Recommended retail price as of December 2020.

The two main performance assessments are cleaning and stoppages. For cleaning we measure how much of the debris is removed from the pool at the end of the cleaning cycle. We also record the number of stoppages and blockages, time out of service and the cause of stoppage.

We assess the quality of the instructions, ease of assembly, ease of clearing blockages and ease of adjusting the pool cleaner if required.

The CHOICE Expert Rating is made up of performance (60%) and ease of use (40%).

We recommend pool cleaners with a CHOICE Expert Rating of at least 90%.

There are three types of pool cleaners - robot, suction and pressure. In this test we've only tested robot and suction types. Inertia driven suction cleaners are the Creepy Crawly looking cleaners while geared suction cleaners have wheels or tracks.

For suction types this is the maximum distance of the hose when attached to the filter inlet, for robots it's the maximum distance of the cable from the pool's edge.

The types of pools the pool cleaner is suitable to be used in.

Discontinued products may be available second hand or on clearance at some outlets.