Robotic Pool Cleaners brand rivalry
Dolphin vs Polaris
the legacy brands' unsettled cordless question
The card so far: Dolphin holds 0 belts, Polaris holds 0 — settled division by division, never brand-wide.
Ringside notes
The two oldest names in pool cleaning, and the fight everyone assumes has an answer — doesn't. Their cordless entries met exactly once, in our Light Heavyweight division, and neither took the belt: the Beatbot Sora 70 beat them both. So the Liberty 300 vs FREEDOM Plus question is a tale of the tape, not a verdict. The tape leans one way, though: the Polaris FREEDOM Plus reads 4.2★ across 78 Amazon owners at $1,399 with a LiFi remote and app cycles — the testers' cordless pick — while the Liberty 300 has no independent owner base at all — it isn't sold on Amazon, and Maytronics' own page shows 3.9★ from 26 reviews at $1,249, a brand number that runs about a star high. Above that, Dolphin's corded M600 fights at Super Heavyweight (it lost to the AquaSense 2 Ultra) with the argument the cordless machines can't make: no battery to die, a 3-year warranty, and Maytronics' corded track record. If you're loyal to the legacy brands, that corded lane — not the Liberty — is where the loyalty pays.
FAQ
Which is better, Dolphin or Polaris?
Unsettled — their cordless entries (Liberty 300, FREEDOM Plus) both lost our Light Heavyweight division to the Beatbot Sora 70, so no fight between them was ruled. The owner data can only be read on one side: the FREEDOM Plus carries an independent 4.2★ across 78 owners (thin enough to be early data), while the Liberty 300 isn't sold on Amazon and has no independent base at all — only Maytronics' own 3.9★/26. Compare them on capability and price instead of putting those two numbers side by side.
Is the Polaris FREEDOM Plus worth $1,399?
Its case: the testers' cordless pick, 4.2★ across 78 owners (early data), a LiFi remote, and dealer support, for about $100 less than the Beatbot Sora 70 at list on 5 November 2026. Its problem: the Sora 70, which beat it in our division fight, adds surface skimming and a deeper owner base for that $100. Read the Light Heavyweight showdown before deciding.
What's the best Dolphin right now?
Honestly, a corded one. The Liberty 300 is the hardest Dolphin to verify — no Amazon listing, so no independent owner base exists for it; the corded M600 (flagship scrubber, 3-year warranty, no battery to age) and the Nautilus CC Plus (3,299 owners) carry the brand's real strengths.
Full fight coverage
Every number on this page derives from the same verified data that renders our showdowns — dated owner-rating reads, MSRP-based tiers, and rulings only where a real fight happened. Methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.