Dolphin Active 20 Pool Cleaner VS Dolphin Active 30 Pool Cleaner
$899.00
 Highs |
|---|
| Climbs to Waterline |
| 2-Year Warranty |
| Affordable |
| Excellent Filtration |
| Moves Laterally |
 Lows |
|---|
| Complicated Power Supply |
| Caddy not Included |
| One Cleaning Cycle Option |
| Coverage | 
Good |
| Filtration | 
Very Good |
| Cleaning |
Good |
| Intelligence | 
Fair |
| Usability |
Fair |
| Maintenance |
Good |
| Value |
Very Good |
$1,299.00
| Highs |
|---|
| Excellent Filtration |
| Deep Cleaning |
| Covers Floors, Walls, Waterline |
| 2-Year Warranty |
| Anti-Tangle Swivel |
| Lows |
|---|
| Bluetooth Connection Is Spotty |
| Lingers on Steps |
| Expensive |
| Coverage |
Very Good |
| Filtration |
Very Good |
| Cleaning |
Good |
| Intelligence |
Fair |
| Usability |
Fair |
| Maintenance |
Good |
| Value |
Good |
Head To Head Review Analysis
It’s affordable and efficient, which isn’t always a combination you find in the robotic pool cleaner market. We questioned whether the value was really all Dolphin had made it out to be. But after putting it to work and challenging it in the water, we think it meets the expectations set out by its designers. It isn’t the Ferrari of robotic pool cleaners, but it is a solid, well-designed machine that is easy to use, simple to care for, and highly effective at its job. It’s the epitome of convenience, making it easier than ever for owners to drop it into the pool and forget about it. If you value saving time and money but won’t compromise on efficiency with a robotic pool cleaner, you can’t go wrong with the Dolphin Active 20.
The pros of the Active 30 outweigh its negligible negatives. We love the ease of owning and operating this robotic pool cleaner. It’s a true plug-and-play design, doing all of the heavy lifting so you can spend more time enjoying pool ownership. It does an outstanding job of cleaning, and its filtration system can challenge any other on the market today. Dolphin even made the most tedious maintenance tasks simple with the filters and caddy.
Dolphin Active 20 Pool Cleaner
Dolphin Active 30 Pool Cleaner
Customer Reviews
Based on 29 Reviews
How would you rate Dolphin Active 20 Pool Cleaner?*
Based on 9 Reviews
How would you rate Dolphin Active 30 Pool Cleaner?*
"Bubbles"
This is what we call her. She saves me time & energy. I put her in once a week and depending which filters are needed she does all the work. I just have to empty her, hose the filters off and then put her away until she is needed. Easy-peasy! Done!!!
It's great
It's great
5 Stars
I don’t know why we haven’t purchased it sooner! I does a fantastic job! Highly recommended!
Dolphin pool cleaner
Great machine. Just turn it on and let it go. I vacuum once a week and brush once a week. Enjoy the pool much more since I have more free time. Worth every penny.
Fantastic
The Dolphin Active 20 is great! Picks up almost anything and cleans and scrubs the bottom and sides amazingly clean!
Great cleaner
I finally got rid of my aqua crap, this is my first week using it, it’s so easy to clean. Pool looks great
Unbelievable
I had the MX8 for almost 4 years and was initially happy with it but it kept getting jammed with larger leaves. I went today to look at alternatives and bought this one. I am ecstatic!! The time and speed of it, the ease it picks up larger debris. Well worth every penny!!!
Great unit.
I waited till i had this unit for an entire pool season before i wrote a review. I found it worked extremely well. It climbed my pool walls and bench seats with ease. Never ever getting stuck. No issues (except for winding up that power cord but that’s minor). My pool hasn’t looked this good ever. I don’t know if it’s because i used this every other day but i never had an algae issue all season and we had some extremely hot weather this summer up here in Southern Ontario. Wish i had bought it years ago.
Buy this if you are sick of cleaning your pool every two days!!
Best time saving expense I’ve ever made.
Making me lazy
This thing is a beast
Excellent pool cleaner
This product does what it is designed to do. It work great as long a it is kept clean.
