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The Best Robotic Pool Skimmers of 2026: Solar Surface Cleaners, Ranked

By The Smith Family, reviewed by Brad Smith · Independent, no paid placement · Updated & verified September 5, 2026Prices checked September 2026💰 1 discount code

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Your pool robot scrubs the floor. But the leaves, pollen, and bugs floating on the surface? Those it drives right past — and most of them sink, settle on the bottom, and clog your filter on the way down.

That’s the job of a robotic pool skimmer: a little solar-powered raft that patrols the surface all day, scooping debris into a basket before it ever has a chance to sink. Catch it up top and your floor robot, your filter, and your pump all do less work.

The category has gotten good — and crowded — fast. Solar skimmers now run from about $300 to $999, and the usual “best pool skimmer” lists mostly rank whoever pays the biggest cut. So I dug into what actually separates them: how they handle a cloudy week, how much they really pick up, and how annoying the basket is to empty. Here’s where I’d put your money.

Quick comparison

Model	Best for	Power	Propeller	Debris basket	Price
Betta SE Plus	Best value	Solar + AC backup	2.5 in	200µm, top-load	Check price →
Betta SE	Best for a full-sun pool	Solar only — no adapter	2.5 in	200µm, top-load	Check price →
Betta Neo	Your pick if the Wi-Fi does not reach the pool	Solar + adapter (dual charging)	2.5 in (twin salt- and chlorine-tolerant motors)	~4 L, top-load	Check price →
Dolphin Skimmi	Strongest pickup — now discontinued	Solar + battery	3 in (largest)	Bottom-load	Check price →
Beatbot iSkim Ultra	Premium — but overkill	Solar + 10,000mAh	2.5 in	9L, side-load	Check price →

Prices move constantly — any Amazon price shown is as of the date noted and subject to change; tap through for today's number.

Best value: Betta SE Plus

This is the one I’d put on most pools.

The Betta SE Plus runs on solar all day, but the part that matters is the backup: a USB-C/AC adapter that tops it up on a cloudy stretch, so you’re not stuck with a dead skimmer after a rainy week. Twin salt-chlorine-tolerant motors handle treated water without corroding, ultrasonic sensors keep it off the walls, and it covers a big pool — up to roughly 2,400 square feet, in-ground or above-ground.

The detail that wins daily life: the basket is top-loading. You lift it straight up and out, and the debris comes with it — no flipping the unit over and dribbling a week of leaves back into the water. At around $390, it’s the value pick that doesn’t feel like a compromise.

The honest catch: its 2.5-inch propellers don’t grab as hard as the Dolphin’s bigger ones when wind is shoving leaves around, and the warranty is one year. For a typical backyard, neither is a dealbreaker.

Winner

Our top pick

Betta SE Plus

Best value · Solar with AC-adapter backup, so a week of clouds doesn't sideline it

Your pick if you want a surface skimmer that never quits — solar with AC-adapter backup so a week of clouds doesn't sideline it, plus a shallow-water safeguard that keeps it off your pool stairs (4.5★ across 2,993).

4.5 · 2,993 owner ratingsacross Amazon · September 2026 · global base

Check price at Amazon →

Pro review Bob Vila

“After hands-on testing, I found that the Betta SE Plus stood out as the top performer—it was incredibly easy to set up and removed more leaves and floating debris than any other model I tried.”

Best Overall of Bob Vila's 2026 robotic-skimmer test (published 2026-07-24). Methodology on the page: "For hands-on testing, I used each robotic skimmer in residential inground pools over multiple days, including both screened-in and open-air pool environments." The tester is Florida-based. Their Buy-at-Amazon link resolves to B0CVMQ3XBX, the listing we card. Supersedes The Pool Nerd's August 2025 review ("It's efficient, quiet, and low-maintenance."), which is now older than a year.

Betta SE Plus

Best value

Your pick if you want a surface skimmer that never quits — solar with AC-adapter backup so a week of clouds doesn't sideline it, plus a shallow-water safeguard that keeps it off your pool stairs (4.5★ across 2,993).

