Recommended Solar Pool Skimmers

If I had to pick just one skimmer that was right for most people, I think the Beatbot iSkim is just a great all-around cleaner with good navigation, a big easy-to-use debris bin, and good build quality. My one nitpick about the Beatbot is that even though it can charge via solar or a wall charger, they don’t include the wall charger in the box and charge an extra $25 for it, which seems absurd at this price point.

Personally, I’m going to keep the Aiper Ecosurfer S2 to use in my pool inside of a screened pool cage since the floating debris that I get is much smaller and the increased cleaning efficiency is important since the screen blocks a lot of the available sunlight.

The only one of the budget skimmers I’d even consider is the $225 Supclean SolarSurfer S5, which was the least problematic but it’s definitely still not as good as the name brands.

The Betta Neo was probably the best cleaner of the bunch, but I have concerns about the exposed Styrofoam, the bin design isn’t as good, and it doesn’t appear to have a backup navigation system in the event that the optical sensors can’t detect a wall. The Betta also only has a 1-year warranty compared to the 2-year warranties from Beatbot and Aiper, and at the time of testing, it’s also the most expensive option. So, unless you really need that extra connection hub to increase your WiFi range, the Aiper and Beatbot are probably better options.