Beatbot AquaSense X review: The pool robot that cleans itself

Photo: Chris Noll

Of course, the AstroRinse also needs a power source, so if you don’t have a standard electrical outlet near your hose spigot, you’ll need another extension cord solution here. The unit must be level to function properly, and it features adjustable feet and a built-in spirit level to help you achieve this.

Finally, you’ll need to carefully consider where you’ll place your AstroRinse, ensuring you have access to water, power, and sewerage—and that the location isn’t too far from your pool. Since the AquaSense Unfortunately, since all three of the above services are available in my backyard, that’s exactly what I had to do.

A familiar friend in the water

The look of the Beatbot AquaSense Setting it up is much simpler than AstroRinse.

The physical configuration involves fitting two side brushes – used only by the scraper function – but that’s a fairly quick process. Once the brushes are connected, the robot must be placed over the AstroRinse cleaner so the two devices can be paired together wirelessly. (The Quick Start Guide explains the specific button presses you must do to complete this process; don’t lose them.) Finally, the system must then be paired with the Beatbot mobile app; You will need Bluetooth and a 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi connection to complete this task. I ran into a small problem: After all this work was done, both devices downloaded firmware updates, which immediately broke the pairing connection. However, it was easy to reestablish once the pairing process was repeated.

After a full charge, I tried the cleaner out in my in-ground and surface pool, and as expected, I didn’t see any real difference in performance compared to the AquaSense 2 Ultra. During floor testing with organic and synthetic debris, the device picked up an average of 97 percent of the test material, and performed exceptionally well on steps and platforms. On the surface, the unit was moderate to terrible, collecting less than half of the floating debris and sinking most of the rest. The unit is very slow to collect much material on the surface, although its rotating side brushes do help, to some extent, in pulling leaves into its mouth.

On the pool floor, the maximum running time is about 4¹/₂ Hours, thanks to a 13,400 mAh battery, the same as the AquaSense 2 Ultra.

ScreenshotBeatbot app via Chris Noll

As with other AquaSense robots, a range of operating modes are available in the Beatbot app, allowing you to choose from dozens of potential floor, wall, waterline and surface cleaning combinations, each with up to two runs per zone and with varying run times. AI Fast Mode activates the on-board camera to allow the robot to actively search for debris rather than randomly encountering it; It’s good for quick cleaning when there’s not much to pick up but more than you can easily bring in with the net.

Again, not much of this is different from the way the AquaSense 2 Ultra behaves, and apart from the poor surface performance, it performs very well.

Shipping and cleaning

On to the main event: cleaning. After each round, the AquaSense While it may take a little trial and error to get the robot into the right spot, once you do, the cleaning system starts automatically within a few seconds.

When the rinsing system starts, the top-mounted arm swings into place and connects to the mouth, which the robot uses to scrape the surface. Next, a stream of high-pressure water (it sounds very high) begins to rush from the arm into the filter basket, which is placed directly below this opening. The water spray runs uninterrupted for three minutes before the lever swings back and the system stops. (Quick mode, which runs for one minute, can also be selected in the app.) Then, the lever is pulled and the unit is finished. Debris is captured in a mesh-covered basket built into the base of the cleaning station. Any remaining water drains through a mesh screen at the bottom of the unit.

Photo: Chris Noll