This looks like a ladder - cheaper model, dearer model - and it is not. Lefant's two machines are built around opposite ideas, and the cheaper one is better at something the expensive one cannot do.
By Scooter M., Enthusiast - published September 27, 2026
We have not tested these machines. Everything here comes from published specifications, manufacturer manuals and retailer listings, all cited below. Prices last verified September 27, 2026.
How this is funded: if you buy through a link here we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which machines we recommend or what we say about them. Full disclosure.
If you have carpet: buy the Lefant M3. It publishes 12,000Pa, has a roller brush that can agitate pile, and empties itself into a 3.2-liter dock. If your home is hard floor with a shedding pet: buy the M330 Pro - it costs roughly half as much, and its brushless inlet means long hair cannot wrap around anything. These are not two rungs of a ladder. They are different machines that happen to share a badge.
The instinct with two models from one brand is that the dearer one is the better one and the question is whether you can afford it. That is not the situation here, and buying the M3 for a flat with no carpet would be paying double for a disadvantage.
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Product
Best for
Score
Price
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Lefant M312,000Pa and a dock that washes the mop in 45-degree water. The highest specification here by a distance, from the least established brand here.
Lefant M330 ProPSD sensors that see cords and small objects, now with dToF mapping behind them. It publishes no suction figure at all, which is the trade.
Both machines scored on the published rubric from How We Pick: suction 25%, navigation 25%, pet hair 20%, running cost 20%, setup 10%. Editorial judgments about published specifications, not test results.
The difference that decides it: one has a brush, one does not
The M330 Pro has no roller brush at all. Debris goes straight into the airflow path through an open inlet. The M3 has a conventional brushroll.
On hard floors the brushless design is a genuine advantage, and it is most of why we recommend the cheap Lefants for pet households on hard floor: hair goes into the bin instead of wrapping around a roller until the roller stops turning. On carpet it is a real weakness, because there is nothing to agitate the pile with - the machine lifts what is sitting on top and leaves what is worked in. Lefant's own documentation for its brushless machines advises against the most efficient cleaning pattern on carpet.
So the question is not which machine is better. It is which floor you have. The full version of that argument is on best for carpet and best for pet hair.
Specification by specification
Specification
Lefant M3
Lefant M330 Pro
Notes
Suction
12,000Pa
Not published as Pa - three modes only
The M3 publishes the highest figure on this site
Brush
Roller brush
Brushless suction inlet
The whole comparison, in one row
Navigation
360-degree LiDAR, multi-floor mapping
dToF laser ranging to 15 m, multi-floor mapping
Both map; both hold more than one floor
Obstacle avoidance
FreeMove Tech 3.0
PSD detection of furniture, cords and small objects
The cheaper machine states the more specific claim
Self-emptying
3.2 L bag, stated up to 90 days
None
The M3's biggest concrete advantage
Mopping
Hot-water mop wash at 45C with cool-air drying
200 ml tank with a washable pad
The M3 maintains its own pad; the M330 Pro does not
Runtime
Up to 220 minutes, 5,200 mAh
Up to 150 minutes
The M3 is the longest-running machine we rank
Height
Not published
95 mm (3.7 in)
The M330 Pro is the thinnest mapping Lefant
Read from both manufacturer listings. Lefant publishes no Pascal figure for the M330 Pro, which is recorded as unpublished rather than assumed weak.
What the extra money actually buys
Three things, and they are worth naming precisely rather than gesturing at a price gap.
A dock. The M3 empties itself for a stated 90 days; the M330 Pro has you empty a 450 ml bin by hand. Whether that is worth the gap on its own is the argument on is a self-emptying dock worth it.
A published suction figure, and a brushroll to use it with. 12,000Pa is the highest number on this site. It only means much on carpet, which is the floor the M330 Pro is weak on anyway.
A mop that maintains itself. The M3 washes its pad in 45C water and dries it with cool air. The M330 Pro's pad is washable, which means you wash it.
Notice what is *not* on that list: mapping. Both machines map, both hold multiple floors, and the cheaper one actually publishes the more specific obstacle-detection claim. If you were paying up for navigation, you are paying for something you already had.
What the cheaper machine keeps
The M330 Pro is 3.7 inches tall and the M3 does not publish a height, which matters if your furniture is low - see best for low furniture. It scores higher than the M3 on our running-cost metric, because a brushless machine has fewer parts to wear out and no dock bag to buy. And it is the one of the two we would put in a house with long-haired animals and hard floors.
