iLife V7S Pro vs iLife A6 vs Neato Botvac D5 Connected vs Xiaomi Mi robot vacuums

It was about time to make a comparison between the newest, most interesting robot vacuum cleaners out there. This market has literally taken off, with new releases coming out once every 8-10 months from any respectable producer. I find this behavior in line with what we can see in the uprights and canisters sector. It’s hard to survive now if you’re just starting out. Take the case of the Dyson 360 Eye e.g.; it is already 3 years old. Some people don’t buy 3 years old products out of principle. Especially in a market such as this, with lots of tech avid gadgeteers which are just craving for the newest juicy robot. If one wants to remain on top of the industry, it needs to make new products or at least improve upon the old ones on a regular basis. Companies such as the China-based iLife, Neato Robotics or Xiaomi are at the moment at the peak of the sales chain because they’ve understood the way things work in this environment. With this competition around, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dyson abandons the Eye project. Here’s the outline of this story:

Let’s take iLife as a starting point. I’ve got all my iLife test products from GearBest. I’m pretty sure there are other bloggers out there who received a similar treatment. This is an independent Chinese wholesaler which specializes in all kind of gadgets, not just robotic vacuums. GearBest is hosting a promotion these days, but I’ll get on that later. I’ve seen iLife robots in other China web malls, including Alibaba/AliExpress. By the way, Alibaba just announced an increase in sales with 45%, which is even more than analysts have expected. This means that everybody is buying things in this consumerism era. iLife was lucky enough to reach a good market, thanks to the promotional opportunities identified by the marketing teams of these wholesalers. GearBest e.g. always offers discounts and coupon codes for the iLife family. This kind of customer-oriented approach attracted thousands of consumers. Another interesting fact is that iLife releases new or updated vacuums frequently. Just this year, they’ve come up with 2 new models, iLife V7S Pro and iLife A6. That’s a long way to go from their first product, the successful iLife V7 which I’ve reviewed a couple of years ago. So today I’ll be including these 2 robots in my comparison. I decided to keep both of them because they have fundamentally different cleaning capabilities; you’ll see in a few moments what exactly I mean by saying that.

Xiaomi is a new player on this market. Actually, Xiaomi is targeting home automation more than home cleaning. However, they stroke gold with their Xiaomi Mi robot. The product had so much success they even changed their original strategy and translated the Xiaomi app from Chinese to English. At the moment, the Mi is their only robot vacuum, so there’s not much to say about their evolution in time in this area. Their approach is to make gadgets better and cheaper than competition, and they certainly outdone themselves with this product. That is why Mi gets to be included today in my comparison.

Neato Robotics on the other hand is a US based company. Just like Apple, they make all designs in US, but manufacture in China. From this perspective, all the robots compared in this article are actually made in China. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of a company which produces robot vacuums and actually manufactures them in US. It’s simply too costly. However, if you’ll looking to buy a vacuum cleaner made in our country, you can check out this list. Now, returning to our business, I got in contact with Neato Botvac line some time ago, when I first presented the D75/D80/D85 units. Meanwhile, Neato updated their D series with D3, D5 and Connected models. The Botvac Connected is the top version, the most complete. However, I’ve chosen to include here the D5 instead, since this product has in my opinion the best price/quality ratio.

Appearance – comparing the looks

Here are 2 picks, one with the top view and the other with the bottom view for iLife V7S Pro, Xiaomi and Neato D5:

Here’s also a pic with the top and bottom of the iLife A6:

As you see, there’s a really big difference between these 4 models, appearance wise. Personally, I like the mat white of the Xiaomi. iLife proposes a glossy pink on its V7S Pro and a slick black case on its A6. Neato is more conservative, but maintains a certain elegance with its D shaped bot.

Dimensions: which is the fittest?

