JohnCleaning pool manually is a time consuming and exerting task, which can take much away from the joy of owning a swimming pool.
But it doesn’t have to be this difficult to keep your pool pristine. The best automatic pool cleaner is like the pool god’s answer to pool debris, algae, dust and general dirt that can make pool water look like sewer water.
Top 9 best automatic pool cleaners reviewed
1. Hayward Poolvergnuegen – Best Automatic Suction Pool Cleaner
The Hayward Poolvergnuegen 896584000-518 is indeed a joy for every pool owner, tired of pool cleaners that continually get stuck. Many automatic pool cleaners will get stuck on the stairs, corners, drains..this thing right here will climb over domed filters like a champ. The cleaner has tire treads that enhance its climbing over obstacles prowess and an adjustable roller system that optimizes suction on bumpy ground. Its patented tire treads are what enables it to navigate around various obstacles in the pool comfortably.
This baby right here, will not get stuck in one corner all day but will clean out that 22,000-gallon pool in no time at all. The optimized suction system will also enable it to climb walls with much ease, getting every nook and cranny. What’s more, this thing is bomb proof! Throw palms fronds, bougainvillea leaves at it, and it will still keep chugging.
- Can cover large pools in 5 to 6 hours
- Robust build
- Does not get stuck on uneven ground
- Silent cleaning
- Pre-programmed internal steering settings
- Many reviewers state that it does not climb the pool walls efficiently.
This suction powered cleaner is both user-friendly and provides top-notch continuous cleaning services for pools, large or small. The Hayward Poolvergnuegen 896584000-518 stands out amidst the clutter to claim the top spot as the best and most efficient pool cleaner yet.
2. Zodiac Baracuda G3 W03000 – Advanced Suction Side Automatic Pool Cleaner
Another suction automatic pool cleaner at the top, the Zodiac Baracuda G3 W03000 will clean your inground pool floor as well as its sides, meticulously. The Baracuda has a mobile design that’s very effective for moving it around the pool while collecting every bit of debris as it filters your water. Compatible with many pumps, including low-speed systems, the Baracuda is easy to install. Its patented quick-release cassette makes its maintenance super easy too. If any new parts are needed for maintenance, the unit is also entirely user serviceable. You can do it yourself without the help of the pool or store service guy.
You will love the Baracuda’s ability to devour both small or medium-sized debris in their entirety, leaving your pool floor spotless clean. The Baracuda G3 has a Flowkeeper valve that regulates the best water flow to give the best cleaning performance possible. So why fork out some good cash for a pool cleaner, or spend hours cleaning up your pool?
Its wheel detector assists in move around those sharp corners, while its head has improved adhesion to your pool ensuring that it doesn’t get stuck on your pool cover, drains or lights. This monster is also super silent; you can laze on your pool as it cleans away the dirt, and watch it climb and clean those walls and stairs with minimal ease.
- User-friendly
- Easy to install and maintain
- Solid construction
- Silent while cleaning
- Its rubber parts disintegrate fast
Its cleaning prowess, ease of installation and overall user-friendliness makes the Baracuda G3 an excellent choice for deep pools and pool walls.
3. Zodiac Baracuda MX6 Automatic Suction Inground Swimming Pool Cleaner
The Zodiac Baracuda MX6 automatic suction pool cleaner is an efficient pool cleaning robot, with high vacuum and navigation prowess. This compact size suction cleaner utilizes cyclonic vacuum technology to spotlessly clean the walls of your pool as well as the floors too. This cleaner has innovative Flex power turbines in a low flow system that spends less energy making it ideal for pools that have variable speed or two-speed pumps installed.
The Zodiac MX6 has tri-rotor tank treads that make easy work of climbing and has a sleek, stylish design that has a large footprint. Its X drive navigation system is top notch, allowing intelligent bi-directional movement over walls, floors, and waterlines. You can rest assured that this robotic cleaner will not leave any stone unturned in its pursuit of a spotlessly clean pool. The pool cleaner also has a comfortable grip handle for easy transport and removal when need be.
- Easy to carry and install the system
- Great cleaning abilities
- Very easy to maintain
- Stylish and sturdy design
- Gets stuck easily in large size or too much debris
This little monster is a workhorse, but one that is both full of energy and cleaning efficiently. It works great with low flow settings and is both user-friendly and easy to install.
4. Pentair K50600 Kreepy KraulyVac – Suction-Side Above Ground Pool Cleaner
The Kreepy Krauly EZ Vac automatic pool cleaner makes short work of pool cleaning time, leaving you more time to enjoy the water and the sun. The Kreepy Krauly has only one moving the part that delivers remarkably clean results and speeds and is overall very durable. It employs a random cleaning pattern, above ground, on all shapes and sizes of pools, covering each inch of your surfaces thoroughly.
The Kreepy Krauly EZ pool vacuum has no vacuum bags to maintain, and the fact that it only has one moving piece makes it relatively easy and cheap to service. This suction side pool cleaner will not run aground on irregular bottoms and can handle oval, round, flat or dished out bases with ease.
Its rugged construction is also worth mentioning because this monster’s robust yet straightforward but efficient cleaning design will give you high-quality service for years.
