Design and build quality

The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller follows the consistent MOVA clean, modern design language but with slight tweaks. The base station stands out with a glossy front panel to give a more high-end feel, as well as its curved edges which soften the overall look of it. It should have no problem blending in seamlessly into interiors where the base station can’t be hidden away. Despite the need for multiple compartments such as for clean water, dirty water, detergent, and dust bag, the base station still looks compact and sits neatly against walls, making it well-suited for HDB flats and condominiums where space is tight.

The base station houses a 3.2L dust bag that can last up to 120 days, while the robot’s onboard dust box manages daily cleaning until the next auto-empty cycle. The water tanks are all easily removable for refilling and disposing dirty water. The compartment that holds the dust bag also holds the dispenser for the detergent. I’m glad that MOVA didn’t opt for using a proprietary cleaning fluid bottle/cartridge this time round.

The robot itself has a more rounded profile than regular robot vacuums. This lends it a friendlier look, and probably result in lesser impact if it ever collides into something. MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller also feature a retractable sensor. Overall, the robot vacuum feels sturdy and robust, and also has a rather nice touch and finish to it.

Cleaning effectiveness and user experience

Based on the spec sheet of the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller, it uses a bunch of tech combined together for obstacle avoidance. Its multi-sensor system consists of a dual-line laser, an RGB AI camera, LED fill light, and an edge line laser. Not sure of how everything works but the mapping of my house was done swiftly and accurately. The robot vacuum maps its route with precision and efficiency without unnecessary zigzags or stops. Its obstacle detection is equally dependable, smoothly navigating around items on the floor without bumping into them.

The LED helps improve visibility in dimly lit areas, which likely boosted the overall accuracy. Apart from these technologies, the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller also has rather new cleaning capabilities that I haven’t tried before.

HydroForce Mopping

Where the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller truly distinguishes itself is mopping. It uses a roller mop along with a 12-nozzle spray system to continuously rinse itself, reducing cross-contamination. This system is like using a wet-dry vacuum to mop your house except that it is done by a robot and not you. This allows you to get a more hygienic clean since the mop roller is consistently being washed.

MOVA says that the mop applies up to 4,100Pa of downward pressure to simulate a scrubbing action. I can’t exactly test that number but it did effectively cleaned away sticky spills like juice without leaving a streak which is quite impressive. The overall cleaning performance does feel slightly cleaner than typical rotary mops, especially with regards to stain removal as one pass is typically sufficient.

If your house have carpets, the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller has a neat trick up its sleeve to prevent the mop from getting your carpets wet. When the robot cleans the carpet, it will automatically deploy a mop cover to put a physical layer between the wet mop and the carpet. It’s hard to capture it in real life, but you can see the app video demo above to get a better sense of what is happening.

MaxiReach Mop

I’ve seen mop pads stretching out for better cleaning coverage. And now I’m witnessing the entire mop roller extending outward, allowing it to clean right up against skirting boards and edges where dust often lingers. MOVA says that it can extend up to 4.1cm, and it’s honestly quite a cool sight to witness.

The frequency of which the MaxiReach Mop feature is generally reliable. It does extend the mop out when robot vacuum is near walls or furniture edges. It can sometimes go right next to the edge of the wall, but there are also times where it doesn’t go super close the edge. You can get a rough sense of how this works in the video above.

28,000Pa vacuum suction power & DuoTurbo brush

MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller delivers a whopping 28,000Pa of suction. That’s like a 47% increase over the Z50 Ultra, and one of the strongest I’ve tested to date. There are four adjustable levels adapt to different surfaces, from tiles to low-pile rugs. Everyday debris such as hair, dust, and crumbs were handled with ease, while tougher tests like rice grains on carpet required just one or two passes.

What’s also new is the use of MOVA’s DuoTurbo brush system to tackle the issue of tangled rollers. By combining rubber and bristled brushes with optimised airflow, it can supposedly captures hair strands up to 30cm long without frequent detangling. So far through my one week of use, I did not see any tangled hair strands on the brush when inspecting it.

Like all flagship robot vacuum today, you get a extendable brush at the front of the robot vacuum for better reach into corners and edges. It’s the same MaxiReach feature like the mop, but for a brush and it operates like the standard extendable ones we’ve seen before – good feature but nothing too new to shout about here.

