Owning a pool is a shared dream for most of us. But those with one quickly realize that you spend most of the season cleaning and maintaining more than you are actually in the pool. I’ve tried numerous cleaning solutions over the years from manual to robotic but both always felt like they had major drawbacks.
On one hand, manual cleaning did the job but was slow and tedious. The thought of connecting hoses, swapping out pole attachments, and inconsistent suction issues sends a shiver through me. On the other, all the robotic solutions felt inefficient, and clumsy and required more maintenance than the pool itself. That was until I tried out Beatbot’s option, the AquaSense Pro.
“I watched as it worked its way around the pool. It was powerful and incredibly quiet, I think I audibly gasped at the Beatbot AquaSense Pro's performance – it was that good.”
Industry-first technology
The AquaSense Pro sells itself as the leading solution packed with a multitude of industry-first technology. Bundled in the hefty $2,200 price tag we’re talking about eight industry-firsts. Two that I was impressed with off the bat were its route planning via a smart chip powered by a robust quad-core Cortex-A7 SOC and complete cordless operation meaning, let's all repeat after me, no more wires!
Beatbot is so proud of this powerhouse of a cleaner that they call it ‘the world’s first 5-in-1 intelligent pool cleaning robot’; that is floors, walls, waterline, (the actual) pool surface, and a water clarification (sold separately) system. When the box arrived and I got my eyes on it I was pleasantly surprised and immediately wanted to throw it in the pool to see what it could do.
Taking it out of the box, it is very good-looking. My eyes were instantly drawn to three things: the tank-like tracks made it look like it could cross the most rugged terrain. Secondly, the incredibly intricate and sturdy roller brushes that work independently, and thirdly, what it calls its ‘Ultrasonic Sensor’, basically its eyesight that allows for incredibly precise control and intelligent mapping through an intricate 20-sensor system and dual gyroscopes.
Unboxing and first use
In the box, you get the AquaSense Pro, a charging dock, a hook allowing for manual retrieval if needed, two manuals, a quick start guide, and a more in-depth guide.
Before using it for the first time the unit needs to be fully charged, and boy, is the charger a game changer. With a large 10400mAh battery it took only 3 to 3.5 hours to fully charge. The unit charges via contact with two metal pads when placed on the dock, it’s quick and easy and works like a charm. The dock comes with two feet that when installed angle the unit ergonomically. The handle is positioned at the top meaning you can grab the handle and simply lift off the robot like a bag. Putting it back was just as easy, there was no missing the contact pads, or having such precise alignment that it became tedious and frustrating. It just works as it should.
I’ll note that this is a heavy unit. It feels like it is designed to sit on the floor and not on anything higher. This was the first issue I had when planning on where to place it. It says it works best under a consistent wifi connection, something I have all over my home but not around the pool. This would prove my biggest gripe with my initial experience testing the AquaSense Pro (more on this later). While the cleaning power is fantastic, one of the biggest attractions lies in its intelligence and the integration of the cleaning, mapping, and learning via itself and the companion app, the BeatBot OS.
Submarine Submersion
After a short OTA update, it was time for its first run. I was excited. I carried it from its dock to the poolside. Admittedly, my pool is probably on the smaller end of what this powerhouse can work with. I can just imagine the intelligent front camera rolling its digital eyes at me thinking to itself, ‘Is this it?’. But, it was, this was my pool.
For my first run, I wanted it to do it all, so I selected the Pro Mode. The AquaSense Pro comes with five cleaning modes:
- Quick Mode: Cleans the pool floor (1 time).
- Standard Mode: Cleans the floor, walls, and waterline (1 time).
- Pro Mode: Cleans the surface, floor, walls, and waterline (1 time)
- ECO Mode: Cleans the floor every other day (1 time).
- Custom mode: Clean any area or combination of areas of your choice (1 or 2 times), including floor, walls, waterline or water surface only.
After selecting the Pro Mode button, I waited a few seconds for it to calibrate on a flat surface. Once calibrated, I placed it in the pool whereupon it sprang to life. The AquaSense Pro uses technology it calls SmartDrain and is inspired by submarine systems. It began inhaling water making it heavy enough to elegantly lower itself to the bottom of the pool, its now initial parking spot. Once finished it returns to the surface by releasing water (ballast) making it light enough to float back for pickup.
Floors, Walls, Waterline (and Surface?)
I watched as it worked its way around the pool. It was powerful and incredibly quiet, I think I audibly gasped at its performance it was that good. I was concerned when it was trying to start on the wall section as my pool has a liner surface with slightly curved corners, something I thought would be problematic. I was very relieved to see it work as it should. It was stunning to watch it work.
“The ‘Ultrasonic AI' sensor which maps the pool is the magic in the Beatbot AquaSense Pro.”
There was one issue I encountered which in my opinion disappointed me. The cleaner was doing its thing and after the walls and waterline, it released ballast and floated to the surface. This must have been the start of the surface cleaning section I thought. It sorted itself out and simply navigated back to the starting position. At over 100 minutes of cleaning, I presumed the process was complete so I removed it.
This circles back to my previous issue on its constant need for a wifi connection. When it starts cleaning it disconnects from wifi and then reconnects once it has finished to deliver that all-important mapping through the app. But, with me having removed it from the pool having thought it had finished and there being no wifi by the pool I was in limbo a bit. I had to take it back to an area with strong wifi for the app to tell me that I had interrupted the cleaning program and that it was unable to compile the map.
Initial test and overview
So that was my very first test with the Beatbot AquaSense Pro. It started strong but finished with slight confusion. I will say that it did clean my pool very well, no doubt about that. A quick inspection of the filter basket confirmed that both finer particles and larger Debis were all collected.
I’m certain that the surface clean encountered a bug that can easily be fixed via OTA updates and further testing will be able to troubleshoot but from my very first run, it was a bit of a bummer. I was looking forward to my intelligent map. Another thing I feel is missing is a better connection between the app and the cleaner DURING the cleaning. I’d love for a connection of some sort when it is not on wifi allowing for a completion percentage, status, perhaps by popping up to the surface at intervals to transmit progress reports to the app so it's possible to keep an eye on it without ending the program prematurely.
If you have WiFi coverage at your pool, then the cleaning experience will be more straightforward as when the cleaner floats to the surface it will be able to communicate how much longer it needs to complete the task.
Overall, the cleaning aspect and the technology that is crammed into the Beatbot AquaSense Pro are incredible, and an absolute pleasure to use and watch. From automatically submerging to gracefully breaching the surface, it performs like a dream. The only niggle I had came from my not having Wi-Fi coverage at the pool, which resulted in the cleaning program being accidentally cut short.
Otherwise? The Beatbot AquaSense Pro put paid to memories of having to manually scoop leaves and other debris out of the pool. It's a game changer, and if you have a pool and $2,200 to spare, the Beatbot AquaSense Pro will add a touch of luxury and leisurely convenience. It's quite literally a case of putting it in the pool to do its work without the need for any intervention on your part until the job is done.
