Robotic Pool Cleaners brand rivalry
Dolphin vs Polaris
the legacy brands' unsettled cordless question
The card so far: Dolphin holds 0 belts, Polaris holds 0 — settled division by division, never brand-wide.
Ringside notes
The two oldest names in pool cleaning, and the fight everyone assumes has an answer — doesn't. Their cordless entries met exactly once, in our Light Heavyweight division, and neither took the belt: the Beatbot Sora 70 beat them both. So the Liberty 300 vs FREEDOM Plus question is a tale of the tape, not a verdict. The tape leans one way, though: the Polaris FREEDOM Plus reads 4.4★ across 63 Amazon owners at $1,399 with a LiFi remote and app cycles — the testers' cordless pick — while the Liberty 300 reads 3.8★ across 89 at $1,249. Above that, Dolphin's corded M600 fights at Super Heavyweight (it lost to the AquaSense 2 Ultra) with the argument the cordless machines can't make: no battery to die, a 3-year warranty, and Maytronics' corded track record. If you're loyal to the legacy brands, that corded lane — not the Liberty — is where the loyalty pays.
FAQ
Which is better, Dolphin or Polaris?
Unsettled — their cordless entries (Liberty 300, FREEDOM Plus) both lost our Light Heavyweight division to the Beatbot Sora 70, so no fight between them was ruled. The owner data leans Polaris: 4.4★/63 for the FREEDOM Plus vs 3.8★/89 for the Liberty 300.
Is the Polaris FREEDOM Plus worth $1,399?
Its case: the testers' cordless pick, 4.4★ across 63 owners, a LiFi remote, and dealer support. Its problem: the robot that beat it in our division fight — the Beatbot Sora 70 — costs $200 less and adds surface skimming. Read the Light Heavyweight showdown before deciding.
What's the best Dolphin right now?
Honestly, a corded one. The Liberty 300 (3.8★) is the weakest-rated robot Dolphin fields with us; the corded M600 (flagship scrubber, 3-year warranty, no battery to age) and the Nautilus CC Plus (3,086 owners) carry the brand's real strengths.
Full fight coverage
Every number on this page derives from the same verified data that renders our showdowns — dated owner-rating reads, MSRP-based tiers, and rulings only where a real fight happened. Methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.