Mobility features

The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller also has some features that make it more capable in terms of how it get to different places of your house. For example, you have the StepMaster 2.0 climbing system that enables it to cross thresholds up to 8cm. This could be handy if your house have large steps between rooms (such as Kitchen to Service Yard). My house doesn’t have much areas like this so I didn’t test this out. The obstacle avoidance sensor is also retractable into the body, so the robot vacuum will be able to go under any furniture such as sofa, as long as the gap is more than 96mm.

Maintenance and automation

The whole point of a robot vacuum is to reduce much of the routine upkeep. In the case of the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller, you’ll really only need to think about swapping out or emptying the 3.2-litre dust bag roughly every four months. The base station itself is built to manage the rest, including:

1. Automatic dust collection
2. Automatic mop pad washing with 80ºC hot water
3. Automatic mop pad drying with 60ºC warm air
4. Automatic water refilling
5. Automatic cleaning solution refilling

One feature to callout is the automatic mop pad wash with hot water and drying with warm air as this keeps the mop clean and fresh for the next clean, and also reduce any potential odours. It’s rather surprising to me that the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller leaves out the feature of direct water connection for automatic refills and drainage. The ability to hook up to a water line would have been a handy convenience as it really takes the annoying chore of disposing the dirty water tank away.

MOVAhome app features

Setup through the MOVAhome app is quick and intuitive, taking under five minutes with clear prompts and voice confirmations. If you’ve used a Dreame robot vacuum before, you’ll be right at home with the app experience. Once the robot vacuum has mapped your home, the app will automatically divide the map into separate rooms.

Room management & settings

Right from the get go, you’d probably want to start customising the map of your house by splitting or combining different rooms, and assigning names to each room. You can opt for a 3D map view for a more engaging visual experience, but I prefer the simple 2D top-down view. Small tweaks such as setting up virtual walls and no-go zones are useful to keep the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller away from the toilet.

You can also delve deeper into settings to fine tune adjustments to your preference such as how the MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller tackles carpets, the way StepMaster 2.0 climbing system crosses obstacles, and maintenance frequency of the base station, etc.

Cleaning customisations and scheduling

The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller gives you flexibility with three cleaning areas: All, Room, and Zone. If you only need a specific spot taken care of, the Zone option lets you mark an area on the map, and the robot will head straight there to get the job done. Alternatively, you can assign it to individual rooms, which makes it easy to tailor each cleaning session to your priorities.

For those who like convenience, you can opt to use the built-in AI system, which can recognize the type of room and recommend the most suitable cleaning approach. On the other hand, if you’d rather fine-tune the process yourself, the Custom mode gives you full control. Here you can pick from four cleaning styles, set the suction strength, and even decide the cleaning intensity of the cleaning route.

• Vacuum only
• Mop only
• Vacuum & mop at the same time
• Mop after vacuuming

There is also a an option called “Customise room cleaning” which allows for each room to have its own customised cleaning profile. Surprisingly though, there’s still no way to program mopping to follow vacuuming within those settings. Lastly, you are able to choose any of the four cleaning styles to be saved as a scheduled routine, so the robot runs exactly the way you want it to when you want it to.

The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller can also be activated by a voice control – “Hey Mova”. It understands simple task such as “Hey Mova, clean the kitchen”, though I find that you have to articulate clearly. If you only want to vacuum the kitchen, there is no option for just vacuuming. It’s quite useful at times since it can be a hassle to take out your phone to start a cleaning task. MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller can also be used as mobile camera, which it markets this feature as a pet-focused monitoring tool. You can steer it around your home in real time like piloting a small drone.

Conclusion

The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller Complete delivers a compelling package that new technologies and powerful cleaning at a “lower-than-flagship” price point. With its self-cleaning scrubbing mop, 28,000Pa suction, and reliable obstacle-smart navigation, it stands out as strong price-to-value robot vacuums available today if you are okay with the lack of a water point connection.

Design and build quality

The MOVA Z50 Ultra currently comes in one colour – black, and it has a clean, modern design that blends well into most home interiors. Perhaps it’s the use of three distinct segmented tanks in its design, the base station does feel like it stands out more than the typical one-piece look. Other than that, the curved edges of the base station help to soften its presence no matter where you decide to tuck it in your house.

The robot vacuum itself is unassuming, and uses a single top plate design that attaches on to the robot vacuum magnetically instead of a flap. Build quality is solid. The robot feels sturdy, and the mop-lifting mechanism works flawlessly when transitioning across different surfaces like rugs and tiles. There’s also a FlexBrush side system that extends to reach into corners.

The water tanks are all easily removable for refilling and disposing dirty water. The compartment that holds the dust bag also conveniently stores a brush for cleaning the washboard.

