Best Dolphin Pool Cleaners of 2026

Hey there, and welcome back to the Pool Nerd. I'm Justin, your resident pool aficionado. Today I am looking at the top robotic pool cleaners Dolphin has to offer and picking my favorites—from the ProLine and Max-Series down through the Nautilus, Explorer, Active, S-Line and T-Line, all the way to the cordless Liberty and the brand-new EON. There are a lot of brands and cleaners on the market, and Maytronics' Dolphin is the top of the market when it comes to robotic pool cleaners. Most of this guide is corded-first—that's where the weekly timers, NanoFilters, and real automation live—but if you refuse to run a cable, skip ahead to Dolphin Liberty and the new Dolphin EON near the end.

A robotic pool cleaner can be a lifesaver if you're a pool owner like me, and Dolphin creates some of the best robotic pool cleaners there are. After testing and reviewing so many cleaners, their quality and build are currently unmatched.

Every Dolphin at a Glance (2026)

Dolphin makes almost thirty pool robots, so before I get into my picks, here's the entire 2026 lineup in one table. Bookmark it—every price jump below traces back to a handful of specs on this chart: waterline cleaning, a weekly timer, NanoFilters, and the warranty. For the deeper spec-by-spec breakdown (filter counts, GPH, cleaning path widths, and more), see my full Dolphin comparison page.

Model (Line)	MSRP	Max Pool	Cleans	Weekly Timer	NanoFilters	Warranty
Premier (ProLine) Best Overall	$2,499	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	Built-in	Included	3 yr
Sigma (ProLine) Best Splurge	$2,999	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	Exact day/time (app)	Included	3 yr
Quantum Pro (ProLine + Max-Series) Best Inground	$1,999	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline + steps & shelf	Built-in + app	Included	2 yr
Cayman (Max-Series) Best Value	$1,129	33 ft	Floor, Walls	Built-in	Free upgrade*	2 yr
Escape (Max-Series) Best Entry-Level	$799	33 ft	Floor, Walls	No	Free upgrade*	2 yr
Nautilus Titan	$1,599	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App only	No	1 yr
Nautilus CC Supreme	$1,449	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App only	No	1 yr
Nautilus CC Pro	$1,149	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App only	No	1 yr
Nautilus CC Plus	$849	50 ft	Floor, Walls	App (some SKUs)	No	1 yr
Nautilus CC	$699	33 ft	Floor, Walls	No	No	1 yr
Nautilus AG (above-ground)	$579	AG	Floor & cove	No	No	1 yr
Nautilus Pool Up (above-ground)	$549	AG	Floor	No	No	1 yr
Explorer E10	$599	30 ft	Floor	No	No	2 yr
Active 3000 / 2000	$1,449 / $1,199	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App schedule	No	2 yr
S2000 (S-Line)	$1,199	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	Built-in	No	2 yr
T3000 / T2000 (T-Line)	$1,449 / $1,199	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App schedule	No	2 yr
Liberty 200 (cordless)	$949	33 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	No	No	2 yr
Liberty 300 (cordless)	$1,249	33 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	No (Cycle Selector)	No	2 yr
Liberty 400 (cordless)	$1,429	33 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	App schedule	No	3 yr
Liberty 600 (cordless)	$1,729	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline + steps	Scheduler (~2 wks)	No	3 yr
EON 100 (cordless)	$899	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline + 8" shelf	Scheduler (app)	No	1 yr*
EON 120d (cordless)	$1,199	50 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline + 8" shelf	Scheduler (app)	No	1 yr*
Wave 60 / 80 / 100	$1,599–$4,499	Commercial	Floor, Walls, Waterline	Varies	No	2 yr
Wave W20	$2,099	68 ft	Floor, Walls, Waterline	Varies	No	3 yr

The highlighted rows are my Pool Nerd Approved picks—the five robots I actually recommend, each covered in detail below.

*Most authorized dealers include a free NanoFilter upgrade on Cayman and Escape. The EON's published warranty splits by channel—retail Nautilus EON shows one year, the store-exclusive EON shows two. MSRPs move constantly, so check my deals page for current authorized-dealer pricing.

Why a Dolphin robotic pool cleaner?

They are simply the best robotic pool cleaner option out there right now. Known for their reliability and powerful cleaning ability, I haven't had an issue with any of my Dolphins after years.

Backed by a longer warranty than other robotic pool cleaners, Maytronics really has set the gold standard in robotic pool cleaners in the past few years. And it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon.

