Going for a relaxing swim in your spare time is only possible when you have a sparkling and crystal clear pool. Otherwise, you may have to start scrubbing and cleaning the pool to make it half as clean as you want.
When it comes to pool cleaning, nothing is more efficient and convenient than an automatic pool cleaning robot. Despite the influx of pool robots, one brand has continued to stand out in the market and that’s the Dolphin from Maytronics. And one excellent gadget from Maytronics is the Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner.
Now, this is a robot that completely crushes pool cleaning and with it, you’ll never again have to forgo a relaxing swim because of a dirty pool. Take the next few minutes to find out why this robot is an awesome pool cleaner and why you most likely need one.
You may also enjoy: Dolphin Proteus DX5i Review
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The 1-minute Dolphin Premier review
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The Dolphin Premier is a premium robotic pool cleaner designed to automatically clean large in-ground pools (up to 50 feet). Using HyperGrip rubber tracks, it efficiently counters water friction and stays firmly attached to the floor and walls of the pool while powerful dual scrubbing brushes attack and dislodge even the toughest dirt on the surfaces of your pool.
Unlike most other pool robots, this gadget has multiple filter options for customized and optimal pool cleaning, it comes with; ultra-fine cartridge filter, fine cartridge filter, and debris bags. It also comes equipped with a patented 60 ft anti-tangle swivel cable to supply power while ensuring glitch-free under-water movement.
Read more: We have a couple of comparison posts you will be interested in. Check out the Dolphin Oasis z5i vs Premier and also we compare the Dolphin Premier with the Sigma, all three machines are excellent choices.
As one of the best Dolphin pool cleaners from Maytronics, Dolphin Premier features an advanced navigation software for scanning and mapping the pool for deep and thorough cleaning. Maytronics stands behind their product with a 3-year warranty.
- Smart Mapping of Multi-story Homes
- Excellent Camera-based Navigation
- Automatic Room Recognition
- Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility
- Automatic Recharge & Resume
- Dirt Detect Feature
- Wi-Fi Connectivity
- Smart Carpet Identification
- High price tag
- Loud motor
- Can get stuck on loose cables
- Like every other robot vacuum, it’s still can’t climb stairs.
- Drop and go. Easy to use, single button plug and play in-ground robotic pool cleaner ideal for pools up to 50 feet; backed by a 3 year quality assurance.
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner full review
If you’re always too busy to clean your pool and you find yourself wishing you could just delegate that necessary but unpleasant task to someone, then just know that you were indirectly wishing for a robotic pool cleaner. But not just any pool robot, of course not! You want one that actually does the job with very little or no input from you, right?
That’s exactly what the Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner brings to the table, plus a little extra. With this gadget, you’ll be able to maintain a clean pool by just pushing some buttons and you’ll finally have the liberty to go about your day while the pool is being cleaned.
Dolphin Premier is fully automated and has a SmartNav scanning and navigation system which it uses to scan and map your pool for smart navigation, plus thorough and efficient cleaning. This gadget also uses a 24-volt DC motor to power two high-speed scrubbing brushes.
Dirt in a pool can either be leaves, sand, algae, twigs, sticks, small particles and everything in between. Oftentimes, it’s the accumulation of different dirt types and to completely get everything out requires the right type of filtration. This is where the Dolphin Premier really shines, it has a multi-media filter system to ensure that every and any dirt particle in the pool is captured.
How does the Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner work?
Maytronics Dolphin Premier is a smart gadget designed to take the time-consuming chore of cleaning up a messy pool off your hands. It’s designed to automatically clean large in-ground pools of up to 51 feet using spinning brushes and a HyperGrip continuous rubber track system for stable under-water movement.
Instead of wheels, the Dolphin Premier uses specially designed HyperGrip continuous rubber tracks for firmly planting the robot on the floors and walls of pools. These tracks are able to counter any loss of friction due to water and provide a strong grip on both horizontal and vertical surfaces (walls), ensuring that the robot moves steadily while getting the job done.