Cleaning effectiveness and user experience

Using both LiDAR and a front-facing camera, the MOVA Z50 Ultra maps your home with quickly and accurately. It completed mapping a 4-room HDB in under 12 minutes and handled obstacles like chair legs and complex furniture layouts with ease. Route planning is deliberate and efficient—no random zigzag patterns or odd pauses. Obstacle avoidance is also reliable – if it spots an object on the floor it will smartly go around it without any collision.

Also, the MOVA Z50 Ultra has Fill Light feature that automatically turns on the headlights to better see the area that it is cleaning. What about the two key capabilities – mopping and vacuuming?

D-Shaped Track Roller Mop

The key feature of the MOVA Z50 Ultra is its D-shaped track roller mop, which mimics the cleaning performance of a wet & dry roller vacuum. This means you get continuous pressurized roller cleaning that sprays the roller map with warm 36°C water, which cleans it at the same time. This is what Mova calls ‘HydroSync’ mopping.

This mopping style is unlike the dual rotary mop pad design found in many other robot vacuum models such as the Dreame X40 Ultra. I found the tile floors felt more clean with MOVA Z50 Ultra‘s D-shaped track roller mop compared to the typical dual rotary mop setup. I believe there are two main reasons for this:

1. Mop is washed and cleaned – Due to a roller mop setup the mop surface is able to get rinsed by hot water before it gets deployed back to the floor for cleaning. Rotary mops on the other hand does not get any opportunity to be cleaned on the spot if it encounters a tough stain (usually requires heading back to the base station), which makes it more susceptible to spreading a soiled stain to other places.
2. Warm water cleaning – Warm water mopping helps to get rid of tough stain easily, and this feature is something that Dreame X40 Ultra lacks.

Stubborn stains such as slightly dried up coffee spills can be a struggle on Dreame X40 Ultra, but the MOVA Z50 Ultra is able to clean them up more effectively. It genuinely felt closer to a handheld wet dry vacuum than the usual robot mop. There is also a mini rotary mop at the side called FlexMop that can extend to reach closer to the edge – it wasn’t anything too impressive but it’s nice that there is something to sweep paste tighter corners.

CleanLift system

This is essentially the mop-lifting system that raises the mop surfaces and brushes when the MOVA Z50 Ultra is doing a strict vacuuming or mopping job. I have a large carpet in my living room and the MOVA Z50 Ultra is able to lift the mop pads up just before it goes onto the carpet.

19,000Pa vacuum suction power & FlexBrush

On paper, the Z50 Ultra delivers 19,000Pa of suction, just a notch below Dreame X50 Ultra’s 20,000Pa. But honestly, I don’t really notice the difference. MOVA Z50 Ultra handled everyday debris like hair, dust, and food crumbs without issue. Like many robot vacuums, it can still struggles with tight spaces, but for general floor coverage, it gets the job done well.

Like the SideReach on the Dreame X40 Ultra, MOVA Z50 Ultra has a similar feature called FlexBrush which extends a side brush to reach into corners and edges for better cleaning coverage.

Maintenance and automation

Like most modern robot vacuums today, most of the labourious maintenance have been automated which likely leaves you with replacing/emptying the 4L dust bag after 120 days. Here what the base station of the MOVA Z50 Ultra can handle:

1. Automatic dust collection
2. Automatic mop pad washing with 75ºC hot water
3. Automatic mop pad drying with 45ºC warm air
4. Automatic water refilling
5. Automatic cleaning solution refilling

Perhaps the only two notable omission on the MOVA Z50 Ultra is (1) automatic washboard cleaning, and (2) option to connect to a water point for auto refilling and drainage of clean and dirty water. Washboard cleaning is not that a crucial feature for me so it’s an ok miss at this price point. I do find the option to connect to a water point quite a convenient upgrade, but this could be something that Mova can add on in the future.

Cleaning fluid bottle

One last thing that is probably also important to call out is Mova’s use of a proprietary cleaning fluid bottle. Brands like Dreame also recommends you to use their proprietary cleaning solution to not risk damaging the robot vacuum, but Mova takes it one step further by forcing you to buy their proprietary cleaning fluid bottle to install.

This feels quite inflexible and perhaps costly in the long run since you’re forced to buy a fixed volume bottle each time, which also makes it not very environmentally friendly. It is a surprising decision and I can see how this could be a deal breaker to some people.

