I Tested the Dreame X50 Ultra – Its Chic Design and Cutting Edge Technology Wowed Me and My Guests

I never thought I could be quite so amazed at a robot vacuum – but with its sleek design, industry-leading features, and robust cleaning skills, the Dreame X50 Ultra left me impressed.

As an interior journalist for over five years, I have seen the rise of robot vacuums, and tested three from brands Roborock and Eureka. The Dreame X50 Ultra is the first Dreame I have tested, and has quickly my favourite robot vacuum so far.

I tested it around my house for three weeks, which has both carpet and hard flooring, as well as using it in a house with pets to put it through its paces. No matter where I put it, it was a breeze to set up, thanks to its sleek app and lightweight design. Strong contender for one of the best robot vacuums we've tested.

The One-Minute Summary

More expensive than most robot vacuums, the Dreame X50 Ultra is a premium purchase. While more budget-friendly robot vacuums also come with an app, camera, and mopping functions, this has more advanced versions, along with other features that make it worth the extra money.

It's a dream at vacuuming and mopping, excelling on cleaning everyday dirt and spills. I also tested how it vacuumed up sugar and lentils, and found it quick and efficient on small and medium sized debris. However, it did struggle with larger debris, crushing pieces without proper removal. In terms of mopping, it struggled with thicker liquids, but swept through thinner, more water-based ones with no problems.

It has the world's first robotic retractable legs, which glide over obstacles up to 2.36 inches tall. It even lowers its height to smoothly go underneath areas like sofas and TV units. Plus, I loved the fact that it comes with a Dreame cleaning solution that goes in a separate slot to the water tank, allowing for an extra sparkling finish that kept my home fresh.

It also works exceedingly well as a pet hair vacuum. It has a special setting that means it takes special care to avoid pets, and even has a setting for capturing cute pictures of your pet while it’s cleaning (yes, really!). The DuoBrush also picks up short and long hair without getting tangled – I didn’t have to cut out any hair throughout testing.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Specifications

Dreame X50 Ultra: Setup

When unboxing the Dreame X50 Ultra, I was surprised at just how much cardboard there was inside the box – an eco-friendly design and recyclable, as opposed to heavy plastic and bubble wrap.

The base station is relatively light, meaning that I was able to get it out of the box without much of a struggle. After that, all I needed to do was slot in the base station panel, pour the cleaning solution into it (dust bag already intact), and plug it into the wall.

Once I’d done this, I downloaded the Dreamehome app, which had easy setup instructions. It told me where to scan the QR code to identify the model, how to turn on the robot vacuum, and what to press to connect the Wi-Fi to it. The whole process took around 15 minutes.

The robot had enough initial charge in it to start fast mapping, which took 20 minutes for my downstairs space, which has an open-plan living and dining room, a kitchen, and a hallway.

Once the map was done, I had to adjust the map to merge together the two parts of the kitchen and to rename the hallway, as it was identified as the bathroom, but this was simple and didn't take long. After this, it was easy to set it on an initial deep house clean, which took an hour.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Design and Features

The Dreame X50 Ultra has to be one of the most beautiful robot vacuums I’ve seen. It has a sleek design that will seamlessly fit into interiors, both classic and contemporary, with its grooved and metallic paneling. It also comes in white and black colorways.

Its hero feature is the industry-first ProLeap system, which allows it to lift itself over difficult obstacles and ledges up to 2.36 inches. One of my biggest annoyances when testing other robot vacuums is having to rush over when they get themselves tangled up in my rug or when they can’t make it over thresholds. No problem here, though – and the lifting got impressed ‘Oohs!’ from people I showed it to while testing.

Meanwhile, the VersaLift Navigation allows it to reach under small gaps, lowering the robot vacuum’s height to 3.5 inches. I have two sofas and a chaise lounge in my living space, and a bar cart in my kitchen space, and it was able to reach under these perfectly with this.

As well as this, its 3D structured light and AI action allow it to identify different types of objects with impressive accuracy. From this, it creates a detailed 2D and 3D map. I was impressed to see it was able to identify furniture and fabrics to avoid, as well as safely navigate around shoes (which I have a lot of in the hallway!) and charging bases.

As a person with long hair which seems to get everywhere, the HyperStream Detangling DuoBrush was an especially welcome feature. The Bristled Rubber Brush cleans hard floors, while the TPU Rubber Brush lifts larger particles and hair. The combination of these is designed to minimize tangles – and so far, I have not had to cut any hair out of it, and the brush itself has remained completely clean.

The base station packs a lot into it, despite the fact it is compact and light for a robot vacuum station. Open up the metallic panel, and you’ll find a container similar to a washing machine drawer for the cleaning solution to be poured in, which comes with it. The dust bag also comes pre-installed. Plus, while the water capacity isn’t as big as that of larger models, it still lasted me three runs before needing to be emptied.

