In the past few weeks, I’ve been testing four different ILIFE robots and seeing how they work individually and against each other.
In this article we will look at ILIFE A4 and V7S. I will compare the features and how they differ and what type of home each fits best.
GearBest has stopped selling the V7S and has replaced it with the V7S Pro which comes with an upgraded water tank.
If you are not familiar with ILIFE, it is a China-based robotics manufacturer established in 2010 with its first R&D plant in Shenzen.
Without further ado, let’s start by comparison.
Table of Contents
Robot interface
ILIFE A4
The A4 and V7S both exited the four-button interface of the previous X5 robot. The interface only consists of one power button that acts as a battery indicator.
A4 top view
V7S top view
Green means the battery is full or nearly full.
Orange means the battery is half empty.
Red means the mixture is empty.
Red also indicates an error.
Possible issues include…
- Object attached to the bottom of the motorized brush
- Interlocking side brush
The V7S also comes with an interchangeable water tank with the container as needed.
The A4 bin is a drawer type that slides into the back of the Roomba-style robot.
Let’s compare the dirt container between them…
Based on the image above, it looks like the A4 has a larger enclosure but it isn’t. The V7S can hold more dirt than the A4.
Dimensions
Overall, the ILIFE V7S is the largest robot with a diameter of 13.39 inches. A4 is smaller than 1 inch – approximately 12.2 inches in diameter.
Is this important? Honestly, I don’t think it matters much except for cleaning the spaces between the chairs. In one of my cleaning sessions, I found a V7S stuck under a chair…
But this only happened once, I’ve run the V7S for several days on the 3rd floor of our house and it hasn’t happened since, but this is something to note if you have the same type of furniture.
If you want to clean it well, I suggest removing all chairs, slippers, Lego mini toys, and all wires! I can’t stress this enough, any loose wire would stop this robot from going off its course.
Height
The V7S is a little taller at 3.15 inches and the A4 is 2.99 inches tall. At least in our house, it doesn’t really seem to matter except for these dangling parts of our closets.
View from the bottom
The biggest difference between these two options can be found below.
ILIFE A4
When you look at all the parts of the A4, the motor brush and the side brushes. This is geared towards efficiency.
It lacks the dual V brush found on the V7S which hurts a bit on the carpet but the strong suction makes up for it.
The side brush has a positive side and a negative side. The biggest advance is scaling the range of this vacuum cleaner, this brush really has a long reach that works like a small broom picking up light debris and directing it into the vacuum’s entrance.
This benefit can be felt on bare floors, especially when cleaning the edges. This robot really likes to hug the edges and the side brushes will benefit most in this area.
Having two side brushes can be both a blessing and a curse for cleaning up big messes.
The side brushes will pick up bits of dirt but the robot will clean most of it eventually.
ILIFE V7S
The V7S is a slightly more versatile machine which means that aside from the vacuum function, it also has a fairly large mop but only one side brush.
This mop is connected to a 450ml water tank that doubles the functionality of this alternative to a wet mopping robot. Now that the microfiber pad covers three-quarters of the lower abdomen, you can’t use the vacuum and dry-wipe feature at the same time as you would on the X5 or V7.
But a larger mop and water tank means more coverage area.
power and noise
Based on the information I got from GearBest, the A4 has the most power of 5 ILIFE robots with a maximum suction power of 1000Pa.
It has two power modes – by default, the motor will produce only 700 Pa of suction.
The main purpose of this feature is to reduce noise. In maximum mode, the robot will be very noisy.
The V7S only has 400Pa of suction which means it won’t work as well on carpets as A4 but the lack of suction makes this a lot more than A4 (up to just 60dB).
remote control
Both A4 and V7S remote controls have the same design except for one small difference.
A4 remote
You will notice that the A4 remote control uses the word “max” instead of the down arrow (look under the blue clean button). When you press this, it activates maximum suction with a force of up to 1000Pa.
The max button also doubles as a down arrow when using the tab feature.
V7S Remote
The remote control for the V7S is the same as the A4 version except that it has a down arrow instead of the Max button.
motorized brush
The A4 comes with a bristle brush and the V7S comes with a “double V” brush that combines bristles and a mop for added excitement.
