Best Polaris Robotic Pool Cleaner (2024 Update)

This cleaner has muscle, I love the 4×4 design and the directional remote control makes this unit the best. No need for the WiFi. I have a 32k gallon pool and this unit walks the wall with no problem. Love how it cleans the waterline and tiles, fantastic cleaner and fun to watch it handle its duties. Surprised at the filter screen design, it picks up a lot of fine particles and debris. Switching from the suction system, I'm happy to be able to free up my pump motor from cleaning the pool as well. This is my first robot cleaner, and so fare its working above my expectation. Looking forward to getting many years of good cleaning experience from this 9550 sport.Greg

Firstly I would say buying a pool cleaning robot is a nightmare – seems like no matter what model you get, no matter how cheap or expensive someone will say it sucks (no pun intended). However after hearing my wife's input from a Facebook swimming pool owners group she was a member of about the Polaris I decided to go with the 9550. I did't want or need all the fancy WiFi and phone stuff so was able to pick this up for a good discount from a well known pool supply retailer. A benefit of that is the warranty starts from when they hand it over to you, and they have in house servicing under warranty so no sending it away or anything if it goes wrong. And yeah, their nearest outlet is literally walking distance from me.So, on to my review.Initial impressions after assembling the caddy were1. There's a lot of plastic and the tires didn't seem as grippy as I would have expected.2. It's smaller than I thought and quite heavy for the size – so dense3. Otherwise seems simple and well designed.It took about 10 minutes to assemble the caddy and attach the control unit. After that I was able to get it hooked up and in the pool cleaning in minutes – the basic controls are simple. I'm not interested in programmed cleaning which seems pointless unless you're going to leave it in the pool which they don't recommend. You'll need to clean the filter each time anyway.The lift and retrieval system took a bit of getting used to. Counter intuitively the end of the robot with the cable sticking out of is the front. But once you've figured it out it's easy to guide to the edge where it climbs easily even from 8 feet down. Lifting from the pool and cleaning the filter was easy too. I'm guessing that high pressure jets are probably responsible for a lot of the claims about the filter breaking or separating so I recommend a gentle spray from the outside to wash out dirt and then pick out any big bits that stick.In terms of cleaning thoroughness – I have a 36'x16' double-roman rectangular pool with rounded ends and a couple of steps at one end. In six cleanings it has never cleaned the top step and has not well cleaned the second step. It usually misses a spot of two in the middle of the pool. This robot does not have a compass and AFAIK has no pool mapping algorithm, the algorithm is more like a random walk. Even if it has a map It does not have a compass so after hitting walls and falling off at an angle it is probably lost again. I have tried using a bottom only mode and switching the pool type setting to non-rectangular. I'm unsure if that made a difference as I have little dirt any more to really tell.But the pool cleaning is quick – only 90 minutes so running multiple times isn't the end of the world. Or if you are in the hurry pick up the remote and manually guide it to the spots to clean. I actually only just figured out the remote could do that – I thought it was just for guiding the lift out at the end. Obviously I did not read the manual thoroughly the first time!My pool is suffering from some black algae – it obviously doesn't remove those spots, even a stainless wire brush doesn't do that so no way would the rubber scrubber do anything. But it might be softening it up a bit. I suspect with regular algae it is would be more effective – especially at stopping it building up in the first place.I will say that after initial cleanings with my 9550 I was somewhat disappointed by the amount of dirt still on the bottom of my pool quite apart from the missed spots. The day after cleaning it seemed my pool had silt again so whatever the Polaris had sucked up made it through the system again and settled out. However I already knew about the optional ultra-fine filter (part number R0535800 ) and had ordered it the day I got my robot. On the first clean using that filter it picked up an amazing amount of silt that's so fine it looks like sludge (see photo). Even after two more cleans it was still picking it up. This is probably not surprising since my pool used to have a DE (diatomaceous earth) filter that I ditched when the canister split so there was probably a bunch of that ultra-fine junk in the water.Clearly this junk is still passing through the pool system cartridge filter which probably explains why when I swept all the dirt to the main drain it would come right back the next day. So combined with regular cleanings using the Polaris robot with its ultra-fine filter I think I can a) remove the residual DE entirely, and b) keep the ultra-fine particles from the air out in the future. Since one of the reasons for using DE is to get rid of fine particles I'm confident this is combo of cartridge + robotic ultra-fine filtering is a good way to go. Obviously the robot won't filter 30,000 gallons a day but incrementally I think it will let me easily stay on top of ultra fine particulates that a cartridge misses but with all the convenience and low maintenance of the cartridge system.Incidentally several websites selling it claim the uSimon W.

