Minutes of runtime, and the three surfaces they are spent on
A cordless pool robot is a battery, a pump, a filter basket and a drive, and it is the only machine on this site that works with nobody present. Every listing publishes a runtime in minutes — 90, 120, 200 on this shelf — and that figure is meaningless until it is read against the second one: which surfaces the robot climbs. Floor-only machines spend the whole charge on the floor; floor-and-wall machines spend part of it climbing; waterline models spend part of it hovering at the surface where the oily film sits. A 200-minute floor robot and a 90-minute three-surface robot are not comparable on runtime at all. The third figure is the filter fineness in microns, which decides whether the machine picks up pollen and fine silt or only leaves — and it is the figure this shelf publishes least. Then navigation, which ranges from a random bounce to ultrasonic or gyroscopic mapping; the practical difference is coverage, and the honest way to read it is that a random robot needs more runtime for the same pool. Charge time matters because it sets the cycle: a four-hour charge for ninety minutes of work is one pool a day. And two things people discover after buying: the weight lifted out of the water, which is the mass plus whatever is in the basket, and how the robot is retrieved — a float-to-the-surface parking function or a hook on a pole. We compare runtime, surfaces, filter fineness, navigation, charge time, weight and retrieval.
Floor only, 120 min, 180 µm, 2.2 l basket
The cheapest robot on this shelf and the most explicit about its limits: floors only, flat floors only, and the maker states in writing that it is not for curved floor-to-wall transitions.
Best for: A flat-floored above-ground pool where the walls are brushed by hand
Floor, wall, waterline; 270 min eco; 11 sensors; 3 µm included
A three-zone robot with eleven sensors and a published path algorithm, a dual-layer filter whose 3 µm element is included rather than optional, and five cleaning modes with over-the-air updates.
Best for: A shaped pool where systematic coverage is worth more than raw suction
Floor, wall, waterline; 5 h floor; 25 700 LPH; 5 l
A three-zone robot that brushes the waterline for eight seconds at a time, publishes 25 700 LPH of suction and a 5-litre basket, and parks itself at the waterline for ten minutes so it can be lifted out without fishing.
Best for: A pool with a visible waterline mark and enough surface to justify the runtime
Floor, wall, waterline; 2 h; 18 927 LPH; IP68 to 3 m
A three-zone tracked robot that publishes what it climbs in degrees and centimetres — 30° slopes and 3 cm obstacles — with IP68 to a stated three metres and a 4-litre basket.
Best for: A pool with steps, a drain cover or a change of level that defeats a simpler machine
Floor, 90 min, 180 µm + 40 PPI foam, 3 kg
A floor robot with a two-stage filter — a 180 µm mesh backed by a 40 PPI foam — a transparent housing so the basket can be read without opening it, and a published weight of 3 kg.
Best for: A pool under trees, where the second filter stage and the visible basket both earn their place
Floor and wall, top-access basket, flat-floor pools to 10 m
A Maytronics floor-and-wall robot built around servicing: the filter basket lifts out from the top, the body drains quickly for lifting, and the handles are where a wet machine is actually held.
Best for: Somebody replacing a robot and choosing on servicing rather than on specification
Floor, 75 min, IPX8 to 3 m, 4–35 °C stated
A floor robot that publishes what almost nothing else here does: an operating temperature range, a maximum depth, an IP rating and the suction in litres per minute — alongside a runtime that is the shortest on the shelf.
Best for: A smaller pool where the depth rating and the surface list answer a specific question
Floor, 90 min, 180 µm, app and remote, 2.5 l
A floor robot with three motors and both app and remote control at the cheap end of the shelf, with a 2.5-litre basket and automatic docking at the pool edge.
Best for: A floor-only pool where being able to send the robot to a particular corner is worth something
7-in-1, 6 h, laser mapping, 5 l with 180 µm and 3 µm
The most heavily equipped robot on this shelf: a laser distance sensor building a 3D map underwater, four turbine motors, six hours of runtime from a 15 000 mAh battery, and a two-layer 5-litre filter.
Best for: A large or complicated pool where mapped coverage genuinely saves passes
Only the specifications at least four models out of five state. A column that is more empty than full compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Amazon reference | Charge time | Filter fineness | Navigation |
|---|
Specifications: manufacturer sheets and Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. No product on this site has been physically tested.
Most recent revision in this category: September 21, 2026.
