Dreame Z1 PIXZ4110 cordless poolbot for maximum clean with minimum effort (review)

The Dreame Z1 PIXZ4110 cordless poolbot is the well-known robovac company’s entry into pool cleaning. Its secret sauce – pool mapping – puts it well above entry-level poolbots.

Cordless poolbots are the next big thing. Forgetting multiple listings, there are over 300 on Amazon AU alone and 800+ on eBay AU, of which 767 are generic Chinese-made, white-labelled poolbots. And most are not very good!

Forgive me for using the Dreame review as my soapbox, but I need to tell CyberShack readers what I really think of the tsunami of cordless poolbots we are currently drowning in. They are the next consumer minefield as:

• Consumers have little knowledge of what a poolbot does or should do, let alone the different technologies they use and how that affects whether they are suitable for your pool. Read Pool Robots – how to choose the right one for you (2025 guide), and we update it as new technology occurs.
• There are no established longevity benchmarks. Some cordless poolbots we reviewed three years ago are dead in the water (excuse the pun). Was the tech too rushed, not ready, and waterproofing for saltwater and harsh Australian conditions inadequate? Others can’t get spares like filter baskets, roller brushes, and caterpillar treads.
• The market is awash (another pun) with cheap generic poolbots white labelled for major pool supply chains.
• There are few established leaders. It is just like the Chinese EV car makers – 65 brands in Australia, and car experts predict that fewer than ten will survive the decade.
• Established old-school corded brands don’t necessarily deliver the best performance, quality or longevity with cordless poolbots. There are horror user reviews from brands including Zodiac, Dolphin, Polaris, Aquabot and Baracuda, with some scoring only one or two stars.
• There is no guarantee of quality when buying from a pool shop or Amazon, but they are responsible for warranty performance.
• Warranties are so loose. Most warrant the electronics, few warrant the battery, and almost none warrant the rubber rotating brushes, caterpillar tracks or so-called consumables like filter baskets.

So, while I quite like Dreame as a brand of robot vacuum, and it has earned its reputation as a good company to deal with, I lack the essential longevity benchmarks for its poolbot that allow me to tell you if it is a safe buy. While I believe that it is, that is a matter of Caveat Emptor.

Common sense rules in this emerging market. Look for:

• An established brand, not a generic white-labelled one.
• The company has established support and service in Australia
• Look for the longest warranty with the fewest exclusions
• Preferably buy direct online at the company’s AU website or from a reputable pool shop, as they are responsible for upholding the warranty.
• Do not buy overseas models without an RNZ C-Tick or that come with a different electrical plug.
• Let us know if you have any good or bad experiences.

Australian Review: Dreame Z1 PIX4100 cordless poolbot

As of 6/01/2026. Firmware: 4.3.6_0603

Note this is not the Z1 Pro version, which is essentially the same but comes with a LiFi (Light) remote control, slightly more coverage and more app functions.

AU Website	Australian site Product Page Manual
RRP Price	$1,799, but shop around and look for sales events Free shipping
From	Dreame Online, Harvey Norman, Domayne, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Betta, Appliance Central, and robot specialists
Warranty	2-year Warranty Policy 30-day returns
Elevator pitch	maximum clean with minimum effort
Made in	China
About the company	Dreame (Est 2015) is a member of the Xiaomi Ecological Chain and the driving force and leading enterprise of smart household cleaning appliances (at least in China). It focuses on high-end cleaning appliances by leveraging astrodynamics technologies (the study of ballistics and celestial mechanics).
More	CyberShack cleaning news and reviews CyberShack Dreame news and reviews

Ratings

We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.

• Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
• Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
• Pass (meets expectations).
• Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
• Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).

First Impression: Stylish and love the Mag Connect charger

Any decent poolbot will have (Dreame gets ✅)

• Front and rear reticulating rubber rollers (✅) – many only have front roller brushes
• At least two motors (✅)
• 180um fiilter basket (✅) but we like a 3um as well (X)
• Caterpillar treads (✅)
• A charge port (✅, but this is magnetic to eliminate any possibility of leaks)
• Basic ultrasonic forward and side sensors (✅, but add front and side sensor fusion modules and IR side/forward sensors)
• Modes (✅ floor, side, waterline).

