Beatbot AquaSense X Review: The Self-Cleaning Pool Robot

Naturally, the AstroRinse also needs a power supply, so if you don’t have a regular electrical outlet near your hose spigot, you’ll need another extension cord solution here. The unit must be level to function properly, and it features adjustable feet and a built-in air level to help you achieve that.

All in all, you’ll need to carefully consider where you’re going to place the AstroRinse, making sure you have access to water, power, and drainage—and that the location isn’t too far from a pool. Since the AquaSense X robot itself weighs 29 pounds (and more if it’s just taken out of the water), you probably don’t want to lug the thing around to clean and charge it. Unfortunately, given the availability of the above three services in my backyard, that’s exactly what I had to do.

A Common Friend in the Water

The Beatbot AquaSense X robot is almost identical in appearance to the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra except for some changes in the design of the basket (which is one piece here instead of two). Setting it up is much easier than AstroRinse.

Body configuration involves installing two side brushes—these are used only for sliding work—but this is a very quick affair. Once the brushes are attached, the robot must be placed on top of the AstroRinse cleaner to pair the two devices together wirelessly. (The quick start guide lays out some key presses to complete this process; don’t get lost.) Finally, the system must be integrated with the Beatbot mobile app; you will need Bluetooth and a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection to complete this task. One small hiccup I encountered: After completing all this work, both devices downloaded firmware updates, which immediately broke their pairing connection. It was easy to reset, however, by repeating the pairing process.

After a full charge, I applied the cleaner to both the bottom and top of the pool, and as expected, I saw no real difference in performance against the AquaSense 2 Ultra. During floor tests with organic and synthetic debris, the device picked up an average of 97 percent of the test material, performing best on stairs and platforms. Above, the unit was predicted to be moderate to severe, collecting less than half of the floating debris and sinking most of it. The unit is very slow to collect more material, although its spinning side brushes help, little by little, to pull leaves from its pastures.

At the bottom of the lake, the maximum run time is 4¹/₂ hours, courtesy of a 13,400 mAh battery—the same as the one in the AquaSense 2 Ultra.

ScreenshotBeatbot app by Chris Null

Like other AquaSense robots, a bevy of operating modes are available in the Beatbot app, allowing you to choose from many possible combinations of floor, wall, water line, and area cleaning, each with two runs per location and various operating times. AI fast mode activates the internal camera to allow the robot to search for trash on its own instead of randomly encountering it; It’s good for a quick cleanup where there isn’t much to download but it’s more than you can easily download from the net.

Again, there is not much of this difference in the way the AquaSense 2 Ultra behaves, and despite the poor performance of the area, it works very well.

Charging and cleaning

Go to the main event: cleaning. After each run, the AquaSense X would park itself in the waterway to await retrieval, and I would dutifully lug it across the pool deck where I had set up the AstroRinse station. Although it may take a little trial and error to get the robot to land in the right spot, once you do, the cleaning system kicks in automatically within a few seconds.

As the shower system activates, the overhead arm swings into position and connects to the mouth of the robot which it uses to ski up. Then, a stream of high-pressure water (which is very audible) begins to burst through the arm and into the filter basket, which is placed directly below this opening. The water spray runs uninterrupted for three minutes before the arm turns and the system shuts off. (A quick mode, which works for one minute, can also be selected in the app.) After that, the arm retracts and the unit is done. The waste is caught in a net-covered basket built into the base of the cleaning station. Any remaining water drains through a mesh screen at the very bottom of the unit.

Photo: Chris Null