The smallest of them is the iLife A6. This info may be useful if you have really low furniture. In my case, even the highest Neato managed to get under all the pieces of furniture from my home without any issues. Another important aspect is the size of the brush roll. The longest is of course the one installed on the D5, whilst the smallest is the one from the A6. Weight and diameter don’t really matter from my point of view, but I’ve listed them anyways just in case somebody needs them:

Cleaning power – assessing the real efficiency

The cleaning power results from a combination of features such as the design of the product itself, the agitation performed by the brush roll and by the optional 1 or 2 side brushes and most important, the suction. As for measuring the cleaning power of each of the robots, I’ve tested them on both hard floors and low pile carpet, against debris such as paper, rice, cheerios and cornflour. This palette of dirt shows us exactly how good would these perform in the specific situation of vacuuming only one spot. To make the process as objective as possible, I’ve tested them on the highest suction setting. In order to get the big picture, you have to corroborate this information with the way robots actually move in the environment, the way they filter the intake, the size of their bin and so on.  The side brushes also pay an important role. All robots except the iLife A6 have 1 side brush. The iLife A6 comes with 2. Side brushes need not only to be long enough, but also to have a good stiffness. Their purpose is to redirect some of the debris outside the reach of the brush roll into the suction path. Mopping is sometimes featured by producers, in order to reach a larger customer base. However, I don’t find this feature as useful as others. I would prefer a product which vacuums really well over a product which mops and vacuums in a mediocre way. Nevertheless, I’ve included information about this feature here. Out of these 4 products, only the iLife V7S Pro can mop.

The results speak for themselves. As you can see from the table below, apparently the most efficient of them is Neato D5. In my opinion, both the Neato D5 and Xiaomi score really well at this chapter.

Batteries, one of the most important variables

Batteries are one of the most important elements of autonomous machinery. They power up all the systems employed by the robots, including the sensors, the wheels, the suction engine and the internal computer. As a general rule of thumb, the better the batteries, the more they can do. Cheap units, with poor outdated Ni-Mh batteries ordeal with their tasks. New Li-Ion high amperage batteries are much more suitable for this type of machines, not to mention the fact that they can be maintained much easier. Thus all robot vacuums compared here have Li-Ion batteries. As you can see from the table below, the best one is installed on the Xiaomi Mi. Neato D5 and Connected versions have a “High Capacity” cell which also come pretty close to Xiaomi’s parameters. All the Li-Ion batteries have usually a 6 months warranty. This applies to all the reviewed products.

All the robots presented above have auto-recharging mechanisms. Of course, those installed on D5 and Mi are really dependable, thanks to their mapping algorithms. As for the others, both iLife units can sense their changing bay from approx. 12 ft. away, which does leave room for error, especially if you plan to use them in a multi-room household.

Dust bin: how much space is enough?

Usually when talking about the dust bin of a robot vacuum, I like to cover to subjects: its size and the access easiness. The hardest bin to access is installed in the D5. Fortunately, this recipient is also the biggest, so I can be tolerant in this case. Next in line comes the iLife A6. The easiest to access is in my opinion the bin of Xiaomi. Here’s the capacity data:

I usually clean the bin after every usage. If you’re like me 10 oz could suit you just fine. However, I applaud Neato’s generous size, which allows consumers to vacuum really large areas.

Navigation. Smart guidance vs brute force

Neato D5 and Xiaomi Mi are similar at this chapter, in a sense that they both use a laser sensor to scan the environment and build an internal map which is used and updated continuously under the umbrella of the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) algorithm. Both vacuums can be commanded from mobile apps, but I’ll cover that in one of the following sections. Suffice to say that you can’t really tele-operate these bots: you’ll have to let them do their own thing. Both start with the edges of the room and them make their way towards the center, covering everything with zigzag movements. Both the D5 and the Mi can be contained using magnetic strips. However, only Neato includes this strip in their package. As for the other 2 iLifes, these don’t have a laser sensor and thus rely only on their IR/bumpers and on their internal gyroscope to get information cues from the working environment. Unlike the V7S Pro, the A6 comes with a virtual wall, which may come in handy if you own a highly cluttered home. Both iLifes can engage in the following cleaning modes: Auto Cleaning, Spot Cleaning, Edge Cleaning and Scheduled Cleaning. All 4 robots avoid cliffs successfully.