The AceClean DryBoard allows it to quickly dry the mop pads while keeping the base station fresh. In the past, I have tested vacuums that the board has ended up catching excess dirt, and having to clean this manually myself – but even after three weeks, my white model’s base stayed pristine, as did the mop pads (apart from after the mustard mop test – more on that below).

The Dreamhome app – which is essential for using the robot vacuum – is very easy to use, with a clean interface and easy navigation. It even has a handy forum section for finding other users, which I think will definitely be useful for troubleshooting any problems.

What Is the Dreame X50 Ultra Like to Use?

When it comes to interacting with the Dreame X50 Ultra, it’s oh-so-smooth to get it to start cleaning. The app has a play button from the outset, which you can press for a quick start. Or, you can go further into the app to customise vacuuming or mopping, change the vacuum’s power, or see the maps. I found the custom button wasn’t as intuitive for me to press, with it being tucked to the left of the screen, and I felt it could have been in the lower panel.

On the app, the robot vacuum can be set to clean different rooms and zones, which is very easy to do. Whether I’ve been in a rush and needed to just clean one area before hosting or had the time to do a full deep clean, it takes seconds to get it started. It can start cleaning by using the smart home voice prompt ‘Okay Dreame, start cleaning’ – or simply by pressing the play button on the app.

The object identification is superb, with it being able to clearly find objects and swiftly skirt around them, without pushing them around – something other robot vacuums I have tested have done. It also closely cleans around these and other large objects – I was amazed at how smoothly it cleaned next to boxes, tables, and kitchen cabinets, getting right to the edge without bumping into them or causing marks.

While I don’t recommend robot vacuums for deep cleaning the home, for everyday, regular use, the Dreame X50 Ultra is excellent. In terms of picking up pieces of debris and dust, it is quick and efficient. I run regularly, so often I end up trailing mud into the house (especially in the hallway), and I haven’t accidentally trodden on any dirt. I’m also a messy cook and, once the vacuum has cleared up after me, you wouldn’t know I had been in there (well, apart from needing to clean the kitchen countertops).

The 6,400mAh battery is powerful enough for it to do up to 220 minutes of cleaning. I found on a full charge, it was able to clean my top and bottom floor. Plus, when the battery runs low, it returns to the dock to recharge and resumes cleaning from where it stopped.

It mops the floor evenly with its two circular mop pads that move deftly, making sure every corner is properly cleaned – unlike robot vacuums with just a cylinder roller mop, which just goes in a straight line. I didn’t find any streaking or uneven washing. It also lifts up the mop pads when going across my rugs, so I didn’t have to worry about them getting damp.

I also tested it in a pet household to see how it manages pet hair, and it had no problems picking this up. Speaking of the pet-friendlyness, it allows you to confirm if you have pets so it is gentler around obstacles, and can also take pictures of your pet and make them into GIFs. Yorkshire Terrier Rosie will usually bark at anything, but she only started barking when it started mopping – and even then, she stopped after a while. It also picked up pet dander and hair easily.

One minor issue I did find is that it would often circle back to areas randomly. For example, it would clean the living room, then move into the kitchen, but then return to do more of the living room, before going back into the kitchen again. This didn’t bother me too much, but it could have been annoying if, for example, I wanted to start cooking in the kitchen once it was done there, only to have it come back.

Plus, despite Dreame describing it as quiet, when testing it on the Decibel X app, it turned out to be louder than other models we have tested, at 73 decibels. I struggled to watch TV with it on and couldn't concentrate on work with it either. However, it can run while you're in another room, and even while you're out the house.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Vacuuming Tests

For the vacuuming tests, I ran the Dreame X50 Ultra by cleaning vinyl flooring and low-pile carpet. I used sugar, lentils, and hoop-shaped cereal to see how well it would come with debris of various sizes. While I knew it was excellent at everyday cleaning, these tests were very eye-opening.

With a suction power of 20,000Pa, it should vacuum up everything in its sight – and for the sugar and lentils, it definitely did this, cleaning up everything in its path. I was surprised that it didn’t go back around and fully clean them up, which I would have expected with its AI camera surely still being able to see they were still there. The flex arm also flung the lentil and sugar to the side.

In terms of cleaning the cereal, as shown in the video it crunched it up to a smaller size to try and pick the pieces up, but only did this for a few of the pieces. It also spat out cereal around the house afterwards, meaning I had to keep up cleaning after it. These were the same size as some pet treats, so I could imagine this being an issue in a pet household.

It performed the same on both the vinyl flooring and the carpet, with it not struggling on either texture. However, it did struggle to mount my rug at times, bunching up the corner for no reason – which was a surprise considering it has special lifting technology.

