Sigma Robotic Pool Cleaner with Wi-Fi, Gyroscope, and Massive Top-Load Cartridge Ultra-Fine and Standard Filters, Ideal for Pools up to 50 Feet

My pool was built 3 years ago and it came with a Pentair robot (not sure if this is a rebranded Dolphin, but I think it might be), and it has done ok, but finally just quit working entirely. The warranty was expired by 5 months, so I had to get a new one. I have had an old Roomba house vacuum, and if you've had one you know they just wander around aimlessly and they miss a lot of the floors. Then I got a newer robot home vacuum that maps out the house, and the difference was enormous. The new one does an excellent job, while the old one was just ok. That is the same difference between the pool robot that came with my pool versus the Dolphin Sigma. This thing is not just wandering around, it knows where it's been and it knows where it still needs to go. Not only that, but it scrubs the tile line, which the cheaper ones do not, and that is really important. I love that the app can schedule which days you want to clean and what time, and it notifies you when it finishes cleaning. I use the fine filters, and they always pick up a lot. When this thing finishes running, my pool looks great. I never need to sweep with this thing. It does it for me. It's not cheap, but it's the best. All the reviews I read pointed toward this one being the clear winner, the only exception is if you have a lot of leaves, the Premier might be better because it has a large bag to hold leaves. But I have no trees in my yard, so I get pine needles from the neighbors trees and whatever the wind blows in. But I didn't need the extra leaf storage, so I went with the Sigma. Also I don't think the Premier has wifi or an app. Anyway, if you are on the fence but you want the best pool vac on the market today, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

I bought the Dolphin Sigma in 2023 and it feels like it has been in the shop as much as the pool. It initially started out okay with quick and easy setup. Cleaning was adequate if not exceptional. Unfortunately, started to have issues with loss of power to the machine. You can forget about talking to anyone to assist and any response you get will be over emails. It had to be sent in for repairs and Maytronics requires the buyer to pay for shipping, which is north of $100. Also, this process will take at least two weeks. Reportedly was the cable. It worked for a few months and then exact same issue. It went pack to the shop for repairs. This time reportedly was the power supply box. It again worked for a few months and again stopped working. This time it thinks it is out of the pool despite it is not. I have emailed/submitted report to Maytronics but as of this writing still no response. I'm done with this machine. The expensive, lack of support and only adequate cleaning is not worth the hassle. Save yourself the headaches.

This isn't a cheap product by any means, so my expectations were pretty high. I previously had an AquaBot Elite for the last 3 years, which worked pretty well until one of the motors decided to stop working...conveniently just as the warranty expired. Don't get me wrong, the AB Elite was overall a good product...but this Sigma seems far superior. While I'm only 1 week into my ownership of the Sigma, it's noticeably better than my AB Elite in: 1. Suction power - My AB Elite would tend to skip around the pool floor when it stopped and started (or turned) because its suction wasn't powerful enough compared to its drive motor. The Sigma never loses contact with the pool floor. And, I see it sucking more debris into itself that's not directly in its path...something I didn't notice much with the AB Elite. 2. Getting stuck - I haven't seen the Sigma get stuck once yet. It put itself into a strange position on my pool steps where I was sure it would "turtle" on its back and I'd have to reset it. Nope! It corrected itself very quickly. My AB Elite would often struggle and get stuck at inside and outside corners of my pool wall and floor. It would take up to 10 minutes to correct itself, just sitting there spinning. Because the Sigma has 4 independent spinning brushes that allow it to turn in a full circle, it easily maneuvers and climbs walls at any angle. 3. Brushing the waterline - The Sigma is very impressive here as compared to my AB Elite. When it climbs and cleans the waterline, it typically goes 3-4 feet in one direction (and sometimes back again). It's very thorough. My AB Elite seemed to get lazy here and in some cycles, I noticed it didn't clean the waterline much at all. I'll be interested to see if the Sigma continues this same output over time. 4. Remote control - I didn't have remote with my AB Elite...because I didn't purchase that function. With the Sigma, the Remote App works pretty well. Like others have said, you do have to stand close to the power supply box because the Bluetooth isn't very strong. It also takes a little getting used to as there is a bit of lag between your input and response from the machine. But, overall, it's a cool feature for a quick spot clean. 5. Filters - I first ran the Sigma with the pre-installed "normal" mesh filters because I had some leaves and larger debris. Within the first 2.5 hr cycle, my pool was spotless. I then decided to run a second cycle immediately after with the Ultra Fine (corrugated) filters to see what else the Sigma would pick up. It was very impressive how much fine particles were trapped. I can see how normal maintenance with these filters can save you on chemicals. I really don't have any criticism of the Dolphin Sigma at this time. It seems like a great product and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a robotic pool cleaner. I did a ton of research before buying and am always skeptical of these cleaners because there are so many variations out there, and every manufacturer has many options.

