Aquabot Fury Review – Robotic Pool Cleaner

After taking a look at some of the upper mid options from Aquabot last week I thought it might be nice to look at a few more expensive options from the firm. The Fury is the Junior version of the Bravo, got to love Aquabot’s penchant for releasing a version of their hardware for everyone. This price range comes with everything in the previous range, but with a bigger brain, meaning that all versions of the Bravo line can clean your pool in under an hour. I am excited to dig deeper with this range, taking a closer look at the logic circuit powering this thing is sure to be interesting.

So let’s break this one down, find out how it differs from other cheaper robotic pool cleaners and see if you need an upgrade.

Aquabot Fury Design and Build Quality

A slimmed down Bravo, is the Fury the better option overall? Well I like the look of it more, that’s for sure. The gaudy yellow outer casing on the Bravo is a bit of an eyesore. Here we have a cheaper looking design, but at least it’s a sensible grey. I’ll be the first to admit that the look of the product is not particularly important, but I tend to find if thought was put into the look, then deeper thought was put in elsewhere. I know for certain that the Bravo is a great build, even if it looks like a toy, so that theory is not holding true with Aquabot. The build quality here is up to Aquabot’s usual standard. A firm fit and flush parts. If you feel rattle then something is wrong. You will find with cheaper pool cleaners the fit is not so tight, so bear that in mind if you go off the beaten track in search for a robotic pool cleaner.

Not too much here to differentiate itself from the rest of Aquabot’s products. The build is high quality, and it looks less ridiculous than the Bravo, but it lacks the finesse of the Breeze series. The real meat of the article will be in the features.

Aquabot Fury Features and Specs

Another in ground pool bot, so if you have an above ground pool you may want to look elsewhere. I have covered some above ground cleaners form Aquabot in the past, so best to check there first. The Fury comes with all the features of the Bravo, but it isn’t quite as fast at its older brother. Core functions include cleaning the floors and walls of the pool, and a PVA brush is fitted. That brush is a wonderful addition to the Bravo range, it cleans deep, and doubles as a wall brush, many products in the Aquabot line have separate floor and wall brushes, the lack of a wall brush here really cuts down on the weight of the product. The propulsion system is similar to the bravo, but with less power, meaning it will take a little longer to clean your pool. The internal pump is identical though, with an impressive 80 gallons per minute of throughput.

The lack of power in the motor is unfortunate, but a three hour deep clean is still impressive. With other bots you will have to tool around with the settings, checking out different cycles to see which is the best option. Not true with the Fury. here we see Aquabot’s Smart clean tech in action. An improved path finding algorithm is included in the Bravo range, meaning it can find the best route through your pool and will sprint through the cleaning, turning itself off when it is done. The Bravo range is the first I have reviewed that i could call truly automatic. The Fury is a smaller machine, by a hair at 16 x 17 x 17.5 inches, and is a little lighter than the Bravo as a result, 17.5 pounds. So light a machine and yet it can do everything it’s far larger older siblings can. An impressive build.

Always nice to be impressed, and the Fury has a lot of good points. A robotic pool cleaner that sacrifices speed in exchange for a lighter build and a lower price is good in my books.

Aquabot Fury Ease of Use

I love simplicity. We live in the age of automation, and I like to see as much of it as possible in the products I recommend. There are a variety of pool cleaning robots that are not easy to use, they have extensive set up and a fair amount of maintenance to bear in mind. that is not the case with my recommendation. i only recommend fully autonomous systems, completely self contained, and the Fury is no exception. You simply plug it in and drop it in the water.

In saying that the Fury does come with a few features that make it even easier to use. The weight for a start, combined with the handle, making getting it in and out of the pool very easy. My usual dislike of the bottom loading system is mitigated here with the addition of a catching system. when the filter bag is full the overload tends to spill back into the pool in bottom loading bag systems. not the case here, as Aquabot have installed a system that catches the run off when you lift it out of the water. A small addition, but one that is welcome. Bear in mind you will have to clean the Fury a little more carefully when it overflows.

In all it’s the usual here. Super easy to use, and with extra features that make the Bravo, and by extension the Fury, extremely easy to use.

Aquabot Fury Pricing

I was less than enthused regarding the pricing of the Bravo. i realize that the product is great, but when it is outside my price range my opinion becomes somewhat skewed. The Fury is the smaller machine, and as such we have a far more attractive price point. I have seen the Fury go for around $1000-$1300. Not exactly an impulse purchase, but low enough to sway those on the fence I’d wager. The key thing to take into account when buying a robotic pool cleaner is the amount of free time it saves you. The value of the item correlates with how much you value your time, and I would wager that any robotic pool cleaner will have paid you back with time within a year. The Fury is lighter than most, and as such will save you even more time when removing it from your pool.

The other thing to take into account is the cost to run the machine. This does vary depending on the price of electricity, so be sure to find out the price per kilowatt hour in your area. Power consumption here is very low though, 140W, so I would estimate it to be a few cents per hour. Now we get to the good bit, the warranty. We have a two year warranty here, the first is full coverage while the second is limited. A full year of full coverage is great, but that limited warranty is less than amazing. It is better than nothing, but a quick read down the limitations tells you that it is exceedingly unlikely to apply to the more common situations.

The price of the Bravo was the only area I was unhappy. The Fury seems to have addressed my concerns, and seen as I am less interested in having the fastest machine available, merely the best, this low entry point makes it a contender for best pool cleaner on the market.

Aquabot Fury Conclusion

I do not overstate when i call this one of the best I have reviewed. It takes everything that made the Bravo great, optimized algorithms, deep cleaning PVA brush, anti swivel cable etc, and makes it smaller, less expensive and slightly easier to look at. The biggest issue with the Fury is its relative lack of speed, but seen as most pool cleaners that are cheaper than it clean at the same if not slower speed, that is hardly a great concern. Excellent buy.

Pros:

• Automatic, requires no supervision.
• Cheaper than the Bravo
• Bigger brain, more optimized cleaning
• Multi function PVA brush
• Cleans all the wall
• Lighter than Light

Cons:

• Still a bit expensive
• In ground pools only.
• Not a fan of Aquabot’s limited warranty.