More advanced poolbots like this add Wi-FI and BT (✅) and an app (✅, but this offers more features).

Where this is different is that it adds pool mapping (accommodates irregular shaped pools), some AI (for obstacle detection and complete cleaning), the Mag Connect charger port, and, on the Pro model, a LiFi remote control (not tested).

Other than that, it looks like most poolbots with a light band to indicate various battery and other states.

The Dreame App: Pass+

It is ahead of most apps with Lab Mode (more latter), sharing (allows multiple people to access the Z1 app) and preferences. It is constantly evolving.

You download the app, connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and it will update the firmware.

It offers the following with a choice of Eco, Standard and Power levels and single clean or maximum clean. All tests were at Standard power and one clean.

• Standard (floor, walls and waterline)
• Floor only
• Walls only
• Waterline focus
• Complete (standard mode on steroids until the battery is exhausted)

You can set routines (days, times, mode), but in practice this is a device that you charge, chuck in the pool, let it clean, remove, charge and rinse and repeat.

Size: Pass

It is pretty standard at 470.2 × 423.8 × 281.2 mm x 12.1kg. It is not too heavy to lug from the charge area to the pool. Once it has completed the clean, it rises to the tile-line for five minutes to make extraction easy. If not, it then sinks back to the bottom, and you can use the pool hook to remove it.

Mapping: Pass

Dreame states that the Z1’s PoolSense Technology is the world’s 1st with a triple surround fusion perception system utilising sensor technologies, including ultrasound, 3D structural light, and TOF (Time of Flight), for complete environmental awareness to boost efficiency and convenience in pool cleaning.

Only having reviewed the Aiper X1 Pro and Pro Max mapping, we can only say that it produces a similar result – a 2D wireframe map that allows it to work out the most efficient vacuum path. For example, in a rectangular pool, it may select lengthwise movement. In a kidney-shaped pool, crosswise, etc. Where it encounters a very irregular shape (not yet tested), it may break it up into manageable zones.

The map allows it to have spatial awareness – where it is in the pool – and to ensure 100% of the pool is cleaned.

Does it work? Yes, it can produce a 2D wireframe showing where it cleaned.

Pool Size

Dreame states up to 200m2 (floor area), which is not a terribly relevant measurement as you need to add the floor size, wall size and potentially waterline size.

The average Aussie rectangular pool ranges from 6 to 9 x 4m (24-35m2 floor) plus walls (30-39m2), and the tile line could add 20-26m.

We have a 20m2 floor, 24m2 wall and 24m tile-line test area, which takes 80 minutes and 47% of the battery.

Based on that, it will easily clean all surfaces of a 100m2 pool (10 x 6m) with some room to spare.

Suction: Pass+

It advertises 800GPA (gallons per hour) or 30,000 LPH (litres per hour) water throughput. That equates to about an 8 x 4m rectangular pool.

Filter Size: Pass

It has a 180um 4.5L filter, which is fine for most detritus. Dreame has a five-pack of 3um socks (US$19.99) for extremely fine algae, mud, dust and hair. Recommended but not tested.

Smart obstacle avoidance: Pass+

We placed bricks, a pool vacuum head, some 20-50-cent-sized rocks and anything that would sink in the pool. It approaches these at full speed, then maps a small, say 50mm path around before proceeding on the same path. The smaller rocks went into the filter basket.

Fillets: Not sure, but at least a Pass

It handled 90° fillets (the curvature of the floor to the wall). Some international reviews stated that it struggled with tight curvatures. We have tested in a pool with a reasonably tight curvature (this is the most demanding test), and it handles these.

Dreame Lab Mode – mad scientist stuff

Dreame has a Lab mode (just like its robovacs) where new features are developed and tested before the general release. These are generated in response to user requests and to keep the poolbot at the front of the pack.

Shallow tanning ledge (not tested)

It has a setting to enable it to clean ledges, provided they have adequate water depth to cover the robot. It appears that you place the robot on the ledge and enable this in the app.

Extreme condition cleaning (not tested)

Dreame has added an extreme condition clean for challenging pool floors, but warns that the result may be less obstacle avoidance.

