Remember when owning a pool meant blocking out Saturday morning to wrestle with hoses, poles and a wet-dog-smelling leaf net? Those days are sinking faster than a Liz Truss budget.
The latest generation of robotic cleaners are cordless, AI-driven and—most importantly—good enough that you can trust them to do the boring bits while you work on your cannon-ball form.
Cordless freedom is finally real
Early “water-Roombas” dragged a power line that tangled like last year’s Christmas lights. In 2025, top-shelf models now run entirely on beefy lithium-ion packs. Maytronics’ Dolphin Liberty 600 manages more than four hours per charge and even answers a magic-wand “Click-Up” call to climb the wall for retrieval—a neat parlour trick that keeps your sleeves dry maytronics.com. Polaris jumped in with its aptly named Freedom, pairing cable-less operation with smart navigation so it doesn’t spend half the cycle head-butting the same corner Manua.ls.
Smarter routes, cleaner pools
Batteries are only half the story; mapping is where the real time-savings happen. Wybot’s S3, unveiled at CES 2025, grabs headlines for using ultrasonic sonar and a solar-charging dock—more science-fair than pool gear, but impressive nonetheless IEEE Spectrum. Meanwhile, premium bots deploy cameras, infra-red and gyros to learn your pool’s exact footprint, then plan overlapping passes so they don’t miss that annoying step ledge.
Where Beatbot sneaks ahead
Beatbot’s AquaSense 2 line takes that mapping obsession to the next level with HybridSense™ AI—a sensor fusion system that watches, pings and thinks its way around the pool like a mini-submarine on a mission Beatbot. The flagship AquaSense 2 Ultra runs up to 11 hours on a single charge, tackles walls, floor and surface skimming in one go, and even filters fine particles so you don’t need extra clarifier chemicals New York Post Android Authority. In plain English: you drop it in after breakfast and the water still looks Instagram-ready when guests show up for the evening barbecue.
Do we sell Beatbot? Guilty as charged. Does that make the praise less true? Only if you think an extra six hours of battery life and five-in-one cleaning are marketing fluff instead of real-world convenience. The robot either nails the job or it doesn’t—your eyes (and the stuff that isn’t stuck to the tiles) will confirm.
How much time do you actually save?
Conservative owners spend two hours a week skimming, brushing and vacuuming. A modern robot cuts that to about five minutes—just enough time to drop it in and, later, empty its basket. Over a six-month season that’s roughly 50 reclaimed hours. Imagine what your tan could look like with an extra work-week’s worth of poolside lounging.
The small print worth reading
No robot balances pH or fishes out sunken goggles. Filter cartridges still need a rinse, and yes, you’ll have to keep an eye on charging. But if your biggest weekend headache becomes remembering to tap “Start” in an app, you’re living the good life.
Bottom line
If you want the cordless revolution without paying Tesla money, Polaris and Dolphin have solid, simpler options. But if you’re after max run-time, AI mapping that actually maps, and a machine that skims the top while scrubbing the floor, Beatbot’s AquaSense 2 family is tough to beat. Your pool will look like a resort, and you’ll reclaim the one thing even a robot can’t generate: more summer hours to enjoy the water.
Dive in—just don’t expect to spend much time cleaning up afterward.
