Dolphin Pool Cleaners

The naming, decoded

Dolphin, made by Maytronics, sells most of its residential range under the Nautilus name with a two-letter suffix. The suffixes are not intuitive and the listings do little to explain them, which is most of why this page exists.

What each price step actually buys

• **CC to CC Plus:** app scheduling and finer filter cartridges. The drive system and the wall climbing are the same. If you will never schedule from a phone and your complaint is debris rather than haze, this step buys less than it costs.
• **CC Plus to CC Pro:** longer cycle options and a step up in filtration again. This is the step to take if the water looks hazy rather than dirty.
• **Anything to AG:** not a step at all. The AG is a different, simpler machine for a different pool geometry, and it is cheaper because it does less on purpose.

Why corded is the point here

The whole Dolphin residential range is mains powered, which removes two things you have to think about on every cordless robot: runtime, and the battery that eventually ends the machine's life.

The cost is the cable. It tangles on pools with a lot of steps, benches and features, and you retrieve a wet robot with a cord attached to it. Whether that matters is a genuine preference rather than a specification, and it is the main reason people choose cordless.

The picks

Top pick - In-ground pools up to 50 ft

Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool Vacuum

The corded default. Mains power means runtime is not a specification you have to think about.

The published figure

Corded, wall-climbing with waterline scrubbing, ultra-fine top-load filter cartridges

A corded robot has no battery to degrade and no runtime ceiling. That single fact removes the constraint every cordless unit on this page is designed around.

Wall climbing and waterline scrubbing are the two features that separate a robot from a floor vacuum, because the waterline is where the oily scum line forms and no floor-only unit touches it.

The cable is the cost: it tangles, and you have to lift a wet robot with a cord attached out of the pool.

What it does well

• No runtime limit and no battery to degrade
• Climbs walls and scrubs the waterline, not just the floor
• Top-load filter cartridges, which are the easiest kind to empty

What it costs you

• Cable tangling on pools with a lot of steps and features
• Heavier to lift out than a cordless unit

Skip it if your pool has no convenient power outlet, or you want to drop a cleaner in and walk away without managing a cord.

Check price on Amazon

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Pick 2 - The cheapest way into a real robot

Dolphin Nautilus CC Robotic Pool Vacuum

The entry point to the Dolphin line, without the app and without the finer filtration, and still a genuine climbing robot.

The published figure

Corded, wall-climbing scrubber brush, top-load filter

The difference between this and the CC Plus is app control and filter fineness, not the drive system or the climbing.

For a simple rectangular pool with no steps to negotiate and no interest in scheduling from a phone, that difference is worth less than the price gap.

Corded, so the same runtime advantage and the same cable nuisance as its more expensive sibling.

What it does well

• Climbs walls, which floor-only cleaners at this price do not
• No battery to degrade
• Top-load filter access

What it costs you

• No app scheduling
• Coarser filtration than the Plus

Skip it if you want scheduling or fine-silt filtration. Those are exactly what the price step buys.

Check price on Amazon

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Pick 3 - Above-ground pools

Dolphin Nautilus AG Robotic Pool Vacuum, above ground

Built for above-ground pools specifically, which matters because a wall-climbing robot on a soft-sided pool is the wrong tool.

The published figure

Purpose-built for above-ground pools, active scrubber brush, top-load filter

Above-ground pools have flat floors, shallow uniform depth and walls that a climbing robot has no business climbing. A unit designed for them is simpler and cheaper for good reasons.

Buying an in-ground robot for an above-ground pool means paying for climbing you cannot use and, on a soft-sided pool, do not want.

Top-load filter access is the same convenience as the rest of the Dolphin line.

What it does well

• Designed around the actual geometry of an above-ground pool
• Cheaper than the in-ground units for the same brand quality
• No battery to degrade

What it costs you

• Will not climb walls, by design
• Corded

Skip it if you own an in-ground pool — you would be giving up the wall and waterline cleaning.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

What we could not verify

Maytronics does not publish coverage area per cycle or filtration micron ratings on its listings in the way Wybot does, so the four-number check we recommend on best robotic pool cleaners cannot be completed for this range from published data alone. We would rather say that than fill the gaps with figures we have inferred.

What is published and checkable: the range is corded, the CC and above climb walls, the Plus and Pro scrub the waterline, filter access is top-load, and the AG is purpose-built for above-ground pools. Everything on this page rests on those.