Three ways to read the same water, and only one of them is a number
Three quite different instruments share this shelf, and they do not give the same kind of answer. A comparator — the two-chamber plastic tester with DPD1 and phenol red tablets — gives a colour matched against a moulded scale, and its resolution is the spacing of those colours: about 0,5 mg/l on chlorine, about 0,2 on pH. A photometer such as the PoolLab reads the same reagent chemistry with a light source and a detector, publishes a figure to two decimals, and can cover fifteen parameters rather than two. And a digital meter measures pH, ORP, TDS or salinity with an electrode, which is a different physics entirely: it reads continuously, it drifts, and it needs calibration solution — a pH meter sold without any mention of buffer solutions is sold incomplete. The number to compare is not the parameter count but the cost per test: tablets and strips are consumed, electrodes are not but must be replaced every year or two. Then the parameters that matter for the water you actually have — free and total chlorine, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid for a chlorinated pool; salinity if there is a chlorinator; bromine if it is a spa. A tester that reads seven things but not cyanuric acid cannot explain why chlorine has stopped working. We compare method, parameters, resolution, reagent or calibration cost, and what the maker states about accuracy.
3 parameters, 50 tests, phenol red and DPD 1
A tablet comparator for free chlorine, free bromine and pH, supplied with 50 phenol red and 50 DPD No. 1 tablets. It is the only kit here to state its reagents should be replaced every season.
Best for: A pool or spa run on either chlorine or bromine, tested weekly through the season
24 parameters, 140 tablets, 4 wavelengths, WiFi
The PoolLab 2.0 with 140 tablets — 70 starter and 70 refill — published at 24 parameters across four wavelengths. AlphFa states outright that it is a reseller brand and not the manufacturer.
Best for: A buyer who wants the 2.0 with a refill already in the box and reads the reseller disclosure as a point in its favour
2 parameters, 60 tablets, shake-and-read
A shake tester for pH and chlorine supplied with 60 tablets — 30 DPD1 and 30 phenol red. Thirty tests of each, which is a full season at the weekly interval this shelf recommends.
Best for: A small pool or hot tub where a season of weekly pH and chlorine readings is the whole requirement
2 parameters, 2×20 tablets, target ranges published
A two-chamber comparator for pH and free chlorine with 20 tablets of each. Alone in this family, it publishes the target ranges the reading is meant to land in: pH 7.0–7.4 and chlorine 0.5–2 mg/l.
Best for: A pool owner who wants the reading and the number it should be, in the same box
24 parameters, 170 tablets, full accessory list published
The PoolLab 2.0 with 170 tablets and the only fully itemised accessory list in this family: three cuvettes, a sun cap, stirrers, a 10 ml syringe, batteries, manual and the LabCOM software, app and cloud.
Best for: Someone buying the 2.0 who wants to know exactly what will be in the box before it arrives
15 parameters, photometer, IP68, Bluetooth 4.0
The photometer that started this shelf’s upper half: 15 water parameters, IP68, Bluetooth 4.0 and a free app, with a 90-tablet starter set. Three sellers here offer its successor, and they do not agree on what the successor measures.
Best for: An owner who wants alkalinity and cyanuric acid measured rather than guessed at
2 parameters, 200 tablets — the largest supply here
A chlorine and pH tester supplied with 200 tablets: 100 DPD 1 and 100 phenol red. That is a hundred tests of each parameter, five times what most comparators on this shelf include.
Best for: A pool tested often, or two pools tested weekly, where reagent quantity is the deciding factor
3 parameters, 60 blistered tablets, 10-year shelf life
A shake tester for chlorine, bromine and pH with 60 rapid tablets, each sealed individually in aluminium blister. It is the only listing here to publish a reagent shelf life: up to ten years from production.
Best for: A pool tested irregularly, where reagents sit unused between seasons
27 parameters, case and level adjuster, WiFi and app
The PoolLab 2.0 sold with a storage case and a water-level adjuster, published at 27 parameters. Two other sellers of the same instrument in this family publish 24.
Best for: An owner who already knows the 2.0 and wants the case and the sample-volume tool with it
Only the specifications at least four models out of five state. A column that is more empty than full compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Accuracy the maker states | Amazon reference | Method | Parameters |
|---|
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.
