iLife A6 – another robot vacuum from the Beetles family

If you’re new to the robot vacuum world, you’re reading this because you’re into the idea of having a machine do the chores for you. This may bring to mind an image of the Jetsons, but iLife A6 is a lot more sophisticated than Rosie the Robot Maid. Following the A4 released back in 2016, the A6 is the new all-purpose robotic vacuum cleaner introduced by the Chinese company only a couple of months ago. I’ve always wanted to test new and exciting robots so I was in a positive mood when I started with the A6. I hope you are on the same frequency with me. In the next few minutes, you’ll read an in-depth review of this Beetles bot and find out:

• just how developed this product truly is
• what are its positives and negatives
• how it compares with the iLife V7S Pro and iLife A4s
• from where to buy it

Appearance

Here’s how this robot looks:

Specifications

Cleaning Power

According to the producer, this vacuum comes with a Gen 2 CyclonePower 3-stage cleaning system. That’s a lot of fancy words for saying that it agitates, brushes sideways and sucks in the debris from the floor, just like any other robot vacuum. What’s actually new about this bot is the brushroll. This new part is made completely from rubber, in an effort to eliminate the tangling effect. As all the other iLife vacuums, it has multiple cleaning modes: auto (most used), spot, edge, scheduled and mini-room. There’s also a MAX button. If you press it, the vacuum will be set to the maximum power. Using this setting, I’ve tested the robot on both bare floors and thin carpets, against all types of debris (paper, rice, cornflour and cheerios). On carpets, the iLife A6 is excellent. Unfortunately, its performance is not so great on bare floors.

See Related Article: ILIFE A4s Robot Vacuum Cleaner Review 

Input Power and Battery Life

Since this is a vacuum that you can set and forget, you may be wondering how long the battery lasts and what goes into the process of recharging it. The great thing about this product is that it comes with a charging home base. If it’s 12 ft away or closer to this base and out of battery, it can recharge by itself. If you take a look at the top of the case, you will find a signal light. This light flashes in a series of different colors and each color has a specific message to help you determine the status of your iLife A6. When the light is flashing orange it can mean one of 2 things: the battery is running low or it’s currently charging. You’ll know the vacuum is done charging when the light turns to a solid green. When the vacuum is in use, the solid green light will indicate that is in cleaning mode. A red flashing light indicates that there is a robot error, meaning you may want to check it to make sure everything is working properly.

You may also be wondering how long it will take to charge the vacuum – it’s up to 5 hours. However, the first use requires an overnight charge. The light around the main button will turn green when the vacuum is ready for use. The battery should last about 160 minutes on a single charge. That gives about 3 hours of cleaning time between recharging. After the first use, it is a good idea to store the iLife A6 on the charging base; that way you never have to worry about it losing juice. A few tips for saving the battery life: the robot needs to be stored in a cool place when not in use and turned off properly.

Dust capacity

This vacuum cleaner can hold over 10 oz. of dust. It’s not the biggest capacity I’ve seen. The bin can be removed from the back of the robot by simply pressing a button. The process however can facilitate minor spills.

Filtration

This product comes with a HEPA filter and 2 separate washable filters, one made of foam and the other made of a synthetic cloth. The filtration system requires a little bit of maintenance to make sure it is running at optimal efficiency. You will want to clean the filters after 15-30 days of use. After 6 months of use, you will want to look into replacing the HEPA filter so that the vacuum may continue to perform at peak capacity.

Weight and Dimensions

The iLife A6 is a compact, light-weight robot. It is 12″ in diameter and 3.15″ in height. It weighs 5.6 lbs (2.25 kg).

Warranty

This product comes with a 1-year warranty. You can read more about what’s covered in the warranty directly on the site of the producer.

Accessories

The product has all the usual accessories. You don’t even have to buy the 2 AAA batteries for the remote control. The package contains:

• 1 Charging Home Base
• 1 Remote Control with batteries already mounted in
• 1 Adapter
• 1 Cleaning Tool
• 1 User Manual
• 2 Extra Side Brushes
• 1 Extra HEPA Filter
• 1 Extra Brushroll

Special features

Some of the special features include the virtual wall and the tangle free brushroll. Unfortunately, you can’t connect to it through a smartphone app. The A6 robot can be charged directly, because it features an outlet which can be connected directly to the adapter. A small dustbin wheel reduces the friction between the robot and the ground and adds up to the mobility.

Usability and Movement

This vacuum has an extensive range. It can easily cover 2200 square ft. You can use the remote control to tele-operate it directly or leave it into the capable hands of the auto-cleaning option, which allows you to press a button and forget about it. The spot cleaning option allows you to set the vacuum to clean a particular spot. The edge cleaning option allows you to set the vacuum to clean starting with the edges of the room. The product can also be scheduled to clean at a certain time, depending on your needs. The unit is not noisy, at around 68 db.

Price

Costs around $200. Check out this site for occasional deals.

iLife A6 vs iLife V7S Pro vs iLife A4S

	iLife A6	iLife V7S Pro	iLife A4S
Suction power	1000 Pa	600 Pa	1000 Pa
Brushroll type	Rubber	Rubber and bristles	Bristles
Side brushes	2	1	2
Wet mop	No	Yes	No
Noise	68 db	64 db	70 db
Dust capacity	10 oz	10 oz	15 oz

Conclusions and VGMrv

All in all, this is a robot that can bring you a lot of satisfaction. The design is flawless, and the cleaning power is more than decent. I like the slick black case and the quality of the materials which clearly detaches iLife from other Chinese manufacturers. Enough with all this procrastinating, here’s my VGMrv for this robot vacuum:

VGMrv table for iLife A6

What do you think, would you invest in a new iLife A6 robot vacuum? Have some questions? Comment below.