4.5 · 2,993 owner ratingsAmazon · September 2026 · global base

Pro review “After hands-on testing, I found that the Betta SE Plus stood out as the top performer—it was incredibly easy to set up and removed more leaves and floating debris than any other model I tried.”Best Overall of Bob Vila's 2026 robotic-skimmer test (published 2026-07-24). Methodology on the page: "For hands-on testing, I used each robotic skimmer in residential inground pools over multiple days, including both screened-in and open-air pool environments." The tester is Florida-based. Their Buy-at-Amazon link resolves to B0CVMQ3XBX, the listing we card. Supersedes The Pool Nerd's August 2025 review ("It's efficient, quiet, and low-maintenance."), which is now older than a year.— Paul Rankin, Bob Vila

Pros

• Solar plus USB-C/AC backup — keeps skimming through cloudy stretches
• Top-loading 200µm basket lifts out without dribbling debris back in
• Twin salt-chlorine-tolerant motors handle treated water
• Covers up to ~2,400 sq ft, in-ground or above-ground

Cons

• 2.5-in propellers — less grab than the Dolphin's 3-in in wind or heavy leaf fall
• 1-year warranty (Beatbot gives two)
• Wireless remote only — no phone app

What owners complain aboutFit / placement

It strands itself on a beach or zero entry and hangs up on pool-sweep hoses; separately, battery life and the status lights degrade inside the first year.

4 of the first 10 critical cards (of 299 critical) are stranding or snagging and 3 more are battery or indicator failure within a year - the same shallow-water weakness the Betta SE shows. Base 2,926 at the August pass, 2,993 on 2026-09-04 · critical reviews read August 2026

Check price at Amazon →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo CPSC recall on any Betta product — CPSC recall API re-checked 2026-09-04 (saferproducts.gov/RestWebServices/Recall, ProductName=Betta → 1 record, a FALSE POSITIVE: #16036 (2015) is a PetSmart Top Fin BETTA FISH BOWL, the aquarium-fish name collision; opened and confirmed not a pool product; "Betta SE" → 0). Class queries the same sitting: "robotic pool cleaner" and "pool cleaner" return only Aiper Seagull Pro #25187; "pool skimmer" returns 0. Positive control: "Aiper" returns its two robot recalls (#23784 Elite Pro 2023, #25187 Seagull Pro 2025), so a zero is a real answer. Solar surface unit with a small backup battery — store out of direct sun when not in use.

The cheaper Betta, for a full-sun pool: Betta SE

Same machine, $20 less, and the deepest owner base in the category — with one condition attached.

The plain Betta SE is what the Plus is built on, and until now we had not carded it. On volume that was an omission worth fixing: 4.4★ across 8,158 Amazon ratings, nearly three times the crowd behind the Plus and the deepest base of any skimmer we track. We read both listings on the same day, and the bases turned out identically clean — thirteen visible reviews each, zero free-product reviews on either, thirteen of thirteen verified purchases on both, and the same share reviewing from outside the US. Neither number is dirtier than the other, which is unusual enough to say out loud.

The $20 between them buys exactly two things, and both come from the listings’ own feature bullets. The SE states it “operates 100% on solar power” and lists recharging only under direct sunlight; the Plus adds backup adapter charging. And the Plus adds a shallow water safeguard that keeps it from getting stuck at pool stairs — which matters because getting stuck on entry steps is precisely the SE’s most common owner complaint. The upgrade answers the cheaper model’s main failure rather than just adding a feature.

So the SE wins on price and proof depth, and loses on the two things most likely to strand it. Take it if your pool is in full sun with no shallow entry steps. Under a screen cage, take the Plus — a cage cuts the solar reaching the panel by 30–40%, which is the condition the backup adapter exists for.

Not for you if your pool is screened, shaded, or has a beach entry or tanning ledge. Betta’s own listing also says it is not suitable for round pools under 14 ft.

Betta SE

Best for a full-sun pool

Your pick if your pool sits in full sun and has no shallow entry steps — it is the same twin-motor skimmer as the Plus for $20 less, on the deepest owner base in the category (4.4★ across 8,158).

4.4 · 8,158 owner ratingsAmazon · September 2026 · global base

“This is my reliable rockstar. I've had this running for three years straight, running non-stop, year-round in Florida with hot summers and mild winters.”— JB, Amazon

Pro review “I was honestly blown away by how quick and easy the Betta SE was to install and use. It was the fastest of all the robot skimmers I tested—and setup couldn't have been simpler.”Best Basic of Bob Vila's 2026 robotic-skimmer test (published 2026-07-24), scored 5/5 on Ease of Use, Performance and Value; the one catch he records is that it occasionally misses tight corners. Hands-on in residential Florida inground pools over multiple days. Their Buy-at-Amazon link resolves to B0BW38MP5C, the listing we card. Supersedes The Pool Nerd's August 2025 review, now older than a year.— Paul Rankin, Bob Vila