I fully expected to return this after 30 days. Now it has been in daily use for a full year. My pool is fresh water with no chemicals. Filtered with plants and bacteria in the biofilter pond and stream. The liner is EPDM rubber which can be very slick if not cleaned daily. I was cleaning about 90 minutes a day with a portable pool vacuum that is very efficient. but I've cleaned pools all of my work life (50 years) and that was just more than I want to do so I looked into these robot cleaners thinking that at least it might cut down on the scrubbing and save me a little time. Long story short, I now only use the portable vac about every 4 months. The water stays crystal clear and the liner gets 98% scrubbed every day. there are a few issues I've had with this Dolphin Sigma. Twice it has picked up a small rock and one of the treads came off. Once that meant I needed to take the machine apart to repair it the other time I just put the tread back on. the biggest problem I have is the software. The manual drive on the smartphone ap is ridiculously unresponsive. There are 4 functions forward, reverse, left and right. Sounds okay but with the delay in reaction and not knowing how far it will move or turn it is a constant guessing game and quite frustrating. By the way you can only make one action at a time i.e. you can't turn a little while moving in forward or reverse. Also it is obvious that it is not following any course, the movement around the pool is 100% random it runs long enough to randomly go over the entire surface so it does a pretty good cleaning job. Finally, climbing walls: when the foam climbing wheels are clean, the pool is virtually algae free and the filters are freshly cleaned it climbs and cleans amazingly well. The filter clean fast and use a minimum of water (wash in the opposite direction of the filter flow. For some reason they show rinsing off in the same direction in all of the advertising but that doesn't clear the filter.) I hope that they will improve the software. Updates would be nice and if improved I will definitely buy another when this one wears out.

I made the initial purchase of the Dolphin Premier through Terra Direct. The transaction was very smooth and shipping was quick. After running the Premier through its paces for almost a month, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the performance. It seldomly climbed the walls which is an important feature on my checklist. My pool is a 20k Pebble Tec with balanced chemistry. The pool was given a thorough brushing and it still will seldomly climb the walls. It also seemed sluggish moving around the pool. Filters were cleaned after each use (used the nano and standard fine filter). Didn’t have much use for the leaf filter although it has a very impressive capacity. After I gave the Premier what I thought was a fair chance, I reached out to Terra Direct for suggestions. They quickly responded and suggested the Dolphin Sigma which is considered an upgrade for the difference of around $100 USD at the time of writing. They confirmed there will be no restocking fee and the warranty is longer for the Sigma. After returning the Premier and receiving the Sigma, I immediately noticed a huge difference in power and cleaning capability with the extra commercial-grade motor. It also climbed the walls and did so very frequently and with much power. The app functions well and I mostly use it to manage the cleaning schedule or to start additional cleanings if needed. I tested the remote-controlled manual feature and it worked as expected (there’s latency, but it’s usable). I purposely didn’t brush a section of my pool wall to test the cleaning capability and I was satisfied to see how well the Sigma scrubbed the buildup. I was also impressed at how much dirt was captured in the nano filters. Accessing the filters is much easier vs the Premier since it’s top loaded on the Sigma. One thing to point out is if you’re using the nano filters, clean them after every use. If your pool is clean, you can get away with two passes max. Dirty nano filters will cause a significant pressure/suction drop and the Sigma will not climb or partially climb the walls. All you need is a garden hose with a spray nozzle and the dirt will be washed right off. It only takes about 5 minutes. Lifting the Sigma out of the water can be on the heavier side if you attempt to lift it directly out of the water but if you lift it to the top of the water, grab it by its handle, take advantage of the buoyancy and gradually let it drain before fully pulling it out of the water, it will make things easier. Lastly, it will not clean tanning ledges, although I’ve seen it climb stairs. You will still need to brush off the ledges and stairs but in the grand scheme of things, that labor is minor compared to the time and money you will spend on hired pool help. In summary, the Sigma has passed my critical expectations and I’m completely satisfied in this investment which will pay itself off in less than a year. But most importantly, the time saved and to be saved in the future is priceless. I hope this review gives you the confidence to purchase the Sigma and saves you time and possibly money with trial and error/restocking fees.