- Very durable construction
- Is sold with a pressure tester
- Easy to maintain
- Super easy to use
- Perfect cleaning prowess
- Gets stuck on the stairs
The Kreepy Kruly is well respected in the pool cleaning arena, and the EZ vac has this good reputation going for it. It is also value priced and has a status of chugging on till the cows come home.
5. Pentair GW9500 Kreepy Krauly Great White – Excellent Inground Pool Cleaner
This beast of prey scours the depths of your pool in search of dirt, grime, and algae, scrubbing and vacuuming them away, no matter how terrible, or massive they are. The Pentair GW9500 Kreepy Krauly Great White inground pool cleaner has rotating bristles for teeth and an accompanying enormous maw to suck in all kinds of debris, as it knocks them loose off of the surface of the pool.
The Great White does not use rollers or wheels, but moves by use of its bristle drive, that when combined with its oscillating vortex design, cleans thoroughly and effectively both the sides and bottom of your pool. To aid you in speeding up the process of cleaning stubborn or missed spots, the Great White has a telephone adapter, which helps you guide it.
The cleaner itself is super easy to use and comes fully equipped for its first swim and fight with your pool’s dirt. Users love that it cleans while protecting delicate pool surfaces made of vinyl, fiberglass or pebble, and will not ruin their delicate finish.
And in case you are worried that it will get stuck over obstacles and not eat dirt all day, the Great White has a unique turning mechanism that enables it to escape grounding.
- Sturdy construction
- Great at cleaning our stubborn spots, especially algae
- Scrubs both the bottom and the sides of your pool
- Easy to maintain
- Super user-friendly
- Very expensive
The Pentair GW9500 Kreepy Krauly Great White inground pool cleaner will most certainly take a chunk off of your wallet, but you can rest assured that your pool will love you for it.
6. Pentair 360042 Kreepy Krauly – Suction-Side Universal Pool Cleaner
Another Kreepy Krauly at the top, the Pentair 360042 is a suction side inground pool cleaner that is the reinvent of the famous but extinct Kreepy Krauly Classic K70405. It has the beauty of one moving part, the flapper making it low maintenance, easy to install and use. Its improved modern design is boosted by its rugged build and its strong manufacturing heritage. This monster is as dependable as they come.
The Keepy Krauly 360042, will creep all over your pool floor and walls taking no prisoners and leaving no nook or cranny unattended. If pool cleaning has been taking too much time off your pool time, then here is your respite. This monster has no bags that need emptying, no jamming gears, or rollers and wheels that need replacing. It has a powerful suction that makes a cinch of both large and small debris, and it saves on your energy bill since it needs no booster pump to clean.
It has a regulator valve that automatically adjusts the flow of water to the Kreepy Krauly, setting optimum speeds for the best cleaning performance. It also has a dive float directional system that assists guide the 360042 through every inch of your pool, for assured total cleaning coverage.
- Durable construction that lasts a long time
- Can clean a wide range of pool surfaces
- Easy to maintain
- Super easy to install and use
- Does not easily block
- Cleans both walls and floors meticulously
- Not good with corners and steps
The Kreepy Krauly pool cleaner design is perhaps the most popular in the history of pool cleaners, with over three million of it sold to satisfied customers. You can rest assured that its durable and efficient pool cleaning heritage will not let you down.
7. Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro – Suction Pool Cleaner (Automatic Pool Vacuum)
Cleaning up the pool manually is no easy chore, but the Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro automatic suction pool cleaner can make it so. Its prolific SmartDrive steering system moves most the cleaner silently in the bottom of your pool, thoroughly cleaning it out as well as the walls and coves. This unique turbine – drive mechanism requires no booster pump, and only utilizes the existing filtration system for smooth, silent operation.
With over three decades of proven and reliable cleaning performance, the Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro offers great pool coverage, navigating effortlessly and guide the hose along as preprogrammed to eliminate those annoying tangles.
Its robust vacuum wings and skirt will pick up all debris, with the help of constant suction power, and all this in welcome silence. No pulsating, no screeches or annoying noises to accompany it so that you can clean and relax at the pool at the same time.
The Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro is also easy to install and will connect to the suction port or skimmer in under ten minutes. Rather than move around the pool aimlessly, leaving behind dead spots, the 925ADV pre-programming ensures that it runs very methodically.
It employs a series of right and left turns that provides total pool coverage faster. It can make your typical pool spotless in a matter of three or four hours at most.
- Cleans both floors and walls immaculately
- Super easy to install
- Does not scratch sensitive pool finishes and floors
- Does not tangle
- Very durable sturdy build
- Elevation change in a pool’s floor tends to make it get stuck in the deep end
Fast, efficient, easy to install and use, and yet offers you some silence as you relax, while it cleans. What more could you ask for?