MOVAhome app features

As with all flagship robot vacuums on the market, the MOVA Z50 Ultra has an accompanying app to get your started. Download the MOVAhome app, then simply scan the QR code under the faceplate of the vacuum. If you’ve used a Dreame robot vacuum before, you’ll find the that app experience with the MOVA Z50 Ultra is almost exactly the same. The whole process of setting up the robot vacuum including mapping your home, typically takes around 5 to 10 minutes. After that, the app will automatically divide the map into separate rooms.

Room management

You can customise the map by splitting or combining different zones, and by assigning names to each room. A 3D map view is also available, providing a more engaging visual experience, but the selection of furniture could be expanded, such as including a study desk.

Once mapping is done, you can set up virtual walls and no-go zones to keep the Z50 Ultra out of certain areas. This is particularly useful for larger homes with multiple levels, as it helps prevent the robot from accidentally falling down stairs.

Cleaning presets, customisation, and scheduling

There are three primary cleaning options: (1) All, (2) Room, and (3) Zone. For targeted cleaning, you can select Zone mode by drawing a specific area on the map. The Z50 Ultra will then travel directly to that area and begin cleaning. You can also choose to clean specific rooms instead, depending on your needs.

When it comes to cleaning settings, you can let the AI (which is also called CleanGenius) handle it – this smart system detects room types and suggests the optimal cleaning method. If you prefer more hands-on control, switch to Custom mode, where you can tailor your cleaning by choosing from four different cleaning modes, adjusting suction power, and selecting the cleaning route.

• Vacuum only
• Mop only
• Vacuum & mop at the same time
• Mop after vacuuming

You can also set up customised cleaning settings for each room, and after all this time, there’s still no option to set mopping after vacuuming in these settings. Finally, you can turn all your customised cleaning preferences into a scheduled routine. You have the flexibility to use your personalised settings or simply let CleanGenius handle the job automatically.

Camera monitoring mode

Another handy feature is the camera monitoring mode, which lets you remotely navigate the Z50 Ultra like a drone and view its movement in real time. You can even direct it to a specific location by tapping a spot on the map. To ensure privacy, the Z50 Ultra will audibly notify anyone nearby when camera monitoring is active.

Conclusion

The MOVA Z50 Ultra mops better than most dual rotary mop robot vaccums and has most of the important flagship features on competing brands. If you value mopping performance on a robot vacuum and can live with minor quirks like the proprietary solution tank, the MOVA Z50 Ultra offers solid value for its price of S$1,299.

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:

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.

1. Automatic dust collection
2. Automatic mop pad cleaning with hot water
3. Automatic mop pad drying with warm air
4. Automatic water refilling
5. Automatic cleaning solution refilling
6. Automatic washboard cleaning
7. 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:

1. Mops removal: Removes the mop pads entirely
2. Mops raising: Lift mop pads up to 10.5mm (suitable for low-pile carpets)
3. Carpet avoidance: Robot will avoid the carpet during cleaning
4. Carpet boost: Robot will increase suction to vacuum once
5. 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.

Comparisons with X30 Ultra

The base station of the X40 Ultra and X30 Ultra are very similar, but the robot vacuums have quite some differences. The camera placement and the way the fill light is shone are obvious differences, but the X40 Ultra also has new features such as liftable & extendable side brush, and a more powerful suction.

Design and build quality

The base station of the X40 Ultra shares similar design language from the L10s Pro Ultra Heat, where the solution tank and dust bag are kept at the mid-section. It also has an overall slim size with more curvatures, which is greatly appreciated for the space constrained HDB yard. The front of the base station features a fluted top with grey mid panel, all with a matte finish.

As for the robot vacuum, the design is pretty much what we expect from Dreame – clean, single coloured for a consistent and minimalistic look. Build quality is solid as well. One key difference on the X40 Ultra is its screwed on side brush, as opposed to previous models’ snap-on mechanism of installing it. This is because of the new ability of the side brush to lift and extendable. Apart from that, most of the design features remain the same. The front of the vacuum is lined with a rubber gasket to cushion any potential collision impact with your furniture. The mop pads are attached to the vacuum magnetically.

Accessing the dustbox of the X40 Ultra requires you to lift the flap on the top surface of robot vacuum.

Cleaning effectiveness and user experience

The foundation of the X40 Ultra is its LiDAR for navigation and AI + 3D structured light for obstacle avoidance. The obstacle avoidance is very accurate. As long as the obstacle as some height, the X40 Ultra is smart enough go around any obstacle on the floor. I rarely see the X40 Ultra colliding with any furniture and walls, though I do see it trying to climb the corners of my EverDesk Max table legs as well as going over thin wires on the floor. All the potential obstacles are shown in the mapping of the house so that it can plan the most efficient route for cleaning.

