What Beatbot optimizes for
Debris capacity. Beatbot publishes 5-liter baskets on the Sora 10 and Sora 30, and 9 liters on the iSkim skimmer. Those are the largest published capacities on this site, and capacity — not suction — is what determines how a machine handles leaf load. Once a basket is full, flow collapses and the rest of the cycle collects nothing. The leaf roundup ranks almost entirely on this.
Coverage breadth. The Sora 70 and AquaSense 2 Ultra are the only cordless machines here that skim the water’s surface and clean floor, walls and waterline in one cycle. Debris caught floating never sinks, never stains and never loads your filter, which makes surface interception the highest-leverage feature available for a tree-shaded pool.
The AquaSense 2 Ultra goes further with AI Cruise debris detection — identifying where debris actually is rather than only tracking where it has been. Nothing else here does that.
The range
| Model | Positioning | Key published spec |
|---|
| iSkim | Solar surface skimmer | 9 L basket, salt-safe, app recall |
| Sora 10 | Best value robot | 6,800 GPH, 5 L, 5 h, 150 micron |
| Sora 30 | Four-zone with platforms | 6,800 GPH, 5 L, 10,000 mAh, tap-to-retrieve |
| AquaSense 2 | Waterline specialist | Double-pass waterline scrub |
| Sora 70 | Five surfaces, skims | 6,800 GPH, JetPulse surface cleaning |
| AquaSense 2 Ultra | The flagship | Camera mapping, debris detection, 5-in-1, caddy |
Where Beatbot is weakest, and it is consistent
Spec disclosure
Beatbot publishes 150 micron for the Sora 10 and no micron figure for anything else. It publishes 5-liter baskets for the Sora 10 and 30 and no capacity for the Sora 70, AquaSense 2 or the Ultra. It publishes 6,800 GPH across the Sora line and no suction figure for the AquaSense models.
For an $849 machine (AquaSense 2) to publish no suction, no capacity, no micron rating and no rated pool area is a fair criticism, and we mark every omission rather than estimating.
Consumables are the most expensive in the category
This is the substantive problem. Genuine Beatbot filter baskets:
- AquaSense 2 basket — about $60, fits AquaSense 2 and AquaSense only
- AquaSense 2 Ultra dual basket — about $100, fits the Ultra only
- Sora 30 basket — about $60, Sora 30 specific
A Dolphin’s ultra-fine cartridges are about $26 for four. That is two to four times the running cost, and the model-specific fitment means nothing carries across if you upgrade. Filters by brand has every price side by side.
No third-party battery ecosystem
On a cordless machine, the question that determines its life is whether a replacement pack will be sold. Aiper has 8 Ah packs for the Scuba S1 at $80; WYBOT has 6 Ah packs for the C1 at $69. Beatbot has nothing established.
On a $2,299 flagship, that is a serious unanswered question — and it is the central Beatbot-versus-Dolphin argument.
What owners consistently praise
Build quality. Across the range, the recurring positive in owner reports is that the machines feel and behave like well-made equipment. We note that as owner feedback rather than as our own assessment, since we have not handled one.
Which Beatbot to buy
- Leaves, best value: Sora 10. 5-liter basket, five hours, under $500.
- Pool with a tanning ledge or wide steps: Sora 30.
- Pool under trees, one machine: Sora 70 — but compare it against a Dolphin plus an iSkim first, which costs less and skims more.
- Waterline ring is the complaint: AquaSense 2.
- Freeform, multi-level or beach-entry pool: AquaSense 2 Ultra. On a rectangle, do not.
- Any pool under trees: add the iSkim. 9 liters is the best skimmer spec here.
