Best robotic pool cleaner
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Short answer: for most in-ground pools, the Beatbot AquaSense 2 has the strongest spec sheet near $850: cordless, floor plus walls and waterline, up to 3,230 sq ft per charge and a 3-year replacement warranty. If you'd rather have a cord and no battery to wear out, the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus costs about the same. For an above-ground pool on a budget, look at the Dolphin Nautilus AG. If you want surface skimming too, you're into $1,900 and up.
How we compared them: we haven't tested these robots. Every figure below comes from the maker's own US website, read on November 10, 2026. Several prices were sale prices on that day, which we've marked. Makers sometimes publish figures that don't agree with each other, and where that happened we say so.
The robots compared
| Model | Price seen | Power | Runtime | Cleans | Pool size | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beatbot AquaSense 2 | $849 (sale) | Cordless | Up to 4 h floor; 3.5 h walls and waterline | Floor, walls, waterline | Up to 3,230 sq ft | 3 years |
| Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus with Wi-Fi | $849 | Corded | 2 h cycle (page also says 3 h) | Floor, walls | In-ground, 40 ft | 1 year |
| Beatbot Sora 30 | $699 (sale) | Cordless | Up to 5 h | Floor, walls, waterline | 3,229 sq ft | 2 years |
| Dolphin Nautilus AG | $568 | Not stated | 1.5 h cycle | Floor only | Above-ground, 30 ft | 1 year |
| Dolphin Nautilus EON 100 | $599 (sale) | Cordless | "Up to 1 week of cleaning" per charge | Floor, walls, waterline | In-ground or above-ground, 50 ft | 1 year |
| Dolphin Liberty 400 | $1,549 | Cordless | 2.5 h cycle | Floor, walls, waterline | In-ground or above-ground, 33 ft | 3 years |
| Aiper Scuba X1 Pro Max | $1,899 (sale, bundle with caddy) | Cordless | Up to 10 h surface; 5 h floor | Surface, floor, walls, waterline | 3,200 sq ft | 3 years |
| Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra | $2,299 (sale) | Cordless | Up to 10 h surface; 5 h floor | Surface, floor, walls, waterline | Up to 3,875 sq ft | 3 years |
Not sure of your pool's size? The pool volume calculator shows the water's surface area in square feet as well as gallons.
The picks, and why
Beatbot AquaSense 2: best all-round spec near $850
Beatbot lists the AquaSense 2 as cordless with a wireless charging dock, cleaning the floor for up to 4 hours and the walls and waterline for up to 3.5 hours, with a charge time of about 4 hours. Coverage is given as up to 3,230 sq ft per charge, for "any pool type or shape". The filter catches debris down to 150 microns, and it works with Beatbot's app over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
The warranty stands out at this price: Beatbot advertises 3 years with full machine replacement. The catch is that $849 was a sale price against a compare-at $1,298, so check what it costs when you're ready to buy. It doesn't skim the surface.
Check current price of the Beatbot AquaSense 2: retailer link coming soon
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus with Wi-Fi: the corded alternative
Maytronics' Nautilus CC Plus has a swivel cable instead of a battery, so there's no runtime limit and no battery to replace down the line. It cleans the floor and walls of in-ground pools; its spec table says waterline scrubbing is "No". Maytronics lists it at 20.8 lb with a 1-year warranty, and the Wi-Fi version works with the MyDolphin Plus app. There's a version without Wi-Fi for $829.
Two things on the product page don't agree: the cycle time is given as 2 hours in the spec table and 3 hours in the description, and the pool length as 40 ft in one place and 50 ft in another. We've used the spec table figures. Owner reviews on Maytronics' own site averaged 4.0 out of 5 across 123 reviews when we looked; reviews on a maker's site are worth reading for detail but aren't an independent rating.
Check current price of the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus with Wi-Fi: retailer link coming soon
Beatbot Sora 30: a cheaper cordless option
At $699 on sale (compare-at $999), the Sora 30 lists up to 5 hours of runtime and 3,229 sq ft of coverage, cleaning the floor, shallow areas, walls and waterline. The standard filter is 150 microns with a 3-micron filter sold separately. It has a 2-year warranty, a year less than the AquaSense 2, and Beatbot notes the app only controls it while it's at the surface.
