area: 600 m² Max. If you've also connected the wrong end of the cable into the wrong hole in the adapter, it's really not easy to understand what's gone wrong, because you don't get any clear reply from the lawn mower about what the problem is before you've got the app going. But apart from this, this is a competent enough robotic lawn mower. But it's definitely a good buy because it's still very reliable and easy-to-use. Do the blades give a neat cut or do they tear the grass? You can place many other models’ charging stations on different angles. And we can confirm immediately that it manages fine with gradients. It has a tendency to crash into things quite hard, but there are no problems with sensitivity as such. However, if the grass has grown a few centimetres, it has problems finding its way home. There's a knob on the top to set the cutting height. The Gardena Sileno City is a very reliable robotic lawn mower that’s very easy to install and program. We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it. It also resolves problems with obstacles effective, for example if a branch has fallen along the perimeter wire it will take a U-shaped diversion to get home. It also has a guide cable, so if you have an area the mower tends to miss you can lay a guide cable to lead it straight there. Some models can even escape from their enclosure and play havoc with the neighbour's flowerbeds. The charging station has to be positioned along the perimeter wire and requires a few metres of open space. The Husqvarna Automower 310 succeeds in maintaining the stated surface area of 1000 square metres without problems. The lawn mower doesn't detect its charging station like many more expensive models. McCulloch ROB R1000 Robotic Lawnmower: Robotic Lawnmower Ideal for Lawns Up to 1000 sq m, Charging Time Just 50 Minutes, 5 Cutting Heights (Article Number: 00096-70.598.25), McCulloch R1000 Cordless Robotic Lawnmower 170mm 1 x 2.1ah Integrated Li-ion Charger, A reliable powerhouse that can cope with tough conditions, Review year: 2018 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 5.4 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: approx.90 min/charge Rec. With a correctly executed installation, the best robotic lawn mowers can get by for several weeks without stoppages, while the worst can have difficulties even finding their way home to charge. Anti-theft alarm works well when the unit is lifted. The Sileno City is suitable for those with a small to medium garden looking for a low price but reliable robotic lawn mower with app support – and ideally someone planning for a smart garden in the future. On the other hand, private individuals aren’t the intended target group for the Automower 550. BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. It's the terrain-handling abilities that let the 225 S down. Above all, it's efficient. You connect the robot mower by paring back the cable in the connector on the top. But unfortunately it’s lacking more advanced functions such as how far it can run over the cable, edge cutting etc. You don’t need to worry about having to run after it all the time, because it copes fine on its own – even in complex environments. Lawn mowers in this price range are more appropriate for smaller lawns. The display is illuminated, although unfortunately the keypad is not. In terms of price, it stands up very well against its competitors, because it's reasonable at most things without being really poor at anything. The Automower 450X works very quietly and can even cut the lawn at night. Design & build quality: How well designed is the robotic lawn mower? The 435X uses ultrasound to identify obstacles and slow down before it collides with them. 4.1 out of 5 stars ... Top 5 Best Riding Lawn Mowers in 2021 . Once you finish the installation, the robotic lawn mower can cope with most things on its own. This is a further disadvantage of the poor problem-solving ability – that the S500i doesn't switch off in such situations. Unfortunately it tends to run into things without braking, including its own charging station. It’s fortunate that this function is provided, because the Landroid S tends to get stuck quite often, particularly in more unruly grass. How often does it stop and report an error message, and in what situations? To minimise the risk of theft, you can use Fleet Service to see exactly where your robotic lawn mower is at any time, and you get notifications via the app if it leaves its designated area. It’s also pretty good in terms of strength when it comes to cutting slightly taller grass. Also keep in mind that some robotic lawn mowers are compatible with digital assistants like Amazon’s Echo or Google Home. The app is relatively easy-to-use and has a reasonable range of functions given the price class. When the E1800 is on its way home it sometimes also has a problem getting into the station if it's not on completely flat ground. Yes, I want to receive news and offers related to PriceRunner's product range, competitions and recommendations via email. Just like many other smaller robotic lawn mowers, the R600 has three wheels, but here the paired wheels are at the front instead of it running with the single wheel at the front as on many other three-wheelers. cutting area: 1500 m2 Max. It’s easy to see which end should go where. It's clear that enthusiasts have developed this lawn mower. Provided your garden is a bit smaller than 500 m2, so the Landroid S can keep it neatly trimmed, it's a reasonable buy. An expensive model thus has higher expectations than a cheaper one, and vice