Wybot - F1 Robotic Pool Skimmer - Black

The Wybot F1 Robotic Pool Skimmer is a great supplemental device to help keep your pool clean of debris. It runs on the surface of the pool much like a little square boat, riding around and swallowing up bugs, leaves, and other floating debris before it all falls to your pool floor. This skimmer isn't perfect. It makes a bit of a high pitched whining sound when it's running which I am not particularly fond of; but it does it's job well and I'm not going to be running it when people are swimming of course so it's not a deal breaker. The skimmer can be charged with an optional power cord, but mostly will run off power from the sun via the large solar panel on top. It seems to charge well from that and I don't see needing to charge it with a power supply often. The basket operates much like a typical pool system skimmer - it has a trap door that only opens inward as it's propelling itself around the pool so stuff gets in but can't get out. The basket is fairly large and would easily hold a ton of leaves and debris. The app allows you to switch between two different modes of operation as well as fully control the skimmer manually. You can also click the "pickup" button to have it "dock" at the side of the pool for removing the basket for emptying. The basket is easy to clean with a water hose so it's ready to go again. The look and design are excellent. It looks like a premium pool robot - very sleek as it's skimming across the surface. It is semi-smart in that it knows when it hits a wall and immediately turns and goes in the opposite direction so it really does go all over the pool. One thing I really love is that it doesn't get stuck against the pool skimmer even when the pumps are running like another robot skimmer I have does so that's a big plus. Side Note: When I first set it up and it started running, it didn't work right. The "engine" seemed to be running fast and loud and it would run into the wall and then just keep going - wouldn't turn around or anything. I let it do that for an hour then took it out and powered it off. The next day I powered it back and and put it back in the pool and then it worked exactly as it should with no issues. I have no idea what that was about, but just in case you run into the same thing, consider removing it, powering it off, waiting a day then going again. Might just be updated firmware that didn't quite take effect or something. Another Side Note: You may or may not receive a power adapter with your skimmer. Initially, they weren't including them, but later decided they should. So if you don't get on in the box, I'd suggest reaching out to customer service to request one be sent to you. The solar panel works great in general, but it's good to have a power cord for the initial charging as well as for cloudy/rainy days. This is overall a great little robot skimmer. It does what it's supposed to do. It's easy to use. It looks good. It does have an annoying whining sound it makes but it's something that I'm guessing most people might not even notice, though it does drive me a little crazy. Nonetheless, I'm glad to have it and look forward to it doing a lot of work for me to keep the pool surface clean and keep the yucky stuff from getting to the floor. The Good: - Sleek, good looking design - Great at grabbing surface debris - Runs primarily off the solar charging - Easy to empty and clean - Doesn't get stuck in skimmer The Bad: - High pitched whining noise when running - Took a little time to start working correctly

This is the first pool skimmer I have owned. Until now, I have used the traditional leaf skimmer to eliminate leaves, grass, bugs, etc. from the surface before they sink to the bottom of the pool, where they are much more difficult to clean. The Wybot F1 Robotic Pool Skimmer measures 21"H x 20"W x 11"L & weighs 18 lb. It has a bin capacity of 1 gallon & is super easy to lift from the pool, dump the bin & place it back in the pool. I was surprised by the leaves & debris collected in the basket in only 3 days! The huge onboard solar panel charges the 4600 milliampere hour Lithium-ion battery in 180 minutes. Because the skimmer charges by solar power, it can stay in the pool all of the time, other than when you are cleaning & rinsing the basket. Dual cleaning modes: Standard will run for 8 hours and Smart mode will run for up to 10 hours. Smart Mode will adjust its run time and frequency to maintain skimming all day. Once started it will follow a programed path. The app also allows remote control, so you can target a leaf & pick it up. Adjustable anti-stranding bars eliminate it from getting stuck on shallow steps. CONCLUSION: The Wybot F1 instantly became one of my favorite pool accessories. The bottom of our pool is noticeably much cleaner than ever before, as debris is eliminated before it sinks. This robotic pool skimmer earns my highest recommendation.

