Dreame Z10 stick vacuum review: Accessible luxury

I’m not exaggerating when I say that finding a stick vacuum with an auto-empty station changed my life. Emptying out the dustbin on a Dyson was the bane of my existence, but when I first used the Samsung Bespoke Jet it was like the skies opened up. I may have even heard angels singing.

Usually these kinds of luxuries are reserved for the upper echelon of the vacuum range. Only those willing to fork out over $1,500 for a stick vac would get to experience the nirvana, but Dreame’s Z10 bucks this trend. For a maximum of $900 this device makes much of what we love about Samsung’s premium range accessible to more people. It isn’t as polished, and the form factor is larger, but those trade-offs are worth it for half the price.

I have banned myself from making anymore jokes about vacuums sucking, but suffice it to say the suction on the Dreame Z10 would be worthy of one. The vacuum pulls up most small and medium surface level debris on both hardwood and carpet, provided you’re using the right vacuuming head. It comes with a microfibre roller for hard floors and a bristled roller brush for carpets which helps to get in between the pile. While it can clear around 95% of debris on the surface, it doesn’t pull out anything from deeper within the carpet. You’ll need something more powerful to get at that.

Despite offering both vacuum heads, only the carpeted head has built-in LEDs to surface more debris. It is almost cruel this head lets you see the dirt but isn’t powerful enough to actually pull it all out. This is most noticeable when it comes to edge cleaning. Neither the hard floor nor the carpet head can get close enough to the edge of the wall to properly clear debris that settles into these spots. It does come with a crevice tool that can make easy work of it however.

Alongside these attachments, the Dreame Z10 also comes with the most effective upholstery tool we have tested. It doesn’t look like anything special, but the mini motorised brush was able to clear a solid amount of dog fur from velvet and cotton across a range of upholstered surfaces. Others we have tested have been underwhelming, usually pulling the fabric but not getting the spindly furs out. For pet friendly households, this aspect is a slam dunk.

For the most part the performance of the Z10 is reliable. It didn’t jam during testing, the attachments stayed tight on the body, and the device was responsive to any and all controls. Its body does tend to get quite warm to the touch during operation however, and small debris can fall out of the dustbin while changing attachments. Not much fell out each time, but I did find myself strategically holding the vacuum to the sky while swapping between attachments to avoid the issue.

All up the base station and the vacuum itself are taller than most, which can make use less ergonomic. Once on the station the vacuum is about 120cm tall making it difficult for me (a 150cm cutie pie) to hoist it on and off the stand. Although the vacuum itself is only a bit over 2kg with the extension rod and a head on it, the height of it is cumbersome. Even while cleaning it can feel all around too long, but admittedly I may just be too short for it. My partner who is a more average height doesn’t have the same issues, but still pointed out just how big the set up looks compared to our Samsung Bespoke Jet.

Despite the large stature, the Z10 is surprisingly nimble to manouever. Its light weight makes it easy to use on higher surfaces, and to push around for extended periods of time. Although you’ll only be able to use it for around 36 minutes on auto mode before the battery runs dry. Technically the device can last for 65 minutes on eco mode, but realistically you’ll need more power to get a good clean out of it. We find auto mode to be a good middle point to assess the realistic battery life of stick vacuums.