Before we rank models, you need to speak Maytronics' language: ProLine vs Max-Series, plus NanoFilters and MaxBin. Those four ideas explain every price jump and every "why does this one cost more?" moment below. I go deeper on each in the linked guides—here's the short version so the rest of this article clicks.

Dolphin ProLine

Dolphin ProLine is Maytronics' top residential tier—the robots I point serious pool owners toward first. The lineup is the Dolphin Premier, Dolphin Sigma, and Dolphin Quantum Pro.

What separates ProLine from the rest of the brochure? Real waterline cleaning, not just "it climbs the wall." Waterline work means the bot scrubs and traverses the scumline where oils, pollen, and algae cling—something most robots never touch. Premier and Sigma use dual and triple commercial-grade motors; the Quantum Pro stays in ProLine with the same build philosophy and PowerJet 3D Mobility to track sideways along the tile line. Every ProLine ship I've tested also leans on NanoFiltration (covered in the next section), and Premier goes further with Multi-Media™—mesh, NanoFilters, the oversized leaf bag nobody else gets, and disposable bags for spring messes.

ProLine robots sold through authorized dealers (I buy through Poolbots) also avoid the 15–20% restocking-fee trap you see on random Amazon listings, and you usually get a 30-day trial. That's a big deal when you're spending this much. For the full story—motors, waterline tech, Multi-Media, and why it matters—read my Dolphin ProLine guide.

Dolphin Max-Series

Dolphin Max-Series is the gen-2 family built around MaxBin baskets and HyperBrush scrubbing—the brush spins 2× the speed of older Dolphins so it actively knocks debris loose before the vacuum pulls it in. Cayman and Escape live here: same top-load, easy-rinse DNA, two different price points.

The Quantum Pro shares that XXL MaxBin thinking (huge surface area, hinge dump door) but Maytronics still markets it as ProLine because you get included NanoFilters, commercial-grade motors, and PowerJet waterline cleaning in the same box. If that sounds confusing, you're not alone—that's exactly why I wrote a dedicated Dolphin Max-Series guide with video and a model-by-model breakdown.

NanoFilters

NanoFiltration is what turns a pool robot from a vacuum into a secondary filter. Standard mesh cartridges catch leaves and pebbles, but fine dirt, pollen, algae spores, and dust pass straight through and get blown back into the water—you stay stuck chasing cloudy water with chemicals.

NanoFilters use pleated, micro-pore media with far more surface area, so the robot actually removes what makes water hazy. After a few days of NanoFilter cycles you'll see less turbidity and better clarity—it's one of the biggest visible upgrades I've measured in testing. ProLine robots include them (or bundle them through dealers); Max-Series models often include or optional-upgrade to NanoFilters depending on SKU—either way, budget for them if you care about sparkle, not just "no leaves on the floor."

Robot-by-robot lists, photos, and my verdict live in the NanoFilters / NanoFiltration feature guide.

MaxBin

MaxBin is Maytronics' gen-2 top-load debris basket—think one-hand removal, hinge dump door, and zero cartridge panels to wrestle on cleaning day. Engineers sized it 50–225% larger than old gen-1 filters depending on model, so you empty less often and stall less when a tree dumps leaves overnight.

The Quantum Pro gets the XXL treatment; Cayman and Escape still use the same top-load, rinse-and-go philosophy at lower prices. Pair MaxBin with NanoFilters when you want capacity + fine filtration together. Full measurements, cleaning workflow, and which robots ship with MaxBin are in my MaxBin feature guide.

Dolphin Premier

Let's start this off with the best and my favorite cleaner, the Dolphin Premier. If you want a truly great cleaner that can do everything and more, then the Dolphin Premier is the best robot you can buy. This is the most value-packed cleaner there is. As part of the Dolphin ProLine, the Premier is built with commercial-grade components that separate it from the rest of the pack.

With three different filter options included, it has dual scrubbing brushes, Smart Nav 2.0 navigation, a programmable timer, a full filter indicator, waterline cleaning, a 3-year warranty, and most importantly: Multi-Media filtration.

The Premier is more powerful thanks to its commercial-grade motors, which helps each of these features do a better job of cleaning your pool. Waterline cleaning also sees a big improvement with the Premier thanks to its dual stabilizer, which helps the Premier stick to your waterline and clean it deeply. It is really impressive to watch as the Premier moves along the waterline like it was just the floor. It makes it look that easy.

