Review of mid-price robot vacuum cleaner ILIFE V60 Pro / ILIFE V5s Pro: does it make sense to save? 2022. Today in our review we have a mid-price robot vacuum cleaner – ILIFE V60 Pro (prev. ILIFE V5sPro). I had the idea to buy a robot vacuum cleaner for a long time, but I wanted myself a top-end Xiaomi model with a LIDAR sensor (building a virtual map of the room, remote control). They also offered to test a cheaper option. What came of this and is it worth saving on a vacuum cleaner?
Buy ILIFE V60 Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner on Aliexpress
Specifications
- Dimensions: 348 x 339 mm, height 92 mm
- Weight: 2.68 kg
- Wattage: 22W
- Charging: via the base or directly
- Dust box capacity: 300ml
- Wet cleaning tank capacity: 200ml
- Cleaning Modes: Auto, Local, Perimeter, Snake
- Charging time: 5.5h
- Cleaning time: 2 hours
- LCD screen: Yes
- Charger: 12W 24V 0.5A
- Battery: 14.8V 2600mAh
- Virtual wall: included
- Remote Control: Yes
The set comes in “egg” form. All in their packages. There are batteries for the remote control and the virtual wall. I have not seen type D batteries for about 10 years.
Scope of delivery from left to right: spare microfiber, spare brushes (left and right), brush for cleaning the container with rubbish, robot vacuum cleaner with already inserted element for wet cleaning (water tank and microfiber), charging station, virtual wall, charger , spare HEPA filter, manual and warranty card, remote control, batteries for remote control and virtual wall.
More details on the kit. Spare parts: microfiber, left and right brushes and a brush for cleaning the container with debris. The microfiber is dense and is fastened with Velcro.
The vacuum cleaner is black. There is also silver. At the top, by pressing, a lid opens, under which there is a container with debris and a filter. Above is the Clean button to start the vacuum cleaner. A small sensor on top is used to find the charging base and interact with the virtual wall.
On the left is the charging station. It has 2 contacts, the vacuum cleaner drives in on them with contact pads (it does not always drive in exactly, but because of their size on the vacuum cleaner it does not matter – there is always contact). On the right is a virtual wall. Serves to restrict access of the vacuum cleaner to individual rooms. It is placed in the opening and the vacuum cleaner considers that there is a solid wall (the distance of the virtual wall is 3 meters). The wall is powered by 2 D-format batteries – not the best solution, where it would be better to make a built-in Li-ion or Li-Po battery. Both have a sensor on top, by which the vacuum cleaner quickly finds them.
Remote control
As such, there is no control from the phone. Either operate by pressing buttons on the vacuum cleaner, or use the remote control. It is compact and has the following buttons: forward / backward / right / left for navigation, a clean / pause button, a home button, a turbo power button and 3 cleaning modes: snake, local maximum (in a circle around the robot) and around the room.
Charger 12W 24V 0.5A. It can be connected both to the charging station and directly to the robot. The instruction is in English. On the left is a spare HEPA filter to protect the vacuum cleaner motor from dust. It cannot be washed under water, as it immediately loses its properties.
Charging station
According to the instructions, the charging station should be located taking into account the free space of 2 meters in front of it and 1 meter on the sides. This is necessary so that the vacuum cleaner has a turning radius and easily falls into it. From personal experience, about a meter in front of her and a meter on at least one side is enough. Ideally, have the outlet as close to it as possible so you don’t pull the wires too far. By the way, the wires must be removed as much as possible for it, otherwise the vacuum cleaner can wind them on the brushes. There is a green indicator on the base. During charging on the vacuum cleaner, the number of vertical lines in the form of the number 1 increases (there are 4 in total). When charging is complete, FULL will be displayed.
The video below shows how the robot drives in to charge. He always does it in different ways. Sometimes it even becomes at an angle, but there are enough contacts for charging in any position. Sometimes it drives in briskly, and sometimes it stretches a little and adjusts to charging by a millimeter.
Vacuum cleaner LCD display. Touch buttons. The main display in the form of 4 digits – shows the charge, operating mode, errors and other information. It is also used for planning cleaning (there is no control through the application here, so everything is set up through the vacuum cleaner. You can only control it through the remote control yet). The PLAN button is used to set the cleaning time, the trash can shows when the tank is completely full, the HOME button to return to the base, the SPOT button for the local cleaning mode (the area around the vacuum cleaner), CLEAN – starts cleaning and can pause.
Trash can under the lid. On the right are its components: a mesh filter from dust, hair and a white HEPA filter is visible, which protects the engine from dust. The hole in the trash can is made according to the principle of a door, debris does not fall out of it. Everything is very convenient.
Bottom view. Under the microfiber there is a water tank, which comes assembled from the box. This vacuum cleaner does not know how to determine the coverage, so you need to keep track of where the vacuum cleaner is doing wet cleaning, otherwise it will wash the carpet for you. Below, almost everything is standard. 2 independent wheels, a directing wheel on top and 2 contact pads on the sides of it for charging. There is a hole in the center for collecting debris. On the body there are sensors that prevent falls from the stairs. Also on the sides there are 2 brushes.