We had 2 dolphin 4 pool robots over the last 9 years. They did a great job. This one is better. The cartridges are so much easier to clean and replace. This morning our pool was full of leaves and dead stems and branches. I was skeptical that the cartridge system could handle it. It did with no problem, just had to empty it after two hours the first two cycles. It was pretty weighted down as it was the first cleaning after a 5 month Arizona winter. We have a 45,000 gallon pool (24x52) and the robot cleaned the entire pool in 8 hours. Tomorrow I'll swap in the super fine filter boxes for an deeper clean. 3 year warranty plus a 3 year extended warranty. This robot will be on the job for a long time. No more pulling on the wire. The app works great and I can manually steer the robot to a shallow edge and lift it right out! Great suction. Smart coverage, nimble navigation, deep clean!

I am making my final update on this product. Two days ago, I launched the Sigma for a routine pool cleaning. It started up normally and crawled across the pool to the deep end. Then it just sat. I checked on it a few minutes later and it was still just sitting there. So I retrieved it from the pool and checked everything. No jams, no thrown drive belts, etc. so I cycled power. On my app it said there was no communication to the robot. So I disconnected the cable, cycled power again, then reconnected the cable. Nothing. So after three years of frustrating use, my expensive Sigma has become a boat anchor. I threw it out with the heavy trash pickup this morning. What a complete disappointment and waste of a lot of money. I cannot possibly recommend this unit. Feb 12, 2025 I am a retired electronics designer and have plenty of network setup experience. It's very fortunate that the Dolphin Sigma is such an excellent cleaning robot without the use of WiFi because I have tried over and over, contacted Technical Support, switched my router from dual band to single band (2.4GHz) and done everything Tech Support told me to do, but there is no joy in WiFi land for my Dolphin. I let it work using only Bluetooth. That lasted for a while. Now the app says the robot is not responding and unplugging the power supply from the electrical outlet is the only way to reset it. Even then, it only runs for a minute then shuts down. I am VERY UNHAPPY with my purchase. I will be contacting Maytronics to get a resolution for this. I hope they will swap out the power supply, as I see it as defective.

Why is this $1,500+ investment not working after 13 months of minimal use?!?! So, we purchased our Sigma in July 2023 and loved it! Immaculately cleaned our pool and loved how it picked up the tiniest of debris. We typically use our pool 1-2x a week depending on the weather and we clean the pool with our Sigma before going in so, not a lot of use there either. In addition, we rinse the filters and the entire robot (internal & external) with the garden hose after each use and have it dry on the caddy in a shaded area. During the winter season, it is stored in its original box in a climate controlled basement. So, why in August 2024 is this TOP RATED robot pool cleaner dead in the water? We may have had it for 13 months, but it only actually got used for about 6 months total in Spring and Summer. We would've highly recommended this but now we've got to find an authorized dealer locally that can take a look at it and give us a cost effective solution. Maybe going forward, the best thing is to purchase a robot less than $750 knowing it may only last you 12-18 months and then buy another one when that one dies. Things don't last long anymore so not worth spending the money thinking it will. Sigh ...