Multi-media filtration is what really puts the Premier at the top of the Dolphin line-up for me, as it means that the Premier has a filter type for any debris. You have four filter options with the Premier: the standard fine filter, the NanoFilters, an oversized leaf bag, and a disposable debris bag. The standard fine filter is perfect for your average clean, and the NanoFilters are great for clearing up cloudy water.

My favorite of the bunch has to be the oversized leaf bag, as it can expand to hold a large amount of leaves and twigs. This is the only Dolphin robot that utilizes a leaf bag. My pool has always had issues with leaves and large debris. Filter baskets and cartridges just cannot get all of it in one cleaning, but the leaf bag definitely can. For a few dollars more, you can also pick up a disposable debris bag, which I use to clean my pool at the beginning of the season because I can just throw it out once it is all full.

There's one other little feature I would like to mention because it is something I love, and that is the full filter indicator. This little light lets you know when it is time to clean your robot's filter. In the past, I always forgot to clean my robot's filter, which meant it never cleaned as well as it could have. This little light reminds me to clean out the filter though, which means I can have it cleaning at the highest level all the time. Not to mention the robot will last longer because there will be less wear on its equipment.

The Dolphin Premier is the best Dolphin robot I've tested and one that should definitely be on your list of pool cleaners. It can clean anything and everything with ease, but what if you want a robot that is a little cheaper? See how the Premier stacks up against one of the most popular Dolphins out there in my Nautilus CC Plus vs Premier comparison.

Dolphin Quantum Pro

Now if you want a similar robot with almost all the same features, take a look at the Dolphin Quantum Pro—the newest model of the Quantum, redesigned for 2026. The Quantum Pro has the same great navigation thanks to Smart Nav and ease of use thanks to a programmable timer, Power Jet 3D Mobility, and NanoFilters. As a Dolphin ProLine robot, the Quantum Pro features the same commercial-grade build quality that makes Dolphin the gold standard—and the new generation adds the Wi-Fi smart power supply with the MyDolphin Plus app on top of it.

And here's the part almost no other corded robot can claim: the new Quantum Pro climbs and cleans steps, tanning ledges, and sun shelves. Those shallow shelf areas are the exact spot every other robot drives right past, and the Quantum Pro is one of the only corded cleaners on the market that handles them. If you've got a Baja shelf or sun-shelf stairs, that feature alone can make this the robot for you.

The second brush doubles the scrubbing power of the Quantum, but the real star is Power Jet 3D mobility. This feature allows the Quantum to reach the waterline and scrub deeply. The waterline is where a lot of gunk can build up, so being able to clean that area means the Quantum saves you a lot of time. While the waterline cleaning is just a step below the Premier, it is still fantastic and gets the job done.

And speaking of saving you time, the Quantum also includes NanoFilters, which will help you to clear up cloudy water in no time. If you've ever tried to clean up your cloudy pool water, you know how annoying it can be to get chemicals and constantly measure your water to make sure everything is perfect.

With NanoFilters though, the Quantum can filter out all these microscopic particles, which makes your pool much easier to clean. So if you need a great cleaner that can clean a little bit of everything and includes NanoFilters and a programmable timer, the Quantum may be the robot for you. Curious how the Quantum compares to the competition? Check out my Nautilus CC Plus vs Quantum and Beatbot AquaSense 2 vs Quantum comparisons.

Dolphin Sigma

Now if high tech and ease of use is the most important part of a cleaner to you, then the Dolphin Sigma is the robot I would recommend. The Sigma has Smart Nav 3.0, waterline cleaning, NanoFilters, three powerful motors, and app connectivity. Like the Premier and Quantum, the Sigma is part of the Dolphin ProLine — Maytronics' top-tier lineup.

Smart Nav 3.0 and three powerful commercial-grade motors mean the Sigma is the most powerful and efficient cleaner on this list. It offers great waterline cleaning and superior coverage, but the real star is its app connectivity.

The Sigma's app allows you to do a little bit of everything, from scheduling cleanings to manually controlling its cleaning path. You can schedule your robot to clean from anywhere, which is a nice touch. All the little features and adjustments you can do in the app allow you to clean your pool exactly as you want, without wasting any time or energy. It will even let you know stats such as gallons filtered, cycles ran, and kilowatts saved.

If you would like to learn more about the Premier, Quantum Pro, or Sigma, go and check out my reviews on each. Or go and check out some of my comparison videos to see how they compare to other units on the market.

