CES announcements are pretty much done now and ECOVACS has given us something to take note of. Well, a couple of “somethings” to be more precise. Stepping up from previous hardware at the basic, and even higher level, there’s a couple of interesting hardware releases.
The first is the DEEBOT X2 Combo, a stick vacuum and robot vacuum in a single package. On first look, the physical size of the base station for the combo looks to be quite large and will need a lot of space in your home. But when you look at the features offered, and the design of the robot vacuum offering almost whole of home cleaning; it’s worth the space investment.
Check out the object avoidance, as well as how close to wall edges and corners the DEEBOT X2 achieves in the demonstration we had from ECOVACS in September 2023.
This time around though, adding to the auto emptying base station, more holistic cleaning and better object avoidance; the addition of the stick vacuum means you’ll have instant access to clean up little spills and areas that a robot vac just can’t reach.
Taking cleaning vertical, and onto glass, is the WINBOT W2 OMNI a robot window cleaner. Offering some evolutionary upgrades from the previous generation, the WINBOT W2 OMNI looks like a solid investment if you’ve got a lot of windows to keep clean.
It carries an intelligent mapping system (similar to that aboard vacuums) that ensure a holistic and thorough clean across even filthy windows. Supporting the clear outcome (see what I did there?) on your windows, the it also has a three-nozzle wide-angle spray technology that dissolves dirt and evenly covers windows without drips and streaking.
Understandably, potential buyers might have concerns about how well it will stick to a window (particularly at heights) but never fear. The W2 OMNI’s steady climbing system features 3-point anti-slip, anti-dust driving treads and intelligent gravity compensation which allows the robot to maintain steady rolling across windows. In plain English, it shouldn’t’ fall from your windows and having seen the last generation in action, I believe it.
Finally, something more along the lines of an experimental device is the GOAT GX-600 robotic lawnmower. We saw the first generation of GOAT from ECOVACS last year in Sydney, including object avoidance with their vaguely disturbing stuffed cats…
This time around, home owners (US only in the first rollout) will see similar benefits of robot lawn mowing as they do from robot vacuuming; massive time savings! The GOAT requires no boundary setup or physical boundary settings, and minimal maintenance.
After the demonstration last year, it’s evident that (at this stage) a robot lawnmower isn’t yet suited to homes with multiple segments of lawn that are separated by driveways or paving. It’s also not intended to cut down high grass, this is a “maintenance is better than cure” approach to lawn care.
It features features that align (outdoor versions of course) to the vacuums and WINBOT, mapping the intended mowing area and avoiding obstacles that could be problematic. Then mowing the area in the most efficient pathway it can map.
Impressively, the GOAT GX-600 is pretty close to plug and play; simply install the charging station at the edge of the lawn and press & go.
We’re hopeful that now the technology is improving, we may see the GX-600 in Australia later this year. For now though, I’m too busy looking at robot vacuums