Love my pool boy! I named him Marco
Starting my third season, I’ve had a pool for years but never had such a clean pool!
Awesome Cleaner
I own a Viking fiberglass pool with toe ledges, seating ledges, and stairs. This robot cleans it all! I was very hesitant to buy one due to not knowing if it would climb over the toe ledges on the walls and continue on cleaning the wall to the water line. It does it perfectly. Everything about this unit is well made and convienet to use. I couldn’t be without one now. Thanks for such a great quality product!
5 Stars
Had the Dolphin active 20 for two seasons. Had issues with unit not cleaning shallow end of pool. Took it back to exchange unit. Second unit did the same thing! Just would not clean shallow end..
Starting my second season
Last year was so much easier to keep my pool clean with my active 20. Just opened the pool this year and it is hard at work getting the pool ready for this year. Very happy with this product and can highly recommend it.
Dolphin 20
I love my Dolphin 20 it makes cleaning the pool so much easier and faster. I put it in the pool and forget about it until I’m ready to get in the pool. The filter is so easy to clean also. I would recommend this product to everyone!
5 Stars
Best money spent and wish I had purchased this sooner. Made pool maintenace enjoyable.
Love my Dolphin Active 20!
I absolutely love this thing! Easy to use, easy to clean, does a great job of cleaning my pool. The hours it has saved me from connecting hoses and manually vacuuming my 28k gallon pool is priceless! I drop Flipper (as I affectionately call it) in the pool in the morning and go enjoy my coffee. After about 2 hrs I’m ready to swim, although I’ve been in the pool while it does its thing. I’m always amazed at the amount of fine sand/dirt it removes. One suggestion for future models would be a swivel where the power cord is attached to the machine to make rolling the cord easier. Bottom line…can’t imagine being without it!
5 Stars
I have owned my active20 for 1 season.what a time saver and my pool looks great
Amazing debris pickup
I’ve had my Active 20 for a year now. With two minor exceptions, it has been very positive. It cleans up my worms and leaves easily but where it really shines is the dust-like debris that the pleated filters capture. It is amazing the amount of funk that washes out of them. The two minor items are that the cord twists, and I remove and untangle it after each use so it’s not accumulating twists from multiple uses. Howeve, I believe this has been addressed with a a swivel cord on 2018 models. Ours does also occasionally timeout on the long bench we have on one end of the pool. It happens about 20% of runs. But I’m often around and just push it back k in if it happens. I do tend to run back to back 2 hour sessions to get a really full/solid coverage of our 18 x38 pool. Overall it has been great!
Love my Dolphin
This is our 4th summer and we absolutely love the pool cleaner. I cannot believe anyone has a pool without one of these. Pool always looks amazing, only complaint is I wish it would climb the stairs, maybe some day.
My Pool Has Never Been So Clean!!!
I’ve spent 18 years fiddling ariund with every pool vaccum on the market. However, since I purchased the Maytronics Active 20 my pool has never been so clean! After the winter my pool is still algea free today, April 19, 2018. Buy a Maytronics Pool Vaccum, you will not regret it and you’ll love cleaning your pool!
Its ok for the price point.
It cleans about 80% of my 18×36 rectangular pool within a 3 hour cycle but tends to leave obvious chunks of junk on the bottom of the pool. I tend to question this” Smart sensor” technology that they claim is built into the unit. Wonder if its just a blinking light to make you think its a sensor.
BOUGHT MINE THIS SPRING
and I am super glad I did. I have an inground pool and since my husband passed away pool cleaning by myself was a challenge and I hated to keep calling someone to come and help me set things up. Now that I have Miss May (my pet name for my active 20) she and I have no problem keeping the pool sparkling…and it has been a pretty hot Summer. Girl power !
Awesome
This cleaner makes cleaning so easy. It does a great job. My only negative comment would be the cord. It tangles constantly. I followed the recommendations of laying it out in the sun. But it tangles again after a few minutes of use.
Not great at steps and decks
Only have had for a month and satisfied with coverage except inability to clean steps and two decks. One step is too high for robot to remain fully submergered but other steps and decks are plenty deep enough.
