First-Half Review: 2025's Top 10 Developments, So Far
If a week is a long time in politics, then six months in the airline industry can feel like a lifetime. It's been a tumultuous start to 2025, even by the standards of this least predictable of sectors, and don't expect things to slow down much as we enter Q3. In this week's feature story, we briefly hit pause to reflect on the first-half of the year. Don't miss the Airline Weekly team's top 10 developments of 2025, so far.
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Amazon Prime Day sale: The Dreame X50 robot vacuum is marked down to $1,300 as part of Amazon's July Prime Day sale event. That's a discount of 24% and the lowest price we've seen in more than a year. CNET's key takeaways No robot vacuum has truly solved the challenge of multi-level cleaning without requiring you to physically move it between floors. This robo-vac can do it, for the high-end price of $1,699 (on sale right now for $1,300). You won't find another robot vacuum with its features for less than $1,000 right now. The whole point of owning a robot vacuum is so you don't have to do the cleaning yourself. But that was never the case at my house -- partly because of what I call my "Ikea chair challenge." I've seen many robo-vacs get stuck at the bottom of one of my chairs, which has an unusually-shaped base. It's just one obstacle among many in my home, which is also filled with pet hair, paw prints and three teenage sons who leave things lying around everywhere. 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The mopping function was surprisingly effective, tackling muddy paw prints on my vinyl plank flooring as well as I could myself with a stick mop. And I was particularly impressed with its object avoidance; it navigated around shoes, cords and even my two dogs without issue. Setting it up was a breeze: The app was intuitive and the quality of the machine's build felt robust, although with so many moving parts -- like its auxiliary climbing arms and lowering turret -- I question its long-term durability. The Dreame X50 also did a great job at identifying cords and it knew to avoid them. Jared Hannah One key feature that really stood out was the tangle-free roller. In my home test, comparing the Dreame X50 to my older Roborock Q5 after cleaning a large area rug, the difference was striking. The Roborock was clogged with hair, while the Dreame's roller was completely clean. This is a massive advantage over competitors, which often struggle with pet hair. 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Connectivity: Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Mapping: Quick mapping, room and flooring detection. Quick mapping, room and flooring detection. Navigation: Camera and lidar. Camera and lidar. App: Live view, customizable settings, pet photos. Live view, customizable settings, pet photos. Cleaning: Vacuum and mop combo. Vacuum and mop combo. Base Station: Mop cleaning and drying, tanks, cleaning solution spot. Mop cleaning and drying, tanks, cleaning solution spot. Cleaning Time: Slower than some. Best Prime Day Robot Vacuum Deals Check out our collection of top Prime Day robot vacuum deals so you can save time and money in addition to keeping your floors clean. See Now CNET's buying advice The Dreame X50 will take photos of your pets if you enable that setting. You can click on the pet icon on the cleaning map to see the photos after a cleaning cycle. Jared Hannah The Dreame X50 Ultra is feature-rich, ideal for pets, obstacles and object avoidance. It's best if you want advanced navigation and mopping, and are willing to pay extra for features like the climbing arms and lowering turret. However, it's not the absolute best at pure vacuuming, especially on carpets, and the software can be a bit quirky. At its full price of around $1,699, the Dreame X50 Ultra is a very expensive robot vacuum. If you highly value its unique features like the climbing ability and advanced furniture navigation, then it could be worth the investment. However, if you're primarily concerned with raw vacuuming power or are on a tighter budget, there are more cost-effective options. It's a luxury product, and the value aligns with its premium features. For better carpet vacuuming performance and a lower price point, the Ecovacs Deebot T30Sor the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus both performed better on carpet and pet hair tests during CNET's lab testing. While all three have vacuum and mopping functionality, the Ecovacs Deebot T30S ($1,400 with a stick vac included) or the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 ($600) are both cheaper than the Dreame X50 Ultra ($1,699). It's worth pointing out though, that the Dreame X50 Ultra is one of the few robot vacuums we've tested at CNET with the ability to climb over objects, surmount spaces and lower itself under furniture. This is the live view mode in the app so that you can see what the robot sees in real time from its front facing camera. It's a neat way to check on your house when you're not home. Jared Hannah To see how the Dreame X50 compares to other models, check out our list of the best robot vacuums available now. For more tech discounts, peruse our roundup of the best deals we've spotted during Amazon Prime Day.
