I got a buzz in the door today and got a package from DHL that turned out to be the ILIFE V7S.
If you’re not yet familiar with the ILIFE brand – it is also known as the Chuwi or Beetles and is sold by GearBest.com. They export to various countries that include North America, South American, Europe and Asia.
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GearBest has now discontinued selling the ILIFE V7S. This variant will soon be replaced by the V7S Pro with several key improvements over the V7S. This includes a new water tank that regulars the flow of water from the tank to pad and the ability to schedule this to mop on its own.
According to ILIFE, the new water tank comes with a regulator that stops water from dripping when the robot is not in use. This allows you to schedule the robot for mopping tasks that was not possible before this upgrade. If you want to learn more about the V7S Pro, I’ve written a detailed review about it here.
Compared to the A4 and X5, I’m pretty impressed with the glossy finish though I’m not a big fan of the color.
But beauty is only skin deep, we’re here to talk about what matters – cleaning performance.
The V7S is like an X5 on steroids literally.
Overall it is taller, wider and has a larger dirt bin, water tank, equipped with a motorized brush and has a larger microfiber towel. Plus it comes with a two filter system.
Since the microfiber towel covers even the motorized brush, you cannot use this to dry mop and vacuum at the same time.
The only downgrade, if you call it a downgrade is the number of side brushes – it only has one compared to the two found in the A4, X5 and V7.
A quick look at the features
- A dual purpose robot vacuum and mop capable of 3 functions –dry mopping, wet mopping and vacuuming
- 4 cliff sensors prevent this from dropping down stairs
- 2 pre-programmed settings – spot and edge cleaning to go with auto cleaning mode
- You can schedule this to clean at a specific time, once a day, seven days a week
- Has one side brush
- Comes with a dry bin (500ml capacity) for vacuuming and a 450ml water tank for damp mopping
- Only produces 60 decibels
- Remote control (and 2 AAA-batteries included)
- 300 minute recharge time and 140 minute run time
- 1 year warranty
Pros
- Large water tank and dirt bin means a larger cleaning radius
- Double V brush provides added agitation especially on carpet
- Charging station has storage space for the remote
- Easy to use
- Despite being the tallest of the ILIFE robot vacuums – it is still shorter than a Roomba or Neato which means it will go under most furniture
Cons
- No HEPA filtration
- Wide body means it will not fit in tight areas – especially in between legs of chairs
- Pre-programmed settings lacks sophistication
- Navigation system while effective is not efficient and will just run until the battery runs out
What to expect from the ILIFE V7S?
When I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised at the finish. It had a glossy rose gold finish that does make it easy to clean using a microfiber towel.
Here’s a video I recorded to show you the different features and what to expect from this robot…
This robot is big (I already noticed the box is bigger than the other ILIFE robots I got previously). And when I placed it side by side, it is around an inch wider the ILIFE X5 and the size of the mop almost doubles in size and the wheels are much bigger.
Just look at this photo…
Unlike the X5 or the A4, it only has one side brush but I don’t think it will affect the cleaning performance that much.
Other robot vacuums like the Neato BotVac and Roomba 900 series only have one side brush. And it still performs well in cleaning tests so I expect it to be the same with the V7S.
What comes in the box?
ILIFE was pretty generous here.
As you’ve seen in the photo above you will get the following:
- V7S robotic vacuum
- Charging base (and plug)
- Remote control (they’ve included 2 AAA-batteries)
- Cleaning brush
- 2 extra filters
- 1 extra side brush
- Extra microfiber mop
- User manual (in English and Chinese).
I’d like to mention to the charging base that has storage space for the remote control.
This is a nice touch and helps you not misplace the remote control. It is an essential feature to this robot since you cannot set the schedule on the robot itself.
Double V brush
One of my favorite features of the V7S is the motorized brush – that GearBest calls a double-V brush.
Double V because of the shape of the bristles and squeegee that looks like two Vs on top of one another – the extra squeegee brush provides added agitation on carpet to help loosen up dirt like pet hair.
