Hey there, and welcome back to the Pool Nerd. I'm Justin, your resident pool aficionado, and today I'm taking a look at the Dolphin DX3. The DX3 is a popular robot, so I figured it was time for me to pick one up and see if it lived up to the hype. It is a solid cleaner, but it is missing two key cleaning features that you'll simply need as a pool owner:
- NanoFilters
- Waterline Cleaning
With better value robotic cleaners out there, you will likely want to spend a little more to ensure you have the best clean at the best price.
Cleaning Coverage
The Dolphin DX3 can cover the floors and walls of pools up to 33 feet. If you have a larger in-ground pool, you will want to look elsewhere as the DX3 is meant primarily for smaller in-ground pools. As with all the other Dolphin cleaners I've reviewed, the DX3 has rubber tracks and a strong scrubbing brush.
Once I dropped it into the water, I noticed it did exactly as I expected it to. It adhered to the floor well and scrubbed away debris. Like all Maytronics cleaners, it performs quite well on the pool floors.
However, when it comes to the walls, the performance drop-off begins. It can partially climb the walls but does not clean the waterline, which is the dirtiest part of your pool.
Waterline Cleaning
Since the Dolphin DX3 doesn't clean the waterline, you will have to clean up after it, which lowers its value as it isn't doing as much work. Waterline cleaning is a must-have feature in my book, especially since it can now be found outside of premium robots, thanks to units such as the Dolphin Quantum. The Quantum, which costs a little more than the DX3, can save you tons of time by cleaning the waterline and clearing cloudy water.
Debris Collection
Once the debris is swept up off the floor and walls, the Dolphin DX3 stores it in the standard fine filter basket. An easy-to-remove fine filter basket is always welcome, but it is standard with Dolphin cleaners.
However, I expect in-ground units to offer additional filter types, such as the NanoFilter found on the Dolphin Quantum. Without this NanoFilter, the DX3 will not be able to clear up cloudy pool water, which means you will have to clear up the waterline and cloudy water manually.
Leaf Cleaning
If you struggle with leaves, you'll likely want to look at the Dolphin Premier. While it is an upgrade to the Dolphin DX3, it has a longer warranty, better motors, more filter options, and most importantly, a leaf bag. I cannot recommend the Dolphin Premier enough, as I even rated it the best robotic pool cleaner of 2026 If it is in your pool budget, this is the go-to robot I recommend.
Programmable Timer
The Dolphin DX3 does make my life easier in one way, though, and that is thanks to its programmable timer. This timer lets you schedule the robot to run every day, every two days, or every three days. Just set the DX3's schedule once a week, and it is good to go.
However, this is a standard feature for in-ground robots in this price range, and robots such as the Dolphin Cayman and Dolphin Quantum offer a programmable timer in addition to extra features like waterline cleaning and multiple filtration options.
Final Verdict
So what's my final verdict on the Dolphin DX3?
Buy With Caution.
If cloudy water or a dirty waterline are problems your pool faces, then I would definitely look into other robots, such as the Dolphin Quantum, which can clean your waterline and has NanoFilters.
If you want even more filter options, struggle with leaves, or want the best waterline cleaning out there, I would look into the Dolphin Premier. The Dolphin Premier has a unique feature called Multi-media, which means it comes out of the box with 3 filter types: fine, NanoFilters, and an oversized leaf bag. You can even purchase an optional disposable debris bag. This means no debris or spot of your pool will be missed, which cannot be said for the DX3.
Conclusion
If you want to keep nerding out over your pool, check out the rest of our website to keep learning how to make pool maintenance way easier. 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 insight.
Related Reading
- All Dolphin Pool Cleaner Reviews — Every Dolphin review in one place
- Compare Every Dolphin Model — Side-by-side breakdown of all Dolphin pool cleaners
- Best Dolphin Pool Cleaners — Our top Dolphin picks
- Best Robotic Pool Cleaners — Our overall top picks after testing 30+ robots
- Dolphin ProLine Guide — Everything about the ProLine series
- All Robotic Pool Cleaner Reviews — Every robot we’ve tested