These tests are meant to truly test the vacuum, and it definitely fared better on smaller, day-to-day debris. It also was able to pick up pet dander effectively. For cleaning bigger debris, I always recommend reaching for one of the best cordless vacuums.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Mopping Tests

In terms of mopping, the Dreame X50 Ultra has great cleaning credentials, thanks to the removable mop pads, the specialist cleaning solution, and having MopExtend RoboSwing technology, where the robot extends a mop out and swings the back of its body towards the floor's edge to maximize what's being cleaned.​

I tested how it cleaned up ketchup and mustard – two sauces with different textures. While it cleaned the ketchup up completely, it struggled with the thicker mustard, missing parts of the mess and again not looping back to clean it properly.

The floor wasn't sticky at all on the ketchup side, but it was still on the mustard side. That being said, there wasn't a strong odor compared to when I originally squeezed the sauces onto the floor, which was impressive considering how strong mustard smells.

The beauty of the mop pads is that they’re removable. While the mop pads are self-cleaning and self-drying in the base station, this didn’t completely remove all the mustard, so I finished the job by washing by hand in soapy water and air-drying on the laundry rack.

However, in terms of day-to-day cleaning, it excels at mopping hard surfaces. It doesn’t miss a nook or cranny and leaves the floors fresh thanks to the cleaning solution. It is also brilliant at mopping at dirt from muddy shoes and paw prints. We run these tests simply to see exactly what its limitations are – and for the X50 Ultra, it's high volumes of sticky sauce.

Dreame X50 Ultra: Maintenance

The vacuuming and mopping tests provided a great opportunity for thoroughly cleaning the vacuum. Learning how to properly clean a robot vacuum is key to its performance and longevity, which is especially important when spending on one with a higher price tag, like the Dreame X50 Ultra.

The mop pads are easy to remove if needing to be cleaned manually (I recommend doing this by hand), and the set also comes with two additional mop pads. However, the base station itself also cleans and dries the pads itself.

The vacuum also comes with a special cleaning brush, which allows me to get into the crevices easily. While the vacuum’s brushes can’t be removed, the cleaning brush made it easy to scrub them. I dipped the brush in hot soapy water to clean post-testing, and the rubber material meant the dirt came off easily.

In terms of removing the dust, the base station does an efficient job of automatically emptying the robot vacuum’s contents into the dust bag every time the robot vacuum docks. While this will need replacing in time, the set does come with two extra bags. After testing it for three weeks, it is about a quarter full – but this is likely partially due to the initial deep clean it has done.

The water tanks are slightly smaller than previous robot vacuums I have tested, but this is the price of the base station being more compact and fitting more sleekly into the home. I haven’t needed to empty out the dirty water in three weeks (although I have, as the app helpfully encourages me to do so), nor have I needed to top up the water. The tanks are also lightweight, have useful handles, and sturdy clips.

How Does the Dreame X50 Ultra Compare?

With an MSRP of $1,049,99 at Dreame, the Dreame X50 Ultra is more on the premium end of the robot vacuum market – but it really does earn its price point, thanks to its clever lifting technology, high suction power, quietness, and ease of use.

Unlike our top rated robot vacuum, the Yeedi S20 Infinity, it has lifting technology and removable mop pads. It also has better suction power (20,000 Pa compared to the Yeedi S20 Infinity’s 19,500 Pa) and has a more stylish design. However, it is not as quiet, with the Yeedi being 56 decibels average, and the Dreame X50 Ultra being 73 decibels average.

It also has a lot more features than the eufy X10 Pro Omni, which is our best budget robot vacuum cleaner. They both auto-empty, are quiet, and edge-hugging, but the app and mapping aren’t as advanced, and it doesn’t have removable pads nor come with a rubber brush roll (although this can be bought separately).

How I Tested the Dreame X50 Ultra

There is a lot that goes into how we test vacuums, which includes using the robot vacuum’s app intensively, living with the product to see how it fits into everyday cleaning, and testing it in environments that might prove a challenge.

For the Dreame X50 Ultra, I tested it for three weeks, running it most days around my downstairs area, which gets the most traffic and has vinyl and rugs, as well as upstairs, which is mostly carpeted. My household has two adults – myself and my partner – and I tested it in a household with two other adults and a Yorkshire Terrier.

In line with Homes & Gardens’ robust guidelines, I tested how it cleaned a quarter cup of sugar, lentils, and cereal, testing with each type of substance individually on both hard flooring and carpet. I also tested the mopping by running two tests – first with a quarter cup of ketchup and second with the same amount of mustard.

Next, learn how to choose the best vacuum for every home – no matter your size, your surfaces, and your budget.