Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had the ILife V5s Robot Vacum Cleaner with Water Tank for 2 weeks. My son named ours Robbie, and Robbie has so far been a godsend! I wish I'd bought him 2 years ago! Here's Robbie's work environment at MY house: I have two dogs. We live in a dusty farming community in the desert of Arizona with a clay/dirt/rock backyard. One of my dogs loves to put his paws in his water dish and then bring muddy paws into my house. Now, this mud is special. It's the kind of mud that doesn't even wash off our clothes unless I pre-treat before washing. So we have lots of dirt, mud, dust, and dog hair. It's honestly ridiculous, and I have 5 rooms worth of beige tile in my house that is a nightmare to keep clean under these conditions. NOTE: I do not have carpet or area rugs. Some people have reported this working fine on their rugs, others haven't. I can't speak to this. Expectations: I give this RoboVac 5 stars because it has exceeded MY expectations. My hope for this RoboVac was to keep my floors clean in-between twice-monthly regular cleaning done by me. The truth is, however, that this works well enough that I will probably never vacuum or mop my floor by hand again until it becomes time for seasonal deep-cleaning. If somehow my floor gets REALLY muddy (say from a rainy day), I may get out my regular mop and take care of it, but this RoboVac appears to be able to completely replace my routine vacuuming and mopping of my tile floor. The only thing I need to do extra after Robbie gets done cleaning my floors is get out my hand vacuum to reach dust and dirt between my refrigerator and counter and also behind my entertainment center. I also use a wet rag to quickly wipe up spots that were not completely picked up by the mopping feature. That's it, and I'm fine with that. I have run my hand along the floor behind the RoboVac, and it was clean. This thing picks up every piece of hair, dust, and dirt in its path. He has also picked up dog kibble, but not a rock. Have I mentioned that I love this RoboVac?! The remote control has an EDGE button to instruct the RoboVac to stay along the edge of the room (you direct him there first), and he does a great job of meandering around things to stay along the edge. But I honestly don't really need to use this button unless I'm trying to micromanage and make him do his job faster. There is also a SPOT button that you can press to make him spot clean an area, which he accomplishes by spinning in a tight circle that gets bigger with each turn. I use this more during the mopping feature; but if I were trying to cut his vacuuming time short and saw a spot I wanted him to cover I would use the SPOT button quick before sending him home. Coverage: This was my big concern before purchasing, whether he would get stuck or even go under my furniture. Turns out, I have only one recliner that this RoboVac gets stuck on, and that chair has claw-like legs that the RoboVac wants to climb up. He also got stuck under the edge of my couch the first time, but not since. I was very surprised to watch him wander around underneath my dining room table, around all the chair legs, without getting stuck at all AND doing a good job cleaning up. The only furniture he doesn't fit under is my couch, so I will move the couch forward or backward (just like I did for regular vacuuming) if I want him to clean under there, but I'm also considering lifting the couch an inch or so with some kind of riser during cleaning so it will fit underneath. I have a very large area of floor to cover, and this RoboVac seems to wander through all 5 areas the whole time. Most of the time, I let him do just that; but there have been a couple times when I wanted him to focus on one room, so I just barricade him in there using a box or garbage can. He will bump into it and turn around. The barricade needs to have some weight to it, or else the RoboVac will just push it out of the way and get through. (Right now, he is barricaded in the kitchen to mop.) Preparation: Before the RoboVac comes out to work, I do a quick pick up of anything that could get in his way, which mostly includes video game cords, but also kid toys, dog toys, etc. (The cords get stuck underneath, but the toys honestly just get pushed around since they're bigger.) But the RoboVac meanders fine around chairs and regular furniture with the one exception I mentioned of my recliner. I just keep an eye/ear out for him when he's in that room. (He does not shut off if he gets stuck, so if you don't catch it, I suspect he will just stay there running until the battery dies.) Run Time : When he's vacuuming, I let him run his full time which is well over two hours. I have not run him yet while I'm gone, but I'm home a lot. If I did want to run him while I'm gone, I'd simply barricade his trouble spots, like the recliner, so I would know he wouldn't get stuck while I was away. Bin Size: I am very surprised by how much dirt and hair this RoboVac picks up and how much fits in the dust bin. I run him about every 2-3 days, and I've not had to empty the dust bin mid-cycle. If I waited a week before my next vacuuming, I'd probably have to empty the bin a few times. The bin and filters are pretty easy to empty into the trash. I've even rinsed the bin and filters out once at the sink after a particularly dirty session. Mopping: I have mopped twice so far with this RoboVac (one of those times is today while typing this review). I, of course, micromanaged the mop feature a bit the first time to see what it was doing. I have used the SPOT clean button several times; and while that can be fun to play with at first, I have basically found it's just easier to let the mop do its thing and then when it's all done I grab a wet rag to quickly wipe up the remaining spots it didn't pick up. Keep in mind, the spots I'm talking about are the mud spots I mentioned needing pre-treating even on clothes to come out. I'd say anything that would require a little extra work with a regular mop is going to require a little extra work with the RoboVac or yourself. I have only ever used hot water in the RoboVac too and not used a detergent. It also doesn't get up tight along the walls; so if you have spots/spills along walls, furniture, or appliances, you will need to hand wipe those. The first time I mopped, I also added more water before the cycle was done; and then I let him finish a full 2+ hour cycle. Because I have 5 rooms, have mud spots, and let the mop feature run for a couple hours, I like to rinse out my mop cloth and re-soak it one or two times mid-cycle (depending on how dirty my floors are). Finally, I'd like to say that the water bucket is so dang simple to "set into' the machine and go that it's ingenious to me. Seriously, bravo on this one. Switching to the mopping setting is ridiculously easy and I love it. When the RoboVac is finished mopping, I simply rinse the cloth in the sink and let air dry. (I have also washed it once already with a load of rags/towels, and it came out very clean. Again, I let it air dry.) Overall, this thing deserves 5 stars in my book, and I love it because I think this will completely replace my routine vacuuming / mopping 5 rooms of tile floor in my house - despite the fact that I have to use a hand vac for tight corners and wipe up a few spots after the mopping is done. It has still exceeded my expectations and saves me a TON of time. I will continue to use both the vacuuming and mopping features 2 to 3 times a week. And I'm super happy that my floors will always look pretty good without much buildup of dust, dirt, hair, and stains because I refuse to actually do that much vacuuming and mopping by hand. Have I mentioned yet that I love my Robbie?!