Best hot tub test strips for a Lay-Z-Spa or a pool
Updated: 21 October 2026
You want the best hot tub test strips for a Lay-Z-Spa, or a bottle for an outdoor pool on chlorine tablets. A bottle that suits a bromine tub is the wrong object for a trichlor pool, and a £5.99 pack with a chart UK reviewers cannot match is a false saving. Prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk listings in the [pool test strips comparison](/hub/pool-care/pool-test-strips) on 19 October 2026. We did not lab-test a pad. Count and opened life sit on the [pool test strips buying guide](/hub/pool-care/pool-test-strips/sub/pool-test-strips-buying-guide). A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You want the best hot tub test strips for a Lay-Z-Spa, or a bottle for an outdoor pool on chlorine tablets.
You want the best hot tub test strips for a Lay-Z-Spa, or a bottle for an outdoor pool on chlorine tablets. A bottle that suits a bromine tub is the wrong object for a trichlor pool, and a £5.99 pack with a chart UK reviewers cannot match is a false saving. Prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk listings in the pool test strips comparison on 19 October 2026. We did not lab-test a pad. Count and opened life sit on the pool test strips buying guide. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Pads named | UK chart notes | Opened life | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Clearwater Clearwater 4-in-1 test strips, 50 | Chlorine, pH, alkalinity, bromine | UK reviews often prefer this chart | not stated | 7.1 | about £9.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  HOVIRAN HOVIRAN 3-in-1 pool test strips, 125 | 4 on the uses line | One UK review: colours match the pot | not stated | 6.9 | about £7.29 | View offer |
 EASYTEST EASYTEST 7-way pool test strips, 150 | 7, including cyanuric acid | Two UK reviews doubt the CYA pad | 90 days | 9.0 | about £15.99 | View offer |
On this page
For a chlorine or bromine hot tub
For a domestic tub on chlorine or bromine, the short Clearwater strip is the bottle with the clearest UK chart comments. The 150-pack, model CH0068, is £12.99, 4.7 from 1,024 reviews, and names chlorine, pH, alkalinity and bromine. Opened life is not stated.
The 50-pack, model CH0067, is £9.99 and 4.6 from 14,072. UK reviews often say that chart is easier to read than cheaper strips. The title says 50 and one bullet says 25. Lay-Z-Spa's own shop lists both packs at those shelf prices and calls the strips the most accurate on the market. Skip Clearwater if the tub is outdoors on trichlor and you need a cyanuric acid pad, because these listings do not name it. If your programme is bromine, follow that tub's bromine band, which is not the same number as chlorine. The bands are on hot tub test strips.
For an outdoor pool on tablets
An outdoor pool on trichlor or dichlor needs a cyanuric acid check as well as free chlorine, pH and alkalinity. AquaChek yellow, model 511244, is £12.15 for 50 strips, 4.7 from 14,399. It names free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid, and it does not name bromine. One UK review says the pH pad stayed on 6.8 while a PoolLab meter read 7.4. The EASYTEST 7-way is £15.99 for 150 strips, 4.5 from 20,849. It names bromine, alkalinity, pH, free chlorine, hardness, cyanuric acid and total chlorine, with a 1 second soak, a 15 second hold and 90 days after opening. Two UK reviews say the cyanuric acid pad stayed about zero or did not look right. Leave AquaChek if the tub is on bromine. Leave the 7-way if you will not finish 150 strips inside 90 days. Which extra pads earn their place is on 3 in 1 vs 7 in 1 pool test strips.
When the cheap bottle is the wrong saving
Canadian Spa is £5.99 for 50 strips and 3.9 from 782 reviews, the lowest star line in the set. UK reviews describe strips in one dip that disagreed, colours that ran, and a chlorine pad that matched none of the printed colours. It is a poor first bottle for a spa you dose from the colour alone.
HLLNWB is £7.99 for 150 seven-way strips, 4.4 from 455, and it is the only listing here that names saltwater pools. UK reviews say the pad colours do not match the bottle. HOVIRAN at £7.29 for 125 strips is 4.6 from 136, and the uses line names free chlorine, bromine, alkalinity and pH. The title says 3-in-1 and a bullet says seven parameters. If you want the lowest shelf price for those four names, start there and check the uses line.
Bottles you cannot judge from reviews yet
VivaTest is £9.95, 4.5 from 18 reviews, for free chlorine, pH and total alkalinity. Bromine is not named. Several UK reviews in the file are an aquarium, plants, home brew or an ice bath. One says the pack held 100 strips. Skip it for a bromine tub.
FIXINGS DIRECT, manufacturer line Home Pro, is £13.99 for 150 strips and names seven pads, including cyanuric acid. The file has no star line and no review text. Dr.Tim.Wang at £14.24 states 150 days after opening and 4.4 from 3,603, with one UK comment that the colours are hard to tell apart. If you cannot yet judge the chart, use Clearwater or AquaChek for a job they cover.
Common questions
Which bottle should I buy for a Lay-Z-Spa?
Clearwater’s 150-pack at £12.99, or the 50-pack at £9.99 if you accept the 50-versus-25 bullet conflict. Both name chlorine, bromine, pH and alkalinity, which matches a chlorine or bromine tub. Lay-Z-Spa sells both at those prices. Their most accurate line is the shop’s claim. One UK review on the 150-pack says the chlorine pad did not work.
Is AquaChek worth more per strip than Clearwater?
AquaChek yellow is about 24p a strip for 50 strips at £12.15, against about 20p if Clearwater’s 50-pack is really 50, or about 9p on Clearwater’s 150-pack. You pay the extra on AquaChek for a cyanuric acid pad and a chart UK reviewers often prefer. You do not get a bromine pad. For a hot tub without a stabiliser check, Clearwater’s larger pack is the closer match.
Is the cheapest 50-pack a false economy?
Canadian Spa at £5.99 is the cheapest, and it is 3.9 from 782. UK reviews describe strips that disagree, colours that run, and a chlorine pad that will not match the chart. The money you save is real. The reading you dose from is the part that fails. Use it only beside another method.
Which bottle if I use trichlor outdoors?
AquaChek yellow if you want cyanuric acid on a short, widely reviewed chart and you do not need bromine. The EASYTEST 7-way if you also want hardness and total chlorine and you will still doubt a cyanuric acid pad that two UK reviews found stuck low. Neither star line is a lab result.
Is a 4.7 from 14,000 reviews a lab result?
No. AquaChek’s 4.7 from 14,399 and Clearwater’s 4.6 from 14,072 are amazon.co.uk star lines. They sit next to written comments about charts, including one AquaChek pH pad that disagreed with a meter. This project did not run a laboratory test, and a star rating does not make the water safe.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources for pool and spa water targets, taken from the research digest. Listing prices, stars and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 19 October 2026. No bottle here is a PWTAG approval.
- HSE — swimming pool safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- PWTAG code of practice (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- PWTAG standards (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE — HSG282, control of legionella and other infectious agents in spa-pool systems (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BISHTA — water treatment (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BISHTA — daily, weekly, monthly and annual hot tub checks (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Lovibond UK leisure — water testing (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Amazon.co.uk best sellers — Pool & Hot Tub Testers (retrieved 19 October 2026)