Pros

• The deepest owner base of any skimmer we track — 4.4★ across 8,158 ratings, and none of them free-product reviews
• $20 less than the Plus for the same twin salt-chlorine-tolerant motors and the same 200µm top-load basket
• 30+ hours of continuous running on a single charge, so it keeps skimming overnight
• Owners report multi-season life — several describe three years of year-round Florida use

Cons

• Solar ONLY — no adapter charging, which is the Plus's whole advantage and matters most under a screen cage
• Getting stuck is the dominant owner complaint — entry stairs and shallow ledges specifically; the Plus adds a shallow-water safeguard the SE does not have
• Betta's own listing says it is not suitable for round pools under 14 ft
• Rating is pooled across marketplaces (Amazon labels it "global ratings")

What owners complain aboutLifespan

Service life, not skimming: owners who love it describe it dying just past the one-year warranty or inside two seasons — LEDs and batteries failing, a third unit in a few years — and, separately, getting stuck on entry steps and in shallow water.

886 critical reviews of 8,158 (11%) at the 2026-09-04 pass; 6 of the first 10 are lifespan (dead at 6 weeks, 16 months, two years), 2 are stranding; all verified US purchases · critical reviews read September 2026

Check price at Amazon →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo CPSC recall on any Betta product — CPSC recall API re-checked 2026-09-04 (saferproducts.gov/RestWebServices/Recall, ProductName=Betta → 1 record, a FALSE POSITIVE: #16036 (2015) is a PetSmart Top Fin BETTA FISH BOWL, the aquarium-fish name collision; opened and confirmed not a pool product; "Betta SE" → 0). Class queries the same sitting: "robotic pool cleaner" and "pool cleaner" return only Aiper Seagull Pro #25187; "pool skimmer" returns 0. Positive control: "Aiper" returns its two robot recalls (#23784 Elite Pro 2023, #25187 Seagull Pro 2025), so a zero is a real answer. Solar surface unit with a small backup battery — store out of direct sun when not in use.

The app pick, if your Wi-Fi can’t reach the pool: Betta Neo

Betta’s newest skimmer, launched in spring 2026, is the SE Plus with a phone in the loop — and one honest reason to buy it over the Plus.

The Betta Neo keeps the things that make the Plus the pick — the same twin salt- and chlorine-tolerant motors, solar with an adapter backup, a top-load basket — and adds the BettaBot app for scheduling and status, weather-adaptive cleaning, and a gateway hub in the box that talks to the robot from up to 600 ft. That last part is the whole case for it. Most pool robots’ apps assume your router reaches the water; if yours doesn’t, the Neo is the only skimmer here that ships its own bridge.

It also skims. In The Hook Up’s counted test of seven solar skimmers (August 2026), the Neo picked up all 20 leaves in an hour, the most of the field, though it collected less of the fine floating Styrofoam than the Beatbot iSkim. His verdict was conditional rather than a rave: “The Betta was probably the best cleaner of the bunch,” with concerns about the basket design and the lack of a backup navigation system — and, he noted, a one-year warranty against two years on the Beatbot and Aiper.

Owners say the same two things the SE owners say, plus one new one. It strands on beach entries, curved walls and vanishing edges and gets caught by the wall skimmer — 4 of the first 10 critical reviews. And the app is early: the software is the thread through the rest of the tail, including one owner who calls it “phenomenal software” on a design “far inferior to its dumber cousin.” The base is clean — 0 Vine among the visible cards, all verified — but at 4.3★ across 135 it is a twentieth of the Plus’s proof, so it is a pick for a specific need rather than a new best overall.

Not for you if your pool has a beach entry or a shallow ledge, or your router already covers the pool — then the SE Plus does the same skimming with twenty times the track record for $3 more.

Betta Neo

Your pick if the Wi-Fi does not reach the pool

Your pick if you want to schedule and check the skimmer from your phone and your router does not reach the pool — the included gateway talks to it from up to 600 ft. Skip it if your pool has a beach entry or a shallow ledge: owners strand it there exactly as they do the SE.

