RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Luckily, pool tech has come a long way in the past decade—gone are the hours spent scooping leaves and dead bugs out of the water with a long-handled net, laboring over pH strips, and trying to relax on floaties too small for your adult-sized behind. We've now got robots that clean your pool, apps that monitor water quality from your phone, and even a slushie machine for proper pool-party margs.
With gas and plane ticket prices soaring to astronomical levels, there's never been a better time for a staycation at your own pool. (If you don't have a pool of your own, you can always rent one nearby on Swimply.) My colleague Christopher Null has a 12- by 36-foot, L-shaped, in-ground pool lined with PebbleTec, and I have a 20- by 12-foot above-ground pool lined with vinyl. Between the two of us, we have pretty much tried it all, so whether you've got a custom-built in-ground complex or an Intex pop-up from Walmart, these time- and life-tested swimming pool accessories are sure to level up your backyard pool game.
For more yard-tech tips, check out our guides to the Best Pool Cleaning Robots, Best Smart Sprinklers and Irrigation Systems, Best Robot Lawn Mowers, and Best Smart Bird Feeders.
Updated July 2026: I’ve added a sun hat, a wave machine, a pool thermometer, a whimsical speaker, and a water bottle. I also ensured up-to-date links and prices. Love WIRED? Add us as a preferred source on Google to see more of us.
What, you’re still swimming in a still-water pool? Get with the ’20s and add an artificial wave machine that uses jets of water to create a strong current that you can swim against.
iGarden’s Swim Jet X (also available in a few cheaper, lower-power versions) is a massive pump that clips onto the edge of your pool deck, cycling up to 1,100 gallons of water per minute through its 31-pound chassis, creating its powerful stream. At higher settings, this current is downright extreme, able to blast an unprepared swimmer halfway across the pool. The result is a very effective way to exercise without swimming long laps in a traditional lap pool. And if the kids just want to splash around a bit for fun, you can lower the Swim Jet’s intensity level to create a lighter, surface-level disturbance.
The Swim Jet isn’t perfect, though. The workouts are challenging and also adjustable, thanks to the machine’s six power modes. Even so, swimming in place may not provide quite as vigorous an exercise session as traditional laps. Battery life is another consideration: You’ll get 10 hours of running time on the slowest, lowest setting, but its efficiency plummets as you ratchet up the output. On the higher power modes, the system is good for about two hours of wave-blasting operation.
It’s also very expensive, with the top-tier version running $4,320 at some sellers. That’s astronomical in price, but what pool product isn’t? And compared to the cost of a membership at a gym that has a pool, it might make more sense than it seems.
If you (or your neighbors) have small children, investing in a pool alarm may very well be an invaluable insurance policy. Lifebuoy’s Bcone is the blue-chip alarm option on the market right now. It’s a bright red, double-ended cone that floats in your pool (or hot tub) and sounds a siren if something ends up in the water that isn’t supposed to be there.
The system works by detecting disturbances to the water’s surface, analyzing wave patterns to distinguish between the splash of a person (or pet) falling in and ripples caused by the wind. If the Bcone detects an event, it fires off its internal Klaxon and relays the alarm to a Wi-Fi bridge that remains inside the home (plus the Bcone app). The bridge and app both let you easily disable the alarm when people are swimming—and can even turn the system back on automatically when the water is clear, so “I forgot” doesn’t become a deadly excuse. —Christopher Null
This is WIRED reviewer Simon Hill's pick for best outdoor security camera after testing many models. Though I personally have an older Arlo model, I agree that the brand makes the most consistently user-friendly security cameras on the market right now. Recorded footage of your pool is another important investment in safety and potential liability, especially if you have children or curious animals living nearby. A camera can also function as a tool to help proactively spot potential issues while you're away from home, such as the water level, cleaning-equipment functionality, and cover positioning.
As someone who manually fished leaves and dead bees out of their pool with a net for years, I can attest to the utility of an automatic skimmer. It's not cheap, but if you have a large pool that doesn't have an in-wall skimming system, a robotic skimmer is a must-have, and this is the pool-cleaning robot reviewer Christopher Null likes best. It's solar-powered, so you never have to take it out to charge, and it's got sensors that help it avoid damaging itself by running into your pool walls. Read the full rundown in our guide to the Best Pool Cleaning Robots.
Cleaning out debris is only one part of regular pool maintenance. Equally important, if not more so, is keeping chemicals in balance. If things get out of whack for even a few days, you can be left with a green, algae-ridden mess that is a major challenge to remedy. Test strips and kits have long been standard, but they're a hassle to use and only give you a snapshot of your pool’s chemistry at a specific moment in time. Smart technology offers a much more elegant solution; it lets you keep tabs on chemistry in real time and alerts you if something’s amiss. Of the handful of smart-pool chemistry monitors I’ve tested, I like Iopool’s Eco Start the best.
This floating gadget monitors temperature, pH, and ORP (a stand-in for free chlorine), together giving you a solid picture of your pool’s disinfection capabilities. It automatically updates every 15 minutes. While many chemistry monitors require replaceable su...
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