The Dreame X40 Ultra Complete has it all: it’s ultra-complete, with just one bundle so far, the “Complete” version. The “Complete” version comes with a range of additional accessories, so you won’t have to buy replacement brushes, pads and filters any time soon. So, does this new vacuum cleaner, which simply promises the best, live up to our expectations?
Dreame X40 Ultra design
Supplied with its charging and cleaning/draining station, the Dreame X40 Ultra Complete is, to say the least, complete. Let’s start with the additional accessories supplied with the device. In terms of accessories, it’s clearly better supplied than competitors such as the Roborock Q Revo MaxV, although this model comes at a high price.
A small cleaning brush is included, to keep the unit clean at all times, as well as to clean the unit’s wash zone in the station. In fact, washing the vacuum cleaner in a clean area is essential for good cleaning. That’s all there is to the basic package, but this X40 Ultra Complete version comes with quite a few extra accessories.
There’s an extra central brush, plus two side brushes – always useful when the original one wears out. With this, a cleaning solution to be mixed with clean water in the dedicated tank in the station. That’s not all, as Dreame also supplies three additional dust filters. You can wash the installed one, but at some point it will be too worn to be used again, and will need to be replaced.
Finally, that’s a total of 12 extra floor scrubbing pads that Dreame supplies in the X40 Ultra Complete bundle. This is a very good idea, as it avoids the need to buy additional pads later on. Note that the pads wash automatically in the station when the vacuum cleaner returns, but after a while they get damaged too. Putting them in the washing machine is a good idea, but as with an old polo worn dozens of times, it’s best to replace them at some point.
The robot vacuum cleaner
Turning now to the vacuum cleaner, this X40 Ultra is promising, without revolutionizing aesthetics. Where Ecovacs’ X2 Omni innovated with a square vacuum cleaner, the Dreame X40 Ultra is round, like the Dreame L20 Ultra or an Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni.
At the top, you’ll find the three buttons for targeting an area, starting the vacuum or returning it to its base. The top section also houses the LiDAR scanner, which scans the workpiece in 3D. This gives it a clear view of angles, obstacles and other limitations that would prevent it from passing. This little turret is a standard feature on almost all robot vacuum cleaners.
The hood can also be opened to scan the QR-Code used to connect the appliance to the app, or to manually empty the waste bin. Between you and me, this is mainly for cleaning or changing the filter, because with an automatic emptying vacuum cleaner, there’s no need to empty the X40 Ultra’s waste bin very often.
On the front, this vacuum cleaner features a camera for object recognition via artificial intelligence. This prevents it from sucking up your cat’s toy or a cable lying on the floor, and getting tangled up in it. Also on the front is the traditional anti-shock bumper, which warns the vacuum cleaner when it collides with an obstacle.
Other sensors can be found on the front and right of the unit, but it’s at the rear that the vacuum charges and fills up with water in its station.
On the underside of the unit, you’ll find the pre-installed side brush, which, as a reminder, tilts on the X40 Ultra. It allows you to pick up waste just about anywhere, even in corners that are usually difficult for robot vacuums to access.
In the middle is the central brush, here made entirely of rubber – no brushes to clean the floor like a broom, but then again, with 12,000 Pa suction power, there’s no need. A number of sensors are located on the front, including material and anti-fall sensors. The former are used to raise the scrubbing pads when the vacuum cleaner lands on a carpet, for example. The small stabilizing wheel is also present here.
The wheels are very classic, but what stands out here is the skids. These are not installed when the vacuum cleaner is unpacked, but are supplied separately. The Dreame X40 Ultra Complete can be used to clean the edges of skirting boards, with rotating pads that can be tilted – well, the one on the right! But as robot vacuums always clean from the right, this is just the thing to make sure you don’t forget (almost) anything.
Charging, emptying and washing station
The Dreame X40 Ultra’s charging station is very similar to that of the Dreame L10s Ultra Heat, which is quite surprising, since I was expecting to find something similar to the L20 Ultra, but not dramatic. It has a few qualities, but one flaw in my opinion, which could have been corrected.
Unlike Ecovacs’ models, including the X2 Omni, it’s not a drawer or hatch that opens, but the same system as on the T30 Pro Omni from the same manufacturer. As a result, you end up with the hatch in your hands, which isn’t very practical.
