Today, Dreame are launching their latest robot vacuum into Australia and I’ve had early access to the new X40 Ultra.
The business case for a robot vacuum is quite an easy one, it’s a robot that will automate one of the most unrewarding, relentless tasks of cleaning your floors. While there’s lots of products on the market that will fulfil the basic task, those of us who’ve got years of experience with robot vacuums will understand there’s a vast difference between entry-level models and the features and functionality you get from the flagship products.
The Dreame X40 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop with Auto-Empty and Mop Self-Cleaning Station aims to set a new benchmark with its advanced features and performance enhancements.
The cleaning platform builds on the strengths of its predecessors, but continues to push the industry forward and challenge what’s possible, also solving one of my biggest challenges – hair. Dreame also included their optional TriCut Brush which includes blades that will cut hair as it collects on the roller, rather than tangle or worse, actually constrict and ultimately cut the rubber of a regular brush. This significantly reduces the risk of clogging and means the robot completes its task without intervention.
This review covers all the essential aspects, including design, features, performance, issues, opportunities, price, and availability, providing a comprehensive look at how the X40 Ultra stacks up against its previous generation and competitors.
Design
Before we talk about the design of the robot, we need to talk about that dust station. This is easily the best looking robot vacuum dust bin I’ve seen, with its black chassis contrasted by a gold trim and Dreame logo, it’ll look great in your home (or business).
It is only offered in once colour, so if you’re after a white option, you should look further down the Dreame product list, like the L20 Ultra. The top lid provides access to your clean and dirty water tanks, while the front section hides the dust bin the robot uses to automatically empty into.
In the transparent render, we see the internal workings of the cleaning station (bin) and this reveals some tricks that hide within. Not only does the robot return automatically to the dock and empty its dust and water, it can even drop its mop pads to have them be cleaned and then heated to dry avoiding smells.
Having a large capacity station means you’ll be able to run the vacuum multiple times before you need to attend to it and in my experience you can easily run it a few times during the week, particularly if you target zones with your cleaning schedules.
Now for the robot itself.
It’s round, like many robot vacuums are, but this is the first I’ve used with an LED light. This light illuminates the path ahead, allowing the vision system to detect problem areas ahead that need more attention. This also helps the robot run at night time, if you’d like to run it while your sleeping, great for those who work at home during the day.
The robot’s design matches the dock, but also looks slick rolling around your home and while black may not be everyone’s jam, I do enjoy that this feels like a piece of electronics, like my computer monitors, speakers, TVs, all of which are black and contrast against our white walls and light floor surfaces nicely.
Features
The features of the robot really become available to you once you’ve setup the robot and cleaning station, charged it and setup the mobile app. Having used Dreame robots before, I already had an account setup and simply tapped the add device button, scanned the QR code on the robot, connected to our WiFi and it was ready.
The first thing you’ll do is cleanup your house. Yes this feels counter intuitive as you’ve just purchased this robot to clean your house, but it needs some help from you the first time. With the floors clean and the internal doors open, you set the robot off to navigate around your home. The robot will use it’s mapping technology to scan your environment, understand floor surfaces and objects and suggest zones.
I found the mapping was really accurate in terms of layout and dimensions, but do wish it used a little bit of AI magic to understand that the missing L shape in my floor plan is due to an L-shaped couch being in the way, not that I have a square room with a large L missing.
Once I spent a little time customising the zones, I was ready for the first clean. There’s plenty of modes to chose from and you have a crazy level of control over the cleaning task. While this may sound complex, it really isn’t, you can simply just hit go and it’ll get to work, but for those who want to micro-manage, it’s great that you can.
The X40 Ultra is packed with an array of impressive features:
12,000Pa Vormax Suction
Each vacuum comes with different power in its motors that will impact it’s ability to clean your floors, carpets and rugs. The Dreame X40 Ultra offers a crazy 12,000Pa, with the air pressure measured in pascals (Pa), refering to the force created by the vacuum to draw in air.
