Is the CC Plus a great choice or is it falling behind new Dolphin models?
Welcome back to Pool Pad, your landing pad for all things swimming pool related. I'm Kelly, and today, let's dive into the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus by Maytronics. The CC Plus is one of the most popular robots found online, and today I will be taking it through the ropes to see if it deserves its spot at the top of the list. As usual, I'll be scoring the CC Plus in three categories: pool coverage, filtration ability, and features and warranty. So let's dive in!
When it comes to pool coverage, the Nautilus CC Plus can clean the walls and floors of your pool, but it is not designed to clean the waterline. After watching the CC Plus complete a full cleaning cycle, I was pleased to see it delivered the same clean on the pool floor I have come to expect from Dolphin cleaners. With rubber tracks and dual scrubbing brushes, the CC Plus did a solid job navigating my pool and scrubbing away debris stuck on my floors and walls.
Unlike other comparably priced Dolphin cleaners though, the CC Plus cannot clean the waterline. While it occasionally climbed the wall up to my waterline, it never was able to stay there to clean and quickly fell back down. This wouldn't be a big deal for an entry-level robot, but at the CC Plus's price range, this is disappointing to see.
The Dolphin Quantum is a direct substitute for the CC Plus and it can climb to the waterline and has extra filtration options, which I'll talk about shortly. I don't understand why the CC Plus cannot stay at the waterline, but since it cannot, you will have to clean the dirtiest part of your pool. There's a reason why the waterline is called the scum line.
At this price though, I want to know that it's capable of cleaning the entire pool. That being said, it still does a great job on the floor and walls, so I have to give it a 3.5/5 in pool coverage.
Next, let's dive into filtration ability. The Nautilus CC Plus comes with a standard fine filter, which once again misses the mark that I expect from its price tag. For me, this is just as bad as missing the waterline because I can scrub away the waterline, even if I don't want to, but clearing up cloudy water is a lot harder.
This is why units such as the Dolphin Quantum include NanoFilters which can filter out smaller particles the standard filter misses. This prevents your water from becoming cloudy and saves you tons of time and energy.
Since the CC Plus only has a standard fine filter, you will have to run your pump more or buy extra pool chemicals to clean up cloudy pool water. This is fine for entry-level robots but is unacceptable once you move up a level. For this reason, I have to give the CC Plus a 2/5 in filtration ability. It just cannot filter my water as good as I expect it to at this price point.
Finally, let's look at the features and warranty of the Nautilus CC Plus. The CC Plus comes with a programmable timer that lets you select between daily, every other day, and every three days. This is always a welcome addition, but it's expected at this price point. With a programmable timer, you only have to walk outside once a week to set its schedule, and it will run the rest of the week just as you selected.
The Nautilus CC Plus utilizes two standard rotating brushes. These are great brushes, but won't move as fast as Dolphin's new Max-Series' HyperBrushes. The HyperBrush moves at 2x the speed of the CC Plus, allowing them to scrub away tough debris. It's only found on the Dolphin Escape, Dolphin Cayman, and Dolphin Quantum.
The CC Plus also comes with a 2.5-year warranty, which seems ok until you find out the upmarket premium robots are 20% longer. The warranty is backed by Maytronics, and this means your warranty will be easy to redeem should anything go wrong. Thanks to its programmable timer and easy-to-redeem warranty, I have to give the CC Plus a 3.5/5 in features and warranty. It would have been nice to see a feature or two more to separate it from other comparable robots, but it does all I expect it to, and the Maytronics warranty is always great.
Totaling up all of the categories, the Nautilus CC Plus scores a 6/10. It is not a bad robot by any means, but it is only barely above average in most categories and very disappointing when it comes to filtration options.
I would say it does not live up to its popularity, especially when you compare it to my review on the Dolphin Quantum, which is around the same price and offers waterline cleaning, NanoFilter, and MaxBin
Check back soon with the Pool Pad team, as we will be constantly letting you in on the best products and methods to keep your pool clean and healthy!
With so many robotic pool cleaners in this price range, we recommend looking into an alternative robot with NanoFilters, Waterline Cleaning, and even the MaxBin