I like it because it is a similar to the old Neato XV series and Connected vacuums that have been tested to perform great cleaning pet hair on most surfaces.
This may be offset by the weak suction of the V7S because out of the 5 ILIFE robots, the V7S and the V7 have the weakest suction at only 400Ps and it lacks a boost function that the other 3 variants have.
Large Mop
When you compare this to the X5 or the V5 Pro, the microfiber mop almost doubles in size.
What does this mean? It simply means more room covered. You will be able to clean a larger room using the mopping functionality and not soil the microfiber towel as quickly as you would in the X5.
The downside is since the mop covers the vacuum, you won’t be able to use this to vacuum and dry mop at the same time – something you could do with the X5 or the V5 Pro.
Wet Mopping and Vacuuming Functionality
This robot is capable of doing three things – dry/damp mopping, wet mopping and vacuuming.
It has a 500ml dry dirt bin that you attach for vacuuming and a 450ml water tank for wet mopping.
Dry dirt bin (500ml capacity)
Water tank (450ml capacity)
The robot detects this and will turn on the vacuum motor when it detects the dry bin installed and turn off the vacuum when the tank is installed.
Damp mopping is a preferred method when cleaning surfaces like hardwood because wood and water do not mix and using a wet mop could possibly damage the surface.
Dry mopping is a great option if you want to remove a lot of static filled dust that the robot might have missed when vacuuming.
No HEPA filtration
The secondary filter included in this robot does not have HEPA filtration. If this is a concern with you then you should probably go with the X5.
I’ve already confirmed this with GearBest and they said that yup it does not have HEPA filtration.
Wide
This robot measures around 13.39 inches in diameter or more than an inch wider the A4 and X5 so if you have a lot of stool type chairs with narrow gaps, you may want to take these out of the room before turning letting this robot loose.
Scheduling
When you look at the remote you will notice that there is a built-in clock. I didn’t know the purpose of it until I used the scheduling feature.
To use the scheduling feature you need to set the time first because the robot will use this as a reference to tell the robot when to clean.
So let’s say you’ve set the schedule to 9:30AM, when the clock strikes 9:30AM on the remote, it triggers a signal and lets wakes the robot up to clean.
Take note that if you take off the batteries, the schedules stored will be erased.
Navigation
Pretty much all ILIFE robot vacuums have similar navigational algorithm. It isn’t as sophisticated as more expensive robot cleaners like the Dyson 360Eye, Neato BotVac Connected and the Roomba 980 but it still gets the job done.
At first glance you’d think that ILIFE put the same cleaning pattern found in the Roomba 700 series but as I’ve used these products for the past several weeks there are differences.
Roomba (with the exception of the 980), goes in a random direction altogether while the ILIFE does more of a crisscross pattern and alternates that with edge cleaning.
Since this variant does not have any virtual wall, the best way to utilize this is to let it clean one room at a time with the doors closed to give it the best chance to clean every nook and cranny.
This robot will just run and run until it runs low on battery before going back to home base.
It lacks the camera based navigation found in the 3 top-of-the-line robots I mentioned earlier but you’ll only pay literally a fraction of the price of those robots so I don’t mind it at all to be honest.
Clear all obstacles
As with all robot vacuums, make sure to clear all wires, small toys and such. Loose wires is the biggest kryptonite of a robot vacuum.
It is very particular with wires, any loose wire that’s in the way – it will get tangled up almost 100% of the time.
Another trouble spot would be overhangs – though it will try to fight its way through it but there are times that will get just wedge itself.
For small pieces of toys, the robot will just toy on its tracks and have an error code, nothing major just flip it over and remove the small toy on the vacuum inlet.
Bare Floor Cleaning
In terms of cleaning bare floor in my case linoleum flooring (it looks like hardwood but it’s linoleum), the V7S does clean well.
My main concern would be navigation near the charging base because the robot does not seem to want to clean the area near it. If you have a large mess near the charging base, you’ll be better off removing the charging base as you will see in this video…
In terms of performance the V7S will clean hard surfaces despite being the weakest of the 5 power wise.
