I thought it would be impossible to drive my tricky furniture without a robot vacuum, and then one person was surprised with its clever arms
Key points of CNET
- No robot vacuum really solves the challenge of multi-layer cleaning without you physically moving between floors.
- This robot VAC can do this, with a high-end price of $1,699 (now sold for $1,360).
- You can't find another robot vacuum with its capabilities now, which is currently less than $1,000.
The whole point of having a robot vacuum is that you don't have to clean it yourself. But this has never been the case in my home – partly because of what I call the “IKEA Chair Challenge”. I've seen many robot vacs get stuck at the bottom of one of my chairs, which is an unusually shaped base. This is just one obstacle for many people in my family, and it is also full of pet hair, paw prints and three teenage sons who stay everywhere.
Fortunately, I was a product development design engineer in charge of operations in the CNET Testing Lab and after the Dreame X50 Robot Vacuum was rated as the best obstacle and pet for CNET, I had to see how it performed in reality in my place.
Well, it conquered the IKEA chairs. It's actually fun when the Dreame X50 struggles, reorganizes and then uses assisted climbing arms to cross the chair's base, which is just one of the tools it has in the arsenal.
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My Experience in the Vacuum of Dreame X50 Ultra Robot
When it comes to performance, the Dreame X50 Ultra is usually solid. It starts with a completely clean and then vacuumed and wiped on the second run. During the app setup I told me there were pets so during the first run it dumped its bin. I find it smart to lift the mop while vacuuming the carpet.
It took 123 minutes to complete the work around my house. The mop's function is surprisingly effective, handling muddy paw prints on my vinyl plank floor and doing everything I can. And I was deeply impressed by the object it avoided. It surrounds the shoes, the ropes, and even my two dogs without problems.
Setting it up is a breeze: the app is intuitive, the machine builds are of great quality, despite a lot of moving parts (such as its auxiliary climbing arms and lowering turret) – I question its long-term durability.
The Dreame X50 also does a great job of identifying ropes and knows they can be avoided.
A key feature that really stands out is the tangle-free roller. In my home test, the Dreame X50 was compared to my older Roborock Q5, and after cleaning the large area of the carpet, the difference was huge. The roborock is clogged with hair, and Dreame's drum is completely clean. This is a huge advantage over competitors, who usually struggle with pet hair. This is another big test of mine – what I call the “Big Pyrene Butter Challenge” – the Dreame X50 comes with bright colors.
My family got used to it quickly and its zipper almost became like another family member – some quirky, sometimes a little confused, but overall very helpful. Finally, watching it conquer like the bottom of my IKEA chair, the other robots got stuck, which not only worked, but also looked fun.
Take a closer look at the Dreame X50 brush roller. If you need to clear anything that might be captured between the double rolls, you can easily remove it.
Specification
- price: About $1,699 (at full price)
- feature: No tangle roller, climbing arms, navigation turret, with basic clean wipes to avoid objects.
- connect: Wifi
- Mapping: Quick mapping, room and floor detection.
- navigation: Camera and laser lens.
- app: Live view, customizable settings, pet photos.
- clean: Vacuum and mop combination.
- Base station: Mop clean and dry, water tank, cleaning solution points.
- Cleaning time: Slower than some.
CNET's purchasing advice
If you enable this setting, the Dreame X50 will take photos of your pet. You can click the PET icon on the cleaning map to view photos after the cleaning cycle.
The Dreame X50 Ultra is feature-rich and is ideal for pets, obstacles and avoiding objects. It's best if you want advanced navigation and mops and are willing to pay extra for features like climbing weapons and lowering turrets. However, this isn't absolutely the best for a pure vacuum, especially on carpets, and the software can be a bit weird.
At about $1,699, the Dreame X50 Ultra is a very expensive robot vacuum cleaner. If you place great emphasis on its unique features such as rock climbing capabilities and premium furniture navigation, it's worth investing. However, if you focus primarily on the original vacuum power or a tighter budget, there are more cost-effective options. It's a luxury with value consistent with its advanced features.
For better carpet vacuum performance and lower price, Ecovacs digging T30Sor irobot indoor combo J7 plus performs better in carpet and pet hair testing during CNET's lab tests. Although all three are vacuum and mop-capable, the EcoVacs Deebot T30 (including $1,400 for the bar-glue Vac) or the Irobot Roomba Combo J7 ($600) are both cheaper than the Dreame X50 Ultra ($1,699). It is worth pointing out, though, that the Dreame X50 Ultra is one of the few robot vacuums we tested at CNET, capable of climbing up objects, covering space and lowering itself under furniture.
This is the live view mode in the app, so you can see what the robot can see in real time from the front camera. It's a neat way to check your home when you're not coming home.