As it moves, two high-speed spinning brushes work to dislodge and scrub off grime and dirt particles including algae from the floor, walls, corners and every inch of the pool. The dirt particles are then collected into a filtration media of your choice.
Dolphin Premier comes with four different filtration media which affords you the liberty of choosing your preferred one for every cleaning cycle — this is one feature that largely differentiates this robot from other pool cleaners.
The available choices are; a micro-cartridge filter for capturing very tiny and nearly invisible dirt particles and pool contaminants. A standard cartridge for sand, dirt and clearly visible particles. A permanent debris bag for trapping large debris like leaves. And disposable debris bags that also capture large debris and majorly for convenience.
With these filtration options, you can determine the outcome of each cleaning cycle. If your pool is really messy with tiny dirt particles and sand, you know which filter cartridge to use and if it’s just leaves and twigs, then you use a debris bag. Replacing one filter option with another is very simple and the robot also has a LED light indicator that alerts you when the filter cartridge or debris bag is full.
The dolphin premier pool cleaner is able to smartly move around in the pool. It features a CleverClean technology powered by advanced navigation and scanning software, with this the robot will scan the pool and create a map for the best and shortest cleaning route. This improves efficiency and saves time and energy because the robot is able to ‘know’ where it’s cleaned and won’t go over those areas again.
While the robotic pool cleaner is hard at work, a 60 ft long anti-tangle swivel cable keeps it connected to a power source. This cable promotes glitch-free movement because it rotates 360-degrees and it’s made from thermoplastic rubber which reduces frictional drag. The Dolphin Premier does a great job and at the end of each cleaning cycle, expect to find a sparkling pool.
Performance
This pool cleaner is one of the best Dolphin pool cleaners and it excels at pool cleaning. With just two or three cleaning cycles it’ll completely transform a super-messed up pool to sparkling neat.
It’s an excellent pool cleaning machine but it does have a few flaws. The robot comes with a user’s guide which has very vague and unclear instructions, seriously it’ll leave more confused than clarified. Of course, you can get around this by seeking answers to your questions online.
Next, the robot comes with a remote control which isn’t very useful and the manual controls are painfully slow. This unit can only run for 3 hours and this cannot be adjusted, instead, its settings only let you program it to clean 1, 2 or 3 times a week, and the next week you’ll have to set it again. This isn’t very convenient and it doesn’t excel at cleaning steps, you’ll still have to do some manual cleaning there.
Another minor flaw is the light indicator for cartridge/debris bag which is supposed to come on when the dirt collector is full, sometimes the light comes on only for you to pull out the robot and find out the debris bag is still more than halfway empty — this doesn’t happen very often. Also, this unit weighs about 22 pounds, so it can be heavy while pulling it out of the water. Despite these quirks, Dolphin Premier robotic pool cleaner still does an excellent pool cleaning job.
Ease of set-up and use
This gadget requires no installation, it’s simply plug in and play. When your Dolphin Premier pool cleaner arrives, unpack the robot and remove any plastic covers. You’ll find the power cord attached to the robot, unwind it and plug the power supply/control unit to the cable, then plug it into a power outlet.
Lower the robot into the pool and let it sink to the pool floor. Also, drop some parts of the power cord into the pool, then switch on the power supply and watch the robot go. That’s how simple it is.
After a cleaning cycle, turn off the power and unplug the control unit, pull the robot to the pool’s edge with the power cord and use the handle to pull it out of the water. Discard the contents of the filter cartridge/debris bag and pack the robot to be used another day.
Reliability
Maytronics Dolphin Premier does a commendable pool cleaning job and comes with a 3-year warranty. However, there have been reports of breakdown after a few months of use and unfortunately, Maytronics doesn’t respond fast enough and customer support is below satisfactory.
They have a great online troubleshooting guide that will answer many of your potential issues.