4.3 · 135 owner ratingsAmazon · September 2026 · listing-wide base · global base

Pro review “The Betta was probably the best cleaner of the bunch, but I have concerns about the exposed Styrofoam, the bin design isn't as good, and it doesn't appear to have a backup navigation system in the event that the optical sensors can't detect a wall.”Unsponsored seven-skimmer comparative test (published 2026-08-21): a counted one-hour run with 20 leaves and ground Styrofoam per skimmer, an overnight no-sun battery-drain test, and side-by-side wall behaviour. The Neo collected all 20 leaves (the most) but less Styrofoam than the Beatbot iSkim. His verdict is conditional: unless you need the 600 ft gateway, the Aiper and Beatbot are probably better options — it carries a one-year warranty against their two, and was the dearest of the three at test time.— The Hook Up (Rob), The Hook Up

Pros

• App scheduling and status from anywhere, with a gateway that reaches a pool the house Wi-Fi does not
• The Hook Up's counted test: it collected all 20 leaves in an hour, the most of seven skimmers
• Same twin salt/chlorine-tolerant motors and dual solar-plus-adapter charging as the SE Plus
• Owner base is clean so far — 0 Vine among the visible cards, all verified purchases

Cons

• Strands itself on beach entries, curved walls and vanishing edges, and gets trapped by the wall skimmer — the same fit complaint as the SE, and the main critical theme
• The app is early: owners report flaky software, and one card reads 'phenomenal software… far inferior design to its dumber cousin'
• One-year warranty against two years on the Beatbot iSkim and the Aiper Surfer S2 — a surprise to owners because the listing never states it
• Only 135 owner ratings, pooled across the Blue and Grey colourways and labelled global; the SE Plus has twenty times the proof

What owners complain aboutFit / placement

Fit and software. It strands on beach entries, curved walls and vanishing edges and gets caught by the wall skimmer; separately the app is buggy and the debris basket lets small bugs back out. One owner found the one-year warranty only after unboxing.

16 critical of 135 (12%), all verified US purchases inside May–August 2026; 4 of the first 10 are stranding or trapping, 3 are software or app, 1 basket design, 1 dead at three weeks · critical reviews read September 2026

Check price at Amazon →

Also at: Betta direct

✓ Safety: no active recallNo CPSC recall on any Betta product — CPSC recall API re-checked 2026-09-04 (saferproducts.gov/RestWebServices/Recall, ProductName=Betta → 1 record, a FALSE POSITIVE: #16036 (2015) is a PetSmart Top Fin BETTA FISH BOWL, the aquarium-fish name collision; opened and confirmed not a pool product; "Betta SE" → 0). Class queries the same sitting: "robotic pool cleaner" and "pool cleaner" return only Aiper Seagull Pro #25187; "pool skimmer" returns 0. Positive control: "Aiper" returns its two robot recalls (#23784 Elite Pro 2023, #25187 Seagull Pro 2025), so a zero is a real answer. Solar surface unit with a small backup battery and an adapter — store out of direct sun when not in use.

Strongest pickup, but discontinued: Dolphin Skimmi

Update (July 2026): the original Dolphin Skimmi is discontinued. It’s out of stock across every channel — Amazon, Maytronics-direct, and the dealers (Aquamentor lists it flatly as “obsolete, with limited stock left”). Maytronics has moved to the Dolphin Skimmi 300 (~$529) and Skimmi 200, but both are dealer-only or unavailable right now, with no easy tracked buy path, so we haven’t wired them. If you fought a heavy leaf load, the Skimmi was the strongest picker-upper tested — but for a skimmer you can actually buy today, the Betta SE Plus above is the pick. Here’s what made the Skimmi special, for the record.

The Skimmi comes from Maytronics — the same company behind the Dolphin floor robots owners keep for years — and it’s built like it. The headline number is the 3-inch propellers, the largest of any skimmer tested, and they show: per The Pool Nerd’s testing, it had the most consistent suction and the best debris collection of the group, especially when wind pushes leaves into a corner. Solar plus a backup battery keeps it running, and a Bluetooth app handles settings.

The trade-off is the basket. It’s bottom-loading, which means tipping the unit to empty it — messier than the Betta’s top-load tray — and it costs more.

And here’s the honest flag the spec sheet won’t give you: owners are far more mixed than the testers. On Amazon it averages just 3.2 stars across 400-plus reviews, and the low ratings cluster on reliability and the app — not on how it skims. So it was the best picker-upper of the group and also the riskiest buy — and now it’s academic, since the original is discontinued and the Skimmi 300/200 successors haven’t landed a real buy path. For heavy leaves today, the Betta is the pick.

