Hayward Goldline AQL2-POD2 AquaPod 2.0 Touchscreen, Waterproof Wireless Remote

THE INTERNAL BATTERY DIED IN MY ORIGINAL HAYWARD AND YOU CAN NOT JUST BUY A REPLACEMENT BATTERY. LOCAL POOL COMPANY WANTED $1,095. I SAVED $455 BY PURCHASING IT ON AMAZON. I WAS VERY CONCERNED WITH THE SET UP OF THE NEW HAYWARD, BUT IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER THAN I ANTICIPATED. VERY HAPPY WITH THIS PURCHASE. RUNS JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL.

After our old AquaPod died - rechargeable battery died, we purchased this as a replacement.It was a breeze to install and is is totally reliable. The display is plenty bright and even serves as a night-light in the kitchen where we keep it.It is an excellent replacement and does exactly what it is described to do.

The Aqua Pod 2.0 is faster and easier to read than the original Aqua Pod. It has a backlit screen that makes it a cinch to read at night, but it's very readable even in bright sunlight. The +/- buttons make it easy to brighten/darken the screen. Connects to the base station quickly. Battery life seems pretty good. Overall, a good upgrade. But was it worth the price?Set up: Took me literally 5 seconds to pair the remote with my Pro Line (software version 4.00) base station. I had only done that once before (8 years ago) with the original Aqua Pod. So, I didn't know what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised.Connection Speed: The connection speed of the original Aqua Pod had been deteriorating every year for the past few years. So much so that earlier this May, it was taking close to 30 seconds in order to refresh the display from the board. The 2.0 takes around 5 seconds from the time you tap the screen to the time you see the data.Battery: I charged the battery for 5 hours the day I got it (Friday, 5/29). It's Tuesday now and I still see three bars (> 50%) on the battery charge indicator. Don't remember what the original one used to be like, but of late, it was not holding charge for more than an hour.Touch Screen: I was terrified of the reviews I read here that the screen was finicky at best. I did not want to deal with that, especially with wet hands. But I was pleasantly surprised that the tap is rather deterministic. You actually need to press the screen until the waterproof screen "cover" touches the internal display. This is kind of like the touch screens of the past -- not like your capacitive touch screens of the phones and tablets today. The screen does not care what you touch it with, i.e., it is not sensitive to your touch. You could tap it absolutely anything, and it will work. On the downside, you can never really wipe the screen without turning it on and inadvertently pressing buttons. This has the potential to grow into a major annoyance.Features: It comes with all the buttons that the original came with. It displays 6 buttons on the home screen as opposed to just 3 for the original. This is a major advantage. However, the fact that you can’t rename the buttons seems to be a step back. The Configuration menu is locked, and no matter what I try, I can’t open it. It used to be operable with the old Aqua Pod. I’ve actually forgotten what it even did. Perhaps this is where the buttons were renamed? I can’t tell because the original one is D-E-D dead.Longevity: Too early to call that one. The original lasted for 8 seasons. It died nobly a few days before I bit the bullet and ordered the new one. To me, anything less than 8 years for the new one will be a failure. I will update the review when it dies.Price: I paid $425 + tax on Amazon. And it was the cheapest I could find it anywhere. The next best price was $450 on Ebay. Pool retailers were listing it anywhere from $499 - $549. This is an expensive remote for what it does! However, having been so used to a remote for all these years, it was virtually impossible for me to operate my pool without one. So, I had no choice but to buy it. But the price is really why it loses a star. I think I would be able to justify having to pay $200 for the luxury, but $425 just seems way too extravagant. Time will tell if the unit will be worth it.

We rarely use this remote and have had it for 2 years now. It has spent most of those 2 years sitting in an undisturbed temperature controlled area of our office. It randomly stopped working altogether after 2 years one day. Remote has power, charges, but does not connect to the base station and none of the buttons respond.It is very disappointing that Hayward does not make a better quality remote and stand behind it with a warranty beyond 1 year. $600-700 every 2 years for a new remote is a waste of money.

Finally I had to get a new remote for my pool; it had to be Hayward. I am not disappointed. I was lucky to have the pool person coordinate the remote with the Mother Board, which I suggest one does. Review with the person briefly by demonstrating on the remote’s face. Right after that read instructions and it will seem very clear. The only problem I have is the price, as in this day in age, one would think that remotes could be made less expensively… Oh and I definitely did register my remote for the warranty!! I would definitely recommend this as it’s very easy to read and works well!….. And it’s easy to find!!

Just received this, managed to pretty easily get it working with my pool's AquaPod2 , can change valves from pool to spa remotely, which is the main thing I wanted to do. BUT - the screen is supposed to stay on for a minute when not in the charger, and then tell me the display will shut off in 10 seconds. IT DOESN'T. It stays on for only about 30 seconds, then gives me the 10 second warning. FURTHER - in the upper left of the screen instead of displaying date, time, etc., it continually flashes "CHECK SYSTEM." What SYstem? Check for WHAT? It's been telling me "Very Low Salt" but we've checked our salt level twice and the salt level is HIGH, not low. Last issue - the touch screen requires a very heavy touch. I often have to touch 2 or 3 times to activate. So while it does the bare minimum of what I wanted, it is not doing it so well and seems to have glitches. Any help on resolving the issues would be appreciated, OR is this just the way it is?