Dolphin Cayman

Now, if these robots are out of your budget, but you still want great wall climbing ability, a programmable timer, an oversized MaxBin, and more, look no further than the Dolphin Cayman. Part of the new Dolphin Max-Series, the Cayman brings Gen-2 features at a more accessible price.

The Cayman can deeply clean the walls and floor of your pool thanks to its fantastic wall climbing ability, SmartNav 2.0 navigation, HyperGrip tracks, rubber scrubbing brush, and 2-year warranty. These features mean the Cayman will calculate the best cleaning path for your pool and then scrub away all the stuck-on debris, leaves, and more up and into its MaxBin.

What really puts the Cayman above other robotic pool cleaners in its price range is the fact that it offers a programmable timer. With this timer, you only have to walk outside once a week to set its cleaning schedule.

You can set the Cayman to clean every day, every other day, or every three days, so you can ensure your pool gets the exact cleaning it needs. So whether you own an inground pool or above-ground pool, the Cayman is a fantastic value for any pool.

Dolphin Escape

The Dolphin Escape is another great option, especially if you're looking for an entry-level robotic pool cleaner. The Escape comes with SmartNav 2.0, HyperGrip tracks, and an oversized MaxBin, making it a solid choice for above-ground pools. Like the Cayman, the Escape is part of the Dolphin Max-Series lineup.

The Escape lacks some of the advanced features found in the Premier or Sigma, such as waterline cleaning and app connectivity, but it still offers reliable cleaning performance at a lower price point.

If you're considering the Escape, keep in mind that it's part of the new Max-Series lineup alongside the Cayman—same gen-2 MaxBin DNA at two price points. The Quantum shares that oversized basket platform but sits in ProLine for motors, waterline cleaning, and included NanoFilters.

Dolphin Nautilus Lineup — The One Spec That Changes Everything

The Nautilus is Dolphin's most recognizable name—the line you see in big-box stores and all over Amazon. They're good robots, and they clean well. But here's the single most important fact in this entire guide, and it's the thing the store display will never put on a sign: every Dolphin Nautilus now carries a 1-year manufacturer warranty. Not two. Not three. One. That's straight off Maytronics' own spec sheets. When you're comparing a Nautilus to a ProLine robot with three years of coverage, that gap can cost you real money the day something fails in year two.

Nautilus Titan & Nautilus CC Supreme

The Nautilus Titan is the newest, top-of-the-line Nautilus—full floor, wall, and waterline coverage with Wi-Fi and app control at around $1,599. The Nautilus CC Supreme sits just below it with dual-layer top-load filtration and the same full coverage at around $1,449. Both are capable cleaners, but I have a hard time justifying either at those prices with a one-year warranty. The Quantum Pro is a few hundred more and hands you commercial-grade motors, NanoFilters in the box, step-and-shelf cleaning, and an extra year of coverage, while the Cayman costs less and adds a built-in weekly timer and the MaxBin.

Nautilus CC Pro, CC Plus & CC

The Nautilus CC Pro steps up to full floor, wall, and waterline coverage with Wi-Fi around $1,149. The Nautilus CC Plus is the popular budget pick—wall climbing, a top-load dual filter, and Wi-Fi on some SKUs—but no waterline cleaning and no NanoFilter. And the Nautilus CC is the baby brother, built for above-ground and small in-ground pools up to 33 feet. See how the CC Plus stacks up head-to-head in my CC Plus vs Quantum and CC Plus vs Premier comparisons, plus the Escape vs CC Plus and Escape vs CC breakdowns.

Nautilus AG & Nautilus Pool Up (Above-Ground)

For above-ground pools, Dolphin offers the Nautilus AG (floor and cove cleaning, around $579) and the Nautilus Pool Up (floor-focused, around $549). Both are simple plug-and-play machines with the same one-year Nautilus warranty. Before buying either, price them against the Escape—it usually wins on features per dollar, and I break down the whole above-ground field in my best above-ground robotic pool cleaners guide.

The Nautilus name sells, and these robots clean well. But dollar for dollar, a ProLine or Max-Series robot almost always wins on motors and warranty. If you find a Nautilus at a steep discount and you understand you're getting one year of coverage, fine—go in with your eyes open. Full spec-by-spec notes on every Nautilus live on my Dolphin comparison page.

