Betta SE Solar Powered Automatic Robotic Pool Surface Skimmer Cleaner with 24/7 Continuous Cleaning Battery Power and Re-Engineered Twin Salt Chlorine Tolerant Motors (Blue)

We live in Phoenix AZ where it's very hot in the summer so the swimming pool is our most important oasis we like to use at the end of the day. It is an irregular shaped pool with one coved seating including steps in 3 places and a tanning ledge and I like to keep it CLEAN. We also have neighbors that have tall Silk Oak trees to our West and because we have a prevailing breeze toward the East we get a lot of those terrible type of leaves (the kind that grab onto things like leaves with fingers) in our backyard and pool.I received the Betta SE 2023 on July 7, 23, put it in the pool and away she went! I LOVE THIS THING! It just meanders around cleaning the whole surface and when it gets stuck in any area, after about a minute or so it backs up a few feet then starts forward making a turn at the same time avoiding the trap it was currently. To be honest after observing it for a while I came to understand that even if it's not trapped, it will stop and go backwards then begin forward and turn at the same time so I believe it is programmed into it's logic to do this ever few minutes as a measure to un-trap it and possibly cover more of the pool surface. I really do like this feature very much. It is also has a large basket that is super simple to empty and clean. It's light weight with an easy to grasp handle. Except for the improvement needed (suggested below) it really is the perfect skimmer!IMPROVEMENT NEEDED:One of the feature designs is that it has wheels on the front left and right of the body at the water level which is supposed to keep it from scraping against the wall tile when it touches as it meanders around the pool. If your tile is part of the wall then no problem but if your tile is of an overhang type where the wall is recessed (as our pool is) then the height of the water will have to be raised to about 1/2 inch below that tile for the wheels to touch it or else the body of the skimmer will endure scraping. Because of this I had to buy a special level that would allow me to raise the water to that level but the downside is that now the built-in pool skimmers is almost useless because of the height of the water keeping larger leaves and even small debris from entering due to the lower flow because the water level is so high.The fix would be to redesign the wheel attachment to allow some vertical adjustment. This would be very easy to do, in fact I almost did it myself but before I got that far it suddenly had a malfunction.MALFUNCTION 2 WEEKS AFTER PURCHASE:On July 28 exactly 2 weeks after receiving an putting into service I looked out and noticed that the skimmer was not meandering. I looked closer and saw the normally green blinking lights were blinking red. So I took it out of the pool, made sure it was clean, dried it off and put it on my kitchen table to inspect it. I thought maybe the sensor lenses needed cleaning so I carefully clean them and then cleaned the body and looked it over real good. I could not visually see anything broken or out of place so I placed it back into the pool and turned it on. The green lights started blinking and away she went - but that only lasted for about 2 seconds. After the 2 seconds the green lights went dim and then the system shut down. I did this a couple of time in a row with the exact same results. I believe that it has a faulty battery or "bad cell" because being a long time technician that is the way it acts to me.I contacted Amazon support, told them of the problem and was given a decision to either return for credit or wait till Monday where support would call me and help me go through some diagnoses steps. I opted for the refund because I honestly don't have much time this time of the year because of the work I do.I decided to give an overall rating of 4 stars because of the battery problem but not less because they really took good care of me and gave me no hassles, also I really like the unit while it was running - in fact so much that I'm going to use my money to purchase another one hoping that the first one was just a fluke.EDIT:I am adding to the above review now that I have had my new (2nd one) beta for about 6 weeks now (it is 8/28 at the time of this writing and I have UPGRADED from a 4 to a 5. I LOVE THIS THING! Really, it is just the best little skimmer ever.The 1st one I purchased definitely has some issues and I am so glad after returning it that I took the chance and purchased another. This one runs very strong, runs around the pool day and night (flashing pretty green lights) never quitting and never getting stuck - it really operates flawlessly.I'm not saying that the improvement I suggested above would not be welcomed because then I could run my water level using the built in leveler keeping the water about 2 or 3 inches below the lover ledge of the our type hanging tile. But as long as you don't have a hanging tile with lower sharp edge (like ours) or you use a float that is designed to keep the water level high (within an inch of the lower tile edge) then it simply is a pleasure to own and operate this little bot. Cleaning is a breeze, you just unlatch and open the top up, grab the basket handle and dump it in the trash put it back in, close the lid and latch it - very very easy and it keeps my whole pool from getting dirty. I also purchased a Polaris (which is also awsome) but I hardly have to use it at all because this betta does almost all the cleaning work before the debris every sinks below the surface! Really good.TIP! Before you place the skimmer in the pool get some good car type nano wax (with UV protection) and wax the top and sides of it really well. This will help keep the unit looking new. Wax it about every month more or less and it will stay looking great. Otherwise it will fade especially if you're in a hot climate like we are (Phoenix AZ).That's it! I love this thing so glad I purchased it.