[NEW] Intelligent Edge Cleaning (MopExtend 3.0)

Well, this isn’t exactly new per se, because it debuted on the X30 Ultra/Master but it is one a key mopping upgrade from the previous generations of Dreame robot vacuums. The upgraded MopExtend 3.0 technology allows the mop pads to push further out to clean skirting edges and the narrow slits of kitchen cabinets. You can refer the demo done by X30 Ultra/Master below:

[NEW] SideReach: Liftable & Extendable Side Brush

The headline feature of the X40 Ultra is the ability of the side brush to lift up when mopping is being done, and also extend out to clean deeper just like the MopExtend 3.0. The lifting feature is actually a nice addition as the side brush which gets raised by around 10mm, now doesn’t get wet when mopping is performed.

The extendable side brush solves one of the limitations on older Dreame robot vacuums, which is the lack of effective cleaning at corners. The X40 Ultra is now able to sweep dust and dirt away from the tight corners which was previously hard to reach. You can check out the demo of it in the video above.

[Improved] 12,000 Pa suction power & Fill Light

X40 Ultra retains the ‘Fill Light’ feature, where it will automatically turn on the LED lights at the front whenever it senses the area its cleaning to be dark. The implementation of it is a little difference on the X40 Ultra. Instead of the usual two headlights, X40 Ultra employs a single LED light throwing out from the middle.

And when it comes to suction power, the X40 Ultra now maxes out at a whopping 12,000Pa which is close to a 45% increase from the already capable X30 Ultra/Master. 12,000Pa is market-leading and is highly appreciated when cleaning thick carpets. You can get the full suction power by enabling Max+ in the custom cleaning settings or just turn on ‘Carpet Boost’ and let the AI of the robot do its own thing.

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 X40 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:

1. Mops removal: Removes the mop pads entirely
2. Mops raising: Lift mop pads up to 10.5mm (suitable for low-pile carpets)
3. Carpet avoidance: Robot will avoid the carpet during cleaning
4. Carpet boost: Robot will increase suction to vacuum once
5. 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.

Maintenance and automation

One of the best things of owning the Dreame X40 Ultra is the low amount of maintenance required. Many of the manual tasks are now automated thanks to hardware upgrades of the base station. The list of things that are done automatically are listed below. With the X40 Ultra, the most you’d have to do is to replace/empty the dust bag after 75 days.

1. Automatic dust collection
2. Automatic mop pad cleaning with hot water
3. Automatic mop pad drying with warm air
4. Automatic water refilling
5. Automatic water draining (with Water Hookup kit)
6. Automatic cleaning solution refilling
7. Automatic washboard cleaning

[NEW] Auto Washboard cleaning

This is also another feature that debuted on the X30 Ultra/Master. The base station of the Dreame X40 Ultra also features a hardware upgrade that gives it a pair of wiper blades at the washboard clear to help clean the surface of the washboard. It’s still recommended that you use the cleaning brush to scrub away any stubborn dirt and then use the cleaning function to aid you.

Water hookup kit – Auto refilling and drainage

For a truly automated cleaning experience, I’d recommend getting the water hookup kit as the draining of the dirty water after mopping is done automatically. Clearing the dirty water tank manually can get a little troublesome at times, as you have clear it timely if not risk having bad smells. Clean water is also topped up manually. That’s a total of two less things to do, and being a person who loves convenience – this is greatly appreciated.

Dreamehome app features

You will need to download the Dreamehome app to setup the X40 Ultra. Once the app is downloaded, simply scan the QR code under the faceplate of the vacuum and you should be directed to connect the robot vacuum to Wi-Fi.

Room management

The first thing you’d need 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. 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.

During the mapping, the X40 Ultra is also able to identify obstacles and will place it on the mapping of the house. For areas that you do not require cleaning such as toilet, you can set virtual walls or no-go zones so that it will prevent from entering the area.

This would be especially helpful for large houses with more than one storey to prevent the X40 Ultra from falling off a staircase. You can setup multi-floor maps as well.

Cleaning presets, customisation, and scheduling

The UI of the app with the X40 Ultra is slightly new, but other than that features when choosing a cleaning task remains the same. There are three main selection of clean: (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 the X40 Ultra will navigate to the zone and start cleaning. Alternatively, you can also order the X40 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. Or if you want more control, you can for Custom mode. You can setup customised cleaning settings so that X40 Ultra does exactly what you want it to do. You can choose from four different cleaning modes.

