The answer — one pick, priced
Get the
Polaris 9550 Sport
no budget ceiling
For the full-size family pool: a corded workhorse with a 70 ft swivel cable and big-pool suction, rated to 60 ft — where the 50 ft class runs out of reach.
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Fit ledger — need → measured evidence
■ The catch — co-equal billing, always
It is only ~$100 more than the better all-rounder. The Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus filters finer and has the smarter app; the 9550 Sport earns its price only if your pool is genuinely 50-60 ft. In a standard pool you are paying for cable you will never unspool.
Dealbreaker? Runner-up №1 is the better buy under 50 ft ↓
■ Every product has a catch. Verdicts that hide it are how bad buys happen.
Runners-up — if your needs differ
Adjacent verdicts — same method
Traps — this verdict avoids
The charging fire
Cordless robots run on lithium-ion. The CPSC recalled roughly 22,000 Aiper Elite Pro units for overheating and short-circuit, and individual charging fires have been reported. Poolbots reports never encountering a corded robot fire.
The suction gap
Battery robots push roughly 2,000 GPH through coarse mesh screens. Corded robots push 4,000-4,500 GPH through 2-micron NanoFiltration. Same price no longer means the same clean.
Phantom coverage
Quoted square footage and pool-length ratings assume a rectangular inground pool. Freeform shapes, steps and sun-ledges cut real coverage, and several cordless units are reported to get stuck on steps.
Provenance — 8 sources, dated
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