Aiper Surfer S1 robot pool skimmer – eats leafs and floating rubbish

The Aiper Surfer S1 robot pool skimmer has turned our perennially dirty pool into a pristine one. It is solar-powered and does its job from sun-up to sun-down and beyond.

Why do we have a perennially dirty pool? Well, a neighbouring tall pine tree with needle-like fronds prodigiously craps in our pool. If not the fronds, it is the seedpod and brown sticky pollen. Oh, how I wish the termites (it has them) would win 🤬as it also blocks all our drains and makes a mess all over. But we are tree-huggers, so we must live with it.

Now for part two of the problem – the fine detritus blocks the filter basket and filter cartridge, reducing water flow and slowing salt production to unusable levels. The crap decays quickly and changes the water balance, which can start algae, particularly in summer.

You know, in hindsight, I have owned several homes with pools and without exception something craps into them. Gum Trees, Wattle flowers, Banksia pollen, Myrtle, native flowers and seeds… It has always been a problem. And I have always been looking for a solution.

So, it was with great hope that the Aiper Surfer S1 robot pool skimmer was put to work a few weeks ago. That work involves it aimlessly wandering around the pool skimming the detritus. It is solar (or mains charged), so it can be used day or night.

Spoiler Alert: It works nicely due to some interesting design features that solve potential issues.

Australian review: Aiper Surfer S1 robot pool skimmer (as at 23/10/24

Website	Aiper AU Product page Manual
Price	RRP $799.99 seen as low as $649.99
From	Aiper, Pool and Spa Warehouse
Warranty	24-month ACL manufacturer’s defects excluding consumable and fair wear and tear
Made in	China
Company	Established in 2017 by Richard Wang. HQ in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Earlier products were launched via Kickstarter. Aiper claims to make the world’s best cordless robotic pool vacuum cleaner. As journalists, we must ignore unsubstantiated claims.
More	CyberShack Pool Robot Reviews
Inbox	Robot and charger

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark is 70+/100 with extra points for class-leading and excellence.

First Impression – Interesting how this concept has been executed

We have tried another brand of robot skimmer that makes all kinds of fantastical claims, but it was so bad that we sent it back. The vendor blames it on a pre-production Version 1.0 with Firmware 0.0.1, so we will let you know how it goes when/if they provide a new one.

But it was enough for us to get benchmarks for what a robot skimmer should do.

For starters, Brand X would spew the detritus it had collected out of the front hatch every time it turned at a wall. Aiper has a motorised paddle wheel that continuously draws the water in and stops detritus from coming out.

Brand X would get hooked up on shallow stairs, beaching and making whale-like noises. Aiper has retractable anti-grounding bars to stop it from getting into shallow water trouble.

Brand X would bump and grind its way around, showing considerable wear signs on the sides. Aiper has four corner guide wheels that keep the skimmer off the walls and make it easy to negotiate around corners.

Brand X had a vertical detritus bin. Aiper has a horizontal bin that fits nicely between the powered propellors.

Brand X would ‘smash into walls’; Aiper has four Ultrasonic sensors and hardly ever touches a wall.

Overall, we are very impressed with the thought that has gone into this, yet it too, is version 1 with firmware 1.0.0.

Elegant, practical design

Aiper is essentially a catamaran with two side floats and a deck between them. On top is the solar panel, and underneath is the skimmer bin. It has four IR sensors to avoid walls and two rear propellors. This simple, effective design is vastly better than brand X. It weighs 5.8kg.

Solar and DC wall charger

We have used it for about a month, and it has yet to need a wall charge. It has a 4000mAh battery (about 80% of a smartphone battery) that Aiper claims will last about 10-12 hours (as per the manual). It drives two propellor motors and a detritus-eating paddlewheel.

DC charge 12.6V/1.8A/22.6W is about 2.5 hours.

Solar charging is more about topping up. It probably provides less than than 12V/1A/12W. On sunny days, it will keep the battery at about 75%; on overcast days, it drops to 25%, but these are guidelines only. Don’t get hung up—leave it in the pool overnight, and it will use the battery and start working again about two hours after sunup.

How does it work?

It has an app mainly for firmware updates (it says V 1.0.0 is the latest). It also tells you the battery level and water temperature and uses Bluetooth to set up and connect to Wi-Fi 2.4GHz.

Essentially, place it in the pool, press power on, and let it go. There is no rhyme or reason to how it wanders around the pool – it does not have a brain or pool map. After a few hours, it has skimmed the pool, and we leave it all day.

The 5L basket collects down to 200um, and we empty it occasionally.

Why a robot skimmer?

In our case, it stops the crap from getting into the filter box so it can do its job and keep the water flowing through the saltwater chlorinator. It handles Salt to 6500ppm and chlorine to 4ppm with a pH value of 7-7.4 – all standard for Australian pools.

Build – Pass+

Aiper gear has impressed us, and while a month’s use does not indicate longevity, we think it will last at least five years. The main issue is the harsh environment it works in, and the more care you take, the longer it will last. All materials are UV-stabilised.

Is it effective?

Given enough time, it removes most, if not all, floating debris. It does not clean corners or tile lines, but the agitation as it manoeuvres around the corner or passes along the wall tends to dislodge most stuck-on debris.

Use it with the Aiper Scuba S1 Pro – a pool robot with a 3um ultra fine algae/silt filter or Aiper Scuba S1 pool robot – no-fuss, no app, just simple cleaning which have wall/tile line cleaning and you get close to 100%.

Where we would clean the filter cartridge weekly, it has not required it all month. Where chlorine levels were always low, they are spot on.

Yes, it is effective despite its apparent aimless wandering.

Any caveats?

The ultrasonic sensors may not work on glass-sided or infinity pools.

It should work on any pool and coping.

CyberShack’s view – The Aiper Surfer S1 robot skimmer does an excellent job

We tried it in different pools, and the reaction was the same—OMG, it is good. None had heard of robot skimmers, so they are off to get the Aiper.

In comparison to the competition, this is fairly priced and offers more features, a larger battery, and a 2-year warranty.

Aiper Surfer S1 Ratings

• Features: 85 It is not indigent, does not map the pool and wanders around using the paddle wheel to remove prodigious amounts of detritus.
• Value: 90 – It has higher specs than robot pool skimmers at similar prices. Avoid the Chinese generics with names like NiHoo or LePoo.
• Performance: 85—As long as you realise that skimming takes longer, it performs well throughout the day.
• Ease of Use: 90 – Solar powered, has a 4000mAh 10-12 hour battery, and can be left in the pool.
• Design: 90 – Compared to others, its design is elegantly simple and solves issues we have experienced with other brands.