The Dreame X50 Ultra is the latest addition in their popular ‘X’ series of robot vacuums. The X50 Ultra adds improvements from the X40 Ultra and new features, such as the ability to cross obstacles up to 6cm in height, retractable navigation tower, and HyperStream brush head – just to name a few. Dreame X50 Ultra will retail for S$2,299 but you can snag it at an early bird price of S$1,699.
Comparisons with Dreame X series
The main difference between the Dreame X50 Ultra and the last two editions is in the robot vacuum itself. Dreame X50 Ultra does have an upgraded washboard called the AceClean (which we will cover later), but the overall look and feel of the base station is largely the same. When it comes to features, you can refer to the below table:
| Features | X50 Ultra | X40 Ultra | X30 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation | VersaLift DToF | LDS | LDS |
| Obstacle avoidance | AI + 3D structured light | AI + 3D structured light | AI + 3D structured light |
| LED illumination (Fill Light) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum suction | 20,000Pa | 12,000Pa | 8,300Pa |
| Obstacle crossing height | 60mm (Two Steps) 42mm (Single Step) | 22mm | 20mm |
| Main brush | HyperStream Detangling DuoBrush | Rubber Brush | Rubber Brush |
| Side Brush: Liftable | Yes | Yes | No |
| Side Brush: Extendable | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mops Type | Dual rotary mops | Dual rotary mops | Dual rotary mops |
| Mops Removal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mops Raising | Yes, up to 10.5mm | Yes, up to 10.5mm | Yes, up to 10.5mm |
| MopExtend | Yes (RoboSwing technology) | Yes (RoboSwing technology) | Yes (RoboSwing technology) |
| Mop Hot Air Drying | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mop Auto Hot Washing | Yes, 80ºC | Yes, 70ºC | Yes, 60ºC |
| Dirt Detection/Mop Rewashing and Floor Re-mopping | Yes, Multi-spectrum | Yes, Multi-spectrum | Yes, Single-spectrum |
| Battery Capacity | 6,400mAh | 6,400mAh | 6,400mAh |
| Dust Box Capacity | 395ml | 300ml | 350ml |
| Water Tank Capacity | 80ml | 80ml | 80ml |
| Washboard Auto-Cleaning | Yes (AceClean DryBoard) | Yes (Washboard Self-Cleaning 2.0) | Yes (Washboard Self-Cleaning 1.0) |
| Dust bag capacity | 3.2L | 3.2L | 3.2L |
| Clean/Used Water tank capacity | 4.5L / 4.0L | 4.5L / 4.0L | 4.5L / 4.0L |
| Auto-empty for hands free | Up to 75 days | Up to 75 days | Up to 75 days |
| Automatic water refilling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic solution adding | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water hookup kit | Purchased separately | Purchased separately | Purchased separately |
Design and build quality
There is a clear difference in terms of design of the Dreame X50 Ultra vs the X40 Ultra due to the inclusion of a retractable navigation tower. The top of the Dreame X50 Ultra features a clean single top plate design that attaches on to the robot vacuum magnetically instead of a flap that the X40 Ultra employs. Build quality is solid as usual. There are rubber gaskets lined around the circumference of the robot vacuum to help cushion any unintended collisions with furniture.
When it comes to the base station, the Dreame X50 Ultra looks almost the same as that of the X40 Ultra. It is still a rather clean design with fluted panels accompanied by a matte grey mid panel, and it has the same slim profile of 34cm wide.
Operations wise, the base station works the same as its predecessor – water tanks located on the top, and the solution tank and dust bag are kept at the mid-section.
Cleaning effectiveness and user experience
Dreame X50 Ultra uses DToF along with AI RGB + 3D structured light for navigation and obstacle avoidance. Navigation is reliable and the obstacle avoidance is accurate as well. Dreame X50 Ultra is able detect obstacles on the floor and go around it. Dreame X50 Ultra hardly collides with the furniture I have at home. The overall user experience is largely same as the X40 Ultra, but there are some new and improved features on the Dreame X50 Ultra that can be useful should you need them.
