Dreame X50 Ultra Review: Short of Perfection

Dreame X50 Ultra Complete release date and price

The Dreame X50 Ultra will be available in stores from January 15. The recommended retail price is $1,699.99. Customers can choose between two colors: White and black. The device also comes with a three-year warranty.

Dreame X50 Ultra design and workmanship

Dreame did everything right with the X40 Ultra (review). It was the manufacturer's first robot vacuum cleaner with an extendable side brush and expandable mop. It was not without reason that the model was awarded a full five-star rating and the title of best robot vacuum cleaner with mopping function. It was also not for nothing that I called it a top-class robot vacuum cleaner.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Design and workmanship at a glance:

• Height of the robot vacuum: 8.9 cm
• Special features: Extendable side brush, extendable mop, deflectable navigation tower
• Docking station functions: Self-emptying function, mop cleaning, and drying, automatic detergent supply

The X50 Ultra has followed in the footsteps of its predecessor and is set to bring improvements that are not apparent at first glance. It begins with the overall height. The X50 Ultra measures 8.9 cm tall when the navigation tower is lowered. The robot vacuum cleaner intuitively lowers the tower after its cleaning run to clean under a couch or other low furniture, for instance, where it was not possible with the tower extended.

Another special feature would be the additional wheels. These are extended for it to overcome obstacles of up to 6 cm high. This also makes the appliance more intuitive. Like its predecessor, this is a "complete" version. In other words, you get your fair share of spare parts as part of your purchase:

• 1x cleaning agent
• 3x dust bag
• 3x filters
• 2x side brushes
• 1x main brush set
• 12x mop pads

Of course, the feature-rich docking station, which contains a freshwater tank, a dirty water tank, and a 3.2 L dust bag is also part of the setup. In addition to a self-emptying function, the docking station also cleans the mops with water heated to 80 degrees and adds its own cleaning agent. What is new, however, is the two UV lights to combat any remaining bacteria on the mops and the dust container after the self-cleaning process. Once the cleaning process is complete, the docking station dries the mopping equipment using hot air.

All of its operations takes place in the Dreame Home app. An account must be first created before a Wi-Fi connection can be established. Mapping is impressive and precise. The X50 Ultra managed to correctly divide all the rooms in the test area. It was also striking just how quiet the appliance was when moving around. It almost seemed as if the robot vacuum cleaner was gliding along.

Dream Home app and smart functions

The Dreame Home app shines with the same splendor as its predecessor. The scanned map is displayed in the main menu, with options to refine it as required. You will hardly have to do so with the X50 Ultra, as the mapping is impressive, as mentioned earlier.

Dreame Home app and smart functions at a glance:

• Suction levels: 5
• Water flow rate: 32
• Deep carpet cleaning

If you only want to vacuum, the software offers five levels of suction strength. If you decide to have it to vacuum and mop, you can choose between four suction levels. In this case, the X50 Ultra reserves the highest level for carpets. The keyword here is carpets: In the app, you can specify whether these are vacuumed first and whether the robot vacuum cleaner should perform a deep clean. In other words, the robot vacuum cleaner increases the suction power if the highest level is not in use and runs over the carpet twice.

In the other settings, you can adjust how often the mop extensions should be used. The software will warn you that frequent use will reduce battery life, but more on this in the next section of the review. For efficient corner cleaning, I recommend you enable all settings. Apart from that, you can specify how the X50 Ultra should overcome obstacles. You can view the two options below.

Last but not least, you can also control the docking station's functions. The app shows you how long the mop will take to dry. You can set just how long the process should take and the intensity with which the mop pads should be rinsed here. All in all, there is a lot of overlap between the app functions for the X50 Ultra and X40 Ultra. Existing Dreame customers would not have issues jumping right in and I see no reason why new customers should not be able to find their way around the software.

Suction and mopping performance, navigation capability of the Dreame X50 Ultra

The suction power left nothing to be desired. The 20,000 Pa motor helped the X50 Ultra to clean the test area flawlessly. Whether it is removing coarse or fine dirt was irrelevant for the new flagship. Even on a deep-pile carpet, its performance was impressive.

Overview of the suction and mopping performance and navigation of the Dreame X50 Ultra:

• Suction power: 20,000 Pa
• 360° navigation
• Overcomes thresholds that are 6 cm high
• 10 mm mop lift

Thanks to the extendable side brush and the mop extensions, cleaning corners and hard-to-reach areas proved to not be an issue. However, there is one unexpected problem that arose. As mentioned, the X50 Ultra has a height of 8.9 cm when the LiDAR tower is lowered. You might think that this gives it an advantage over the X40 Ultra  but the exact opposite is true.

The X40 Ultra measures 9.4 cm with the LiDAR tower. Without the navigation tower, it stands at approximately 8.3 cm. In reality, the X40 will drive under kitchen units or sofas until the navigation tower no longer allows it. The X50 Ultra, on the other hand, cannot get under the same furniture at all, which completely prevents cleaning in these areas. You can view an example of this scenario in the following photo.

That's just too bad, because the mopping performance of the X50 Ultra is the best I've seen in a robot vacuum cleaner to date. It remained unperturbed by everything thrown at it, from dried stains to damp dirt–even though it doesn't need the highest water flow rate. The new Dreame flagship mops with warm water. However, mopping with warm water can only be selected if you create a schedule.

Carpets are not moistened by the X50 Ultra. In the app, you can set whether the robot vacuum cleaner should avoid carpets or place the mops in the docking station before mopping.

One of the greatest strengths of Dreame robot vacuum cleaners is their absurdly good battery life. The X50 Ultra follows suit and also impressed in this department. 69 percent of battery life is left on the clock after a 30-minute vacuuming tour on the highest setting. This is the same value as the Dreame L40 Ultra we tested. What is impressive here, however, is how the suction power of the X50 Ultra is 9,000 Pa higher than that of the L40 Ultra. If the X50 Ultra vacuums for 30 minutes and completes the process with a 30-minute mopping cycle, there is still 55 percent battery remaining.

I was pleasantly surprised by the "CleanGenius" AI mode. Here, the robot vacuum cleaner intuitively adjusts the suction power and water flow rate to the dirt level of your home. On the one hand, you avoid unnecessarily high battery consumption and on the other, your only worry is refilling the fresh water tank and emptying the dirty water tank.

Finally, navigation and obstacle detection are other notable strengths of the flagship appliance. The cleaning assistant reliably recognized new obstacles and navigated around them without bumping into them. If a piece of furniture or other object is detected as an obstacle, the X50 returns to this spot after cleaning, lowers the LiDAR tower, and attempts to complete the cleaning tour.