Amazon.com: Customer reviews: ILIFE V5s Pro Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo, Slim, Automatic Self-Charging Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Daily Schedule, Ideal for Pet Hair, Hard Floor and Low Pile Carpet.

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023

I've had this robot for just shy of 2.5 years, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. It's been using the same exact parts since the day I bought it, with little indication of replacement: same sweeper blades, same dust catch, same filter, same everything. I still have the spares it came with! Sure, it might be a dumb robot that sometimes cleans one area more than others just by chance, but I'm fine with it, especially for the price. The battery is still just as strong too!

Of course, after all this time, I have a few qualms with it. The mop feature is awful and barely works. If the bot was heavier, it might apply more pressure for a more consistent mopping, but then again, I've only needed to use this feature 2 or 3 times. The robot doesn't do well on carpet either, but I almost exclusively use it on hardwood, which is where it really shines. When used on carpet, I generally have to let it run twice as long for good results.
It also doesn't do well with heavier debris, like chunks of cat litter and pebbles. Thankfully, the robot generally sweeps these debris into small piles, which makes it easy to hand sweep later on. A bit annoying that long hair is twisted into the sweeper blades, so I have to routinely flip the bot over to remove the blades and then the hair. A quick release function would be nice instead of screws, but oh well.

Although not perfect for everyone & certainly isn't the best in its class, for the price, you cannot beat it. Fits my needs perfectly and I don't regret a cent spent on it, nor do I plan on upgrading it any time soon!

14 people found this helpful

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Nancy B.

We named him "Brownie" because he does a heck of a job.

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

EDIT:
It's been a year since my review, and just wanted to update that my original review still stands. He's still going strong in a humid, salt air climate where electronics don't fair well and mechanical parts rust quickly. So I'll add "durability" to my "Pro" list.
END EDIT

I've been using this guy for 3 months now and am very happy with him.

I live on the dry side of a tropical island. So the windows are open 24/7 to catch the trade winds, and those trade winds bring a lot of dust, I also have a shedding black dog and white tile throughout the house. So vacuuming takes a lot of time. I had one of the first robotic vacuums years ago, and wasn't pleased, They've come a long way in technological advances, so I decided to try again.
Here are the pros:
1) Brownie runs well over 2 hours. I have a weird floor plan, so it takes him a while to hit all spots. But, so far, he's never run out of juice before he's finished.
2) He damp mops! To be honest, you can get better results with a hand-held wet mop, because you can apply more pressure. But with all the fine dust we get, the little micro fiber damp mop is great for in between real scrubs.
3) He rarely gets stuck. I have a few pieces of furniture where he gets caught in between the legs. But not every time. He has very good traction and can usually get out of tight spaces.
4) He does well with throw rugs, as long as there's no fringe. Every once in a while, if a rug is curled up at the corner, he gets caught. But he usually just crawls over it. I did accidently leave a fringed rug down one day and his side sweeper and the rug fringe did devour each other.
5). The low profile gets under nearly all of my legged furniture.
6). He has a max vacuum setting. I don't use it much, because I'm sure the charge wouldn't last as long and it is louder. But it's pretty powerful for such a small machine. He also has edge and spot clean settings that come in handy,
7) He has the good sense to stop and ask for help if he gets into trouble. He beeps a few times, then gives up to save his charge.
The cons:
1) The dust bin is small. If you have a lot of dust and dog hair, you will have to empty it during the vacuuming process, sometimes more than once.
2). He doesn't memorize my floor plan, like some other higher priced vacuums. (But he does manage to cover the entire floor, eventually, so that's OK with me.)
3) He pushes much smaller items a little too hard when he can't detect the obstacle. I learned the hard way to to pick up the dog's water bowl before setting him loose.
4) He can't quite reach the corners because his side sweepers aren't quite long enough. But I didn't expect him to.
5) Not really a con, but a warning. Cords are his nemesis. Make sure they are all out of the way. .

In summary, Brownie doesn't take the place of a regular vacuum or mop. But he's great for keeping my floors respectable, until I'm ready to scrub them. Although there's a timer, so he can operate when you aren't there, I do recommend that you be on hand when he's running, to get him past the rough spots. He's not top of the line, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles other models have, but he does well with the basics, and was a great buy for the price.

