Dolphin Skimmi
Strongest pickup — now discontinued — 3-inch propellers — the best surface pickup of any skimmer tested
Contender — The Best Robotic Pool Skimmers of 2026: Solar Surface Cleaners, Ranked
⚔️ Matchup — Dolphin Skimmi vs Betta SE Plus
Specs
| Power | Solar + battery |
| Propeller | 3 in (largest) |
| Debris basket | Bottom-load |
| Warranty | 1 year (Maytronics dealer channel; the model is discontinued and not sold online) |
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
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
“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 · Best performance
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
FAQ
Who is the Dolphin Skimmi for?
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.
What do owners say about the Dolphin Skimmi?
3.2★ across 425 owner ratings (Amazon, read September 2026 · global base). What owners complain about: 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.
What is the warranty on the Dolphin Skimmi?
1 year (Maytronics dealer channel; the model is discontinued and not sold online)
Record
- — Listing "Currently unavailable"; the original Skimmi is discontinued and Maytronics now sells the Skimmi 200 and 300 in its place.
- — Average slipped from 3.3 to 3.2 stars as the base grew from 419 to 425 on the discontinued listing (September 4 re-read).
✓ Safety: no active recall — No 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.)
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Data last verified: September 2026. Ratings are real, dated reads — never scraped or invented. Full methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.