This review is on 9*** series. The model I was using was the "top of the line" version the P965iQ. The 9**** series share the same platform. Differences are controllers and cable detanglers (doesn't always work, that's why if you look carefully at the manual and box they says assists in detangling not prevents detangling).Had the 9650 for two weeks, in the process my pool was wrecked. IT HAS BEEN RETURNED !!!!!!!I bought the 9650 because it was supposed to be intelligent and "the best at cleaning". 0 iQ intelligent, that's it actual intelligence level. It's purely gimmick advertising. Things dumb as a rock just has some timers in it has absolutely no intelligence to it. The 9650 has to have an app to set timers that can be set, so if for some reason, such as the very poor wifi radio it has on you loose some of the limited functionality it does have.The app and controller on the 9650 has very limited functionality. All that it controls is a daily schedule, with in the daily schedule you can select start time and three run times :55 minutes which does water line, 1:50 and 2:50. Unfortunately the cycle timer can not be changed. This was also acknowledged by Polaris tech support. So consequently the 9650 would rarely climb up all the way to the top of the pool walls especially in the deep end of the pool.It did a horrible job climbing the stairs and when it did did extremely poor job of actually cleaning them. If I would have kept the unit I would have had to be out there every other day to sweep. Had I kept the 9560 my sweeping would increase by 1000X. So why would I need a cleaner.It also didn't do corners either so dirt accumulated in all corners.The perfect pool for these units would be a very small shallow pool with no step or obstructions. Not my pool at all !!!In comparison I have a 12 year old AquaJet robotic cleaner that only has two functions on the controller, I can set the cycle timer so it does get up all the way up all the walls and a run timer that runs the unit for over 2 hours. Also because of the design it actually climbs and cleans the stairs and platform and corners extremely well.It never advertised that it had Vortex 4 cleaning what ever that's suppose to be, but the cleaning it does is better than the Polaris 9*** series.Down side the of the AquaJet is it is no longer manufactured.But the Aquabot APRVJR Pool Rover Junior is almost the exact same unit as the AquaJet. Can't see the controller on the unit so not sure if they have the cycle timer setting on it. Cycle time is critical as that will determine whether the unit will go all the way up walls before it gets reversed. Oh yeah I failed to mention that my AquaJet cost $900 up to >$1500.For what you get with Polaris you can get a much better over all cleaner that actually climbs all way up your walls, cleans stairs and corners and can do all the other things claimed by Polaris that their 9*** will do with a "low end" cleaner and save yourself a good amount of money to enjoy on many other things.Also I am in the process of testing the P825 by Polaris. It doesn't offer anything that my 12 year old AquaJet doesn't already do. It looks more impressive but as far as functionality there is no difference between my 12 year old AquaJet and the P825. So the P825 is also going back this week !!!!!Carlos S.

My pool is 38 years old, large, well-maintained, and vinyl-lined. Careful to follow the instructions exactly, I found the P965IQ to perform exactly as advertised. I used it when we first removed the cover and found some large dirty areas and it handled them masterfully. Routinely, my pool does not get very dirty so every little spec is obvious – this cleaner leaves nothing behind. The app features are cool, but I haven't found a particular need to use it. I got a great sale price for the iAqua model or I would have purchased the one without that feature. One simple tip: make sure to stretch the long electric cord straight and let it warm in the sun before using it the first time. That eliminated any tangling issues others have mentioned.Kathy S.

I have found that tis robotic cleaner does not clean that well! I had purchased a cleaner a few years ago by Hayward and I found that the hayward machine was far more superior that the Polaris. I made a lot of money for the Polaris and regret purchasing it. I guess I am stuck w/it now! I would not recommend this product to anyone!Tonya A.

after my pentair robo vac died (on its 4th year) I did lots of research and bought this Polaris model. the main reasons were 1. 4 wheel drive. 2 . large easy to lift and clean filter 3. easy lift system out of the pool and 4. generally good ratings. I had several weeks of dirt buildup in the line where the walls of the pool meet the floor. it is not a 90 degree angle there as there is a sloped wall in the deep end. I ran the vacuum first for 3 hours. while it cleaned the rest of the floor and broke the waterline cleaning the walls (all good). it did not get the dirt in the line between the floor and the wall. I ran it again for 2 more hours on the floor setting and still it did not clean that dirt . the vacuum went over the dirt but never picked it up. I then tried to use the lift system to pull it out of the pool. the lift system was important to me as I have a bad back and my last vacuum was difficult to pull out of the water. the lift system did not work. the vacuum climbedthe wall half way and stopped. I tried using the lift system in a different area of the pool and the vacuum climbed part of the way and flipped over on its back . I called the company and got a very nice guy who spent 20 mins on the phone with me and tried to figure out why the vacuum did not 1. lift out of the pool since it cleaned the walls just fine and broke the water line, and 2. did not clean the dirt line between the wall and floor. he really had no explanation other then the brush is not long enough compared to the wheels. so when the vacuum starts climbing the wall it pulls the brush away from the surface of the pool right where that angle is. its very disappointing in that I now have to try to return this vacuum which means taking the caddy apart and getting the whole thing back in the box. I dont think the product is defective I just think it doesn't work on pools with an angle between the wall and floor as there is a little crease line where the dirt collects. its important to note that my previous 2 robo vacs. did clean that line.DOG M.

First, this robot does NOT have an "intelligent" means to clean a pool. If you have patience, and watch for an entire 2 and a half hour cycle, you'll see just how many spots, especially walls, that it misses completely. Second, if you plan on leaving this in your pool and "program" in daily cycles, or even two or three days a week cycles, PLAN that it will die a miserable death in a year or so, all while the shell degrades before your eyes. Third, WHEN (not if) this robot "dies", PLAN that you will need to spend AT LEAST the original purchase price to fix it, especially as the fix will likely be the motor block which is the most expensive, most vulnerable and least reliable part of this "toy". Overall, if you buy it, do NOT leave it in the pool, run it at most twice weekly, and store it OUT OF THE POOL and MAYBE you'll get about two years out of it. Then, you will need to buy another one.John

