/PRNewswire/ — ECOVACS ROBOTICS, a global leader in robotics serving individuals, is honored to announce that its WINBOT W3 OMNI has been named to TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2026[1]. This recognition underlines ECOVACS’ leadership in the field of robotic window cleaning, driven by incessant technological innovation, and highlights how these advances are concretely transforming daily life.
Acclaimed by TIME for transforming the demanding task of cleaning floor-to-ceiling windows into an easier experience, the WINBOT W3 OMNI builds on ECOVACS’ strong position in this market. In the first half of 2026, the company shipped approximately 1.075 million robotic window cleaners and held more than 50%[2] of the global market for these devices in 2025. This dominant position is based on the pioneering role played by ECOVACS in the creation and constant evolution of the robotic window cleaner category. Since the launch of WINBOT, ECOVACS has continued to deliver user-driven innovations that improve cleaning performance, simplify the cleaning process and make window maintenance more self-sufficient.
For more than two decades, TIME’s Best Inventions list has highlighted groundbreaking innovations that have the potential to transform the way we live, work, play and envision possibilities. Selected following a rigorous editorial process, the ECOVACS WINBOT W3 OMNI deserves its place on TIME’s list of best inventions of 2026, recognized for its originality, efficiency, ambition and impact.
TIME’s recognition of WINBOT as one of the best inventions demonstrates more than just a product advancement. It builds on ECOVACS’ years of technological expertise, an extensive patent portfolio and its ability to leverage its core technologies in the areas of robotics, sensors, algorithms and smart manufacturing. With more than 3,100 patents granted and investments of more than RMB 5.2 billion in research and development since 2018, ECOVACS has built a solid technological foundation allowing it to transform its general capabilities in robotics into innovations adapted to the specific challenges of window cleaning. This expertise acquired over time promotes the continued evolution of WINBOT, contributes to advancing this product category and makes it possible to offer ever more intelligent, reliable and efficient cleaning experiences.
Exemplifying the innovative know-how of ECOVACS, the WINBOT W3 OMNI features a revolutionary station equipped with Vortex Wash, the industry’s first system for washing cleaning pads without contact, eliminating the chore of having to wash dirty pads by hand. Combined with the TruEdge scrubbing device, which provides precise edge-to-edge cleaning with millimeter precision, the WINBOT W3 OMNI provides more thorough cleaning, without manual intervention.
Beyond WINBOT, ECOVACS is integrating robotics into more and more aspects of daily life through an expanding multi-industry portfolio, which spans from indoor floor care to outdoor pool cleaning and lawn care. The goal: to simplify everyday life and free up time for what really matters.
About ROBOTIC VACUUM:
Founded in 2006, ECOVACS ROBOTICS is a global leader in home service robotics. Its diversified portfolio includes robotic vacuum cleaners and window cleaning robots. By expanding into robotic lawn mowers, commercial cleaning robots, robotic pool cleaners and robotic pet companions, ECOVACS has solidified its position as a multi-industry leader in home service robotics.
Guided by its vision of “Robotics for All,” ECOVACS continues to advance technology and improve user experience to provide consumers around the world with a smarter, more stylish lifestyle. Thanks to its commercial subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States, Japan and Singapore, ECOVACS products are distributed in nearly 180 major markets and equip more than 38 million homes around the world.
Demonstrating its market leadership, ECOVACS ROBOTICS ranked first in China’s robotic vacuum cleaner market in market share for ten consecutive years from 2015 to 2024.