• 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 it doesn’t seem to have the mop after vacuuming preset available in the options. I hope this is some Dreame will add in software updates in the future.

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.

Camera monitoring mode

Another useful feature is the camera monitoring mode. In this mode, you can remotely control the movement of the X40 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 X40 Ultra will have a voice prompt to announce that the camera monitoring is active.

Conclusion

It’s fascinating to see how Dreame can keep pushing out improvements on their robot vacuum to make it better than their last iteration. With two headline features of (1) liftable & extendable side brush, and (2) 12,000Pa powerful suction, the Dreame X40 Ultra becomes an even more complete robot vacuum that will clean more effectively than its predecessors. At the price of S$1,669, Dreame X40 Ultra is pricey. But if you feel that you don’t need all the latest features, the older ‘L-series’ models such as the L10s Pro Ultra Heat or the L20 Ultra can do a very solid job as well. But those who want the best of the best, the Dreame X40 Ultra is what you are looking for.

Installation and design

The Near Module is just slightly bigger than a typical GU10 bulb. You have a whole range of frames to choose from to accompany the Near Module. Each frame will give off a different aesthetic, which is something a plain GU10 bulb cannot do. The frame that I chose was the EZ-SCOPE. Each frame has different false ceiling clearance distance, so do check and plan ahead before buying.

Do also note that the Near Module is connected to a driver which powers all the smart capabilities. The driver isn’t too big, measuring at L111 x W42 x H25 so you can easily house it in the false ceiling.

Lighting

The Near Module has a narrow light throw angle of 36º so the light emitted is more concentrated, and tends to give off a cone shaped look as it falls from height.

Near Module comes in only one wattage variant, which is 12W. It gets 1100 lumens of brightness at the daylight setting (6500K). You can check out the images above to see its lighting in both daylight and night setting at warm white (2700K).

Smart Home setup – Near App Control & HomeKit

Near Module uses Zigbee protocol instead of Wi-Fi. This means that you’d need to buy a hub in order to access its smart capabilities. It’s a bummer if you are just getting one light. But Zigbee offers better coverage and uses less energy – more reliable overall if you are going to setup many smart lights in your house. Near Module works with HomeKit (which I will mainly test), as well as Google Assistant and Alexa. For those looking to setup a HomeKit smart home, you can opt for Near’s Zigbee HomeKit hub.

You should setup the Near Zigbee HomeKit hub on the Near app first before exposing it to HomeKit. I recommend you expose the hub to HomeKit before you start adding the Near Module to the hub as I initially faced issues to adding the hub to HomeKit. While the Near Module worked seamlessly with the Near app, the experience with HomeKit isn’t the most smooth sailing. The light modules can sometimes not have their status synced to HomeKit when I cut power to the lights. If you are not planning to cut power to your lights then this shouldn’t be an issue.

Once you add the Near Module to the Near Zigbee HomeKit hub, it appear in the Near app with simple controls to turn it on/off. Going into the home page of the Near Module, you have convenient presets and sliders to adjust the brightness and temperature. There are two more tabs where you can access scenes and settings.

One of cool feature the the Near Module is circadian lighting which can be accessed via the ‘Schedule’ setting. Enable the “Presupposition” preset will enable a lighting setup that matches our natural biorhythm. If you don’t like the preset times, you can make your own custom lighting schedule system. There are other useful settings such as allowing to light to turn on/off slowly to create a gentle glow to avoid a big change in brightness, as well as setting a memory feature for the light whenever it restores from power (useful for those pairing it with a non-smart wall switch).

Conclusion

The Near Module offers a aesthetic and new way to install downlights in your home as its compatibility with most GU10 frames makes it easy for existing and future homeowners when planning lights purchase. The smart features in the Near app are useful and quick. Switching it up from a focus mood to a cosy setting takes a single tap. What I’d like to see in the future is better Apple HomeKit hub performance, but having said that is not the fault of the Near Module. The Near Module retails at S$85 for the light module itself.

Installation and design

The Near Magnetic System is essentially a track light system, where the lights attach via a magnetic connection. Having said that, installing of light on the track doesn’t exactly feel like a magnetic suction. Instead, there is some force need to insert the light module and remove it. Do make sure you read the guide below when installing or removing the light module to prevent damaging the light.

The track of the Near Magnetic System allows for quick and easy adjustments with the various lighting products/module that you can attach on the track, giving you the flexibility to switch things up in the future. Near sells up to six different modules that you can choose to install on the track. We’ll check out two of them below.

