Best Automatic Suction Pool Cleaners – Top Picks & Reviews

Cleaning a pool manually is a time consuming and exerting task, which can take much away from the joy of owning a swimming pool.

But it doesn’t have to be this difficult to keep your pool pristine. The automatic pool cleaner is like the pool god’s answer to pool debris, algae, dust, and general dirt that can make pool water look like sewer water.

– Top Picks –

Top 9 Best Automatic Suction Pool Cleaner Reviews

1. Hayward Poolvergnuegen – Best Automatic Suction Pool Cleaner

The Hayward Poolvergnuegen 896584000-518 is indeed a joy for every pool owner, tired of pool cleaners that continually get stuck. Many automatic pool cleaners will get stuck on the stairs, corners, drains..this thing right here will climb over domed filters like a champ. The cleaner has tire treads that enhance its climbing over obstacles prowess and an adjustable roller system that optimizes suction on bumpy ground. Its patented tire treads are what enable it to navigate around various obstacles in the pool comfortably.

This baby right here, will not get stuck in one corner all day but will clean out that 22,000-gallon pool in no time at all. The optimized suction system will also enable it to climb walls with much ease, getting every nook and cranny. What’s more, this thing is bombproof! Throw palms fronds, bougainvillea leaves at it, and it will still keep chugging.

2. Zodiac Baracuda G3 W03000 – Best Pool Vacuum

Another suction automatic pool cleaner at the top, the Zodiac Baracuda G3 W03000, will clean your inground pool floor as well as its sides meticulously.  The Baracuda has a mobile design that’s very effective for moving it around the pool while collecting every bit of debris as it filters your water. Compatible with many pumps, including low-speed systems,  the Baracuda is easy to install. Its patented quick-release cassette makes its maintenance super easy too. If any new parts are needed for maintenance, the unit is also entirely user-serviceable. You can do it yourself without the help of the pool or store service guy.

You will love the Baracuda’s ability to devour both small or medium-sized debris in their entirety, leaving your pool floor spotlessly clean. The Baracuda G3 has a Flowkeeper valve that regulates the best water flow to give the best pool vacuum cleaning performance possible. So why fork out some good cash for a pool cleaner, or spend hours cleaning up your pool?

Its wheel detector assists in move around those sharp corners, while its head has improved adhesion to your pool ensuring that it doesn’t get stuck on your pool cover, drains or lights. This monster is also super silent; you can laze on your pool as it cleans away the dirt, and watch it climb and clean those walls and stairs with minimal ease.

3. Zodiac Baracuda MX6 Automatic Suction Inground Swimming Pool Cleaner

The Zodiac Baracuda MX6 automatic suction pool cleaner is an efficient pool cleaning robot with a high vacuum and navigation prowess. This compact size suction cleaner utilizes cyclonic vacuum technology to spotlessly clean the walls of your pool and the floors. This cleaner has innovative Flex power turbines in a low flow system that spends less energy, making it ideal for pools with variable-speed or two-speed pumps installed.

The Zodiac MX6 has tri-rotor tank treads that make easy work of climbing and has a sleek, stylish design that has a large footprint. Its X drive navigation system is top notch, allowing intelligent bi-directional movement over walls, floors, and waterlines. You can rest assured that this robotic cleaner will not leave any stone unturned in its pursuit of a spotlessly clean pool. The pool cleaner also has a comfortable grip handle for easy transport and removal when need be.

4. Pentair K50600 Kreepy KraulyVac – Best Pool Cleaner

The Kreepy Krauly EZ Vac automatic pool cleaner makes short work of pool cleaning time, leaving you more time to enjoy the water and the sun. The Kreepy Krauly has only one moving part that delivers remarkably clean results and speeds and is very durable. It employs a random cleaning pattern,  above ground, on all shapes and sizes of pools, covering each inch of your surfaces thoroughly.

The Kreepy Krauly EZ pool vacuum has no vacuum bags to maintain, and the fact that it only has one moving piece makes it relatively easy and cheap to service. This suction side pool cleaner will not run aground on irregular bottoms and can handle oval, round, flat, or dished out bases with ease.