Verdict: I highly recommend getting the Wybot F1 Solar Skimmer… it has been a game-changer for us, reducing bottom-of-the-pool cleaning substantially with maximum convenience through solar charging. Just remember to clean the basket regularly because it gets nasty with bugs, leaves, etc. In my testing, I let it run from Wednesday through Saturday, with the robot charging through solar and stopping on low charge. Our pool has full sun, so this thing could in theory just live in the pool indefinitely. Background. I have an inground 30k-gal gunite pool. We’ve had a pool for eight years now and we’ve maintained our pool ourselves the whole time, cleaning by hand, then with a connected pool robot, and finally progressing to a rechargeable robot in 2025. The Wybot skimmer is our first skimmer. Setup. After unpacking the unit, I installed the app, created an account, and connected to the robot. The app easily detected and added the robot; the robot will blink purple lights when it connects to the app. During setup, the app will ask basic questions about your pool. I did the firmware update, and then there was still a notification to update, so I did the second update. The robot only had 50% charge, so I very much wish it came with the cable so I could get it going at full charge. App. Through the app, you can choose the standard mode or the smart mode for cleaning. You can start/stop cleaning and you can control the robot with a joystick. It’s important to note that you do not need the app to operate the skimmer; you can just turn on the robot by pressing the power button and the propellers will start working within 10 seconds (they stop if they don’t detect water). Performance. The skimmer moves slow. You can’t expect it to clean the pool as quickly as a human can clean with a hand skimmer. Accordingly, I don’t think this robot is the best tool to throw in your pool after a big storm. However, it’s a fantastic all-day everyday tool that will keep your pool cleaner for little additional work. The robot will steadily pick up surface debris, preventing them from dirtying the bottom. I doesn't seem to be detecting and navigating to a target... Instead, I think it just moves back and worth randomly, which seems to work just fine. I am consistently surprised about how much stuff is in the basket when I empty it… bugs, leaves, debris, etc… After a few days, there is a lot in there, and there is a lot less stuff to clean at the bottom of the pool. Cleaning is easy; just pull the basket out, dump the contents, and do a quick rinse. Finally, solar and/or rechargeable is infinitely better than the old robots that were connected by a cable. Steps. At the bottom of robot, there are feet that can be pulled down about three levels in case you have shallow steps where the robot can get stuck. I actually use these because my shallow step is just the right height for the robot to get stuck. The feet will prevent the robot from getting on the step, essentially hitting the step and stopping the robot. If you don’t have a shallow step, you can keep the feet tucked away to eliminate any drag through the water. Of note, having different heights for the feet is great so you can use the least height required to prevent the robot from getting stuck, while avoiding unnecessary drag in the water. Edges. When the robot gets to a wall, the propellers keep going forward and eventually the robot will rotate (there are small rollers on all four corners) and go a different direction. At first, it looks like the robot is stuck, but it’s part of its edge cleaning feature. Obstacles. I put a beach ball in front of the robot, and it started to maneuver to avoid it. Not sure if it’s recommended, but in our observation, you can swim in the pool while the skimmer slowly moves around the pool and works to avoid people and large obstacles. Things I love: - Solar charging for no-hassle cleaning - Significantly reduces bottom-of-the-pool cleaning - Very easy to clean; just pull the basket out and dump contents - Fairly light weight, so it’s easy to pull out of the pool - Effective cleaning over time - Joystick option is both fun and very handy when you really want to get that one leaf Things I don’t love: - While the robot charges through the solar panel, I think they should have included the plug-in charger. The cost of a charge is minimal, while convenience is wort much more. If the robot is dead, for example after storage (for winter in some parts of the country, going away for a while, etc.), it gets complicated with solar only. It would be so much nicer to be able to get the robot started on a full charge, rather than putting it in the pool and wonder if/when it will recharge itself - The rear middle bumper is already falling off (see picture). That’s not a big deal… but the bumpers really shouldn’t be falling off Overall, this solar skimmer is amazing! It’s easy to use, effective, easy to clean, and pretty affordable for how much value you get from it. Not sure how it compares to other skimmers, but we are very happy with this one. I give it a solid 4 stars (1 star less for the two issues noted above).

