New EVO 614i Robot Pool Cleaner Review

[Jimrahbe]

app,

While the Dolphin can easily dump stuff back into the pool, I think it would be almost impossible for that to happen with the EVO. It is one of the things that I pointed out in my review...

I can take mine out of the water and be in the house drinking a coke before the app users can even get the robot pointed to the right part of the pool..

The app does work to drive the robot over to the wall and make it come up. I just find it way, way too slow for me. Pulling on the cord will not hurt anything as long as you are not trying to pull it out of the water with the cord.

I do not see any significant difference in the weight of pulling them out. I try to let the robot drain back into the pool as I pull it out the the EVO is much better at it than the Dolphin.

I personally have no use for the app, but for $70 bucks it is not that bad a deal just in case they add something to the app you might like.

It would be easier to drive your car around the block blindfolded, than it is to try and drive the EVO over a specific spot in your pool..

So far I like the EVO.. If I had to buy another robot today, I would pick the EVO over the Dolphin. Time will tell if I still feel this way when I really need another one.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Zalligan]

Robot with cord attached weighed in right at 22lbs so lifting from the pool would be somewhere south of there. As Jim and Uhhello have said - it empties really quickly once you get it above the water line (I think it uses a motor to push water out) so it's a pretty light lift out of the pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

App,

I am a 77 years old weakling that gets sand kicked in my face if I go to the beach, if you catch my drift, and I can pick the EVO out of the pool with one hand without any issues.

Trust me.. getting it out of the pool should not be an issue. If it is.. have your wife do it...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Oly]

I am a 77 years old weakling that gets sand kicked in my face if I go to the beach, if you catch my drift, ....
Thanks,
Jim R.

Thanks for forever altering my imagined mental image of you Jim...

 

[appstategrad]

- Mine has done well to pick up and trap fairly fine dirt and deteriorated organic matter. I have a big elm hanging over half of my pool as well as an oak just behind it, and several crepe myrtles in the yard as well, so any time the wind blows, Crud blows in my pool. I haven't had trouble with things falling out either. Maybe if you tipped it upside down while removing from the pool? The trap door is plastic and spring loaded so unless it was malfunctioning, I don't see it sticking open and letting debris out. Ditto to what others have said about cleaning being a breeze. Just dump it out, hose it off, and it's ready to go again.

- No experience with other models (coming from Polaris pressure-side cleaner). My pool is cleaner than it's ever been, but I wouldn't say it's totally spotless - occasionally misses a leaf or a dirty spot. If i was anal I'd just run another cycle.

- It takes some getting used to, but i like the piece of mind of not pulling it up by its cord. As others have mentioned, there is a slight delay to the inputs from the app. Really all the lift feature is is the remote control ability with fewer buttons. Once you get the hang of it, you turn to point at a wall, and then tell it to go forward and it crawls right up the wall where you can easily bend over and grab the handle to pull out. My pool is quite irregularly shaped with several ledges so a little trickier to get things lined up but it works fine.

- I don't have a comparison on weight, but I've read people say that it is lighter than comparable models. Would be happy to get you an actual weight when I get home this evening.

- I chose wifi since it was only $70 more and they've shown a willingness to push new features to the app (remote control, lift feature) so I did so in the hopes that more features may be released. That said, whether I not they're useful or I use them is anyones guess. I do appreciate the notification it sends when a cleaning cycle is complete. Allows me to minimize it's time in the salt water and put the power unit away while the robot dries.

Thank you for the detailed info! If you don't mind weighing it I would certainly appreciate the info. I tried looking for it online but found conflicting info, shipping weight and not actually the weight of the robot, etc.

 

[appstategrad]

App,

I am a 77 years old weakling that gets sand kicked in my face if I go to the beach, if you catch my drift, and I can pick the EVO out of the pool with one hand without any issues.

Trust me.. getting it out of the pool should not be an issue. If it is.. have your wife do it...

Thanks,

Jim R.

Perfect! Except I'm a tiny female...need to work on my weight lifting anyway! Thank you!

 

[appstategrad]

Thank you for the detailed info! If you don't mind weighing it I would certainly appreciate the info. I tried looking for it online but found conflicting info, shipping weight and not actually the weight of the robot, etc.

Sorry, I'm on my phone and your previous reply didn't show at first. Thank you for taking the time to weigh it for me!

 

[bibeaud]

MAJOR APPUPDATE
The 614’s app is updated at no cost. You can steer the robot around and also steer it to climb out of the pool now as discussed in the owners manual.

 

[Jimrahbe]

B,

Much more like a very minor 'almost' update. Two almost useless features and yet still no weekly timer.

I tried the two "features" and they do work, but they are clunky and not worth using in my opinion.

It would be easier to drive your car around the block blindfolded, then to drive the robot across any specific part of your pool floor.

I can pull the robot out of the pool and be in the house drinking a coke before you can get your phone connected to the robot.

Don't get me wrong, so far I love my EVO... I am just not enamored with the useless app.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[dmitchsmith]

Got my Evo 604 on Tuesday but didn’t get a chance to try it out till today. It’s my first robot so I have nothing to compare it to. But I’m very pleased so far. Today was a good test run considering we had some thunderstorms the last day or two and leaves and dirt had accumulated on the floor.

