Gladwell Gecko is the cheapest robot of the bunch that I’ve used at my home, but it sure isn’t the best. Maybe for the price given it does an ok job compared to its competitors.
This robot looks like some Chinese factory production product. Where companies can get their branding on and sell as their own product.
I’ve found a few similar looking robots online just with a different branding. Even the remote control is the same as with these other robots.
Gladwell Gecko Specifications
It is a corded robot that takes power from an AC outlet. The power cord is 13 feet (4 meters) long.
With a dimensions of 11.4 x 5.5 x 4.5 in. (29 x 14 x 11.5 cm) and weight of 950 grams. Cleaning speed is 4 minutes for 10.76 square foot (a square meter).
It has a backup UPS in case the robot loses AC power. And it can keep the robot stuck to the surface for up to 30 minutes.
The robot looks slightly different than the pictures on amazon. It was like that for me and other people that uploaded “customer pictures” there.
Its working noise is around 71 dB from 3.3 ft. (1 meter) away.
You get 4 plastic pad frames that put the cleaning cloth pads on. Prepare those for easy switching when you need to switch dry cleaning pad with a wet one and vice versa.
You get 7 pairs of cleaning cloth pads, that are washable.
They say not to use it on frameless windows, but I still tested, and it works to some extent.
How to operate Gladwell Gecko?
Controlling the robot is simple. You can do it with a button on the robot itself or using the given remote control. I prefer the latter one, because you have more choices on controls and you can do that from quite a distance.
You’re supposedly able to control it via phone app, but I had no luck connecting the app to the robot.
How to use it for the best cleaning results?
To get the best results, you should first run it using dry cleaning. Do not spray any cleaning solution or water on the robot or the cleaning surface. Let that robot clean the dust.
Once that is done, if the cleaning pads are still clean, spray some cleaning solution or water on the bottom cleaning pad (one or two sprays, don’t make it wet) and run the cleaning again. If the pads are dirty, use other pair of pads and spray the cleaning solution on the new one.
Let the robot do the job once again.
If you’re happy with the result, you’re good to remove the robot and move onto another surface. But most likely, you will need to do one more dry cleaning.
Be sure to change both of the previous pads to the dry ones. Otherwise, it will leave streaks.
In case of some serious, hard stains, the robot might be of no help and you will need to use your hand to manually clean it.
Remember, most of the time this robot can only take care of light stains and dirt.
Once you remove the robot from the window, don’t forget to clean that spot with a window cleaning cloth or paper. Make sure your paper is good for cleaning windows, because otherwise it will leave micro paper dust spots.
Gladwell Gecko cleaning performance
As usually I’ve tested this robot on multiple different surfaces to see if it can be used on those and how good is it on that specific surface.
Windows Cleaning
As with most similar shaped robots, this robot does a similar quality job. Meaning it can clean dust and other light stains like fingerprints. However, this robot struggles on the top and bottom edges, it feels like it is stuttering and wouldn’t clean evenly.
It doesn’t stutter on the sides, but it doesn’t get close to the edge, so it doesn’t clean there evenly either.
Every time you pick the robot from the window, you will need to take a cloth and clean that spot. Otherwise, there will be a round print left.
Due to its shape, It can’t reach a small part of corners either.
Mirrors Cleaning
It does a good job on cleaning dust from the mirror. Just running a dry cleaning once takes care of the task.
If there are fingerprints, you will need to do dry, then wet cleaning and then dry again.
Since you have extra cleaning pads, change the bottom wet pad with a dry one.
When I used wet cleaning on a mirror, I noticed it left some streaks. That was noticeable only when looking closely enough. Nonetheless it was still there.
Glass Walls with Cracks
This robot treats these cracks as an edge of the surface, so it won’t go pass the crack.
Also, it is very unsteady on how close it gets to that crack which results in uneven cleaning of the edge.
Marble Wall Tiles
Gladwell Gecko couldn’t climb the marble tiles up, so I don’t think you’re able to use it on this surface.
Frameless Glass Walls
Bear in mind that Gladwell points out that you shouldn’t use this on frameless surface. Nonetheless, I’ve still tested it.
This robot treats frameless edges on the sides much better than frameless on top and bottom.
If it is on the side(s) then the robot will most likely be able to finish the cleaning task without getting stuck.
Although, it won’t do a great job close to the frameless edge.
When top and/or bottom is frameless, then robot stopped doing the task many times when reaching either the top or the bottom.
It is possible for it to finish it, but too many times stuck on the task. So, I don’t think it is worth using it on a surface like that.
Table Cleaning Mode
In the user manual they write that this robot is able to clean tables. I tried doing that with no luck, because robot stopped working every time it got to the edge of the able.
Gladwell Gecko flaws that I’ve faced
Few times the robot kept cleaning the bottom of the surface nonstop. Had to manually put a stop to the task.
Review Summary
As mentioned before, this is the cheapest window cleaning robot that I’ve tried. And overall, probably one of the cheapest robots available online.
That being said it is far from perfect, especially in the performance department. But given the price point it all comes down to the type of surface you will be cleaning with it and how dirty that surface is.
It is a decent, cheap robot to clean dusty windows that has frames. Cleaning anything harder than the dust will be tricky and time consuming.
As always, if you think I’ve missed something or you’ve got a question related to this robot, do not hesitate to leave a comment and I will be sure to respond.