Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely assessment: This $2,000 robotic wants extra time to prepare dinner

Greatest Costs At the moment: Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely

Launched at CES 2026, Aiper’s newest pool robotic is the Scuba V3 Extremely, the corporate’s strongest (and costly) robotic to hit the market thus far. Designed with each function at the moment out there within the class, together with waterline docking, plug-free charging, floor skimming, and AI-driven navigation, it’s designed to compete instantly with the top-shelf Beatbot AquaSense 2 Extremely. Once I put them face to face towards one another, there was one clear winner after the whole lot dried out.

Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely: Specs

Foundry / Christopher Null

As with different skimmer-enabled pool robots, the Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely is a monster. Its 29-pound weight is matched by its typically huge measurement (about 18 x 16 x 11 inches) and, as with the Beatbot Extremely, this makes it difficult to maneuver out and in of the pool. It’s additionally difficult to mount completely on its charging dock, which tops up the ten,400 mAh battery with out having to plug something in. (The dock arrives in 4 items however snaps collectively simply with no instruments required.)

Aiper specs the robotic to run for as much as 4 hours when below the floor and eight hours in skimmer-only mode.

Foundry / Christopher Null

The shiny black robotic options good-looking bronze trim, however in any other case resembles most of at present’s pool robots, particularly different Aiper ones. Two seen treads management floor- and wall-based operations, with a pair of spinning brushes mounted centrally to scoop particles into its reasonably tiny 3.5-liter filter basket, which options two nesting chambers. (I’ll elaborate on this design later.) 4 tiny wheels mounted horizontally to the perimeters of the robotic give it a small buffer when touring alongside the waterline, serving to it to keep away from scraping towards your pool’s tile.

AI is, in fact, a spotlight with this robotic, which options front-mounted twin cameras that may determine each obstacles and particles, adapting the cleansing path on the fly. Be aware that this mode isn’t enabled in each cleansing mode. By default, the robotic takes a extra programmatic path and depends on preconfigured timers to find out the place to scrub and for a way lengthy.

Whereas customers have entry to a handful of modes by way of {hardware} controls (which seem alongside a color-changing gentle bar that signifies varied standing situations), the V3 Extremely naturally works with Aiper’s cell app, which provides you a dizzying array of further choices and modes to select from. The robotic can talk on each 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.

Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely: Set up and setup

Out of the field, your first order of enterprise is to assemble the docking station, which is an easy course of that solely takes a few minutes. The robotic itself is essentially able to go upon unpacking it, other than having to take away a large quantity of protecting tape from the chassis. (I used to be nonetheless discovering tape I missed after my third cleansing run.) Aiper specifies a 4 ½ hour charging cycle to prime up the battery.

Foundry / Christopher Null

The one setup hiccup I encountered was through the wi-fi configuration. The Aiper app instructs you to carry down the facility button for a number of seconds when establishing Wi-Fi, however I should have held it down too lengthy, as this initiated a manufacturing facility reset. Thankfully, the reset solely took a number of further seconds and I used to be capable of pair to my residence community with out additional incident. After an in a single day charging session, I started testing the next morning.

Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely: Efficiency

With so many modes and options to work with, testing the V3 Extremely required an exhausting period of time to completely run it by means of its paces. The Aiper app features a whopping 10 working modes, together with separate flooring, wall, waterline, and floor skimming modes, a complete clean-everything mode, a shallow area-only mode, and an AI patrol mode (which prompts the debris-scanning digicam). A personalization possibility enables you to configure all areas individually, and the AI Navium mode enables you to inform Aiper to create a plan for methods to clear your pool, establishing a schedule in your behalf.

Foundry / Christopher Null

Let’s begin with the fundamentals, which received off to a rocky begin. In complete mode (flooring, partitions, and a quick floor skim), the robotic ran for a mean time of slightly below 3½ hours earlier than stopping. Invariably, on this mode I acquired an error that the “activity terminated abnormally” or “activity failed” close to the top, presumably a sign that the battery had died earlier than it may full the job. (No additional particulars have been ever equipped.) Nonetheless, it received a lot of the approach carried out. Leads to testing with artificial particles confirmed a mean 98 % protection charge, a superb exhibiting however weird in that the missed particles was left within the middle of the pool.