Dolphin Explorer E10 — The Online-Only Entry

The Explorer is Dolphin's online-only line, and it got pared way down for 2026. The one still front and center is the Explorer E10—the entry rung at around $599, rated for pools up to 30 feet, floor-focused, plug-and-play, no app. For a smaller or above-ground pool that mostly needs the floor handled, it's a clean, no-drama pick, and you'll often find it as a Certified Open Box unit for even less on my deals page.

The bigger Explorers—the E25, E40, E50, and E70—are on their way out as Maytronics appears to be discontinuing them. You may still spot them in stores, and if one's deeply discounted it can be a fine buy. But at full price, don't bother—a Cayman or a Quantum Pro will out-value them every time, with a real weekly timer, NanoFilter options, and the same or better coverage. See my Escape vs E10 comparison if you're deciding between the two entry-level picks.

Dolphin Active, S-Line & T-Line

These lines lump together because they overlap a lot—largely the same proven Dolphin platform sold under different names and tiers. For 2026 they were renamed into a cleaner thousands system, and the old model numbers were retired.

Dolphin Active 3000 & 2000

The Active line—now the Active 3000 and Active 2000—is the everyday best-seller: Wi-Fi, the myDolphin Plus app, fine and ultra-fine filtration, full floor-walls-waterline coverage on pools up to 50 feet, and a 2-year warranty. MSRP runs from about $1,199 to $1,449.

Dolphin S2000

The S-Line—now the S2000—is the no-frills, weekly-timer version. No app, no Wi-Fi, but a big top-load basket, a built-in weekly timer, and real waterline scrubbing for around $1,199 with a 2-year warranty. A great pick if you don't care about an app and just want a robot that runs on a schedule.

Dolphin T3000 & T2000

The T-Line—now the T2000 and T3000—climbs in capability with the number, and the connected trims add the full app-controlled, full-coverage experience. Two-year warranty across the board.

Dolphin also runs the store-exclusive Premium line and the M-Series (M400 through M600) that overlap heavily with these. I'd treat them all the same way: cross-shop on price and run them through my checklist—weekly timer, NanoFilters, waterline cleaning, warranty. They're dependable robots, but always set one next to a Cayman or a Quantum Pro at the same price first. More often than not, the Max-Series or ProLine wins.

All the Dolphins I've Tested

Dolphin Liberty — The Cordless Option

I'm still going to steer most people toward a corded Dolphin—read why corded wins and the honest downsides of batteries in my best cordless pool robots guide. But if you've made up your mind and want Maytronics engineering without a cord, Dolphin Liberty is the lineup I'd pick over random Amazon brands or models tied to recalls.

The Liberty line is better than I expected. Every model cleans floor, walls, and the waterline, plus sun ledges down to about eleven inches—so you're not giving up that top inch the way you do on a lot of cordless robots. Four models make up the lineup:

Liberty 200 & Liberty 300

The Liberty 200 is the entry model at $949 with inductive Magnetic-Connect charging, rated for pools up to 33 feet with a 2-year warranty. The Liberty 300 at $1,249 adds Eco Mode, the Click-Up sound-activated pickup so you can call it to the surface, and a Cycle Selector—but no app. Both are compact, easy to drop in, and built like Dolphins—not disposable toys.

Liberty 400 & Liberty 600

The Liberty 400 at $1,429 brings in the MyDolphin Plus app and steps up to a 3-year warranty—rare for a cordless robot. And the new top dog, the Liberty 600 at $1,729, stretches to 50-foot pools, runs up to four and a half hours, adds multi-layer filtration and the Maytronics One app, climbs steps, and with its Eco Mode scheduler keeps a pool clean for one to two weeks on a single charge—also with a 3-year warranty.

You still live with cordless reality: weaker sustained suction than anything in ProLine, no NanoFiltration in the box, and on the cheaper models a retrieve → charge → repeat routine I get tired of fast. For brand-backed cordless cleaning, though, these are the most sensible cordless Dolphins I've run—the 600 in particular is a serious robot. See specs side by side on my Dolphin comparison page (Liberty 200 and Liberty 300), and for the full cordless landscape read corded vs cordless.

Current pricing moves around—check ThePoolNerd.com/deals for authorized Dolphin offers when you're ready to buy.

Dolphin EON Cordless — Shallow-Water Cleaning Down to 8 Inches

The EON is the newest cordless Dolphin, and it's the most interesting one Maytronics has built. The headline is shallow-water cleaning—it works in as little as 8 inches of water, so it finally reaches the tanning ledges and Baja shelves with barely any water on them, the spots even most corded robots skip. It covers the entire pool—floor, walls, waterline, steps, corners, and that sun ledge—uses JetIQ jets to grip and climb over steps, and runs SmartMap navigation that maps your pool's shape instead of just bumping around.

