The most important features for me are.. how well it cleans and not having to babysit it. I love mine.. just drop in.. and come back after an hour,, clean and put away.
Cleaner robot - most important features?
- Thread starter Aspencreek
- Start date
I just bought a new robotic cleaner earlier this week. This is the first cleaner I have had. We have had our pool for just over a year. The first year, I was the pool cleaner. I loved cleaning the pool every Saturday morning. It was therapy ... for a year. Then, I hated to have one morning every week taken up every week. Also, with that schedule, you have dirt/leaves in your pool as the week goes along until you are able to clean it. Then... if you ever don't have time one week, you're in trouble. All of this is irrelevant to your original question other than to tell you that my experience thus far with robotic cleaners is very minimal- since I have only owned one for 3 days.
I researched different cleaners as I was preparing. I ended up narrowing it down to the S300 and the S300i. Although both of these were more expensive than I initially planned on spending, I wanted something that I knew had good reviews, would be reliable, and had the features that I wanted/needed. Ultimately what each person needs of finds most useful can differ between each owner. However, my initial thoughts are as follows:
1. Quality of build. After a lot of research, I found a lot of good reviews on Maytronics and the Dolphin lines. I wanted something dependable with a warranty. I did not want something cheap that would fall apart easily or break easily. I plan on using this cleaner for years.
2. Effectiveness. It is hard to tell this, and you just have to go on reviews and recommendations. Along with this, I did want something the climbed the walls and got the water line.
3. Large basket. I have multiple trees nearby and have large items that need to be picked up at the bottom.
4. Top load basket/filter. I have not had to deal with the anything other than this since this is my first one and it is top load; but just by looking at the other cleaners and hearing other's complaints, I felt this was an important feature to me. Having used my cleaner three times so far, the top load basket is a huge plus!
5. Caddy. This was more of personal, but to me, I love having a "place" for things. I knew that I would have to buy a caddy if one did not come with mine. Having a nice way of maneuvering the robot is so helpful. Also, having the caddy prevents the tracks from flattening out or wearing out too soon. It all looks so nice having it in one simple unit instead of having a control panel, long cord and robot all haphazardly stored. This keeps the cords off of the ground, out of the way. Etc. Cannot say enough about the Caddy.
6. Bluetooth/Remote. I know a lot of people think this is just a gimmick and not necessary, and to a certain extent they are right. I did want the ability to control it over to a spot it missed or needed to get better after the cycle was over. Having it Bluetooth to my phone was not necessary, but definitely upped the cool factor (to me).
I do not think that the full basket indicator is necessary. For my bot, the basket is so big, I can't imagine it being so full it needs emptying mid-cycle, and I would definitely clean it out each time. It takes no time at all. If you bought a unit with a smaller basket, you could just know how much stuff is in the bottom of your pool and stop the bot mid-cycle to clean it out if you have a lot in the bottom of your pool. It's hard to imagine you not knowing if your bot's basket was full or not. The remote is not mandatory because you can always manipulate the bot over to the spot you want without one. Bluetooth is certainly a luxury. It was on the bottom of my want list, but I wouldn't have paid a ton more just for Bluetooth.
I cannot ever see using the schedule for my bot since I will not ever be leaving it in the pool. I imagine I will not use the delayed start ever either, thought I can envision limited uses for it as opposed to the scheduling.
Also, I wanted a "quick clean" mode that just hit the floors in case someone calls saying that they are coming over and I want to throw in the bot to clean up the floors a little bit.
I researched different cleaners as I was preparing. I ended up narrowing it down to the S300 and the S300i. Although both of these were more expensive than I initially planned on spending, I wanted something that I knew had good reviews, would be reliable, and had the features that I wanted/needed. Ultimately what each person needs of finds most useful can differ between each owner. However, my initial thoughts are as follows:
1. Quality of build. After a lot of research, I found a lot of good reviews on Maytronics and the Dolphin lines. I wanted something dependable with a warranty. I did not want something cheap that would fall apart easily or break easily. I plan on using this cleaner for years.
2. Effectiveness. It is hard to tell this, and you just have to go on reviews and recommendations. Along with this, I did want something the climbed the walls and got the water line.
3. Large basket. I have multiple trees nearby and have large items that need to be picked up at the bottom.
4. Top load basket/filter. I have not had to deal with the anything other than this since this is my first one and it is top load; but just by looking at the other cleaners and hearing other's complaints, I felt this was an important feature to me. Having used my cleaner three times so far, the top load basket is a huge plus!
5. Caddy. This was more of personal, but to me, I love having a "place" for things. I knew that I would have to buy a caddy if one did not come with mine. Having a nice way of maneuvering the robot is so helpful. Also, having the caddy prevents the tracks from flattening out or wearing out too soon. It all looks so nice having it in one simple unit instead of having a control panel, long cord and robot all haphazardly stored. This keeps the cords off of the ground, out of the way. Etc. Cannot say enough about the Caddy.
6. Bluetooth/Remote. I know a lot of people think this is just a gimmick and not necessary, and to a certain extent they are right. I did want the ability to control it over to a spot it missed or needed to get better after the cycle was over. Having it Bluetooth to my phone was not necessary, but definitely upped the cool factor (to me).
I do not think that the full basket indicator is necessary. For my bot, the basket is so big, I can't imagine it being so full it needs emptying mid-cycle, and I would definitely clean it out each time. It takes no time at all. If you bought a unit with a smaller basket, you could just know how much stuff is in the bottom of your pool and stop the bot mid-cycle to clean it out if you have a lot in the bottom of your pool. It's hard to imagine you not knowing if your bot's basket was full or not. The remote is not mandatory because you can always manipulate the bot over to the spot you want without one. Bluetooth is certainly a luxury. It was on the bottom of my want list, but I wouldn't have paid a ton more just for Bluetooth.
I cannot ever see using the schedule for my bot since I will not ever be leaving it in the pool. I imagine I will not use the delayed start ever either, thought I can envision limited uses for it as opposed to the scheduling.
Also, I wanted a "quick clean" mode that just hit the floors in case someone calls saying that they are coming over and I want to throw in the bot to clean up the floors a little bit.