Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Very good at vacuuming up high-quality particles and grime
- Fairly compact and simple to maneuver, out and in of the water
- Reasonably reasonably priced
Cons
- Struggles with partitions and corners
- Spends an inordinate period of time idling
- Filter basket is troublesome to open for cleansing
Our Verdict
This uniquely designed robotic covers the fundamentals of pool cleansing however not a lot else, and it struggles with some duties.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$599.99 (low cost codes accessible on Amazon on the time of this overview)
Best Prices Today: Smorobot Tank C1
$599
Smorobot is a brand new model to us, however the producer has seven completely different robotic pool cleaners already beneath its belt, together with this one, the Smorobot Tank C1. As the identify implies, this robotic is meant to be a workhorse within the pool, promising a 150-minute runtime and most protection of two,500 sq. ft.
The robotic measures roughly 12 x 17 x 15 (HxWxL) inches in dimension and weighs 18 kilos. It’s powered by a 7800mAh battery, which is on the small aspect for a robotic of this dimension; however in my testing, it was invariably capable of exceed its specified working time of 150 minutes, normally by about half an hour.
The Smorobot Tank C1’s giant “face” accommodates a bevy of standing LEDs, however they aren’t notably helpful.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The robotic’s uncommon type issue makes for an eye catching design: An angled entrance panel with a large deal with dominates the machine. In the rear, particles is collected in a fairly giant filter basket that’s accessed by way of a hatch. Two large treads energy the machine, whereas two spinning brushes in entrance of the robotic sweep leaves and grime towards the suction unit because it strikes alongside. My check unit was white with blue trim; a white and grey mannequin can be accessible.
The Smorobot Tank C1 is way more efficient at capturing grit and sand than it’s with leaves.
Specifications
A easy energy change on prime of the machine helps you to select from its two cleansing modes: floor-only (F), or flooring and partitions (S). The unit is powered via a two-prong charging port that should be lined by a water-proof screwcap when it’s within the water. A easy A/C adapter is included within the field, together with a retrieval hook, required for eradicating the robotic from the pool.
That entrance panel is distinguished by an extended line of standing LEDs that run the complete size of the face of the machine. The lights within the heart point out the battery standing, slowly going darkish because the battery drains to nothing, then re-illuminating in reverse one it’s plugged in. Lights on the aspect provide a sign of what the robotic is doing: purple lights point out one thing is caught, white lights recommend it’s transferring or turning in some way.
There’s not plenty of level to those indicators, nonetheless, as they’re troublesome to see when the robotic is within the water. If the robotic is caught on one thing, there’s a way more apparent solution to inform than attempting to see into the water to catch sight of some purple LEDs.
Performance
The Smorobot Tank C1 spent about 10 minutes attempting to extract itself from this predicament.
Christopher Null/Foundry
I examined the Tank C1 in my pool on a number of days and located that whereas it labored properly sufficient total, it wasn’t in my prime tier of pool robots. After dropping the robotic into the water, it slowly sinks to the underside after which, properly, it simply sits there for a few minutes. Smorobot says that is by design, however all through my testing, I used to be shocked by how a lot of its working time was occupied by idling, seemingly attempting to gear itself up for its subsequent large transfer.
It’s maybe due to this appreciable lag time that the Tank C1 didn’t do the perfect job at cleansing in my check runs, gathering up about 90 % of the fabric in my artificial leaves check, and clearly lacking a couple of areas in my commonplace testing with natural leaves. A 90 % assortment fee isn’t terrible, however for this value, I had hoped for higher outcomes.
More notably, the Tank C1 additionally struggled with partitions—corners particularly—throughout my analysis. While it was usually capable of climb partitions to wash the waterline, I additionally witnessed it failing to make it up the wall on a number of events, stopping halfway earlier than returning again to the ground, the place it might sit for some time earlier than both attempting once more or turning and transferring elsewhere.
The robotic’s particles basket is loads giant, but it surely’s additionally very troublesome to entry.
Christopher Null/Foundry
There wasn’t a lot rhyme or purpose for this, as subsequent climbing makes an attempt can be simply as prone to succeed as they had been to fail. Corners had been additionally an enormous drawback for the Tank C1, together with one exterior nook in my pool that noticed the machine caught on the ridge for a strong 10 minutes. It’s additionally notable that the machine isn’t designed to wash steps, which, like most pool homeowners, I’ve loads of.
When completed, the Smorobot Tank C1 is designed to park close to a wall for retrieval with the included hook. I’d characterize this efficiency as not precisely adjoining to the wall however, at the very least shut sufficient to succeed in it with the hook on a pole.
Cleanup in all fairness easy as soon as you determine how you can get the hatch over the filter basket open. (You should press down on a sure spot marked on prime of the chassis to permit the adjoining latch to launch.) Opening the hinged cowl of the filter basket beneath is much more troublesome, and I discovered that the duvet was on so tight that I needed to resort to utilizing a screwdriver to pry it open. Things didn’t get a lot better on repeated exams, and in the end, I feared I’d break one thing by doing this if I used to be utilizing the robotic regularly.
The Smorobot Tank C1 was way more efficient at sucking up particulate matter than it was at vacuuming leaves.
Smorobot
Looking contained in the filter basket, I might inform the unit was way more efficient at capturing grit and sand than it was with leaves; as with many top-tier robots, the basket was laden with particles that I wasn’t even conscious was within the pool earlier than I dropped it into the water. The hinged lid is a bit awkward to open; in any other case, it cleans up simply with a hose.
Should you purchase a Smorobot Tank C1 robotic pool cleaner?
Note that pool cleaner doesn’t include a cell app. Smorobot has one, but it surely presently works solely with its Valor line of bots. The producer says the Tank C1 model of the app remains to be in growth, and for the reason that Tank has Bluetooth capabilities, app assist won’t be far off.
Further studying: This overview is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best robotic pool cleaners.
The Smorobot Tank C1’s $600 asking value (Amazon was providing a $200-off coupon at this writing) locations it on the cheaper price band of midrange pool robots, which appears about proper for a robotic with just about no frills. It works properly sufficient, it simply by no means approaches greatness.
In my e book, even a robotic with out frills must ship higher efficiency than this to advantage a powerful suggestion.