versa. But this isn’t very loud. And in terms of noise, quieter cutting would have been nicer. The design is in many ways reminiscent of a tank. Once you’ve got the RC308 PRO going, it’s relatively reliable and, as mentioned above, has very good terrain-handling abilities. And in this case you may well be disappointed. You simply connect the cables to the marked inputs and switch the robotic lawn mower on. But if the mower gets stuck before this things become a bit more tricky. It's these together with its speed that make it so efficient. This tank can cope with most things, and what it can’t do on its own you can simplify in the settings. It's also very easy to program. You'd be forgiven for thinking that "updates" in the menu refers to the actual robotic lawn mower, but it actually means the version of the mobile app. The future is here, and robotic lawn mowers are allowing homeowners to take their weekends back. Can the robot lawn mower be used without a guide wire? Honda Miimo 3000 Robotic Lawn Mower (Inc Wire & Pegs), Reliable, accurate Japanese model for larger lawns, Review year: 2016 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Li | Capacity 3.6 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: approx. Premium: more than £2000 Models in this price class should be able to cope with large, complicated lawns with many obstacles, narrow passages and complex cable laying. However, the area needs to contain no or very few narrow passages. Battery life will vary from model to model, but a good baseline expectation is an hour. 65 min/charge Rec. gradient: approx. area: 200 m² Max. The 435X AWD is large and its weight makes it difficult to carry. The fact that it’s not particularly sturdy also means that it has problems docking correctly with the charging station if this isn’t entirely level, as it's prone to hitting the plate on an angle and missing the terminal. How does the robotic lawn mower communicate with its owner? Using the guide cable and the option to set start points, you can avoid this problem. It’s complicated for a layman to install compared to several of its competitors. This is when the built-in headlights come in handy, so that you don't trip over the robotic lawn mower in the dark. It gets stuck then runs until the battery dies so you have to carry the lawn mower back to the charging station when you find it. Includes an edging mode for extra reach. The robotic lawn mower is reliable but not very strong which means it struggles if the lawn has time to grow between cuts. If it does, the lawn mower tends to slip, particularly in damp grass. It has absolutely no problems coping with the stated maximum cutting area of 3000 m2 in a reasonable cutting period. For example, 60 cm is no problem. Both the problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities should be sufficiently good to deal with the majority of lawns. The package includes the perimeter wire and staples. But apart from this and a rather sluggish app, you get a lot of robot mower for your money. If you have a sloped lawn, find a robotic lawn mower specifically designed for uneven yards. It's very easy to get set up and programme the Rob R600. The installation is rather fiddly, but once you've got the robot mower going and have set up a cutting schedule you're happy with, it just gets on with things, keeping your lawn in trim in a very efficient way. An overgrown lawn may therefore need to be cut with a conventional lawn mower before it becomes manageable for a robotic lawn mower. This means that, for example, you can see where the robot mower is, you can change settings and get notifications even if you aren't at home. Testing robotic lawnmowers under all these conditions also gives a better overall picture than simply testing them for a couple of weeks in the early summer - something that is common in other robotic lawn mower tests. This is a kit with a module for the robotic lawn mower and long magnetic strips that you place on your lawn. In other words, there are quite a lot of positive things about the Loopo S300 – particularly the app support – given its low price. As long as the grass is kept short, it pretty much never gets stuck. It supports IFTTT, so you can connect it to your smart home and also supports Gardena's Smart Garden system. Review year: 2020 Price class: Medium Battery: Type: Lithium ion (LiFePO4) | Capacity X Ah/26 V Operating time: approx. Our vision is to be your go-to site that you can always count on when comparing products and prices. Often kind on lawns The app also takes quite a long time to reload between the different menu tabs, so perhaps that’s why most things are on one tab. And connecting the charging station is far from clear, too. Requires PIN to shut it off. With other robotic lawn mowers, you simply place it in the station and start it, but this one requires a bit of assistance. One of its most positive characteristics is how well it deals with tall grass. Competition in the budget class is tough, and a majority of mowers now have better connection options. 