Not everyone enjoys the chore of vacuuming in households.
Agree?
But this chore can be painful if you have kids or pets around resulting in pet hairs and crumbs everywhere and vacuuming on daily basis.
Robots vacuums do save your time and chore of vacuuming but a robot vac won’t completely replace your upright vac. But, a good robot vacuum that does daily sweeping and spot cleaning can eliminate the need for using an upright machine every single day doing the big vacuum tasks occasionally.
So picking a good robot vacuum becomes difficult where you have several options available ranging from under $100 to $1000.
That said, We have a decent robot vacuum A7 released by iLife. The price is always varying you can check here. It not only beats decent upright vacuums at price but in features too.
From several features of this vacuum, the coolest ones are multiple cleaning modes, different brushes, and WiFi connectivity.
iLife A7 Robot Vacuum Review
Table of Contents
Without further ado let’s see get to the nitty-gritty of the iLife A7 Review.
Vac in Pack
Right out of the box you will the main body of the vacuum, the charging base and power adapter, user manuals, high-performance filter, a dustbin with a filter, a remote control, extra slide brushes, slide brushes, brush cleaning tools, rubber brush, and a bristle brush.
If you are not tech-savvy don’t worry as its’ easy to assemble and everything is explained in the user manuals so that you can put it together effectively. The sleek and stylish appearance of this circular vacuum is a foot in diameter. The beauty of this vacuum is its small size (76 mm) that allows it to clean under furniture.
It’s similar in looks with iLife A6 its predecessor. But, the A7 features control buttons on the vacuum, allowing you to control the bot with or without a remote control. However, iLife app is another option to control the machine.
Battery Life
Battery Life is an important factor of any robot vacuum. No one likes to recharge their robotic vacuum in the middle of cleaning. There are a lot of robot vacuums that run for less than an hour
That said, iLife A7 offers impressive battery life with a lithium ion 2600 mAh battery that lasts for long enough time for cleaning the entire 5-bedrooms in the house. You also get an indication when the battery needs a charge by the buttons located in the middle with a yellow flash.
In a nutshell, the battery provides power for almost 2.5 hours ( exactly 144 minutes on auto mode) in a single charge by changing several modes, pausing operations, and resuming multiple times.
However, it takes between 220 and 280 minutes to fully recharge again. Depending upon the battery level while putting it on a recharge it can vary.
Picking Up Almost Everything
In the cleaning game, ILife A7 Vacuum cleaner is best at picking up pet hairs, dust, crumbs, and small debris. As this machine works in several modes, setting it up on the auto mode allows it to go free and pick up a few larger items like pen, a small toy, and an earring. You will be impressed with the suction power when the fan is running on max mode.
If you set the A7 in a room where a Yellow Labrador Retriever spends it’s a day you will see the 600mL capacity dustbin filled with pet hairs after few minutes while running the vacuum on max mode.
Though it picks up pet hairs and dust effectively, you might see some debris left behind by the vacuum. You can test the vacuum by throwing flour, sugar, sand or very fine particles on the floor but it will miss some granules but few extra sessions can make the floor cleaner as it was before.
When it comes to picking up large items like pens A7 does an exceptional job, but heavy or foot items or sticky foods like chunks of pizza crust will be difficult to pick up for A7. But that’s not the problem because you leave chunks of pizza rarely lying around.
Related: Eufy RoboVac 11 Review
Features and Cleaning Modes in Details
You can control the A7 using remote control, iLife app or with the button located on the robot. There are several cleaning modes in the iLife A7 robot vacuum used to serve different purposes.
That said, there is a total of three cleaning modes Point mode for spot clean, path mode that works on S-shaped cleaning path, an auto mode that works independently. Auto mode is good for carpet cleaning as it goes everywhere from cleaning walls to the middle areas.
Then we have a max mode that that utilizes the maximum suction power and results in deep cleaning. This mode is most effective in areas with a lot of dust, dirt, or pet hair. Of all the cleaning modes, this is the mode that gets the toughest jobs done.
Furthermore, we have border mode that performs the cleaning around the edges to clean the corners and wall edges where dust accumulates typically. But this mode hits a snag by going along the edges of chairs and other objects at home, rather than getting around the borders making this mode bit inefficient.
Similarly, A7 has a home function, that allows the vacuum to reach the dock station automatically when runs low on the battery. It works remotely and vacuums tend to find its way home precisely, sometimes it can take the bot a few minutes to locate its home base.
If you have shag carpet then you can choose your best vacuum for shag carpet and if you have hard floors then you can choose best vacuum for hardwood floors.
Preparation and avoiding obstacles
You will find some recommendations in the user manual like picking up toys, removing any obstacles or pushing in chairs before you begin vacuuming. If you don’t vacuum will struggle to avoid the obstacles so make sure the room is clear of any obstacles, chairs are pushed in, and the house is prepared for cleaning.