21 people found this helpful

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A. R. West

Don't waste your money on more expensive vacuums

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

i spent a long long time deciding if and which robot vacuum i'd buy. i've had ILife v5s Pro over a month.
Pros:
1. the price. you can't beat it. it's much cheaper than the more known brands like roomba. side note, i did find it up to $40 less on other sites, and frankly think $159 is a more accurate price for this product, but when buying a product made in china, the amazon superior customer service tilted me toward paying the extra.
2. noise level. it's quieter than my dirt devil, so i can hear the tv and do other things without feeling disturbed.
3. height. I LOVE THE HEIGHT. it easily goes under my dressers, armoire. So if this is a function you want measure and compare before you buy. I tried another vacuum that was just a tad under 3 inches and it didn’t go under as easily.
4. the brushes. i love there are two because it really does allow the vacuum to get dirt by the floorboards. Further, the brushes are plastic but not so hard they scratch my hardwoods.
5. sensors. this is a pro and a con. the pro is they're not so sensitive the brushes can't get dirt by the floorboards. However, because they are not sensitive, if the vacuum encounters a light weight object, it will push against it and if it can, roll over it and keep going.
6. the mop. i actually love this function. the tank is small but holds more than enough liquid to mop my 750 sq ft apartment. Based on other reviews, before I mop I run the vacuum. Recharge, then mop. When I mop, I dampen the mop pad slightly, and the liquid I use is either a water diluted hardwood floor cleaner or water diluted tile cleaner. Both cleaners are thinnish so the water holes don’t clog. It really does clean my floor.
7. dustbin. I can do 2 plus cleanings before I need to empty. However, before each cleaning I check the suction chamber to make sure nothing is stuck.
8. running time. Mine runs about 75 minutes on a full charge. If I use the max function it runs maybe half the time.
9. suction. The suction is more than sufficient for my hardwoods and tile, however it does not work as well on my thin rugs. It does work well enough, and if some lint is not picked up I just run my hand-held vacuum or dirt devil. Further, if it encounters something too big to suck up into the dustbin but small enough to suck up, the suction will hold on to the item and keep going. Usually I can hear when this happens so I just remove the item.
10. remote. Love this remote. Easy to use and read, and the robot obeys commands. I especially like that when I tell it to go in a specific direction I don’t have to keep my finger on the arrow button so it continues in that direction.
11. spot/edge functions. They really work. With the spot function, the vacuum goes in a small circle then gradually widens the circle. The edge function works well for floorboards and closed closets.
12. rugs. My rugs are thin, so the vacuum has no problem moving from hardwood/tile to the rug and back again. I did notice if it hits the rug on a corner it may push the corner up. Then it will either back up and change directions, or keep going and clean that corner later. Lol
13. cords. Only once did my vacuum get stuck. I forgot to push the cords against the wall. To get more corners/floorboards cleaned, I bought cord clips so the cords are now off the floor.
14. customer service. Avalon Direct. I was missing the mop holder. The seller was on holiday and not returning until after my 30-day return period. When I contacted the “on holiday” seller, they could not have been more helpful, and really went out of their way to make me satisfied. In fact, they were so helpful, even though I knew I would not get the part until after the return period, I felt I could trust them to make things right. They did. Again, this is why I paid $40 extra to purchase from amazon. Great seller backed by amazon.
Cons:
1. sensors. there is no virtual wall. it will fall off a stair.
2. random cleaning. i put dirt (potting soil, popcorn kernels, lint, ... ) on different spots, including under a dresser. the larger the space, the less chance the vacuum will pick up something. my kitchen and bathroom are small so they were cleaned 99%. the bedroom and living room are larger spaces so the cleaning was about 95%.
3. removing and replacing dustbin/water basin. You pop the lid open (I usually have to push the pop button several times because you have to hit it just right), then pull the dustbin or basin out. Don’t pull too hard you can break the handle, but you have to pull hard enough to get it to come out. I would prefer if it just slid in and out like some other robot vacuums.
4. no brush. I really wish it had a brush with the suction.
Additional notes:
- the mop function was important to me. if it's not as important to you, there are other vacuums like the A4 by iLife that probably are fantastic and inexpensive.
- I have hardwoods and tile. i found it vacuums and mops both equally well. if there's a spot that needs extra cleaning, use the spot cleaning function.
- I also bought a Coredy robotic vacuum. It was taller so had more difficulty getting under furniture. Worse it was loud. I returned it.
- finally, my test for how much I like a product is whether I would buy it again. I say yes, but with a caveat. iLife is coming out with new models this year. If there is a better model, I’ll be upset because buying another robot vacuum is not in my budget. But for this, heck yes, I’d buy again.

