and clean, with a blank disc stored in a slot at the bottom that enables a quick rinsing cycle between drinks. Its water tank is east to remove as well, though its small capacity (just 23.7oz / 700ml) means you'll be making frequent trips to the sink if you're making more than one or two drinks at a time.
(Image credit: Future)
It's a well-built and likeable little coffee maker, but if you enjoy lattes regularly, you might want to consider learning to use a compact espresso machine with a manual steam wand instead. Although the initial cost will be higher, you could save money in the long run by using fresh milk for your regular brews rather than capsules. Take a look at my roundup of the best espresso machines for options at various price points.
Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly: specifications
Name
Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly
Type
Capsule coffee maker
Dimensions (W x H x D)
6.2 x 10.4 x 14.2 inches / 15.7 x 26.5 x 36cm
Weight
6.2lbs / 2.8kg
Water tank capacity
23.7oz / 700ml
Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly: price and availability
List price £89.99 (about $120 / AU$180), but often discounted
Widely available in Europe, but not in the US or Australia
T-Pod capsules can be quite expensive, depending on type
The Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly is one of the most affordable capsule coffee makers machines I’ve ever tested. It has a list price of £89.99 (about $120 / AU$180), but is frequently discounted to £49.99 (about $70 / AU$100). That’s even less than the entry-level Nespresso Vertuo Pop. You’ll find all today’s best prices below.
The downside is that although it’s widely available in the UK and continental Europe, it’s not currently sold in the US or Australia.
Although the Finesse Friendly is cheap, Tassimo capsules (known as T-Pods) can be quite pricey particularly if you prefer drinks with milk, which require two pods each. They are widely available online and from supermarkets, and include varieties from brands including Cadbury’s, Costa, Kenco, Jacobs, and L’OR.
(Image credit: Future)
Prices vary widely depending on your chosen drink. For example, a pack of Costa Caramel Latte T-Pods, for example, contains enough capsules to make just eight drinks, and has a list price of £7.25 (about $10 / AU$15). Pods containing just coffee are much more affordable. At the time of writing, a bundle containing 80 Kenco Pure Colombian capsules is £21.38 (about $30 / AU$40).
Value score: 3.5/5
Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly: design
Compact and lightweight
Easy to clean and maintain
Water tank holds only 23.7oz / 700ml
The Tassimo Finesse Friendly is an exceptionally light and compact coffee maker, which is ideal for small kitchens and easy to tuck away in a cupboard when not in use. Its body is made using 60% recycled plastic, and is available in four colors: black, white, cream, and red. The black version I tested had a tendency to accumulate fingerprints, particularly on the matt-finish sides, but they were easily cleaned off with a damp cloth.
Its drip tray is removable for cleaning, and can be repositioned closer to the dispenser to accommodate espresso cups without splashing.
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It has a single control button, which uses colors and blinks to indicate the machine’s current status. A red light means the machine needs attention, and usually signals that the water tank is running low.
The tank is attached to the back of the machine, and is easy to remove; just angle it slightly and pull upwards. It has a maximum capacity of just 700ml / 23.7oz, so you’ll need to refill it after making two full-size drinks.
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Cleaning the Finesse Friendly is straightforward. Just remove the orange maintenance disc from the slot at the bottom of the machine, place it in the capsule holder with the barcode facing down, close the lid, and hit the brew button just as you would when preparing a drink.
The machine will rinse itself with a cupful of hot water, leaving it clean and ready to use next time. It’s also worth wiping the outside of the dispenser clean if you’ve made a drink with milk, as this has a tendency to splutter.
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The Finesse Friendly has no water filter, but is easy to de-scale when indicated by the red status light. Just fill the water tank to the line marked ‘calc’, add two descaling tablets (not provided with the machine but available online), insert the cleaning disc, place a cup under the dispenser and hold the start button for about five seconds.
Design score: 4/5
Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly: performance
The Tassimo Finesse Friendly is extremely simple to use. Just fill the water tank to the maximum line, pull the top of the machine upwards to open it, and place your drink capsule in the opening face-down. Push the lid closed and the light on the control button will light up orange, indicating that the Finesse Friendly is ready to start brewing.
After your drink has finished dispensing, wait until the light stops blinking orange before removing the used capsule.
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I tested the Finesse Friendly with a couple of different capsules: Tassimo Cinnamon Roll Latte (which Bosch provided with the review machine), and Jacobs Latte Macchiato (which I bought myself). Each variety came with two boxes of pods: one containing the coffee, and the other filled with long-life milk.
Although a latte macchiato is usually my coffee of choice, the cinnamon roll pods were the clear winner. Although it was definitely sweet, the drink had a more mellow flavor than many other coffee pods I’ve tried. In fact, it was so good I ended up buying a second pack.
The tiny Finesse Friendly did a particularly good job of steaming milk, producing a long-lasting layer of creamy foam. During my tests the machine had a tendency to sputter a little, and emitted quite a lot of steam once it had finished dispensing, but this had dissipated by the time the orange light stopped blinking.
In the UK, you can recycle used T-Pod capsules through Podback (a scheme that also accepts used Nespresso, L'OR and Dolce Gusto pods). You'll receive a Podback bag when you receive an order of T-Pods, and you can order more through the Podback website.
You can drop off your Podback bags in most big supermarkets, or take loose capsules to a recycling center with a Podback bin. Find your nearest drop-off point.
Performance score: 5/5
Should you buy the Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly
Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
The machine itself is very affordable, but pods for milk-based drinks can be expensive.
3.5/5
Design
Compact and light, made using 60% recycled plastic, but water tank is very small.
4/5
Performance
Heats quickly, foams milk well, and dispenses consistently tasty coffee. Easy to clean and maintain.
5/5
Buy it if
You want a coffee maker that's easy to use
Brewing coffee doesn't get much easier than this. Just add water and a pod, wait a minute, and you'll have a perfectly brewed drink every time.
You want more than just coffee
The Finesse Friendly also makes excellent hot chocolate, and there are plenty of T-Pod capsules available from brands including Cadbury's.
Don't buy it if
You drink several lattes daily
T-Pods for milky drinks can be quite expensive. They're delicious, but you'll go through a pack of capsules very quickly unless you keep them as a special treat.
You want to make drinks for a crowd
The Tassimo Finesse Friendly's small water tank will need refilling after every couple of drinks unless you're brewing short drinks like espresso.
Boch Tassimo Finesse Friendly: also consider
If the Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly isn't the right coffee maker for you, here are two alternatives to consider.
Nespresso Vertuo Pop
This is another compact pod-based coffee maker with an affordable price tag. The upgraded Pop+ has an extra large water tank, which will be useful if you want to brew drinks for a larger group, and even premium Vertuo pods work out a little cheaper than the most expensive T-Pods.
This capsule coffee maker accepts Nespresso Original capsules. Nestlé no longer owns the patent to these, so they're widely available from a huge range of coffee producers, from big chains to small independent roasters.
I used the Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly in my own kitchen for three weeks, making an average of two coffees per day. I used tap water, and used the maintenance disc with the rinse program the clean the machine between each drink.
I used Tassimo Cinnamon Roll Latte and Jacobs Latte Macchiato capsules, and used the milk capsule for each drink first before dispensing the coffee through the foam. I compared the results to those from my own Nespresso Vertuo Pop machine.
