How I Rethought My Entire Approach to Pool Cleaning Supplies—Thanks to Beatbot

It was one of those slow Saturday mornings, the kind where time feels like it’s suspended. I was just sitting by the pool, coffee in hand, sun not too harsh yet, and I remember thinking: Wow, this looks perfect. But then I laughed to myself, because I knew what was really going on under that blue surface—fallen leaves, gritty dust, the occasional unidentified blob clinging to a corner. I’ve been through the full catalog of pool cleaning supplies over the years. Trust me, I’ve tried everything. Nets, brushes, vacuums, chemical kits… the whole circus. And every time, it just felt like I was always one step behind. That is, until I stumbled on Beatbot. And I’m not exaggerating when I say this: it honestly changed the entire game for me.

Before Beatbot, I had this routine I followed almost religiously. Sunday mornings were cleaning day. Out came the vacuum head, the chlorine tablets, the telescoping pole (which I always smacked into the patio furniture, every single time). I’d spend at least a couple hours going through the motions—skimming the top, brushing the sides, vacuuming the floor while gritting my teeth as I tried not to tangle the hose.

I’m not even going to mention how many times I misread those little test strips and ended up making the water too acidic. Not fun. And despite the money I poured (literally) into expensive "premium" chemicals and accessories, the pool always looked okay at best. Never great. Always that little green haze creeping back after a few days. I started to wonder if this was just how pool ownership was supposed to be—constant effort for okay results.

It was actually during a backyard BBQ that the name “Beatbot” first came up. My friend Matt, who’s notoriously into smart gadgets (he’s got a fridge that tells him when he’s low on milk), mentioned that he’d been testing out this new pool robot . At first I rolled my eyes—another gadget, great—but then he showed me a video. And okay, I’ll admit it, I was impressed.

He wasn’t pushing it around. He wasn’t babysitting it. It was just doing its thing, quietly and efficiently, like a little underwater Roomba with a PhD. “It’s the AquaSense 2,” he said. “You’ll never go back to the manual stuff.”

I didn’t jump on it right away. But after one more miserable weekend where I vacuumed my pool for an hour, only for a thunderstorm to undo all my work overnight, I gave in. I ordered the Beatbot AquaSense 2 series. No clue what to expect, really. I just knew I was tired of cleaning and re-cleaning the same dang pool.

The box arrived and I swear, unboxing it felt more like opening up a new phone than some heavy-duty cleaning equipment. It looked sleek. Minimalist. Not at all like the clunky gear I’d been using. I didn’t even have to break out the instructions (though I did skim them just to be safe). Setup was intuitive—nothing like the hours I used to spend trying to prime old vac hoses or refill chlorine floaters.

The first run was... honestly kind of mesmerizing. I just sat on the edge and watched. The Beatbot didn’t thrash around like the old suction cleaners I’d used before. It moved with this quiet, confident precision—like it knew where the dirt was hiding. I kept thinking, there’s no way it’ll get the steps. But five minutes later, it was gliding up them like it had done it a hundred times. I didn’t say anything out loud, but inside I was already thinking, Okay… this thing’s legit.

In the days that followed, something kind of weird happened: I stopped using almost all of my old pool supplies. Not out of laziness, but because I just didn’t need them. My skimmer net? Retired. The brush-on-a-stick? Gathering dust. That drawer full of half-used chemical packs? Untouched. The robot was just... taking care of it. Quietly, thoroughly, without fuss.

I still do occasional water tests (because I’m a bit neurotic), but everything has stayed balanced. I actually think the robot makes circulation more even, which might be helping. And since I’m not over-scrubbing or dumping in extra chemicals “just in case,” the water actually feels better. Less sting in the eyes. No weird chlorine smell clinging to my skin.

Honestly, the best part? I’m not spending half my weekends dealing with a list of pool chores. I actually enjoy the pool again. I float, I swim, I lounge. No more guilt about needing to “take care of it first.” It takes care of itself. Or rather, Beatbot does.

Friends who come over always ask the same question when they spot the little robot zipping around the bottom of the pool: "Wait, what is that?" I explain it’s a robotic pool cleaner, and yeah, I do sound like an infomercial at this point. But then I hand them a drink, and while we’re sitting around chatting, Beatbot is in the background just… doing its job.

One buddy joked, “Your pool’s cleaner than my kitchen,” and I didn’t even have to defend myself. It just is that clean. No weird patches, no leaves, no slickness on the tile. It’s like having a tiny, invisible cleaning crew that works for free.

Here’s the part I didn’t see coming: I actually started caring more about my pool once it became easier to manage. Isn’t that strange? You’d think automating the work would make me more detached, but it had the opposite effect. Because I wasn’t burnt out anymore, I had the headspace to actually enjoy what I had. I bought nicer loungers. I added lights. I even planted some jasmine near the fence because, why not?

I also named the robot. I know, ridiculous. But my kids called it “Scuba Steve” and it just stuck. Now it’s like a little member of the family. We’ll peek outside and someone will say, “Oh look, Steve’s on his shift.” It’s become part of our daily rhythm, and honestly, it’s kind of adorable.

Not a chance.

I still walk past the aisle of pool cleaning supplies at the store now and then, and I just smile. There was a time when I thought I needed all of that—every tool, every bottle, every backbreaking hour. But I didn’t need more supplies. I needed less effort. I needed smarter help.

And Beatbot gave me exactly that.

It didn’t just clean my pool. It gave me back my weekends, my sanity, and weirdly enough, a bit of joy I didn’t even realize I’d lost. Not bad for a robot, right?

Now if only it could do laundry too.