Hi, I recently purchased the ? s300i by Maytronics and received it a couple days ago. So I have had it for two days and have ran a bit over two cycles. The slightly more than two cycles is because I stopped the first cycle due to it picking up so much it became heavy quickly and began to stop climbing the walls. I purchased from the closest dealer to me but I shoped around across various states. Thanks to many comments here talking about their local dealer and such. I ended up finding the unit for $1100 from a pool builder here in Houston, same city but actually an hour away on the other side. My dealer wouldn't match that but I found a dealer in California for $1150 and my dealer did match that. I also found it from wholesalers without the warranty for $1000, but I wasn't getting it without the warranty. I ordered on a Thursday and got it the next Wednesday. Before purchasing I obviously did tons of research, two weeks worth, called maytronics several times watched as many videos as I could find. A big reason I went with the s300i was the Bluetooth capability. I always had to steer my suction side cleaner so having a remote was a big deal for me. I have an oddly shaped cove pool and the suction cleaner was 50/50 on getting the whole pool. I got tired of it going straight and tired of spending money on repair parts.
So I placed it in the water and watched for about 30 minutes. I was very impressed right off the bat, but at the same time underwhelmed. It was picking up a ton of small and large debris (I have video if you would like to see). But it was also stirring up fine debris. Another issue I felt was that it didn't seem to take logical routes, it reversed a lot and kind of kept going whichever direction it landed. Also, its attempt at turning itself was somewhat sad. It would reverse and then go straight trying to turn but it would lift off its front end.
But as I said it was still picking up a lot of stuff. After Close to an hour it stopped climbing the walls, so I stopped the cycle and the basket needed emptying. Nearly full with a ton of fine and large debris. So I was noticing it wasn't perfect but I was happy.
It's wall climbing is impressive, unfortunately my pool has a lip or ledge so it can't hit the tiles perfectly. It's side to side action is cool but again not perfect.
The next morning the pool bottom looked much better but again fine debris was now mixed and floating, not necessarily surface debris but it was just dirt the seemed to get mixed around and not drop back to the floor.
There were two spots I could tell it completely missed, most of the deep end and a portion near the stairs that seems like it's just an annoying part in the way the pool was constructed. I ran another cycle and it did another good job but still those two spots were missed. This is where the remote will come into play.
Overall I am happy so far, I don't expect perfection but it is expensive so it should be close. The true value will come this season and how many seasons it lasts thereafter (warranty promotion for 30 months currently for this unit).
So I placed it in the water and watched for about 30 minutes. I was very impressed right off the bat, but at the same time underwhelmed. It was picking up a ton of small and large debris (I have video if you would like to see). But it was also stirring up fine debris. Another issue I felt was that it didn't seem to take logical routes, it reversed a lot and kind of kept going whichever direction it landed. Also, its attempt at turning itself was somewhat sad. It would reverse and then go straight trying to turn but it would lift off its front end.
But as I said it was still picking up a lot of stuff. After Close to an hour it stopped climbing the walls, so I stopped the cycle and the basket needed emptying. Nearly full with a ton of fine and large debris. So I was noticing it wasn't perfect but I was happy.
It's wall climbing is impressive, unfortunately my pool has a lip or ledge so it can't hit the tiles perfectly. It's side to side action is cool but again not perfect.
The next morning the pool bottom looked much better but again fine debris was now mixed and floating, not necessarily surface debris but it was just dirt the seemed to get mixed around and not drop back to the floor.
There were two spots I could tell it completely missed, most of the deep end and a portion near the stairs that seems like it's just an annoying part in the way the pool was constructed. I ran another cycle and it did another good job but still those two spots were missed. This is where the remote will come into play.
Overall I am happy so far, I don't expect perfection but it is expensive so it should be close. The true value will come this season and how many seasons it lasts thereafter (warranty promotion for 30 months currently for this unit).
