AquaSense X
2 independent reviewsRead the findings →Beatbot's flagship pool robot, with a station that rinses its basket for you. It's excellent underwater and about as hands-off as pool cleaning gets. But the station needs water, power and a drain nearby.
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What reviewers found
Les Numériques and WIRED both found it an excellent underwater cleaner, steps and platforms included. They agree the AstroRinse station works, but Les Numériques found it left one leaf in the basket, while WIRED always found a handful and questioned how much time it really saves. Skimming is the big split: Les Numériques found it convincing, but WIRED found it dismal, with most floating debris sinking. Both flag how much space and plumbing the station needs.
Les Numériques, hands-on, Aug 2026 · WIRED, hands-on, Jul 2026
Floor, wall and waterline
Mixed resultsUnderwater both found it excellent, though Les Numériques still needed a sponge for stubborn waterline marks. Skimming splits them: Les Numériques found it drew floating leaves in convincingly, while WIRED saw it collect less than half and sink most of the rest.
Debris
Mixed resultsOn the floor it's strong: WIRED saw it pick up nearly all its test debris, and Les Numériques found it handled leaves and sand. But Les Numériques notes the basket won't catch the finest dust, and WIRED found floating debris often sank instead.
Coverage and navigation
Reviewers rate it highlyLes Numériques saw it clean in neat parallel strips and climb onto and clean a large submerged platform, though small steps got partial attention. WIRED found it did exceptionally well on steps and platforms.
Battery and charging
Reviewers rate it highlyLes Numériques used well under half the battery in two hours underwater plus two on the surface, and WIRED got about four and a half hours on the floor. It charges on its rinsing station.
Filter and retrieval
Mixed resultsThe station does most of the emptying: Les Numériques found one leaf left afterwards and WIRED always a handful. But you still carry a 13kg robot to it, which WIRED found a chore, and WIRED took about half an hour and several hoses to set the station up.
Pool types it suits
Not enough evidenceNone of the reviews we use compared pool types or tried an above-ground pool. Les Numériques notes the station needs a level spot with water, drainage and power near the pool.
Reliability and support
Not enough evidenceNone of the reviews we use ran it long-term or judged Beatbot's support. WIRED found a firmware update briefly broke the robot's pairing with its station, and worried about wet debris sitting in the station for weeks.
Value
Not enough evidenceOnly WIRED clearly judged value, finding the time saved doesn't justify paying much more than for the AquaSense 2 Ultra. Les Numériques points to the Sora 70 as a much cheaper alternative without the station.
Verdicts come from independent, hands-on, finished reviews. An area needs at least two of them before we say more than “Not enough evidence”. We don't score robots ourselves. How this works
Excellent underwater, platforms included
Les Numériques saw it trace the pool's outline, then clean in neat parallel strips, with very good coverage and few wasted passes. On the walls it moved along diagonally rather than wandering. It climbed onto a large submerged platform and cleaned all of it, though small steps got only partial attention. WIRED measured an average 97% pickup of test debris on the floor and found it did exceptionally well on steps and platforms. In the Les Numériques test, stubborn marks at the waterline still needed a sponge.
Skimming splits the testers
Les Numériques found surface cleaning convincing, with the side brushes and water movement drawing floating leaves into the intake over several passes. WIRED found it collected less than half the floating debris and sank most of the rest, and blamed the robot moving too slowly. Neither test explains the gap, and the pools, wind and debris were different. If floating leaves are your main problem, don't count on the skimming, and consider a dedicated skimmer.
The station rinses, you still carry
After a run the robot parks at the waterline, and you carry it to the station. WIRED found seating it took a little trial and error, then a loud three-minute spray cleaned the basket well, but never completely: a handful of leaves always stayed behind. Les Numériques found one leaf left after a run that collected more than a dozen, plus many small bits. A one-minute quick rinse is also available. Either way you skip most of the hosing, but not the lifting.
Setting up the station
WIRED counted 16 steps in the quick-start guide and spent about half an hour on setup, bolting on the arm and connecting a water hose and a drain hose. The station has to sit level, and a firmware update during WIRED's test briefly broke the pairing between robot and station. Les Numériques notes it needs power, a water supply, drainage and decent Wi-Fi nearby, and ran the drain into a flowerbed. Per Beatbot, the supply hose is 12ft and the drain hose 6ft.
The bin, and the fine-dust gap
Beatbot says the 22-litre bin needs emptying only about every two months, per Beatbot. WIRED worried about wet leaves rotting in the garden, and found the underside stayed wet for days unless the hatch was opened to dry it, a possible mosquito problem. The main complaint from Les Numériques was the 150-micron basket, which handles leaves and sand but not the finest dust, with no ultra-fine filter option at this level.
