ECOVACS WINBOT NEO review: the robot you didn’t realise you needed, on sale this week at ALDI

Robot vacuums are super handy because you can set it and leave it.  You don’t have to start it every day yourself, you just need to empty the bin every week or three.  Robot window cleaners are different because they require a lot more interaction with them.

Many people are sceptical of their usefulness.  You still need to place the robot on each window each time you want to use it and then take it off when it’s done.  ECOVACS also recommend you stay close to it while it is going.  Doesn’t seem very automated, does it?  

This week Aldi has the ECOVACS WINBOT NEO as one of their Special Buys for just $399, a big saving over the RRP of $799. I am/was one of the sceptics so who better to test it out?  

After using the WINBOT NEO for a couple of days I can say I’m a convert but I can see that the window robot cleaner is not for everyone.

What is it and how does it work?

The WINBOT NEO is a suction type of device with a soft cloth pad that you wet yourself and stick to the window side of the robot.  There is a spare cloth in the box in case you need one.  

Also in the box is the robot itself, and a cleaning fluid which you tip into the robot reservoir before starting.

Plug the robot in, turn it on underneath and pair it to the ECOVACS app on your phone.  This allows you to control the type of cleaning it performs and how many passes over the window it will do.

Push the vacuum against the window and it will then tell you when it’s ready.  Press the start button and it will start the type of clean you have set in the app.  The path it takes is a zig-zag path with a deep clean a tighter zigzag than a quick clean.  You can also manually drive the robot yourself to clean just a particular area if you wish.

The robot uses bumpers on its corners to navigate the window, while at the same time spraying the cleaning fluid out the front of it to help clean the window.  

There is an anchor that ECOVACS has attached to the robot that you are meant to wrap around a nearby chair leg or something secure.  I’m not entirely sure why* so I didn’t use it and it didn’t affect the cleaning (I’m sure ECOVACS will call me tomorrow and tell me off about not using it and why I should be using it but I can’t for the life of me see what use it has).

*ECOVACS tell me that the anchor is for those in high rises as a safety mechanism so the robot doesn’t fall too far — but the robot has an internal battery that gives it 30 minutes of suction should the power fail. The anchor is there if you are on a floor other than the ground floor and the power goes out and you don’t take the hint to get the robot off the window within 30 minutes it will only fall so far. Safety.

How well did it clean?

We have one window inside where our Westie jumps up and barks at the next-door neighbour.  Needless to say, it is constantly covered in his slobber.  After wetting and wringing out the cleaning pad, I performed a quick clean with a single pass and voilà it was clean. 

Now it was only doggo slobber and not a heap of dirt or anything like that.  So I moved onto the sliding doors we have to our alfresco where there is not just dog slobber and paw prints all over because one of the dogs refuses to use her doggie door 10 metres away at night and instead insists we get up off the couch and let her in.

Adding to that after the huge storms we had in Melbourne a week or so ago the rain and dirt over the windows had made them filthy.  This time I performed a “Deep clean” with a single pass on the outside window and it did a half-decent job cleaning the window.  

The type of clean etc are changed using the ECOVACS app — easy to use and operate.

The problem was that because the window was so dirty with caked-on dust and dirty rain the cleaning pad got dirty after a while and ended up just pushing dirty water around the window.  It resulted in a partly cleaner, streaky window, not a clean one.  

Solution?  Take the robot off the window, remove the cleaning cloth, clean it under the tap, wring it out, apply it back to the vacuum, and rerun the deep clean.  Solved. Crystal clean window.

In the end, the solution to get crystal clear, clean windows when they are super dirty is to keep an eye on the cleaning cloth and rinse it out after each pass.  

My only concern is that after using the WINBOT NEO for an hour or so — although I did clean three large windows inside and out with two passes on the outside — is that the cleaning fluid included by ECOVACS is one-third empty already. You can buy a bulk 1-litre bottle of it from the ECOVACS website for $37.50 plus $9.90 postage. That *should* last you a while.

Do you really need the ECOVACS WINBOT NEO?

My wife is the cleaner in our house (I cook, she cleans) and spends far too long cleaning our windows because we have many large windows and two small dogs, so if I can make her life easier in any way I would and will.  

For those with large windows, or windows that get dirty quickly and easily, then I would say yes, this robot window cleaner will save you a lot of time and elbow grease.  If you have small windows and like cleaning windows, then I would say you could probably just clean them yourself by hand and save yourself a few dollars.

Although ECOVACS say you need to keep an eye on the vacuum you don’t have to watch it that closely.  You could set it running on a window,  go and do something else and come back to it a few minutes later to place onto a different window to clean.  This is still easier than doing it yourself and frees up your time to do other, more important and fun things. 

You can pick up an ECOVACS WINBOT NEO from Aldi this Saturday, 14th September 2024 for just $399 while stocks last.  They will go quickly considering the RRP is $799, so I recommend getting in early.