The most hands-off pool skimmer?

Leaves, dead bugs, and other debris always find their way onto pool surfaces. This is why pool skimming is among the very few pool maintenance tasks that people need to do more frequently, often daily. That is where something like the Aiper Surfer S2 ($359.98 at Amazon) comes in handy.

The premise is actually quite simple. The robot will keep your pool’s surface free of floating trash. That is all it does, and it promises to do so very efficiently while keeping the experience as hands-off as possible. How good is it, and is the experience as seamless as Aiper promises? I got to test it for a few days, and spoiler: it’s pretty great.

Pool owners can attest that owning a pool is a bit of a responsibility. Maintaining it isn’t easy, and it comes with a bunch of tasks. The thing is, most of these are done weekly or monthly, some even seasonally. This includes tasks like vacuuming floors/walls, testing water chemistry, adding chemicals, cleaning the filter, etc.

Those who own a pool know what they are signing up for, so you might not mind it very much. What’s more annoying are the small, frequent tasks, and skimming the pool’s surface is the one that often needs daily attention. It’s likely the thing you will be doing most often.

With something like the Aiper Surfer S2 (also sometimes referred to as the EcoSurfer S2), you can forget about skimming the pool’s surface all the darn time.

Let’s cover the main feature here. The Aiper Surfer S2 promises a very hands-off approach. This is thanks to a combination of two things. For starters, it has a really good battery life, with up to 35 hours on a full charge. Simply plug it in, wait 4-6 hours, and the thing will be ready to go. That said, you might not even need to physically plug it in (or at least not all the time).

The unit’s main feature is that large solar panel up top. It can keep the Aiper Surfer S2 running as long as the sun is shining, and if you live in a mostly sunny place, you might never need to plug it in.

I loved its “SolarSeeker” technology. When the robot is running out of juice, it will move to a sunny spot in the pool, recharge for 15 minutes, then resume cleaning.

What all of this means is less work for you. It can charge during the day, clean continuously, and keep your pool’s surface clean without you having to move a finger. And if no one is using the pool, you can just let the robot pool skimmer live in your pool indefinitely.

Now, let’s get to what really matters. How well does it clean the pool surface? It works well, but this is also the area I think Aiper could have improved on.

I have used robot pool cleaners that use their cameras and sensors, along with some AI help, to actively seek debris and pick it up intelligently. The Aiper Surfer S2 doesn’t do anything like this. Its cameras and sensors are used for obstacle avoidance. For cleaning, it uses a random pattern, so the robot mostly swims around the pool with no specific direction in mind.

I saw the Aiper Surfer S2 swim right next to leaves many times. That said, it will eventually pick up all the floating debris, so it works. It will just take its sweet time to get it all. And I think this is an acceptable compromise, given its long battery life and solar charging. You can just let it do its thing and go about your business. If you’re really in a rush to pick up something specific, you can control its trajectory using the app’s Remote Control feature.

Once it does pick something up, though, it is very efficient at it. It has a 150 μm filter, so it doesn’t just collect large debris. This is suitable for collecting fine matter, such as dust and sand. And it has a large 4L basket, so it can collect quite a bit of trash before needing to dump it.

By the way, I didn’t get to test this, but you can also use chlorine tablets to keep the water cleaner. It can be installed inside the unit, in a specific tablet holder.

How good is the app?

The Aiper Surfer S2 is kind of a one-task robot, so using the Aiper app with it is pretty simple. You get very few options. It lets you start/stop cleaning, enter Remote Control mode, or schedule cleaning sessions at specific times. You can also opt for Eco mode, which will make the robot clean and sleep in 3-hour sessions.

In the settings, you can also update the firmware, configure connectivity, or adjust path preferences. The latter has two options: Full Coverage Mode and Edge Guard Mode. Full Coverage mode will allow the robot to swim all the way to the edge of the pool. Edge Guard Mode will help avoid edges, reducing the risk of scratches or damage to the device.

The app is clean and simple. It gets the job done. And honestly, once set up, you won’t need to use it much. That is, unless you really like using Remote Control mode. I pretty much didn’t touch the app after testing it for a bit and setting up the cleaning routine.

Here’s the thing about the Aiper Surfer S2: It is only $399.99, and you can often find it discounted. That is pretty affordable in the world of pool cleaners. Yes, it is a one-trick pony, but it handles one of the most annoying tasks in pool maintenance. And it does so in a very seamless, hands-off way. You can set it up and just let it do its thing indefinitely, especially if you live in a sunny place.

I find that most pool owners don’t use their pools daily (at least most of the time), so the Aiper Surfer S2 could just live in your pool during those days when no one is swimming. At the same time, it can keep the surface clean at all times, just in case you want to randomly jump in for a dunk. All without you having to worry about doing it yourself all the time.

We all have busy lives, and maintaining your pool is already keeping you busy in many other ways. I’d say saving yourself 5-15 minutes a day is definitely worth the hassle if you can afford it. And I have a feeling you can if you own a pool.