Dolphin Skimmi

Strongest pickup — now discontinued

Your pick if you had your eye on the strongest-pickup skimmer — but the original Dolphin Skimmi is discontinued and out of stock across every channel (Amazon, Maytronics-direct, and the dealers). Maytronics has moved to the Skimmi 300/200, which are dealer-only with no tracked buy path yet, so for a skimmer you can actually buy today, the Betta SE Plus is the pick.

3.2 · 425 owner ratingsAmazon · September 2026 · global base

“The Skimmi's larger propellers provide more consistent suction and better debris collection, particularly when dealing with larger leaves or when wind is pushing surface debris around.”— The Pool Nerd

Pro review “Two weeks in, I wondered how I would ever live without it.”Hands-on review on The Pool Nerd (sitemap lastmod 2025-08-10; the page prints no date). Kept past the 12-month window under the recency exception: no credentialed hands-on test of the Skimmi has been published since — Bob Vila's July 2026 skimmer test and The Hook Up's August 2026 test both omit it (the model is discontinued). The product is Currently unavailable on Amazon, so this card informs owners rather than buyers.— Justin D., The Pool Nerd

Pros

• Biggest propellers tested (3 in) — strongest, most consistent surface suction
• Best leaf pickup, especially when wind pushes debris around
• Maytronics build quality (the Dolphin floor-robot maker)
• Solar with backup battery + Bluetooth app

Cons

• Bottom-loading debris tray is messier to empty than a top-loader
• Costs more than the Betta SE Plus
• App is Bluetooth, not full WiFi

What owners complain aboutLifespan

Almost every complaint has the same shape: it works well, and then it stops. Owners report quitting after three weeks, after seventeen days, a paddle wheel seizing inside nine months, ten good months then failure, and one that made it a year and was refused help because the warranty had just expired. Getting support to respond is the second half of nearly every card.

the critical tail was 146 of 419 at the August 2026 pass - a 35% critical share, the highest of anything we card - and the pattern is consistent across it rather than clustered; the base read 425 on 2026-09-04 · critical reviews read August 2026

Check price at Amazon →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo CPSC recall on any Maytronics/Dolphin product — CPSC recall API re-checked 2026-09-04 (saferproducts.gov/RestWebServices/Recall, ProductName=Maytronics → 0; "Dolphin pool" → 0). Class queries the same sitting: "robotic pool cleaner" and "pool cleaner" return only Aiper Seagull Pro #25187; "pool skimmer" returns 0. Positive control: "Aiper" returns its two robot recalls (#23784 Elite Pro 2023, #25187 Seagull Pro 2025), so a zero is a real answer. (Discontinued model; the check still applies to units in service.)

Premium pick: Beatbot iSkim Ultra

The iSkim Ultra is the flagship — and the cautionary tale.

On paper it’s stacked: seven motors, twenty sensors, a WiFi app with scheduling, voice broadcasts, dual-side brushes, a huge 9-liter basket with one-touch release, and a 2-year warranty. If you want the most automated, most connected skimmer on the market and the price doesn’t faze you, it delivers.

But here’s the line that should give you pause, straight from The Pool Nerd: despite all those premium features, “it’s running 2.5-inch propellers — the exact same size you’ll find on the $370 Betta SE.” The thing a skimmer is actually for — pulling debris off the water — it does with the same hardware as a unit a third of the price. You’re buying the app, the voice, and the basket size, not better skimming.

And owners aren’t sold either: it averages 4.0 stars on Amazon across just 24 ratings — below the $390 Betta’s 4.5 on nearly 3,000. When the cheapest pick has the happiest owners and the priciest has middling ones, the “premium” math stops working. For most people, this is a hard skip.

Beatbot iSkim Ultra

Premium — but overkill

Your pick if you want to tell your pool skimmer what to do out loud — voice and app control are the whole pitch, because underneath it's the same 2.5-inch propellers as a $370 Betta. You're paying $699 for the conversation, not the suction.

