iLife A40
The iLife A40 robot vacuum cleaner is a compact and stylish device for dry cleaning of hard, smooth floors, as well as carpets and rugs. The robot navigates well, easily reaches hard-to-reach areas, and avoids collisions with objects or falling off stairs or other elevated surfaces. Today, in our review, we'll take a closer look at this budget-friendly "marvel of technology."
Equipment
In addition to the robot vacuum cleaner itself, the iLife A40 package includes the following spare parts and consumables:
- Charging base.
- Remote control with batteries.
- Power supply (100-240 V, 50/60 Hz at 19 V, 0.6 A).
- Brush for cleaning the body and parts.
- A pair of spare side brushes.
- Spare pleated fine filter.
- Brief and detailed user manual.
- Warranty card.
iLife package
The manufacturer ensured the safety and protection of the device during transportation. The robot and its components are packaged in two boxes: an outer box made of thick corrugated cardboard and an inner cardboard box with a plastic handle for easy carrying.
Appearance
Like other devices from this Chinese manufacturer, the iLife A40 robot vacuum cleaner has a stylish and minimalist design. The body is made of plastic in two colors: white (the main body) and black (the bottom). The white color makes the robot easy to find even in the dark. The top panel is protected by a plate of tempered mineral glass. When viewed from above, the device's shape is almost perfectly round. The edges of the device are chamfered at the bottom, allowing it to easily navigate obstacles.
Top view
The iLife A40's front panel features a single mechanical start button, illuminated by a color indicator during operation. Depending on the robot vacuum's current status, the indicator can glow or flash green, orange, or red.
The front of the device features a spring-loaded bumper with a short travel. The bumper has tinted plastic windows, behind which are mounted infrared sensors to prevent collisions with obstacles, docking station detection sensors, and a remote control receiver. On the back, this section houses a power connector for directly connecting the iLife A40 to a power outlet for charging, as well as a power button. A dust container also slides out from the side.
Side view
When examining the bottom of the robot vacuum cleaner, we see contact pads for automatic charging on the base, a front swivel wheel made of elastic plastic, a pair of drive wheels with tires on spring-loaded hinges, two side brushes, a battery compartment cover, a central brush, and three height difference sensors.
Bottom view
Technical specifications
Let's look at the main characteristics of the iLife A40 robot vacuum cleaner:
| Power supply | Li-Ion battery, 2600 mAh, 14.8 V |
| Duration of work | 120 minutes |
| Charging time | 300 minutes |
| Charging type | Automatic on docking station/manual from mains |
| Cleaning area | About 80 m2 |
| Dust collector | Cyclone filter (bagless), 450 ml |
| Overall dimensions | Diameter – 310 mm, Height – 76 mm |
| Weight | 2.2 kg |
| Additional options | |
| Sensors | Obstacle detection (mechanical bumper, infrared proximity and height difference sensors), orientation (infrared charging base search sensors) |
| Control | Mechanical button on the device body and remote control |
| Notification | LED indication and sound signals |
| Main brush | One with bristles + rubber scraper |
| Side brush | Two |
| Cleaning on schedule | + |
Functional capabilities
The iLife A40 robot cleans rooms using the CyclonePower cleaning system: side brushes initially collect debris as much as possible, while the main V-shaped brush deep-cleans carpets. Collected debris and dust are collected in a 450 ml dust container with a special foam filter and a fine filter.
Air filtration
The robot vacuum cleaner is capable of cleaning in four main modes:
- Automatic mode – designed for daily floor cleaning in your home. To start, simply turn on the robot, which will then automatically scan the surrounding area and clean the entire accessible area along the optimal trajectory.
- Boundary mode (perimeter) — the iLife A40 will clean the room in areas where dirt and dust accumulate the most (along walls, furniture, and corners). Thanks to infrared proximity sensors, the device won't bump into walls or objects, but will effectively clean all dirt along the edges.
- Spot cleaning mode (local/local) – designed for cleaning the dirtiest areas of the room. High suction power allows the robot vacuum cleaner to quickly pick up spilled debris (cereals, sugar, etc.) on the floor.
- Maximum Power Mode—the appliance operates in a more powerful mode, consuming more energy. Ideal for cleaning carpets and upholstery.
Spiral cleaning
The robot can be controlled manually using the remote control. Additionally, it has a preset cleaning schedule. This allows you to schedule cleaning before your arrival or when guests arrive. This feature is somewhat limited, and you can only schedule a single cleaning; it's not possible to schedule a full week.
Automatic charging
As a practical test of the iLife A40 showed, the robot cleaner is not very noisy: with the fan at normal power, the average noise level is 55.9 dB, and with the fan at maximum power – 58.5 dB.
Advantages and disadvantages
To conclude our review, we will list the pros and cons of the iLife A40 robot vacuum cleaner.
Pros:
- Compactness, small body height.
- Modern design.
- High quality of performance.
- Good technical characteristics, quite powerful battery.
- There are different operating modes + a mode with increased suction power.
- Scheduled cleaning function.
- Availability of turbo brush.
- Good package including remote control.
- Average noise level.
- Affordable price.
Cons:
- There is no movement limiter.
- When cleaning, a lot of garbage remains near the charging station.
As you can see, the drawbacks are quite minor, considering the price of a robot vacuum cleaner (around $100 in 2019). Therefore, if you like this model, you can buy it without hesitation.
Finally, we recommend a video review of the iLife A40:
Analogues:
Does this vacuum cleaner clean until it runs out of battery? Or until the end of the cleaning cycle? For example, the Xiaomi, as I understand it, cleans a 50-60 sq. m apartment in about 40 minutes. Then it returns to its base. Cheap robots will just keep cleaning until the battery runs out, right? So it doesn't even know it's finished cleaning the apartment, it's only relying on the battery charge...
can be set on a timer
The A40 doesn't have a timer. It takes 2.5 hours to run out of charge.
What is the difference between a4s and a40?
The dust container capacity is 450 ml, there are two side brushes and a turbo brush, and a 2600 Li-ion battery—all the same. The power is also 1000 Pa. The noise level is the same. Do both models have brushless motors? Why does one model have an 80 m2 cleaning area and the other 200 m2? And the difference is $30 🤷♀️
I bought this vacuum cleaner on AliExpress for 8800 rubles. It arrived in a week. It cleans cat hair, lint, and along baseboards very well. A three-room apartment is a burden for it, so I have to close off some rooms. The burden is that it has a hard time finding its base; it quietly dies somewhere in the corner, but that doesn't always work, sometimes. It doesn't create a room map, so it wanders around randomly, but it cleans very well. The noise is acceptable, and it doesn't bump into much. It bypasses the base by a meter, so it doesn't clean that area. The remote control lets you direct the vacuum to the desired location, along baseboards or directly onto the base. It's convenient. Maintenance is easy, the most tedious part is ripping cat hair from the rotor brush. It's a great helper. I'm happy with the product. Before this, I had a tiny Polaris, a dumb as a felt boot, no base, cord charging, no rotary brush, just two brooms. And it was a good helper. The biggest problem was that the batteries weren't lithium and died quickly. The ones that came with it lasted about a year, and all the replacements were crap, which is why the vacuum cleaner started working at half power. I want to switch to lithium batteries and run two vacuums around the house! Why leave the equipment standing around?
Could you please tell me if hair and pet hair are getting tangled up in the turbo brush? I have a vacuum cleaner with a turbo brush. The brush gets clogged with hair and pet hair, and the vacuum starts flashing as if it's clogged, even though the container is empty.