Feel free to ask me any questions, and I’ll try to update after I’ve had it a few months.
UPDATE: i've had my vacuum a couple of months and i still love it. i use it once a week to vacuum, then mop the next day. i like that i can add my regular hardwood and tile cleaner to the water dispenser. the pads really do pick up things the vacuum may have missed, and if you spot clean with the pad 98% of the time the stain is gone. So overall, i'm still very happy with this choice and have recommended a robotic vacuum to several friends with the same warning given above ... buy the vacuum that fits YOUR needs. that may not be the most popular!!

85 people found this helpful

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US Expat living in Mexico

Perfect for My Current Needs (former Roomba Junkie)

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

I live in the humid tropics, 2 blocks from beach (sand n salt laden air), ground level just feet from street, with mangrove jungle across the street. I don't have carpet; only tile. With our strong ocean breeze lots of air comes through bringing salty, sticky dust, always moisture laden, and a fare amount of sand tracked in by humans and my 2 dogs; one large and shaggy, other medium puppy who is allllll over the place, all the time, stirring everything up constantly. I have had an army of iRobot Roombas since they first came out, 2002, through the 500 series. I gifted them when I left the states but it became very apparent that I needed daily sweeping and damp mopping here in my new home. This is not a Roomba, that I used in my large house, tile floors, daily, an army of 6, to help clean up the mess from 10 large and Giant country housedogs nor is it as robust as the 3 Electrolux Trilobites I used on my carpet upstairs at big house in States. BUT... it is exactly what I need for my current situation and tile floors that stay always a little tacky and damp from environment. One of the MAJOR things I LOVE about my iLife 'bot is the ease of emptying and cleaning AND, and this is HUGE, I don't have to do monthly cleanings of a brush gear box, like I had to do with my Roombas, to keep them running. Dog hair, dust, and gunk would work into the brush gearbox with a vengeance. The iLife is so simple. It has 2 brushes on sides to drive the debris towards the suction hole which is all that is needed for bare floors. No Gear boxes to clean out!!!! Even without using the Max suction every bit of sticky, salty debris and fluff from Big dog (he's half Lab and sheds gobs of fluffy undercoat constantly) are cleaned up entirely from floor. My floor space is about 300 sq ft. It will clean the entirety using 2 of the 4 bars of battery life, with plenty of battery left. I usually recharge it in about an hour and then set it to damp mop. It does an excellent job damp mopping. I use white vinegar and water and pre-moisten the pad. I had a maid who came in weekly and is an excellent cleaner but I need daily "sweeping" and mopping every other day. I don't think a human can do as good a job no matter how good and thorough they are. Because I'm now on a more limited income, I have limited space to store appliances, and the cost of shipping and duties from US to Mexico is so high the extremely reasonable price of the iLife was a major factor in my decision right up with the importance of the work I needed it to do. I can't, at this time, comment on longevity or durability but, from all the experience I've had for almost 20 years owning floor 'bots, I think this 'bot will more than pay for itself and most likely work for many years as there just isn't much to break down. I ordered extra side brushes, hepa filters, mop pads, that came with extra "velcro" type replacement pads for the mop pad even though a few came with the 'bot. After a month I changed out the hepa filter only because my sink leaked and 'bot sucked up the water into the hepa filter; probably time to change anyway. That took all of 10 seconds. As long as you use the iLife for bare floors I think you will be very please especially at this price. I did not receive the 'bot I ordered but unlike the one I ordered my model came with virtual wall and remote and programming function. I'm so glad they sent this one to me. My Feisty puppy loves to turn it off so I can turn it back on remotely. I LOVE my new little "maid". I think you will too.

7 people found this helpful

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Chad H

Bad customer service and not built to last.

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

UPDATE - a month after purchase the base stopped charging the unit, so we've been manually plugging it in. The company has given us a complete runaround for the past month for replacing the base. Everything I said below is correct and the simple design is great, but it is not built to last, and the vendor has no intention of making this right. 5 stars down to 2. The iLife staff is now making us pay for the shipping to replace the unit that is defective. It took a long time for them to even agree to replace it. We had to do all the troubleshooting for them, send videos, and threaten to file a complaint with Amazon.

UPDATE- after sending the bot back at our expense for a replacement they cleaned it they said the bot returned to the base, that is great but what about the issue about the base not charging the bot? Solution from ILife is to service the bot after EVERY use- change or clean the filter, remove the brushes and change or clean them, and clean all the leads. This is going to make my life easier? They are sending back the same defective bot. Don’t waste your time or money.

=======================

I'm writing this review from the point of view of someone that had a Roomba for the last several years. tl;dr - The Roomba team should put less effort into their device's cute noises and instead work on its functionality.