Enhanced obstacle crossing (not tested)

If it consistently gets caught on an obstacle like a pool floor grill, you can set this to maneuver over and/or around it.

Alternate cleaning path (tested)

This basically means both short and long side S-shaped cleaning (2X doubles the time)

Map display (tested)

A relatively new app update that displays the pool map and allows editing.

Up to 3 maps (tested)

You can use the robot in its AI mode on three different pools.

Wall cleaning height (tested)

Sets a fixed distance between the waterline and the robot when cleaning walls. For example, if there is an obstacle that may interfere with the robot coming to the surface.

Battery: Pass+

I really like the Mag Charge connector as it eliminates the battery charge port (using pins), which is one of the major reliability issues.

It uses a G2415-6S3P-MMEV 18-cell 3.6V Lithium-ion battery in 6 serial x 3 parallel to give it a 21.6V/9.6A/207W fuel tank.

Dreame does not specify the total number of battery recharge cycles, but since it is warranted for two years, it should be at least 1000 cycles. Like all Lithium-ion batteries, the depth of discharge ranges from 80% down to 15% before it stops working.

Dreame claims up to four hours (240 minutes), but that is based on eco mode and floor only. In our tests, 160-180 minutes in standard mode is achievable.

Charge time is between 4-5 hours.

IP Rating: Pass

It has an IPX8 rating up to 3m. I often forgot to take it out of the pool, leaving it submerged for a few days without any problems.

LiFi remote (Pro model only)

LiFi uses a light beam to transmit a signal to the robot’s LiFi receiver panel. There is a D-Pad to move it forward/backward and side to side. One caveat is that you do have to keep it pointed at the robot for it to work.

Maintenance – Pass

The caterpillar tracks, mesh filter basket, and two silicon rollers are user-replaceable. Based on our excellent experience with another brand used at least weekly, replacements may only be necessary after several years. The caveat is that if you have an abrasive pool surface, you might wear out the silicon roller and caterpillar tracks more quickly than in a tiled pool.

Dreame does not currently list any spares on the AU website.

Pool types – Pass+

It is recommended for concrete, fibreglass, pebblecrete, mosaic tiles, and vinyl-lined pools (most robot cleaners won’t handle vinyl liners).

Now you are at the end – how well did it clean?

I can only be subjective when looking at the pool before and after cleaning.

• Floor: 100% clean and good edge fillet clean
• Walls: Hard to tell because these are small tiles
• Waterline: Thoroughly cleaned

It was ‘efficient’, cleaning side to side logically and then the walls. It removed every skerrick of detritus. There was no detritus ‘drag’ or bow wave in standard mode.

It is now being tested in an irregularly shaped pool with a curved fillet (the ultimate test). Our tester says that it handled the pool very well, entering the curved section and cleaning the fillets effectively.

His initial battery runtimes are similar.

CyberShack’s view: Dreame Z1 PIXZ4110 cordless poolbot looks to be one of the better ones

We have tested a few brands and based on our findings, products from Aiper, Wybot, and now Dreame are a safe buy. Safe in the sense that they work as advertised and that the companies have a commitment to Australia, so you should be able to get parts and service.

Feature-wise (mapping), its direct competitor is the Aiper Scuba X1 Pro: adds smarts to the essential poolbot, which adds a 3um filter basket, four motors and a charge cradle as well.

But then its RRP is $2,299 versus $1,799 ($500 more), and for most, they will both do the job well. Remember that these two represent the first of the AI robots with mapping, and that is a big step forward for irregular shaped pools.

Dreame Z1 PIXZ4110 rating

Note that we now use 70/100 as a pass mark. This is an intelligent poolbot that does more than most brands do.

• Features: 85. Take a dumb poolbot, add a brain and awareness, and this is the result. I like the Dreame Labs options, and they add considerable value.
• Value: 90. It offers more features and therefore better value than a dumb poolbot. You would have to spend $500 to get marginally better.
• Performance: 85. It meets expectations
• Ease of use: 85 – charge, chuck, sit back and relax.
• Design: 85. It is well-made and has a nice design.

The video below is for the Pro – ignore the LiFi remote.