This has changed a little, since I bought my last one three years ago. First thing is that they added an anti-twist swivel to the DC power cord. This does not stop the cord from twisting. but it does help with the un-twisting. It probably make the twists a little less, but we still need to pull the twists out of the cord, but with the swivel, we don't need to detach the cord from the power unit. we simply turn the swivel by hand until the cord is a little less twisted. The second modification is that it ships with a filter that is not as fine as the previous filter. The filter that it ships with is good for leaves and sand, and other not so fine debris. The older filter would catch very fine debris, such as dead algae. I believe that they made this change, because with the really fine filter, the robot would lose power and not climb walls. There were too many reviews complaining about this, so they just made the filter harder to clog up. I like the previous filter, and am using it the newly purchased unit. I will probably never use the new not-so-fine filter.Why did I replace my previous robot after three years? Well the right side of the robot wheels stopped turning. This caused the robot to go in circles and really kink up the DC power cord. I did not know which part to replace – the motors or the control board, so I just bought a new robot. Much of the robot has aged over the three years, especially because i rarely remove it from the pool. Even if I got it to work, some of the other parts were looking a little worn. I am keeping the previous robot for spare parts.By the way, the new robot seems better made. Not sure why, it just seems to be sturdier and better looking. Could be that I am comparing it to my aged robot. This is something men do more often than we want to admit… Right guys?Robert S.

I bought the first year version of the Polaris 3900 against the advice of my pool store service person. She said that the original Polaris is a proven product and the 3900 just entered the market. She could not have been more correct about that purchase. Basically issues from day one with the chain disengaging right from the beginning. Then the gears start skipping and could not climb the walls. This rebuild kit seems to address all of my issues. I am glad they offered this kit at such a great price. I guess this is their way of not having to deal with a recall. The product did come with one issue. The axle on the single wheel side of the unit is slightly bent, so the wheel goes in and out a bit. But luckily it does not touch the side of the unit. It is working but I will need to keep an eye on the defect in case it gets worse. Overall, even with the defect, it is night and day between the original version compared to the Rebuild kit version. 4 stars because of the defect.Tom G.

You get a complete new functional unit in the end. Just have to swap over a few parts. You could probably build a complete unit with this and the extra parts cheaper that buying a new one.Donald D.

Used a re-build kit previously for a Polaris 3900 Sport pool cleaner. A rebuild kit is easy to install. The picture instructions are included. This rebuild-kit arrived very quickly! Many times it's cheaper to buy a rebuild kit than buy individual parts.JColb

I just love all the advertisements from companies like this claiming to have the answer to a crystal clear, clean pool! The fact is the price of robotic pool cleaners keeps going up and up. All claiming to be the next best thing since the invention of the wheel. Unfortunately I have not yet seen ONE product that is reliable and last more than one season. Yes, you see new bells and whistles as the prices go through the roof! My advice to Polaris and other robotic manufacturers is to have your Engineers go back to the drawing board and design a reliable, repeatable product that does not have to rebuilt every two weeks on order to work properly. Pool Robotic technology is not at the point where a reliable product can be offered that is worth the outrageous prices these companies charge for junk. POlaris, you want to charge $1000 for a robotic cleaner? I would be happy to pay a $1000 for something that works and will last at least five years. Go back to the drawing board! People aren't made out of money and you need to own up for the junk you sell!George M.

June 13, 2018 – New Info:First, thank you to the Zodiac team for reaching out. It does show a lot of customer concern – I only noticed when I came pack to update my review. I will be contacting those respondersNext, I will report that since the initial review, I've taken the cleaner in for service 6 times, and then engaged a weekly pool service to keep the pool cleaner as this product DOES NOT WORK EFFECTIVELY!Whenever I take it in (to a Polaris authorized repair shop, they claim), they replace the parts – usually the chain has slipped off, so new chain guard to try and prevent (I'm on my 3rd of the "upgraded" parts), or bearing in the wheel assemblies, or the latest – the Gear box has completely frozen and will need to be replaced.Some folks get lucky. I pay $200 – $400 PER YEAR to repair. Even in the two weeks following repair that it does work, it repeatedly gets stuck and does not effectively climb the walls. And my pool does not get a lot of debris! Just occasional leaves from neighbors, some grass cuttings or sand/silt from waterfall.I'll update after I speak to Polaris repOriginal Review!Although I did not buy this cleaner on DiscoverMyStore, I did find these reviews as I am searching for yet more repairs for my unit.This is a horrible piece of equipment and i would suggest anyone even considering it to to run very far away. I had an older model Polaris that worked well, but was talked into buying this model with a rebate and the promise that this model was even better. Far smaller than my original cleaner, it looks great and has the dual chamber bag. Should have been a winner but this is one of the biggest ripoffs I've ever experienced.Without exaggeration, I take the cleaner in at least 6 times per season for repair, usually to the bearings or the drive chain slipping off. I only take it 6 times a year because not because it works the rest of the time, but rather that I get tired of hauling it in. They've completely rebuilt the machine at least twice, replacing almost every part. I've replaced the booster pump and have had the service technicians out repeatedly to test volume levels, etc. I take it in yearly during "Polaris Days" just so I can get a new bag and yell at the representative. I've called multiple times to the corporate offices and never, ever get a satisfactory response.Save yourself the aggravation and choose any other cleaner in the world. I for one will never buy a Polaris product againLynn

Only day 2 of running this but what an improvement! Our old Polaris just stopped working but this new one seems more durable and less components that could go wrong. The setup was simple and it has been working hard trying to get our pool clean! Im dumping out crap out of the bags every several hours! Our last one died this past summer so the new one, has had lots of cleanup to do. I'm so glad we decided to go ahead and purchase a new one instead of fixing the old. The sport is far better than the original Polaris. I will definitely update in 6 or more months if it is still working great. As of now, I am impressed.Nathaniel Y.