The charging station, however, is stylish and elegant, in the brand’s colors of white and gold. On the upper part, there’s a hatch giving access to the clean and dirty water tanks.
The lower part, on the other hand, contains all the systems for emptying the vacuum cleaner of waste, cleaning the skids, refilling it with water, and drying the freshly cleaned skids – essential if they are to avoid unpleasant odours.
On the front of the station, as always, you’ll find the small access ramp, which ensures that the vacuum cleaner doesn’t leave any waste on the floor. The power connector is located on the back of the unit, with cable routing to keep it out of the way.
Dreame X40 Ultra specifications
| Model | Dreame X40 Ultra Complete |
| Vacuum cleaner type | Robot |
| Suction power | 12,000 Pa |
| Empty weight | 5 kg |
| Dust bag capacity | 300 mL |
| Voice commands | Yes |
| Battery capacity | 6400 mAh |
| Water tank volume | 80 mL |
| Minimum noise | 66 dB |
| Filter type | HEPA |
| Sensors | Laser rangefinder Fall sensor 3D scanner Camera |
| Vacuum dimensions | 350 x 350 x 103.8 mm |
| Station dimensions | 456.7 x 340 x 590.5 mm |
| Mop | Yes: 2 rotating pads |
| Application | Yes |
| Clean water tank capacity | 4,5 L |
| Dirty water tank capacity | 4 L |
| Dust bag capacity | 3,2 L |
| Available colors | White, Black |
Vacuum performance
The Dreame X40 Ultra boasts an enormous suction power of 12,000 pascal. As a reminder, robot vacuum cleaners used to have a suction power of 5000 to 6000 Pa, which was already very good. Then Ecovacs and Roborock upped the ante, with Dreame offering 7,000 Pa, Ecovacs offering a model with 11,000 Pa, and Dreame offering an X40 Ultra with 12,000 Pa, which is enormous.
For your information, upright vacuum cleaners like the Roborock Dyad Pro offer 17,000 Pa, but with an upright vacuum cleaner whose suction system isn’t 4 cm above the floor!
The Dreame X40 Ultra’s suction performance is therefore excellent, and it also offers an innovation I’ve never seen before in this field: a tilting side brush. This brush can be moved forward by means of an articulated arm, allowing it to pick up waste even in hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.
As for the central brush, it’s decent too. However, compared with the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, which features a double brush, Dreame’s model has a little trouble with pet hair on carpets in particular. As for the rest, what can I say, it’s very good. Navigation performance is also very good, the vacuum cleaner paying attention to what it finds in its path and avoiding obstacles to near perfection.
The central brush can be moved up or down by 1 cm. This separates dry cleaning from wet cleaning, as it is possible to separate the two tasks for greater efficiency.
Washing performance
Like the central brush, the Dreame X40 Ultra’s two cleaning pads can be raised to avoid scrubbing the floor, especially when the vacuum cleaner is running over rugs or carpets. But it’s all automatic, so fortunately you don’t have to do a thing.
The rotating pad on the right can be shifted to clean the edges of baseboards and nooks and crannies that would normally be difficult to reach with a conventional robot vacuum cleaner. This is the technology that Dreame calls MopExtend RoboSwing.
While cleaning is convincing, it’s still on a par with the very good Roborock S8 Pro Ultra and its vibrating mop. What I particularly like is its automatic detection of stains and dirt, enabling it to direct itself to areas that need deep cleaning. However, it’s not a mop vacuum cleaner, so don’t make it suck up a pint of milk you’ve spilled on the floor. That’s a job for a Dreame H12 Pro or similar.
When the X40 Ultra returns to its station, the runners are washed in hot water at 70°C, no less, to eliminate all bacteria, but above all, to provide optimum cleaning of the runners. The skates are then dried with hot air, to prevent the formation of mold and mildew.
Configuration and DreameHome application
Configuring your vacuum cleaner in the DreameHome application is always very simple. Simply download the application and create an account to house all your compatible Dreame appliances. Once this is done, scan the QR code to connect the vacuum cleaner, and connect to a Wi-Fi network.
IMPORTANT
Connect to your box, which automatically generates a 2.4 GHz network, or to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi router. This type of device is not compatible with the 5 GHz band of some Wi-Fi routers.
We then arrive on the application’s home page, which is as clean and uncluttered as ever.
This is a good thing, of course, but it doesn’t allow you to do very much; for that, you have to press the “view device” menu.
