The ILIFE A4s is a newer version of the older, but popular, ILIFE A4 robotic vacuum cleaner. The A4s vacuum robot seems to have been updated with a tangle-free bearing system and a mini-room mode.
Introduction
ILIFE is a Chinese company with headquarters and manufacturing bases in Shenzhen, which is in the southern part of Guangdong Province, South China. Their first robotic vacuum cleaner was the ILIFE X500, which is not available in the USA. Nevertheless, the A series and V series vacuum robots are available for the North American market. The A series seems to be recommended for thin carpets, while the V series is suggested for hard floor surfaces.
This ILIFE A4s robotic vacuum cleaner review considers its features and answers some questions about its remote control, air filter and cleaning performance.
ILIFE A4s: Overview
Its main cleaning component is the bristle brush which sweeps up dust, fur and hair from carpets, hardwood, laminated and tiled floors. It also has two rotating side brushes (left and right) near the front, which sweeps dirt out of corners and along wall edges. The dirt and debris is then sucked up into its dust box bin. The dust bin has a capacity of 450 milliliters.
The A4s gets its cordless power from a high-performance, 2600mAH Lithium-ion battery. The Lithium-ion battery needs to be charged for at least 12 hours for the first three times to increase the life and endurance of the battery.
The battery charge might last for up to 150 minutes of vacuum cleaning, depending on how much power the vacuum cleaning robot uses. The A4s senses when its battery is low and will return to its docking station to recharge. Recharge time is about 300 minutes.
What accessories are included?
Charging dock home base, adapter, cleaning tool, two extra side brushes, an extra HEPA filter, user manual and remote control (without batteries). The remote control requires two AAA batteries, which you have to buy yourself.
What does the remote control do?
The center button is the CLEAN button. Press it to start the A4s robotic vacuum cleaner. Press it again to stop the cleaner. It is also pressed to change the robot from sleep mode into selected mode.
The directional buttons can move the vacuum robot forward, left or right. These buttons are also used when programming the robot with the plan or clock function. The MAX button increases the suction power to its maximum. However, this also decreases the battery charge much faster.
Press the PLAN button to enter scheduling mode and to confirm a schedule. Use the CLOCK button to set the clock. The HOME button sends the robot back to its home base. Press the EDGE button to force the robot to clean along the walls. The SPOT button causes the robot to clean a specific area. The small display screen shows the scheduling time and clock time.
Can the A4s clean multiple rooms?
The A4s randomly moves around multiple rooms in a house until it needs to recharge its battery. It changes direction when it encounters an obstacle or a wall. It will also change direction when its cliff sensors detect a sharp decrease in height, such as at the top step of a staircase.
The purchase of the A4s does not include a virtual wall to restrict its access to only one room. The A4s does not support virtual wall technology. However, the ILIFE A6 supports virtual wall technology (read my review of the A6).
You can close the door if you want to restrict its cleaning to a single room. A door is not a virtual wall, but it is a cheap and quick way to keep the vacuum robot in a specific room. Of course, simply keeping the door closed might not be practical for places such as the living room or kitchen.
You may set it to run in mini-room mode when closing the door and confining it to a single room. However, we cannot figure out what the mini-room mode does, except maybe to decrease its run time in order to save battery power.
What type of filter does it have?
It has both a primary air filter and a HEPA filter. The HEPA filter uses a very fine material to trap plant pollen, pet dander and those pesky dust mites which can aggravate allergies. HEPA filters should be cleaned every two to four weeks. Replace the HEPA filter within 6 months of use for the best results. You might even replace it once per month if it gets heavily used.
How often is the dust bin cleaned?
As often as it takes to keep it empty. Do not let the robot run with a full dust bin: this will decrease airflow and cleaning efficiency. You can quickly check the dust bin after every cleaning cycle to see if it is full or not. The A4s unfortunately does not have a bin full indicator.
What is its height?
It is about 3 inches tall. It can clean underneath most pieces of furniture without getting stuck. The A4s weighs about 5 pounds and is 12 inches wide and deep (circular design).
How long does the A4s clean?
It cleans for about two hours or more (extreme maximum is 150 minutes) until it automatically returns to its home base to dock and recharge its battery.
Conclusion
The ILIFE A4s costs less than a Roomba 650 vacuum cleaning robot. This is probably its main attraction and biggest advantage. Even so, the Roomba 650 comes with a virtual wall. The ILIFE A4s does not work with virtual walls.
This robotic vacuum cleaner is efficient enough to remove dirt, dog hair and other tiny pieces of debris that collect on carpets and hard floors every day. However, larger stuff like socks, toy blocks and fallen tissues will clog its intake and turn it off.
You might need to empty the dust bin more than once per day if you have more than one pet in the house. It is amazing how much hair a cat or dog can shed on the floor in a single day. Its HEPA filter removes tiny particles that can cause allergies.
The A4s does not have the more advanced features like an expensive Roomba. Nevertheless, it does all the basic things that you might expect from such an affordable robotic vacuum cleaner (shop now on Amazon).