Aiper Seagull SE Cordless Above-Ground Pool Cleaner

The Seagull SE is the budget end of this list and honest about what it is: a floor cleaner for flat above-ground pools. Within that brief it's very hard to beat — 7.5 lb, one button, and a price a fraction of anything else here.

Know what it does and doesn't do

This is a floor cleaner. It does not climb walls, it does not scrub the waterline, and it's designed for flat-bottomed above-ground pools up to 860 sq ft. If you have an in-ground pool, or a vinyl pool with a deep-end slope, this is the wrong tool and you should be looking at the Scuba S1 or above.

For the right pool, it's excellent

On a flat 24 ft round above-ground pool, floor debris is essentially the entire cleaning job. 1,320 GPH of suction and 100 minutes of runtime cover that comfortably, and at 7.5 lb there's no wrestling it over the pool wall.

Self-parking

When the battery runs low it drives itself to the edge rather than stopping in the middle of the floor. Small feature, but it's the difference between reaching in and going to find the net.

When to Step Up to a Real Scrubbing Robot

Static bottom wipers can't scrub slick green algae off vinyl seams, and standard mesh lets fine dust blow through. For real tracked 2×-speed active scrubbing and a 2-year Maytronics warranty, step up to our Dolphin E10 ($499) or Dolphin Escape.