Its rugged construction is also worth mentioning because this monster’s robust yet straightforward but efficient cleaning design will give you high-quality service for years.

5. Pentair GW9500 Kreepy Krauly Great White – Best Inground Pool Cleaner

This beast of prey scours the depths of your pool in search of dirt, grime, and algae, scrubbing and vacuuming them away, no matter how terrible or massive they are. The Pentair GW9500 Kreepy Krauly Great White inground pool cleaner has rotating bristles for teeth and an accompanying enormous maw to suck in all kinds of debris as it knocks them loose off of the surface of the pool.

The Great White does not use rollers or wheels but moves by the use of its bristle drive, that when combined with its oscillating vortex design, cleans thoroughly and effectively both the sides and bottom of your pool. To aid you in speeding up the process of cleaning stubborn or missed spots, the Great White has a telephone adapter, which helps you guide it.

The cleaner itself is super easy to use and comes fully equipped for its first swim and fight with your pool’s dirt. Users love that it cleans while protecting delicate pool surfaces made of vinyl, fiberglass or pebble, and will not ruin their delicate finish.

And in case you are worried that it will get stuck over obstacles and not eat dirt all day, the Great White has a unique turning mechanism that enables it to escape grounding.

6. Pentair 360042 Kreepy Krauly – best pool vacuum cleaner under $400

Another Kreepy Krauly at the top, the Pentair 360042, is a suction side inground pool cleaner that is the reinventing of the famous but extinct Kreepy Krauly Classic K70405. It has the beauty of one moving part, the flapper making it low maintenance, easy to install, and use.  Its improved modern design is boosted by its rugged build and its strong manufacturing heritage. This monster is as dependable as they come.

The Keepy Krauly 360042 will creep all over your pool floor and walls taking no prisoners and leaving no nook or cranny unattended. If pool cleaning has been taking too much time off your pool time, then here is your respite. This monster has no bags that need emptying, no jamming gears, or rollers and wheels that need replacing. It has a powerful suction that makes a cinch of both large and small debris, and it saves on your energy bill since it needs no booster pump to clean.

It has a regulator valve that automatically adjusts water flow to the Kreepy Krauly, setting optimum speeds for the best cleaning performance. It also has a dive float directional system that assists guide the 360042 through every inch of your pool, for assured total cleaning coverage.

7. Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro – Suction Pool Cleaner (best auto pool cleaner)

Cleaning up the pool manually is no easy chore, but the Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro automatic suction pool cleaner can make it so. Its prolific SmartDrive steering system moves most of the cleaner silently in the bottom of your pool, thoroughly cleaning it out as well as the walls and coves. This unique turbine – drive mechanism requires no booster pump and only utilizes the existing filtration system for smooth, silent operation.

With over three decades of proven and reliable cleaning performance, the Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro offers great pool coverage, navigating effortlessly and guide the hose along as preprogrammed to eliminate those annoying tangles.

Its robust vacuum wings and skirt will pick up all debris, with the help of constant suction power, and all this in welcome silence. No pulsating, no screeches, or annoying noises to accompany it so that you can clean and relax at the pool at the same time.

The Hayward 925ADV Navigator Pro is also easy to install and will connect to the suction port or skimmer in under ten minutes. Rather than move around the pool aimlessly, leaving behind dead spots,  the 925ADV pre-programming ensures that it runs very methodically.

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It employs a series of right and left turns that provides total pool coverage faster. It can make your typical pool spotless in a matter of three or four hours at most.

8. Hayward PHS41CST AquaNaut – Suction Pool Cleaner (best pool sweepers)

The Hayward PHS41CST AquaNaut suction pool cleaner not only works like a charm, but it can clean any pool surfaces, delicate or hardy. It is safe for fiberglass, gunite, pebble, vinyl, concrete, and tiles as well. Its patented adjustable roller skirt ensures that constant suction is maintained on uneven surfaces, helping it glide effortlessly over obstacles in your pool.  Pebble beds pool toys, anti-slip strips, or steps; you name them, the Aquanaut 400 can take them. This workhorse will optimally work too in deep pools, navigating over anti-vortex pool drains like the pro it is, thanks to its four-wheel-drive system.