While the V7S has better irritation and will clean pet hair better, the lack of suction definitely limits its cleaning capabilities. I hope ILIFE will come up with a more powerful version of the V7 series.
You can’t swap A4 and V7S brushes because the latter are bigger and wider.
Mobility
I can’t say that both of these robot vacuums have exactly the same navigation. There are similarities but each one also has its own quirks.
To give you a better idea of what I mean, you should watch these videos of these two robots moving around the room and I’ll give you a brief commentary at the end.
Make sure to watch the entire video to see the differences between the two in terms of navigation. While both should technically have the same navigation algorithm, they each have their own quirks.
A4 Nav…
Navigation System V7S
One thing I’ve noticed with the A4 is that it stops and shifts less often compared to the V7S. The latter will stop even if nothing is blocking its path and turn in a random direction.
A4 does not stop but does so after a greater distance.
Another thing I’ve noticed with the V7S is that it does a series of quarter-circles in the middle of the room even if the edge hasn’t been cleaned.
V7S test scan
When you put the mop on the V7S, it sure slows the robot down to about half the speed as you’ll see in the video above.
I was pretty at first because the robot was about to crawl, so I had to stop it a few times just to check if I connected the mop correctly. I cleaned the caster wheels and reinstalled the squeegee and eventually it moved better.
On several occasions, it went into spiral cleaning mode. I don’t know if it was the small size of the kitchen that prompted him to do this.
Remember to vacuum the area first before running the mop for best results.
It is a good thing that the running time is about 2 hours which will enable you to mop the kitchen floor.
Dirt & Filtration Box
Another difference between these two robots is the dirt box and filter design.
Let’s first look at the A4 layout.
An A4 container is located at the back of the robot. It has a similar design to the Roomba 700 series.
GearBest says it has a capacity of about 0.45 liters.
One thing I like about it is the design. It has three levels of filtration starting with the fine mesh filter.
This mesh filter is followed by foam and then a HEPA filter. Really fine dirt particles will pass through the first two layers of the filter, so you’ll have to “clean” the HEPA filter as well to maintain performance.
The HEPA filter is not washable and you will have to replace it every 3 to 6 months depending on how often or how dirty the environment is.
Now to V7S
The design of the V7S enclosure varies a lot, and even if it looks smaller, it actually has a bit of dirt in it.
The official figure is about 0.5 liters, which is about 0.05 liters more than the A4, so despite the poor suction, the V7S will hold more dirt than the A4.
But wait there is more.
The V7S also comes with a water tank that holds approximately 0.45 liters of water.
This allows it to wet or dampen mop surfaces such as tile or linoleum which is essentially a robotic version of the Swiffer. When I say this, it means that it will not clean the floor, it will only mop.
If the floor is lumpy on the stain, you won’t remove it but it can handle new spills provided they are small enough.
product specification
| Model name | A4 | V7S |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Shipping time | 5 hours | 5 hours |
| the show length | 180 minutes | 140 minutes |
| dry dirt capacity | 0.45 liters | 0.5 liters |
| Water tank | Nobody | 0.45 liters |
| net weight (with battery) | 4.85 lbs. | 6.5 lbs. |
| Diameter | 12.2 inches | 13.39 inches |
| Height | 2.99 inches | 3.15 inches |
multi room  |
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| self docking |
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| remote control |
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| HEPA filtration |
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| Detecting cliff |
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| side brush | 2 | 1 |
| Cleaning sessions per week |
7 | 7 |
| Extra filter | 1 | 2 |
| brush cleaning tool |
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| Price | Check Price | Check Price |
Where can I buy this?
A4 and V7s are available on Amazon.
- ILIFE A4
- ILIFE V7s
to finish
These two robots are similar but very different from each other. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.
A4 has superior suction and is one inch narrower, allowing it to fit into tight spaces.
This robot is a custom floor sweeper that complements existing carpets in homes. But it can only serve as the main space in homes with bare floors.
Either way, it will help keep dirt and dust from accumulating to unhealthy levels and keep the indoor environment clean.
A4 would obviously be better suited as a bare floor and carpet cleaner thanks to its superior suction while the V7S is better suited for homes with a lot of tile or linoleum due to its wet-wiping capabilities.