Reasonably priced robotic vacuums are beginning to turn out to be a factor. It is a rising market, with manufacturers like Eufy and iLife introducing new merchandise that compete with the massive established manufacturers of Roomba and Neato, for lower than half the value.
One of many newest from iLife is the V8S, which differentiates itself from different reasonably priced cleaners (just like the iLife A7) by mopping onerous flooring in addition to vacuuming. It seems like a helpful added function on paper, however does the iLife V8S’s mop clear up the competitors? Learn on to seek out out.
iLife V8S worth and launch date
The iLife V8S is obtainable from varied retailers within the US and UK, for an inexpensive worth of round $260 or £250. You’ll be able to simply spend double that on some robotic vacuums from the massive manufacturers, which makes the V8S a tempting proposition if saving cash is your primary concern.
Design
Like most robotic vacuum cleaners, the iLife V8S has a spherical design that’s supposed to slide underneath furnishings. It additionally incorporates a bumper to stop harm the vacuum or, maybe extra importantly, the issues in your house if it slams into them.
The V8S comes with each a charging station and a distant management. It sits somewhat greater off the ground than the Eufy RoboVac 11, which meant we struggled to discover a place for it to comfortably name dwelling, however if in case you have some raised furnishings, it is best to discover a spot to maintain it out of sight when it’s charging.
A small display on prime of the cleaner shows restricted info just like the time and cleansing mode, and is obvious and simple to learn.
Beneath which are three buttons for various modes on the vacuum. These are Dwelling (to ship the cleaner again to cost) Timed Clear and a Round Movement mode. There’s additionally a much bigger button to start out modes or pause them altogether.
Beneath that, you will discover a button for accessing the mode that provides you with essentially the most environment friendly protection. That is meant to grasp your area, and work out the most effective path to take.
After we set this mode up, the iLife V8S typically obtained confused about the place it was going. It definitely is not as correct because the room-tracking tech we have seen on extra high-end vacuum cleaners, but it surely’s nonetheless clearly superior to some cheaper cleaners when it comes to effectivity.
On the rear of the cleaner you’ll discover a button to launch the bin. That is simple to take away – an enormous bonus on a vacuum cleaner like this – and enormous, so the iLife V8S will run for a very long time earlier than it’s a must to empty it.
The iLife V8S’s wheels look sturdy and we discovered it lined quite a lot of completely different areas with ease. It struggled on a rug in our testing house although, and we regularly returned dwelling to seek out it dangling on the sting the place it had tried to mount the carpeted space. That was irritating contemplating dealing with completely different surfaces is supposed to be one of many iLife’s primary promoting factors.
Upkeep
We discovered the cleansing spinners fairly simple to alter, however they got here off a couple of times round our house. iLife says the cleaner’s “anti-tangle nozzle” ought to stop that taking place, however they fell off way more typically than on different cleaners we have used. Trying to find them was significantly irritating after they have been hidden underneath the couch. You get two additional within the field, however should you discover they detach repeatedly, you will have to purchase some extra on-line fairly rapidly.
The mopping mode entails snapping in a special bin that you simply fill with water manually. Once more, we discovered it simple, but it surely’s a bit irritating when the entire level of a robotic vacuum is automation. In reality, it could have taken nearly as lengthy to mop our house ourselves because it did to refill the bin and join it to the cleaner.
Cleansing efficiency
The iLife V8S’s vacuuming mode isn’t horrible, but it surely’s not spectacular both. We discovered that the far cheaper Eufy RoboVac 11 picked up the same quantity of dust, and though it’s a must to empty the RoboVac’s bin extra typically, it’s higher to know your flat is as clear as attainable after each go.
The V8S has no room mapping, which meant it typically took an odd route round our house that might be irritating to observe, and it repeatedly missed areas. The vacuum’s cleansing efficiency is affordable, and could also be sufficient to deal with the worst of the dust in your house, however we don’t assume it’ll clear up each space like you could expect from an automatic helper.
We’ve already talked about the trouble of establishing the mopping mode, and though it does an inexpensive job of cleansing onerous flooring, it will not do a lot for areas that want additional scrubbing. Basically it’s a mop head on the underside that lightly distributes the water because the cleaner drives. It applies no friction, and we discovered that the iLife did not take away scuffs and stains that required any elbow grease, which is irritating contemplating that is the product’s USP.
Basically, the story is identical for each cleansing modes: the iLife V8S will do a suitable job should you’re not in search of a dramatic clear round your own home. If you need one thing that can clear your flooring as completely as a human, you will should look elsewhere.
Battery life isn’t at all times that essential on vacuum cleaners as a result of they typically return dwelling to cost after a fast clear, however we discovered the iLife V8S would run for lengthy sufficient to wash up a one-bedroom house, with some energy left over.
We predict the battery ought to have the ability to deal with the downstairs of your common measurement home. Maybe don’t anticipate it to wash your total mansion although; it could simply have the ability to deal with the East Wing.
You can even set the vacuum to work by itself fairly than ready so that you can press buttons, and create a schedule from the principle display to inform it when to start out every day. There is not any app integration although, so you will not have the ability to set it going out of your desk at work while you’re not dwelling.
We preferred
For a tool that is able to each vacuuming and mopping, the iLife V8S in all fairness priced and attractively designed.
It slots properly underneath furnishings, making it simple to cover from view, and the big bin additionally means you gained’t should disconnect it after a few cleans (an enormous profit if you’d like the cleansing course of to be automated).
The iLife V8S’s battery life can also be spectacular, and we consider it ought to have the ability to hold going and going if in case you have a bigger abode than ours.
We disliked
The mopping mode’s cleansing efficiency wasn’t pretty much as good as we might hoped. It would not ship a lot elbow grease, and whereas it’s going to give your ground a fast spruce, it isn’t going to work on robust scuffs and stains.
Transferring between the rug in our flat and the wooden flooring was robust for the iLife V8S, so you could need to look elsewhere if in case you have a number of various kinds of flooring to wash.
Last verdict
The iLife V8S is a less expensive robotic vacuum cleaner, and provides you with the fundamentals it is advisable make cleansing your flooring at dwelling automated.
We discovered the mopping mode disappointing, however should you simply need to spruce up your house flooring from time to time, you could discover it a helpful add-on function that accompanies the each day cleansing routine.
All in all, it is robust to go improper at this worth, however if you’d like a vacuum at a fair lower cost you could need to go for the iLife A7 or quite a lot of different reasonably priced choices.