My good boy Torben, eagerly watching the Dreame to see if it will probably suck up his clumps of hair that he has left on the carpet. The robotic slows down if it sees a pet close by and takes care to not stumble upon your furry pals. Jared Hannah/CNET Robot vacuums have made large strides in 2025 as many manufacturers race to develop into the most effective home cleaner assistant out there. Yet no robotic vacuum has been in a position to remedy one massive drawback of multi-level robotic cleansing with out having to bodily decide up your vacuum and transfer it. The Dreame X50 Ultra vac/mop combo — which made its debut at CES 2025 — goals to alter that. We examined it at CNET Labs together with dozens of different robotic vacuums. After lab testing, it was named CNET’s finest for obstacles and pets. I used to be impressed at how the DreamX50 carried out throughout lab testing. I wished to see how the Dream X50 carried out in real-world situations. How effectively may it sort out pet hair, climb over my stuff, mop and navigate random obstacles? I spent years as a product improvement design engineer and now oversee operations at CNET’s Testing Lab. Now layer my experience with my house life: I stay with my spouse, three teenage boys and two massive shedding canines. What higher place to place the Dreame X50 to the last word real-world check? Here’s what I discovered it did effectively, what shocked me and what fell quick. My first impressions of the Dreame X50 Ultra robotic vacuumEasy arrange: Setting it up was fairly easy-peasy. I adopted the information, stuffed the water, added the cleaner and plopped within the mud bag. The app was a breeze on my Android telephone, and I received it mapping the home very quickly.Mapping and navigation: It zipped round and mapped my fundamental flooring (about 1,200 sq. ft) in simply 11 minutes. It discovered the completely different rooms and even knew the place the carpets have been and the flooring kinds of every room. This is the stay view mode within the app so as to see what the robotic sees in actual time from its entrance dealing with digital camera. It’s a neat method to examine on your own home whenever you’re not house. Jared HannahCleaning: It began with a full deep clear, then vacuumed and mopped on its second run. During the app arrange, I instructed it I had pets, so it emptied its dustbin a bunch in the course of the first run. I discovered it to be fairly good about lifting its mops whereas vacuuming the carpet. Timing: It took a bit over two hours to do all the things, which is slower than my older Roborock Q5 robotic vac, however hey, this one mops! For comparability, my Roborock Q5 will vacuum the entire home in 88 minutes, whereas the Dreame took 123 minutes to hoover the identical house. 5 issues I appreciated and what shocked me 1. Tangle-free curler: After just a few runs, there was zero hair wrapped across the curler. To me, this alone is a big win and solves a giant ache level for my house. I name it the “Great Pyrenees challenge.” I’ve two long-haired, large-breed shedding canines (Great Pyrenees), so untangling hair from the curler is a continuing annoyance. Not having to untangle it on a regular basis is a win in my e-book. A better have a look at the Dreame X50 brush curler. It may be eliminated simply in case you ever have to clear something that may get caught between the twin rollers. Jared Hannah A comparability of the older Roborock Q5 (high) vs. the Dreame X50 Ultra (backside) after cleansing one massive space rug coated in canine hair. You can see that the Roborock already has plenty of hair caught on the curler and the Dreame has none. Jared Hannah2. Climbing: It conquered what I name my “Ikea chair challenge.” My different robo-vacs all the time get caught on the backside of this chair. The Dreame X50 discovered easy methods to use its auxiliary climbing arms to recover from it. It’s really type of entertaining to observe the robotic battle a bit at first, then regroup and take a look at a distinct technique utilizing one of many instruments it has in its arsenal. The Dreame X50 Ultra was in a position to make use of its carry arms to climb over the bottom of this chair that nearly each different robotic will get caught on. Jared Hannah The robotic efficiently recognized furnishings that it would get caught on. It knew to both keep away from it, or use its carry arms to climb over it. Jared Hannah The Dreame X50 additionally did an excellent job at figuring out cords and it knew to keep away from them. Jared Hannah3. Navigating furnishings: I used to be shocked by how effectively it may deal with furnishings. The X50 has a characteristic that lowers its turret, permitting it to suit beneath low-clearance furnishings that different robots couldn’t attain. These are a few of the settings within the in depth menu the place you may set it to decrease the turret to suit beneath low clearance furnishings. Jared Hannah4. Mopping: I’ve by no means had a mopping robotic earlier than, however this one does a