Summer is for relaxing, not cleaning. Upgrade your backyard setup with a robot that cleans your pool for you. As the owner of an above-ground pool, I can attest that cleaning leaves, bugs, and other detritus is an everyday chore if the cover is off. I put up with it since my pool is only in use seasonally, but WIRED reviewer Chris Null has an in-ground pool he uses year-round, so he does not have time for foolery like nets, brushes, and manual vacuums. He has been testing pool robots for years, and his favorite robot he's ever tried has been from Beatbot.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Aiper's highest-end pool robot hits the market as a rocky work in progress and isn't easy to recommend in its current condition. Aiper's highest-end robot hits the market as a rocky work in progress and isn't easy to recommend in its current condition. Introduced at CES 2026, Aiper's latest pool robot is the Scuba V3 Ultra, the company's most powerful (and expensive) robot to hit the market to date. Designed with every feature currently available in the category, including waterline docking, plug-free charging, surface skimming, and AI-driven navigation, it's designed to compete directly with the top-shelf Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra .

Send the pool guy packing. One of these robotic buddies can maintain your water quality instead. Cleaning swimming pools is not fun. I learned this simple logic as a kid growing up in and around pools--it's the only way to survive summer in Houston, Texas. Four years ago, I became a pool owner myself, and I found that the rule still holds. Jumping into the pool on a hot day remains a rare treat, but if the pool is filled with leaves and dirt, that treat becomes a lot less delightful. And when the thermometer is reading over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the thought of laboring on the pool deck, scooping out debris with a net, is downright cruel.

This is a review of two pool robots, one which is the most exceptional cleaning device I've tested to date, and one that's maddeningly frustrating and overly complex. You've probably already figured out the twist: Yes, they are same device, the iGarden Pool Cleaner K60. To start things off, just look at the thing: With its jet-black chassis and orange-trimmed wheels, the machine looks more like a sports car than a glorified leaf sweeper. Despite the evocative look, it still moves about courtesy of large wheels and treads that abut a pair of spinning scrubber. Its biggest selling point is under the hood: A fairly beefy 7500mAh battery powers the 30-pound robot to an epic running time of up to 6 hours, according to iGarden.

The Fanttik Aero X robotic pool cleaner runs fast and runs long: With six hours of running time and top-notch cleaning power, the device makes short work of underwater debris. In a world dominated by bulbous black-and-blue hardware, the Fanttik Aero X pool robot immediately caught my eye. It's not just that it's black and yellow, it's that the industrial design looks more like a lawn mower than any pool robot I've tested. It has much smaller front wheels than usual, and an exposed rubber drive belt that connects them to its motor. The forward-center brush cylinder is even reminiscent of the front of a lawn mower.

This uniquely designed robot covers the basics of pool cleaning but not much else, and it struggles with some tasks. Smorobot is a new brand to us, but the manufacturer has seven different robotic pool cleaners already under its belt, including this one, the Smorobot Tank C1. As the name implies, this robot is intended to be a workhorse in the pool, promising a 150-minute runtime and maximum coverage of 2,500 square feet. The robot measures roughly 12 x 17 x 15 (HxWxL) inches in size and weighs 18 pounds. It's powered by a 7800mAh battery, which is on the small side for a robot of this size; but in my testing, it was invariably able to exceed its specified running time of 150 minutes, usually by about half an hour.