Mova, the new kids on the block here in Australia when it comes to home appliances, in particular robotic appliances, design their products to tackle mundane jobs around the house giving you more time to be more productive or for just lazing.
Recently I reviewed the Mova N1 window cleaning robot and this time around I have my hands on it’s big brother, The T1.
Bigger, more powerful, with more features including the ability to clean windows without being tethered to a power point, made possible by the built-in battery incorporated in the companion case.
It’s portability is perfect for cleaning external windows without the need to have a power cord dragging behind.
But first the specs
- Suction Power: 10,000Pa
- Robot Dimensions: 277 x 277 x 79.5 mm
- Battery Capacity: 4,500 mAh
- Cord-free Runtime: Up to 110 minutes total (including operating and safety adhesion time)
- Operating Endurance: 80 minutes
- Charging Time: Under 3 hours (non-use during charging)
- Noise Level: ≤ 68 dBA
- Cleaning System: Dual-Wing Mist Spray with 40°C Warm Water Deep Cleaning
- Safety System: 15-layer safety protection suite
- Connectivity: App control
What’s in the box?
Another box. End of story. Everything is housed in a single case, which stores the robot, all cables, a spare cleaning pad, a starter bottle of cleaning liquid and a safety tether.
No assembly required. All you need to start is to open the rear door to access the power cord, tether and spare pad and the front of the case opens to reveal the robot which is connected to the case via a retractable cable.
It is the ultimate in portability
The T1 differs from the smaller N1, not only because of the fact that you do not need to be near a power point. Its surface area is greater, it possesses warm water spraying, the corner wheels are also small brushes to get into corners and it has side bumpers to detect window frames or other obstacles such as door handles etc
Charging
Whilst the specs say a full charge will take around 3 hours my testing showed that may be a bit ambitious. I found that time to be closer to almost 4 hours.
Once charged it is time to download the app and give this T1 a test.
The App
App setup is extremely easy and is achieved by just following the prompts to connect the robot to your app and the app to your network
Preparation
There are several modes you can select depending on the windows you are cleaning. Exterior panes tend to be dirtier and require extra attention. Mova recommend “Deep” cleaning be selected for them. I would also suggest you connect to power when it is convenient such as indoors as that will save your battery for those hard to get at places outside.
A “Complete” clean covers the entire window pane. There is also the option for edges only, zones or even remote control to direct the cleaner to exactly where you want it to target
Once you know what you want to achieve, what window you want to clean and what mode you wish you use, it is time to attach the robot to the glass.
But before you do I can’t get past this strange quirk in the T1 over its smaller counterpart the N1. They both have a safety tether that you should attach prior to starting. The tether is designed to catch the robot, should it lose it’s suction. On the N1 it came in handy on my shower screen and prevented a calamity. As you would expect the tether is attached to the robot right? Right in the case of the N1 but for this T1 model it is attached to the battery control case. As that is firmly placed safely on the ground I have no idea why you need a tether on it. What am I missing here?
After I threw caution to the wind and accepted that if the robot fell, there was no safety rope to catch it, I could get to testing. Don’t get me wrong. I have faith that it wouldn’t fall as on a normal window it was never likely. I just found it weird.
You start by soaking the cleaning pad in water and wringing it out and placing it on the base via a velcro-like arrangement. Then you add cleaning solution (a 230ml bottle supplied) to the onboard tank. Whilst not essential as just plain water works very well, you are given enough to last you around 2-3 hours of operation. If you desire more then it is available to purchase on the Mova Australia website for $35 a litre.
It is fascinating to watch these window cleaners in action. Cleaning panes of glass is a job we constantly put off as it is time consuming and the results are often less than ideal. As I found in testing both models, when I compared the results to the traditional warm, soapy water and squeegee method they looked similar until the sun lowers in the sky and you see just how lousy a job you did and how well the T1 does.
Starting is easy as placing the robot on the window and pressing the button. It quickly uses its 10,000 Pa of suction power to clamp itself to the glass and then the robot traction treads to wander around the pane.
Now using the T1 Cleaning Station from Mova doesn’t save you too much time from starting the task to finishing the last window as you still need to move it from window to window after waiting the 3-4 minutes it takes to clean the pane, but those 3-4 minutes are yours and require no effort. So you are still looking at several hours to do every window, inside and out but it sure is easier than all that manual work.
Speaking of outside, this is where the beauty of the portable T1 is most apparent. It’s pretty simple really. You don’t have to find a nearby power point. Just pick the whole case up using the carry handle and walk to it to the window, attach the robot and watch it do its magic.
In my tests the battery lasted about an hour until a verbal warning (yes it talks to you) said initially that “Run time is less than 10 minutes. Please connect to a fixed power supply”. At that hour mark I was told “Please connect to a fixed power supply immediately’ My only option was to stop the robot (holding the button for 2 seconds whilst holding the strap) and removing it. The specs state that this operating endurance should be 80 minutes so real world testing fell a bit short of expectations
Despite plugging the unit into the mains power I was unable to continue with the current cleaning task or start a new one til the battery was charged to around 25%.
The specs state that the robot runs at approximately 68 decibels. I always test 1m away from any appliance and the loudest I measured was 63 db so whilst not being whisper-quiet it isn’t excessively loud either. And there’s something reassuring about a noise of 10,000 Pa of suction when you really need this device not to fall.
When finished, the Mova T1 has a cool trick. When you are ready to pack the unit away you should remove the pad and there is a button on the case to retract the cable that connects it to the robot. Press that and the cord automatically retracts back into the case, just like a garden hose outside.
Bumpers
The T1 has another great feature. It possesses “bumpers” that sense when it collides with an obstacle. This was particularly handy when cleaning some sliding doors that may have protruding handles. The bumpers recognised an obstacle and maneuvered around them.
Pool glass
Framed windows are one thing but how does the T1 handle frameless glass on pool fencing? Essentially this window cleaning robot is designed for both framed and frameless glass and there were no issues. It recognised that the glass ended and reacted by moving away from the edge. In fact it did better than that. Once it recognised that the edge was there it travelled along that edge. It didn’t avoid it, it cleaned it
Shower screens
Whilst it would have been nice to say the days of scrubbing your shower screens are over, this isn’t the case. The T1 isn’t a solution for the soap scum that builds up in your shower. To be honest, thinking dragging a soft cloth over a shower screen is going to remove the build-up we all experience in our bathrooms was optimistic. At best it removes the surface dirt and debris but if you are purchasing a window cleaning robot for the bathroom, the best you can hope for is for it to clean your mirrors, not your shower screens. Having said that, again it coped well on the framed and frameless portions (albeit with me desperately holding on to the strap in case it fell). In the pic below you may be able to see where the robot has and hasn’t been. It is cleaner, but not clean.
Summary
The Good
- Portability
- Everything in a single case with a carry handle
- Sensing bumpers
- Corner brushes
- A magic retractable cord
- Works on framed and frameless glass
The Not So Good
- The tether is useless being attached to the battery case
- Not effective on shower screen soap scum
- Takes a long while to charge
- The battery only lasts an hour under heavy use
The Mova T1 Station Window Cleaning Robot and Base Station is a wonderful appliance to perform the job that you either do badly yourself or spend good money getting the experts in to do for you.
It gives you no excuse to have dirty windows anymore and honesty does a great job. no streaks, even when using only water.
The Mova T1 is available at the Mova online store or from Harvey Norman and is priced at $999.00
The elder statesman of the EFTM team, Rob has been a long time listener, reader and follower – He’s “Producer Rob” for the EFTM podcast and looks after our social media posts. To be fair, he’s probably the most tech-savvy bloke in the crew too!