Filters, important for health

Filters are really important, not only for allergic or asthmatic persons, but for everybody who wants to live a better and longer life. The V7S Pro has the weakest filtration, featuring only a washable double filter. Its package contains 2 extra changes. Next in line comes the A6, which does come with a HEPA and 2 separate washable filters. Unfortunately, the HEPA is pretty small and the A6 box only contains 1 replacement. The Xiaomi Mi has a larger HEPA. It’s not washable, but it can probably last you a year or so. There’s no extras included in the Xiaomi package. Neato on the other hand wins this round because it comes equipped with the largest HEPA and includes one extra replaceable in their box.

Usability: are these robots easy peasy?

All the robots can work right out of the box. All producers recommend a good initial charge which should last a night or so. The iLifes can be operated using the remote controls which are included in the package, together with the required AAA batteries. The Xiaomi and the D5 can be put to work using the minimal buttons located on the top of their case. Their advantage however is the fact that they can be connected to your home WiFi and commended via smartphone. There’s not much too say about the process of connecting the 2 robots to your personal router. This should be a 5 minute job. One thing to pay attention: both Neato D5 and Xiaomi Mi work only on 2.4 GHz frequency, which may not be supported by some of the newest routers out there. If I were to choose among the 2 apps, I would go with the one from Xiaomi because I can see the map and fine-tune the suction power of the robot. In the case of Neato, you’ll have to buy the premium Connected version to achieve that. Fun fact: Xiaomi updated their app about a month ago; it was for a long time available only in Chinese. The best user manual comes from Neato.

Noise – the louder, the worse

Here’s the noise table. Keep in mind I’ve recorded the noise output on both the lowest and the highest suction modes:

Accessories. What’s included

Robotic vacuum cleaners don’t need lots of accessories. The most complete kit is displayed by the V7S Pro. It comes with 2 extra filters, a remote control with separate batteries, a special recipient for mopping and an extra cleaning cloth, an extra side brush and a plastic cleaning brush, not to mention the manual, the adapter and the charging base. The most spartan is Xiaomi’s. The cheapest accessories are those for the iLife vacuums. $20 can bring you a kit which contains 4 side brushes, 2 HEPA filters and a brush roll. An accessory set for Xiaomi which contains a brush roll, 2 side brushes, 2 HEPA filters and a cleaning brush costs approx. $40. Neato voids warranty if you purchase parts from 3rd party sellers. Also, they don’t offer accessory sets which contain a brush roll, and their parts are much more expensive.

Warranty

All products have a 1-year warranty, and depending from where you make the purchase, you may enjoy a period of time with the money-back guarantee from 15 to 45 days.

Price

The cheapest from these robots is the V7S Pro, which costs around $150 (customs not included). The A6 if one of the most expensive iLifes, at $200+. Xiaomi revolves around $350 and the D5 is $450 or so. The prices change with the promotions/deals one can find at certain times.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the best of these is the Neato Botvac D5 Connected. I’ve rated this product with a VGMrv of 93. Next in line and really close to the winner is the Xiaomi Mi, with 92 points. I’m not sure the difference between these 2 products is worth the price gap. iLife V7S Pro is rated by me with 91 points and the iLife A6 accumulates 89 points. All are really good products, and if money wasn’t an issue, the D5 would be the one I warmly recommend. However, you can get a decent unit with a price which is 3 times less than Neato’s. So for those of you who can not afford to spend too much on such a commodity, the obvious solution is the V7S Pro. Things are really debatable, thus I invite you to join this conversation.

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Jason Roberts

Founder and executive reviewer at Vacuums Guide

I'm Jason Moe Roberts, an appliances expert and blogger. I've worked at Walmart for more than 15 years, in the house appliance department. I love to use home equipment and I spend a lot of time testing the best products and reviewing them. My family and friends also recommend me as a caring person, a great dad and a loving husband.

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