Fanttik Aero X review: This robotic pool cleaner is an underwater monster

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In a world dominated by bulbous black-and-blue hardware, the Fanttik Aero X pool robot immediately caught my eye. It’s not just that it’s black and yellow, it’s that the industrial design looks more like a lawn mower than any pool robot I’ve tested.

It has much smaller front wheels than usual, and an exposed rubber drive belt that connects them to its motor. The forward-center brush cylinder is even reminiscent of the front of a lawn mower. And I suppose it makes sense: A robotic pool cleaner performs about the same function, only underwater.

As a company, Fanttik markets an eclectic collection of electronic tools, including tire inflators, vacuum cleaners, and electric screwdrivers. The Aero X is its only pool robot and the only device it sells that is even remotely connected to swimming pools. Given all that, I didn’t have the highest of hopes that the product would make much of an impact in an increasingly crowded market.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Well, it goes to show that first impressions aren’t always correct: After a week of testing, the Fanttik Aero X proved itself as one of my favorite pool robots—and one of the most capable models I’ve tested to date.

Specifications

Weighing 20.7 pounds, the Aero X is reasonably maneuverable, with handles on both the rear and both sides of the device to make it easier to grab when it’s at the waterline. Three cleaning modes cover floor only; floor and waterline; or “all,” which adds walls to the mix. The mode can be selected either via switches on the rear of the robot or via the Fanttik app, which I’ll cover in more detail in a bit.

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The Aero X has a very large (6 liters) center-mounted filter basket that can be optionally enhanced with the addition of a mesh bag for collecting extremely fine-grained sand and dirt. It’s powered by a massive 16,000mAh battery, which Fanttik says can provide a whopping six hours of running time.

I was sure this was hyperbole, but repeated testing proved that the robot can truly deliver on that claim, as I was regularly able to get a full quarter of a day of cleaning on a single day. Officially, Fanttik specifies a maximum coverage area of a massive 5,382 square feet, or about 40 percent the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Christopher Null/Foundry

One additional hardware feature of note is a long cord that snakes out the back of the Aero X, with a Styrofoam float connected to the tail end. This cord doesn’t connect to anything else, but it does keep a small electronic element floating at the waterline. Effectively, the cord works as an antenna that allows you to remotely control the robot via Bluetooth, either via the app on your smartphone or with the physical remote control that comes with it.

That would be impossible otherwise, because it’s difficult for wireless signals travel through water. Some other remote-controlled robotic pool cleaners I’ve tested use pulsed-light signals for this purpose.

Performance

The Aero X is a demon on wheels underwater. Drop it into the pool and it tears across the floor like an underwater remote-controlled car, so fast the front end sometimes pops up off the bottom of the pool. Again, I can’t recall seeing another pool robot with this much speed—and that’s normally not a good thing. I’ve found that fast robots frequently miss debris, simply zooming over it and failing to suction it up.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Not so with the Aero X: It’s not only good at collecting debris on the first pass, but its extended run time also means it has plenty of time to go over the pool time and time again; so, anything it missed the first time around eventually gets scooped up. In both organic and synthetic tests, Fanttik’s machine delivered exemplary performances, missing only 2 of the 100 test leaves in my silk leaf test.

Like many pool robots, however, the Aero X struggles with steps, and it even got stuck diagonally on the steps at one point, unable to free itself without my help. This might be its only major failing.

The Aero X works just fine on its own, but the remote control is something else; it’s hands down the best remote I’ve encountered on a pool robot. Powered by three AA batterie, the remote is fairly simple, with only a power button, a mode button (to switch between auto and manual mode), and a third button for changing the bot’s speed.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The centerpiece is a joystick that gives you full, real-time, responsive control over the robot. Again, the analogy to a remote-controlled car is apt. Driving the Aero X around the pool is fun and nothing like the halting, buggy experience you must suffer through with traditional pool robot remotes.

Fanttik’s app is simple but effective, providing basic control over the device, including another joystick-like control system, simple logs, and a scheduling system that lets you direct the robot to periodically clean the pool on a weekly basis, if you prefer to leave your robot in the pool instead of drying it out after each run.

There’s also a “lift” function in the remote that directs the robot to climb to the waterline and wait for retrieval, but this is one of the few issues I had with the Aero X, as I was never able to get it to successfully dock itself at the edge of the pool unless I controlled it manually with the joystick.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Although Fanttik’s manual says otherwise, I found that by default the Aero X will run until its battery is fully dead, leaving no battery power remaining for directing the robot to manually climb the walls for retrieval. I solved this after a firmware update by dialing down the default running time to five hours, leaving enough juice behind for retrieval.

In a pinch, I found I could simply pull it out of the water by grabbing the cable, though my suspicion is that this is not officially sanctioned (although it isn’t prohibited in the manual). No retrieval hook is included in the box.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Clean-up can be time consuming, as that filter basket is enormous and difficult to get fully clean, even with extended time with a hose. The added mesh bag is even tougher to properly clean out, and it’s also worth noting that Fanttik provides no instructions at all about how the mesh bag is supposed to be used.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robotic pool cleaners.

I guessed at its placement (directly attached to the suction intake inside the filter basket), but found it difficult to wrangle into place. Fortunately, the basket does such a solid enough job on its own that I expect most users won’t need to use the bag at all.

Should you buy the Fanttik Aero X?

The only other hiccup I encountered with the Aero X was a stray error message in its app alerting me to a clogged filter and instructing me to immediately retrieve the robot for cleaning. The robot kept running normally despite the error, however; and when I retrieved it, I found that there was no clog. That’s a pretty minor complaint, all things considered.

Despite a few operational issues—namely its trouble with steps—the Fanttik Aero X is a uniquely fantastic robot that merits consideration for use in any pool—even larger commercial or public pools.