Betta~$331
Betta SE Plus
Surface skimmer · 30 h skimming
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit
- Filtration
- 200 µm · sand, grit and leaves
- Retrieval
- Floats; lifted by hand
- Solar + adapter
- 30 h runtime
- 200 µm basket
Cleans: Surface
Surface skimmer~$314Betta
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. Twin salt- and chlorine-tolerant motors pull debris into a 200-micron basket, and adjustable bumper rods keep it off shallow steps.
Approx. price
~$314
snapshot, not a live price
Skims all day; no pool-size limit
Floats; lifted by hand
30 h skimming
Best for: Sunny yards where a skimmer should never need plugging in
Specifications
- Approx. price
- ~$314
- Type
- Surface skimmer
- Power
- Solar, with battery
- Cleans
- Surface
- Maker's pool claim
- 60 ft / 2,400 sq ft
- Charge time
- 6 h
- Finest filter
- 200 µm
- Filtration tier
- Sand, grit and leaves
- Filter
- 200 µm fine-mesh basket
- Warranty
- 1 year
- Cost per swim season
- $314 floor
A specification not listed here is one Betta does not publish for this model. It is left blank rather than estimated or borrowed from a sibling.
Features
- Solar charging only
- 30+ hours per charge
- 200 µm fine-mesh basket
- Salt- and chlorine-tolerant motors
- Wireless remote and bumper rods
What it does well
- No charging to remember in a sunny climate
- 30+ hours on a charge, longer than the iSkim's 28
- 200 µm basket catches pollen as well as leaves
- Motors rated for salt and high chlorine
What it gives up
- No adapter — a run of cloudy days stops it
- One year of cover, where the $360 Surfer S2 gets two
- Remote only, no app, while the $300 F1 has one
The two lists above come from the maker’s own specifications and this site’s arithmetic on them, not from owner reports. Where owner discussion has been read it appears in its own section below, so the two are never mistaken for each other.
What owners say
Owners get attached to the Betta: they give theirs names, credit it with ending daily skimming, and one seller took theirs along to the new house rather than leave it with the old pool. The SE is the solar-only model and the SE Plus adds a wall adapter to the same body, so owners who name only the Betta could have either, and much of what follows applies to both.
In use it floats around the surface collecting leaves, seeds, pollen and hair before they sink, and keeps going overnight and in the rain. The recurring frustrations: it gets caught at skimmer openings, tangles with corded robots and pressure-cleaner hoses, jams on stringy debris, and gives frogs and spiders a place to live.
Units fail more often than owners would like, and several buy the extended warranty for that reason. Owners who moved to a cordless floor robot run both at once; with a corded one, others weight the hose, park the cord out of the way or run the two at different times.
What owners like
- Solar alone keeps it going: one SE owner who passed on the version with a charging option does not regret it, since theirs runs even through the night, and another, where it is sunny every day, says the battery is no issue.
- It takes over the skimming: one SE owner has not skimmed at all since buying it, and a Betta owner with lots of trees no longer spends close to 30 minutes netting before anyone swims.
- It holds small debris as well as leaves: an SE owner says it picks up dog hair, bugs and sticks and its fine-mesh basket keeps the tiniest bits, and another Betta owner says it even catches the tiny seeds their trees drop.
- Rain does not stop it: owners describe their Bettas working in the rain, and one with a waterfall has watched theirs pass through it a few times without trouble.
Common complaints
- It gets caught at the skimmer opening; one SE owner keeps finding it held by the deep-end skimmer's suction. Owners dislike the supplied pool-noodle fix, which one found kept sliding into the opening, and use a frog log or a 3D-printed bumper instead.
- It snags on floor cleaners' lines. One SE owner takes it out whenever a Polaris 280 pressure cleaner runs because it catches on the hoses, and Betta owners with corded Dolphins describe the same.
- Wildlife moves in: Betta owners find frogs in the basket, and one has more than once found very large spiders hiding in the handle, right where a hand goes to lift it out.
- Heavy debris means frequent emptying: one Betta owner in Massachusetts empties it twice a day most days, and another emptied it once or twice a day while spring pollen strands were falling.
- Stringy debris can jam it: in the 2026 pollen season one SE owner was clearing the paddle and restarting it three or four times a day, and another Betta owner says oak catkins tie up the impeller in one pass.
- It can let its catch escape: one owner of a 2023 SE saw debris float back out when it changed direction, and another Betta owner's unit backed up every few minutes and spat out what it had collected.
- Longevity worries owners: in 2023 and 2024 several described sending a Betta back two to four times within a year or two, and in 2026 one said three bought on the same street all failed.
Questions owners ask about the Betta SE
Can the Betta SE run at the same time as a corded robot?
Often not without help. One SE owner alternates it with a Polaris 280 pressure cleaner because it catches on the hoses. Other Betta owners add hose weights, park a Dolphin with its cord rolled up on a railing, or switch to a cordless floor robot.
Why does it keep getting stuck in my skimmer?
Suction is one cause: one SE owner found the deep-end skimmer pulling it in as it drove past. Betta supplies a pool noodle for the opening; owners also trim their own noodle, set a frog log or a suction-cup shower rod in front, or keep the water a little higher.
Does it need charging from the wall?
The SE has no wall option: it charges from sunlight only, and the SE Plus is the version with an adapter. Two SE owners say solar alone keeps it running, one of them even overnight. One with some tree shade found it ran several days to a week before it needed a charge, and another SE owner wished they had bought the Plus.
Is it worth it if I already have a floor robot?
Owners who run both say the floor robot then has less to do: one barely runs a Polaris robot now, and another runs the cleaner once or twice a week instead of every day. One new owner was less impressed, still finding leaves sinking to the bottom.
Can it be repaired?
Sometimes cheaply. In 2023 one Betta owner fixed a side wheel broken in a fall with a wheel set from Betta and a screwdriver, and in 2025 another said Betta sent replacement parts free. In 2026 a third was quoted $100 to replace and calibrate a gear stripped by branches.
Others in the same part of the catalog
Beatbot~$319
Beatbot iSkim
Surface skimmer · 28 h skimming
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit
- Filtration
- 550 µm · leaves and bugs only
- Retrieval
- Floats; lifted by hand
- 28 h without sun
- 9 L basket
- 3-year warranty
Cleans: Surface
WYBOTF1Surface skimmer
WYBOT~$300
WYBOT F1
Surface skimmer · 8 h skimming
- Pool fit
- Skims all day; no pool-size limit
- Filtration
- No micron figure published
- Retrieval
- Floats; lifted by hand
- 33 W solar
- 7 L basket
- $300
Cleans: Surface