iLife T10s review: Set

Sep 22, 2023

The iLife T10s is a convenient and affordable way to clean hard and carpeted floors. It won't eliminate the need for manual mopping, but it can make the need much less frequent.

$429.99

Although we’ve reviewed several of iLife's robot vacuums, the T10s is the first self-emptying model from the company that we’ve tried. It doesn't introduce anything new to the category, but it masters the basics and ably cleans both hard and carpeted floors.

The T10s consists of a mopping robot vacuum and an auto-emptying charging station. The station measures a modest 12.5 x 9.5 x 6.5 inches (HxWxD) but can hold two month's worth of dirt and dust. Also included are two dust bags, four side brushes, two microfiber mop cloths, a mop attachment, an extra filter, and a cleaning tool.

This review is part of TechHive's in-depth coverage of smart vacuum cleaners.

The T10s robot can vacuum and mop simultaneously to clean all your floors in one sweep.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The self-emptying station ships with one of the dust bags pre-installed, so you just need to place the unit against a wall and plug it in. You have to snap on two of the side brushes—the extra two are spares—and these are color-coded for studs on the left and right sides of the robot. Then you power on the robot and set it against the charging base of the station.

While the T10s is charging, you can download the Tuya Smart mobile app, which will prompt you through a short series of steps to connect to the vacuum.

If you have a mix of hard and carpeted floors, the iLife T10s is a convenient and affordable way to maintain their cleanliness.

The T10s uses LiDAR to scan the environment, generate a map, and automatically divide the map into areas. The robot then vacuums each area one by one in a Z-shape pattern until the entire room is cleaned.

The T10s automatically boosts its suction power when it detects carpet, and reduces the suction when it's back on hard flooring to preserve battery life. Fully charged, the vacuum delivers about 150 minutes of runtime, enough to cover (according to iLIfe) about 2,152 square feet.

Upon completing a cleaning job, the robot returns to its charging station where the contents of its dustbin are sucked into the unit's dust bag. Each 2.5-liter bag holds about 60 days of dust and dirt, matching the capacity of our top pick in this category, the iRobot Roomba j7+. When it's full, the dust bag easily slides out from the top of the station for disposal.

The T10s’ dust bag holds 60 days of dust and dirt and is easily disposable.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

The T10s’ vacuuming performance is impressive; it easily swept my floors of dirt, pet hair, and food crumbs without leaving any debris behind. Its mopping capability is fairly limited, though.

To mop, you have to remove the dustbin assembly, which includes an integrated 240ml water tank, fill it with tap water, then install the mopping attachment to the bottom.

As the robot vacuums, it drags the dampened cloth on the mopping attachment over the floor. It's enough to wipe away surface grime, but it doesn't provide any kind of agitation to remove stains and it will just spread wet spills across your floor. In other words, don't get rid of your stick mop.

While the robot's mapping capability ensures it cleans efficiently and doesn't crash into walls and furniture, its real power is unlocking customized cleaning options.

Using the Tuya Smart app, you can define the order in which you want rooms cleaned, dispatch the robot to clean individual rooms or specific areas, set no-go zones, and designate areas for vacuuming and mopping or vacuuming or mopping only. You can even set up detailed cleaning schedules for individual rooms, setting specific suction and water levels.

The app can save up to five floor maps, and each one is fully editable to ensure it accurately reflects your home's floor plan.

The Tuya Smart app allows you to completely customize your cleaning experience, from the order rooms are cleaned to the amount of suction and water used in each room.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The iLife T10s also supports Alexa and Google Assistant. This allows you to control the robot with your voice if you don't have your phone at hand by using commands like "Alexa, turn on ILife robot."

If you have a mix of hard and carpeted floors, the iLife T10s is a convenient and affordable way to maintain their cleanliness. Given the T10's wealth of customization options, you can conceivably set and forget this household chore. Just be sure to keep a conventional mop handy to handle wet messes and tough stains.

Michael Ansaldo is veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and PCWorld.