I can count on one hand the number of times our Roomba did a great job cleaning the entire house. Its search grid is awful, it would regularly get "lost" in rooms and run the same pattern over and over until the battery died. The worst of it's sins is the fact that the vacuum is terrible. You look at the teeny hard-to-clean brushes relative to the size of the unit and they're less than half of the of the way across. I've watched it go over a pile of dirt and pick up maybe 5% of it, which is a drag until you consider that the real drag is that it smeared the other 95% across the room.

I'm not gonna lie, I had VERY low expectations for the iLife. So after watching it consistently run and run and run and then put itself away, I was shocked. You watch it find it's way around and its not just random zigging and zagging, there's logic behind where it goes. Last, and most importantly, its a FANTASTIC vacuum. I'm no mechanical engineer but I know that simplicity is usually for the best, and its setup is very simple. There are two contra rotating long strand brushes that are as wide as the unit itself, and they're both aimed at a large portal that sucks things into it. This thing has picked up everything from small stones and sticks (all kinds of things that the Roomba not only would have missed but possibly would have gotten physically stuck on) to the dust and dirt you're probably considering this device for. It also gets all the dust and dirt that the Roomba would have cruised right over. The mop function is also good, but can potentially empty its contents if it gets stuck somewhere so you might want to keep an eye on it.

Overall, the iLife is what I expected the Roomba was supposed to be and at half the cost. I had given up on the automated vacuum meme, and now I'm glad my wife talked me into giving it one more shot.

10 people found this helpful

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kstn's mom

Great concept, but so so execution, but you get what you pay for.

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

Somewhat impressed. I've had it for 3 weeks now and used it quite a bit since its arrival. I live in a single level apartment, 5 room apt, about 750+ SqFt with 89% bare floors, three area rugs, and no pets. We call ours Zac the Vac.

The first time Zac picked up a tremendous amount of debris off the floor, however he has a random movement pattern and as a result goes over and over the same places multiple times, while missing other areas completely. I had to manually guide him on a few occasions to cover missed areas. Zac seemed to be trying to escape my apt as it kept going over to the balcony door repeatedly.

I used Zac on the same low pile area rugs over multiple days and he left large and small debris behind each time, in both the regular and the max power modes.

I put Zac in edge to edge mode, but he didn't do all of the perimeters. Again I had to manually guide him to help it stay on the perimeter.
I tried to set it for a scheduled clean one day to come home and find it didn't do anything. The manual says if you don't hear the beep it didn't set. I don't remember if I heard the beep or not, so I'll chalk that one up to user error. I tried again while I was home. It kept beeping, but didn't run on the schedule, so I tried to set it again and finally it ran undisturbed for almost 2 hours! Zac picked up a significant amount of debris considering it just ran yesterday and the day before. Not as much as day one, but slightly more than day two.

Zac couldn't find or make his way back to his base on multiple occasions. The first time the battery died after about an hour of mixed power use and it didn't find the base before dying in the middle of the floor. Another time I had to manually guide him back to the base. On day three I let it go on its own to see what would happen. It got close and turned away because of an obstruction then went far away from the base and got tangled on a cord and died.

The battery lasted about 90 minutes to almost 2 hours (as indicated) in low power mode in scheduled mode before being exhausted which I thought was pretty impressive . I also closed off two rooms to limit access and focus more on the outer areas. Zac ran over cords under my entertainment center. The cords got tangled in the wheels and sweepers and took some time to untangle, but I eventually fixed it and it began running smoothly again.

Zac also has slightly higher lip in the front than on the back which prevents him from going under some of my furniture. I've seen other units where it is completely level all the way around. As a result he can't go under my coffee table or couch.

A few times since the reviews above, it's gotten stuck under chairs, on my area rug and tangled in cords again. Zac still picks up quite a bit and does a good job. Even for a basic model without a lot of bells and whistles, my floors look great and have never been this consistently clean. Based on the other uses who had problems, I brought the warranty so if in the end it only lasts a few months I'll either get a replacement or upgrade to a better model/brand. If I do upgrade, I definitely want a model that has more flexibility in scheduling. This one only has a single schedule setting, which means it will run every day of the week at the same time provided the scheduled setting is turned on. I don't want to use it every day out of fear of wearing it out faster, but remembering to turn it on and off and reset the timer is more hassle than its worth.

UPDATE - Using the wet mop feature now. It's been running for almost an hour in a closed off room and I have yet to see any water on the floor although the mop head is damp. I was hoping it could do a damp mop in addition to the vacuuming, which is still pretty impressive, but I don't see this as being the case. I'm going to let it run until the water runs out or the battery dies, whichever comes first. I lowered my rating because I bought the unit for both features and it appears I'm only getting good use out of the dry mop.

