Smorobot Tank C1 robotic pool cleaner assessment: Wanting greatness
Skilled’s Score
Professionals
- Superb at vacuuming up wonderful particles and filth
- Pretty compact and straightforward to maneuver, out and in of the water
- Moderately reasonably priced
Cons
- Struggles with partitions and corners
- Spends an inordinate period of time idling
- Filter basket is tough 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.
Value When Reviewed
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Finest Pricing Right this moment
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. Because the title 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 facet for a robotic of this dimension; however in my testing, it was invariably in a position to exceed its specified operating time of 150 minutes, normally by about half an hour.
The Smorobot Tank C1’s massive “face” accommodates a bevy of standing LEDs, however they aren’t notably helpful.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The robotic’s uncommon kind issue makes for an attention grabbing design: An angled entrance panel with a large deal with dominates the gadget. Within the rear, particles is collected in a fairly massive filter basket that’s accessed by way of a hatch. Two vast treads energy the gadget, whereas two spinning brushes in entrance of the robotic sweep leaves and filth towards the suction unit because it strikes alongside. My take a look at unit was white with blue trim; a white and grey mannequin can also be obtainable.
The Smorobot Tank C1 is rather more efficient at capturing grit and sand than it’s with leaves.
Specs
A easy energy change on prime of the gadget enables you to select from its two cleansing modes: floor-only (F), or flooring and partitions (S). The unit is powered by a two-prong charging port that have to be coated 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 a protracted line of standing LEDs that run the complete size of the face of the gadget. 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 facet provide a sign of what the robotic is doing: crimson lights point out one thing is caught, white lights recommend it’s shifting or turning by hook or by crook.
There’s not a whole lot of level to those indicators, nevertheless, as they’re tough 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 crimson LEDs.
Efficiency
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 nicely sufficient general, 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, nicely, it simply sits there for a few minutes. Smorobot says that is by design, however all through my testing, I used to be stunned by how a lot of its operating time was occupied by idling, seemingly attempting to gear itself up for its subsequent massive transfer.
It’s maybe due to this appreciable lag time that the Tank C1 didn’t do the very best job at cleansing in my take a look at runs, gathering up about 90 p.c of the fabric in my artificial leaves take a look at, and clearly lacking a number of areas in my customary testing with natural leaves. A 90 p.c assortment price isn’t terrible, however for this worth, I had hoped for higher outcomes.
Extra notably, the Tank C1 additionally struggled with partitions—corners specifically—throughout my analysis. Whereas it was usually in a position to 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 will sit for some time earlier than both attempting once more or turning and shifting elsewhere.
The robotic’s particles basket is loads massive, however it’s additionally very tough to entry.
Christopher Null/Foundry
There wasn’t a lot rhyme or cause for this, as subsequent climbing makes an attempt can be simply as more likely 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 gadget caught on the ridge for a strong 10 minutes. It’s additionally notable that the gadget isn’t designed to scrub steps, which, like most pool house owners, 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, a minimum of shut sufficient to succeed in it with the hook on a pole.
Cleanup is fairly simple as soon as you determine how you can get the hatch over the filter basket open. (You have to 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 tough, and I discovered that the duvet was on so tight that I needed to resort to utilizing a screwdriver to pry it open. Issues didn’t get a lot better on repeated checks, 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 rather more efficient at sucking up particulate matter than it was at vacuuming leaves.
Smorobot
Trying contained in the filter basket, I might inform the unit was rather 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 little bit awkward to open; in any other case, it cleans up simply with a hose.
Must you purchase a Smorobot Tank C1 robotic pool cleaner?
Observe that pool cleaner doesn’t include a cell app. Smorobot has one, however it at the moment works solely with its Valor line of bots. The producer says the Tank C1 model of the app remains to be in improvement, and because the Tank has Bluetooth capabilities, app assist may not be far off.
Additional studying: This assessment is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the very best robotic pool cleaners.
The Smorobot Tank C1’s $600 asking worth (Amazon was providing a $200-off coupon at this writing) locations it on the lower cost band of midrange pool robots, which appears about proper for a robotic with just about no frills. It really works nicely 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 benefit a powerful advice.