Though this robot comes with remote control, you can only use it to change the direction of the robot in the pool. You also cannot schedule this robot to run in advance, you can only set the timer for the number of times you want it to run in a week, and you need to do this every week which defeats the purpose of automation. And don’t be surprised when it gets stuck a few times in your pool, when this happens you may have to rescue it — this doesn’t happen very often.
Ongoing maintenance
This is a very simple gadget to maintain. If you use the filter cartridges, then you’ll have to empty them and wash them with a garden hose after each cleaning cycle. If this is too much work, simply switch to the debris bags, especially the disposable debris bags.
After some months of use, you may need to replace some wearable parts like the cleaning system, these parts can easily be replaced and they’re readily available. This Dolphin pool cleaners also comes with a 3-year warranty, so Maytronics engineers will be responsible for fixing up the robot if it breaks down with the warranty period.
Extra purchases and ongoing costs
As a gadget with wearable parts, you’ll expect these parts to need replacements after a certain time. Thankfully, you can easily get replacement parts in a number of websites and they usually don’t cost an arm and a leg. Even without a Maytronics engineer, you can change some parts like the brushes and filter cartridges yourself, these parts can be easily removed and replaced. The lifespan of the robot and its wearable parts will depend on how often you use it and how properly you maintain the robot.
FAQs
Does this robot get stuck on the raised drains on the pool bottom?
Dolphin Premier can handle raised drains and rarely gets stuck but once in a while, it may get stuck. And when it does, it will struggle and work its way off. If yours gets stuck and it’s becoming a problem you can place a call to Maytronics and they will send you a free outlet flow diverter attachment to prevent the robot from getting stuck on raised drains.
How do I choose between the debris bag and the filter cartridge for my pool?
The debris bags are best suited for removing large debris like leaves, twigs, and sticks from the pool, so if your pool is polluted with these objects, a debris bag is an ideal choice. The filter cartridges are used when the contaminants in your pool are tiny dirt like sand, algae, and other small particles.
Does it clean the seating ledge and steps?
If the seating area and steps are shallow, the robot may be unable to get to them because the design of this robot doesn’t permit it to climb out of the pool. And you may need to use a pool brush to manually scrub those areas. It will clean the bottom of the step but not the shallow areas.
What size pool is this robot best suited for?
Dolphin Premier is designed for large in-ground pools of up to 55 ft long, over 30 ft wide and 10 ft deep. The pool can be any shape, if you have a really large pool you may have to run a cleaning cycle every day or every other day to ensure the pool is always neat and crystal clear.
Will this robot climb walls efficiently if the pool is an in-ground fiberglass shell, instead of concrete?
Yes, it will efficiently clean in-ground pools with fiberglass walls and vinyl liner. This Dolphin pool cleaner works well on different surfaces including gunite, concrete, tile, fiberglass or vinyl-lined.
Final thoughts on the Dolphin Premier review
Adding pool cleaning to an already busy schedule can be very challenging and most times you may not find the time for it. So why not invest in a robot that’ll take care of it?
Although the cost of a robotic pool cleaner may seem like a whole lot of money and it is. But, consider the tons of time and energy it will save you plus the stress of never having to manually scrub and clean your pool again.
And the minor quirks of the Dolphin Premier is nothing you can’t get around, first don’t even bother with the remote control and always check for wear and replace parts as soon as possible. If you have a large in-ground pool and the budget for a premium pool robot, you should seriously consider a Dolphin Premier, it’s an excellent machine.
- Drop and go. Easy to use, single button plug and play in-ground robotic pool cleaner ideal for pools up to 50 feet; backed by a 3 year quality assurance.
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Matt is the founder of the Little Robot Shop, who has spent much of the last decade hacking home cleaning with various robots and devices to make keeping his home clean as easy as possible. Not an easy task with two young children.
When not working on the Little Robot Shop website or YouTube channel, he works as technical support and product specialist for a fast-growing digital company. He does his best to get his younglings to code, which will be an essential skill in the future.
