Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Dolphin Supreme M200 – Robotic Pool Cleaner Review

Done with the DX series, now we move on to the Supremes, and this series of bots seem to have a few features over the DX’. The M200 is the cheapest of the three, which roughly correlate to Maytronics design philosophy of three products per range, each with a few extra features, targeted to different demographics. It’s a lovely system, and means there is always someone I can point to and say, this one is for you. Over the last few weeks I have immersed myself in all things robotic pool cleaner, I know what they need and I know when a feature is pointless, so believe me when I say even the basic products from Maytronic are well worth a closer look.

So let’s dive right in, see if the Supreme M200 is the right product for you.

Maytronics Dolphin Supreme M200 Design and Build Quality

Dolphin M200 bag I love me a sturdy build. The fit of the pressed parts is how you tell the quality of the robotic pool cleaner, if you hear rattle then something is not right, and the M200, in fact across the board here, is a very well built machine. I only really review good quality machines, but if I have some extra time and money I will be comparing a few of the best to a few of the knock offs to further illustrate what I mean by no rattle and fit flush. The look of the build is nice too, much better than the latter day DX bots, 4 and 6. It’s almost cute, bulbous blue little guy munching up all the debris in your pool and filtering the water. We again have the cylinder propulsion system seen in most other Dolphin builds, something I am very fond of and to my mind the most effective drive system for a robotic pool cleaning robot.

There is a lot to like here, the Dolphin line tends to be impressive, and it is nice to see some excellent aesthetics here.

Maytronics Dolphin Supreme M200 Features and Specs

This is an in ground pool robot, so if you have an above ground pool I recommend taking a look through my other reviews, there are plenty that will suit you there. The core features of a Dolphin pool cleaner are fantastic, cleans the floor of the pool and the walls. In addition they all come with a swivel cable, a patented design that prevents tangles. On to the features unique to the Supreme series, and this first one is one of my favorites. It does not use filter bags. Instead we have a wonderful fine mesh filter system, which has been proven to be more effective, and is slightly cheaper when you are buying replacements. It does mean you spend a little time cleaning the machine out, but that added difficulty is well worth it. The cable is 60′, which limits it to a 50 foot pool, though I have seen some folk use it on larger.

The M200 is a light weight bot, 18.75 pounds, but some may still find it a little cumbersome to get out of the water. The handle is a little short too, but still useful. Cycle time is 3 hours, so a little longer than others in the Supreme range, and not a patch on the Liberty. Still, it is well within the average cycle time for all robotic pool cleaners. The weekly timer feature is back too, which I am a fan of, so you can just leave it in the pool until the thing is full. Our pump is the standard Maytronic Dolphin high powered pump which filters 4,233 gallons of water in an hour.

Again, Dolphins ground floor model has all of the features you need in a robotic pool cleaner. With the Supremes changes to the formula, top loading filter mesh, we have a bot that is slightly better than the DX3.

Maytronics Dolphin Supreme M200 Ease of Use

There are robotic pool cleaning robots out there that require extensive set up before they can go. I am not a fan of those. I want simplicity, I want plug and play and so I focus on those kinds of machines. The M200 is a plug and play machine. The anti-tangle swivel cable means that you do not need to supervise the cleaning process and getting it out of the water again is made easy with the handle. It might be easy to argue that 18 pounds, nearly 19, is a little too heavy, especially with the water weight, but you will be hard pressed to find a lighter machine that has all of these features. So it is a worthy trade off.

With the DX series I lamented the bottom loading filter bag system, one that is all too common in the industry at present. The Supremes all use a top loading mesh which is much easier to replace and much easier to clean. You will have to clean the bot though, which will take some time.

There is really so few issues with this bot. The feature set of the DX series has been improved upon, removing all of the issues I had with that build. In there place we have the problem of cleaning the bot itself, but I would still call this a good consolidation of issues.

Maytronics Dolphin Supreme M200 Pricing, Value, & Discounts

Dolphin M200 in waterHere is where the real decision is made for most of us. the price. The Supreme M200 runs between $600 – $800. All of these features where in the DX3, which retailed for a similar price, and considering we are in the sub $1000 category it is impressive. The Supremes upgrades over the DX make it a much more attractive machine. There is one fundamental thing to take into account non matter what pool cleaning robot you go for. This is an investment in free time. Think of all those hours you have spent cleaning a pool and realize that even if you go for a bottom of the barrel option you are still gaining free time. In my mind any robotic pool cleaner will have paid you back in free time within a year.

The only other major cost is the price to run the bot. with the Aquabot robotic pool cleaners I was able to give specific figures, what with them telling me the power draw of each of their bots, but sadly this is not true of the Dolphin range. Maytronic claim that the cost per cycle is 15c, but it really does depend on the price per kilowatt hour in your area. I would still expect the figure to be close to 15c per run though. A small amount but one that has to be factored into the cost long term.

Now the warranty, and here we have little information to go on. with the Aquabot line I was able to dissect the pros and cons of their offer, but here I cannot. I have contacted Maytronics and am currently waiting on detailed warranty information. As it stands they offer a 24 month bumper to bumper warranty, which sounds good. Without detailed information on what is and isn’t covered I am finding it hard to call it a good deal though.

Maytronics Dolphin Supreme M200 Conclusion

This is a bit of a no brainer. the price is on point and the feature list is great. there are tangible benefits to buying the M200 over even the DX4. If you are looking for an in ground pool cleaning robot in this price range it is certainly one to consider. The lack of warranty information can be a deal breaker though, and having to clean out the machine every so often is a bit of a chore. But those are the only real downsides to this one.

Pros:

  • Automatic, requires no supervision.
  • Works out of the box, no need to connect it to a pool pump.
  • Cleans walls well
  • Weekly timer frees up more of your time.
  • Excellent price.
  • Top loading mesh system

Cons:

  • You have to clean out the machine itself rather than just a filter bag.
  • In ground pools only
  • Warranty info is light on the ground.
Barry W Stanton
Barry W Stanton
Irish born writer who drinks too much caffeine and reads too much Terry Pratchett. I enjoy long walks on the server and Korean cuisine.
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