Polishing-level wet wiping.
The smooth and efficient cleaning experience that guarantees a polished result, surpassing all other choices on the market.
At least, that is what the marketing on the Ecovacs website states. Ecovacs, for those who haven’t heard of the brand, is a Chinese technology company best-known for in-home robotics appliances. Established in 1998 by Qian Dongqi, in 2020 it was #2 globally with 17% market share of the robovacs / mops market.
Now, I have previously reviewed the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni robot vacuum cleaner – a device that was good, but not without flaw – so I was a little surprised by such a bold claim. But, given window cleaning is one of my most hated chores (folding washing being another) I jumped at the chance to review the Ecovacs Winbot W1S.
So, how did the W1S perform? And did it live up to the marketing?
First Impressions of the Ecovacs Winbot W1S
If there is one thing that Ecovacs does well, it’s the packaging. The review product I received was from the Asian market, so most of the text on the back of the box (the marketing stuff) was completely foreign (pun intended) to me. However, despite this, it was easy to see exactly what the product was, and its intended use.
The box of the Winbot W1S is a plain blue and white affair, with large W1S branding in one corner of the box front (easily identifying the model) and a picture of the Winbot itself.
Inside the box was the Winbot W1S, and because my review sample was the W1S bundle, I also received a spare cleaning pad, and a bottle of cleaning fluid.
The Winbot W1S itself is pretty minimalist. It’s plain, white and square-shaped, with the power button, carrying handle and reservoir fill point on the top, and a couple of spray nozzles on two of the four sides.
Measuring 270mm square, with a height of 77.5mm, and weighing 1.56kg, the Winbot W1S is a hefty piece of equipment. Due to the size and weight, I was a little concerned with how well it’d be able to hold onto the window, despite the stated auto air pressure compensation, 5,300Pa suction power (2,800Pa while moving), and power-off protection – but, it turns out, I was worried unnecessarily (more on this later.)
The build quality is good, and the Winbot W1S itself is sturdy, so won’t take issue with a few accidental bumps while carrying it from the storage to the windows.
Getting started
As I have previously stated, the review product I received was from the Asian market. As such, the default language was also from the local market. This became an issue while I was trying to set up the Winbot W1S.
The W1S uses a pre-dampened microfiber cleaning pad, along with sprays of the cleaning fluid to clean the window as it moves. Tank-track style treads on two of the sides allow the Winbot to move and turn, while a single centrally mounted suction point ensures the W1S stays firmly affixed to the window.
I had downloaded an English version of the W1S manual, and used it to set everything up, filled the reservoir with the cleaning fluid (undiluted as per the instructions), plugged in the power cable, secured the safety rope (I used this to stop the W1S going too far from the power plug and pulling the power cable out, rather than the intended use as a safety strap for accidental falls from the window, because it was almost impossible to find a tether point fit for that purpose), and placed the W1S against the first window. But when I pushed the power button, instead of being rewarded with a clean window, I had a 30 second speech that repeated itself, again, and again, and again.
At first, I assumed it was speaking Chinese (given Ecovacs is a Chinese company) but after Google Translate was no help, I reached out to some friends, and found out it was actually Japanese. Unfortunately, Google Translate was still of little help, managing only to translate a single word “Connect” but connect what?
So, back to the drawning board… where after trying different power points, and a number of other things, I found that the W1S didn’t like the extension cable I was using. So, after swapping that out, I was ready to go.
Hardware and Software Protection
The Winbot W1S boasts robust protection features, including auto air pressure compensation, a floating cleaning cloth plate, and wire protection.
The Winbot W1S has a built-in gravity and edge detection sensors that identifies glass without defined edges, like some shower doors. With a lightning-fast 0.02 second response time, this prevents the robot from falling off, while the set of bumpers on each corner allow the Winbot to navigate around obstacles and raised window frames.
For added peace of mind, users are also covered by Ecovacs insurance in the unlikely event the W1S did take a fall.
Me being me, I gave it a firm tug to see how well it gripped, and it actually took a bit of effort to pull off. The best part is that even if the device loses power, it has a 650mAh reserve battery which will give the W1S up to 30 minutes of suction (though it will immediately stop moving and cleaning), allowing you plenty of time to rescue the device and move it to safety.
Cleaning Modes
The Winbot W1S has a number of different cleaning modes: a quick mode, a deep cleaning mode, and a spot cleaning mode that gives you direct control via the Ecovacs app.
The W1S itself is equipped with a high-speed processor, and intelligently detects window dimensions and selects the most efficient cleaning route to ensure thorough coverage. Intelligent obstacle avoidance ensures that the Winbot W1S navigates around obstacles up to 8mm high, also maintaining an 8mm cleaning radius. For obstacles lower than 8mm, the W1S employs strategic avoidance to avoid getting stuck and ensure uninterrupted cleaning. In fast mode, it can clean a 1m² area in 2 mins 50 seconds.
The upgraded synchronous belt guarantees smooth and stable climbing, allowing steady navigation without losing traction even on damp windows (though it is important to note that the manual states to avoid using the W1S on windows that are wet, or have condensation on them.)
It also includes a dual direction cross auto spray. This means that the W1S is able to spray from either the top, or the bottom of the robot, with two nozzles on each side that cross over each other (forming the letter X in front of the robot). As a result, the robot is better able to optimise the cleaning pattern, as it doesn’t need to turn 180 degrees at the end of each line in the cleaning grid, while the crisscrossed nozzles better cover the full width of the robot.
