Dolphin Premier Robotic Pool Cleaner Review

The Dolphin Premier pool cleaner is made by Maytronics. What are the pros and cons of the Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner? What information about this robotic vacuum cleaner for mid-sized pools would affect someone’s interest in the unit but isn’t a clear point for or against the unit?

Pros of the Dolphin Premier Robotic Pool Vacuum

This robotic pool cleaner has the same advanced navigation and mapping functions as an expensive Roomba vacuum cleaner. It can map the bottom of your pool and ensure that it covers every inch of it.
This vacuum pool cleaner does a better job climbing out of the deep end of the pool and pool steps in order to clean them. The default debris bag is very large.
This pool vacuum can remove leaves and debris. The built in filters do a decent job of preventing the pool cleaner from leaving a trail of shredded leaves and seeds. Upgrade the filter and debris bag, and it can remove silt and algae as well.
This pool cleaner comes with a three year warranty, one of the longest for this type of product.
The Dolphin automatic pool cleaner is much more energy efficient than its rivals. And it comes with the converter that lets it run on DC power even when you plug it into a standard power outlet.
The tread lets it move over pebble bed pool bottoms while its design cleans these pools well.

Cons of the Dolphin Premier Pool Cleaner

If you want to control this robotic pool vacuum cleaner instead of letting it find its own way, such as spot cleaning trouble areas, you have to pay extra for a remote control for the unit.
The unit is so heavy that it can only climb half the way up the pool walls even with its very good tread.

Observations

The manufacturer has filter bags and remotes available through a number of websites, so even when you may have trouble finding service under its warranty, it is easy to find replacement parts.

The modular design of this product makes it easy for many do it yourselfers to replace commonly worn out components themselves.

You can find support items like pool cleaner caddies for helping move it around online. Note however that the pool caddy is sold separately.

If you are picking up a lot of leaves, use the debris bag – and know that leaves can clog the intake if they are very large. This pool vacuum does a better job picking up small leaves and pieces of leaves.

It takes about three hours to clean a mid-sized pool.

As with any heavy duty treaded pool vacuum cleaner, if it gets caught in the corner or trapped in the deep end of a vinyl pool, it can rip up the vinyl. This isn’t an issue in concrete and fiberglass pools.

Summary

This robotic pool vacuum cleaner is a good choice for those who want the same thoroughness and control as you would for a robotic home vacuum. It is the best high end robotic pool cleaner for those who want to be able to make repairs and upgrades themselves.

Comments

David Zueger says

November 29, 2017 at 2:40 am

Purchased a Dolphin Premier 3 seasons ago after reading over positive comments and questioned some of the negative comments. So after three years using the Dolphin and retiring our old (4th) Polaris and third motor, we could not be happier. It has worked perfect, no problems and it is set up one time a week for one or two cleanings depending on what the trees are dropping. Would purchase again without a question.

Steven says

April 27, 2018 at 10:37 pm

Just purchased the Dolphin Premier last month. Absolutely love it! I completely disagree with the author about it being too heavy to climb walls. I have a very large pool (40K gal) and it literally climbs above the water line. The ONLY disadvantage of the Premier when compared to a standard Polaris is that it doesn’t do a very good job picking up leaves. Other than that the Premier is hands down the best cleaner I’ve ever seen.