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The Aiper Smart Cordless Automatic Pool Cleaner looks great on paper. When put to the test, it can't compete with other true robotic pool cleaners such as the Dolphin Escape. We cannot recommend it, as it is not worth the investment.
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Hey guys, I’m Joshua with Poolbots.com. And today we’re taking a closer look at the Aiper Smart 1000 pool cleaner. The Aiper Smart 1000 is very popular this pool season, primarily because of its price. At $365, it’s very inexpensive for a robotic pool cleaner. But with a closer look at the features and performance, it’s clear this isn’t a true robotic pool cleaner. And it’s quickly gaining a reputation for sub-par performance and quick failures. We already reviewed the Aiper Smart 600, which is a tier below this model, and we were so unimpressed as to encourage our viewers to avoid it completely. But is the Aiper Smart 1000 really an improvement on the 600? Let’s find out.
First, we’ll take a look at what all comes with the Aiper 1000. The unit is about 13 pounds. It comes with this floating handle attached by a string, which is supposed to help you pull it from the water after its cleaning jobs. There’s a charging cable, since it’s battery powered. And this nozzle turns so you can adjust the unit’s turning radius, depending on your pool’s shape. It also comes with this static brush attachment that fits in the middle of the robot’s underside.
Before the Aiper 1000 can do any pool cleaning, it has to charge for 6 to 7 hours. After that, it’s supposed to clean for an hour to an hour and a half before recharging. And keep in mind this unit is designed for flat pool floors only. So it’s pretty restricted to just flat above ground pools, and the rare small inground pool with flat floors. If you’ve got an inground pool with any kind of slope, the Aiper 1000 won’t be able to handle it.
Once it gets going, you can see the Aiper 1000 has very simple underwater capabilities. It just roams, and there’s nothing intelligent about the paths it takes. Its description says it has intelligent auto landing technology to stop at walls after a cleaning so it’s easier to retrieve, but we wouldn’t call that intelligent technology. Especially considering the unit tends to stop in the middle of the pool after a cleaning as much as it stops at the sides.
The design of the Aiper 1000 also impacts its coverage. Because the suction ports and static brush are located in the middle of the underside of the unit, it leaves pool corners untouched. And this is a debris-prone area for above ground pools. The Dolphin Escape, which is a true above ground robotic pool cleaner, has a front spinning brush that can reach more debris and feed it into the robot’s filtration system. As it is, the Aiper 1000 leaves behind more settled dirt and grime in corners than you’d expect.
These plastic wheels are also a problem for cleaning coverage. While the Aiper 1000 doesn’t climb walls, its plastic wheels are still a poor design for maintaining traction on pool floors. We saw it drive over several leaves during its cleaning, and it left most of them behind. If it had tracks that could grip pool floors, like you’ll find on the Dolphin Escape, it might be able to cling closer to the floor and vacuum more debris.
Compared to the poorly designed Aiper 600, which is more vacuum than pool cleaner, the Aiper 1000 has a slight edge in cleaning power because of its static brush. While this little brush might dislodge some debris, there’s no way it can actively scrub away tough grime like regular pool cleaning requires. The Dolphin Escape’s front brush spins at twice the speed of the robot’s movement, which delivers as much cleaning power as if you were scrubbing the pool yourself. The Aiper’s static brush is far weaker and more inefficient.
Like we’ve discovered with most of Aiper’s cordless pool cleaners, they have a serious power issue. That’s because they’re battery powered. You’ll need to charge the Aiper 1000 for 6-7 hours just for an hour, perhaps 90 minutes of cleaning. That doesn’t leave much energy to spare for more than movement, much less suction. And because its brush is static, the Aiper’s only chance at real cleaning power is in its vacuuming. But its suction is weak. It leaves behind leaves and pine needles, and it tends to disperse dirt and sand rather than vacuum them up.
A cordless design can be appealing, but it drastically impacts a cleaner’s performance because it simply can’t deliver enough power to do its job well.
Imagine you have a 24-foot above ground pool, and it needs a good 2 hours of cleaning from your Aiper 1000. You’ll have to charge it 7 hours, then it will run for about 1 hour. To finish the cleaning job, you’ll need to charge it another 7 hours, then let it clean for another hour, give or take. That’s 14 hours of charging for about 2 ½ hours of active cleaning time. Talk about inefficient.
The Dolphin Escape uses a specially designed anti-tangling cord that plugs into an outdoor outlet, so it has a constant power supply. And its 2 DC motors are much more powerful than the weak battery-powered motors on the Aiper 1000. And you can run it for as many cleaning cycles as you need, one right after the other.
Longevity is also a big issue. The flimsy plastic parts aren’t durable enough to perform long term in water and sun without sustaining damage. And the vague 1-year quality assurance that comes with the Aiper 1000 doesn’t have fine print listed anywhere on the Amazon listing or its website. So when the unit begins to fail within the first year, we wouldn’t count on a robust warranty backing its product, especially when compared to the Dolphin Escape’s clear 2-year warranty.
Ultimately, we advise our viewers to stay away from the Aiper Smart 1000. Yes, it has a lower up-front cost and promises cleaning features that appeal to above ground pool owners, but its surprisingly poor performance and cheap design are unlikely to last more than a pool season. Even if it did perform well, only getting a few months of use out of it makes the Aiper Smart 1000 wildly expensive.
We suggest investing just a bit more in a true robotic pool cleaner that’s designed for above ground pools, like the Dolphin Escape. It has a 2-year warranty, cleans floors and walls, has an oversized filter basket, and uses an active scrubbing brush to deep clean grime and algae.
Similarly, the Dolphin Cayman offers the same features with the added benefit of SmartNav 2.0 scanning software, and it performs well in above ground pools.
As always, you can read real reviews and learn more about dozens of other robotic pool cleaners at poolbots.com. Visit our website to find the best deals, tips, and tricks for pool ownership, and special buys that’ll help you enjoy your pool to its full potential.
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