It also means that the robot is able to utilise the full cleaning pad (as opposed to just the leading edge on only one side) reducing the need for frequent cloth changes.
On the subject of the cleaning pad, these are microfiber pads that absorb a lot of water (it’s advertised with a water retention rate of over 400%), a high dust retention rate, and excellent horizontal sealing performance.
Cleaning the pads is a matter of rinsing under running water, and removing the grime. When really dirty, I did have to use some detergent, but also had to rinse the pads thoroughly to remove all trace of the detergent. When using the W1S, I found that I had to switch the pad for cleaning about every 10-15m2, although the heavy dirt on some windows increased this to switching and cleaning the pad after the outside of every window.
You can order additional pads from Ecovacs for a touch under thirty dollars, with free shipping (as at the time of writing) if you order $49.99 or more.
While operating, the Ecovacs Winbot W1S produces around 70dB at 1m – not overly noisy, but definitely noticeable if nearby, so you won’t want to use it early morning, or late in the evening unless you want your neighbours offside.
Cleaning Solution
I was provided with a bottle of Ecovacs Winbot W1 Pro cleaning solution. The ingredients list includes deionised water, alcohol, Nonionic surfactant, pigment, essence, and a preservative CMIT / MIT (.01-.02ww%). A 230ml bottle of this costs $14.90 plus shipping, while 1L is $37.50 at the time of writing. Ecovacs states the 230ml bottle will cover around 60m2 of glass. In my usage, this was about right, although I did use a lot more on some windows than others (More on this later.)
Ecovacs does state the cleaning solution should be used, as tap water can contain calcium and minerals that create scale and will block the nozzles. You also can’t use purified or distilled water, as the W1S uses capacitance detection on the tank to detect fluid levels.
The warranty might also be voided if you aren’t using Ecovac’s recommended cleaning solution.
Limitations
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention a few restrictions on the use of the Winbot W1S. The glass being cleaned must be within a certain size (the manual states max 9m, due to the power cable length, and the fact the device is not strong enough to lift that AND an extension cord), must be >3mm thick, flat, and not be irregularly shaped. It does not (as an example) navigate well on angled glass where one edge is higher than the other, such as glass panels on the side of a stairwell (It tended to get confused with navigation and doesn’t follow the top edge of the panel at an angle upwards, and instead changes direction once it bumps off the frame.)
It also will not handle excessive inclines (I tested mine to about 20 degree inclines) so you won’t be able to clean glass panels on the ceiling, or the inside of a skylight.
When cleaning a glass pool safety fence, the edge / cliff protection also kept stopping the W1S before it reached the bottom edge. However, I didn’t experience the same issue while cleaning an edgeless shower screen, although the edgeless section was then on the side, not the bottom.
I will also note that the cable and transformer brick are not IP rated, so they need to be kept dry.
Results
On windows that were only mildly dirty, the Ecovacs Winbot W1S made them shine. Even on the quick-clean setting the windows came up looking like they had been professionally cleaned.
Unfortunately, as my house is near a quarry, we often get a heavy coating of fine dust. And the Winbot W1S did NOT like that at all. Even on the deep-clean setting, it took four or five runs over the same window, and a cleaning pad swap and clean (or two) before the W1S did more than just smudge the dirt around the window.
As the W1S has an 8mm cleaning radius, this also means I had to clean (wipe and dry) all four edges (inside and out) each time. I will note however, that no window cleaning robot that I have seen does a perfect edge clean.
But, given you have to manually start each cleaning cycle (you can’t tell it to clean twice, or three times etc), and move the robot between windows, for the really dirty windows I found myself spending as much time tending to the robot, wiping the window edges, and cleaning / swapping the cleaning pads as I would have spent cleaning the windows directly myself.
The 60ml reservoir also quickly emptied when doing each window five times, and needed to be topped up a couple of times across the 12 windows too.
As such, the W1S was, at least for those windows, more of a burden than a help.
Final thoughts
The Ecovacs Winbot W1S does a fantastic job on well-maintained windows. It cuts through window grime and minor dirt with ease, and leaves a nice polished, streak-free finish.
The Winbot W1S is also able to reach those really high spots without you having to get out, set up, and constantly move a ladder.
So, if you’re using it for maintenance cleans, just to keep a nice shiny finish, it’s certainly nice to have and saves a bit of time (there’s still some time investment as you have to move the W1S from window to window.)
However, if you live in an area where there’s a lot of dirt or grime build-up (including bird poo), you will need to wash the windows first before using the W1S, which kind of defeats the purpose.
So, overall, the Ecovacs Winbot W1S suffers from the same problem that the Deebot T20 Omni robot vacuum cleaner did – It’s good, in specific circumstances. But if you throw something at it that it doesn’t like (Dog hair for the T20 Omni, a lot of dirt for the Winbot W1S) it doesn’t perform anywhere near as well.
And accordingly, I can’t help but feel the marketing “guaranteed polished result” is perhaps overselling the product a little.
That said, not everyone lives in an area like mine, where dirt and grime builds up on the windows in less than a week. So for all of those people, the Winbot W1S will save you a lot of elbow grease, if not a lot of time… with the added benefit of being able to read a book, or have a drink / chat all while cleaning the windows at the same time.
And at the price ($479 on the Ecovacs website, or $526 for the W1S Bundle) it’s a good time to grab yourself one. It is also available on Amazon.
I’d like to thank Ecovacs for the loan of the Winbot W1S and accessories.
