Sitting inside San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, in almost the exact same spot I was seated two months ago for Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and Galaxy Buds4 launch, I can’t help but feel bombarded by déjà vu — and the sensation is entirely intentional, according to my hosts, smart-home brand Dreame.
“It’s why we picked the venue,” a spokesperson cheerily admitted while giving me a brief tour of the show floor.
I’m back here to experience Dreame Next, a four-day-long tech showcase featuring the company’s products — although with day one including the unveiling of a rocket-powered electric car (yes, really), the term ‘product showcase’ feels rather inadequate.
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The intentional Samsung mimicry makes sense in this context. While it’s perhaps best known for its TVs, wearables and smartphones, Samsung makes just about every kind of tech device you can think of, from household appliances to speakers and smart car tech.
Dreame wants to be seen as a titan, on a par with the South Korean tech giant.
At the same time, Dreame’s showcase is very much in a category of its own. I’ve sat through dozens of conferences as a journalist, but never have I seen the typical announcement routine — hype-filled trailer, audience applause, 15-minute-long deep dive into a “world-first” innovation, followed by a wrap-up screen with product details — applied to an air conditioning unit before.
Many of its reveals are the kinds of announcements you might get a quick press release about from another brand. Dreame is instead treating each one like it’s a flying car. It’s surreal, yet endearing.
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Total domination
The whole events exudes a weird charm — be it teleprompter hiccups, a 20-minute business lecture on changing consumer spending habits, watching NBA Hall of famer Dwyane Wade be told he has to take over a dozen photos at the end of his on-stage segment (one with every Dreame exec individually, and more with various groups), or seeing attendees spray ketchup on the floor so that they can then clean it up with a vacuum to win a prize. It’s a charm which disguises the company’s true intentions.
Dreame wants to take over your world.
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That robotic arm-equipped fridge I mentioned? It’s designed to organize and scan everything in your fridge, and then, in conjunction with data collected from your Dreame scales and Dreame smart wearables, help you decide on the perfect meal for your health needs. Your robot vacuum will use its robotic arm and your washing machine to do even more chores for you. Your ring and your phone can control, and get updates from, all the appliances in your home — that is, if you’re all in on the Dreame ecosystem. Your Dreame TV is your smart-home hub.
The idea of an interconnected ecosystem isn’t new. Samsung has pitched a similar vision of complete integration between all the tech in your home and on your person, but Dreame’s vision wants to go from one to 100 faster than its rocket-boosted EV.
It’s impossible to judge its efforts yet, though. None of its new tech is available to the public at the time of writing, meaning we haven’t been able to test it and verify Dreame’s extravagant promises.
What’s more, despite the hyperbolic tone of its announcements, most of the tech here has been debuted already, at the CES or AWE shows earlier this year. However, we still don’t have firm release dates or pricing for these devices — some don’t even have release windows yet, and might remain concepts indefinitely.
So while I want to get excited for Dreame’s vision, I can’t; at least not right now. If it can make good on its promises, the tech world had better watch out for this upstart smart-home brand. And if it falters… well, at least I’ll always remember Dreame Next as the strangest tech show I’ve ever been to.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