Maybe I’ll end up regretting not upgrading to the 614iq for the app and WiFi but so far I’m pleased

 

[Jimrahbe]

regretting not upgrading to the 614iq for the app and WiFi but so far I’m pleased

d,

Time will tell, but I doubt it unless they add something actually useful..

Thanks,

Jim R

 

[CTFocusST]

Jimrahbe or anyone else with an Evo, I've been noticing mine seems to push a lot of the sand towards the edge instead of picking it up. Not sure if this is just from running once a week or something else with the robot. It still picks up a lot, but I didn't notice the same with my Warrior SE. Anyone else seeing this?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eric,

I don't have any way to tell, as I don't have sand in the bottom of my pool.

And it is pretty unlikely that I am going to pour in a bag of sand to run a test...

I am amazed at the stuff the EVO, and even my Dolphin pics up, but to be honest, other than leaves, I never see the stuff in my pool before the robot picks it up..

Thanks,

Jim R

 

[Uhhello]

I get a lot of dust/dirt in our pool (desert). I can see the dust/dirt collections prior to cleaning but they are gone and pool clear when its done. Not sure if it's all (unlikely) going in robot due to the basket but it at a minimum kicks it up for pool filter to grab because its not there when done

 

[CTFocusST]

Eric,

I don't have any way to tell, as I don't have sand in the bottom of my pool.

And it is pretty unlikely that I am going to pour in a bag of sand to run a test...

I am amazed at the stuff the EVO, and even my Dolphin pics up, but to be honest, other than leaves, I never see the stuff in my pool before the robot picks it up..

Thanks,

Jim R

I get a lot of dust/dirt in our pool (desert). I can see the dust/dirt collections prior to cleaning but they are gone and pool clear when its done. Not sure if it's all (unlikely) going in robot due to the basket but it at a minimum kicks it up for pool filter to grab because its not there when done

Thanks for the replies, certainly don't expect anyone to dump sand in to test . I'm going to try and run it at least twice this week and see if that helps.

My filter is very small and by TFP standards I should be cleaning it daily as it seems to rise 25% within 24 hours but I haven't had time to clean it daily, not sure if that is a part of it and maybe I was being better about running vacuum at least twice a week last year. The robot works well but I feel I'm touching up areas after this one a lot more. The center is clear with the Evo. With the warrior I only really used the pool blaster on the steps. So far with this one im doing the steps and basically entire perimeter but maybe once a week is too little for my situation.

I was running the coarse filter insert with the pleated filters in the Warrior

 

[Uhhello]

I've always just brushed my steps. Both robots have been VERY hit/miss with steps.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eric,

If your filter pressure goes up 25% in a day, then I would suspect algae, even if you can't see it yet...

I also have a gunite pool so that might be another difference.

The EVO is new to me, and I think most everyone else, so time and feedback like yours, will help us nail down the Pros and Cons.

Edit.. I never expect a robot to do the steps or benches.. I just sweep them into the main pool..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[appstategrad]

Jimrahbe or anyone else with an Evo, I've been noticing mine seems to push a lot of the sand towards the edge instead of picking it up. Not sure if this is just from running once a week or something else with the robot. It still picks up a lot, but I didn't notice the same with my Warrior SE. Anyone else seeing this?

Interesting. My EVO 614 should be here by Wednesday at the latest, but could possibly arrive as soon as tomorrow depending on FedEx --but fingers crossed for early delivery! I haven't vacuumed in almost a week since I knew the robot was coming, so I'll definitely watch out for this and let you know. How long have you had yours?

 

[dmitchsmith]

Jimrahbe or anyone else with an Evo, I've been noticing mine seems to push a lot of the sand towards the edge instead of picking it up. Not sure if this is just from running once a week or something else with the robot. It still picks up a lot, but I didn't notice the same with my Warrior SE. Anyone else seeing this?

I’ve only run my Evo twice now. But I have not noticed this to be the case. And I’ve had decent amount of dirt/sand accumulated on the pool floor due to some wind and storms recently. Like someone else mentioned, maybe the Evo is kicking it up and it’s eventually making its way into my pool filter that way. But when i empty the Evo basket I’ve been quite impressed with what it’s picked up. Again, only two runs so far so very limited experience.

 

[CTFocusST]

I've always just brushed my steps. Both robots have been VERY hit/miss with steps.

Eric,

If your filter pressure goes up 25% in a day, then I would suspect algae, even if you can't see it yet...

I also have a gunite pool so that might be another difference.

The EVO is new to me, and I think most everyone else, so time and feedback like yours, will help us nail down the Pros and Cons.

Edit.. I never expect a robot to do the steps or benches.. I just sweep them into the main pool..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yea I had zero expectations for steps as well that's why I either brush like you mentioned or have a pool blaster hand vacuum for that.

I need to do an oclt, there have been some other hints but the SWG has been maintaining and water has remained clear for over a month but maybe something is still there.

Interesting. My EVO 614 should be here by Wednesday at the latest, but could possibly arrive as soon as tomorrow depending on FedEx --but fingers crossed for early delivery! I haven't vacuumed in almost a week since I knew the robot was coming, so I'll definitely watch out for this and let you know. How long have you had yours?

Got it beginning of June. Ran it 2 or 3 times before left for vacation (pool hadn't been vacuumed since opening due to loss of other robot). Have run around 6 times post vacation.