This is where you’ll find all the vacuum cleaner’s settings, as well as information on the various cleaning and washing parameters. In the CleanGenius menu, you can configure either automatic or manual floor cleaning, either with suction and mopping at the same time, or with suction and mopping afterwards. Deep cleaning can be activated, with a higher level of suction and a more water-intensive wash level.
It is also possible to activate personalized cleaning, with settings for vacuuming and mopping simultaneously or not, simple vacuuming or simple mopping, and to adjust the vacuum power and water level. The latter can be set on 32 levels, from least to most humid.
The mop returns to the station to be washed at an interval of 20 m² by default, which seems correct to me; I haven’t touched this setting. Finally, the vacuum cleaner can choose a fast or standard itinerary, in other words, it can focus only on the dirt it sees via its camera, or do a classic complete cleaning.
As with all good robot vacuums, the Dreame X40 Ultra is programmable – in my case, every day of the week at 3pm. Cleaning parameters are also programmable.
The Dreame X40 Ultra automatically recognizes carpets and rugs. It can remove the mops and leave them at the station, or simply lift them up, which is the option I chose; but you also have the option of washing them, which seems a bit silly to me, or avoiding them, but you’ll have to do it by hand.
If you choose to clean them, then reinforced cleaning is activated by default, and intensive cleaning is also available. It’s also possible to clean the carpets first, then the rest.
Collision avoidance is activated by default and renders the front bumper a little useless, but that’s not a bad thing. You can also choose to clean in the direction of the floor, practical for those with parquet, less useful when you have tiled floors.
As for the docking station, it can clean with water at room temperature, lukewarm, hot or very hot, but we know that “very hot” = 70°C, without further information on the rest of the parameters. Automatic washing is performed each time the operator re-enters the station at the end of a cleaning job. Drying takes 3 hours, but this time can be set.
The Dreame X40 Ultra is equipped with a camera enabling it to avoid obstacles, watch out for pets too, and potentially take photos of obstacles. With this, an LED illuminates dimly lit environments, to optimize obstacle detection via the camera.
The vacuum cleaner speaks, notably when it has finished cleaning or when it is starting, but it can also be made to speak in French. Initially, it speaks only in English, but language packs are available in the application. The vacuum cleaner’s volume is adjustable, and can be set to zero to silence it.
Last but not least, Dreame’s app includes a suggestion function. So much openness to users is frankly not a bad thing; you can select a motif and suggest ideas for improvement, with photos or videos if you have something to provide, with a view to a future update of the app.
Maintenance and cleaning
When it comes to maintaining and cleaning the Dreame X40 Ultra, you don’t have to do much. Once a week, you need to fill the clean water tank and empty the dirty water tank, and check the condition of the consumables (filter, wash pads, central brush, side brush) from time to time.
The vacuum cleaner is also supplied with a brush for cleaning, as well as for trimming pet hair and long hairs, which is particularly useful if some get tangled around the central brush.
Cleaning the pads is simple and automatic. To clean the wash zone in the station, there’s an option to fill the station with water, brush with the brush provided, and let the station vacuum everything up when finished. This operation should be carried out about once a month to keep the station clean.
Maintenance via the app
The app also indicates when to change the various parts of the unit, but this is purely indicative.
In fact, a wear percentage indicates the level of use of each part of the vacuum cleaner, but it’s best to look at the Dreame X40 Ultra to get a clear idea of when to change them. There’s no point in changing a central brush whose head is always in very good condition, whereas a side brush may be damaged a little more quickly. Judgement is more by eye than by application.
Autonomy of the Dreame X40 Ultra
With its 6400 mAh battery, the Dreame X40 Ultra is a top performer, offering up to 3 hours of autonomy in automatic mode, which means it can easily clean large surfaces. If the vacuum cleaner doesn’t have enough autonomy to finish everything, it returns to its station to charge up and complete the cleaning task.
In maximum mode, on the other hand, it won’t last 3 hours, about 1h to 1h20. That’s very decent, as the vacuum recharges in less than 4 hours on the station.
Dreame X40 Ultra : Our opinion
The Dreame X40 Ultra is a super-complete, high-performance vacuum cleaner. It offers the best possible suction power on the market, at the time of its launch in France anyway. It’s the most powerful vacuum cleaner I’ve had in my hands so far, without a doubt.