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Best pool test strips UK: pads, count and expiry date

Updated: 21 October 2026

You are standing in front of an above-ground pool or a hot tub, and the best pool test strips UK search has not told you which pads you will dose from. This buying guide puts the decision in order: the sanitiser you use, the readings you will act on, whether UK reviewers can match the chart, then how many strips you will finish before the opened bottle is out of date. Shelf prices are from the [pool test strips comparison](/hub/pool-care/pool-test-strips) on 19 October 2026, from £5.99 to £15.99 on amazon.co.uk. We did not lab-test a bottle. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are standing in front of an above-ground pool or a hot tub, and the best pool test strips UK search has not told you which pads you will dose from.

Our top picks

Clearwater Clearwater 4-in-1 test strips, 50

Best overall

Clearwater Clearwater 4-in-1 test strips, 50
7.1/10about £9.99
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HOVIRAN HOVIRAN 3-in-1 pool test strips, 125

Best value

HOVIRAN HOVIRAN 3-in-1 pool test strips, 125
6.9/10about £7.29
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EASYTEST EASYTEST 7-way pool test strips, 150

Rank 3

EASYTEST EASYTEST 7-way pool test strips, 150
9.0/10about £15.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Match the strip to chlorine or bromine
  2. 2.Three readings, or seven
  3. 3.A chart you can actually match
  4. 4.How many strips before the bottle expires

Match the strip to chlorine or bromine

A chlorine pool needs a free-chlorine pad. A bromine tub needs a bromine pad, or a listing that says the pad is shared and tells you which scale to use. Pool Pro, a UK retailer, makes the same point for salt systems: the cell makes chlorine, so you still read a chlorine pad. Clearwater's 50-pack (CH0067, £9.99) and 150-pack (CH0068, £12.99) name chlorine and bromine. EASYTEST's 3-in-1 at £11.04 and HOVIRAN at £7.29 name both. Nacerlary at £10.99 says free chlorine and bromine share one pad, so you read that pad on the sanitiser you use and you do not add the two scales. VivaTest at £9.95 and AquaChek yellow at £12.15 name free chlorine and do not name bromine. A shared pad is a poor buy if you are unsure which chemical is in the water.

Three readings, or seven

Free chlorine or bromine, pH and total alkalinity cover the usual domestic check. BISHTA's water-treatment sheet asks you to test a hot tub before use, and it warns that poor strips are inaccurate and that strips expire. Cyanuric acid belongs on the strip when the pool is outdoors on trichlor or dichlor. Total chlorine helps only if you will compare it with free chlorine. AquaChek yellow, model 511244, 50 strips at £12.15, adds cyanuric acid and does not name bromine. The EASYTEST 7-way at £15.99, Dr.Tim.Wang at £14.24, HLLNWB at £7.99 and FIXINGS DIRECT at £13.99 add hardness and total chlorine as well. Extra names are not a reason to pay more if you will not change a dose because of them. That choice is on 3 in 1 vs 7 in 1 pool test strips.
Clearwater Clearwater 4-in-1 test strips, 50

Testsieger

Clearwater Clearwater 4-in-1 test strips, 50
7.1/10about £9.99
View offer

A chart you can actually match

UK reviews on AquaChek yellow, 4.7 from 14,399, and on Clearwater's 50-pack, 4.6 from 14,072, often say the chart is easier than cheaper strips. One AquaChek reviewer still had the pH pad stuck on 6.8 while a PoolLab meter read 7.4, so a praised chart is not a photometer. Canadian Spa is 3.9 from 782 at £5.99, and UK reviews describe strips that disagreed, colours that ran, and a chlorine pad that matched none of the printed colours. HOVIRAN at £7.29 is 4.6 from 136. Its title says 3-in-1 while a bullet says seven parameters, so you buy the uses line, which names four tests. A star rating is not a laboratory accuracy score. The dip itself, including a white chlorine pad, is on how to use pool test strips.

How many strips before the bottle expires

Twice a week is about eight dips a month. A 50-strip Clearwater pack then lasts a few months of weekend use, at about 20p a strip if the pack really is 50. One bullet says 25, against a title that says 50. AquaChek's 50 strips are about 24p each. EASYTEST and Nacerlary say use within 90 days of opening. About 26 dips in those 90 days will not finish a 150-strip bottle. Dr.Tim.Wang says finish within 150 days and states a three-year shelf life. Clearwater does not answer the expiry prompt. BISHTA says you use in-date strips. Buy the count you will finish, then follow the seconds on that bottle.

Common questions

Do I need bromine on the strip if I use chlorine tablets?
No. You need a free-chlorine pad, plus pH and alkalinity if those are the readings you adjust. A bromine scale matters when the tub is on bromine. A pad that shares chlorine and bromine, as Nacerlary states, is read on the chemical you use. It does not tell you which chemical is in the water.
Is a 150-count bottle better value if I only test twice a week?
Only if you will use the strips before the opened bottle is out of date. Twice a week for 90 days is about 26 dips. EASYTEST and Nacerlary state 90 days after opening, so most of a 150-count or a 175-count would be thrown away. A 50-count costs more per strip and matches a short season more closely, if the listing’s count is the count in the tub.
How long after opening should I throw the bottle away?
Use the day count on your bottle. In this set, EASYTEST and Nacerlary say 90 days, and Dr.Tim.Wang says 150 days, with a stated three-year shelf life before opening. Clearwater and several other listings do not state an opened life. An unanswered expiry line is not a promise that the pads last the season.
What if the title and a bullet disagree on the pad count?
Buy the line that lists the pads by name, and treat the higher number as unproven. HOVIRAN’s title says 3-in-1, a bullet says seven parameters, and the uses line names free chlorine, bromine, alkalinity and pH. Clearwater’s 50-pack disagrees with itself on 50 versus 25. FIXINGS DIRECT at £13.99 has seven named pads and no reviews in the file, which is a different gap: you can see the pads, and you cannot see whether buyers could match them.
Can I use a pool bottle in a hot tub?
You can dip the same style of strip if it names the sanitiser in that tub. The target numbers are not the same. A public-pool chlorine figure is the wrong band for a hot tub, and a hot-tub 3–5 mg/l figure is the wrong band for a hypochlorite swimming pool. The hot tub test strips page keeps those charts apart.

Related pages

Best hot tub test strips

Pool test strips

3 in 1 vs 7 in 1 pool test strips: which extra pads

Hot tub test strips: pool bands, bromine and holiday lets

How to use pool test strips: seconds, light and white pads

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.

  1. HSE — swimming pool safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. PWTAG code of practice (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. PWTAG standards (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. HSE — HSG282, control of legionella and other infectious agents in spa-pool systems (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. BISHTA — water treatment (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. BISHTA — daily, weekly, monthly and annual hot tub checks (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Lovibond UK leisure — water testing (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Amazon.co.uk best sellers — Pool & Hot Tub Testers (retrieved 19 October 2026)