It constantly gets stuck on the main drain, have a big pool so have 2 in the deep end, it climbs on top of them easily and then just sits there, constantly having to pull it off of it, old models never had this problem!Alan H.

I want to like this machine. We’ve had our new Polaris p39 for 4 days. The bag tore a hole on something after about 3 hours of use (I guess on my semi rough gunite texture?). I did make sure have the bag properly on velcroed around the hose to keep it from going into the wheels.

The wheels work for 1-15 minutes before they stop spinning. I can pull the unit out of the water and force them to start spinning again by hand but within a few minutes they seem to be jammed again. I’ve gone through the trouble shooting guide several times and even contacted where we bought the unit. They just passed us off to contact Polaris.

Does anyone have a resource that helps on these units. I’ve watched a few hours of YouTube and feel like many of the videos are overkill considering my p39 has 6-8 hours of use. I shouldn’t need to be replacing parts etc this early.

Also what are peoples average bag lifespans. I’m hoping I’m an outlier and mine getting a big hole the first day is not common. I’m pretty bummed by this machine. I felt like I had purchased something nice and it’s been nothing but headaches.Bradley Bishop

This thing is junk, I bought it 2016 and it already lost suction, the sucking jets don't work anymore therefore no vacuum action. The wheels don't turn either. I changed the reverse bulb but no help. I will have to tear it apart and look because I dare not bring it to Leslie's.CG

Worked great for a week. Always wanted one. Waste of money. I had pool people take a look. More then enough pressure. No leaks. The back up valve evidently is broke. I’m not buying a new one. Continues to spray water. The wheels turn slow forward if at all and it does not back up. A month old 3 weeks trying to figure out what I did wrong. I don’t have the time or patience.J. R.

I've adjusted the pressure flow rate, wheel speed, float positions and rear jet angles and my new 380 circles too much and ties the hose in knots till it stops working. The combination of its under water weight and 3 wheel design makes it turn and circle too much until the hose gets spun into a knot. The hose is stiff due to winter cold water and the 2 rotating joints just don't prevent twisting and then knotting of the stiff twisted hose. It seems as though its not heavy enough and the poor 3 wheel traction just encourages it to turn and circle no matter how the rear jet is set. Once the hose is getting knotted, the cleaner cannot reach the end of the hose and the far reaches of the pool.The oak leaves in my pool almost immediately jam either the throat due its small size or the entry portion of the bag. The bag is too small and its stitched to form a cloth tube before the leaves get to the bag open area. This cloth "tube" grabs the oak leaves sharp points and jams the opening to the bag. Once a single leaf jams, the whole bag entrance jams and then the throat after having only partially filled the bag. Then it runs around needlessly unable to collect anything. Would not recommend – period. They could have increased the throat by 1/2" and used a larger bag without the silly stitched tube-like entry.TRE

This thing is a piece of junk. Hose connections leaking like a sieve. Why they don’t just give you ONE hose to cut to fit your pool is beyond me. Instead these geniuses give you a hose with 10 connection point. aka 10 points of failure. Good luck trying to tighten connections. Bag doesn’t stay clipped either and velcro gets filthy with debris. Returning.Jcks0007

This is the 4th 280 we have owned. When we purchased our house with the pool it had a Pentair Legend 4-wheel cleaner. The pool has steps on one end and a raised level with bar stools on the other. The Pentair was continually getting stuck trying to navigate around the bar stools. When it was time to replace it I got the Polaris 280. It does a better job maneuvering around the bar stools, however the length of the hose affects its performance; to short and the hose snags on the top of the stools; to long and the 280 will occasionally tie the hose in a knot where it comes out of the pool wall. The 280 does a respectable job on the steps, but the bottom of the cleaner does drag on the edges of the steps and sometimes gets hung until the backup valve kicks in. However, I haven't read of another cleaner that does any better. In Texas our pool and cleaner runs all year so when the 280 doesn't appear to be moving properly or is slow moving around the pool I order a tune-up kit. For less than half the price of a new 280 this kit replaces all the wheels and moving parts and in effect you have an almost new cleaner…also much cheaper than having the pool store rebuild your cleaner. I also highly recommend the tail sweep pro for the end of the tail sweep, unless you don't mind getting sprayed or having it spray pool water on your windows.stonecarver1987

I obtained a Polaris F5 to replace my 280 at roughly half off list price. This unit was described as used or rebuilt and came with a full mfg. Warr. I found this offer too good a deal to pass up. I purchased it expecting a machine with some wear. But to my delight I could discover no user wear after inspection upon arrival. I placed it into my dirty pool for immediate duty. Some shock and several hours of sweeps yielded a clean pool and packed filter bag. Thx eBay1dennislfung

Received this very quickly. Seller was prompt during a busy time of year. This Polaris 280 replaced another Polaris 280 which lasted many years. They are the best! It went to work as soon as it was installed and cleaned everything up in the pool.capfay

The belts, advertised as new were just awful. They were coming apart after about a week of use and stretched to a point adjusting was not possible. The longer belt would roll over where the ribs would face upward. Once replaced with oem belts it has been running fine. Do not know where the belts came from but they were absolutely garbage.richpallay

It's ok if you don't have time to vacuum . I've had one for years and it's never cleaned my steps which are concrete. It'll get hung up on the steps a lot. But it eventually pulls it's self clear. I recommend getting the silt bag which picks up finer debris. It may be working for numerous hours and never hit certain spots. They should have made it 6 or 8 inches wider.M20736

I have the 380, bought from Leslie's years ago. It does a very good job, but it's old now. I want to buy a new "wet end" (hose, head, everything except booster pump) and the web site lists the product, but the "add to cart" buttons don't work. Leslie's needs to put some attention on its web site, so we buy the products online!Ray P.