40 min/charge Rec. Once this was due to a branch that found its way into the cutting deck, which wasn’t the lawn mower’s fault. Please take our 3-minute survey, How easy is the robotic lawn mower to program? But the Lyfco E1800's worst problem is that it often gets stuck on the way home. This is quite uncommon. Doesn't get stuck. Initially, it’s only about every third cutting session that this happens, but as it builds up soil and grass between the studs, it goes into a negative spiral. Then, read app reviews in either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store. Review year: 2021 Price class: Medium class Operating time: 60 min/charge Rec. Keep in mind that, like mowers that can cut sloped lawns, additional features like mulching will drive up the price of a robotic lawn mower significantly. However, you can set up to three start points to ensure that it actually visits hard-to-reach areas. Make sure to ask if the merchants has the 2021 version. If you buy the premium version of the lawn mower, the Automower 315X, you also get GPS and connection via the mobile network. Our range of robotic lawnmowers are completely autonomous and can cut from 400m 2 up to 4,000m 2 lawns without any assistance. You pretty much only have to connect the perimeter wire and press Go on the mower’s housing. Safety: Does the robotic lawn mower use pivot blades or fixed blades? gradient: approx. It also means that it can keep up a higher speed on open areas than would otherwise have been possible. It can pretty much stand completely still and cut if necessary when the grass is tall. Worx is one of the few manufacturers that have no solution for this. And it produces really good mowing results. The cutting width is very good given the price class – most models in this price class are a couple of centimetres narrower. It's not obvious which end of the perimeter wire should be connected to which terminal, and you can't really see what you're doing because of the cramped space. This year, the GreenWorks Optimow 10 takes over the throne of best budget choice. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners, who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them. We clocked the mowing time as around 40 minutes, and after this it has to charge for about as long again before it can go back to work. Do the wheels give a good grip while simultaneously being kind to the lawn? We have pushed each robotic lawn mower to the limits of what it can cope with to see what types of situations and environments it can handle. That said, this isn’t a bad robotic lawn mower. area: 5000 m2 Battery: Type: Litium-ion Battery energy: 251 Wh Operating time: approx. The Solo by AL-KO Robolinho 700 W is a medium sized and medium price class robotic lawn mower with reasonable terrain-handling abilities that’s relatively easy to operate. The relatively deep tread patterns on the wheels also fill up with mud and debris, and the more there is, the more often the lawn mower gets stuck – even on relatively flat ground. If it's stuck for too long – so that it runs out of battery – you sometimes lose all settings you've entered. Over time this builds up significantly unless you remove it regularly. How does it cope with narrow passages, sharp corners, areas full of obstacles or secondary areas? Both problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities are normally quite limited. Overall, it's a good budget robotic lawn mower, but it unexpectedly performs less well on gradients than its sibling. This means that robotic lawnmowers spread in clusters, with one area of housing having considerably more than the next. Wire installation takes a long time. The Honda Miimo 310 is an easy-to-use and reliable robotic lawn mower in the medium price class, with very good terrain-handling abilities and a reasonable mowing time. Updates are more often provided with the next season’s models. If you buy a Loopo M1000, you'd better avoid doing any programming at all via the built-in display and instead do the whole thing via the app. On models intended for large gardens, a guide cable is a good complement to a system, as it's important for the mower to be able to take shortcuts. However, if you have narrow corridors or several separate smaller areas of lawn where it has to turn a lot and use more complicated movement patterns, it loses a lot of efficiency. BLACK+DECKER's electric lawn and garden equipment releases zero emissions in your yard, helping to reduce your carbon footprint; This 250 mph blower blows through leaves and debris with ease; 50% Quieter* for less noise during blowing; High Impact Metal Fan prevents clogging when mulching, while grinding up to 16 bags of mulch down to one But it's still quite heavy to carry. For instance, there’s no spiral mowing function. Most robotic lawn mowers don’t include bags or receptacles for storing grass clippings. WORX Landroid-L is a fully automated cordless robotic lawn mower that can cut up to a 1/2 acre Wi-Fi & App Controlled - Measure your lawn, update your mowing schedule and more Navigates Narrow Paths - Patented AIA technology allows Landroid to navigate narrow passageways too difficult for ordinary robotic mowers area: 3000 m² Max. area: 1500 m² Max. When properly set up, with wire at correcting spacing and distance, it cuts well. Narrow passages/bottlenecks are challenging for a robotic lawn mower as it doesn't have eyes and so can't see in which direction the passage goes. It has no problems with obstacles on its way home, finding its way out of small, enclosed areas or handling obstacles on the lawn while it mows. It gets stuck more often, digs itself in and creates still more mess. 59 dB Length: 72 cm Width: 56 cm Height: 31 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: Automower Connect, 9 extra blades. area: 800 m² Max. The 450X can also cope going with steep slopes. The installation process is pretty much the same as for every other robotic lawn mower with the difference that you also have to connect in a guide cable. This is a bit of a shame because if you have several smaller areas of lawn the robotic lawn mower