The Hayward comes with a forty-foot hose kit, meaning it can clean large pools without the need for extra hoses. If need be, though, you purchase them Hayward reasonably.

This pool cleaner weighs twenty pounds, which despite it being robust, it can be carried to and from your equipment shed without the assistance of a caddy. On the other hand, its V-Flex technology ensures maximum power even in low flow pool environments and prevents clogging from all debris.

9. Hayward 700 Diver Dave – Above-Ground Automatic Pool Cleaner

This good-looking little pool guy is the perfect cleaner for all above ground pools. To begin with, this design is a winner. It will be a hit with all swimmers, young and old alike, and will be a welcome addition to your pool loving family.  The Hayward 700 Diver Dave automatic pool cleaner provides an easy pool cleaning and maintenance experience because you do not have to replace or empty debris bags.

Diver Dave operates off your pool’s inbuilt filtration system, gobbling up every debris from dust, leaves to larger debris.  Diver Dave has a SmartDrive system that ensures that no spot on your pool is missed, and it does this fast.

The Hayward 700 Diver Dave automatic pool cleaner has a unique turbine system that feeds its constant water flow to ensure that it operates in silence and move gently while cleaning. This means that you can go ahead and laze about the pool without having to endure annoying sounds from the cleaner.

Diver Dave is also super easy to install; you should have him up and ready in under ten minutes. And if you are worried about dents and scratches on your walls, Diver Dave has large bumper rings, that minimizes friction against your delicate walls.

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How to choose the best automatic pool cleaner?

Type of pool

Pools are either above or on the ground. Above ground pools have simple shapes and are mostly family pools. In-ground pools are mostly larger and have a variety of forms. Their hoses and cords are therefore longer. Since they have walls, inground pool cleaners should also have the ability to climb walls as they clean. For above-ground cleaners, this is not a necessity.

Usage of pool

Large and busy residential or commercial use pools need heavy-duty cordless cleaners that will clean vast swathes of a pool without breaking a sweat. A backyard pool, however, will do just fine with a residential pool cleaner.

Amount and size of debris in the pool

A significant amount of debris can be problematic to basic small suction cleaners, which are best for cleaning out finer dirt and debris. Larger debris needs a pool cleaner that can clean out both sunk and floating debris. Its filter bag should also be big enough to hold a significant amount of debris.

Design of pool

If your pool has inclines, slopes, or steps, you should purchase an automatic pool cleaner that climbs up steps and handles inclines.  If it cannot get around corners too, you should avoid it if your pool has angles. If your pool is not regularly chosen, a pool cleaner can clean irregular, flat, or rocky surfaces with ease. Some pool finishes might be delicate, and it pays to pick a cleaner that is compatible with your flooring material or finish.

Pool size

A suction pool cleaner requires limited length hoses, electricity, and use of the pool’s pump as well as its filtration system. If the pool is too large, it could become uneconomical to clean with this pool cleaner.

Maintenance and speed

Items like filters, debris bags should be easy to remove, clean, or replace. It also pays to purchase a fast cleaner to avoid disappointing pool users with long waits.

Types of pool cleaners

Suction side pool cleaners

They work off of your pump and filter, sucking in debris through their hose and into the pump basket as it goes. An in-ground suction cleaner’s hose length is more prolonged to allow it to scale walls and clean larger pools.

Pressure side pool cleaners

Powered by water pressure, they have their debris bags to hold debris, ensuring that they are out of your filtration system. Most have a booster pump to up the pressure and power the cleaner. They utilize pressure to propel themselves through your pool and are great at eliminating debris, large or small.

Robotic pool cleaners

They have a programmed cleaning pattern and have a filter cartridge or bag as well.  They are equipped with an inbuilt filtration system, so they do not need your pump or filter. Those designed for inground pools can climb walls and steps when cleaning.

Conclusion

The best automatic suction pool cleaner is determinable by costs only, but through various considerations, as mentioned earlier.