Removing obstacles means anything including dog’s food and water bowls or vacuum will run right into these objects regardless of several trials. So pet owners looking to buy this vacuum need to pick up pet’s food bowl to avoid potential spills caused by A7. Fortunately, the mechanical control panel is waterproof.
But that’s not all…
This vacuum will struggle with navigating over light area rugs. The vacuum will loop its way until and unless it finds it’s way over the rug eventually, but it doesn’t make a seamless transition like other expensive robot models. It works smoothly on heavier rugs without having any problem. However, the 70 mm shock detecting wheels can make the vacuum work on 1.5 cm thick rugs.
Patience is Virtue
It’s clearly mentioned in the user manual that the more often you remove the obstacles out of robot’s way, the machine will become familiar with the surroundings, Thanks to OBS all terrain detection system. Similarly, it’s can prevent falling down from stairs using three cliff sensors and detects edges with the help of two sets of edge sensors. Each time you use the vacuum, it performs a better job navigating your home.
The first time you’re run the machine, it will move randomly over the floor with no real direction. But, as soon as the machine reaches each area of the room five or six times, next sessions will be done efficiently and eventually, the vacuum will navigate from room to room without getting lost. In a nutshell, the more often you use the vacuum the more efficient it becomes with the surroundings to move efficiently.
Love the vacuum, But not the app
What makes this machine a solid robot vacuum is it’s Gen 3 CyclonePower cleaning system and floating roller brush. It can clean your floors and pick up dust and hairs in a breeze. You will notice a visible difference in your home after your run if you haven’t vacuumed in a day or two. Some vacuums work well on hardwood floors but struggle with carpets. However, A7 works best on hardwood floors and carpets by switching between a rubber roller and a brush roller.
It cannot be claimed as a smart home product as it lacks voice control capabilities and doesn’t connect to Alexa. Similarly, the app is not user-friendly. To connect the vacuum with a Wi-Fi network you need to enter WiFi network name and password into the app and hold the spot button so that the machine can connect to your network.
But, after the vacuum docks on the base and goes into sleep mode, it reads as offline. So you will have to struggle connecting to your A7 via the app when you are away from the house.
Other than that, the app is slow to respond and gives some connectivity issues. According to a test, it can take an average of 2 seconds longer than A7’s remote control to start and pause the vacuum.
Scheduling Problems
Similarly, the scheduling feature is also limited. You can schedule a specific time and can put the vacuum on repeat on specific days. Just for an example, if you set a time of vacuum at 4:30, and you want to repeat that every Friday. But that’s about all you can do.
That said, the scheduling feature is basic not easy to use and you have little control over your scheduled vacuum routines. Furthermore, it cannot set an end time via the app or indicate how long you want to vacuum.
Warranty of the Vacuum
The iLife A7 robot vacuum comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Overall, iLife A7 is a solid robot vacuum that efficiently picks up pet hairs and the battery life is also impressive. The downsides are its App and WiFi features but the affordable price tag justifies the pros and cons of this vacuum.
Is there any better option?
If you have a small budget and need a powerful vacuum with impressive battery life and good at picking up pet hairs A7 is a wise choice. It is loaded with extra cleaning features.
But if you are prone to a smart home connectivity device then this price range can let you own some better vacuums with Alexa and Voice capabilities, you should check Shark Ion 750 or the Roomba 690 instead.
The durability of the vacuum
The A7 with sturdy build brings tons of accessories and replacements parts including high-performance filters, extra brushes, and a brush cleaning too. So without spending the extra cash, you can operate the vacuum for quite a while.
After it’s predecessor the A7 has been around for a brief period but still, the iLife A6 holds the handsome amount of good reviews from the consumers. That increases the reputation of the A7 making it one of the more decent robot vacuums.
There’s no malfunction reported throughout the period of the product life but there was a product reliability rumor. That turned to not be true. The A7 is a quality machine that can last longer if taken care of properly.
Fortunately, the iLife app is expected to be improved due to customer feedback received by the user to the company. Because the app has a feature that allows the user to share their issues regarding the product with the company.
Should you buy it?
The A7’s cleaning performance, features, or durability are worth your every penny spent. So, if you’re looking for a robot vacuum to eliminate your vacuuming burden, then yes, A7 is for you. But if you are a smart home user looking for a cool tech gadget, then you may be happier with a smarter robot vacuum.
- Affordable Price
- Excellent at picking up pet hairs and dust
- Has different cleaning modes
- Has great suction
- Battery life is amazing
- App is not user-friendly
- WiFi connectivity issues
- Scheduling feature is not handy
- Struggles with area rugs and household objets
This iLife A7 Robot Vacuum Review (Updated) breaks down pros, cons, features, and price of this vacuum model to help you make a better decision with your money.
Related Articles
Best Robot Vacuum For Pet Hairs 2021
iLife A4s Robot Vacuum Cleaner Review
Comments are closed.