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The ILIFE V8s comes from a brand that has never struggled to impress in the world of robot vacuums. Their V3s Pro is particularly notable and best known here on the site not only for winning our ranking of the best budget robot vacuums around, but even breaking the Roomba and Eufy duopoly in our feature covering the best robot vacuums overall. Value for money has been at the centre of the Chinese manufacturer’s approach and the V3s’ score in that regard undoubtedly helped it to crack the top spots. The ILIFE V5s Pro also fared particularly well in that regard and so we expect more of the same from the V8s. That model introduced an admittedly slightly underwhelming mopping function which continues here and any improvement in the area will undoubtedly end up being something we focus on heavily. Vacuuming performance is paramount, of course, and all will be discussed and revealed over the course of our full ILIFE V8s review.
- Value for Money 75%
- Battery Life 80%
- Durability 75%
- Suction Power 70%
- Noise 75%
- Connectivity 75%
Key Features
- Large 0.75-litre dust box
- HEPA filter to aid pet owners and allergy sufferers in their cleaning efforts
- Wet mopping function with 0.35-litre water tank
- Decent 100-minute run time for small and medium homes
- Six different cleaning modes for the most appropriate treatment of different surfaces
- Mechanical keys on the unit ensure that the remote control is not essential at all times
The ILIFE V8s certainly looks the part when it arrives, and you’ll immediately feel like you’ve received an upgrade if you’ve used one of the lower-priced models previously. As good as the V3s and V5s Pro models are, they are relatively nondescript – although that tends to be expected of the robot vacuums that tackle the lower-priced end of the market. The V8s changes this with controls on the unit itself, together with a bright LCD screen that lets you know what the robovac has in mind at a glance.
The box contents are relatively standard in terms of what we expect from the company, with a couple of spare side brushes and an extra filter joining the robot vacuum itself and the base unit. The presentation has always been a strong suit of ILIFE, and they have not let their standards slip as they tackle a higher price point.
Cleaning power is a priority regardless of your budget as if a robot vacuum cannot get the job done; it is basically worthless. The quality of the 1,000 Pa of suction on the ILIFE V8s lives up to its billing on paper, but we have to admit that it feels somewhat underwhelming for the price. Saying that brings the Roomba 671 to mind, which gets by on 600 Pa of suction and still makes an appearance on our list of the best robot vacuums. However, it uses iRobot’s unique technologies, together with heavy-duty brushes and filters to ensure that suction power isn’t everything. The V8s does not have such an advantage. We would expect at least 1,200 Pa of suction when that is the defining factor in cleaning capabilities at this price point, and this robotic vacuum cleaner falls short.
In genuinely practical terms, the cleaning results are not bad by any means, and the V8s does get the job done – just about. Our issue stems from the fact that you can get the same job done for a far lower price. The Deik Robot Vacuum is the cheapest robot vacuum that we recommend at the time of publication, and its cleaning results are just as good, if not better, and at less than half the price.
Something that the ILIFE V8s does have in its favour compared to others at this price point is that it is a robot vacuum/robot mop hybrid. It ranks among the cheapest options for anyone seeking such functionality, although its sister model, the V5s Pro, does a similar job. The Coredy R500+ is technically less expensive off the shelf, but the water tank must be purchased separately and, as we discovered in our review, it probably is not worth the effort.
Sadly, even though the V8s is ready to perform a wet clean out of the box, we have to question, yet again, whether it is up to the task. Just as the vacuuming quality is underwhelming, the same accusation can be levelled at the mopping. It is not all bad news, as the ILIFE does what it claims to and carries out a wet mop on hard surfaces as and when required. It does make a noticeable difference, but will not be enough to impress those that are usually inclined to do the mopping themselves. If you don’t mop your floors, as a rule, you’ll get some benefit out of it. However, if you want your hard surfaces to feel truly clean, it is not time to put the mop and bucket out with this week’s rubbish just yet.
We rarely spend this long feeling underwhelmed as part of any robot vacuum review, and it may well stem from high expectations based on the ILIFE robot vacuums that we have reviewed previously. Even so, there are areas in which the V8s does impress, such as with the dust box. It is neither the most glamorous or exciting part of any robot vacuum, but bigger generally means better and, at 0.75 litres, it is definitely on the larger side. In practical terms, it can cope with particularly dirty floors in a single trip, and you will not need to empty it as often once you get into a routine.
The battery performance is as good as we have come to expect from ILIFE too and you can rely on 100 minutes of run time on a single charge and a reasonable five-hour recharge time before the V8s is back to capacity.
Finally, we come to connectivity. The ILIFE V8s is immediately in a tricky spot as it is difficult to know what to expect, even for experienced reviewers such as ourselves. Some robot vacuums in this price range come with all the connectivity bells and whistles, such as support for mobile apps, Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Others stick to the infra-red remote control and the V8s falls into the latter category.
The remote is not a necessity thanks to the extensive controls on the robovac itself, but it does come in handy and achieves everything we have come to expect from ILIFE’s remotes. As well as starting and stopping a clean, you can also schedule a single clean each day to take full advantage of that large dust box.
ILIFE V8s – Pros and Cons
- Among the cheapest robot vacuums that can handle conventional cleaning and mopping
- 100 minute run-time and 300 minute charge time make for impressive battery performance
- 0.75-litre dust box is on the larger side and cuts down on how often the robovac must be emptied
- Cleaning on carpets is not as good as closest competitors despite 1,000 Pa suction
- Water tank seal seemingly needs refinement as prone to leaking after a while
- More connectivity expected at this price point
ILIFE V8s – The Verdict
We have to admit that after putting the ILIFE V8s through its paces, we would actually prefer it if they stuck to the budget robot vacuum market. Their efforts there across both the V3s Pro and V5s Pro are hugely impressive and the company manages to stand out by simply cramming so much in at such an attractive price point that the value for money rating is through the roof. Once you break through the £200 barrier which, barring discounts and promotions, the V8s does, the competition soon hots up. It does have its good points, such as the size of the dust box and the active cleaning time on a single charge, but we simply cannot overlook the fact that neither the vacuuming or wet mopping are overly impressive. Among our roles in maintaining Robovac.co.uk is to assist any potential buyer in getting the right robot vacuum for their needs and budget, and it is difficult to envision a scenario where the ILIFE V8s is the best possible option.
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ILIFE V8s Review
The biggest issue facing the ILIFE V8s is the fact that at this price point, it no longer benefits from competing with entry-level and budget robot vacuums. The V3s, for example, represents outstanding value for money and is difficult to beat for the price. Incidentally, it is also telling that when ILIFE refined the original V3s into the V3s Pro, they decided to drop the mopping functionality for a cheaper, more robust model. Discounts and promotions aside, the ILIFE V8s competes directly with the likes of the Eufy RoboVac 11C and the Bagotte BG600. Neither model includes mopping, but we have to admit that the quality of the wet clean results from the V8s are nothing to write home about. From a pure vacuuming perspective, however, both robovacs are superior to this one. The 11C matches the V8s for suction power and adds in full Wi-Fi, mobile app and smart home support. The Bagotte BG600 boasts half as much suction again at 1,500 Pa and that is significant enough to make a genuine difference to the overall cleaning performance. The ILIFE V8s is a fine robot vacuum and robot mop hybrid in its own right, but unless you are adamant that your new robot friend needs to be capable of a half-hearted wet clean, you can get all of the vacuuming capabilities and much more besides for the same price, simply by plumping instead for the competing Eufy or Bagotte models.
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