I had low expectations. I thought it would barely hold water and pop quickly. Not so. It inflated quickly and holds a firm shape. Wow. Then we filled it and it went pretty quickly. Wow. We hooked up the pump/heater and there were no issues. Wow again. We were really surprised at the top cover which I didn’t even think it would have. It’s pretty good and holds in the heat fairly well. Nice!
There were a few quirks and minor cons but overall this thing is impressive. My wife and I have had two dips now and really enjoy it.
Cons:
* The warning sticker thing didn’t come off cleanly and left sticky goo residue on the bottom. I didn’t realize it until it was floating and attaching to us both on our first dip. We had little white balls of goo stuck to our skin and hair. It was not fun getting it all off. I can’t really fault the tub for that. We spent the majority of our first experience rubbing the residue off the bottom and skimming it out.
* The bubbles feature is loud. The pump is pretty loud and the air and bubbles themselves are loud. Again, that’s tolerable and the nature of moving lots of air.
* The heat takes a while to heat the water up. This is understandable since that is physics. More water, more energy, more time.
* The heater draws a LOT of juice. I have a belkin watt meter and measured it. The pump alone is around 32.5 watts. The heater is around 1230. Yes. Over 1.2 kilowatts. Again. Do you want water to heat to 104 f when it’s cold outside? This was able to do that when our low temperatures were in the mid 40s. Impressive.
* The timer function is confusing. It says it only runs once with the delay. I’m not sure what the point is.
* You are crazy if you think 4 people can fit in here. Maybe if they are children or swingers (haha). My wife and I fit comfortably and we are both small people. Three people might fit but you’d be bumping into each other. Forget about four people. We got a good laugh at the hilarious photoshopped pictures on the box of four people together.
And now for the Pros:
* Setup was pretty quick. Instructions were adequate.
* Inflation was quick.
* It doesn’t hold much water so filling it was quick, maybe 20 minutes with a hose.
* The heat really works. Impressive.
* The bubble jets are no joke. They really work and bubble a lot. I expected some puny bubbles. This thing really moves air and creates a lot of bubbles.
* The cover is really nice.
* The pump moves a lot of water.
* The bottom is cushy. We were surprised but how comfy it is to walk and move around on.
Overall I am impressed for the discount price we paid. It feels like a better quality product, which makes sense given the current price.