Which Robotic Pool Cleaner Is Best At Cleaning The Whole Pool? Side-By-Side Comparison

There's lots of new cordless robotic pool cleaners that have been released in the last few years. Almost every pool cleaning robot says that it has some smarts so that it can ensure the whole pool gets cleaning coverage, and that's probably true as far as it goes. But, that doesn't mean they all have the same capabilities and smarts. Linked below is a side-by-side comparison showing how different the capabilities are between leading robotic pool cleaning brands and models, and the results are surprising. The best shines, the middle of the pack are good-to-great, and the worst... tries its best.

The Importance of Smart Navigation For Pool Cleaners

In the past, pool cleaners relied on a random bouncing pattern. You may have seen an old pressure-side or suction-side cleaner careening through the pool or ending up stuck in one area all the time. Robotic pool cleaners are a step forward because they have onboard electronics and intelligent programming to optimize its cleaning path. That's why they are such a valuable tool to make sure all parts of your pool get vacuumed & scrubbed. But that's also where the differences lie between basic and premium pool cleaning robots. Lower-end robotic pool cleaners may use an algorithm to help create an algorithmic pattern that minimizes gaps. Mid-level robotic cleaner models might track where they have been and see where actual gaps in its path might occur and be able to go back to those spots. High-end pool cleaning robots learn the pool shape, plot it out internally, and then set a path that programmatically cleans the pool based on its unique shape.

Testing Out How Different Robotic Pool Cleaners Navigate

This side-by-side comparison video from Beatbot shows the navigation capabilities of its premium A100 Pro compared to three other leading brands of robotic pool cleaners: one that is very popular specifically on Amazon, one that is an industry leader for robotic cleaners, and one that is an industry leader for all types of pool cleaners. Each cleaner is run in the same size and shape pool (13ft wide x 13ft long x 4ft deep) and the video of their operation has been shown in parallel. The video starts at a 20x speed, and the cleaner's paths have been tracked and superimposed on the video. The cleaning paths on the floor are colored dark blue, the cleaning paths on the wall are colored light blue, and the one model capable of skimming the pool surface has that path colored green. Mid-way through the video, the film is speed up by a further 3x to more clearly show the paths and coverage that each pool cleaner provides.

The Results: How Well Do Leading Robotic Pool Cleaners Navigate?

Hands down, the Beatbot A100 Pro stands out because its operation is very purposeful, not random. After orienting itself, it cleans along the perimeter and then follows an s-shaped pattern across the entire pool. In contrast, the two popular models on the right side take about twice as long to cover the entire floor, using an indecipherable pattern; by the time they are done, the A100 Pro cleaner has already cleaned the walls and skimmed the surface of the pool. If you didn't know by this point, that's another stand-out feature. There's no other robotic cleaner that converts from cleaning floors & walls to also being able to float across the water and skim its surface. Let's not forget the robotic cleaner on the lower left of the video, it put out a lot of effort and gets a participation trophy, but with the motion-tracking path overlaid on the video, you can see that in no way did its cleaning cover the whole pool. 

Is the Beatbot A100 Pro the best robotic pool cleaner out there? It's too early to tell. The purpose of this test is to compare the navigation technology of it and other leading pool cleaner models, and there is demonstrably a big difference there. Is its design the best? On paper at least, its ingenious that it can become buoyant to skim the surface as well as perform traditional pool cleaning. There are other factors here to continue to look at: the effectiveness of its cleaning action, its long term quality and resilience of its battery after years of charging, its app controls, and of course a lot more. But if you want a pool cleaner that gives you confidence in its ability to clean the whole pool, you should make sure to watch this video closely before choosing the model of robotic cleaner that you ultimately buy.