21 people found this helpful

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EJ

It REALLY goes after dog hair!

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

This came well packaged. I love that everything needed ships with it - even batteries for the remote.

Dog hair is a constant in my house. I sweep my hard floors multiple times daily, then watch Lucy (an australian shepherd/border collie mix) and Meeko (husky/german shepherd) drop more hair on the floor. We keep them groomed! (Ok.....we miss days but damn, we try!) When I'm away days at a time, they get groomed less. They also experience stress and when dogs are stressed, they shed more (I learned that from google).

So in my effort to decrease the need for my time and effort on things . . . Vs my need for some stuff to get done, a robotic vacuum seemed a very possible time and effort saver.

It sweeps. It does well around table legs. It's also supposed to mop. I havent gotten around to testing the mopping yet. I limited it to two rooms for testing purposes. I followed all the instructions. And it does a great job! My floors are cleaner than when I do them myself!

Meeko is jumpy around all things noisy or electronic. He stayed out of this things way.

Lucy tends to get happy when I'm cleaning, and watches proudly whenever I haul out the vacuum cleaner to do stuff. Unsure why, but she seems to connect cleaning efforts with worthwhile humans.

So lucy sniffed it over as it moved around working and seemed to decide this beast was a worthwhile addition to the household. She got comfortable with it moving around the room doing its job.

......maybe a little too comfortable.

I hear a racket and see lucy rapidly emerging from her favorite corner lounging spot with a look of horror on her face. She runs a couple of steps then stops, curves, and grabs at something. Then again, and again, until shes far enough into the room I can see that the robotic vacuum has gotten ahold of her tail hair. She doesnt know whether to run from it or bite it.

At the back end of her, the round shaped contraptions three brushes are spinning wildly tangling more and more of her long hair. It's at an angle that kinda makes it look like a belly up crawdad with the brushes being the arms with pinchers. Right there in my living room theres a battle between my beloved canine and what looks like a character from the little mermaid.

I'd love to say that lucy was immediately freed of the annoyance......but that be a lie. I was laughing so hard that it took me a bit to figure out how to get it off of her. My laughter further antagonized poor lucy because she hates to be the butt of jokes. I am unsure how the attack vacuum felt about my laughter.

So.....in way more time than I'd like to admit, the dog and vacuum were separated. They all seem fine. Although......the stress is likely causing lucy to shed even more. She and the vacuum may develop a symbiotic relationship. The vacuum has earned my respect! It got bounced around a bit, but once freed and untangled, it calmly went right back to cleaning my floors.

Meeko? He ran to his kennel and laid down and stayed put. Hes figured out whenever loud things happen, that's his best bet.

5 people found this helpful

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That ACPress Guy

Great Price & Performance For Non-Carpet Floors, Easy To Understand And Cat Friendly

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

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This is part 1 of what may end up a much longer review. For those in a rush, read this summary and watch the very short video!

Summary: At about 1/2 the price of the two “big” brands (both of which I have used) this one is quieter and easier to clean. There are far less fidgety parts to unsnap to simply empty the container holding the debris. The remote control does a fine job when needed, and the vacuum does actually return to the docking station when needed. It is quiet, not frightening to cats and comes with spare parts. The “damp mop" does exactly that. It is not a scrubber, but a micro-fiber damp cloth that picks up fine dust. A solid unit. Now, if you want more info, read on.

###

First, a few points: I am not a robot enthusiast who is forgiving of robotic devices that don’t work well. I also do not expect any robot to do heavy housework, especially at this price point. If you are expecting a robot to relieve you of household drudgery, come back in 50 years.

At about 1/2 the price of the two “big” brands (both of which I have used) this one holds it’s own and more. It is more attractive, more effective and less trouble to use and clean. This unit is logically designed, easy to maintain and, again, also quiet.

Because it is designed for WOOD and TILE floors, NOT CARPET, it does not have the rubber rolling beater that others use to get debris out of carpet pile. It uses an effective vacuum built into a mobile chassis. If you imagine a decent “Dustbuster” type mechanism on wheels, you get the idea.

The center of the unit has a box-like chamber a bit smaller than a 1 lb butter package or 3x5“ card recipe box. If you put the vacuum module in, it collects debris and exhausts air through a small HEPA filter. The filter is cleanable and comes with extras. You can order more if needed.

