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The report highlights that it’ll vacuum your floors, empty debris into the base station, and (mostly) stay out of your way. The Dreame D20 Air Plus is focused on doing the basics well.
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In a fresh development, it’ll vacuum your floors and navigate well around corners and coffee tables. It doesn’t have the Roborock Saros 20’s fancy mop-washing system, but it does mop…. Sort of. The Dreame D20 Air Plus is the type of robot vacuum that’s focused on doing the basics really well.
As part of the ongoing story, while it has limitations common in a budget model, it gets the important stuff right and that’s exactly what I want to see. I tested the D20 Air Plus in my split-level home on both hard floors and rugs, amid furniture like a low entertainment center, a coffee table, and a system update table with metal legs.
According to the latest update, the devices setup involved basically just snapping into place the side brush, which sweeps debris toward the main brush, and plugging in the base station. I didn’t feel tripped up at any point here. Getting the D20 Air Plus up and running was refreshingly simple.
The report highlights that some base stations are big and bulky, and can take up a lot of space. This one doesn’t. The base station itself is much smaller than the one that came with the premium Roborock model I tested, which I appreciated.
According to the latest update, this is where the debris goes until the robot returns to the base station, where the dust gets sucked into a disposable bag. Everything is pretty straightforward here. There’s a dust box and a filter inside of the robot — it’s a wedge-shaped piece that slides out of the back.
Industry observers note that i plugged in the base station and assumed it wasn’t working because nothing happened (usually a base station will start chattering away after you’ve plugged it in). Turns out, there’s a physical power switch on the back that you’ve got to turn on first. It’s obvious, I know. I did spend a few minutes wondering if I had gotten a dud. There was one tiny hiccup during setup, though.
In a fresh development, once everything was powered on, the app walked me through the rest of the setup process.
The report highlights that the D20 Air Plus keeps things much more streamlined (thankfully!). A lot of robot vacuum apps throw a million different cleaning modes and settings at you.
As part of the ongoing story, you can change the suction power, too. Just be careful if you’re going to turn up the suction power because it drains the battery faster. For the D20 Air Plus, you can choose between vacuuming, mopping, vacuuming and mopping at the same time, or a custom mode where you can adjust things to your liking.
The report highlights that i mostly stuck with the standard setting for everyday cleaning, but it’s nice to have a little extra oomph sometimes. The options for suction power are Quiet, Standard, Intense, and Max.
Industry observers note that it didn’t have to map the floor first. During testing, the D20 Air Plus built the map while it cleaned the floor.
According to the latest update, it shows the vacuum’s current location in real time, along with the areas it already vacuumed (areas with lines indicate they’ve been vacuumed). I like being able to see the robot’s progress. It also makes it easier to spot areas it missed. Speaking of, the map view is pretty useful while the robot is cleaning.
Industry observers note that the lines are straight and parallel, and there’s no random bouncing around. It slowed down around table legs instead of bumping into them at full speed. It also got surprisingly close to corners and edges. Like most robot vacuums, the D20 Air Plus moves in a back-and-forth pattern.
The report highlights that it uses a Laser Distance Sensor (LDS) for mapping and navigating around furniture, a bumper for detecting walls and corners, a return-to-base sensor for finding the charging station, and cliff sensors so it doesn’t go tumbling down the stairs. This robot uses several sensors to help it see the room.
According to the latest update, it slid right under there, even with the LiDAR (aka the LDS system) turret sticking out on top, adding height. I half expected it to skip that area, but it cleaned underneath it without any trouble. One thing that surprised me was how well it got underneath my small entertainment center, which doesn’t have a lot of clearance.
Industry observers note that that said, it did have one annoying habit: moving the mat by my sliding glass door.
Industry observers note that not a huge deal, but I did have to walk over and reposition it a few times. The robot consistently pushed the mat around while it cleaned instead of smoothly driving over it.
Industry observers note that sometimes they still need a little human supervision. It’s the kind of thing that makes you realize robot vacuums aren’t completely “set it and forget it” devices yet (though I think the tech is definitely going there).
As part of the ongoing story, vacuuming is where the D20 Air Plus shines.
The report highlights that that’s plenty of power left over for larger spaces. It also picked up my greyhound’s hair, as well as the dirt and bits of leaves he tends to bring in. It finished cleaning my downstairs in about 33 minutes, and it still had 77 percent battery remaining.
As part of the ongoing story, that’s more than enough for the usual suspects: pet hair, dirt, leaves, crumbs, etc. The Roborock Saros 20, a premium model costing over $1,000, has a suction power of 36,000Pa. For suction power, the D20 Air Plus has 20,000Pa, which is pretty good for a $269.99 budget model (and for getting the stuff out of carpets).
In a fresh development, if you want the convenience that a robot vacuum brings but don’t want to drop a ton of money on one, the Dreame D20 Air Plus is a good fit.
As part of the ongoing story, it’s definitely not as loud as a traditional upright vacuum, but compared to the premium Roborock model I tested, the difference was noticeable. It gets louder when it detects carpet, but that’s by design. The vacuum will automatically ramp up suction, and you can actually hear the motor kick into a higher gear. The vacuum itself is a little louder than I expected.
The report highlights that it’s just trying to reliably clean your floors without making the experience overly complicated. That’s where it succeeds. Noise aside, the D20 Air Plus isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here.
In a fresh development, it feels more like an afterthought, really. The mopping system is where you start seeing the difference between budget and higher-end models.
Industry observers note that it doesn’t spin or lift up when going over carpets. The base station also doesn’t wash the mop or empty the dirty water into a separate container like we’ve seen more expensive models do. You’ve also got to wet the mop yourself. The D20 Air Plus uses a single mop pad that slides along the floor.
The report highlights that that means the mopping is more of a maintenance capability than a deep clean.
In a fresh development, you’ll also need to manually deal with the mop pad when you’re done. It can help with everyday dust and light marks, but it’s not going to scrub away tougher messes.
As part of the ongoing story, i think most people buying a robot vacuum are probably buying it for the vacuuming power anyway. The D20 Air Plus is much better at vacuuming than mopping, and that’s where I’d put my expectations. For me, that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker.
Industry observers note that i mean, not only does it vacuum well, it also deftly moves around furniture. For just $269.99, that’s very good. If you want the convenience that a robot vacuum brings but don’t want to drop a ton of money on one, the Dreame D20 Air Plus is a good fit.
Industry observers note that the mopping system is basic, the robot can be a bit noisy, and it doesn’t have the advanced self-cleaning functions you’d get in a more expensive model. The compromises are pretty clear, though.
As part of the ongoing story, she's been covering consumer tech since 2016, and her work has appeared on USA Today, Reviewed, Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her spare time, she enjoys playing video platform releases, reading science fiction, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound. Ashley Biancuzzo manages all laptop and Chromebook coverage for PCWorld.