BuHybrid L6 review: This corded pool cleaner has a battery, too

Best prices today: Buybrid L6

$ 999

Here is a curious concept of the manufacturer of new American robotic pool cleaner Boblue: the Buybrid L6 is a robotic pool cleaner that can work via a rechargeable electrical connection Or Via an internal battery, a hybrid design that makes more sense than it seems at the beginning, at least on paper.

On the surface, the design has a lot in common with the VRX IQ + polaris and other embodied power robots. A small electric box connects to the power of the standard wall via a short cord. A separate and waterproof cable 49 feet long connects from the 22 pound robot box, fixing on its top via a large adapter with four teeth with a screwing waterproofing system that has tight the connection.

Features

The robot itself has a somewhat traditional design, although its palette of black and gray colors and its wheels the size of a monster are a little unusual.

Configured with the connected cable, the unit is ready for the wired operation. The operation can be initiated by pressing the robot buttons itself, which, in addition to a power button, includes four modes: floor, walls, flotation line and automatic mode (which cleans all these surfaces).

Christopher Null / Foundry

The pimples are weakly backlit and difficult to distinguish under any amount of ambient light; But in the end, you feed the robot, select your mode and place it in the pool to operate the unit. A large light strip through the front of the robot modifies the color to indicate various information on its operating state.

You will get much more configurability by connecting the unit to the BoBlue Mobile Application, which is configured by initially integration of the robot into Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz only). This consists of pressing a Wi-Fi button on the power area while the robot is connected, after which the robot is automatically connected and sanded to your domestic network.

Christopher Null / Foundry

Once connected to Wi-Fi, you have access to a total of seven operating modes (including a wall + floor mode and unexplained “Eco” and “Power” modes.

Christopher Null / Foundry

If you want to end an early cleaning session, there is also a function to return the robot to the flotation line for easy recovery. (Otherwise, you will need to use the hook included.) A planning system is also available if you want to leave the robot in the pool and make it work periodically.

In addition to the Wi-Fi button, the only other button in the power area (apart from the power button) is a Bluetooth button. You will need to use it for only one thing: activate the robot’s remote control function, because for any reason, this feature does not work on Wi-Fi.

Christopher Null / Foundry

The remote control has a simple control wheel, and although the unit is not super responsive to the controls, with enough patience, I was able to guide it around the pool floor and pick up all the strawing bits of wandering debris, although mounting the walls is very difficult to do with precision.

Again, each of these features is only available when the unit is connected to the power box. Alternatively, you can eliminate the socket and go wirelessly. A 5200 mAh battery allows the buhybrid to operate for two hours while being disconnected from its attachment, offering a maximum specified coverage of 1,615 square feet. Since the application does not work while the unit is disconnected, note that you will have to use the hardware controls to choose your operating mode and you will not be able to make changes on the fly.

Performance

I have tested the unit several times both wired and not made, on natural debris and synthetic leaves.

In power of the battery, the buhybrid did not impress, because it has repeatedly left a large quantity of test sheets, capturing only about 70% of the total debris. He also tended to get stuck on the stairs, and despite Boblue’s claims of “multi-surface mastery”, I had to repel him manually in the water on several occasions.

Christopher Null / Foundry

On several occasions during these races, the hatch covering the filter basket opened, which forced me to recover it with a post and close it before restarting the race. I also caught the robot going around in circles on the surface of the swimming pool without clear reason, perhaps temporarily unable to descend.

I had a considerably better chance when performing the robot with its connected cable, largely, because the use of the maximum operating time adjustment of 4 hours allows it to cover twice as much soil per race. In this mode, the robot was able to collect 99% of the debris, including the debris on the stairs – although it was stuck once. Apart from that, he left a single sheet in a corner of the pool.

Recovery is also much simpler when it is roped, requiring a single tap in the application to bring it back to the surface. Also note that the battery will load each time the cable is connected, including while the unit works actively.

Christopher Null / Foundry

However, the Buybrid cable does not solve all the problems. When attached, I found that the unit had a propensity for the wheels to be made, because it looked like the unit struggled with the weight of the cable. If enough cable was not placed in the pool to start, the buhybrid would often remain stuck near the wall, unable to generate enough electricity to pull the cable in the water.

Outside the water, the cable presents another challenge. While robots like the VRX IQ + are delivered with a rolling quay that includes the electric box and a place to carefully store the cable when it is not used, the buhybrid does not do so. The electric box is just on the ground, and it’s up to you to understand how to manage the cable. Throughout my tests, the pool terrace looked like this: [see photo messy pool deck]. It is at best horror, a danger to the worst.

Christopher Null / Foundry

Cleaning is reasonably easy. The filter basket has a large simple hinge cover that is spreading without too many problems. However, I regularly find it difficult to close the cover properly, because the lock has not succeeded as well as it should.

The wireless implementation of the robot and the Boblue application also need continuous development. For example, Bluetooth must be reset each time you want to use the remote control control function by physically pressing the appropriate button on the power area, attenuating its utility. Why Bluetooth cannot just stay active is a mystery. And although it is practical to have a newspaper running for cleaning operations, each entry in the history of the application has displayed a recorded cleaning time of 0 minutes.

Christopher Null / Foundry

I encountered other error and bug messages when using the application, including crazy moments when the robot would not respond to control at all when performing a cleaning cycle (like abandoning the session). Disconnections of the application were also common, although they can often be resolved by the power cycle of the power box and the strength of the force.

Should you buy the Bublue Buybrid L6?

The Buybrid L6 has a list price of $ 1,599, although it is available on Amazon for $ 999 at the time of writing before. It is still very expensive given some of the performance problems present; Namely, the robot is the wrong mounting in battery mode and its tendency to get stuck and ignore the controls. The owners of swimming pools who envisage that the L6 will probably have to plan that it remains wired at any time, but this will also mean designing a DIY cable management solution.

For me, even if he has an exceptional cleaning power in wired mode, he still has too many negatives to deserve his price.

This review is part of the in -depth coverage of Techhive of the best robotic pool cleaners.