Aquabot Turbo – Robotic Pool Cleaner Review

Another solid week of research and still I am not half way through the Aquabot line. This week a look at the Turbo series, a higher end option from Aquabot. Each robotic pool cleaner i this line has all of the core features you would expect, cleaning floors, cove and walls to the line, making them a great option. In addition to those features the Turbo hierarchy each bring something new to the table. The Vanilla Turbo is a step up from the Classic range of robotic pool cleaners from Aquabot, designed for in ground pools only, I have a fair number of reviews on above ground pool cleaning bots already, so be sure to check them out if I have lost you already.

Aquabot Turbo Design and Build Quality

Aquabot has impressed me over the last few weeks. They have a product fro literally every niche, and are constantly improving their tech with new iterations. They never render an old product obsolete though, all their cleaners will still clean a pool, but the Turbo series tends to clean them faster. This first section is concerned with the build quality, which for the vanilla Turbo is great, nice solid design. The moving parts are held tight and the plastic used is of high quality. I do not like the aesthetics though. I realize that this will be a running theme foe the Aquabot line, as most of them are simply iterations on the same core concept. It looks a bit like a tank, which can appeal to some though. The look of the device should not weigh heavily on your decision though, after all we are buying the robotic pool cleaner to clean a pool, not win a beauty pageant.

Overall a classic Aquabot design, with attention paid to the fit. You want your pool cleaner to have little to no rattle, all the parts to fit flush. Too often lower quality models are almost flimsy, or at the very least loose in some way. It pays to buy the expensive model sometimes.

Aquabot Turbo Features and Specs

I’ve already mentioned briefly the specs of the Turbo, that it is design for in ground pools, of 50′ or greater, and out of the box will clean your pool floor, your pool cove and all the way to the tippy top of your pool wall. Long time readers, and I’m sure there has to be at least one person who likes reading robotic pool cleaners reviews, will know that wall cleaning is a rare enough feature, and one that I feel should become more common. The quality of the brushes fitted to the Turbo are fantastic, and unlike some of the less expensive models the brushes are active, meaning the move to remove caked on dirt. If you have algae issues then you will want an active brush. I mentioned the wall cleaning, well I gushed about the wall cleaning, but there is another feature here that further improves the Turbo’s wall cleaning prowess. It has a fitted edge brush that comes into play when cleaning the water line. Stellar feature, and another one I would like to see implemented more elsewhere.

Dimension wise it is 19 x 18 x 21 inches, and weighs in at a heft 35 pounds. This is by no means a petite machine, and the heft is definitely something to think about. Remember, you will have to haul this thing in and out of a pool, and most folk forget about the water weight. The cleaning cycles are more versatile here, with options for 1-7 hour cycles. You can get a great clean in an hour, not something to overlook. A final caveat to worry about is the material the robotic pool cleaner works on, all with the exception of tile, so if you have a tile lined pool you will have to look elsewhere.

Overall a fully featured machine, I especially like the range of cleaning cycles and the power behind the brushes. A 60′ cable rounds out the package, though it is not a swivel cable, but I found a trick with floating noodles that will help you there. A fix is a quick google search away.

Aquabot Turbo Ease of Use

I focus exclusively on self contained units after all, and for the most part you simply have to plug the cleaner in and dump it in the water. There are a few cleaners out there that require a far more complicated set up, connecting it to an external pump and what not, but I do not think they provide a superior experiences. One thing I will point out with the Turbo is the weight issue, lifting that out of the water is not as easy as some other models. The handle goes some way to remedying that, but if you lack the upper body strength, like myself, then you may want to look elsewhere.

Fairly typical stuff here. using the machine is super easy, the options are limited, 7 settings, so there is little to be confused about. The handle is a god send, even if the weight is a little on the heavy side. Overall this ranks highly on the ease of use scale.

Aquabot Turbo Pricing

Here is where the decision is made for most of us. Once we find out an item works we need to know that it is within our price range. The Turbo series is upper mid range, maybe lower upper, so you can expect to pay between $800 and $1000 for the models. The price does see some variation, which is why I cannot put a solid price tag on this, but the cheapest have seen is $825. If you go into this expecting to pay that much then you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. The simple fact that needs to be taken into account when buying a robotic pool cleaner is the notion of time saved. Cleaning a pool takes a few hours away from you each week, time that is given back to you by the robot, depending on how you value that time I expect even an expensive purchase like this to have paid you back within a year. I realize that has become almost cliche from me, but it is no less true for the repetition.

The cost to run a robotic pool cleaner is typically very low, but you have to find out the cost per kilowatt hour in you area to do any really useful math. The Turbo outputs at 230W, so even in more expensive areas the cost is less than 20c per hour. Finally a look at the warranty, and again Aquabot have seen fit to cut a full coverage warranty with a limited warranty. 2 years coverage, one at full the other limited. I am not a fan of their limited warranty, read through it and you’ll see why. But it has to be said that it is better than nothing.

I believe it is easy to see the value of this product. It further refines the goals of the company, to give the customers the most features for the lowest price. The warranty is great, though I would prefer two full years, and the cost to run the Turbo line is pretty cheap, again depending on your area.

Aquabot Turbo Conclusion

All in all this was a fun breakdown. We got to see the improvements made on the core design from Aquabot, and we were not burned on the price. If you need a robust pool cleaner that will dig into a pool and remove all traces of dirt and grime, not to mention debris, then you would do well with the Turbo.

Pros:

• Automatic, requires no supervision.
• Works out of the box, no need to connect it to a pool pump.
• Silent
• Active brush for a deep clean
• Cleans all the wall
• Wall brush for added utility

Cons:

• Heavy, very heavy
• In ground pools only.
• No swivel cable, but there are options there.