pHin Smart Pool Monitor
NOTE TO VIEWERS
In 2018, I stopped using PHIN and cancelled my subscription. Please watch this video for complete details.
I've owned a pool all my life and I know the hassle of keeping it balanced and looking good. So when I first learned about the pHin smart pool monitor in 2015 during a pre-release promotion, I jumped at the chance to sign up.
That's right. I paid for this subscription in August 2015. I don't remember how I discovered it (probably a Facebook ad), but and waited 20 months to receive it! Well, let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
pHin is more than a monitoring device, it's also a subscription service that provides you the chemicals you need for an entire year. I live in New Jersey so I only keep my pool open from May to September, but the subscription service applies to anyone, including pools in warmer climates that are open year-round.
pHin works for pools and spas with all types of sanitization.
I've never owned a spa, and I've only used chlorine as a sanitizer in my pools. But pHin works for pools and spas with all types of sanitization: chlorine, bromine or salt water.
Videos about the pHin smart pool monitor
I've created a mini-series of videos that explain my initial experience with the pHin smart pool monitor – from unboxing to taking action for regular maintenance – and I'll continue to add videos as the summer progresses. Check them out individually with the links or watch the playlist on YouTube.
Learn more about the pHin Smart Pool Monitor
For details about pHin subscriptions and pricing, go to the pHin website.
Disclaimer about pricing: As you see in my startup video, I purchased my initial pHin seasonal subscription in August 2015 for $199. Like other pre-release offers, they deeply discounted the price and offered free shipping to entice people to take a risk on a new product that may not succeed. Now that it's a real product and people like me are sharing their experiences with it, you aren't taking the kind of risk I did, nor can you expect to pay what I paid.
Hi Handydad,
I purchased 2 PHin and generally like them. I do have a problem with the test strips and wondered if you see the same problems. When I use the test strip more often than not I get a number or set of numbers that I believe to be out of wack. I immediately take another shot and will get different numbers. It says that you should take the image within 45 seconds. If I take 4 shots in that timeframe I repeatedly get different sets of numbers. I am questioning if this is something I am doing wrong with capturing the image or if there is an issue with the PHIN server. If you get a chance could you try using a test strip and retake the shot 3 or 4 times and see if you get repeated close numbers or if thay are way different each time as I see. I would really appreciate it if you could try doing this to either help correct my human errors or try to get a PHIN problem corrected. Thanks in advance. Norm
Sorry to say, I don’t use it anymore. I had issues with the pH accuracy – it kept telling me it was low and to add pH Plus. I depleted my whole supply and it kept saying it needed more. I broke down and bought a manual test kit to verify. As I suspected, the levels were all wrong and the pH was way too high! I cancelled my subscription.
Chris, thank you. I never stopped using multiple products to check and compare but I found myself in the same boat with not trusting some of the measurements being presented. I tend to agree with you on the cusyptomer support. If there is a run of the mill question with an easy answer there tends to be an answer. If you try to followup with a deeper question the communication seems to just dry up. I am going to try to hold on a bit longer as I like the real-time monitoring but tend to have key issues with the test strips. Too bad. Seems like a very good concept.
Hey,
Great review! I appreciate you taking the time to post things for inexperienced users such as myself! Just out of curiosity, do you think pHin saves money in the long run?
I don’t think pHin saves money. It is purely a convenience that automates the testing of your pool or spa chemistry.
Hey Handydad,
love your review on pHin but I need to know more. Does it have a website that will provide more information on the pool chemical levels? I am looking for a way to integrate the output from pHin so that it can control my pump hours. As I have a salt cell chlorinator the more hours I pump, the more chlorine is produced. And I often have either too much or too little chlorine in my pool.
While the mobile app is great, I am not going to be able to integrate that with my pool pump.
Essentially I have my pool pump running from a wifi smart plug (d-Link) that is integrated with the cloud based IFTTT service. So I can feed in triggers to switch the pump on an off.
Cheers,
Martin.
That’s an awesome idea, but pHin is a fairly new product and I doubt it’s IFTTT enabled. The best thing to do is email support@phin.co and ask them.