8. Hayward PHS41CST AquaNaut – Suction Pool Cleaner (Automatic Pool Vacuum)
The Hayward PHS41CST AquaNaut suction pool cleaner not only works like a charm but it can clean any pool surfaces, delicate or hardy. It is safe for fiberglass, gunite, pebble, vinyl, concrete and tiles as well. Its patented adjustable roller skirt ensures that constant suction is maintained on uneven surfaces, helping it glide effortlessly over obstacles in your pool. Pebble beds pool toys, anti-slip strips, or steps; you name them, the Aquanaut 400 can take them. This workhorse will optimally work too in deep pools, navigating over anti-vortex pool drains like the pro it is, thanks to its four-wheel drive system.
The Hayward comes with a forty foot hose kit, meaning it can clean large pools without the need of extra hoses. If need be though, you purchase them Hayward reasonably.
This pool cleaner weighs twenty pounds, which despite it being robust, it can be carried to and from your equipment shed without the assistance of a caddy. Its V-Flex technology, on the other hand, ensures maximum power even in low flow pool environments and prevents clogging from all debris.
- Sturdy construction
- Can clean delicate surfaces without scratching them
- Four-wheel technology to enable cleaning of the deep end
- V flex technology to prevent clogging
- Pricey
The Hayward PHS41CST AquaNaut suction pool cleaner is easy to use and install, and its service and maintenance procedures are pretty straightforward. It’s a maestro though at the thorough cleaning of pools, and the peace of mind it offers could be worth the money.
9. Hayward 700 Diver Dave – Above-Ground Automatic Pool Cleaner
This good-looking little pool guy is the perfect cleaner for all above ground pools. To begin with, this design is a winner. It will be a hit with all swimmers young and old alike and will be a welcome addition to your pool loving family. The Hayward 700 Diver Dave automatic pool cleaner provides an easy pool cleaning and maintenance experience because you do not have to replace or empty debris bags.
Diver Dave operates off your pool’s inbuilt filtration system, gobbling up every debris from dust, leaves to larger debris. Diver Dave has a SmartDrive system that ensures that no spot on your pool is missed, and it does this fast.
The Hayward 700 Diver Dave automatic pool cleaner has a unique turbine system that feeds it constant water flow to ensure that it operates in silence, and move gently while cleaning. This means that you can go ahead and laze about the pool without having to endure annoying sounds from the cleaner.
Diver Dave is also super easy to install; you should have him up and ready in under ten minutes. And if you are worried about dents and scratches on your walls, Diver Dave has large bumper rings, that minimizes friction against your delicate walls.
- Fast, efficient cleaning
- Very silent pool cleaning mechanism
- Quick, easy installation
- No need to replace or empty debris bags
- Does not need an energy-consuming booster bump, so saves on your energy bill
- Great aesthetics
- Not easy to operate
Diver Dave is sure to be a massive hit with adult or kid swimmers alike, and his cleaning prowess is top notch.
So what factors do you consider when purchasing the best automatic pool cleaner?
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How to choose best automatic pool cleaner?
Type of pool
Pools are either above or in the ground. Above ground pools have simple shapes and are mostly family pools. In-ground pools are mostly larger and have a variety of forms. Their hoses and cords are therefore longer. Since they have walls, inground pool cleaners should also have the ability to climb walls as they clean. For above ground cleaners, this is not a necessity.
Usage of pool
Large and busy residential or commercial use pools need heavy duty cordless cleaners, that will clean vast swathes of a pool without breaking a sweat. A backyard pool, however, will do just fine with a residential pool cleaner.
Amount and size of debris in the pool
A significant amount of debris can be problematic to basic small suction cleaners, which are best for cleaning out finer dirt and debris. Larger debris needs a pool cleaner that can clean out both sunk and floating debris. Its filter bag should also be big enough to hold a significant amount of debris.
Design of pool
If your pool has inclines, slopes or steps, you should purchase an automatic pool cleaner that climbs up steps and handles inclines. If it cannot get around corners too you should avoid it also if your pool has angles. If your pool is not regular choose a pool cleaner that can clean irregular, flat or rocky surfaces with ease. Some pool finishes might be delicate, and it pays to pick a cleaner that is compatible with your flooring material or finish.
Pool size
A suction pool cleaner requires limited length hoses, electricity and use of the pool’s pump as well as its filtration system. If the pool is too large, it could become uneconomical to clean with this kind of pool cleaner.
Maintenance and speed
Items like filters, debris bags should be easy to remove, clean or replace. It also pays to purchase a fast cleaner, to avoid disappointing pool users with long waits.
Types of pool cleaners
Suction side pool cleaners
They work off of your pump and filter, sucking in debris through their hose and into the pump basket as it goes. The hose length of an in-ground suction cleaner is more prolonged to allow it to scale walls and clean larger pools.
Pressure side pool cleaners
Powered by water pressure, they have their debris bags to hold debris, ensuring that they are out of your filtration system. Most have a booster pump to up the pressure and power the cleaner. They utilize pressure to propel themselves through your pool and are great at eliminating debris, large or small.
Robotic pool cleaners
They have a programmed cleaning pattern and have a filter cartridge or bag as well. They are equipped with an inbuilt filtration system, so they do not need your pump or filter. Those designed for inground pools can climb walls and steps when cleaning.
Conclusion
The best automatic pool cleaner is determinable by costs only, but through various considerations, as mentioned earlier.