Solar Robotic Skimmers, by Filter Mesh
A robotic skimmer does one job: it catches what lands on the water before it sinks and becomes the floor robot's problem. That makes the mesh the spec to read first — a coarse basket catches leaves and bugs, a finer one catches pollen too. The second is runtime without sun, because a skimmer that stops on the second cloudy day stops when the pollen is heaviest.
How this list is ordered: Every surface skimmer, ordered by its basket's micron rating (finest first, unpublished last), then by rated runtime. 6 of the catalog’s robots qualify.

1Aiper
~$340Aiper Surfer S2
A solar skimmer with a 150-micron basket, which is fine enough for pollen and light dust as well as leaves and bugs.
- Mesh · runtime
- 150 µm · 35 h
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit

2Betta
~$370Betta SE
Solar only: the Betta SE charges in five to six hours of direct sun and then skims for 30 hours or more, including through a cloudy day.
- Mesh · runtime
- 200 µm · 30 h
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit

3Betta
~$390Betta SE Plus
The SE Plus is the SE with an AC adapter as a backup, which charges it in 3.5 hours when the sun will not.
- Mesh · runtime
- 200 µm · 30 h
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit

4Beatbot
~$599Beatbot iSkim Ultra
The iSkim Ultra keeps the iSkim's 24 W panel, battery and nine-litre basket, tightens the mesh to 380 microns and adds 20 sensors, planned S-path coverage and a magnetic wireless charger.
- Mesh · runtime
- 380 µm · runtime not published
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit

5Beatbot
~$429Beatbot iSkim
A solar skimmer with a 24 W panel and a 10,000 mAh battery that Beatbot rates for 28 hours or more with no sun at all.
- Mesh · runtime
- 550 µm · 28 h
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit
- WYBOTF1Surface skimmer
6WYBOT
~$300WYBOT F1
WYBOT's skimmer runs eight hours continuously in Standard mode or cycles ten minutes on, ten off for 24 hours in Smart mode, charging from a 33 W solar panel.
- Runtime
- 8 h
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit
- Filtration
- No micron figure published
Other shortlists
- Cordless Robots With the Battery for a 16 × 32 In-Ground Pool
- Robots Rated for Above-Ground Pools
- Corded Robots That Scrub the Waterline for Under $1,500
- Robots That Filter Fine Dust and Algae (50 Microns or Finer)
- The Easiest Robots to Get Out of the Pool
- Floor Robots With the Lowest Cost per Warranty Year
- Cordless Robots Rated for Bigger Pools Than Their Battery Covers