Programming Issues
Overall, Dolphin A series Active 20 does a great job cleaning pool; however, it cannot be programmed for weekly cleaning schedule as indicated and retailer cannot provide a reason for this apparent failure. Sometimes the unit cannot be turned off unless it is unplugged from the power source. Sometimes it just keeps cleaning forever and never gets to the end of a cleaning cycle and again, cannot be turned off utilizing the on/off button. Had a considerable amount of difficulty in getting the unit registered and am still not sure all the required information was received by Maytronics. Everything we had was sent but confirming e-mail indicated not all was received. Very frustrating!
Unsatisfied with the Active20 and tech support suggestion did not help.
I have a freeform pool and this bot does not reach everywhere. Tech suggestion was to start the bot in different areas or send back to manufacturer (not for refund mind you, but for troubleshooting). While starting the bot in different places might be an option, it did not work, and am so frustrated I spent 1K+ on a bot that might need to run multiple cycles to get 100% coverage (which doesn’t work). Kinda feel duped. I wish maytronics had more control over their authorized dealers and worked with them closer to resolve troubleshooting and returns. Tip – if there is a brick and mortar store in your area, buy from there and ask about the return policy! You might have better luck trying to return the unit or even get credit for a different one. What I really wanted to do was return the Active20 and trade up for the Active30 because the mobile app supposedly allows you to locate the bot where you want after it has geomapped your pool. Since i didn’t buy from a brick and mortar store, that doesn’t seem to be an option. 100% satisfied seems to be a marketing ploy at best, and any issues need to be resolved with your retailer unless you want to ship the unit back.
Very disappointed
Had this vacuum for over 2 seasons and am very disappointed in it’s performance. As mentioned in previous reviews the cord tangles way too often and way to easily. The dolphin gets hung up on the drain just about every cycle. The dolphin floats and flips over quite a bit stirring debris up versus staying on the floor of the pool and suck it up. I have witnessed the dolphin roll right over dirt/debris and not so much as leave tracks in it, dirt/debris still there undisturbed. I have reached out to maytronics and received no feedback or acknowledgement of complaints. I would not recommend this product to anyone.
Awesome!
Awesome pool cleaner !!
Dolphin Active 30 Pool Cleaner
This cleaner is superb! I purchased it because I was having back surgery and it has paid off. Cleans very good. Highly recommend.
Love it!
Love Love It!!!
Awesome Cleaner
Had to get a new pool cleaner and after much research decided to go with the dolphin active30. What a great choice. I just drop it in the pool and it does all the work. Very happy with the way it cleans pool, and love the caddy to store it when not in use.
dolphin classic
easy to use and clean
was tired of pulling out the pool hose!!
When I bought the dolphin active 30, it was simple to use. Love it. It does the trick. I never thought cleaning the pool could be so easy and effortless. All I do is clean the filter with the hose after it works my pool for 2 hours. Saves me time and energy. Must warn people of animals. My Rottweiler thinks it’s something alive when it reaches the edges of the pool, so he must be kept clear of the cleaning process. I have a rodent in my pump house and it has decided that the active 30 is food of some kind, We are repairing the damage by ordering parts online, I am going to store the machine in a sealed wooden box after the repair. ( Remember to keep the brush up so it doesn’t bend out of shape.)
Steps
Doesn’t do steps as well as I thought it would. Attempts to but almost flips backwards then reverses.
Pretty good but could be better on steps
Similar to the other reviewer the Dolphin does a pretty good job but tends to either miss the steps or not do a great job on them. Would appreciate any suggestions to address this.
active 30. Cable tangles/twists during every cleaning cycle..(both rush and standard cycle)
If cable tangle/twisting problem did not exist, I would give 5 star rating. After each use, I have to stretch cord around yard to untangle cord. Also as cord begins to twist during cleaning cycle the cleaning radius shortens because unit does not have enough power to untwist cord. The cleaning area shortens, the longer the unit operates. Therefore the full pool area is never cleaned. I was told that my unit is designed to prevent a cable twisting problem. Awaiting a response from Dolphin.