I bought a pool in 2020 as part of my 'covid mid life crisis' and first tried the crappy manual hose that came with it. That sucked. Not literally, because I paid $150 for a Volt Fi rechargeable vacuum which worked better but I still had to spend my precious time in the pool cleaning rather than lounging.When I had my pool opened in 2021 I was already annoyed with the vacuum and got a recommendation for this one and picked it up on sale from my local pool store and even after 1 afternoon of using it, I'm so glad that I bought it and I now love my pool instead of hoping a tree will fall on it.So if you value your time and lounging on the float time, spend the money on this. If you can afford to buy a pool and keep up with the maintenance, you can afford to make a small splurge for this. And make sure you have the correct hose length, I have a 21' round, 52" deep and we had to take off several feet but it was super easy.Reba627

Phenomenal – when it’s not flipping over shooting water outside of my pool. This vac and sweep does a great job of clearing debris from the bottom of the pool. Unfortunately, the bumper wheels regularly come off. I find the parts in its net and have to constantly screw them back onto the unit.The worst part of my experience with the Polaris 65, however, has been that it regularly flips over and shoots water OUT of the pool. I’ve read and tried everything recommended to stop this from happening. So far, I have found no reliable solution. One of the first times it happened was while it running overnight. I woke up to a thoroughly soaked lawn and a water level way below necessary for the filter to run. Now I only run it when I can watch for the flip and scurry to turn off the filter – which is a real pain in the . . . Everything!Ellen B.

I was very skeptical about buying the Polaris. I looked at this and researched different methods for pool cleaning equipment when we decided a couple of years ago to install an above ground pool. I was new to all the things available and how to keep your pool clean so was very hesitant that this would work for me. It just seemed too complicated at that time. After almost three years now of struggling with pool cleaning and dreading the job almost daily, I was almost ready to call it quits and take the pool down. I looked at this one more time and decided to buy and give it a try. Amazingly it was very easy to install but I was sure it couldn't possibly work as well as I had hoped. After turning on the pump and a minor adjustments, this thing has worked beautifully for us. I have trees fairly close to the pool and now with Fall approaching the leaves are beginning to drop. We have also had a lot of rain and storms this summer so every day there is a fair amount of debris in the pool. I was really shocked after using it the first day and now our pool is sparkling clean every day and ready for use. Our pump is on a timer so I just check the filter and empty the bag and it is ready to go the next day. Hoping to get a few more weeks of summer before putting everything away for winter. My advice would be to not get frustrated and give up. Just work with the pressure of your outputs and the Polaris will work. So glad I finally pulled the trigger and ordered the Polaris but sorry I waited so long to give it a try. We are now enjoying our pool daily without all the work of cleaning it. The Polaris was delivered as promised and packaged well. Instructions are easy to follow. Would recommend this for anyone with an above ground pool.Safars

I had a Pentair 4 wheeled hunk-o-junk for years and it never cleaned worth a damn. It would run for 3 minutes and get stuck in a corner no matter how you adjusted it. For it to clean, you'd have to stand outside for hours and move it every 3 minutes when it got stuck again. If you left for a 2 week vacation, it would be stuck in the exact same spot as when you left and the pool would be full of dirt and debris.I read the reviews of all the newer Pentair and Polaris products and they all seem to get poor reviews and the prices have skyrocketed. The older 280 models seemed to get the best reviews and are more reasonably priced, but aren't available many places anymore. So I jumped at the chance to buy this black one from DiscoverMyStore. The old white Pentair always stuck out like a neon sign in my dark Pebble Tec pool. This black one looks much better. It almost disappears.The Black Max 280 performs admirably. I've had it now for a couple months and I think it only got stuck once for a couple hours. Then it freed itself and went on it's merry way. I couldn't be happier so far. It does it's job well.Only time will tell if it holds up or not. But from the glowing reviews, it appears it usually does. Even if it does break, repair parts are easy to find and priced well compared to all the new product spare parts.Jeff

Bad experience with Polaris 280, seller Back Yard Superstore and DiscoverMyStore. Pool cleaner stays hung up on steps/pump hose/intake. Hose stays twisted and knotted. Cleaner gets in bind on steps, wont back up in reverse mode, turning wheels against steps eat up plastic gears on drive wheels, making unit ineffective. I have managed my pool 20 years and this is the worst cleaner yet. I have a typical rectangular in ground pool.DiscoverMyStore contacted and they passed on to seller who passed on to manufacturer, Zodiac. Zodiac attempted remedy with live video and replacement parts which did not fix problem, just not a good cleaner. Have had less than a year and none of the 3 will refund or replace. $500 down the drain, losing confidence in DiscoverMyStoreFC

The 280 Black Max is great. I had one for 10 years and picked this one up for our new house. It immediately made a huge difference in cleaning. I highly recommendJohn

I bought this in August and have tried to get it to work correctly since I bought it. I kept trying different solutions like a different hose and even called a Pool Company to send out a tech to repair it. They couldn't figure it out either. By the time I asked for a refund, it was past the 30 days. I contacted seller and they said they could not do anything for me. So now I am out $539. This is the first bad experience with a Polaris pool cleaner. I feel cheated.Woman o. t. G.