strong job. It’s just about pretty much as good as once I mop myself. I used to be impressed with how effectively the bottom station cleaned off the mop pads between cycles. I simply must dump the soiled water tank and refill the clear one. The clear water tank and soiled water tank are straightforward to take away and set up. These tanks are additionally a lot bigger capability than different fashions we now have examined permitting you to get by means of extra mopping cycles earlier than it wants a refill. Jared Hannah The Dreame X50 is mopping up muddy paw prints from vinyl plank flooring. It is aware of to keep away from the world rug when it’s performing the mopping operate. Jared HannahThere’s additionally a spot for cleansing answer, which is neat. When it parks itself on the bottom station, it sprays off the mop pads whereas spinning them to get the entire grime out. Then it dries them out. I inspected the mop pads after its pad cleansing cycle they usually look very clear. By default, it’s going to do that after each mopping session so that you just’re by no means utilizing soiled mop pads or soiled water in your flooring. I did discover a bit grime buildup within the base station the place it cleans the mop pads, in order that’ll want cleansing finally.5. Object avoidance: This was significantly spectacular. It dodged sneakers, socks, cords, toys, all the things. I did not must tidy up earlier than operating it, which is wonderful. It even acknowledged my canines and was tremendous mild round them. The Dreame X50 will take images of your pets in case you allow that setting. You can click on on the pet icon on the cleansing map to see the images after a cleansing cycle. Jared Hannah6 issues I did not like or I’m nonetheless not sure about1. Vacuum efficiency: I’m not 100% satisfied it is the most effective vacuum for getting all of the canine hair off my rugs. Based on my house expertise, it appeared to do an OK job. During lab testing, although, we discovered the Ecovacs Deebot T30S and the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus to carry out higher with our pet hair and carpet check. The Dreame X50 carried out admirably in the course of the hardwood-sand check, however in contrast with its rivals, it struggled on carpet, averaging beneath 50% in our testing on midpile and low-pile carpet. 2. Lots of transferring elements: The DreameX50 has a ton of devices and transferring elements. I’m curious how effectively it would maintain up long run, however to this point, so good.3. Software quirks: The AI is meant to be tremendous good, however it had some bizarre moments. It took its time determining the place it was firstly of a cleansing cycle, and it received a bit confused by my eating chairs. It additionally took manner longer to wash the home than my previous robotic vac. 4. Voice command wonkiness: The voice instructions have been a bit hit and miss, too. I did not all the time know what the robotic would do when given a selected voice command. For instance, once I mentioned “mop the kitchen,” the robotic vacuumed the kitchen earlier than mopping, although the default setting was purported to do each concurrently. Similarly, once I mentioned “clean the house,” the robotic cleaned solely the hallway. I discovered that “start cleaning” would provoke a full home clear, however different instructions did not all the time produce the anticipated outcomes. While most voice instructions labored, there’s nonetheless room for enchancment.5. Settings menu: The settings menu is tremendous packed, which I discovered overwhelming. Feature bloat tends to be a typical drawback on robotic vacuum apps. We’ve additionally seen this on the Roborock app whereas testing the Saros Z70. 6. Price: The Dreame X50 is likely one of the most costly vacuums on the market proper now, at round $1,699 at full value. It may be value it when you have quite a few ranges and thresholds in your house and actually need a robotic vacuum, however I can not see it emptying cabinets till Dreame can determine easy methods to convey the prices down. My total expertise with the Dreame X50 robotic vacuum The Dreame X50 Ultra mapped out the principle degree of my home shortly and received proper to work cleansing. Jared HannahThis robotic vacuum jogs my memory of one among my favourite films from the 1980s — Batteries Not Included. If you have not seen the film (I extremely suggest it), the Dreame X50 Ultra has plenty of similarities to these robots with all of its instruments and transferring elements just like the lifting arms, the extendable facet brush, the headlight and the lidar system. Overall, I’m fairly proud of this robotic. It vacuums effectively, the mop characteristic is nice, and the thing avoidance is a lifesaver. It’s a bit quirky and will use some software program tweaks, however I actually love all its little robotic arms and the way it tackles obstacles. It type of seems like one other character operating round the home.
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