iGarden’s claims of offering 10 hours of operating time in floor-only mode have been correct in my testing; nevertheless, I achieved solely about seven hours of operation within the extra power-intensive full protection mode. That’s nonetheless loads of juice for 2 or three full cleanings earlier than a recharge is required. Formally, iGarden specs the robotic to wash swimming pools of as much as 1,274 sq. ft in dimension.
I used to be much less enamored with the cleanup course of after operations have been full, and never simply because the robotic should be retrieved with a pole as an alternative of coming to the floor when finished. The filter basket is lots massive, however it could solely be accessed by a comparatively small hatch. It’s powerful to get all of the particles out by this hatch by hosing it down, significantly for the reason that form of the basket features a sort of shelf on the within, the place particles is each arduous to succeed in and arduous to see. A extra open basket design or a bigger hatch could be an enormous assist come cleanup time.
{Photograph}: Chris Null
The essential field is designed with a fine-mesh filter on all sides, however this may be enhanced with a reusable second filter, included within the field, that snaps onto the skin of the basket. This filter has a finer mesh depend than the filter on the basket itself, however regardless of that, most customers in all probability gained’t want it. I didn’t discover it made a lot of a distinction in my exams, however these going through issues with a lot of fine-grained grime and sand might discover it useful.
A Large Worth Minimize
At $1,599, iGarden has aggressively priced this robotic, knocking $1,000 off the worth of final yr’s Ok Professional 150 whereas holding efficiency roughly the identical. That makes this a way more attractive purchase than the Ok sequence, and whereas it’s nonetheless a bit on the excessive aspect, it’s now roughly in step with various different top-shelf robots available on the market. For those who don’t thoughts getting a bit moist when it comes time to retrieve and clear out the robotic, it must be a really sturdy candidate for the job as your robotic pool man.