4.0 · 24 owner ratingsAmazon · September 2026 · early data

“Despite all these premium features, it's running 2.5-inch propellers—the exact same size you'll find on the $370 Betta SE.”— The Pool Nerd

Pro review “Compared to all other skimmers I've tested, this one does the best job.”Best Surface Skimmer in WIRED's robotic-pool-cleaner test (published 2026-04-23, updated 2026-08-21) by a reviewer who states four years of professional pool-robot testing; first-party photographs of the unit in his own L-shaped pool. His one catch: the basket-release button sits on the nose and about twice a month a corner clip ejects the basket into the pool. Their Amazon link resolves to B0GL27MPG8, the listing we card. NOTE the split verdict: The Pool Nerd's August 2025 hands-on called it 'a beautiful skimmer with the wrong priorities' (Pool Nerd Disapproved) — that view is kept in this card's cons.— Christopher Null, WIRED

Pros

• 7 motors + 20 sensors + WiFi app scheduling — the most automated skimmer here
• Huge 9L basket with one-touch release
• 2-year full-replacement warranty
• Saltwater rated to 5,000 ppm

Cons

• Runs the same 2.5-in propellers as the $370 Betta SE — you're paying for features, not suction
• By far the most expensive
• Side-loading basket
• Testers split: WIRED (Aug 2026) rates it the best surface skimmer they have tried; The Pool Nerd (Aug 2025) called it "a beautiful skimmer with the wrong priorities" that "doesn't clean much better than models that cost half as much."

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

The solar charging is what owners report failing — a unit dying daily until it turned out solar was not charging at all, another dead on the second day, one dead out of the box. App-to-robot pairing is the other thread, with support reachable only by email. One notes nothing protects it from the pool's coping edge. Even the mildest critical card praises the support and marks the product down.

6 critical reviews of 24 (25%) at the 2026-09-04 pass, all US, May–August 2026; 4 of 6 verified purchases, 0 Vine. A very thin base either way · critical reviews read September 2026

Check price at Amazon →

Code Use AFF5 at Beatbot direct

Also at: Beatbot direct

✓ Safety: no active recallNo CPSC recall on any Beatbot product — CPSC recall API re-checked 2026-09-04 (saferproducts.gov/RestWebServices/Recall, ProductName=Beatbot → 0 records). Class queries the same sitting: "robotic pool cleaner" and "pool cleaner" return only Aiper Seagull Pro #25187; "pool skimmer" returns 0. Positive control: "Aiper" returns its two robot recalls (#23784 Elite Pro 2023, #25187 Seagull Pro 2025), so a zero is a real answer. Lithium-battery device (10,000 mAh): charge away from anything flammable and store out of direct sun.

Do you even need a skimmer if you have a pool robot?

Different jobs. This trips people up, so it’s worth being plain about it.

• A robotic pool cleaner (the floor robot) scrubs the floor, climbs the walls, and runs the waterline. It works under the surface. See our best robotic pool cleaners showdown for those.
• A robotic skimmer works on the surface — it grabs floating leaves, pollen, and bugs before they sink.

They complement each other. The skimmer catches debris up top so less of it ever reaches the bottom, which means your floor robot, filter, and pump all work less and your water stays clearer between cleanings. If you have a few trees and a pollen season — which in Florida is most of the year — running both is the move. If you’re picking just one, choose by where your debris lives: lots of floating leaves, get the skimmer; mostly sunk grit and algae, get the floor robot first.

What to look for before you buy

The five things that actually separate skimmers:

1. Backup power. Solar-only is fine until a cloudy week parks it. A model with an AC adapter (Betta SE Plus) or a real backup battery (Dolphin, Beatbot) keeps skimming regardless.
2. A screen enclosure changes the solar math. If your pool sits under a Florida birdcage, the panel never sees full sun: testing at the Florida Solar Energy Center measured a standard screen enclosure cutting the solar energy reaching the pool by 30–40% on a clear day — the mesh is 85% open, but the sun hits it at an angle most of the day. Betta rates its 5–6 hour recharge “under direct sunlight,” so expect meaningfully slower charging under a cage and treat backup power (point 1) as required, not optional. The honest flip side: the same screen keeps most leaves out, so a caged pool’s surface load is lighter — mostly pollen, dust, and small insects — and a skimmer is a nice-to-have there, not the necessity it is under open oak trees.
3. Propeller size. This is the suction proxy. Bigger propellers (the Dolphin’s 3-inch) pull harder and hold debris better in wind; smaller 2.5-inch ones are fine for lighter loads.
4. Basket loading. Top-loading (Betta) lifts out clean. Bottom- or side-loading (Dolphin, Beatbot) means tipping the unit and is messier — you’ll empty this thing constantly, so it matters more than the spec sheet suggests.
5. Salt tolerance and build. If you run a saltwater pool, confirm the motors are salt-rated (all three here are). A backup-battery model is still a lithium device — store it out of direct sun.

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