The Ecovacs Winbot W2 Pro Omni aims to offer similar conveniences as robot vacuums and mops, but for vertical glass surfaces in your home. The window washing robot utilizes up to 5,500Pa of suction to stay locked on while its dual-sided nozzles apply a cleaning solution to make your glass shine. The W2 Pro Omni worked as advertised in our tests, wiping away grime and dirt both inside and outside. It has some limitations around where it can be used, but if your home has amenable areas, the autonomous window cleaner might be well worth its $599.99 retail price. 

Features: Focused Simplicity

Ecovacs is best known for its robot floor cleaners, but the company has also been making window washing robots for more than a decade. The W2 Pro Omni is the most expensive model in its current lineup, which starts at $239.99 for the Winbot Mini.

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)

While the Ecovacs W2 Pro Omni is primarily advertised as a window washer, it can clean other types of glass and mirrors, too. It uses an optocoupler sensor to detect edges so it can be used on frameless glass showers. I found it worked great for floor-to-ceiling-length closet mirror doors and similar surface types.

The W2 Pro Omni has a roughly 18-foot (5.5-meter) cable that connects it to its battery-powered base station. The advertised battery life is around 110 minutes or 55 square feet of cleaning area, which I found to be accurate as I moved the robot from window to window while testing it.

Compared with last year's W2 Omni, the Pro model is slightly more efficient at navigation, allowing it to accomplish its job a little faster, and its spray nozzles are a bit stronger. Other upgrades include an improved safety and power cable, a new zone cleaning option, and the ability to use the robot while it's plugged in.

Of these year-over-year upgrades, the ability to power the robot while in use is a meaningful one. It seemed silly that the previous model couldn't be plugged in to charge while also in use. I used the Pro plugged in several times, and it is a substantial quality of life improvement when there is an open power outlet nearby.

Ecovacs also released the aforementioned Winbot Mini this year. It forgoes a battery-powered station altogether, so it can only be used near an outlet. It has older-generation navigation intelligence and fewer cleaning modes than the Pro. Its primary draw is its size, so I’d only advise considering it over the Pro if you absolutely need the smallest footprint.

Where It Can Clean (and Where It Can't)

The W2 Pro Omni will work across a range of window types, including slanted and floor-to-ceiling designs. Ecovacs recommends using the W2 Pro Omni on windows that measure 12 inches by 16 inches or larger. However, in my experience, it’s probably not worth using in an area that isn’t at least a few feet wide by a few feet high. Though I didn't see any warnings about it, I would advise against using the robot on hanging mirrors that aren't securely plastered to a wall.

There are a few other caveats to keep in mind. The company recommends avoiding surfaces with static cling stickers or raised, textured patterns. An uneven surface can disrupt the suction power and could cause the unit to fall. This also means adjacent pieces of glass with a gap between them, even a small one, can present problems. 

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)

Setup, App Control, and Navigation

Out of the box, the Winbot W2 Pro Omni comes assembled and nearly ready to use. The robot is permanently attached to the base station and is housed neatly inside of it. The front of the station folds down and provides a resting spot for the robot between cleaning sessions. The rear compartment houses the power cable, two cleaning pads, and the safety cord. I was able to keep the rear storage area tidy, but whether the cords get tangled will depend on how much effort you put into keeping them separate. Underneath the base station is a rubber foot, which has a suction force applied to it to keep it planted firmly.

The unit weighs around 18 pounds, but its attached handle makes it portable and reasonable to carry from room to room. Measuring 12.28 by 8.46 by 12.87 inches (LWH), the W2 Pro Omni with its battery case should fit in a coat closet or on a shelf in the garage. When handling just the robot, I found its roughly 3.5-pound weight manageable even when reaching to apply it to a second-story exterior window. 

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)

While most robot vacuums and mops heavily rely on their companion mobile app, the W2 Pro Omni doesn't. It does work with the Ecovacs Home mobile app (available for Android and iOS) via Bluetooth, but it has a much more limited smart feature set than many robot floor cleaners. Since the W2 Pro Omni doesn’t create maps of windows, the app's primary use is to switch between cleaning modes and perform firmware updates.

The app offers seven cleaning modes for the W2 Pro Omni: fast cleaning, deep cleaning, thorough cleaning, edge cleaning, spot cleaning, zone cleaning, and heavy-duty cleaning. Most of those modes are just variations in the number of times the robot goes over the same area. In spot cleaning mode, you can also use the app as a manual remote to drive the robot where you want it to go for spot cleans, but that’s harder and less fun than it sounds. I occasionally used the app, but mostly relied on the few control buttons on the top of the base station.

In addition to the power button, there’s one to recoil the cable and one to rotate through the three primary cleaning modes (fast, deep, and edge). An integrated speaker announces what’s happening when a button is pressed. The voice coming from the box does a good job of guiding you through what's happening with the cleaner.

The lack of reliance on a mobile app makes the robot practical for a wide range of people to use—not everyone feels comfortable using a mobile app. Plus, you can easily loan it to others since it’s not tied to a specific home.

Cleaning Performance: Suction On, Wipe Off

To find out how well the Winbot W2 Pro Omni cleans, I used it on a dozen windows, indoors and outside. Per the company’s recommendation, I used the fast cleaning mode on interior glass and the deep cleaning mode for exterior areas.

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)

To start, you hold the robot against the window with its handle and press the button. The suction begins within moments, and the voice from the base station confirms that you can let go. The whole process takes about 10 seconds.

In testing, I watched as the robot sprayed and diligently wiped the glass, assessing its effectiveness at removing dust and fingerprints, and whether it left visible streaks or water spots. In general, I was impressed by the robot’s ability to clean away dirt and smudges without leaving any significant traces behind. There were faint streaks in some areas, but I only noticed them upon close examination. While a human could replicate the robot's result, I’m not sure most people could continuously perform the same level of cleaning at the same speed as the robot. 

It took the robot about two minutes to do a fast clean of a 4-by-8-foot area. After it finished, all the dirty spots that had previously been there were gone, and there were no noticeable streaks. The deep clean took about four times as long because the robot retraced its path multiple times.

On exterior windows exposed to the elements, I noticed some dirt buildup that the robot left behind in the corners. I needed to give the window a few quick wipes with a rag to fully remove that debris. Beyond that occasional manual effort, the robot’s pad will need to be removed, rinsed, and reapplied in between most window cleanings, depending on the size and dirtiness of the surface. It’s not a substantial burden, but it is still some manual work.

Additionally, I used the W2 Pro Omni around the house on large mirrors and a glass shower enclosure. It worked surprisingly well, never falling or getting confused.

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)

The edge cleaning mode might be useful for big windows that only get touched around the sides, but the fast and deep clean modes should be most helpful for the average suburban home. Unless you are taking the W2 Pro Omni to different sites, I suspect most people will settle on one or two different modes to use primarily. The various cleaning options are probably worth experimenting with initially to see how they work in different contexts.

I measured the robot's noise while cleaning at around 61dB at a six-foot distance. It isn't overly loud, but I could hear its buzz upstairs while I was downstairs. It could be disruptive during nap time, but otherwise, it's about as loud as other types of autonomous cleaners.

When the robot finishes its cleaning path, it will return to the location it started. To remove it, you grab the handle and push its button until the speaker announces that the robot is shutting down. At that point, the suction ceases, and it’s free to pull away. Once, just to test it, I left the robot in its completed status for an extra 10 minutes, and it remained suctioned to the glass without a problem. You need to be semi-present when running the cleaner, but for the most part, you should be able to multitask while it does its job.

(Credit: Tyler Hayes)