Can someone explain the Dolphin product lineup?

[wayner]

On Amazon (Amazon Canada to be exact) I see Dolphin robots like the Premium 10, Premium 20 and Premium 60. But when you go to pool shops you see different models like the S200, S300, etc.

Are these the same products but they are using different model numbers to make it harder to comparison shop?

Has someone done a mapping of the different models?

And is the Wifi or Bluetooth capability useful at all? My six year old S300 has Bluetooth, but the Bluetooth functionality is underwhelming. You can't even start a cleaning cycle from the app. The only time that I ever used Bluetooth was to get an error code when it wasn't working.

 

[PhillyRay]

Are these the same products but they are using different model numbers to make it harder to comparison shop?

I think this is part of it, yes

Has someone done a mapping of the different models?

Marina Pool and Spa has a very helpful comparison chart here

My working, tinfoil-hat theory is that Dolphin "reskins" their cleaners so brick and mortar stores have something that appears "different" than what's available online. I guess this gives them the opportunity to price it how they want, or advertise sales/rebates which really bring the price closer to the equivalent online model. Just a theory.

From that chart it appears that the Dolphin S200, Active 20 and Prowler 920 are basically the same robot.

But on Amazon (US) I see Dolphin has similar looking robots, the Proteus, Explorer and Nautilus and I'm not sure what they're comparable to.

And is the Wifi or Bluetooth capability useful at all?

Depends on the Robot I think.

I was running a Pentair Warrior SI (which confusingly is just a rebranded Dolphin S200 for Pentair) for about 5 years and I found the app connectivity to be lacking. Slow to pair and not very responsive. It was only useful for troubleshooting issues, like knowing the impeller was blocked.

Now I'm running an AquaBots Evo614iQ. AquaBots is under the "Fluidra" umbrella of brands, along with Polaris and others.

I'm finding that the Wireless connectivity is much better. I can use the App to easily drive the robot up to the coping so I remove it without tugging the cable. You can start/stop and select and even schedule the cleaning modes, I think.

 

[wayner]

Thanks so much for the responses, PhillyRay!

My working, tinfoil-hat theory is that Dolphin "reskins" their cleaners so brick and mortar stores have something that appears "different" than what's available online. I guess this gives them the opportunity to price it how they want, or advertise sales/rebates which really bring the price closer to the equivalent online model. Just a theory.

From that chart it appears that the Dolphin S200, Active 20 and Prowler 920 are basically the same robot.

That's what I suspect. Yamaha would do this with Amplifiers/AVRs - they would have one set up model numbers for discount retailers like BestBuy and another set of model numbers for "serious" stereo shops but it was the same stuff in a different skin.

I was running a Pentair Warrior SI (which confusingly is just a rebranded Dolphin S200 for Pentair) for about 5 years and I found the app connectivity to be lacking. Slow to pair and not very responsive. It was only useful for troubleshooting issues, like knowing the impeller was blocked.

This is exactly what I have found with my existing Dolphin which is a S300 from 2016. It is very slow to connect and respond and I hardly ever use it except to get error codes.

 

[PhillyRay]

It is very slow to connect and respond and I hardly ever use it except to get error codes.

To be honest, I was so turned off by the Bluetooth connectivity on the Warrior SI that when it came time to replace it, I didn’t want to pay more for that feature on another robot.

AquaBots also has a 604 model without wireless connectivity but it’s not much less expensive than the 614iq so I bit the bullet.

The app is pretty decent. it’s also used for other pool components (salt water chlorinators , heaters etc) so they have some incentive to make it a good experience

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[Newdude]

My working, tinfoil-hat theory is that Dolphin "reskins" their cleaners so brick and mortar stores have something that appears "different" than what's available online. I guess this gives them the opportunity to price it how they want, or advertise sales/rebates which really bring the price closer to the equivalent online model. Just a theory.

This is exactly what happens. Pentair gets one. Dohney's gets one. Etc etc.

*cough cough* none of them ever have to price match *cough cough*

Ahem. Excuse me. I had a tickle in my throat.

Somewhere on the forum we have a clone list and a link to a great offsite article about them and I can't find either at the moment.

 

[wayner]

Does this look like the same cleaner? It is called Aqua Product Evo 614iQ Aqua Products Evo™ 614 iQ Smart Robotic Pool Cleaner | Pool Supplies Canada

It is a fair bit cheaper than the Dolphins. And the 604 is CAD$150 cheaper.

 

[PhillyRay]

Does this look like the same cleaner? It is called Aqua Product Evo 614iQ Aqua Products Evo™ 614 iQ Smart Robotic Pool Cleaner | Pool Supplies Canada

It is a fair bit cheaper than the Dolphins. And the 604 is CAD$150 cheaper.

This is exactly the one I bought, I paid $850 USD from Marina Pool & Spa.

If you search the forums there’s a big thread about this Robot that’s been going on for over a year. It’s early days for me, but others have had more time with it.

 

[wayner]

This is probably the review that you were referring to: New EVO 614i Robot Pool Cleaner Review

 

[PhillyRay]

This is probably the review that you were referring to: New EVO 614i Robot Pool Cleaner Review

That’s the one

 

[AUSpool]

I went over and over the Dolphin range, mostly at the bottom of the range and on their AU site.

I had to start with what I needed it to do. I don’t get a lot of debris and don’t really need one that scrubs the walls. But I needed one that could filter the finest. I actually started looking at a suction side cleaner but stared seeing adds for the Aiper and it looked fancy but some of the reviews turned me off. Made me think ‘do I need cordless?’ The more gadgets something has the more things there are to go wrong and these things are a battery powered device that does its thing under water. Not a good combination but doable I guess.

A then the adds for the Dolphin appeared. The basic model was not much more then the suction side cleaner and probably easier to use but in reality I didn’t really need the suction cleaner when I rarely us the manual vac.

And so I looked online at the Dolphin range. It was cold outside and I had spare time. The S50 was cheep but basic. For $500 more the S100 has a better basket. For another $500 the S150 has a swivel. Content that I didn’t need a swivel I bought the S50 plus a better basket for an extra $200. I’ve used it maybe a half a dozen times over the last year and I’m keeping my pool cleaner than I did before so I’m happy with our little Robby the robot.

 

[Titan7]

It’s very confusing, I had a Dolphin Doheny back in 2016, basically a white label S200. Sold it with the house and old pool last year. New pool done wow have prices gone up.

I picked up a Proteus DX4, $800, basically what I had before, but has a swivel cord which is good, but no nano filters