A quick naming note, because it trips people up: Dolphin sells this as both the EON and the Nautilus EON. They're the same robot—just a name-and-color difference—but the published warranty splits by channel. The retail Nautilus EON shows one year (which fits the Nautilus pattern); the store-exclusive EON shows two.

EON 100 vs EON 120d

Two models. The EON 100 is $899 and uses a sealed monoblock filter—a 70-micron cartridge that traps fine particles. The EON 120d is $1,199 and adds DebrisLock, a backwash filter that senses a clog and rinses itself while it's still in the pool, which Dolphin says saves you about twenty hours of filter cleaning a year. The headline spec is UltraRun: with the scheduler, the 100 keeps a pool clean for up to a week on one charge, and the 120d up to two weeks. Both run app control through Maytronics One—though heads up, the app only connects when the robot's above the waterline, so you schedule and check it on deck, not mid-clean. One fair warning straight from the reviews: the DebrisLock filter is fantastic at trapping fine grit, but when it's time to clean it out by hand, it's a bit of a chore.

Since I get this question constantly: between the EON and the Quantum Pro, the Quantum Pro is the corded pick—steps and shelves, full waterline, commercial-grade motors, and a longer warranty. The EON is the cordless one that goes even shallower, down to 8 inches. For most people with a step or a tanning ledge, those two are your real options, and almost nothing else on the market touches those areas.

Dolphin Wave Commercial — Overkill for Backyards

Quick one, because most of you don't need it. The Wave is Dolphin's commercial line—built for big public, municipal, and oversized pools. The Wave 60, 80, 100, and 120 scale up by pool size from about $1,599 to $4,499, plus the Wave W20, which handles pools up to about 68 feet and runs around $2,099. These are heavy-duty, long-cycle machines made to run all day in high-traffic water. If you own a backyard pool, this is overkill—point yourself back to the ProLine or Max-Series.

But here's a secret worth repeating, because it tells you exactly how good the residential robots have gotten: those Wave commercial machines cost two to eight grand and still don't come with NanoFilters, Multi-Media, Media-Alert, the app, or a weekly timer. The Premier and Sigma do. You're getting commercial power with residential brains for a fraction of the price.

Final Verdict

If you want the best of the best, the Dolphin ProLine series, including the Quantum Pro, Premier, and Sigma, is my top recommendation. I love these models for their commercial-grade motors, NanoFilters, and longer warranties. These are the most powerful and efficient cleaners you can buy, and they offer everything you need to keep your pool spotless.

For those looking for excellent performance without breaking the bank, the Max-Series Cayman and Escape are hard to beat—big MaxBins, optional NanoFilters, and real value. Quantum Pro overlaps that basket tech with full ProLine performance if you want waterline cleaning and included NanoFilters in one step.

Got steps, a tanning ledge, or a sun shelf? You finally have real options—the corded Quantum Pro for full coverage, or the cordless EON when that shelf sits in barely any water.

Need cordless? That's the one case where I'd point you to Dolphin Liberty or the EON above—not instead of a corded robot for most pools, but as the Maytronics-built options if you're committed to batteries.

Two rules to take with you. One: ProLine and Max-Series are the lineups to shop first in 2026. Two: always read the warranty—every Nautilus is just one year, while the ProLine gives you three. That single line has saved my readers more money than anything else I tell them. And one last secret: the best deal on any of these isn't the lowest sticker price—it's a Certified Open Box unit. Like-new condition, full warranty, hundreds off. I keep the current ones on my deals page.

Still not sure which Dolphin is the right fit? Head over to my full Dolphin comparison page where I break down every model side by side with charts, specs, and real testing results.

How I Tested

We run each product through multiple cleaning cycles in our test pool — floors, walls, waterlines, and filtration all get evaluated. Products go up against their direct competitors so you see real differences, not just marketing specs. We publish what we find — good and bad. If a $500 robot beats a $2,000 one, we'll tell you.

If you want to keep nerding out over your pool, be sure to hit that subscribe button to keep learning how to make pool maintenance way easier. Head on over to thepoolnerd.com to view my comparison page and see all the differences between the many robotic pool cleaners out there. Until then, enjoy that pool and check back soon for more pool maintenance tips and insights.