We give this remote a 5 star rating for it being easy to use. The programming was simple if you are just replacing an old remote. The screen is easy to read and has multiple screens on the tough screen so you do not have to scroll through multiple screens as we did with our old remote. We bought this since our original Goldline remote battery kept dying every couple years. We hope this one will last longer than the original remotes since we like this remote better. They are very pricey when you consider what a smart phone can do and how long those batteries last. If the batteries were replaceable, this would be a perfect remote. We are very happy with it.

Read the reviews and replaced my original Aqua Pod with this newer model. The screen is bright and pairing it with my main unit was a breeze. My Goldline Pro-Logic system was installed in late 2013 when the pool was constructed. Fortunately, I have RF Base Software version 3.0, so the newer remote will communicate with my base station and I didn't have to replace the motherboard. Check your settings for the minimum RF Base Station version prior to buying.

Just received the new AQL2-POD2 from Amazon Canada.I have an old Hayward OnCommand Control that has an AQL2-BASE-RF base station. My versions as below:Main Software: Revision 1.00,Display Software : Revision 3.12,RF Base Software: r:3.00I have been using the above OnCommand with the original AQL2-POD Aquapod since 2012. I am used to having a remote control AqauPod (AQL2-POD) to control the various peripherals on my pool and spa, instead of going outside to the OnCommand box to:- switch from pool to spa mode and visa versa- set chlorine percentage for pool and spa mode- change heat temperature on pool and spa- turn on and off on the polaris- turn on and off the main filter pump- turn on and off the spa pump- etc. etc.The old remote (AQL2-POD) has worked well, but unfortunately, my AQL2-POD has had the typical issues with the battery degrading and the screen just getting worse and worse to read over the years.I followed some YouTube videos on how to replace the AQL2-POD battery and did this and limped along last year, but the screen on the AQL2-POD is now just impossible to read, so I decided to order the new AQL2-POD2. In the end, for the price of the old AQL2-POD, this remote should have lasted many more years (battery and screen), ie I have an IPAD 2 that was purchased in 2012, and the battery in this IPAD can still hold an useable charge for many days. Why can't this expensive Pool remote do the same?I received a paper copy of the below online instructions with the new AQL2-POD2 remote:https://hayward-pool-assets.com/assets/documents/pools/pdf/manuals/AquaPodOperationsManual.pdfDo yourself a favour, before you buy this unit, download the above pdf and check to see if your control will support it. This is detailed in the above pdf download.ie: you may own a Prologic, AquaLogic or AqauPlus control. Check to see if your control will be able to support the AQL2-POD2.You may have to upgrade the software on your control, in order to use the AQL2-POD2 or buy and install the new AQL2-BASE-RF base station, for your control.For my old OnCommand Unit, to teach the wireless to this new AQL2-POD2 was no problem and I was able to connect the new AQL2-POD2, to my OnCommand effortlessly.Once I did this, I tried the functionality of the new AQL2-POD2 remote to control my pool.Below are my Pros and Cons of the new unit:Pros:- Compared to the old AQL2-POD remote, the screen display on the AQL2-POD2 is far superior. So far I keep the AQL2-POD2 in my office.I can read it the screen across the room, ie the Pool Temperature, Air Temperature, Chlorine settings etc, right on the screen, from 10 feet away. With the old AQL2-POD, I could not do this, I had to walk up and read the AQL2-POD directly to read this info.- While in the charger, can put the AQL2-POD2 remote into sleep mode. This is nice, because maybe it saves the screen display?- Have not had/used the AQL2-POD2, long enough to know, but other users reviews on Amazon indicate that the battery life on the AQL2-POD2 is pretty good. On the old AQL2-POD, the battery life was poor and degraded quickly from year to year. I hope this battery lasts longer.But they should also let you change the battery in these units, instead of buying a brand-new unit if the battery dies. I am anticipating youtube videos to come out how to replace a battery in the AQL2-POD2.- Wireless range of the old AQL2-POD is about the same as the new AQL2-POD2. The new remote has worked about 100ft away from the OnCommand Control box with no issues and also having to go through a brick wall. So the range is good on the new remote and is about the same as the old AQL2-POD remoteCons:- Compared to the old AQL2-POD remote, right now now I liked the old "Physical Push Buttons" of the old AQL2-POD remote.What I mean is with the touch screen on the new AQL2-POD2 remote, you have to get used to holding a button on the touch screenand waiting for it to take effect. The delay, is about the same for the AQL2-POD and the AQL2-POD2 remotes, but pressing thevirtual AQL2-POD2 buttons, gives limited user feedback compared to the old AQL2-POD physical push buttons. But this is no showstopper for me.- Charging station. So far, I have had to fiddle with the placing the new AQL2-POD2 remote into the charging station, for it to start to charge. I know when it is charging, because the upper right battery indicator will start to blink if undercharged or the Sleep buttom will appear on the display when it has proper contact with the charger. Will have to see how the charging station behaves in the furture. The charging contact pins on the AQL2-POD2 charger, seem to be a bit fragile and sticky as they move when you place the remote in the charging station.- The price: In my opinion, the price for this remote is way tooooo much. But if you want a remote to control your pool, this is a good option.Overall Verdict. In my case, this is the only feasible option to having a remote control for my OnCommand Control.It's not like a T.V. remote, where you are constantly changing channels, increasing or decreasing the volume and you wouldexpect it to be more reponsive. So it does the job and is very handy for me when I want to turn off the filter pump to clean the skimmers, control settings from inside the house, increase the heat while in the spa etc. This saves me to actually going to the OnCommand control to change a setting.So far have not had it that long, but will try to post any updates in the future.Took off one star for the high price