can end up missing bits. area: 500 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium ion | Capacity X Ah Operating time: approx. But there are more serious problems. In the same way, a big red "STOP" button is useful from a safety viewpoint, but from an aesthetic perspective it's nicer if it's a bit less visible. The hard lines together with the old-fashioned and minimal interface on the gold-coloured display give an outdated impression. Given the price and that many competitors have now introduced this as standard, we feel that the 310 is starting to feel a bit dated. The mower is quite powerful, but the front is rather sensitive to thicker weeds and it sometimes backs away from them; however, they get mowed down over time. If you have a whole fleet of 550s, you can keep track of them via Husqvarna Fleet Service, which is available for both computers and mobile phones. WORX WR140 Landroid M 20V Power Share Robotic Lawn Mower, Orange. We also discovered something that seems to be a bug in the weather function that meant the robotic lawn mower went out and mowed in the middle of the night, despite not being scheduled to do so. The app also provides information about when it's time to replace blades or if the mower has got stuck. But there are a few things we feel it's worth commenting on, now we're in 2020. Following setup instructions is critical to proper mowing. And while that’s pretty handy – especially considering you can make schedule adjustments at any time – the quality of the experience you have with a given mower will largely depend on how user-friendly the accompanying app is (or isn’t). But it doesn’t notice if the lawn is a bit bumpy or if it’s been raining – it simply carries on. For example, you can't set how long the robot mower should move over the perimeter wire when it turns, you can't set edge cutting, or a spiral mowing pattern either. Once you've got to the point where you've connected the robotic lawn mower to the app, things get a lot more straightforward. However, one major disadvantage is that you can only choose between allowing it to cut the grass 24 as a day, or having a single start time per day when it cuts for either 30, 60 or 90 minutes. All installation is generally carried out by Honda's authorised dealers. But if you have a lawn around 1000 m2, the mower will be able to keep this well trimmed within a reasonable time. With everything properly installed and tested, reliability is extremely high. gradient: 21.8° (40 %) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 20 cm Weight: 10 kg Blade type: Fixed blades PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: None App support: Yes User manual: [Manual](https://static.stihl.com/api/BaOnline/Download/0000010295 /00278555.pdf?_gl=11hzhawb_gaMTU4Mzg3NzQ0Ny4xNjAzMDk3NDY1_ga_G8ZD67Y14Z*MTYxMTMxMTYyMy42LjAuMTYxMTMxMTYyOC41NQ..&_ga=2.33263038.1248472034.1611311624-1583877447.1603097465). 24° (45%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (electronic) Cutting width: 24 cm Weight: 13.9 kg Noise level: Low | Measured average value: approx. Unfortunately the Miimo 310 has no app support or GPS – it doesn't even have a Bluetooth connection. The included app is very user-friendly and gives you almost complete control over your 450X wherever you are, provided you have mobile coverage. When it does go home, or out again, it can run along the perimeter/boundary wire or guide cable. With a robotic lawn mower, you can schedule your lawn-mowing at any hour you like, even the middle of the night. And this is a bit of an Achilles' heel in terms of intelligence. 14° (25%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (manual) Cutting width: 21 cm Weight: 9.2 kg Noise level: 60 | Measured mean value: approx. The only disadvantage when it comes to tough terrain is that the bodywork easily gets scratched. Many low-end robotic lawn mowers will struggle when forced to go uphill. The cutting width is reasonable, so the robotic lawn mower is efficient, but at the same time it sometimes skids on sloping lawns or pushes the grass down rather than cutting it, in which case it has to run over the same patch several areas before the cutting result is acceptable. area: 3,200 m² Max. This can cause problems when it’s going back to the charging station on a damp, sloping lawn, because it sometimes runs off course and has to start again. By placing the charging station within reach of your wireless network, you can keep track of how the lawn mowing is going. How often should I use a robotic lawn mower? It slips easily and digs itself down into the lawn with its wheels. This kind of bug could have been fixed via remote update of the software – but that's not possible. You have to place the robotic lawn mower a little way from the charging station and then it has to dock itself before you can start using it. Of course you can also determine the cutting schedule yourself, set rain sensors and change settings for the mower returning to the charging station. The GreenWorks Optimow 10 copes with simple lawns without problems and is even good at accessing areas that are more difficult to reach. It can only find its way home via the guide cable, not via the perimeter wire. For this reason, robotic lawn mowers from companies that have been manufacturing them for a long time tend to have a better AI technology than newcomers, whose models often demonstrate "teething troubles" in terms of problem-solving ability. The idea is that you use it to temporarily delimit an area you don't want the robotic lawn mower to mow. The lower part consists of a rubber