In vacuum mode, the unit moves around the room at a steady pace with two brushes spinning that direct debris towards center vacuum area. While it will gently bump into chair legs, etc., it seems to sense walls and backs away without touching them. It also has a mode that hugs the wall to brush debris out of the edges of the room into the unit. There is also a “spill” mode where the unit circles around in an ever-larger circle for those times when dry coffee grounds, flour, ashes, etc. are dropped. There is also a “turbo” mode where the vacuum strength is increased. This produces more noise. As our 1900 farmhouse is mostly troubled by road dust and cat hair or tracked litter, the regular setting was fine.

You will need to check the debris container fairly often. Even in a well-maintained house like ours, it is surprising how quickly the iHome “Beetle” fills up with found dust and fur!

Yes, it would be nice to have a larger debris receptacle, but then EVERYTHING would have to be larger..larger vacuum motor, larger housing, larger battery, larger motor for transport, etc. You would end up with something bigger and heavier than a Thanksgiving turkey that could not get into tight places.

I did bring the iHome Beetle into what call my “torture track.” My home recording studio is often messy with extension cords, twist-ties from product packaging that missed the trash can and just the stuff that gets left in my sort of technological “man cave.” The Beetle handled it well, getting over wires and dealing with just about everything...except those twist ties, which it ignored. By the way, there have been no jam-ups plugging the vacuum path as it is pretty straight. The only time I thought it was jammed turned out that the debris chamber was full!

Replace the vacuum box with the water box and you have a damp-mop system AFTER you add a simple bracket to the underside to hold the micro-fiber cloth. It takes a bit, but the cloth does get damp and collects fine dust as the Beetle makes it way around the room. Damp-mopping is not the same as scrubbing! This is not going to take a dingy kitchen floor, clean it and make it sparkle! But being very, very familiar with damp-mopping Army barracks floors, I can tell you that it does make floors look better!

This unit comes with a dock, or you can plug the charger directly into the unit. I’m not sure how it works, but when you hit the “home” button on the remote, the Beetle stops what it is doing and heads right over to the dock and settles in. Fascinating! It even did it when certain wise-guy cats tried to knock it off course.

Speaking of cats, I repeat that there is no rapidly spinning rubber axel on the front used to beat carpet fibers because this is not for carpets. The first time I used another brand (we’ll call it “R”), a cat got in the way and got it’s tail yanked by the vacuum. My other vac (we’ll call in “N”) never got that far, as the electronics were all messed up from the moment I opened the box.

Using the dock and the remote, you can tell the Beetle when to start and when to quit and go back home. I have not used it long enough to make use of this, but from what I can see, there is no reason to doubt it works. I have also not tested the “cliff detection” and note that even the instructions caution it may not work in all circumstances. The edges of our steep wood stairway have rounded edges after 117 years, and the Beetle might not realize that!

The instructions are quite good and the unit, in it’s attractive box, is very easy to set up. Great wedding gift!

A final important note: This is not one of those products, like so many coffee makers and kitchen items, that are sold “generically” to an importer and found with five brand names and no support. iHome is making a very serious effort in this marketplace and has a website and help, not just a name attached to a product that nobody knows much about. Definitely worth your consideration.

This is part 1 of what may end up a much longer review. For those in a rush, read this summary and watch the very short video!

Summary: At about 1/2 the price of the two “big” brands (both of which I have used) this one is quieter and easier to clean. There are far less fidgety parts to unsnap to simply empty the container holding the debris. The remote control does a fine job when needed, and the vacuum does actually return to the docking station when needed. It is quiet, not frightening to cats and comes with spare parts. The “damp mop" does exactly that. It is not a scrubber, but a micro-fiber damp cloth that picks up fine dust. A solid unit. Now, if you want more info, read on.

###

First, a few points: I am not a robot enthusiast who is forgiving of robotic devices that don’t work well. I also do not expect any robot to do heavy housework, especially at this price point. If you are expecting a robot to relieve you of household drudgery, come back in 50 years.

At about 1/2 the price of the two “big” brands (both of which I have used) this one holds it’s own and more. It is more attractive, more effective and less trouble to use and clean. This unit is logically designed, easy to maintain and, again, also quiet.

Because it is designed for WOOD and TILE floors, NOT CARPET, it does not have the rubber rolling beater that others use to get debris out of carpet pile. It uses an effective vacuum built into a mobile chassis. If you imagine a decent “Dustbuster” type mechanism on wheels, you get the idea.

The center of the unit has a box-like chamber a bit smaller than a 1 lb butter package or 3x5“ card recipe box. If you put the vacuum module in, it collects debris and exhausts air through a small HEPA filter. The filter is cleanable and comes with extras. You can order more if needed.