Check current price of the Beatbot Sora 30: retailer link coming soon
Dolphin Nautilus AG: for above-ground pools
The Nautilus AG is Maytronics' above-ground model, at $568. It cleans the floor only, for a 1.5-hour cycle, and is rated for pools up to 30 ft (one line on the page says 33 ft). At 14.6 lb it's light enough to lift over an above-ground wall. There's no app, and the warranty is 1 year. If you also want the walls and waterline cleaned in an above-ground pool, the Nautilus EON 100 and Liberty 400 list both pool types and cost more.
Check current price of the Dolphin Nautilus AG: retailer link coming soon
Aiper Scuba X1 Pro Max or Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra: if you want surface skimming
Both robots skim the surface as well as cleaning the floor, walls and waterline, and both list up to 10 hours of surface skimming and 5 hours of floor cleaning. The differences on paper:
- Price: the Aiper was $1,899 as a bundle with a caddy (Aiper didn't show it on its own); the Beatbot was $2,299 on sale.
- Filter: Aiper lists a MicroMesh layer that catches particles down to 3 microns. Beatbot lists 150 microns, with an optional finer basket.
- Coverage: 3,200 sq ft for the Aiper; up to 3,875 sq ft for the Beatbot on its product page, though Beatbot's help center gives 3,444 sq ft.
- Warranty: 36 months for the Aiper and 3 years with full replacement for the Beatbot.
Our Aiper vs Beatbot page compares the two brands model by model.
Check current price of the Aiper Scuba X1 Pro Max: retailer link coming soon Check current price of the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra: retailer link coming soon
What to check before you buy
- Pool type and size. A robot rated for 30 ft won't get round a 50 ft pool reliably. For cordless robots, compare the coverage figure in square feet with your pool's surface area.
- What it cleans. Floor only, floor and walls, or the waterline too. Waterline scrubbing matters if you get a scum line.
- Warranty. It ranges from 1 to 3 years in this list, and it's the one figure that says something about what the maker expects to happen after year one.
- Weight. Lifting a wet robot out of a deep end is harder than it sounds. Maytronics lists weights from 14.2 to 22 lb; Aiper's V3 Ultra is 28.8 lb. Beatbot doesn't publish weights on the pages we read.
We couldn't include Polaris, Wybot or Dreame: their US product pages didn't load for us, so we had no specs we could check. We'll add them once we can.
Common questions
Corded or cordless?
Cordless robots are easier to drop in and lift out, and there's no cable to tangle, but each charge has a limit and the battery will wear over the years. Corded robots like the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus run as long as they're plugged in and tend to cost less for the same cleaning, but you have a cable to manage. If your pool is large or very leafy, the length of a cordless robot's runtime matters more than anything else on the spec sheet.
What does the micron rating on the filter mean?
It's roughly the size of the smallest particles the filter catches. A smaller number catches finer dirt. Aiper's X1 and S1 list a 3-micron MicroMesh layer; Beatbot's AquaSense 2 and Sora models list 150 microns as standard, with a 3-micron filter as an option on the Sora models. Dolphin's pages say "fine" or "ultra-fine" without a number.
Will a robot clean my above-ground pool?
Check the maker's pool type list before buying. Dolphin's Nautilus AG is made for above-ground pools up to 30 ft, and the Escape, Liberty 400 and Nautilus EON 100 list both pool types. Several Aiper models are listed for in-ground pools.
Do I still need to brush and run the pump?
Yes. A robot picks up debris and scrubs surfaces, but your pump and filter still circulate and filter the water, and the robot can't fix water chemistry. Keep testing the water as usual.
Sources
- Beatbot product pages: AquaSense 2, AquaSense 2 Ultra, Sora 30, help center; prices from beatbot.com. Read November 10, 2026.
- Maytronics Dolphin US store: Nautilus CC Plus with Wi-Fi, Nautilus CC Plus, Nautilus AG, Nautilus EON 100, Liberty 400. Read November 10, 2026.
- Aiper: Scuba X1 Pro Max, Scuba V3 Ultra, warranty table; prices from aiper.store. Read November 10, 2026.