Verdict
abject - cost and powerful , the iLife A11 can vacuum-clean as well as far more expensive models , and it ’s not a bad mop either . The issue with this cleaner is one of tractability . With no carpet sleuthing , this vacuum ca n’t mechanically avoid soak carpets or rugs when mop , and it ’s fiddly have two brush roller to choose from and two bins .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The A11 is the latest , semi - affordable robot vacuity to pass through our labs and on paper it features a very impresive eyeglasses sheet : LiDAR navigation , powerful suction and mopping all for a price of around £ 400 .
This means at first coup d’oeil the iLIfe A11 sound too good to be true . Having exhaustively screen it for the past times we we can , fortuitously , support it largely lives up to its hope , delivering very good vacuuming ( for the most part ) . A few fiddly piece , specially with mopping , may put some hoi polloi off .
Design and features
From the outside , the iLife A11 depend much like any other robot vacuum cleaner that I ’ve reviewed recently : it ’s rotund and crushed , and dock in the low floor charger that will even fit under some bits of furniture .
Once I started to rummage around in the boxwood , I found that there were some differences . First , rather than having a single encounter bar , iLife provide too : one for carpets and a caoutchouc one for hard floors .
Having a speciality can be good , but this choice only really do work if you have all gruelling floor or all carpet . Having to prove and switch between the brush bars on mixed flooring is too much of a faff .
Both tumbler can get constipate with hair’s-breadth , but there ’s a hair - cutting tool located under the top dither of the golem next to the bin .
Actually I should say the plaza where the choice of bins goes . Rather than have a single unit that contains the water tank and mop cloth , iLife has done something different . The mow cloth pops in the bottom , as normal , but the weewee tankful is house in a disjoined bin that go inside the robot .
While the normal ABA transit number is a sizeable 450ml , the combined bin and water armored combat vehicle has a 300ml bin and 200ml pee armoured combat vehicle . It also introduces the problem of what to do with one bin while the other one is in exercise . I did n’t really wish having a lousy ABA transit number hanging around in a cupboard .
Underneath , it ’s business as commonly , with a single side brushwood , used for sweep dirt into the independent suction track .
There ’s a physical remote control in the box seat , for starting and quit clean and jerk and even for manual control . This all feels out - of - particular date , especially given the iLife A11 ’s telling LiDAR navigation system and mapping . I popped the remote back into the box and never missed it .
I found it intimately to get in touch the golem to my Wi - Fi and use the simple iLife app for dominance . After startle the first clean , the A11 builds a map . This is where LiDAR shows its power : it ’s loyal and exact at mapping .
There ’s an attempt to automatically generate rooms , but it ’s not very precise in my experience , and I found it good to use the dominance to combine rooms correctly . It ’s worth doing , as you could then tell the vacuum cleansing agent to clean a specific elbow room .
That ’s all you get with maps and it ’s not possible to rig practical boundaries , no - go area or no - swab zones from this part of the app ; strangely , when the robot is clean , there ’s an option to sum up a Virtual Wall . This selection should really be in the single-valued function section .
As with many budget golem vacuum cleaners , the iLife A11 can only store one mathematical function . If your home ’s on multiple levels , you ’ll have to pick which one you want the robot to tackle .
The latter deletion can be a particular problem , as the iLife A11 does n’t have a carpet sensor . stand by the mop on it , and it will happily run around your firm wetting any carpet or rugs that you have , unless you physically embarrass access to them . The similarly pricedYeedi Vac 2 Prohas carpet catching and no - mop zones , while the more expensiveRoborock S7 MaxV Ultracan lift its wipe up bracket up when it encounters rug .
What this means in practice , is that the iLife A11 is a better mathematical product if you ’ve got all hard floor or all carpet .
From the app , you may set the suction power ( ECO , Standard or Turbo ) , plus the Seepage , which is the amount of weewee the mop will use ( small , Medium or mellow ) . I obtain that High works best for my floors , but that ’s mostly because I have four cats traipsing clay in .
There ’s a standard clean clit , but there are alternative cleaning modes . Manual lets you drive the robot , but the Area fair largely makes this and the Spot Clean modes purposeless , as you could simply draw a box on the map that you want the dry cleaner to tackle . There ’s also a Twice alternative that catch the A11 to pass each area twice , plus a schedule option .
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are supported , with basic vocalism controls to start and stop a clean .
Performance
While it may be cheap , the iLife A11 is a quality vacuum cleaner , capable of tackle even tough spills . I set it about my test room , sprinkling a ‘ Adam ’ of flour onto carpet . The first passport was middling good , but a 2nd pass got the huge majority of this very tough spillway – most household dirt is n’t as intense .
Navigation was very good , and the A11 avoided getting trapped in my office electric chair ’s legs . I had no issues with this golem ’s movements .
Next , I went with the grueling floor tests , sprinkling flour in the middle of the floor and right up against the border board . Two mountain pass was optimal for this robot , and it got everything position in the middle of the room .
Against the kitchen cupboards , most of the mess was gone after a single pass .
A second pass managed to get fairly much everything . I ’ve see more expensive cleaners fail to clean as well .
To try mopping , I trampled in some malicious gossip and let it dry on the floor , then sent the iLife A11 around . Its wipe up organisation pumps piddle onto the material , which proves quite efficacious and more surface - layer stains , although it ca n’t scouring areas clean in the same way as theYeedi Vac 2 Pro .
I appraise the robot at a sober 64.9dB , which is middling quiet really : I find it easy enough to concentrate on other tasks while this robot was going about its business .
bombardment life is up to 150 - second on the minimum setting . I launch the cleaner on the middle power setting and chance enough juice to extend my downstairs , with ability go forth to tackle a second clean or field sporty if required .
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Should you buy it?
and want a authentic and powerful robot vacuum cleaner cleanser , this is a good selection .
this robot is fiddly to ensure . Those with homes with multiple levels will necessitate a golem that can store multiple mapping .
Final Thoughts
As an actual vacuum cleaner , the iLife A11 is an telling bit of outfit . It voyage well and is able of lactate up even difficult spills of crap . It ’s tractableness and constellation that slightly let the side down .
With space for only one mathematical function , the A11 is not that utile in multi - flat households . The lack of carpeting spotting or no - mop zone , also makes this a hard cleansing agent to recommend for household with mixed floor .
At this price , the Yeedi Vac 2 Pro is a better bet , while those that desire something dissimilar should checker out my guide to thebest robot vacuum cleaners .
Trusted Score
How we test
Unlike other sites , we prove every robot vacuum cleaner we survey exhaustively over an elongated period of time . We use manufacture stock run to equate features properly . We ’ll always narrate you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to reexamine a product .
Find out more about how we prove in ourethics policy .
FAQs
There ’s a rubber one for heavy floor and a encounter bar for carpet .
you’re able to control the level of water used , but the mop cloth is static and ca n’t scrub dirt .
Test Data
Full Specs