This powerful suction capability outperforms the previous X30 Ultra and many competitors, making it adept at picking up hair, dirt, and debris.
MopExtend RoboSwing Technology
This technology allows the mop to extend and swing into hard-to-reach places, ensuring thorough cleaning under low furniture and along baseboards.
Auto Maintenance System
The X40 Ultra features an all-in-one auto maintenance system, including auto mop cleaning with 70°C hot water, auto-emptying, auto solution refilling, and auto mop drying with hot air.
Advanced Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance
Utilizing AI and 3D structured light, the X40 Ultra can avoid up to 120 types of objects, making it one of the most intelligent vacuums on the market.
Multi-Level Mapping
Those living in multi-story homes may have considered buying multiple robots to service their home, but with multi-level mapping support you could buy one robot to do the same task. Sure you’d need to transport the robot between levels, but this could save you thousands, as the robot maps, then plan paths efficiently, ensuring optimal cleaning routes.
Performance
Performance is where the X40 Ultra truly shines. If you only have hard surfaces, then any robot vacuum will probably do the job, but those of us who have carpet, or thick rugs will know that extracting dirt that has dropped below the surface (i.e. between the fibers of a rug),
I found the X40 Ultra did an amazing job of cleaning our floors. Over the years I’ve used at least half a dozen robot vacuums and this is easily the best (probably should be for the premium price tag), but a large part of that is due to the 12,000Pa suction power.
Dreame also included something called OmniDirt Detection Technology allows the robot to identify and scrub off tricky and sticky stains, ensuring a spotless floor. Basic robots would simply take a single pass over the top and if the residue remains, it’d happily carry on, leaving you with a job to address when you get home. The whole goal of a robot like this is to remove the workload from you, so technology like this is really important to achieving that.
Issues and Opportunities
While the X40 Ultra offers a plethora of features, it is not without its challenges. I had really hoped that I never arrived home and had to search for the X40 Ultra, but it happened twice.
The first instance was under our lowline entertainment unit where it got stuck on some untidy cables, something I accept some responsibility for. The second time it got stuck was when it attempted to clean under my racing simulator. While this may not be a common piece of furniture, the object detection from its lidar scanning should have allowed the robot to understand it was taller than the available space and simple turned around.
These do detract from the ‘Dreame’ of setting and forgetting you robot cleaner as you have to find, then dock your robot, let it charge, before the cleaning task completes.
In other areas of robotics, we are increasingly seeing computer vision be used to determine the distance to objects in the environment around the robot and it’d be inviting to see a future version move to leverage that AI technology.
Price and Availability
The Dreame X40 Ultra is positioned as a premium product in the robot vacuum market. Its advanced features and superior performance justify the higher price point compared to earlier models and some competitors.
The robot is available in Australia from today at a RRP of A$2,799. This is obviously a significant premium over the entry-level robots and for many will leave them contemplating just how much they hate cleaning.
Right now, Dreame are offering a bonus X40 Ultra Accessories pack valued at A$199.95 as part of the purchase price, which includes a spare roller, brushes, mop pads filters and dust bag.
If you want the awesome TriCut Brush for the X40 Ultra (you do), it’s another A$199.95 taking the total price to what is effectively, A$3,000.
The vacuum is available through Dreame’s website and other online retailers and select physical stores, if you anted to see it in person.
Overall
The Dreame X40 Ultra is a remarkable robot vacuum that pushes the boundaries of home cleaning technology. Its combination of powerful suction, intelligent navigation, and comprehensive auto-maintenance features makes it a standout choice for those looking for the best in a robot cleaning solution.
While it comes with a higher price tag, what you’re buying is a comprehensive list of features, and complete control over the way it cleans your house. For some, those benefits will help justify the price, while others with constrained budgets may need to settle for something a little less in capabilities.
By comparing the X40 Ultra with its predecessors and competitors, it’s clear that Dreame has made significant strides in innovation and performance.