GoKawiilThe market is stuffed to the gills with pool-scrubbing robots that cost thousands of dollars, and consumers are well justified in worrying whether that level of expense will ultimately be worthwhile. But there’s also a subset of pool robots that go the other way—much simpler devices that cost well under $500, sometimes much less.
Photograph: Christopher Null
It’s here where we find the Poolease X1, a pint-sized robot that can be yours for barely over 100 bucks. Can it possibly be any good?
Mini and on the Move
I’ve tested robots along these lines in the past. All work under the same general principle. Stripped down to the basics, the tiny Poolease X1—just 9 pounds in weight and not much larger than a lunch box—has no spinning brushes or treads to propel it. Rather, the clearly Dyson-inspired robot is entirely powered by water jets, which send it on a largely random zigzag path around the pool while pulling debris up through the bottom of the device.
Because of this simple propulsion system, the X1 can’t clean walls or the waterline or even steps, nor can it “scrub” the way a robot with motorized rollers can. It’s strictly limited to the floor of the pool. Needless to say there are no wireless or mobile app features at this price level, either.
There’s also no debris basket on the X1, per se. Rather, the entire device splits into two, and leaves and other debris are simply captured inside it, with a simple filter screen serving to keep debris from passing through the device and back out though the propulsion system’s exhaust port. To clean the device, you snap open four clips surrounding the chassis to separate the halves, then spray the whole thing down with a hose.