Hobot 198 review window washing robot

We're not quite in the Jetsons robot housekeeper era yet, but there are a host of house cleaning robots out there that can automate some of you most dreaded chores.
And if you Don't do windows? The HOBOT 198 window cleaning robot may be able to help you.
I recently had a chance to test out the HOBOT 198 in my home to see how it works.

HOBOT 198 a relatively small robot scrubber, designed to adhere to windows and scrub them clean, either inside or out. The robot has two scrubber wheels that come with soft microfibre cleaning pads. There's a long power cord and a tether to keep the HOBOT from plummeting to its doom.

Getting going with this robot is pretty easy. You'll hook up the AC power cable, and add the scrubbing cloths to the wheels if they aren't already on there. They do affix easily.

If you’re using the Hobot outside or over a drop (think apartment balcony or second floor window) tie the safety tether onto something sturdy. Then, press the Hobot flat up against the window and flip the switch on. In a second, the robot will turn on its suction powers and hold itself against the glass. At this point you can let go.

Using the included remote control or the Hobot app, you can set a cleaning mode. The modes are… weird and not very intuitive. There’s three options: Up then Down, Left then Down, and Right then Down. Each is denoted by an arrow and two rings.

To me, none of these cleaning modes says “Clean my whole window” and frankly, I don’t really care whether it goes left or right first. The robot is smart enough to sense the window frame and edges, so it shouldn’t matter which direction it cleans in since it’s going to clean the whole window anyhow, right?

With that said, this device does do a great job of cleaning the entire window. It senses the left and right edges and the top and bottom, and cleans it quite thoroughly. I was quite impressed with the cleaning coverage.

Because this robot is corded and AC powered, it's rather limited in what and where it can clean. I'd love to clean the rear outside windows at my house, but since there's no AC plug anywhere nearby, they're off limits, unless I could connect a long extension cord, I suppose.

Hobot’s manufacturer recommends you clean with windows with Hobot’s help using the same cleaners you’d use at home.

I chose to use Windex; I sprayed cleaner on the top of the window and let it drip down. The Hobot was pretty good at wiping it up and it left a streak-free finish. I found on larger windows, sometimes the cleaner would dry before the Hobot got to it, so in a few cases, I followed it along, and spritzed more cleaner in front of it. That seemed to help.

Hobot’s microfibre cleaning cloths are washable and reusable. Hobot suggests you wash them in water under 40 degrees C (104F) and leave them to air dry.

A handy feature of the robot is that you can use it on floors, surfaces and even textured glass too, according to Home Robot Inc.

I tested it out on a glass coffee table. The first pass I tried it did great; it sensed the edges of the glass top and stayed on course. Second time around, the Hobot fell off the table and onto the floor. Good thing the drop wasn’t far. Third pass was fine too.

While this is a neat feature, I guess, I would have had the table cleaned in about 10 seconds using paper towel and glass cleaner; instead, the Hobot took almost two minutes.

Hobot does some rather random patterns when it comes to scrubbing the floors; it’s not nearly as linear or as efficient. That said, it did do a pretty thorough job on the parts that it did clean.

A legitimate issue is what happens to the robot if the power cord ever got kicked loose or you had an outage. Fortunately, the device has a battery backup that will hold it on the window for up to 30 minutes. Despite what you may think, this doesn’t mean you can pull out the AC power cord and use the Hobot wirelessly; there’s a failsafe to prevent this. If you try it will just stick to the window and beep at you.

I found this device surprisingly helpful. It does a really good job at sticking to the windows and cleaning them too, both inside and out. I experienced no falls, and the windows got clean every time.

If there’s a downside, it’s that Hobot needs to be constantly connected to AC power, and you basically need to supervise the cleaning, so I recommend doing the windows at the same time as you’re doing some other chores nearby. I also thought the control or cleaning buttons weren’t intuitive; the app (and remote) could use a bit of tweaking, in my opinion.

The fact that the cloths are washable is nice, plus you can use it on other surfaces, though it didn’t seem to have the easiest time with tables or floors. Even so, the Hobot 198 is a surprisingly versatile and useful device. www.HomeRobot USA.com

[harhccha]

I feel like one day the company might run into product confusion with future robots of a similar name

[AbduXAep]

Thanks for the great review, can it clean walls like bath tiles?

[marshall.cochran]

You’re really good at this. You deserve more views

[eleonoramarree]

you didn't show the results of how clean the windows are after cleaning. As well I would have liked to see how this window robot is handling the edges of the windows....

[MC-hdkr]

Best review I have seen. Very Helpful. Thank You.

[douglasdonaldson]

I clean windows for a living. This is my first notice of this kind of robot and I have to say I'm not yet worried about losing business to this thing. It would take all week to clean your windows. lol And what about the frames?

[ahmedosama]

Unless you buy 20 hobots to do all windows in one shot i think it's too slow and expensive for the service offered

[eastaronline]

Good ideas. Are you testing any swimming pool cleaning robot?

[ZVIKAGREENBERG]

Hi - what are you doing with the safety rope that behave like a tail in your case?

[fabianmac-namara]

Hi. great review. How did ir work on the window corners? Thank you

[andrewkamoha]

4:35 What happens when it gets to the edge?
Is it smart or does it fall?

[x.sports]

Does it work alone without watching it or pressiing anything

[cdsdgbdg]

Very good and thorough review of the device. Thank you!

[TheKingsapostle]

Help me find one to clean the inside of my car's windshield.

[GrossTechnology]

I also don't see the point, feel like unless the windows are huge, or really tall to where I have to use a ladder then I might as well get a paper towel. Especially since you have to move it from one pane to another. I do wonder about how it does for cars though, now that would be interesting. Did you test it on any car windshields?

[iasimov]

A Hobot shall not break windows or, through inaction, allow a window to be broken.

[MrAndreCoutinho]

Does it work on non flat surfaces? My glass windows are wavy, it might be tricky for the hobot I suppose.
For windows out of reach it could be useful, other than that, I can clean by myself with a cloth in much less time and quietly.

[sf]

The reason u want to start from the top of the glass is because that is how all cleaning is done .. alll begin from the top and finish towards the bottom

[allnotathome]

Yeah, this one will end up completely ignoring the corners due to its round pads.

[EmerInspires]

Great review. Basically I don't think any of these will work for all my windows because of the height and accessibility. I have one poor window on my 3rd floor stairs (thankfully with blinds) that never gets cleaned by any regular window cleaners I have got in the past.
I was hoping this would do it but looks like you need to wet the surface manually. Correct?

Also what if there's something like bird poop or when the kids go on an egg spree (I live between a supermarket and school), guessing it won't manage this.

One more question, regarding the corners, how well does it clean into the corners?

Thanks 🙏🏻