This skimmer is amazing! It's one of the best purchases I've made. My pool gets a lot of debris because our neighbor's trees are up against the wall, and sometimes the branches are over the property. It was getting exhausting having to manually skim almost every day. I was not able to keep up, especially when we get sandstorms. This skimmer can handle getting all the debris. The pool looks so much cleaner than before. I do have a pool suction cleaner, but it was still not enough for all the debris the pool gets. Now that I have both, it is so much better. I usually clean it once a week unless it is windy, and then I clean it the next day once the wind has calmed down. Some debris can get caught in the gear, but a metal pick and hook tool takes it right out.During the winter, the pool was not getting a lot of sun, so I had to turn it off and put it where it was getting more sun so it could charge.It is solar power, so it doesn't require charging from an outlet.Be aware that if your pool doesn't get a lot of sun, you will have to turn it off and let it charge in the sun. If your pool doesn't get a lot of sun, I don't recommend buying because it will be frustrating having to recharge in the sun often.It is not a "smart" skimmer, but it will eventually cover the whole pool. I thought I had made a mistake when I first bought it because it was taking its sweet time skimming the pool. However, it has done an incredible great job at keeping the surface clean. It has also helped to keep my pool filters cleaner longer because the pool suction cleaner doesn't have to handle all the debris. Most of the debris will float for a while before it sinks, so the skimmer can catch it.Sometimes, it can get stuck with the pool vacuum hose, but I let it be, and eventually, when the pool vacuum starts to move, the skimmer can move again.

I am loving this solar skimmer. I live in the country and on windy days my pool gets covered with nearby field grass. I spend 45 min. Manually skimming and never seem to get that dusty layer off even with a fine net. This skimmer runs pretty much 24/7 and has no problem picking up the big grass and gathering that fine layer on the pools surface. When the pool thermostat and chlorine dispenser got in its path it pushed it along for a few minutes and then stopped and backed itself away. My water level got low and it got stuck on the very first step so I will probably install the leg extenders it comes with to avoid that in the future. It did get stuck in the corner once and seemed to be there for awhile, previously when it went to that corner it backed itself out. If that becomes a problem I will put a piece of pool noodle there because this devise does such a great job I will make an accommodation. I can see large pool hoses being a problem since it won’t drive over it, but I recently upgraded to the robot pool sweep and this cord doesn’t seem to be a problem. If it does, I will adjust, again because I’m so happy with it.

This is 2nd Betta SE we've had. The first one lasted 3 years until the drive motors quit.We took the first one out of the pool during the winter freeze for 2 months and not sureif that lended to it's demise or not. We replaced the 1st one with another brand called SMONETand found that to be a total waste of money. It pushed water around and would not clean the surface.The SMONET was purchased only because it was $60 cheaper..MISTAKE. After being charged severaltimes and tried for 3 weeks we finally gave up on it. The reviews read okay then but now we find thatseveral reviews are negative with the same experience as ours.When we got the new Betta SE unpacked, turned the switch on and it went to work cleaning instantly.What is so impressive is that it works long after dusk and is working before dawn.Another great feature is the debris basket is so easy to remove to clean.