Pros and Cons of a Robotic Pool Cleaner

Here at Mr Pool Man, we like to be honest and transparent about everything. While we’ve been very vocal about promoting robotic pool cleaners, we’re going to be totally honest and present both sides of the story so that you’ll be able to make the right decision when going for your next pool cleaner purchase.

This guide covers ALL of the robotic pool cleaners found on the online shop robotic pool cleaner section here.

All robotic pool cleaners share the same disadvantages, doesn’t matter who manufactures it, Zodiac, Bestway, Water TechniX, Robo-Tek or whatever brand it is, these cons are all common among them due to the shared design in all robotic pool cleaners.

• The Price - This was, and is actually one of the barriers that prevent a lot of people from getting a robotic pool cleaner for their pool. Although the price has gone down over the past few years, the price is still a bit high when compared to suction side cleaners. BUT their prices have gone lower than most pressure-side pool cleaners!

• Cable Length - The distance traveled by your robotic pool cleaner or its mobility is limited by the power cable. The only way to increase this is to purchase a longer cable for your robotic pool cleaner, so this is something to think about before pulling the trigger on a robotic pool cleaner. P.S. Mr Pool Man stocks cables of different lengths for different brands of robotic pool cleaners so if you need a cable replacement or just extra length, you know where to go!
• Cannot grab floating debris - this isn’t a problem that’s exclusive to robotic pool cleaners but it’s worth mentioning that while robotic pool cleaners do an excellent job of cleaning all of your pool surfaces, it cannot grab floating debris. So roll up your sleeves and your trusty leaf skimmer and telepole and fish out those floating debris.

• Limited internal filter baskets - The capacity of a robotic pool cleaner is limited by the internal filter baskets it has so this is something to think about if you’re looking for “compact” models. The larger models obviously have a larger capacity and will take much longer in between emptyings.
• Tracks and Wheels Jamming - the wheels and tracks of robotic pool cleaners can get jammed up by leaves and other debris, especially when there’s a thick layer on your pool surface. This can be remedied by raking and scooping out excess debris before letting your robotic pool cleaner loose on your pool.

Now don’t be turned off by the disadvantages of having a robotic pool cleaner. They all have simple fixes. Now we’ll go over the pros and advantages of a robotic pool cleaner, trust us, after reading through these, you’ll think of the cons as minor inconveniences that you can easily overlook.

• Unmatched scrubbing power - Well, if there’s one thing that we love about robotic pool cleaners, it’s their ability to scrub all of your pool surfaces thoroughly. Pressure side and suction side pool cleaners only suck out surface dirt and debris, robotic pool cleaners actually give your surfaces a thorough scrubbing, dislodging any gunk and algae that may start to take root on your pool surfaces.
• Filters your pool water as it goes - With an internal filtration system, a robotic pool cleaner takes the load off of your cartridge or sand filters. Which is a huge plus in our book.

• Circulates your pool water - A robotic pool cleaner circulates your pool water while it does its job of cleaning your pool’s surfaces. Now while this may not sound like much, remember that it’s doing the job of your pool pump for a fraction of the cost while scrubbing and filtering at the same time!
• Ease of use - Unlike other pool cleaners where some assembly is required, robotic pool cleaners are the epitome of plug and play! Just plug them in, drop them into the pool, and watch it go!
• Saves you money - Since robotic pool cleaners don’t need to be powered by your pool pump, you’re saving money on electric bills whenever you’re cleaning the pool!

We have an entire post dedicated to the benefits of owning and using a robotic pool cleaner here. Be sure to check it out if you’re looking for more information.

These robotic pool cleaner pros and cons are gathered from our experience with using the different types we have in our shop and we can confidently say that the following robotic pool cleaners are the best in the bunch!

It's been a while since we wrote this article and in that time, our recommendations have changed. We've taken out a couple of robotic pool cleaners and we've put in ones that we know works best.

Our latest (and best) recommendation would be the SoniX Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner. When we first wrote this article, we didn't have any cordless pool cleaners so the cable length was a big negative, but that's no longer the case. The SoniX does away with the cable requirement so you can say goodbye to tangles and say hello to true cordless pool cleaning.

This is our most popular robotic pool cleaner that we have on the site and for good reason. It costs less than your standard pressure pool cleaner and it doesn’t need a booster pump to run! Not only that, it’s energy-efficient and super easy to use. It also has an upgradable filter canister so you can get finer filtration and deal with fine suspended particles in your pool.

The Robo-Tek Robo-Plus Robotic Pool Cleaner is fast becoming one of our fastest-selling robotic pool cleaners on the online pool for good reason! Equipped to handle pool debris from fine dust all the way up to bulky leaves, the Robo-Tek Robo-Plus cleans and scrubs your pool with the push of a button! It's fully plug and play, no need for expensive booster pumps or hoses to deal with.

And the best part? It takes a huge load off of your pool's filtration system so your filter elements last longer, your sand filters need to be backwashed less, which means greater savings down the line!

P.S. The Robo-Tek Robo-Plus may look like it's more expensive than the Tornax TX30 but it does come with its own carrying caddy and other accessories that if added to the TX30, would bring it to the same price point.

P.P.S. While we love the Robo-Tek and the Tornax, the SoniX is our latest recommendation because it ticks all of the boxes a good robotic pool cleaner should have, and being cordless, it removes some of the cons as well.

As we can see, the pros and advantages of owning a robotic pool cleaner far outweigh the disadvantages of owning one. All of the disadvantages of owning one are easily remedied by a little bit of manual work (scooping out excess debris) or purchasing longer cables for your cleaner (or getting a cordless robotic pool cleaner like the SoniX). In fact, for the disadvantage of having a higher price than other types of pool cleaners, we have different payment options which you can check out in our payment pages.