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 dust with out smearing it round and smudging your glass; it additionally navigates the span of the glass, cleansing the total window with out lacking spots.
• I want the system labored whereas plugged in and cleaned the sides 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 long run. The Winbot W2 Omni is a window-cleaning robotic with a transportable 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. Someday throughout 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 for the proprietor.

View at Ecovacs

The Winbot’s setup is fairly simple. The robotic comes with a light-weight station the place you retain every thing: 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 transportable station so you may carry the robotic exterior to wash exterior home windows. Ecovacs estimates that the battery lasts as much as 110 minutes, which interprets right into a 592-square-foot protection space.

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For reference, a mean 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 mean house on a single cost.

The Winbot W2 Omni has a compound cable that works as a security rope and energy wire, which is mechanically 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 guide 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 however finally opted for the Drive of Nature all-purpose cleaner, a hypochlorous acid and sodium hydroxide that disinfects however is mild sufficient on the pores and skin.

After filling the robotic with cleaner and attaching the mop pad, I turned on the station, held the robotic in opposition to the window, and pressed the button on the robotic. The station pronounces when the robotic is firmly connected so you may let go.

Similar to that, the Winbot W2 attaches to your window and effortlessly glides throughout with out smearing mud and dust, 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 dust, leaving you with clear home windows and a grimy 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 children are consuming so he can have a cool place to loosen up with entry to the yard. My one-year-old canine additionally likes to leap, particularly when the children attempt to play with him by means of the door.

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The mixture of a muddy yard, an brisk canine, and messy youngsters frequently leads to layers of dry mud exterior the glass door and tiny sticky handprints inside. It takes me a minimum of two passes with a window-cleaning answer to wash simply the canine’s muddy facet of the sliding door, with the primary move largely smearing dust round and leaving a cloudy mess.

After I arrange the Winbot W2 Omni, I assumed it will have related troubles. I used to be anticipating a primary move to wipe up dust, 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 dust 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 do not have a demise want. My husband climbed a ladder and set the robotic on the a part of the window he might attain. The Winbot W2 Omni additionally cleaned that window, but it surely alerted us that it was slipping and advised us to test the app when it was time to wash the arched edge. 

The Winbot W2 Omni did not attain the sides utterly, as proven within the image beneath. A tiny sliver of window space did not get wiped down, which should not be a giant deal, until your home windows are very soiled.

After I opened the app, I used to be advised, “Distant cleansing really useful 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 outcome was simply as efficient as autonomous cleansing. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Winbot W2 Omni is a type of units I would not have gotten earlier than testing it, however now that I’ve, I am offered. As quickly as I turned mine on, I assumed 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 executed 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 until 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 in case you dwell in an house or have many home windows. The Winbot W2 Omni is priced at $600, which appears truthful for a transportable window-cleaning robotic that performs this flawlessly.