At this year’s IFA (we were also visiting) the Chinese robot vacuum manufacturer ILIFE was represented. The booth as such did not make much of an impression, but contained a novelty that could revive the highly competitive vacuum robot business: the new vacuum cleaner from the company ILIFE is named V80 and comes with intelligent planning of the cleaning procedures by space measurement and many other features. Does Xiaomi have to be afraid?

ILIFE had to retrofit. The Xiaomi suction robot has been the top runner in the household robot game for quite some time and, as the prices have dropped quite a bit in the last months, ILIFE had no choice but to come up with an impressive competitor. With the 32.0 x 32.0 x 8.0 cm and 2.7 kg ILIFE V80, the manufacturer would like to provide a meaningful answer to the growing competition. However, we look at the technical data: After a still very inaccurately indicated charging time of 4-8 h, the suction robot is equipped for its working time of 2 h. The V80 comes without a middle brush or rubber roller on the underside, the suction force should be so strong that these elements are not needed. How strong, however, is not yet known. However, the operating volume of 68 dB is also relatively noisy, but this is also logical with a high suction power. The dust chamber with filter of the V80 is significantly larger this time compared to the last ILIFE A6 with a capacity of 0.75 l.

What does the suction power of the ILIFE V80 promise?

What makes the V80 a typical ILIFE model is the usual charging station, over which the battery of the suction robot is charged and starts as well as automatically returns. Also the included remote control is a typical feature of the Chinese manufacturer. The vacuum cleaner works with two brush heads, as is already known from the V5S Pro or A4. The cleaning modes used by other models, such as Spot, Wall and MAX, will also be re-installed. The large LCD display on the top made of aluminum can be used to read the current cleaning mode or error messages.

But now the main sales argument of the ILIFE V80: He measures the premises before he starts to vacuum. ILIFE calls this “i-navigation”, the vacuum robot plans the smartest route through the four walls before he starts his service. If this works in practice reliably (from which it is quite possible, since it is with Xiaomi), that would be a very strong pro argument, no chaos principle more. A total of 10 groups of infrared bumper & gyroscope sensors (!) can be found in the small robot, which assist its navigation and prevent it from hitting obstacles and falling down stairs.

Of course, the starting time of the vacuum process can also be planned ahead and the robot cleaner can operate in automatic mode while working. Still, it is certainly a bit too early to make any assumptions or give a premature prognosis, but purely from the technical data, we definitely will get to work with a very good vacuum robot. No higher-class robot vacuum cleaners should go without space measurement any longer. ILIFE has recognized this trend and, with the V80, was able to present a competitive model. 

The new flagship of ILIFE is expected to be available in late 2017 and will be available for around $270. What do you think about the new ILIFE? Shall we test him for you?