CES 2025 is filled with weird, new robot vacuum innovations. Dreame, a Chinese tech company, has unveiled its new X50 Ultra, a “stair-climbing” robot vacuum. But before you start dreaming (pun intended) of a bot that can clean your steps, here’s the reality: the X50 Ultra doesn’t actually climb stairs.
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Well, not exactly.
The X50 Ultra can “climb” only if your stairs are about two inches tall, which might make it more accurate to call it a threshold-hopper. Dreame’s North American PR team is marketing it as the “robot vacuum that can literally climb stairs” (their emphasis, not ours). That claim feels a bit overblown, considering the X50 Ultra’s actual capability is more about navigating small obstacles like cords or the lip of a doorway — tasks powered by Dreame’s ProLeap System technology.
Even so, two inches is more than double the threshold clearance height of most robot vacuums on the market. It may not be enough for a full step, but it’s nothing to sneeze at.
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Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test the X50 Ultra’s ability to handle thresholds due to Wi-Fi issues. Still, despite its exaggerated marketing claims, the X50 Ultra looks like a solid contender based on its specs. It boasts up to 20,000Pa of suction power, a HyperStream Detangling DuoBrush for tangle-free cleaning, and a 360-degree scanning sensor for smooth, efficient navigation.
You’ll still need to manually carry your robot companion up stairs considering that its navigational abilities are limited to thresholds just over two inches high. But if you’re after a premium robot vacuum that’s great at handling obstacles on flat floors without getting stuck, the X50 Ultra might be worth considering.
The Dreame X50 Ultra will be available for pre-order on Jan. 7 for $1,699 and launches on Valentine’s Day 2024.
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