I've had a pool skimming robot for about 7 years (3 different ones). They've all improved, but the harsh weather of Phoenix, AZ does a number on anything left in a pool 24/7, 365 days a year. You see I have a 60'x60' Ficus tree with about 250K leaves on it. They periodically fall and inevitably end up in the pool. I've been relying on skimming robot to pick up the bulk of these leaves, however under windy conditions some will make it to the bottom, as do figs that fall from the tree and don't float that long. When I have little or no wind I have to empty my skimmer every 2-3 days, when its windy I have to empty them (at least) twice a day. It's still it better than manually using a leaf skimmer. The Wybot F1 is similar in size to my previous skimmers, but it does not have any external propellers (as my others have). It also has a mesh filter which is slightly finer than my robot have been. In order to empty the F1 you have to remove it from the pool. My others have had lids that lifted open and the debris basket could be removed while it was in the pool, but with the water level being below the top of the pool this is a real reach, so it's just as easy to take the robot out of the pool when emptying the debris basket. My pool has a large rock waterfall at one end, which means the pool is not smooth (not cool deck all the way around). My first robot had a issue with this and it could get stuck; the WyBot F1 and my prior robot floated high enough this was not a problem for them. The WyBot F1 has 2 cleaning modes: Smart and Standard. In standard mode when the battery is above 20% the robot runs pretty continuously, and stops and starts periodically when the charge is below 20%. In Smart mode when the battery is above 50% it runs intermittently cleaning in 10 minutes cycles. Below 50% it cleans less frequently, this allows it to lower power consumption and clean day and night. It can also be controlled from your smart phone (remote control - but I don't plan to use it like this}. I'd say the leaf bin of the F1 is holds about the same volume as my previous robot. My previous robot could carry a chlorine tab, the F1 does not have provision to do this (so I'll just use a pool float as I did before). Both robots randomly move about the surface of the pool picking up any leave they run across. If you created waves in the pool my previous robot might loose some leaves from it's debris bin, this seems less likely to happen with the F1. The F1 has a provision to be charged via a charger (a different voltage than WyBot C1/C2 uses (but don't use the wrong charger, the plugs are the same (and a charger for the F1 is not provided). This is nice option for the winter months when the sun does not shine as long. And it should not be necessary in the longer days of summer. The F1 uses the same app as other WyBot products use. It connects via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz only). I've had an opportunity to compare the F1 to my prior robot, keeping both in the pool at the same time over several months (a pretty fair competition). After extensive comparisons the F1 did not collect nearly as much debris as my prior robot. The F1 did not move about/across the pool nearly as often as my prior robot (unless I manually charged it via their charger (not solar only like my prior robot)). The F1 would periodically need to be reset via the power button (as it would stop reporting to Bluetooth). When this happened it would not wake up (using the external charger also corrects this issue). The F1 seemed to perform better/longer in standard mode than in smart mode. And in my opinion F1 seemed to float to low in the water, making it difficult for it to pick up floating debris (there is a floating flap at it's "mouth" if the float is too high it prevents debris from entering it). Over a typical day with a fair amount of leaves in the pool I'd say the F1 picked up less than 20% of the debris my prior robot did. I found that even leaving the F1 in Phoenix's full sun would still not fully recharge it. I did work with Wybot's customer support regarding these issues. They were great at correcting issues that they had control over, but they really never addressed that fact that the F1 did not work as well as my prior robot. So I'm now using their WyBot C2 robot to clean bottom and walls of my pool (love it). And I'm still using my prior robot to clean up floating debris. The two pool robots come close to giving me a low maintenance pool. Pool robots are the way to go. I just can't recommend the Wybot F1.

he solar powered Robotic Pool Skimmer does pick up most of floating things. Does do what is meant to as per design. Once it is fully charged and setup with its App and placing in the pool, then from the App can indicate “Start/Stop”, “Pickup” and control the direction via Control Remote mode. Cleaning Once place in the pool, it remains floating, then it would work based on the selection from the App. Based on the observation, it seems to prioritize the border or the wall side of the pool most of the time. It moves toward the wall side and some time changes the direction across. Now from the App, its instructions are limited to 3 mode types. Smart Mode, Standard, and Remote Control. In Smart Mode, it automatically adjust the run time and frequency. In Standard Mode it run continuously until battery level is low. The Remote Control mode is actually controlling manually. On this, it takes some use to get used to. Cleaning the filter basket. Once the cleaning is completed, cleaning the basket might result in time consuming a bit. As the filter net is being very fine that has tiny dust or things, and being deep, noticed it was a bit hard to remove them. If there were only small amount, doesn’t become an issue. What I wish it work better 1. DC Charger. It is not included in the package and the manual states as such. Hence, I needed to charge via Solar charing mode. And this is issue for long term usage. The solar panels in long term it does reduce charging capability, hence as it is used frequently and charg the battery, lower its capability. Due to this, the DC Charger should have been included to support it. On the other hand, using the charger from C2 ProVis, it doesn’t charge. And from Wybot website couldn’t find information of which charge can be bought. 2. Charge while cleaning: under plain sunlight, if it is working, simultaneously it doesn’t charge. It looks odd that the capability of Solar panel is only limited when it is on stop mode. 3. Pool water condition: as part of safety instruction, it states to use the device for chemical conditions of Chlorine, pH, Temperature, NaCI. Considering the device as advanced and robotic and there is such condition of water, it lacks its measurement detection from the device to update in the App. 4. Charging Status: this is only noticeable when I am next to the device. Otherwise, despite of the device can be seen from the app, its status is not updated in real time. Considering it is connected to WiFi, should this be possible. But not. Constantly had to go to next to the device to see its charging status. The app doesn’t tell neither when the charging completed. Similarly, doesn’t notify or doesn’t show in the App when the work is completed. 5. Weir: it is meant to prevent the debris from leaking out of the drawer. However, it doesn’t seem to work correctly as it remains opened. When the skimmer goes backward to make turn or alike movement, could see debris leaking out. Then further checking, it doesn’t close correctly as conflict with the Drawer Handle. In bottom line, it does pickup floating leafs and etc. But the user experience of the App and the Robot in conjunction comes short of expectation considering a Robot.