The unit does have one quirky flaw: The release button for the debris basket is located on the front nose of the robot. About twice a month it will clip a corner on my L-shaped pool, which will cause this button to be pressed, ejecting the basket into the pool. It’s easy to replace the basket when I happen to find it floating in the water, but I’m dying for a small redesign on the button placement to avoid this weird little problem.
Other Models We Tested
None of the above striking your fancy? Here are some other options the Reviews team has tested across a range of price points:
Photograph: Kat Merck
SunnyWhale FinWhale Smart Chlorine Dispenser for $799: This solar-powered, app-equipped device promised to solve a real problem for me as an above-ground pool owner: Monitor my water’s chlorine and pH and dispense chlorine as needed from a stack of 3-inch tablets. It did this well for about a month, but unfortunately, the solar charging panel stopped working completely at this time, meaning it needed to be hauled out of the pool for wall charging. One wall charge only lasted about 48 hours, meaning it needed to be brought inside to charge every other day—something that shouldn’t be happening at this price point. —Kat Merck
Beatbot Sora 10 for $699: Even when it’s not on sale, the Beatbot Sora 10 is the company’s cheapest cleaner. It’s less powerful and smaller than Beatbot’s other robots, but it still does a good job if you don’t need extreme-cleaning capabilities—and it still (usually) parks itself at the waterline so you don’t need a pole to fetch it when it’s finished cleaning, a feature virtually unheard of in cleaners at this price point.
Bublue Vortex V5 Surface Skimmer Robot for $320: This skimmer device is affordable but decidedly weird, creating a whirlpool to draw debris into its center basket rather than vacuuming along the surface. The main downside in our tests, however, was the fact it lacks solar charging and only runs for four hours at a time. —Kat Merck
Poolease X1 Robotic Pool Vacuum for $110: This tiny 9-pound robot sells for just $110, making it one of the cheapest pool robots on the market. It’s also one of the least capable, with no real sensor technology under the hood, which means it just randomly flits around, collecting debris for about two hours until its battery dies. In a small pool with minimal debris that is mostly leaves, this might be fine. Those with larger pools will likely find that the X1 leaves so much debris behind that the amount of time required to pick up the remnants by hand isn’t much less onerous than cleaning the entire pool manually in the first place—especially if your pool is prone to collecting dirt or sand, which the X1 can’t really collect at all. While the device is lightweight and easy for even comparatively frail users to toss into the pool, it’s just not effective enough to merit consideration from anyone who is serious about keeping their swimming hole clean.
Beatbot Sora 30 for $999: If you don’t need surface-skimming capabilities, this midrange robot punches above its price tag. (Just watch for sales; it’s usually available for less than list price.)
Mammotion Spino E1 Pool Robot for $799: While this robot’s app control and features like Turbo Cleaning improve performance, it still falls short compared with competitors, but it’s an OK budget option.