Yes, you read that correctly! This is a WINDOW CLEANING ROBOT! (Well, there are a few around, but this is the first one I’ve played with!) And I’ll admit, I was a tad bit skeptical when my editor messaged me and asked if I’d like to try it out! I was imagining a robot hanging from some sort of contraption, maybe it had a set of props like a drone? I had no idea, but I went into this review with an open mind and was left pleasantly surprised and somewhat sparkling! (well, my windows were…) I certainly put Ecovacs WINBOT W1 PRO through her paces, here’s my review;
The Ecovacs WinBot W1 Pro is essentially a robot vac that uses suction to clamp very securely onto your large upright windows, quite a good deal of suction! The manufacturer states 2800 Pa of suction power, I’d suggest that was enough, while I don’t have a super technical suction meter, I did try to pull the tiny glass sparkling bot off of my window and it was quite the wrestle. (I’m 6’3″ and while I’m no Mike Tyson, I’m strong enough to wrestle open a packet of Tim Tams whenever I need to!) That was my first worry, my wooden floors are only about 2 years old, and the thought of Winbot smashing to its demise from 8′ up wasn’t high on my lists of ‘must watch’ so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to quit and end itself, and my floors! I’ve gotten ahead of myself, let’s take a step back here…
In the fitted carry case that your Winbot arrives in, you’ll find a power supply, the safety tether, two cleaning pads, some instructions, and a bottle of nice smelling cleaning solution (The scent of the previous Ecovacs included air freshener that I reviewed, and this one have both been really nice… weird side note, Simon, but there you go!)
The Winbot system is super simple to setup and use, from opening the box to tentatively placing the little sucker (see what I did there) against your windows only take a few minutes. Maybe ten minutes if you don’t have the app installed already (As I’d reviewed other Ecovacs products, I was a step ahead, but in reality setting up the app takes five minutes) When you’ve installed the app and connected Winbot within the the app, which you can do by scanning the QR code under the WinBot and following the on-screen instructions.
It’s really easy to prepare the Winbot for duty, flipping it on its head you attach one of the included microfibre cleaning pads to the base of the main unit using hook & loop (You might know it as Velcro) the cleaning pads only go on one way to fit around the little tracks, it’s very hard to get this bit wrong! Then turning the machine back over, you open the fluid reservoir cover and fill it up with the included cleaning solution and re-seal the press-in reservoir lid. Once you power on the unit with the switch on the underside of the unit, assuming you’ve already paired Winbot with the iPhone or Android app, you can go ahead and select one of the different cleaning modes in the app, standard (fast) deep clean (slower) or spot clean (depends how big the spot is, doesn’t it!) then all you need to do is hold the Winbot against your intended dirty window and it roars (quietly) to life, suctioning onto the glass like a snail onto a fresh strawberry.
I opted for the regular standard mode after trying all modes, it was mostly a very good solution for the regular-dirty windows I had available for the review testing. If the window was still dirty after the first clean I’d run the program again. You place the Winbot against the glass and it suctions on and then makes its way around your window in its own pattern. (You can see below, I wasn’t joking when I said I tested it good and hard! And you can see her indoor floor cleaning cousin through the glass for bonus points)
Winbot will spray your glass with the cleaning solution at intervals, this works quite well at cleaning, but you certainly do go through the fluid quickly! I guess my windows were quite dirty, so while half a bottle of fluid for a set of glass doors seemed a little excessive to me, maybe on a more regular cleaning cycle it wouldn’t need as much solution, or maybe it would – I’m not sure.. I filmed a short video of Winbot in action to give an example of the frequency with which it sprays the cleaning fluid.
Before we get to my verdict, I did run a test where I left the WinBot attached to the glass and pulled the plug out of the power socket! The unit reduces its suction to the lowest amount that will keep it attached to the glass and uses an internal battery to beep loudly and repeatedly say “plug me back in!” or words to that effect – It remained attached to the glass for the entire time I made a coffee and sat and watched it beep, and if you’re going to take longer than that to plug the poor thing back into the wall, hopefully you remembered to attach the included tether cable to something solid. The battery charge state won’t allow you to use the unit if it’s flat or about less than half charged, you will need to charge the unit’s internal battery first, before operation – clever!
Now, while I think this Ecovacs WINBOT W1 PRO Window Cleaning Robot is totally neat and that it works great, it’s tidy and compact and easy to use, I’ve got to say that in my opinion, it’s absolutely not for ME. Why? Well, I can stand outside my windows and with a relatively inexpensive window cleaner (This that I’ve had a few years now) I can clean them efficiently and effectively in about quarter of the time. Who this IS for is someone in a beautiful multi-level / highrise apartment with a stunning glass floor to ceiling windows perhaps? (As is evident in their product demonstration video) I’m also not a huge fan of having to purchase the specific cleaning fluid, though I’m sure with some research you could maybe find or make an alternative fluid? (Don’t try this at home without reading the warranty completely) 
The Ecovacs WINBOT W1 PRO is a great little unit, and if you’re the target audience for this machine, I’m certain you’d be happy if you purchased it!
It is available from Amazon and other retailers for AUD $699.00.
DRN would like to thank Ecovacs for providing the unit for review.
