How an Automatic Pool Cleaner from Beatbot Accidentally Made Me Fall in Love With My Pool Again

I still remember the exact moment I realized I hated my pool. It was mid-July, unbearably hot, and I was ankle-deep in cloudy, lukewarm water, scooping out something that looked suspiciously like a drowned squirrel (turned out it was just a very ambitious bird). My lower back ached from the bending, my hands reeked of chlorine, and my kids were inside complaining that the water was "gross." That pool, which was supposed to be my backyard oasis, had turned into the most high-maintenance relationship of my life. I was this close to draining the whole thing and turning it into a sandpit—until I bought an automatic pool cleaner . More specifically, a Beatbot AquaSense 2. And no, this isn’t some weird sponsored plug. I’m just genuinely shocked that a robot saved my summer—and honestly, a little piece of my sanity too.

I never planned on owning an “automatic pool cleaner.” That phrase sounded like something for the kind of people who drink green smoothies at 6 a.m. and own five different smart home speakers. I’m not that guy. I’m more of a “try to fix things with duct tape” kind of homeowner. But after one too many weekends wasted with a skimmer in one hand and a beer in the other (the beer got warm way too fast), I caved.

A friend of mine mentioned Beatbot. Actually, he wouldn’t shut up about it. “It’s like a Roomba, but for your pool,” he said while lounging smugly next to his absurdly clean water. I rolled my eyes, but later that night I looked it up, and… I don’t know, something about it just felt right. It wasn’t trying too hard with flashing lights or weird futuristic designs. It looked simple, smart, almost like it knew what it was doing. So I ordered one. Kind of impulsively. Kind of out of desperation.

When it first arrived, I didn’t expect much. I unpacked it, gave it a quick rinse, and dropped it in the pool like I was feeding a koi fish. It sank quietly, then came to life like it belonged there. No sputtering, no weird floating. It just started working—like, really working.

I swear, watching this thing glide along the bottom of the pool was almost meditative. It didn’t clunk around like those awkward machines my neighbor used to borrow. No weird cables. No chaos. Just this silent, graceful little cleaner doing the job I’d been wrestling with for years—and doing it better than I ever had. The first time it finished a full cycle, I just sat there staring at the water. It looked different. Clearer. Fresher. It actually invited me in.

That was the night I swam just for fun again. No goggles, no scrub brush on standby. Just me and the stars.

Now, I’m not going to pretend this cleaner changed my life the way a therapist or a good dog can. But it changed my relationship with my home. I no longer dreaded the pool. In fact, I started using it more—late nights, early mornings, random lunch breaks when work got too much. And my kids? Suddenly they were out there again, making up pool games, dragging floats around, laughing like it was 2015.

It’s kind of amazing how much a small change can ripple out. I hosted a few barbecues this summer, something I hadn’t done in ages because I was too embarrassed by the pool. My in-laws visited and complimented the water quality (if you knew my father-in-law, you'd know that’s high praise). And for the first time, maintaining the pool didn’t feel like a task. It felt like... nothing. Because I wasn’t doing it.

Somewhere along the way, the robot got a name: Carl. It wasn’t my idea. My youngest started calling it that after watching it clean like a little underwater butler. Now, we all say things like, “Let Carl take care of it,” or “Has Carl finished his shift?” Honestly, Carl deserves it. He’s been consistent, quiet, reliable—the opposite of me when I used to do this stuff manually.

What blows my mind is how this machine seems to understand the pool better than I ever could. It doesn't just randomly bump around—it knows the shape, the slopes, even those pesky stairs I could never quite clean right. It somehow remembers what it's done. And it never misses a spot. Ever. If it were a person, I’d probably ask it to help with yard work.

Most home upgrades are showy. New patio furniture, fancy grills, giant outdoor TVs. But this? This is quiet luxury. It’s the invisible kind of better—the kind that lets you enjoy your home more without needing to show it off. And that’s what I think I love most about it. Beatbot  didn’t just sell me a cleaner. They sold me peace. Not in a dramatic, life-altering way, but in the background hum of a well-cared-for home.

I don’t check the pool anymore. I don’t schedule maintenance days. I just live, and the pool is ready when I am.

Sometimes I look back at that July day with the maybe-squirrel and laugh. I was ready to give up on something that I now use almost daily, something that feels like a part of my summer identity again. It’s funny how close we can come to giving up on things we love—not because we stopped loving them, but because we got tired of the work they required.

Carl, my little pool robot , gave me that love back. And no, he doesn’t talk. He doesn’t wink at me or play music or any of that fancy “smart tech” nonsense. He just does what I wish more things did: the job. Quietly. Perfectly. Every time.

If you have a pool, you probably understand exactly what I mean. And if you don’t… well, you probably just think I’m some weirdo who wrote an entire article about a robot named Carl.

And you’d be right. But I’m also someone who’s finally, fully enjoying summer again—and it started with an automatic pool cleaner that turned out to be way more than just a machine.

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