We are just days away from closing our in-ground pool for the year. This was our second year of having a swimming pool, and the second year of evaluating robotic pool cleaners. Why the pool robots? Because I very quickly learned that vacuuming and cleaning a pool is the worst part of pool ownership–especially when there are trees (including a crabapple) in very close proximity. My last cordless pool robot to be reviewed in the 2023 season is also the best, by far: the Aiper Seagull Pro.
Unboxing and Setup
Last year I reviewed the Aiper Seagull 1500. The Seagull Pro is superficially similar in form factor, but there are significant changes as well. The dark gray paint job with aquamarine highlights makes this one look almost like a futuristic military drone of some sort. While the Seagull 1500 appeared almost whimsical (with its white paint and rounded edges evoking a Disney robot), the Seagull Pro looks like it means business.
Setup couldn’t be easier. No apps to install if you want to change cleaning modes–those are all controlled with a top-mounted dial.
Plugging it in to charge revealed one major change from the last Aiper robot. The charger for the Seagull 1500 looked like a tablet or speaker charger; the Seagull Pro’s is huge and looks like it belongs to a gaming laptop. However, the bigger charger means this pool robot and its high capacity battery can be charged very quickly. From zero, I averaged about an hour and a half to full charge. And you can see how much charge it has at a glance thanks to the glowing LED ring on top of the control dial. Red indicates less than 9% charge, yellow is 10% to 49%, blue is 50% to 89% and green is over 90%.
The fast charge is more useful than I would have thought. It allows for multiple cleanings in a day (handy if company is coming over in the evening) and accidentally forgetting to charge the robot overnight is easy to remedy.
When charged, turn the top-mounted dial to select the cleaning program (Automatic, Floor Only or Wall Only), lower the Seagull Pro into the pool and let it go.
Effective Pool Floor Cleaning and Wall Scrubbing
As mentioned, I have a lot of messy trees in close proximity to my pool, including a big crabapple. We didn’t want to cut down trees when the pool was installed, but probably didn’t realize how much of a mess they can make. However, the Seagull Pro–with its powerful suction, long run time, efficient routing and high capacity filter basket–always left the pool bottom looking spotless. I’ve had several pool robots that claim to use AI, but the Seagull Pro is the only one I’ve seen to date that actually cleans the pool bottom methodically if you watch it instead of following what seems to be a completely random pattern with lengthy pauses.
Technically, it uses WavePath navigation technology.
Even better, the Seagull Pro was very effective at scrubbing walls just above the waterline. It never gets old watching its spinning scrub brush break the surface as it climbed the wall, which the quad-motor system managed with ease. In over a month of use, I only ever saw it “confused” once when it tried to climb a corner wall at a weird approach angle, which ended up flipping the robot over on its back. However, it quickly recovered, righted itself without intervention and went about its business like nothing happened.
Once the battery was run down (which was usually in the 2.5 to three hour range), the robot would park itself near a wall and wait to be pulled out.
It’s equipped with a large capacity filter basket with fine mesh. On “light” days, I would leave emptying the filter for every other day. The basket top comes off completely for easier cleaning with a hose and it can hold an impressive amount of sludge, twigs, dead bugs, leaves–and crabapples.
Aiper Seagull Pro Key Specs
- 130 GPM suction
- 3 cleaning modes with control dial
- Quad-motor system
- WavePath navigation technology
- Auto park on completion, quick drain
- Top load filter basket
- 9000mAh battery rated at up to 3-hour run time (3200 square foot cleaning area)
- 4-color LED battery indicator
- Fully charges in 90 minutes
- Includes pickup hook
- Replacement filter baskets and battery/motor assemblies sold separately
- MSRP $899
- 30 day money back guarantee, 2-year warranty
Issues?
There really was not much to find fault with here. The charger is huge–but that comes with a win in the form of fast charging. I did find it was a little more difficult than with other robots to snag it with the included hook to bring it to the surface. However, even if it did sometimes take a few attempts to retrieve it from the pool bottom, the Seagull Pro was easier than most to lift out thanks to its quick water release that emptied water almost instantaneously.
It’s also worth noting that Aiper sells components that could wear, like filter baskets and the roller brush pad, separately. The company also says a replacement battery/motor assembly is available.
Seagull Pro Recommendation
If you hate cleaning a pool as much as I do, a cordless robotic pool cleaner is the ultimate time saver. It can also save water compared to manually vacuuming your pool. If you’re in the market for one, the Aiper Seagull Pro is the best I’ve used to date. It does an impressive job, it’s easy to operate and it doesn’t force you to mess with an app to change cleaning modes. Literally toss it in the water and forget about it, then pull it out, hose out the basket and enjoy your sparkling pool.
The Seagull Pro was also a CES 2023 Innovation Award honoree, so it’s not just me that thinks this one is a standout.
At time of review publication, Aiper was selling the Seagull Pro at a $200 discount, making this robotic pool cleaner an even more compelling option.
Disclosure: Aiper provided a Seagull Pro for evaluation purposes but had no input into this review.
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