In vacuum mode, the unit moves around the room at a steady pace with two brushes spinning that direct debris towards center vacuum area. While it will gently bump into chair legs, etc., it seems to sense walls and backs away without touching them. It also has a mode that hugs the wall to brush debris out of the edges of the room into the unit. There is also a “spill” mode where the unit circles around in an ever-larger circle for those times when dry coffee grounds, flour, ashes, etc. are dropped. There is also a “turbo” mode where the vacuum strength is increased. This produces more noise. As our 1900 farmhouse is mostly troubled by road dust and cat hair or tracked litter, the regular setting was fine.

You will need to check the debris container fairly often. Even in a well-maintained house like ours, it is surprising how quickly the iHome “Beetle” fills up with found dust and fur!

Yes, it would be nice to have a larger debris receptacle, but then EVERYTHING would have to be larger..larger vacuum motor, larger housing, larger battery, larger motor for transport, etc. You would end up with something bigger and heavier than a Thanksgiving turkey that could not get into tight places.

I did bring the iHome Beetle into what call my “torture track.” My home recording studio is often messy with extension cords, twist-ties from product packaging that missed the trash can and just the stuff that gets left in my sort of technological “man cave.” The Beetle handled it well, getting over wires and dealing with just about everything...except those twist ties, which it ignored. By the way, there have been no jam-ups plugging the vacuum path as it is pretty straight. The only time I thought it was jammed turned out that the debris chamber was full!

Replace the vacuum box with the water box and you have a damp-mop system AFTER you add a simple bracket to the underside to hold the micro-fiber cloth. It takes a bit, but the cloth does get damp and collects fine dust as the Beetle makes it way around the room. Damp-mopping is not the same as scrubbing! This is not going to take a dingy kitchen floor, clean it and make it sparkle! But being very, very familiar with damp-mopping Army barracks floors, I can tell you that it does make floors look better!

This unit comes with a dock, or you can plug the charger directly into the unit. I’m not sure how it works, but when you hit the “home” button on the remote, the Beetle stops what it is doing and heads right over to the dock and settles in. Fascinating! It even did it when certain wise-guy cats tried to knock it off course.

Speaking of cats, I repeat that there is no rapidly spinning rubber axel on the front used to beat carpet fibers because this is not for carpets. The first time I used another brand (we’ll call it “R”), a cat got in the way and got it’s tail yanked by the vacuum. My other vac (we’ll call in “N”) never got that far, as the electronics were all messed up from the moment I opened the box.

Using the dock and the remote, you can tell the Beetle when to start and when to quit and go back home. I have not used it long enough to make use of this, but from what I can see, there is no reason to doubt it works. I have also not tested the “cliff detection” and note that even the instructions caution it may not work in all circumstances. The edges of our steep wood stairway have rounded edges after 117 years, and the Beetle might not realize that!

The instructions are quite good and the unit, in its attractive box, is very easy to set up. Great wedding gift!

A final important note: This is not one of those products, like so many coffee makers and kitchen items, that are sold “generically” to an importer and found with five brand names and no support. iLife is making a very serious effort in this marketplace and has a website and help, not just a name attached to a product that nobody knows much about. Definitely worth your consideration.

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Steve in AL

Basic Robot works well for me and lasts a long time

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024

Style: V5s PlusVerified Purchase

This is my second iLife, the V5sPlus (Purchased 02/2024). I also have the Noisz S5 by iLife (Purchased 05/2020), and they are basically the same machine. What I like about it, they go for a long time and sweep up the dust very well. They don't have a rotating carpet brush but I don't have carpet. I have also pretty much robot-proofed my house by raising the furniture, getting rid of most rugs and keeping electric wires off the floor. My house is about 1500 sq feet with 3 bedrooms, a mostly open setup with furniture all around. It is a must that the robot be able to negotiate furniture and travel into bedrooms and bathrooms.

I bought a different brand earlier this month, but reluctantly returned it. It used a straight line back and forth method of sweeping, and this just didn't do at all. It just stayed in one room most of the time and sometimes went into a second room and after so much starting and stopping, it was drained within an hour with half the house not done. It had a nifty app which showed the coverage and allowed you to schedule it, etc, which was great but mostly it just showed me that it hadn't done the job.

The iLifes that I have use a random motion and go hither and yon but pretty much cover the whole house within a couple of hours. If you do it every day or 3-4 days a week, you can be pretty sure it got to everything. I definitely think random is better.

The app that comes with the iLife Plus is very basic. You can turn it on and off and schedule, and that's it. It shows no coverage or anything like that, but I know that it is covering the floor plan so I am happy. The new iLife V5S Plus also mops, and for me it is fine. Once a week, I replace the dustbin with the water bin and put on the mop cloth and it goes for a long, long time and pretty much mops my house. I just use plain water on my floors and laminate. It goes even longer since the suction is off and only uses battery to move.

