REVIEW: The Wybot C2 Vision robot pool cleaner – Smarter than your average pool robot

Summer is upon us and if you’re lucky enough to have a pool, the rising temperatures reminds you that the expense of installing that pool was worth it. But alongside the benefits of having a pool there comes the burden of it’s maintenance. So any device that can take some of that hassle away is worth investigating.

So I invested in the Wybot C2 Vision robot pool cleaner.

I have had a pool for over a decade but when it comes to cleaning I have always taken the option only one step up from manual cleaning, an automated creepy crawly type option attached to the pool pump. It my case a Mako Shark

There is a lot to be said for a set and forget approach as you know that for the 7 or 8 hours that your pump is operating per day, the vacuum is also doing it’s best to keep your pool clean. Or is it?

These cheaper options do a pretty good job of keeping debris that sits on the bottom of the pool to a minimum. So would a robot pool cleaner do it better?

Before I determine the effectiveness of the Wybot C2 Vision and in an effort to compare old technology with the new I took a time lapse video of the Mako Shark cleaner I have relied upon for the last 5 years. To my amazement it showed that when I thought the random nature of the oscillations would eventually cover the entire pool, instead I found that it merely moved in an exaggerated figure eight pattern over the same path.

In preparation for this review I also joined the Pool Owners Australia Facebook Group to gather feedback. As you may have experienced yourself, these facebook groups can really help but also can confuse a potential buyer as you tend to get mixed reviews. After sharing my time lapse video two things were clear. There are two trains of thought when it comes to robot vacuums and that is corded or cordless. What was almost unanimous however was members believed my hose was too short.

Whilst additional length may have allowed the cleaner to reach further, it would not have solved the problem of the path the cleaner takes

Lets start at the start

Why did I choose this the Wybot C2 Vision?

Early Boxing Day sales was one significant reason as this allowed me to spend my budget (about $1,000) and get more features than the base model. The C2 boasts greater suction,  greater battery time and more cleaning modes than it’s predecessor the C1. I opted for the next step up from the C2, the “C2 Vision” because it features what they class as “AI Vision Technology” enabling it to “efficiently seek out trash and easily avoid obstacles. Yes they got me with the marketing speak but as explain later, the extra $200 for the “Dirt-Hunting” mode is probably worth it. Plus it claims to “boost cleaning efficiency by up to 20x compared to traditional cleaners”. Whatever that means. This is all achieved by utilising the inbuilt camera

Unboxing

After ordering the robot from the Wybot website for $1069, delivery took about a week and this unit arrived in a surprisingly small box.

What’s in the box?

Aside from the robot itself, the box contains

• The power adapter,
• A hook for fetching the robot from the bottom of the pool after cleaning
• Additional floating parts to attach to the C2 Vision for use on pools with slippery surfaces such as wall tiles
• The basket and an ultra-fine Hepa filter

The App

As expected, the first step is to create an account once you download the app. A tip, do this in the app rather than on the website. My website created account was not recognised in the app so I had to start again.

Another strange behaviour was that my WiFi network name was truncated by the app when showing a list of available networks so I had to manually enter the SSID and password

Charging

The C2 Vision comes with a plug for charging with a charge time close to the advertised 3 hours. You can monitor the charge from the app or from the green LED’s on the top of the unit. Flashing in 20% increments and solid green when fully charged. FYI my unit came at 63% battery level out of the box so the wait wasn’t the full 3 hours. What was a little weird however was that it quickly moved to 99% and then a few minutes later the LED’s went solid green but the app only showed 99%. I gave up after waiting 30 minutes and assumed it was fully charged.

Giving it a whirl

First step:

Create your pool by selecting pool shape, material and bottom slope type. I must admit that I had no idea what a “Standard Hopper bottom” pool was but it’s what I have. I suspect most pool owners have one too. A pool deeper at one end than the other. The unusual terminology didn’t stop there where the confirmation button is not labelled “OK” or “Next” but instead is called “Determine”. The translation of the Chinese app may need some work still.

Second step: With 8 different cleaning modes and a subset of cleaning patterns to choose from to suit your pool I was determined to try them all

They are:

• Turbo Floor (1H)
• Floor (2H)
• Eco Floor (3H)
• Wall
• Water Line
• Standard Full pool
• Wall then Floor
• Dirt- Hunting

Additionally by accessing the “Expert” settings you can also choose the pattern each mode utilises to cover your pool

• Floors
  • Star pattern
  • Cross pattern
  • S pattern
• Walls
  • H pattern
  • N pattern

Once you have chosen the mode the app communicates this to the robot. The LED’s will show purple to indicate that the app and robot are communicating. The app will beep and tell you that your mode has been successfully transferred. Then it is simply a matter of dropping it in the pool. It is at this point if you were expecting to be able to monitor it’s progress like a floor vacuum then you’re out of luck. Once submerged the information cannot penetrate the water so real-time monitoring or communication is not possible.

And yes that means you can’t watch real-time vision from the camera.

Over several days each cleaning mode was analysed to judge coverage, battery use and effectiveness of clean

How well does it clean?

I found that my pool has never looked so clean. All 8 cleaning modes gave me a much better clean than vacuuming manually and better than the old Mako Shark. The option to choose cleaning patterns comes in very handy as the S pattern worked for me but if I had a circular pool the star pattern would have suited better.

