Is Beatbot’s iSkim Ultra a game-changer for pool owners? Robots are coming for the water

When you live in Australia, summer means long, hot days, backyard BBQs, and—if you’re lucky—a dip in the pool to escape the heat. But if you’ve got a pool, you also know the struggle: leaves, bugs, and who-knows-what floating on the surface. That pool net is a daily demand, and it takes up a lot of time.

I don’t know just how necessary it was since I don’t have access to an elaborate pool with various curves, edges and different types of debris, but it fascinated me to see that the robot-cleaning category has stepped up with it comes to water.

I’m talking about the Beatbot iSkim Ultra, a cutting-edge pool cleaner that recently arrived in the Australian market and fetches a fairly high cost. Is it worth it? I took it around to three different neighbours’ houses (who have pools; I don’t) to find out.

Design

Right out of the box, the iSkim Ultra looks impressive. It’s got a futuristic design—sleek, compact, and surprisingly lightweight. The blue-and-black colour scheme blends in well with the water, and it doesn’t look out of place floating around the pool.

One of the standout features is that it’s solar-powered. Given how much sun we get in Australia, that’s a major plus. It also has a built-in battery for nighttime operation, so it’s not limited to daylight hours. The device also comes with dual-side brushes, which immediately seemed like a clever addition—more on that later.

Setting it up was dead simple. No fiddling with hoses, no complex installation—just charge it up, pop it in the pool, and let it do its thing. I know some people can be intimidated by robot cleaners but the set-up here couldn’t be any more straightforward.

Performance

I was sceptical at first. Could this little robot really keep a pool clear of debris when the surface skimmers I’ve seen in the past can barely clean 80% of all the various debris that can end up floating in a pool and instantly muddying up the water? But within minutes of turning it on, the iSkim Ultra was off, cruising around the water like it knew exactly what it was doing.

The dual-side brushes worked wonders and I imagine they’re the hero feature for this device. They spun inward, directing floating debris towards the built-in skimmer, and I could see leaves, bugs, and even pollen being sucked up. The AI-driven navigation was also impressive. Unlike some robotic cleaners that seem to move randomly (from videos I’ve watched anyway), the iSkim Ultra actually mapped out a smart path, covering every corner of the pool. It reminded me, obviously, of a high-end robot vacuum cleaner. And since I’ve tested many of those out, I like to think I can tell the difference between good navigation and poor navigation.

Of course, no device is perfect. The skimmer did a fantastic job with surface debris, but it’s not a replacement for a full pool cleaner. If you’ve got heavier stuff sinking to the bottom, you’ll still need a separate cleaner to handle that. It lasts about 9-10 hours when cleaning the surface and about 5 if you’ve got it pulling the harder stuff from below. It’s fine to clean the ground, but more weighty debris may remain. And while the solar charging works great on sunny days, I did notice that on overcast afternoons, the battery life wasn’t as long as I’d hoped.

Another small gripe? It occasionally got stuck near the pool ladder. It eventually freed itself, but it wasn’t as flawless as I’d imagined. That said, for surface cleaning, this thing is a game-changer.

Value

At $2,199, the Beatbot iSkim Ultra isn’t cheap. But after using it for a few weeks, I can see why it’s priced at a premium. It’s well-built, completely autonomous, and eliminates the need for constant manual skimming. If you’re someone who dreads pulling out the pool net every other day (like just about every pool owner I know), this could be a worthwhile investment.

Anything that saves you time, saves you money in the long run. A good coffee machine, for example, will eventually start putting money back in your pocket. If you’re diligent with your pool upkeep, then this will put so much time back into your pocket that the outlay starts to seem reasonable. Plus, if you have the kind of sized pool to justify such a purchase, I don’t think $2,199 will give you much grief.

FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Highlights: Flawless sweep of the surface; great at navigating curves and cleaning corners
Lowlights: Not as good on the ground; really expensive; can get stuck on more complicated objects like ladders
Price: $2,199

Chris Singh

Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.