AIPER Surfer S2 Solar Pool Skimmer with APP Support, 24/7 Cleaning, Dual Charging Modes, Smart Obstacle Avoidance, Ideal for All Swimming Pool Types

The media could not be loaded.I just received this a few days ago and my initial reactions are pretty darn cool! Love the look and everything seems to be pretty decently well built from first glance.Now for the pros after a few days – Battery life has been pretty awesome, I only charged it once and cannot confirm the claimed battery life of 30 hours because the sun has been charging it back up. What I have seen though is this device will totally run 30 hours without sun. I would only expect this to be an issue during the winter time. I only have sun on my pool about half the day and it charges it back up to 90% everyday. The robot has done an excellent job skimming the pool and has not gotten stuck that wasn’t my fault. So kudos!Cons – okay so after about an hour of use the machine started making clicking noises. I could not find exactly where it was coming from initially, but it sounded like gears missing. Everything seemed like it was working but it was a loud enough sound it seemed something is off. It’s the weekend so the support staff will not respond until Monday, so I will update this afterwards depending on how they respond. After further watching and thinking what it could be, I finally figured it out for those of you who have the same issue. The filter box does not quite click in to place, so once you put it in correctly and after several minutes the box becomes comes out ever so slightly and the gears start to miss. This is very subtle, but you can test it while it’s making the noise just push your finger on the filter box and you’ll notice it goes in a tiny amount and then noise goes away. It comes back and you can repeat this endlessly. So I’m concerned that the noise is annoying and that the gears will eventually wear out. This is a design flaw and I know others have complained about the noise too. I will seek a replacement. Unsure if it’s the box or the whole thing that needs replacement. One last qualm, the chlorine container on the inside is to small to fit a chlorine puck likes it’s designed to do…somebody messed up in the design room on that one too. I still use it, I just cannot close the lid. Kinda annoying. If it wasn’t for the gear noise I would rate this a 4.5. It’s unknown how the longevity will be. Can update that in the future as well. Will update in a few days after a call with their support staff.(Update 3-21-25) – Aiper support reached out to me to resolve the issue and they wanted to make things right by sending me a replacement. They were very quick about it which I appreciated. After comparing the replacement model with my faulty one I was able to narrow down the exact problem causing the loud noise and I am happy to report that it was not the main unit but the basket that was faulty. The gear is the basket was loose and wobbly while the new one was firm. Keep this in mind if anyone else has that issue, you just need a basket replacement. Regardless, I am super happy that Aiper came through in the customer service department. I waited to make sure the new one ran for a solid 24 hours before updating here. My pool surface is crystal clear and the Surfer S2 is now quiet. The battery life has been phenomenal with that little solar panel on top, it never dies and during the day it charges up to 90% and stays there until the sun sets. I believe it has a setting to prevent it from charging via the solar panel past 90% to better preserve the battery aging, brilliant!In summary, after having this Surfer S2 for a few weeks now I can say that my pool has never looked better. It’s one thing to have your bottom swept, but that is usually stuff that has been on the surface for a few days before sinking down. This collects all of that debris before that ever happens and in doing so it also minimizes what goes into your pool skimmer if you have one. No more jumping into the pool only to be greeted by bugs and random floaters all around you, no more skimming the pool with a net before having friends over…if this device holds up longevity wise then you can bet every pool owner in the world will eventually get one of these, it just makes sense!!! My rating is 4.5 stars. If they make the chlorine tablet holder larger, it would easily be a 5 star!