Unlike a robot floor vacuum there is no way to monitor the unit in real time to determine whether it covered every part of the pool. Unless you watch and keep notes you can only decide whether all parts of the pool were covered if you find patches of leaves or debris after operation

Wall climbing & Steps

If this is your first robot vacuum it’s always interesting to see just how far these devices have progressed since the early days. Climbing walls to scrub the pool surface is something that can be mesmerising. The C2 Vision worked for me on the walls straight out of the box (pebblecrete) but if you have a slippery pool surface such as tiles, Wybot recommend fitting the supplied floating blocks so the unit can remain buoyant enough to get the job done. The robot had no problems climbing the walls or steps to get to as much of the pool that could be expected. The only issue you may find is if your steps are shallow the propulsion system on the top of the unit may struggle to get purchase and push down on the surface.

The C2 Vision party trick

The C2 Vision is based on the standard C2 with one distinct difference. The existence of a forward facing camera that gives the Vision an eighth cleaning mode over the seven of the base model. Dirt-Hunting. And it really works. With great trepidation I had a perfectly clean pool then threw a handful of dirt in, hoping the claims that the C2 Vision would seek it out a target the mess. It did. In the first 20 minutes of the cycle it primarily concentrated on the pile of dirt identified by the camera and went to work

Battery usage

This is where things got interesting and initially I thought it was a fault with the unit

I assumed that anything less than a full pool clean would use less battery than one of the other options that clean only parts of the pool. What I discovered however that a single cleaning mode such as “Wall”, “Water Line” or any of the three Floor settings would perform the clean but would then just keep going until the battery was depleted. When those three options include a 1 hour setting I assumed the robot would finish after about an hour and the smaller tasks such as “wall only” or “waterline only” would finish with plenty of charge in the tank..

Even in dirt-hunting mode the cleaning continued for a further 90 minutes after the dirt patch was taken care of til the battery was flat.

I reached out to Wybot customer service just before Christmas and over the Christmas/New Year period they requested videos. In the end they replaced the unit which gave me a good opportunity to compare run times to see if indeed 1 hour is designed not to be an hour and every mode is designed to run til the battery runs low. The table below seems to indicate that this is the case.

Maybe I am used to home robot vacuum cleaners that do the job then stop and maybe pool cleaners aren’t as sophisticated as vacuum cleaners yet?

I am sure everyone reading this review is very interested in battery use and probably has concerns about robotic pool cleaners as to the longevity of any battery unit. The below table outlines all modes and running times. All tests started at 100% charge and ended with low battery warning (Yellow LED’s) and the robot moving to the side of the pool for collection with the hook.

Mode	Time from start to stop (minutes) First machine	Time from start to stop (minutes) Replacement machine
Turbo Floor (1H)	105	100
Floor (2H)	120	115
Eco Floor (3H)	185	175
Wall	140	125
Water Line	125	170
Standard Full Pool	135	135
Wall then Floor	130	120
Dirt-Hunting	115	115

Cycle Timer

The anomaly of a 1 hour cycle running for 100 minutes aside, there is an option to restrict the cleaning to one hour or even 40 or 30 minute increments by selecting “Cycle Timer” in the app. Available in floor mode or dirt-hunting mode only, this forces the robot to stop after the set period and repeat the run either 24 or 48 hours later. Choose between two 60 minute cycles over 2 days, three 40 minute cycles over 3 days or four 30 minutes cycles over a week. You could just leave the robot in the pool over that period rather than fishing it out provided the battery is still capable of running 120 minutes.

Cleaning

When the unit has completed its task it will travel to the edge of the pool for collection. This is achieved with a hook that attaches to your standard pool pole. The hook is supplied (see pic of what’s in the box)

Cleaning the filter is extremely easy. Just a hose out and insert it back in the robot

Additional information

When using Turbo Floor Mode it is recommended you insert the extra 10 µm (10 micron) filter to capture even the finest of debris and sand. My pool looked clean after a normal cycle but I tried the 10 µm filter and was surprised at the extra sand it picked up.

Should you buy it?

Pros

• Superior cleaning
• Programmable
• Can climb walls and concentrate on the waterline where a great deal of marking occurs in pools
• 2 year warranty and 30 day returns policy
• Dirt-Hunting actually works
• No cable tangles

Cons

• Has to be charged as opposed to similar units that work on a cable
• Has to be manually placed in the pool regularly
• Cost – but only if you pay RRP of $1,699 and it certainly isn’t considered top of the range. You can pay upwards of $4,000 for some pool cleaners
• Uses a full charge every time

Would I recommend it?

It is fair to say that my pool has never looked cleaner as the Wybot C2 Vision does a far better job than the old pump driven arrangement. It doesn’t reach everywhere but covers more of the pool than either the Mako Shark did or I bothered to get to manually. I have to say however that the concerns around battery life are valid. As are the concerns around prolonged use and long-term battery degradation. That will only be evident over time. As this model boasts Adaptive AI learning users are informed that during its first month of use, the AI continuously scans and learns your pool’s unique layout, obstacle positions, and common debris collection points to build a customized cleaning database. Perhaps I will see a change to the running times in the coming months.

At over $1,000 it is a big investment and it is difficult to predict whether it maintains this effectiveness over the coming years. But from it’s performance today it is a yes from me but a conditional yes. Maybe I was expecting more of a home vacuum experience where the technology has improved significantly over the last few years. Pool Robots are yet to embark on that learning curve so I would anticipate big improvements in subsequent models. Watch this space