Track lights are usually installed on the ceiling, but the Near Magnetic System allows you to install the track even along downward walls as they offer vertical track joints. If you want your track to continue from your living to your walkway, the horizontal track joint allows you to create a ‘L’ shape as well.

The recessed magnetic tracks comes in two lengths – 1m and 2m. The tracks are rather slim at just 7.5cm wide, giving a neat and seamless look. The individual tracks are connected by a connector, which does not allow you to install any light module at that area. Hence, do plan the types of lighting modules that you are planning to install on the track as it will affect the length of track that you should go for.

Driver

Apart from the track and light modules, you’d also need to purchase a transformer to power the entire system. The transformer comes in three power ratings based on the total wattage you intend to pull from your setup. As the transformer isn’t able to be hidden in the track, you may have to find a way to hide the transformer in a carpentry or create an access point in the false ceiling to standby for replacement in the future. It would be nice if the transformer was designed in a way such that it can be hidden in the track.

(1) Linear Flood Magnetic Module

Choose the Linear Flood module if you want the widest light throw, as its beam angle is 110º. The Linear Flood module comes in three wattage options – 9W, 18W, 27W. The larger the wattage, the brighter it is. You might also choose the variant based on the length of the flood light, as summarized below:

The Linear Flood module are tunable white, allowing you to achieve Warm white to Daylight (2700K – 5700K).

(2) Linear Grille Magnetic Module (Adjustable)

Choose the Linear Grille Magnetic Module (Adjustable) if you want a more concentrated light throw given its beam angle of 36º. It has two wattage options – 9W and 18W. The larger the wattage, the brighter it is:

There are two variants of the grille light. The one I have is the adjustable variant which doesn’t sit flush with the track but allows you to rotate the light to adjust the angle at which the light is being thrown.

The ability to adjust the angle is useful if you intend to throw the light against a wall or painting. The Linear Grille Magnetic Module (Adjustable) are tunable white, allowing you to achieve Warm white to Daylight (2700K – 5700K).

Smart Home setup – Near App Control & HomeKit

The light modules of the Near Magnetic System uses Zigbee protocol instead of Wi-Fi which Near uses in the past. This means that you’d need to buy a hub separately, but Zigbee offers better coverage and uses less energy – more reliable overall if you are going to make your entire home smart. Near Magnetic System works with HomeKit (which I will mainly test), as well as Google Assistant and Alexa. For those looking to setup a HomeKit smart home, it’s nice that Near sells a Zigbee HomeKit hub.

You need to setup the Near Zigbee HomeKit hub on the Near app first before exposing it to HomeKit. I recommend you expose the hub to HomeKit before you start adding the light modules to the hub as I initially faced issues to adding the hub to HomeKit. While the lights modules work great and seamlessly with the Near app, the experience with HomeKit isn’t the most smooth sailing. The light modules can sometimes not have their status synced to HomeKit when I cut power to the lights. If you are not planning to cut power to your lights then this shouldn’t be an issue.

Once the light modules are added to the Near Zigbee HomeKit hub, they appear in the Near app with quite controls to turn it on/off. Going into the light page, you can find quick information on the light’s brightness and temperature. There are two more tabs where you can access scenes and settings.

One of cool feature the the Near Magnetic System is circadian lighting which can be accessed via the ‘Schedule’ setting. Enable the “Presupposition” preset will enable a lighting setup that matches our natural biorhythm. If you don’t like the preset times, you can make your own custom lighting schedule system. There are other useful settings such as allowing to light to turn on/off slowly to create a gentle glow to avoid a big change in brightness, as well as setting a memory feature for the light whenever it restores from power (useful for those pairing it with a non-smart wall switch).

Conclusion

The Near Magnetic System is a promising track light system which offers good smart home integration and has useful smart features with Tuya (Near app). But it could use more reliability with Apple HomeKit. The different options of light modules are good for creating a particular mood. I use the 18W Linear Flood module and I found it effective at lighting up my living room without creating a harsh “top down light” feel. Installing and removing the light modules is not as straightforward as snapping on as a magnet, but given I don’t exactly move the modules around often it doesn’t drag down my positive thoughts of the Near Magnetic System.

Aqara H1 Smart Switches

Smart switches are a great way to start automating things in your home as you can control you light and even fans remotely. And for HomeKit smart homes, the Aqara H1 smart switches are likely one of the few options you’ll come across.

The Aqara H1 smart switches are available from 1-gang up to 3-gang (ie. Triple Rocker). It comes in a Neutral and non-neutral version. The Aqara H1 smart switches retails from S$59.90 up to S$89 on Synced, which have very fast deliveries. I am using the Aqara H1 Triple Rocker smart switch.