The cleaner is a great vacuum, it has suction and easily picks up all the dirt and leaves in our pool. However, there are several issues that make this $600+ purchase a big regret.If you have a ladder as opposed to stairs, the cleaner will wrap itself around them repeatedly; strangling itself until there is no cord left (see photo). There is no way to untangle it from outside of the pool. I find that I have to get in and push the cord to the bottom of the pool, lift the ladder and free the vacuum. I tried putting gallon jugs filled with sand behind the stairs but the vacuum is so strong that it just pushes them out of the way or climbs right over them. Apparently I will now have to spend another $300 on new stairs that it can’t get behind.Another negative is that it is very heavy to lift out of the pool. When it is filled with water it is easily 25 pounds. It also has a power supply on it with a timer so in theory you could just leave the robot in the pool and have it automatically run every few days. The problem is that the power supply is only water resistant and if left out in the rain, water will destroy it. A replacement power supply is $250. So if you do not have a covered area near your pool you will need to build some type of housing to keep it out of the elements, or you can’t utilize this feature. Since I have nowhere to keep it dry I either lug the beast out of the pool when it is finished and find somewhere to store it or detach the power supply and take it inside, leaving the robot in the pool until I need to empty the basket. I have no idea if that’s bad for it or not but lifting it out is a pain especially for someone with a bad back.I really wish I had done more research before I bought it!UPDATE: The belt on one side also comes off at least once per cleaning cycle. I’ve used it less than a dozen times so it can’t be worn out. This is junk and I honestly hate it. I could have purchased 5 Aquabugs for this price. The last one I had lasted 5 years with no issues. I thought I was upgrading. What a waste of money, this was a huge purchase for me.Jessica M.

Used for one summer. Very easy to setup and use. Takes about 2 hours to clean the 12'x25' pool. Does an 80/20 job. If you want a perfect cleaning, do it yourself.Biggest challenge so far is with the controller. The plastic pieces between the faceplate and the switches on the control board are loose. If the controller is moved too much then they fall out of place and the buttons stop working. I then have to open the controller up and reposition the plastic pieces to re-establish the connection between the faceplate and switches on the board.2nd challenge is with the shape of my pool. It is a fiberglass pool with integrated seating. I have to put buckets into two of the seats to prevent the cleaner from going into them. If I don't it climbs into the seats and can't get back out. It also can't handle the shape of the stairs so avoids them. Oddly shaped pool owners beware.A consideration is that you should not rest the cleaner on the scrubbing brushes. Therefore you'll need to figure a way to store it, supported only in the middle if you are not willing to shell out the cash for the carrying caddy.Summary – It's a pool cleaner. It does the job(ish). I'm sure I could have paid less and gotten the same level of performance and possibly without the challenges with the controller or getting stuck.Kailorbas

After 20+ years of cleaning the pool myself, I decided to spring for a robotic vacuum system. I researched all the different brands, and decided that the Dolphin brand was well respected and consistently got high reviews. I have a couple issues that kept me from giving a five star review. First, it's not great at climbing the walls. Sometimes when it goes up to the waterline, it will just lose its grip (suction?), and fall to the bottom of the pool. Also, it sometimes will lose suction while reversing directions, and will start to float up slightly. This causes it to miss debris at times. If I was going to purchase again, I would have bought the next model up. For that additional $125, I would have had a system that "remembers" the shape of my pool. The CC model has to relearn the shape every time it is used. Also, the debris filter/basket often gets "stuck" in the robot if there is sand in the pool. More than once, I have had to use the hose to spray out the robot before I am able to remove the basket. As the owner of an older Gunite pool, I find that the amount of sand that is in the pool to be higher than could be expected for a newer Gunite pool, or a liner or Fiberglas pool.Peter T.

I spent several days troubleshooting with iAqualink techs, The wifi controller on cleaner was defective. Reordered the same cleaner through another company and that one worked. The return process was pretty straight forward and Walmart took it back at a local store. Not Walmarts fault so still giving a positive review since the process was not so bad. I got my refund after a couple days.Del

After trying several robotic pool vacuums I was most pleased with this one. Although not perfect, overall I am pleased with my purchase. Likes – Large debris basket. It holds a lot more than the other models I tried and is very easy to clean. There is also a full basket indicator on the console and app which is very helpful since performance drops significantly when the basket is full. – Automatic lift allows you to determine where to lift the robot out of the water and raises the robot to the surface which is a great feature so you don't have to yank on the power cord. – Wheels. This robot has no problem climbing walls or going over obstacles like floor drains. – Remote Control – I found this feature to be critical to guide the robot to get missed spots vs having to go through another cycle. One of the most important features in my mind. – The app allows you to remote control the robot, has a debris basket full indicator, automatic lift function control, and monitors the cycle status. Another critical feature in my book. – Tangle free cord is good to have doesn't work perfectly but you can tell it would be way worse without it. Dislikes – Heavy. Although it expels water automatically it is still heavier than other models. The automatic lift feature is a great help and minimizes having to pull on the cord to retrieve the robot. – App is spotty. The problem I have been having is with connectivity which I think could be user error as much as an app problem. Polaris has a help line which I have yet to call. I think I just need to understand how the connectivity works better. – Filter Basket – I believe there are three different types of filter baskets available for this robot (maybe more) and they vary on filtration level from very fine to fine to regular. They only provide the regular one which works fine for leaves and larger dirt particles but if you get fine dirt, sand, or DE powder in your pool this will not capture it and you have to purchase one of the others for as much as $80. I bought the very fine and it captures everything but at least two filters should be provided. – Cost – This is a relatively expensive model but I'm glad I spent the extra money over the other models I tried. This model has been around a long time and there is a reason for its longevity.GGSTICK