[NEW] ProLeap System – Climbing over obstacles
The biggest feature on the Dreame X50 Ultra is its ProLeap system, which allows it to climb over steps or obstacles up to 6cm in height – more specifically 4.2cm for a single step, and then another step for 1.8cm. This will come in handy for homes that have a large step up into the toilets or have sliding door tracks on the ground.
It is not the most elegant lift off, but the retractable legs of the ProLeap system does the job reliably when tested in the video above.
[NEW] VersaLift Navigation – Low space cleaning with 360º scanning
Dreame X50 Ultra employs DToF sensor instead of a LiDAR which not does 360º scanning, but is also able to retract into the body of the robot vacuum. When the sensor is retracted, the height of Dreame X50 is just 8.9cm tall, which is shorter than the 9.4cm height of my X40 Ultra. This meant that the Dreame X50 was able to go underneath of some of the furniture that my X40 Ultra couldn’t.
However, I found that sometimes the Dreame X50 Ultra refuses to move further forward into a space to vacuum even though there was even space for the robot vacuum to fit. It could be current firmware that is treating the retracting sensor with more caution, and there could be future firmware updates to improve on this.
[NEW] HyperStream DuoBrush
Dreame X50 Ultra also comes with a new cleaning brushed called the HyperStream which looks to be a combination of the typical rubber brush and bristled brush. They rotate in different orientations simultaneously, allowing it to lift hair with minimal tangling on the brush. After multiple runs in the house, the brush did not catch a single strand of hair so it works well.
The HyperStream DuoBrush is also capable of being lifted up to 5mm so that it remains dry while mopping is being performed.
[Improved] 20,000 Pa suction power & Fill Light
Thankfully, the ‘Fill Light’ feature is retained on the Dreame X50 Ultra so a LED light will be turned on whenever it senses the area being cleaned is dark.
And just when I found 12,000Pa on the X40 Ultra to be strong, the new X50 Ultra ups the ante with a whopping 20,000Pa suction (+67% increase vs X40 Ultra). Manually enabling the Max+ option in custom cleaning will allow you to get the most of the powerful 20,000Pa suction, it definitely did a better job at cleaning my carpet than the X40 Ultra did.
Dual Flex Arm technology – MopExtend & SideReach
X50 Ultra keeps the Dual Flex Arm technology debuted on the X40 Ultra, which consists of MopExtend and SideReach. MopExtend allows the mop pads to swing out of the robot’s body so that the mop can clean very close to the edges, which is especially useful for kitchen cabinets where baseboards are typically recessed in due to the doors.
SideReach allows the side brush to physically extend itself outwards in order to clean corners and edges more effectively. This feature is much appreciated the side brush is now able to sweep things out of corners where previous models like the X30 Ultra can’t.
Maintenance and automation
Since the inception of the X series of robot vacuums, Dreame has made it even more fuss-free when it comes to maintenance of the robot vacuum. These days, the most you’d have to do is to replace/empty the dust bag after 75 days. Many of the manual tasks are now automated, as seen below. And with the X50 Ultra, Dreame made improvements to the washboard such that water marks or residues are minimized.
- Automatic dust collection
- Automatic mop pad cleaning with hot water
- Automatic mop pad drying with warm air
- Automatic water refilling
- Automatic cleaning solution refilling
- Automatic washboard cleaning
- Automatic water draining (with Water Hookup kit)
[Improved] AceClean DryBoard system – Automatic washboard cleaning with less water residue
This new washboard design of the Dreame X50 Ultra is called AceClean is better than that of the X40 Ultra. I found that less water stains were left on the AceClean washboard compared that of the X40 Ultra where small water residues will start to form after weeks of use. Definitely will have to clean the washboard less often with the X50 Ultra. There is also a small filter tray located in the middle to pick up any remaining debris left off after washing the mops.
Water hookup kit – Auto refilling and drainage
The water hookup kit is one of the best upgrades you can purchase if you have a Dreame robot vaccum as it makes the entire cleaning experience truly automated. It is almost a “set it and forget it” device in my house, and so much to the point I only go to the vacuum when I get a reminder to clean the sensors or empty the dust bag. Having the dirty water tank cleared automatically is much appreciated as emptying it manually can be quite troublesome. You have empty the tank on time if not you risk odours. Clean water is also topped up automatically. As someone who loves convenience, I personally find the water hookup kit a must-have with every Dreame robot vacuum.
