Smart robot window cleaner – I have reviewed a couple of vacuum cleaning bots in the past, such as this Neato XV-21 or Robomaid (Aussies are still waiting for the never-here-Dyson’s advanced vacuum cleaning bot).
Not to mention there are other smart robots out there to mop your floors (wish I have one), or even to pull out weeds from your lawn.
But the WINBOT X from ECOVACS does something different. This smart bot will clean your windows with not much effort needed.
ECOVACS WINBOT X Robot Window Cleaner Review – Packaging
The packaging includes a special cleaning solution from ECOVACS and extra cleaning pads that can be sticked/replaced easily on the unit with a velcro. The manual recommends using the included ECOVACS cleaning solution (to be sprayed on the pads for cleaning) but it’d be nice if you can use Windex or similar solution of your own. I’m sure you can, but it’s not recommended on the ECOVACS manual.
ECOVACS WINBOT X Robot Window Cleaner Review – Design & Features
ECOVACS WINBOT X consists of two main units: the main cleaning unit and a separate suction cup. Both are powered by batteries. The main cleaning unit has a built-in, rechargeable battery whereas the suction cup is using replaceable ones.
The suction cup part is needed as a safety tether system that attaches to the main unit while it’s doing its job. More than that, it also ensures many safety procedures such as making sure the bot comes back to the starting point and to potentially stop the cleaning process early if it detects a decreasing air suction (i.e not enough suction power to keep them hold in place), or a troubled area.
Before I tried these, I actually had two doubts: Will these things ever fall down at some point (and break)? And, how good is the clean? You probably have the same questions too.
Well, my doubts went away as soon as I started to operate them and saw how “sticky” and sturdy they both were on the glass. If the surface was too dirty to continue or not good enough for the suction, the system would let me know and complain. During the cleaning process, it would constantly monitor the air pressure and emits alarm when it’s losing pressure (according to ECOVACS, it will emit the alarm if system air pressure goes below 3.5Kpa).
Due to how “sticky” the main cleaning unit is to the glass, it actually does a reasonable job cleaning the windows. Now, unfortunately we never cleaned our windows ever since we moved in and it’s quite full with sand and debris from all the house development in the area.
In my experience, the unit has problems if the window gets too dirty. The cleaning unit gets really slow to move and sometimes the suction cup would emit alarm every now and then and stopped cleaning.
But as you can see from my video, the robot window cleaner works pretty well and quite thorough in cleaning.
In my tests, the bot did the job well in covering all areas of the windows. The length of the tether cable inside the puck-looking suction cup has enough length (I think around 2.5 meter?) to cover most windows’ sizes. You can also place the suction cup on your other window for maximum cleaning coverage.
If you only have that one window, it’s recommended to put the suction cup on the top edge corner so the main unit can cover the whole windows better.
This unique design (i.e having different suction cup and cleaning unit) allows you clean harder-to-reach areas such as your second floor’s windows from the outside. The system will ensure the cleaning unit stayed in place and come back to its initial starting point. If there’s a problem and the bot can’t move, you can use the included remote to steer the unit back to you.
During my tests in trying to clean many windows around the house, I find that the unit is quite picky (probably for a good, safety reason). Cleaning sometimes stopped half-way with red lights and beeps, and I had to re-position the suction cup to restart it. I think this is because the windows are too dirty to start with.
If you have lots of windows to clean, you may also need to stop and recharge the bot half way, but it has around 50 minutes running time.
ECOVACS WINBOT X Robot Window Cleaner Review – Conclusion
So it comes to the conclusion. How good is ECOVACS WINBOT X?
Overall, WINBOT X robot window cleaner definitely makes your life easier, especially when you have many windows to clean like our house, or if you have a double-storey home where it’s not easy for you to clean your windows from the outside.
Both the suction cup and cleaning unit sit sturdily on the glass and they value safety above others so even if there is a slight chance of failing due to a troubled surface area, the cleaning procedure will stop. Peace of mind? Check.
WINBOT X also does a thorough cleaning and covers the whole area of a window well. Generally, it offers a good clean but some hard streaks may require a few passes and if the window is too dirty, it would struggle. It’s advisable to use WINBOT X regulary to clean your glass, which is not a bad thing because it’s so painless to clean your windows now. But if you haven’t cleaned your windows for years or you have a newly-built home like ours, you may have to clean them manually first and then use WINBOT X for the regular cleaning.
It is for sure quicker to clean your windows (assuming you can reach them) using just a sponge and bucket. But if you have to do it weekly, then well…. why not have a bot doing it while you sit around and enjoy a sip of coffee?
ECOVACS WINBOT X has an RRP of AU$699 and also available at Amazon.
Disclosure: ECOVACS WINBOT X robot window cleaner review sample was supplied for reviewing but all opinions are mine and not paid