This cleaner has muscle, I love the 4×4 design and the directional remote control makes this unit the best. No need for the WiFi. I have a 32k gallon pool and this unit walks the wall with no problem. Love how it cleans the waterline and tiles, fantastic cleaner and fun to watch it handle its duties. Surprised at the filter screen design, it picks up a lot of fine particles and debris. Switching from the suction system, I'm happy to be able to free up my pump motor from cleaning the pool as well. This is my first robot cleaner, and so fare its working above my expectation. Looking forward to getting many years of good cleaning experience from this 9550 sport.Greg

Firstly I would say buying a pool cleaning robot is a nightmare – seems like no matter what model you get, no matter how cheap or expensive someone will say it sucks (no pun intended). However after hearing my wife's input from a Facebook swimming pool owners group she was a member of about the Polaris I decided to go with the 9550. I did't want or need all the fancy WiFi and phone stuff so was able to pick this up for a good discount from a well known pool supply retailer. A benefit of that is the warranty starts from when they hand it over to you, and they have in house servicing under warranty so no sending it away or anything if it goes wrong. And yeah, their nearest outlet is literally walking distance from me.So, on to my review.Initial impressions after assembling the caddy were1. There's a lot of plastic and the tires didn't seem as grippy as I would have expected.2. It's smaller than I thought and quite heavy for the size – so dense3. Otherwise seems simple and well designed.It took about 10 minutes to assemble the caddy and attach the control unit. After that I was able to get it hooked up and in the pool cleaning in minutes – the basic controls are simple. I'm not interested in programmed cleaning which seems pointless unless you're going to leave it in the pool which they don't recommend. You'll need to clean the filter each time anyway.The lift and retrieval system took a bit of getting used to. Counter intuitively the end of the robot with the cable sticking out of is the front. But once you've figured it out it's easy to guide to the edge where it climbs easily even from 8 feet down. Lifting from the pool and cleaning the filter was easy too. I'm guessing that high pressure jets are probably responsible for a lot of the claims about the filter breaking or separating so I recommend a gentle spray from the outside to wash out dirt and then pick out any big bits that stick.In terms of cleaning thoroughness – I have a 36'x16' double-roman rectangular pool with rounded ends and a couple of steps at one end. In six cleanings it has never cleaned the top step and has not well cleaned the second step. It usually misses a spot of two in the middle of the pool. This robot does not have a compass and AFAIK has no pool mapping algorithm, the algorithm is more like a random walk. Even if it has a map It does not have a compass so after hitting walls and falling off at an angle it is probably lost again. I have tried using a bottom only mode and switching the pool type setting to non-rectangular. I'm unsure if that made a difference as I have little dirt any more to really tell.But the pool cleaning is quick – only 90 minutes so running multiple times isn't the end of the world. Or if you are in the hurry pick up the remote and manually guide it to the spots to clean. I actually only just figured out the remote could do that – I thought it was just for guiding the lift out at the end. Obviously I did not read the manual thoroughly the first time!My pool is suffering from some black algae – it obviously doesn't remove those spots, even a stainless wire brush doesn't do that so no way would the rubber scrubber do anything. But it might be softening it up a bit. I suspect with regular algae it is would be more effective – especially at stopping it building up in the first place.I will say that after initial cleanings with my 9550 I was somewhat disappointed by the amount of dirt still on the bottom of my pool quite apart from the missed spots. The day after cleaning it seemed my pool had silt again so whatever the Polaris had sucked up made it through the system again and settled out. However I already knew about the optional ultra-fine filter (part number R0535800 ) and had ordered it the day I got my robot. On the first clean using that filter it picked up an amazing amount of silt that's so fine it looks like sludge (see photo). Even after two more cleans it was still picking it up. This is probably not surprising since my pool used to have a DE (diatomaceous earth) filter that I ditched when the canister split so there was probably a bunch of that ultra-fine junk in the water.Clearly this junk is still passing through the pool system cartridge filter which probably explains why when I swept all the dirt to the main drain it would come right back the next day. So combined with regular cleanings using the Polaris robot with its ultra-fine filter I think I can a) remove the residual DE entirely, and b) keep the ultra-fine particles from the air out in the future. Since one of the reasons for using DE is to get rid of fine particles I'm confident this is combo of cartridge + robotic ultra-fine filtering is a good way to go. Obviously the robot won't filter 30,000 gallons a day but incrementally I think it will let me easily stay on top of ultra fine particulates that a cartridge misses but with all the convenience and low maintenance of the cartridge system.Incidentally several websites selling it claim the uSimon W.