The wet cleaning device can be easily removed. Water is supplied only when the vacuum cleaner is in motion, does not make a puddle if the vacuum cleaner is, say, stuck. The tank is big enough. The microfiber is pulled at the front with the fasteners, and at the back it is attached with Velcro.
Virtual wall
With Xiaomi, you can draw a virtual wall on the room plan with your finger in the application, everything is easier here. There is a special piece that is placed in the opening and covers 3 meters with beams. The vacuum cleaner drives up to it in different ways – sometimes closer, then further, but never moves. In the photo below, she is on the left near the cabinet. The indicator blinks intermittently.
Dry garbage collection
We take an old proven set of garbage: seeds, buckwheat and shredded paper. Buckwheat is usually the most difficult garbage for a robot to collect – he simply scatters it with brushes, he needs 5 passes to collect it.
Video demonstration of dry cleaning – it throws buckwheat so well, if there are sofas next to it, then half will be under them. If there is enough space, then the vacuum cleaner will collect it in several passes.
Garbage collected almost all minus a couple of buckwheat grains that flew under the sofa. Also collects dust and hair that gets trapped on the filter mesh. The HEPA filter remains practically clean. The mesh stops almost all dust.
Here is the result of cleaning the kitchen in the apartment. And before that, I went through everything with an ordinary vacuum cleaner. The robot scooped up a mountain of dust and debris, where it is usually too lazy to climb with a hand-held vacuum cleaner. I also scooped out a lot of everything from under the base of the kitchen with brushes that fit perfectly under the base. I also tore off the plinth cap, but I forgave him 🙂 it was already broken and held on a little. This is the minus: where you know what is broken where, the vacuum cleaner does not know and can break, that which breathed smoothly.
Wet cleaning
For wet cleaning, fill the container with water. Let’s put everything on the shelves right away: if you haven’t washed the floor for a week or a month, then the robot, as my mother says, “will smear a glass of water on the floor.” But if you cleaned properly, and then the robot goes through the microfiber every day, then there will always be cleanliness.
Video of long-term cleaning with washing the floor. The robot as a whole cleans up with dignity, but it is a little dull in narrow aisles and is not at all friendly with the thin legs of the chairs – it strives to knock them all down.
The microfiber shows that the water comes from the very edge of the vacuum cleaner. This way, the cloth closer to the middle is dry and wipes off excess water on repeated passes. In general, there has never been a puddle, water is not supplied if the robot does not move. I am happy with the wet cleaning, but keep in mind – if your place is very dirty, then it is better to immediately wash it with a mop, since the robot only maintains cleanliness, and does not fully clean.
After a week’s test of the vacuum cleaner, the following points can be highlighted:
- The vacuum cleaner is rude and picky about the room for cleaning: it is bad friends with the legs of the chairs, there are almost no sensors in the back and it can crash quite well at headlands. In general, it cuts into furniture quite often, not much, but I would like to exclude touching the furniture altogether. It is also worth removing socks from the floor, bags, wires and everything that the robot can wrap around the brushes in advance.
- There are no questions about cleaning (namely, the quality of dry and wet cleaning). It rakes in so much garbage that you are amazed. The trick is in the brushes that scoop up the sea of debris from under the furniture. Wet cleaning is also at a level: it washes evenly, does not make puddles. The main disadvantage is the absence of a surface detection function like Xiaomi – if there is a carpet on the way of cleaning, then you need to remove the floor washer in time, otherwise it will wash the carpet too. Xiaomi itself detects the flooring and switches the cleaning mode. By the quality of cleaning, you can safely put 9 out of 10
- With the search for a station, if the robot has left it to another room, problems arise.
- There is no indication that there is no waste bin. I forgot to put it on and the dust got into the engine. Fortunately, there was not a lot of it and I was able to remove it from there with a home vacuum cleaner.
- The setting of the cleaning time is not very clear. In fact, the time before cleaning is set: set 1:15 – it will clean up in an hour and 15 minutes. Although the instructions say something completely different: set the time and the vacuum cleaner should clean up to it (starts in 3 hours). In fact, it is implemented differently.
- Practically does not clean the area near the charging station
Conclusion
Analogues in this price range and with such functionality (such a complete set and also wet cleaning) can be counted on one hand. This is its huge plus. Cleaning suit me almost 100%. But what fundamentally spoils the picture is his sloppiness: he does not hesitate to bump into furniture, move chairs, and eats wires and bags with great pleasure. He clearly lacks sensors – there is an obvious economy on them. When moving forward, everything is fine, but a little at an angle and already easily starts to touch obstacles. This spoils the whole picture. My verdict: do not skimp, take Xiaomi with LIDAR – there you can set it up for cleaning in your absence and be completely calm that upon arrival you will not find it with a reeled cable from the charging station. This can probably only be taken to summer cottages, where, in general, the accuracy of furniture is not very important, the main thing is that it is clean. All the same, for the price it has no equal.