App, battery and control
Les Numériques found the app clear, with floor, standard, pro and custom programmes, but the pool map is for information only: you can't edit it or send the robot to a spot. It loses Wi-Fi underwater, and the virtual remote only works once it surfaces. The battery is no worry: after two hours underwater and two on the surface, Les Numériques had used only about 40%. WIRED got about four and a half hours on the floor.
Our take
Should you buy the AquaSense X?
Best for: Pools with space beside the water for a charging station. Skip it if: You cannot provide water, power and drainage beside the pool.
Buy it if you want the least hands-on pool routine you can get and have a spot near the pool with water, power and drainage. If you're happy to rinse a basket yourself, WIRED found the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra cleans just as well. If skimming matters most, T3 found the Aiper Scuba X1 Pro Max's slow skimming collected most floating debris.
The AquaSense X is Beatbot's top pool robot. Both testers say the robot itself works much like the AquaSense 2 Ultra: it's cordless, uses a camera to find dirt, and cleans the floor, walls, waterline, submerged platforms and the surface. What's new is the AstroRinse station. You lift the robot onto it after a run, and it blasts the basket clean in about three minutes, stores the debris in a 22-litre bin and charges the robot.
The trade-off is space and lifting. The station weighs about 19kg and needs a hose tap, a drain and a power socket near the pool, and the robot weighs about 13kg, so you still carry it over after every run. Les Numériques found the rinse left one leaf behind, while WIRED always found a handful left and worried about the damp bin. The standard basket's mesh won't catch the finest dust either.
Before you buy
The questions people ask about this one
Does it climb walls and clean the waterline?
Yes, and it skims the surface and cleans submerged platforms at least 35cm deep, per the specifications. Les Numériques found it followed the waterline well but wished it scrubbed harder, as stubborn marks still needed doing by hand.
Is it cordless, and how long does a charge last?
Yes. Beatbot claims up to 5 hours underwater and 10 on the surface, with about 4.5 hours to charge on the station, per the specifications. Les Numériques used only about 40% of the battery in two hours underwater and two on the surface.
Can it cope with steps and a deep end?
Better than most. WIRED found it did exceptionally well on steps and platforms, and Les Numériques saw it climb and clean a large submerged platform, though small steps got only partial attention. Beatbot rates it for platforms at least 35cm deep, per the specifications.
How do I get it out of the pool?
It parks at the waterline when it's done, and you lift it out and carry it to the station. The robot weighs about 13kg, per the specifications, and WIRED found lugging it across the deck a chore. Les Numériques found the app's remote useful for steering it to the edge you want.
How do I clean the filter?
Mostly you don't. The station rinses the basket for three minutes and collects the debris in a 22-litre bin, per Beatbot. Les Numériques found one leaf left afterwards, WIRED a handful. WIRED also found the station itself needs occasional cleaning, which isn't easy.
Alternatives
Other robotic pool cleaners to compare.
AquaSense 2 Ultra
Why consider it: Four testers rate its underwater cleaning highly, and WIRED saw no cleaning difference from the AquaSense X.
The compromise: You rinse the basket yourself, it's very heavy, and its skimming splits opinion.
Scuba X1 Pro Max
Why consider it: T3 and Heise rate its cleaning among the best they've tested, and T3 found its slow skimming effective.
The compromise: It's heavy, and Reviewed couldn't get it to finish a cleaning run.
Sora 70
Why consider it: It's much cheaper, it skims too, and PCWorld called its 6-litre basket perhaps the easiest clean-up it had seen.
The compromise: It's slow, and PCWorld found its all-in-one mode left more floor debris.
AquaSense X head to head
Head to head
Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra vs AquaSense X
Our verdict: WIRED tested both and saw no real difference in cleaning: both excel underwater and struggle to skim. The AquaSense X adds the rinsing station, which Les Numériques found cleared almost all the debris, but WIRED doubted it saves enough effort to justify the extra cost.
Specs
Full specifications
Each specification names its source. Manufacturer claims are not independent test results; unconfirmed figures are labelled.
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Sources
Where this page’s findings come from
Editorial reviews
Sources
- Beatbot: AquaSense X product page (Europe) ↗Manufacturer
- Beatbot: AquaSense X product page (US) ↗Manufacturer
Videos
- TechUtopia: Beatbot AquaSense X Review – The Most Advanced Pool Robot Ever? ↗
- Shane Whatley: BeatBot AquaSense X vs Sora 70: Is the $4,000 Pool Robot Worth It? ↗
- Search YouTube for Beatbot AquaSense X ↗Search results may include company demonstrations or similar models. Check the source and model name; a demonstration is not an independent performance test.