This review is on 9*** series. The model I was using was the "top of the line" version the P965iQ. The 9**** series share the same platform. Differences are controllers and cable detanglers (doesn't always work, that's why if you look carefully at the manual and box they says assists in detangling not prevents detangling).Had the 9650 for two weeks, in the process my pool was wrecked. IT HAS BEEN RETURNED !!!!!!!I bought the 9650 because it was supposed to be intelligent and "the best at cleaning". 0 iQ intelligent, that's it actual intelligence level. It's purely gimmick advertising. Things dumb as a rock just has some timers in it has absolutely no intelligence to it. The 9650 has to have an app to set timers that can be set, so if for some reason, such as the very poor wifi radio it has on you loose some of the limited functionality it does have.The app and controller on the 9650 has very limited functionality. All that it controls is a daily schedule, with in the daily schedule you can select start time and three run times :55 minutes which does water line, 1:50 and 2:50. Unfortunately the cycle timer can not be changed. This was also acknowledged by Polaris tech support. So consequently the 9650 would rarely climb up all the way to the top of the pool walls especially in the deep end of the pool.It did a horrible job climbing the stairs and when it did did extremely poor job of actually cleaning them. If I would have kept the unit I would have had to be out there every other day to sweep. Had I kept the 9560 my sweeping would increase by 1000X. So why would I need a cleaner.It also didn't do corners either so dirt accumulated in all corners.The perfect pool for these units would be a very small shallow pool with no step or obstructions. Not my pool at all !!!In comparison I have a 12 year old AquaJet robotic cleaner that only has two functions on the controller, I can set the cycle timer so it does get up all the way up all the walls and a run timer that runs the unit for over 2 hours. Also because of the design it actually climbs and cleans the stairs and platform and corners extremely well.It never advertised that it had Vortex 4 cleaning what ever that's suppose to be, but the cleaning it does is better than the Polaris 9*** series.Down side the of the AquaJet is it is no longer manufactured.But the Aquabot APRVJR Pool Rover Junior is almost the exact same unit as the AquaJet. Can't see the controller on the unit so not sure if they have the cycle timer setting on it. Cycle time is critical as that will determine whether the unit will go all the way up walls before it gets reversed. Oh yeah I failed to mention that my AquaJet cost $900 up to >$1500.For what you get with Polaris you can get a much better over all cleaner that actually climbs all way up your walls, cleans stairs and corners and can do all the other things claimed by Polaris that their 9*** will do with a "low end" cleaner and save yourself a good amount of money to enjoy on many other things.Also I am in the process of testing the P825 by Polaris. It doesn't offer anything that my 12 year old AquaJet doesn't already do. It looks more impressive but as far as functionality there is no difference between my 12 year old AquaJet and the P825. So the P825 is also going back this week !!!!!Carlos S.

I have owned two of these machines the first one lasted 3 years. My last one made it 4 years. These machines are built too fail. My first one was a joke i thought it was a lemon from the beginning, It would not clean my pool I would put it in the pool push the button and 5 minutes later the read out would start flashing at the exclamation mark. I took it out of the turned it upside down and the flashing would stop. Then it started to loose a track at every use, then after about 2 months the left wheel stoped rotating. I took it in for repair and the cost of the single motor installed was over $800.00? So I bought a second machine within a year of use the power cord started to come apart at the plug, then broke off completely the following year. Out of warranty by 2 months. $150.00 for a new cord. last year my robot started just circling around on the deep end of the pool then just stopped moving. I took it in for repair and was presented with another $ 850.00 bill. So let's reflect $900.00 for the first machine then another $950.00 then $150.00. So I spent $2000.00 dollars on pool cleaners for 5 seasons of use. I could have paid a pool guy to clean my pool for less…james p.

I don’t write reviews but I had to for this one. I purchased this pool cleaner about 3 years ago. Yes it’s been a great cleaner and a time saver. However, into our 3rd summer we have noticed that is stops mid-cycle and quits working. We give it a little push and it starts back up. After doing this several days we decided to take it into Leslie’s to have it services. Due to it being out of warranty we were prepared to pay what we needed, to get it working again because let’s face it, I did not want to lose my $999 investment or clean my pool manually. After 3 weeks of it being at the Leslie’s store I decided to go check on it (never received a phone call or update). The service person told me they ran my machine and found nothing wrong and had to place a phone call to their “repair” company a week prior and had not received a return call. I asked if they had tried calling back and he said no. He told me to take machine back home and try it out again because they found nothing wrong with it, so I did. After a week of running to machine and having it continue to stop mid-cycle, I called Leslie’s back and same service person told me to bring it in and to “remind him” to call the service company again. This is the worse service, and having spent thousands of dollars in this store is very disappointing. I’m sure my machine will sit there another 3 weeks before I have to go check on it again. I gave this 2 stars for the two good years we got out of it. Now it’s on to cleaning my pool manually until I find another machine from a different location. Good luck to everyone else.Patty G.

First time pool owner so I thought I'd make it easy on myself and buy a robotic cleaner. I did the research and because of the many positive reviews I purchased the Polaris P825 back in 2018. And in the beginning it was great! Just put it in and let it do all the work. Fast forward to 2021. Had put the Polaris in my in ground pool and walked away. Came back about 1 hour later and it had stop. And a good portion of the pool floor looked like it wasn't touched. I looked at the control panel and it was dark. So I pressed the power button, lights came on and I started the Polaris again but this time the lights stayed lit for only a few seconds and went dark again. After several more attempts I brought in to Leslie's to be checked out. Several days later I received a call from them stating that the gear box and the electrical cord were both bad. The cost of repairs would just almost equal buying a new one. This cost me over $900 dollars and I only get 3 years worth of use? This is why I cannot recommend the purchase of the P825. Being retired I try and make smart purchases. Looks like I was wrong on this one.Peter K.

It made a great job of cleaning a VERY dirty pool. I am looking forward to using it routinely to keep the bottom and sides perfectly clean It is so lovely and easy to usejensgang

Highly recommend! We have a 20×40 pool with a deep end. It works great! Climbs walls with ease and comes with two different filter types. One is for larger debri (leaves) other is for small (dust, etc) GREAT price! $800 cheaper than what our pool installer wanted to sell it to us for. And yes, it was exactly the same thing!3284jeffrey

so far so good……ran it on "slow" for one cycle and the bottom cleaned up considerably. The pool is very curvilinear so as far as going up the sides, the unit works better on the concave curves, not as well on the convex….a traction issue probably. Still we'll satisfiedSteve307