The side brush will fling particles out of the way. This is a common problem with robotic vacuums that have it so this shouldn’t be a big concern.
Here’s the before photo…
The after with the charging base plugged in. You will notice that bits and pieces of oatmeal and rock salt scattered near it.
After I removed the charging base, the robot was able to clean pretty much everything.
A photo of the dirt bin filled up…
You have to be careful removing the dirt bin so the contents doesn’t spill, you can do that by tilting it downward as you remove it.
In this cleaning test I compare the V7S to the Xiaomi Robot Vacuum cleaning 70 grams of rolled oats and powder…
Despite having much less power, it was able to hold it’s own against the more powerful and more high tech Xiaomi. It’s only a 3 gram difference but the MI vacuum was much more efficient.
Mopping
Here’s a mopping video I recorded to show you how this robot navigates on mop mode…
This is a very long video because I didn’t fast forward the video just to show you in real time the mopping functionality.
At the start the robot is really slow. I had to stop it a few times to check the wheels, water tank and beater bar to see if something was stuck.
I also checked the side brush and if everything was fastened properly including the bracket for the water tank. It eventually moved around better but it moves more slowly on mop mode compared to vacuum mode.
Product Specifications
Battery type | Lithium ion |
Charger type | Charging dock |
Charge time | approx. 5 hours |
Water tank capacity | 0.45 liters |
Dirt capacity (dry) | 0.5 liters |
Run Time ![]() | 140 mins |
Net weight (with battery) | 6.5 pounds |
Shipping weight | 12.78 pounds |
Diameter | 13.39 inches |
Height | 3.15 inches |
Multi Room ![]() | ![]() |
Self docking ![]() | ![]() |
Remote control | ![]() |
Hepa filtration | ![]() |
Cliff detection ![]() | ![]() |
Self adjusting ![]() | ![]() |
Side brush | ![]() |
Full bin indicator ![]() | ![]() |
Stair Cleaning | ![]() |
Cleaning sessions per week ![]() | 7 |
Extra Filter | 2 |
Containment ![]() | None |
Brush cleaning tools | 1 |
Accessories included | Charging base A/C adapter Remote (AAA-batteries included) 2 extra filters 1 brush cleaning tool 2 extra side brushes |
Voltage | auto volt |
Manufactured in | China |
Warranty | 1 year (learn more) |
Conclusion
The ILIFE V7S is great for home that have a mix of bare floor and carpet because it is has a large microfiber mop and water tank. This allows it to wet mop surfaces like tile and linoleum.
It also comes with a beater bar that helps agitate clean at least surface dirt on carpet. This helps prevent dirt from pilling up.
It has a large 500ml dry dirt bin for vacuuming and a 450ml water tank for mopping. So this vacuum will cover a lot of ground before having to empty it.
You can schedule this to clean at a specific time once a day for seven days a week and upgrade over the X5.
Nope it does not have any virtual wall. So it will be best to let this clean one room at a time because it will not have the sophistication of a Dyson 360 Eye but that robot costs over $1,000!
Overall this is a good budget option for homes with low pile carpet and bare floor.
Comments on this entry are closed.
According to http://www.iliferobot.com/list-46.html, it does have HEPA.
What would be the best current budget(<$200) robot vacuum with mop, for a bare floor only flat? X5, V7S(less suction power but probably makes up for it otherwise?), or something else?
Thank you.
The V7S (now the V7S Pro) is a great option because of the mopping functionality. The upgraded version has an improved water tank that has a regulator that stops water from dripping when the robot is turned off.
Don’t worry about the lack of power because the brush roll design makes up for the lack of power.
Hello. Thank you for your review! A quick note. In the tabel you write that the vacuum cleaner has Hepa filtration, but it doesn’t (as you write in the text).
Thanks for the heads-up! I’ve made the changes
Garrick, please note that V7S in no more available at GearBest. The provided link directs to Pro version (pre-order)
Yes, that’s true. They’ve pulled out the V7S, the V7S Pro is the replacement.
Where can I find the replacement battery for this model V7S? The battery will be not able to charged anymore in some days.
Thanks