ECOVACS WINBOT W2 PRO OMNI - Come Down Off that Ladder

If you have windows up high, this could be one of the most important tech reviews you ever read.

There's nothing more frustrating than being able to reach most of your windows to clean them but not quite all of them. That's when silly decisions get made. Like putting ladders where you shouldn't. Then climbing up those ladders. Then leaning out to reach for something unreachable.

All bad, bad ideas.

So... leave it to the professionals with their fancy extendable poles and proper ladders?

Or get a robot to do it?

It's been more than three years since my first robot window cleaning experience, so I was keen to see how things had advanced in that time with the ECOVACS WINBOT W2 PRO OMNI.

On taking it out of the box, I was interested to discover the actual WINBOT didn't seem to have changed too dramatically - it's still about the size and shape of a square biscuit tin with a handle and power button on top, while the bottom features the fan intake that creates the suction against the window, a pair of tracks to enable it to move around and the all-important wiping pad, which velcroes on and off for easy cleaning.

Of course, the most significant and obvious upgrade is the addition of the OMNI base station.

Whereas the original WINBOT needed to be plugged into a mains power supply via its very long power cable, the W2 runs on its own 4500mAh battery that provides enough charge for up to 120 minutes of cleaning time. There's still a very long cable - now 5.5 metres that works as a tether too - but it connects to the OMNI base station instead.

The base station is totally portable - in fact, it has a nice big handle to carry it around with, kind of like a medium-sized cooler. That long cable retracts back into the base station when you return the WINBOT to store it. But the key to the OMNI base station is really the smaller compartment that opens at the back.

This is where you'll find the storage compartment for a second wiping pad, a tether cable, for anchoring the base station in place and most importantly of all, the power cord, to plug the whole operation in with. This is how the WINBOT W2 is charged and the real beauty of this is once it is, you can unplug, stash the power lead away and use the robot literally anywhere.

With the original model, you were somewhat restricted; if there wasn't a power outlet within reach, it was a no-go - which proved to be somewhat restrictive, especially when using the WINBOT outside or at height.

Now that restriction is gone.

As you'll see me demonstrate in the video below, now no window needs to remain uncleaned - no matter how inaccessible it was before.

As always, the simplicity of use with the WINBOT W2 is quite remarkable. You simply rinse and wring out the wiping pad before velcroing it back on, fill the tank with ECOVACS window cleaning solution, press the power button and the robot does the rest. It still seems like some kind of crazy magic trick every time it sticks itself to the window and goes about its business.

Apart from the OMNI station, there have been other upgrades. The WIN-SLAM 4.0 navigation is smarter than ever, negotiating my interior glass balustrades well, despite their edgeless, asymmetrical design.

The auto-spraying nozzles have gone from two to three and now spray at a wider angle, resulting in a more efficient clean.

It's easy enough to control the WINBOT W2 via the physical buttons on the robot and the base station - I've mentioned the power button but there's also a master control on the base, along with a button to retract the cable and one to cycle through the different cleaning modes; Fast Clean for interior windows, Deep Cleaning or Heavy Duty for outside and there's an Edge mode for dusting.

But for more granular control, you can add the WINBOT W2 PRO OMNI to the ECOVACS app. Here you can even drive the robot manually, via bluetooth connection with your phone. The app is also for firmware updates and lets you adjust the volume and language of the spoken cleaning prompts.

It's hard to fully express how much easier this device makes cleaning the windows of my large-ish, multi-level home. Although many windows are accessible from the ground, in a lot of cases, they're several metres up. To be able to open the next window along, pop the W2 out and have it clean knowing it will return right back to where it started from seems like something from a sci-fi movie.

Don't get too cocky though. After I filmed this video, I decided to go even higher. I did this by turning the W2 on, then placing it on my most out-of-reach windows by raising it up on the end of a long pole. This worked fantastically well until it was time to get it down again. Very hard to hold the robot by its handle strap and push the power button simultaneously with a pole! I thought I was going to have to wait for the battery to run out and catch it in a giant net like a fireman at a burning apartment building!

Let's just say, I figured it out eventually and didn't fall off any ladders in the process. Next time, I'll simply lean out an adjacent window, like I should have done all along. It just goes to show, this robot is way smarter than I am.

And there's an even smarter one to come! ECOVACS has recently launched the W3. I can't wait to find out what it can do... imagine if it could clean ITSELF as well as the windows. Wouldn't that be something?

Click here for more information on the ECOVACS WINBOT W2 PRO OMNI.