Design and build quality

There are two models of smart switches that Aqara currently sells – (1) D1, and the (2) H1. Aqara H1 smart switches stand out to me in terms of its build quality and design. The switches are very clicky and responsive. It may take some time to get used to the switch feeling as there is no physical depression of the rocker button. The Aqara H1 also produces a higher pitch “click” sound as well, that feels very tactile and satisfying to press once I got used to it.

Each individual switch feels well-tensioned and the quality of plastic feels good quality. The Aqara H1 uses a metal frame where the screw holes are located, making the overall construction more durable especially when installing.

The Aqara H1 smart switches features a clean minimalist look due to its borderless design, and its switches doesn’t stick out too much. Each switch has a small LED indicator that lights up when it is turned on (you can turn this LED indicator off if you want in the app).

Usage and features

If you’re considering between the D1 and H1. I’d recommend opting for the Aqara H1 as it supports Zigbee 3.0 (whereas D1 only supports Zigbee 1.2). To use the Aqara H1 smart switch, you’d need to purchase a Zigbee 3.0 hub, which Aqara conveniently sells. I got the Aqara M2 hub. There is a newer M3 hub that is likely available Q2 of 2024, but if you don’t require the new features then the Aqara M2 hub is still highly capable.

Setting up the Aqara H1 is relatively straightforward. You give the switch a name and assign its room in your house. Then, you assign a name and icon to each switch button.

The lights/fans will appear in the home page of your Aqara app. If you have multiple lights that you always turn on at once, you can setup a lighting group for those lights linked to the Aqara H1. That way, you can setup automations or scenes that can toggle on this particular lighting group.

The Aqara H1 also features a “wireless switch” mode. Enabling it will unbind the switch that is connected to the relay, meaning that your lights will no longer be able to be powered on/off by the switch. This configuration lets you setup an automation to trigger actions on Aqara’s accessories. In theory, this allows you to setup a smart switch + smart light combo so that your smart light will never go offline. However, do note that this means your smart light has to be from Aqara so that it will be exposed in Aqara for you to create on automation action on it.

Once the Aqara H1 is setup in the Aqara app, you can start creating automations and scenes as well to start creating a smart home. For example, I have an automation that turns on the entrance light whenever my door is unlocked in the evening. This automation works well as my door lock is also from Aqara.

Adding the Aqara M2 Hub to HomeKit will automatically add all the child devices into HomeKit. You can then use your iPhone or any Apple device to control the lights/fan connected to the switch.

Aqara M2 Hub

Of all the Zigbee hubs that support HomeKit, I found the Aqara M2 Hub to be the most reliable of them all – the speed of sync status between that of its own app (Aqara) and HomeKit is very quick. Moreover, the Aqara M2 Hub does more that bridging Aqara products to HomeKit. It has infrared (IR) emitter as well so it can send remote commands to control appliances such as TV, aircon, or fans. It would have be great to see radio frequency (RF) emitter as well.

Before we dive into some of its unique features, some quick specs of the Aqara M2 Hub:

• Powered by micro-USB
• Zigbee 3.0 (up to 128 devices)
• RJ45 Ethernet port
• Bluetooth Low Energy
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Dimensions of 100.5×30.75mm 

The features of the Aqara M2 Hub only start to shine with more Aqara products added to it. For example, you can create a smart doorbell simply by purchasing the Wireless Mini Switch. The Mini Switch allows you to create automations for its three configurable states: (1) single press, (2) double press, and (3) long press. Simply create an automation where by both a single and double press triggers the Aqara M2 Hub to play a desired ringtone as the doorbell sound. If you prefer to have a silent doorbell after a certain time, you can even setup an automation such that you get phone notifications as an alert instead of hearing a doorbell sound.

Other Aqara accessories you can pair the Aqara M2 Hub with is the Door and Window sensor and the Water Leak sensor. You can configure the Door and Window sensor such that the Aqara M2 Hub will send alerts and notifications if the door, window or even drawers are opened. If you’d like to track if your appliances are leaking water, you can place the Water Leak sensor under such devices. When water is detected, the Aqara M2 Hub can send notifications to your phone.

While all of Aqara’s child devices are exposed to HomeKit once paired with the Aqara M2 Hub, the full functionalities of the automations and scenes that you can setup on the Aqara hub is sometimes not available. So, it is good to consider this point when planning for different accessories that you’d like to have when setting up your smart home.

This article will be updated as we continue to add more Aqara devices to our smart home.