Review: Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni

Last year, I happened to hear about the existence of window cleaning robots and I quickly ordered the Ecovacs Winbot W1 Pro for testing.

As I belong to the category of people who would rather do “something else” (as in anything else) to avoid cleaning windows, I couldn’t help but give the product a thumbs up.

Now there’s a successor in the form of the Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni, and of course I’m curious to know what has happened in a year.

New since last time

While I appreciated its predecessor, I have to say that Ecovacs has taken a big step forward.

No, it doesn’t come in a fancy case like the W1 Pro did, but on the other hand, it’s not the case that will clean your windows either.

The Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni comes with a portable, rechargeable station to which the window cleaning robot itself is anchored with something like an umbilical cord. The result is that I don’t have to find power to clean my windows. I just need to make sure the station is charged and ready. And that’s great!

On one charge, Winbot can clean about 55 square metres or about 110 minutes of use, and that feels like a lot.

Is it up to the task?

I have to admit that my expectations are high as I go out for the first time to test it. I read on the website: “The industry’s first edge cleaning feature: WINBOT W2 OMNI is equipped with multiple sensors to seamlessly get past obstacles and prevent blockages. The edge cleaning feature improves edge cleaning by 65%.”

And although it would probably still be a little better if I took the time and energy to do it myself, it’s actually really good. Above all, I don’t have to mess with water. Hooray for that!

The Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni comes with a portable, rechargeable station to which the window cleaning robot itself is anchored with something similar to an umbilical cord. The result is that I don’t have to find power to clean my windows. I just need to make sure the station is charged and ready. And that’s great!

Now there’s a remote control in the app, so I can still sit down and control the robot. And even though I don’t have to handle a lot of water, I can’t read a book or anything like that. I also have to lift my bum out of the lounger to move the robot between the windows. Apparently I can’t have everything.

Worth considering

A window cleaning robot is not nearly as self-propelled as a robot vacuum cleaner. I have to attach it to the window and I have to move it between the windows. It’s not like I just switch it on and leave the house. We’re not quite there yet.

The fact that it can’t handle joints is a minus, which unfortunately pulls down the rating.

Conclusion

The Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni would be a typical “nice to have” for most people. However, if you have tall windows that are incredibly inconvenient to clean, it’s almost a “need to have”. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it replaces a really well-done manual window cleaning, but it’s certainly good enough – even around the edges! If you have a little money to spare and like gadgets that are almost borderline unnecessary in most cases, then I say: Buy!