3.2 L bag, manufacturer states up to 90 daysSource: Manufacturer listing
Mop care
45C hot water wash with cool-air dryingSource: Manufacturer listing
Battery / runtime
5,200 mAh, up to 220 minutesSource: Manufacturer listing
Mopping coverage
Manufacturer states 2,368 sq ft (220 m2) per tankSource: Manufacturer listing
Wi-Fi
Dual band, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHzSource: Manufacturer listing
What it gets right
12,000Pa is a flagship-tier published figure at a sub-$250 price
A mop-washing dock at this price is genuinely unusual - most stop at self-emptying
Cool-air drying rather than heat, which is what stops a pad going stiff and smelling
Dual-band Wi-Fi, which sounds trivial until you own a mesh network that keeps handing it to the 5 GHz radio
What it gives up
A washing dock is plumbing. Two tanks, a tray and a pad to keep clean, and more to go wrong
Pa figures are not comparable between manufacturers - there is no shared test standard, and a big number is not automatically better cleaning
Still buying 3.2 L bags
The least established brand here for warranty and spare parts
Our scoring
Suction9.0
Navigation8.0
Pet hair7.0
Running cost6.0
Setup7.0
Weights and the arithmetic behind the total are published on How we pick so you can recompute this yourself.
Who it is for: A hard-floor home where mopping is the actual point and the dock has somewhere to live.
Skip it if: you want fewer chores rather than better ones. A self-washing dock removes the worst job and adds three small ones, and plenty of people would rather rinse a pad in the sink.
#2 - Best obstacle avoidance under $150Score 7.5/10
PSD sensors that see cords and small objects, now with dToF mapping behind them. It publishes no suction figure at all, which is the trade.
Published specifications
Suction
Not published as Pa. Three modes: Quiet, Standard, MaxSource: Manufacturer listing
Navigation
dToF navigation scanning to 15 m, with multi-floor mapping and route planningSource: Manufacturer listing
Obstacle avoidance
PSD (position sensitive device) detection of furniture, cords and small objectsSource: Manufacturer listing
Runtime
Up to 150 minutesSource: Manufacturer listing
Dustbin / water tank
450 ml visible dustbin, 200 ml refillable tank with a washable padSource: Manufacturer listing
Height
95 mm (3.7 in)Source: Manufacturer listing
Carpet handling
Avoids carpet in mop mode, boosts suction when vacuuming itSource: Manufacturer listing
Wi-Fi
Dual band, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHzSource: Manufacturer listing
What it gets right
PSD avoidance is named for the objects it detects - furniture, cords and small items - which almost nothing else at this price claims
dToF mapping with multi-floor maps, at a price where most machines still have no map at all
An anti-tangle suction port rather than a roller, so there is nothing for hair to wrap around
A 450 ml visible bin, so you can see when it needs emptying instead of guessing
What it gives up
No published Pascal figure anywhere on the listing, so its headline capability cannot be compared with anything
At 95 mm it is taller than the slimmest machines here and will not clear the lowest furniture
The mop is a washable pad on a 200 ml tank - maintenance mopping, not scrubbing
No self-emptying dock, so the bin is yours to empty
Our scoring
Suction5.5
Navigation8.5
Pet hair7.5
Running cost8.5
Setup8.0
Weights and the arithmetic behind the total are published on How we pick so you can recompute this yourself.
Who it is for: A cluttered hard-floor home where cords and toys stop the machine more often than dirt does.
Skip it if: you shop on suction figures. Lefant publishes none for this machine, so on a specification-led ranking it is unverifiable exactly where you would want a number.
Questions people actually ask
+−Is the Lefant M3 better than the M330 Pro?
On carpet, yes - it publishes 12,000Pa and has a roller brush to agitate pile, which the M330 Pro lacks entirely. On hard floors with a shedding pet the cheaper M330 Pro is the better machine, because its brushless inlet cannot tangle.
+−Is the Lefant M3 worth double the price of the M330 Pro?
Only for three things: a self-emptying dock stated at 90 days, a published 12,000Pa with a brushroll to use it on carpet, and a mop pad that washes and dries itself. Both machines already map with a laser and hold multiple floors, so you are not paying up for navigation.
+−Does the Lefant M330 Pro have a brush?
No roller brush. It uses an open brushless suction inlet, which is why long hair cannot wrap around it and why it struggles on carpet - there is nothing to agitate the pile with.
+−Do both Lefant machines map your home?
Yes. The M3 uses 360-degree LiDAR and the M330 Pro uses dToF laser ranging to 15 meters, and both publish multi-floor mapping. The cheaper machine also states the more specific obstacle-detection claim.
+−Which Lefant is better for pet hair?
The M330 Pro, on hard floors, because a brushless inlet has nothing for hair to wrap around. Neither machine publishes an anti-tangle claim, so in a carpeted home with a long-haired pet we would look outside the brand altogether.
+−Does the Lefant M330 Pro empty itself?
No. It has a 450 ml bin you empty by hand. The self-emptying dock, stated at up to 90 days on a 3.2-liter bag, is one of the main things the M3's higher price buys.
Sources
Every specification quoted above was read off one of these documents on the date shown. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, this site says "Not published" rather than estimating it.
