Robotic pool cleaner specifications

Specifications checked 5 September 2026

Every specification the manufacturers publish for the 66 cleaners sold in Australia, in one register. Blanks are left as blanks: this page never converts, interpolates or estimates a figure, and "not published" appears wherever a brand has not stated one.

Pool ratings are not a comparable number

This breaks more comparisons than anything else on the page. Dolphin and Zodiac publish a maximum pool length in metres. Aiper, Beatbot and Wybot publish a surface area, in square metres, in square feet, or in both at once with figures that do not always agree. One Wybot model publishes a square-foot figure on the product page and a metre figure in the description.

A 300 square metre rating and a 15 metre rating are different claims about different things. An area rating tells you nothing about whether a battery machine can reach the far end of a long, narrow lap pool and get home again. We do not convert between them, and neither should anyone else.

Depth is barely published at all

There is no depth column in this register because there is no depth specification to fill it with. No brand publishes a maximum operating depth as a spec-table line. Where a figure exists it is inside an ingress-protection statement in a manual, usually a three metre limit, and it is stated for only a handful of models.

Minimum depth is published even more rarely, and it is the one that catches people out: a pool that holds a metre or less of water is shallower than several of these machines are specified for, which matters on above-ground and plunge pools. Where a manufacturer does state it, the figures we found sit around 35 to 50 centimetres. If your pool is unusually deep or unusually shallow, ask the retailer to show you the line in the manual.

Cleaning surfaces

65 of 66 cleaners publish which surfaces they cover, and this is the specification most worth reading closely, because one word covers two capabilities. At least one brand's own comparison table marks a model as reaching the waterline while separately marking horizontal waterline scrubbing as absent. Reaching the tide-mark and scrubbing it are different jobs.

Steps and sun ledges are a similar trap. Two Dolphin models publish a step and ledge capability with a depth attached, and one Aiper manual states outright that the machine does not clean steps or benches and is not suitable for infinity pools. Every other model in the register is silent, and silence is not a yes.

Weight

56 of 66 cleaners publish a weight, ranging from 2.5 kg to 13.2 kg. It is an unglamorous figure that decides whether you enjoy owning the machine, because you lift it out wet, at arm's length, several times a season. On an above-ground pool you do it from a ladder. One brand publishes no weight for most of its range, including its flagship.

Two models publish a combined robot-plus-dock weight rather than a robot weight, which would make the machine look far heavier than it is. We record those as not published rather than pass on a figure that measures something else.

Navigation, mostly marketing

58 of 66 cleaners name a navigation system, and the names are chosen by marketing departments rather than engineers. What is worth extracting from them is whether the machine actually maps the pool or simply follows a pattern with sensors. Very few map, and several brands describe a gyroscope and a fixed S-shaped path in language that sounds like mapping.

8 models publish no navigation description at all: Aiper Scuba X1 Pro, Aiper Scuba N1600, Zodiac FreeRider FR200, Zodiac FreeRider FR500 iQ, Zodiac FreeRider FR800 iQ, Zodiac FreeRider FR1000 iQ, Zodiac FreeRider FR2000 iQ, Zodiac CX20.

App control

47 cleaners have app control, 16 do not, and 3 do not say. It buys scheduling, mode selection and on some models manual steering. It does not buy a cleaner pool, and neither does mapping. Between them these two features account for a large share of the price difference between a mid-range and a premium machine, which is worth knowing before you pay for them.

One brand runs two different apps across a single range, so a household with two of its machines needs both. Its own two Australian websites also disagree about whether one model has app control at all; we record the manufacturer's spec block and flag the conflict rather than pick the flattering answer.

What no manufacturer publishes

Three figures would let you compare the cost of owning these machines rather than the cost of buying them, and not one brand selling into Australia publishes any of them for any model: battery cycle life, replacement battery availability and price here, and energy used per cleaning cycle. The battery register and the running-cost register set out what can be established in their place.

Two conclusions follow from this register and both are worth carrying into a shop. Running cost is not a differentiator: a robot uses roughly $4.86 to $7.85 of electricity across a full season against about $358 a year for the pump, so it should not influence which model you buy. And warranty length does not track price or specification, as the warranty register shows inside a single brand's own range. What separates these machines in practice is who repairs them here.

We should also say plainly what we are. We have not tested any of these cleaners. We compile published specifications, verify Australian prices and document warranty and service arrangements. The only brand in this register that runs an affiliate program open to us is also the one with the weakest Australian support, and we say so on every page it appears on rather than quietly leaving it out.

Common questions

What pool size can a robotic pool cleaner handle?

It depends on the model, and the ratings are not published in a comparable unit. Dolphin and Zodiac state a maximum pool length in metres. Aiper, Beatbot and Wybot state a surface area, sometimes in square metres and sometimes in square feet, and a few publish both with figures that disagree. 65 of the 66 cleaners we track publish a rating of some kind. We reproduce each one in the unit its manufacturer used and never convert between them.

What is the maximum depth a robotic pool cleaner can work in?

No brand publishes maximum operating depth as a comparable specification. Where it appears at all it is buried inside an ingress-protection line in a manual, typically as a three metre limit, and minimum depth is published even less often. If you have a deep diving end or an unusually shallow pool, this is a question for the retailer rather than something you can look up.

How fine is the filtration on a robotic pool cleaner?

Only 14 of the 66 cleaners we track publish a micron rating at all. Maytronics publishes none across its 28 Dolphin models, describing filters as "fine", "ultra-fine" and "rough" instead. Where numbers do exist they are not measured the same way, and at least one of the finest figures on the Australian market belongs to an optional filter sold as a paid accessory.

Does app control make a robotic pool cleaner clean better?

No. 47 of the 66 cleaners here have app control and 16 do not, and it is a convenience feature: scheduling, mode selection and on some models manual steering. It changes how you operate the machine, not how clean the pool ends up. The same goes for pool mapping, which is the other feature most likely to be used to justify a higher price.

Specifications checked 5 September 2026. Figures are manufacturer-published, taken from the manual where a manual exists and from the Australian product page where it does not. Where a brand publishes conflicting figures across its own store, manual and marketing pages, we record the manual's figure and note the conflict. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or converted from an overseas specification.