part that's intended to bend if it gets stuck on an uneven lawn. Functionality: What settings are available? Pine cones, bare soil and fallen fruit are no problem, however. The Landroid is the smartest, safest, most innovative Robo mower yet. If the manufacturer can stop it getting stuck so easily and come up with better solutions for terrain handling and tall grass, this would be an interesting budget buy. I can withdraw my consent at any time. You can buy the latter (Husqvarna Automower Connect) and we recommend you do so, as it significantly increases functionality. You can also adjust the cutting height electronically. It’s also so quiet that your neighbours won’t notice it. Many higher-end robotic lawn mowers can mulch in addition to cutting grass. But of course you also want it to be able to cut the more tricky parts of the garden. The most common obstacles that we identified in our robotic lawn mower test are: Lumps and bumps: The simplest lawn for a robotic lawn mower to cut is completely flat. You can pretty much just place the station down on the ground with the guide cable beneath it. Just a few years ago, this robotic lawn mower was rather poor at accessing tricky or uneven areas, but it's improved a lot in this regard. The Miimo 3000 is also extremely reliable. However, it can slip a little when running over damp slopes if it has cut grass stuck in its wheels. Regardless of which you choose, both are easy to use. You get no instructions about how to connect the app and the robotic lawn mower, but once you've worked this out the app works OK. For example, you can control the E1800 manually, send it out to mow the lawn or set the rain sensor. Environmentally friendly setup: Like all-electric vehicles, robotic lawn mowers don’t run on gas engines or require motor oil to run. The Worx Landroid S has no display. And always backwards. If you get an error code, the station will flash. For the budget class, it has unbeatable problem-solving abilities, while also being well-designed and constructed from sturdy materials. The Robomow 635 Pro has a substantial build quality. Get exclusive content, advice, and tips from BestReviews. The things we like in this robotic lawn mower are, for example,how easy you can expand it with options such as GPS, the possibility of removing the battery and using it for other tools from the same manufacturer, and how many functions the robotic lawn mower has. The app is essential because the robotic lawn mower itself has no display. 61 dB Length: 73 cm Width: 54 cm Height: 27 cm Blade type: Fixed PIN code protected: Yes App support: Yes (GSM+GPS) Accessories included: - Miscellaneous: Alarm, geofence, protective housing around knives, mobile top housing User manual: [RMI 632 PC](https://static.stihl.com/api/BaOnline/Download/0000011978 /00281912.pdf?_gl=11hborvh_gaMTU4Mzg3NzQ0Ny4xNjAzMDk3NDY1_ga_G8ZD67Y14Z*MTYxMDM2NjQzMS40LjEuMTYxMDM2Nzk1My41NQ..&_ga=2.220148121.1612352811.1610366432-1583877447.1603097465). The Cramer RM2000 is something of a dark horse on the robotic lawn mower market. 5 Top Rated Riding Lawn Mowers . Just like many other smaller robotic lawn mowers, the R600 has three wheels, but here the paired wheels are at the front instead of it running with the single wheel at the front as on many other three-wheelers. If the grass is taller than this you can hear from the motor that it's working harder, but a robotic lawn mower should generally keep the grass well mown so in practice this isn't a problem. It’s one of the cheaper models in this robust series, but still falls in the upper medium price class. The Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD is the first four-wheel drive robotic lawn mower. As we've mentioned above, it has no problems with simple, flat lawns. Another disadvantage is that it doesn't recognise the station and sometimes runs into it, so you have to anchor it well and conceal the cables properly. If we have to choose between reliable and well programmed software or user-friendly functions, we'll take the former. It’s currently most suited to people with flat, very small gardens who are willing to compromise on reliability to get a cheaper price. It doesn't matter what we subject it to, because it can always use front or rear-wheel drive, and also rotate the body via a centre point (the pivot chassis). It gets stuck pretty much every day on all types of surface. However, it's still quite sensitive to begin with, and you have to find the right position to avoid causing problems. Text and buttons are large and clear. For example, it's good at dealing with pits, damp grass and sloping lawns. Above all, the 450X has a display, which makes it a bit easy for a private individual to understand. Has some trouble staying within boundaries, but gets the job done. However, there’s an app and using this makes the ongoing programming much easier. The challenges created by obstacles vary significantly in type and level of difficulty. There are many common obstacles, which include trees, fences, fence doors, walls, posts, compost heaps, pots, bushes, roots, paths, patios, flower beds, flagpoles, statues, sandpits, raised vegetable beds, log piles, swings and trampolines. These shortcomings are to some extent outweighed by the low price, telephone notifications and the great new app. The only disadvantage is that if it does happen to get stuck it tends to dig itself into the ground rather than realising what’s happened and switch itself off. Through this, you can easily change settings such as start points, manual cutting height adjustment and new schedules.