Dreamehome app features
Most of the features are largely the same as older Dreame robot vacuums, so most of the conteent below will be repeated. Start by downloading the Dreamehome app, then simply scan the QR code under the faceplate of the vacuum and you should be directed to connect the robot vacuum to Wi-Fi. The first thing you’d be required to do is to map out your house, which should take 5 to 10 minutes. Once the mapping is complete, Dreame automatically sections the map into different rooms.
Room management
You can edit the map by dividing and merging different areas, rename or give it a room name. There is also a 3D map which offers a nice visualisation when you start adding furniture choices from the app – there needs to be more choices such as a study desk.
After the mapping is completed, you can also set virtual walls and zones where you want to prevent the X50 Ultra from going. This would be especially helpful for large houses with more than one storey to prevent the X50 Ultra from falling off a staircase.
Cleaning presets, customisation, and scheduling
There are three main cleaning selections: (1) All, (2) Room, or (3) Zone. If you simply want to clean a particular part of your house, you can opt for Zone cleaning by drawing a zone on the map. After which Dreame X50 Ultra will navigate to the zone and start cleaning. Alternatively, you can also order the X50 Ultra to clean specific rooms as well.
As for the cleaning settings, you can rely on the CleanGenius AI to choose the cleaning settings for you – it will identify room types and recommends the most suitable cleaning strategy. If you want more control, you can opt for Custom mode. You can setup customised cleaning settings from four different cleaning modes, suction power, and route.
- Vacuum only
- Mop only
- Vacuum & mop at the same time
- Mop after vacuuming
There is also an option to setup customised room cleaning type, but somehow it still doesn’t have the mop after vacuuming preset available in the options. I hope this is something Dreame will add in future software updates.
Lastly, you can convert all these customised settings into a schedule. You can use either a customised cleaning format which you have setup or rely on CleanGenius.
Customised carpet cleaning (feat. Mops Raise 10.5mm)
Carpets are quite common in houses these days and Dreame has provided five settings to choose from when cleaning with carpets around. Since the mop pads of the X50 Ultra can be deposited at the base station, you can choose to completely remove to mops pads to be 100% that your carpets stay dry. The five settings are below:
- Mops removal: Removes the mop pads entirely
- Mops raising: Lift mop pads up to 10.5mm (suitable for low-pile carpets)
- Carpet avoidance: Robot will avoid the carpet during cleaning
- Carpet boost: Robot will increase suction to vacuum once
- Intensive carpet cleaning: Robot will vacuum twice at reduced speed
Mops pads can be raised up to 10.5mm, so it will largely be more suitable for low-pile carpets. Unfortunately, the settings that you choose are global for all carpets. So if you have a mix of low or high-pile carpets it will use the same settings across. What I’d like to see in the future via an app update is the ability to set different carpet cleaning settings from the different carpets that the mapping identifies.
Camera monitoring mode
Another useful feature is the camera monitoring mode. In this mode, you can remotely control the movement of Dreame X50 Ultra like a drone, and see in real-time where it is heading. You also instruct the robot vacuum to go to a specific point in your house by tapping a marked point on the map. For privacy protection, the X50 Ultra will have a voice prompt to announce that the camera monitoring is active.
Conclusion
Dreame X50 Ultra brings quite some upgrades from the X40 Ultra, but I wouldn’t say that it makes the X50 Ultra a significantly better vacuum. The 20,000Pa suction is strong, and is appreciated in tough cleaning situations but the 12,000Pa on the X40 Ultra still serves me well. The new HyperStream Duobrush is a great stock brush to have but you can similar non-hair tangling with a TriCut brush on older models. The AceClean washboard does have more impact for me when it comes to a maintenance point. All that being said, the Dreame X50 Ultra is a high performing robot vacuum and if your budget allows – go for it. But if you don’t wish to spend too much, the older X40 Ultra is still a very capable robot vacuum as well.