So I am very pleased with my iLifes. Sure you can get more features for more money including a mapping function, better app and better carpet cleaning if you need it, but this one is just fine for a little house with wood or tile floors. And by the way, I bought a new battery for my old one ($22) and it is back to working great. I may give it away but sometimes I just turn them both on and let them go.

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K. Martinez

Buy it!! You will NOT regret it!

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

My vacuum arrived 2 days ago. It's the first robot vac that I have purchased so I really don't have anything else to compare it to. I recently purchased a bigger home than what I had and I found myself sweeping atleast 4 times a day and each time I'd spend a little over an hour getting it done. (I have white porcelain, tile floors, every piece of hair, stain, streak, dirt, etc shows😬). I don't have pets but I have 3 children under 6, and they like to eat snacks all over the house. Also, let me add that we live in the country, so there is alot of dirt coming in just by stepping outside. I like to have my house as clean as possible, but I found myself cleaning more than spending time with my babies, so this is when I started looking into a robot vaccuum. I was skeptical of it's performance due to its price, especially since I stopped at a store and was told the best vacuum was over a THOUSAND dollars AND it didn't even mop, that included a separate $500 robot mop!!😲 So to find this under $200, I thought, "no way this will be great.) Let me just say that in these two days I have NOT swept or mopped manually once!!!🤗 I put it to charge the afternoon when I got it, then right before bed, I let it do its thing while I supervised, I had already cleaned so I did it more to see how it moved around my house. It did get stuck on my stools, which was weird for me, I don't have all my furniture in yet so I can't say it had trouble with any other furniture piece. So since I didn't know what to expect, I sent it to the dock with the control ( I can't tell you that it not being wifi enabled is an issue, again, I can't compare to any other robot). The next morning, my 2 older kids ate breakfast, made their mess and off to school they went. By this time, there was dirt from us going outside as well. I decided to put my vacuum to work, I put my stools in a room and closed the door, I closed all my bedroom doors, because I wanted to take a quick nap before my baby woke up and I didn't know how well it would move throughout the rooms. I have an open floor plan, so with all my bedroom doors closed, my vacuum still had a large space to clean. My kitchen, dinning area and living room are roughly about 1000 sq feet. I can't tell you I saw what it did, but I can tell you that after my morning nap, I woke up to a beautiful clean white floor and the robot vacuum was back at it's dock. I was amazed!! My dinning area did have some spots that I still had to clean myself, but that took me 3 mins, nothing compared to the hour I would have wasted. I made breakfast for my baby and took the vacuum to the master bedroom, that opens into my bathroom with no doors to separate them. I went ahead and picked up my bath rugs, and closed my bedroom door and headed to the living room. I played with my baby and after a while went to check on the vacuum. All my hairs were gone and my floor sparkled away. I've never been so proud of a purchase, I'm so excited that this is the first time I EVER write a review on here and I purchase ALOT from Amazon. When I say ALOT, I mean I'm usually expecting a package every other day!! Today, Saturday, I normally go out with my kids, but before going anywhere I have to leave my house clean, but not today! I picked up all the toys, bigger items, etc, threw my dishes in the dishwasher, started my vacuum and off I went. Spent all day out, got home at 9pm and Lord be hold, I walked into a sparkly clean home,my heart never felt so happy!!!(I love walking into a clean home after a long day). I must admit, the vacuum didn't make it to it's base, I found it close to a cable. The cable was not stuck in it or anything, so I don't know what happened, but somehow, it stayed there after cleaning my house ( this is the only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5). I put it back on it's base and was able to sit and write this long review instead of cleaning before heading to bed, which is my normal routine! I feel like a have more free time to enjoy things I never did, like watch a movie! I have yet to use the mop, but even if it's not the best, my investment is still worth it! Even if it were to break down tomorrow, I already feel like I got my money's worth by getting so much free time! I will update in a couple months and hope I'm still as excited as I am now!

If you are skeptical like me, don't hesitate, buy it, and if you have no other vacuum to compare it to, you will thank yourself for taking the plunge and buying it! I will definitely rave about my purchase to all my friends that feel like they stay cleaning every day all day long, just like I did!

I have a total of 4,000 sq ft in my home, so I'm thinking I might just buy a second one to put one on each side of my house, yes, that's how much I am enjoying it!! Im not sure one can handle all the work, Im going to test it before buying the second one though.

33 people found this helpful

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