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How this list is ordered: Every surface skimmer, ordered by its basket's micron rating (finest first, unpublished last), then by rated runtime. 6 of the catalog’s robots qualify.

  1. Aiper Surfer S2 robotic pool cleaner

    1Aiper

    ~$340

    Aiper 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
  2. Betta SE robotic pool cleaner

    2Betta

    ~$370

    Betta 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
  3. Betta SE Plus robotic pool cleaner

    3Betta

    ~$390

    Betta 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
  4. Beatbot iSkim Ultra robotic pool cleaner

    4Beatbot

    ~$599

    Beatbot 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
  5. Beatbot iSkim robotic pool cleaner

    5Beatbot

    ~$429

    Beatbot 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
  6. WYBOTF1Surface skimmer

    6WYBOT

    ~$300

    WYBOT 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

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