I tested Ecovac's new window-cleaning robot and it felt like I was living in the future

ZDNET’s key takeaways

The Winbot W2 Omni is offered now for $600.The robotic works indoors or open air and cleans seamlessly, selecting up grime with out smearing it round and smudging your glass; it additionally navigates the span of the glass, cleansing the complete window with out lacking spots.I want the gadget labored whereas plugged in and cleaned the perimeters of home windows extra successfully.

I’ve simply completed testing a tool that makes me really feel prefer it got here in a time machine from the longer term. The Winbot W2 Omni is a window-cleaning robotic with a conveyable station to wash home windows in and out.

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Ecovacs has been making window-cleaning robots since 2011, however that is the primary time that I’ve examined one — and I am glad I did. Someplace alongside these 13 years, Ecovacs perfected the artwork of window cleansing; I name it an artwork as a result of the Winbot W2 Omni turns the chore right into a type of leisure.

View at Ecovacs

The Winbot’s setup is fairly simple. The robotic comes with a light-weight station the place you retain all the pieces: the robotic that’s linked to the battery contained in the station, two mopping pads, a squeeze bottle so as to add water, a rope, and a charging cable.

There is a battery contained in the moveable station so you may carry the robotic exterior to wash exterior home windows. The battery can final 110 minutes, which interprets right into a 592-square-foot protection space.

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For reference, a median home within the US has 22 home windows and 440 sq ft of window space (indoors). The Winbot W2 Omni is thus designed to wash the within of all of the home windows in a median residence on a single cost.

The Winbot W2 Omni has a compound cable that works as a security rope and energy wire and is robotically wound contained in the station with the press of a button. 

After charging the robotic and setting it up within the Ecovacs app, the Winbot W2 robotic wanted me to put in one of many two included microfiber mopping pads. I moist mine with water and wrung it out so it was damp, not dripping, earlier than attaching it to the robotic’s velcro backing.

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I then crammed up the tank with a cleaner. The Winbot W2 Omni instruction handbook recommends utilizing water because the cleansing liquid within the robotic, so I did not wish to use a window cleaner which will erode the robotic’s mechanisms. I attempted water after which opted for the Pressure of Nature all-purpose cleaner, a hypochlorous acid and sodium hydroxide that disinfects however is light sufficient on the pores and skin.

As soon as the robotic was crammed with cleaner and the mop pad was connected, I turned on the station, held the robotic towards the window, and pressed the button on the robotic. The station pronounces when the robotic is firmly connected so you may let go.

Identical to that, the Winbot W2 attaches to your window and effortlessly glides throughout with out smearing mud and grime, a priority I had when setting it up. As a substitute, the Winbot sprays the water on the window because it goes, after which the microfiber pad picks up the grime, leaving you with clear home windows and a unclean pad.

I gave my Winbot the final word check: my sunroom’s sliding glass door. My canine likes to nap within the sunroom when the climate’s good, and we put him in there whereas the youngsters are consuming so he can have a cool place to chill out with entry to the yard. My one-year-old canine additionally likes to leap, particularly when the youngsters attempt to play with him via the door.

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The mix of a muddy yard, an brisk canine, and messy children repeatedly ends in layers of dry mud exterior the glass door and tiny sticky handprints inside. It takes me at the very least two passes with a window-cleaning answer to wash simply the canine’s muddy aspect of the sliding door, with the primary move principally smearing grime round and leaving a cloudy mess.

Once I arrange the Winbot W2 Omni, I believed it might have related troubles. I used to be anticipating a primary move to wipe up grime, a pause to clean the microfiber pad, and a second move to complete the cleansing. To my shock, the robotic tackled all of the mud and grime in a single move, giving me a transparent view exterior.

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We even have a big arched window on the second-story stage in our entryway that we’ve by no means cleaned as a result of we will not attain it and haven’t got a dying want. My husband climbed a ladder and set the robotic on the a part of the window he may attain. The Winbot W2 Omni additionally cleaned that window, but it surely alerted us that it was slipping and advised us to verify the app when it was time to wash the arched edge. 

The Winbot W2 Omni did not attain the perimeters fully, as proven within the image beneath. A tiny sliver of window space did not get wiped down, which should not be an enormous deal, except your home windows are very soiled.

Once I opened the app, I used to be advised, “Distant cleansing really helpful for the present window.” My husband and I took turns driving the robotic across the window with the Ecovacs app and it sprayed whereas cleansing. The end result was simply as efficient as autonomous cleansing. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Winbot W2 Omni is a type of gadgets I would not have gotten for myself earlier than testing it, however now that I’ve, I am offered. As quickly as I turned mine on, I believed to myself, “The place have you ever been all my life?”

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So far as cons, I solely have a pair. I want the robotic labored whereas plugged in as an alternative of needing a cost earlier than cleansing a window, and I additionally want it gave a louder alert when it is carried out cleansing. Proper now, the robotic dings and says the cleansing is completed, but it surely stays on because it should keep connected till it is safely eliminated. Sadly, the robotic’s working noise drowns out the sound of the alert except you are standing proper subsequent to it.

These inconveniences are minor in comparison with the advantages of getting clear home windows in return for a tiny fraction of the work, particularly should you dwell in an condo or have many home windows. The Winbot W2 Omni is priced at $600, which appears honest for a conveyable window-cleaning robotic that performs this flawlessly.