I had higher luck in different modes, particularly the AI Patrol mode, which was efficient at taking part in seek-and-destroy with particles on each flooring and floor (although it struggles to detect very small items of particles). If something, it’s the most effective function on the robotic. Although I nonetheless acquired activity failure messages, it was curious to learn the logs, which let you know what the robotic found throughout its journey, even when the knowledge appeared specious. (“Leaf x7… Ground Drain X1… Step X1… Fruit X1.” Seven leaves? Fruit?)

Foundry / Christopher Null

I used to be far much less profitable with the V3 Extremely in skimming mode, which I’d describe as poor at finest. Throughout its default three hour lengthy cycle, the robotic managed to select up lower than half of the check leaves I scattered on the floor, the rest both nonetheless floating or sunk to the ground on the finish of the working time. My guess is that the intense slowness of the robotic on the floor is liable for this poor exhibiting, the unit making a tragic putt-putt-putt noise because it scoots round on prime of the water, its wake usually pushing any particles in entrance of it out of the best way earlier than it may be scooped into its maw.

A distant management mode permits you to pilot the robotic manually whereas skimming, nevertheless it’s so sluggish that piloting it towards particles with any diploma of accuracy is almost not possible. It’s additionally value noting that the numerous peak of the robotic prevents it from cleansing the world above any shallow areas within the pool, together with the highest riser of any steps.

The AI Navium mode is billed as a sensible scheduling system: “Merely place the machine within the swimming pool” and the cleansing plan is up to date “per good methods” that appear to be developed primarily based on how you utilize the machine. It could take a substantial period of time to seed the Aiper with working information to ensure that this mode to be efficient, as my makes an attempt to make use of it invariably left me with weird schedules that I’d by no means depend on in the true world (for instance: clear the wall solely on day one, skim floor three days later, and clear flooring/waterline 5 days later).

AI scheduling modes sound thrilling, however I can’t see how they make a lot sense. My pool’s particles degree is solely pushed by whether or not it rains, which approach the wind is blowing, and if yardwork has been not too long ago carried out close by. Sure, Aiper can take climate under consideration, however until it fires up these onboard cameras, it’s received no possible way of figuring out how soiled the pool is on any given day.

My least favourite facet of the V3 Extremely, nonetheless, needs to be cleanup. The nested particles basket consists of three items: an outer shell, a plastic cage that matches inside it, and an ultra-fine mesh filter that surrounds that cage. I’ve used these sorts of mesh filters earlier than, which really feel nearer to a thick towel in use, and they’re completely terrible to attempt to clear. Eradicating them from the internal filter cage whereas moist is tough, cleansing all of the grit and filth out of them is not possible, and wrestling them again into place is simply as laborious.

Aiper devotes three pages of its printed guide to cleansing the particles basket, and you may most likely learn the entire thing in much less time than it takes to scrub the factor. I dreaded having to scrub the basket after every run. To make issues worse, I usually discovered bits of particles (together with a tenacious snail) trapped contained in the robotic {hardware}, beneath the particles basket solely, the place it was almost not possible to take away.

One further notice pertains to construct high quality. Whereas the V3 Extremely appears sturdy, the hatch that covers the particles basket wouldn’t totally shut on my assessment unit. Aiper’s photographs point out that the hatch ought to be flush with the remainder of the chassis, however mine wouldn’t shut fully, gaping open by a number of millimeters. Whereas this didn’t appear to influence operations for now, it does elevate questions on building and long-term reliability.

Lastly, whereas Aiper’s app works properly more often than not, it was glitchy with the V3 Extremely. These abnormally terminated duties would all the time trigger the app to partially freeze and stop any settings modifications, requiring a number of force-quits to get issues working once more.

Aiper Scuba V3 Extremely: Conclusion

In the end, the Scuba V3 Extremely feels much more like a V1 than a V3 of something, filled with bugs and elevating issues about general construct high quality. Firmware and software program updates could sometime assist with the primary concern, however they received’t make the hatch shut correctly, they received’t velocity up floor cleansing, they usually received’t treatment the onerous cleanup scenario.

$2,000 is a large ask for this machine in its present state. Should you’re offered on Aiper, take into account as a substitute the Scuba S1 Professional, which cleans almost as properly (sans skimming) and prices $800 much less.