Can you believe my surprise when iLife reached out to me to demo their product on this page? Let me give you a back story - I started this channel because I was so excited about the robot vacuum and I wanted to share that excitement and others to benefit from robot vacuum cleaners as well! And guess which brand I started with and still use - the iLife. Life’s come a full circle and I’m demoing a product that iLife sent to me.
Like in all my sponsored reviews, I accept the sponsorship only if I’m allowed to speak of both what’s great and what could be better in the product - so viewers can make an informed decision. So let’s jump right in.
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Let’s start with the basics - this robot vacuum has a height of about 2.99 inches - making it easy to move below low rise furniture like sofas. It has 2 side brushes and also comes with 2 spare brushes that can be changed when required.
The suction power is 2000 pa - comparable or better than most models at this pricepoint and the noise levels are not too high - it’s quite tolerable and does not disturb.
It takes about 5 hours to get to a full charge but once charged can run for about 100min (over 1.5 hours). The charging dock is fairly sleek and small and can be hidden in plain sight - like I have placed it under my tv unit. It can also be kept under the sofa. It does have only a 2400mah battery - which is slightly lower compared to most other newer models available around this pricepoint - which starts at over 3000 mah.
Let’s talk about the best part of a robot vacuum cleaner - the sweeping capability. Similar to most new robot vacuum cleaner - this robot vacuum also has multiple cleaning options to ensure optimal cleaning of your home.
It uses a Brushless motor, you have 2 detachable side brushes which help to redirect all loose dust towards the robot vacuum.
The iLife B5 max uses infrared sensing to sense obstacles, height changes and corners. Path mode, random mode, spot cleaning, edge cleaning - all of these are fairly standard and are available in the iLife B5 Max robot vacuum as well. This robot vacuum does require light to sense obstacles better.
Unlike random navigation, the path based navigation sufficiently ensures coverage of the house. It starts from cleaning the corners of the house and then the center.
You can schedule a time to start the robot vacuum either using the mobile app or the remote. I’ll talk about the mobile app functionality later on.
It also has a mode to make sure the robot is able to retreat when it gets stuck with wires or in difficult areas. While most robot vacuums claim anti tangle - they do not do so well with loose items on the floor and that is same for the iLife B5max as well. You will need to remove loose items from the floor.
If the robot vacuum is in the same room as the dock, it can find the dock easily when out of charge. But if it is far away from the dock, say in another room, since there is no map saved, it cannot find very home easily. It will start navigating around the edges till it can come close to the dock - which can take some time.
Let’s talk about mopping. I have always maintained the mopping in a robot vacuum cleaner is just OK and not as good as hand sweeping, but it is a great option to have for day to day cleaning. In the iLife B5Max as well - you can do mopping and sweeping at the same time. It’s got an intelligent water tank that stops the flow of water when the machine stops - so that it does not leave a big puddle of water. While there is a water tank available, it is just 50ml - which is quite low and requires refilling a few times for a 1500 sq ft house. But in general - like I have always said - sweeping is done so well that mopping on a daily basis may not be required. The mopping cloth can be hand or machine washed and changed occasionally once in 3-4 months. It is recommended not to use liquid detergent so the water outlet pores don’t get clogged.
One of the biggest pains in a robot vacuum cleaner is cleaning the dust bin. This is where the iLife B5 Max excels - there are two options here:
The dustbin is about 600ml - which only needs to be emptied once in 3 days for a 1500 sq ft house. What I love the most about this bin is that while emptying the bin - the mechanism is such that your hands don’t get dirty at all. The dust can drop easily into the bin - similar to how the Dyson cordless vacuum is. I love this feature in this robot vacuum.
In addition, the iLife B5 max applies a cyclone dustbin principle - which ensures that the already collected dust does not block the dust still being collected. It does this by filling the bin on the sides and back and only then filling the front of the bin. It also optimizes the utilization of space in the dustbin such that larger garbage is collected in the front and smaller at the back.
You also have an option of a disposable bag of 1L. 1L in my opinion can last for over a week - upto about 2 weeks based on the size of your house and cleaning schedule. Each dustbag costs Rs. 150 if you would like to go this route. In my opinion - the larger bin size and the ability to clean the bin easily is good enough than to go for this disposable dustbin.
Let’s talk about the usability features a bit.
You can control this robot vacuum using both mobile app and a remote.
In the remote, you can navigate the robot vacuum, set the cleaning modes and send the robot vacuum home for recharging.
In the mobile app -
you can see a live map of the cleaning - by this you can identify which parts of the house have been cleaned and which have not. While maps cannot be saved unlike higher priced models, this is a good alternate option than not having one at all.
You can schedule cleaning in the robot vacuum and see the cleaning record for the last 7 days.
You can set the cleaning modes and adjust suction power. Typically - if you have pets at home or more carpeted area - you may want to select a higher suction power. Else a lower suction power at about 40-50% is sufficient.
You can set the water flow - based on how strong you want the mopping to be - gentle, standard and strong.
In addition, you can see the when the parts like the HEPA filter, brushes etc need to be changed and also troubleshoot any issues with the robot vacuum using this
In addition to all of this - you can also control the robot vacuum using Alexa and Google home. You can start, stop, pause, resume and find the robot using these.
You can connect the iLife B5 Max to wifi either using a wireless router or mobile hotspot.
Let’s talk about ongoing maintenance. There are a few things that need regular maintenance and changed on a frequent basis. Most of these spares are available on the links mentioned below:
The bins have multiple filters - one amongst them is a HEPA filter. This HEPA filter can remove fine particles of dust as well. You will get an indication in the app when these filters are due for change but in general - they have to be changed within 4-5 months and cost about Rs. 350 per filter.
The bristles in the side brushes can get bent, damaged or start falling out. At that time, you can change the side brushes easily - without any screws required. One spare set of side brushes come with the box. Any additional can be purchased at Rs. 390 per pair. If you maintain the brushes well - removing hair if stuck, it can last you a really long time. For example - in my v5s pro, I have not changed the side brushes even after 1.5 years.
The mop pads need to be changed when dirty and can cost about Rs. 200 per mop pad.
Previously - I have received questions / concerns about service of iLife. So I’d like to clarify that here as well:
iLife offices are based out of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. If product needs to be shipped to them, they arrange for pickup and drop. In warranty period, shipping is free. Outside warranty period, it is charged.
In the warranty booklet you get with the box, the website and phone numbers are global numbers - which may not work well for India. You have to contact their local service center - you can find the number on their website ilifecare.in
Let’s talk about what I like best about this product and what could have been better. Ofcourse this is comparison with products around the pricepoint of iLife B5 Max - not higher priced products.
Best:
Better suction power than most models around this price point
No touch dustbin emptying mechanism is awesome. Also has the option of using dustbags
Path based cleaning unlike random cleaning which most robot vacuums at this price point offer
What could have been better:
Mop tank size is only 50 ml - so requires frequent refills - but like I’ve said earlier as well - at this pricepoint and robot vacuums in general, mopping efficiency is just good enough
Battery capacity is only 2400 mah. With no recharge and resume from the same place where it stopped, this can be an issue for larger houses
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