Nearly two years ago when I tested my first robot lawn mower, the Husqvarna Automower 430XH, I gained the power to control time and still get a beautiful lawn.
OK, I don’t really control time, but the robot lawn mower takes on one of my biggest weekly chores and gives my family and me more time together. While the Husqvarna Automower 430XH opened my eyes to what a robot mower can offer in terms of getting time back, I’ve since tested more-advanced autonomous models with important new features, such as GPS guidance.
Your lawn serves many purposes: It provides a cooling effect, a place to gather and more, including acting as the welcome mat to your home. Even when the temps rise and the summer heat starts to cook the grass, there are proper ways to mow your yard to ensure it continues to thrive. But all of that takes time, and for me, I don’t have it. Between running around with two kids, a job and now moving homes, I had to outsource my lawn care.
The result? A beautifully manicured — not just cut — lawn and even more time to spend on summer fun.
If you’re curious about adding a robot lawn mower to your yard and outdoor arsenal, here’s my experience with two new robot mowers, the Segway Navimow i110N ($1,299) and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD ($4,099), and why they’ve become my secret weapon for a perfect summer.
I started with a non-GPS robot mower and it was frustrating
Husqvarna offers more advanced options than the Automower 430XH, which was my first foray into robot lawn care. Now it resembles a more budget-friendly robot vacuum cleaner.
Like less advanced robot vacs that don’t have modern lidar (a kind of laser mapping), the Automower 430XH was without GPS guidance and mapping and required a physical boundary wire to be installed. This wire acts as a virtual wall for the mower to “bounce” off and helps it find its charging base. While this eventually gets the job done, the mower would frequently get stuck on objects, mow over items my kids left in the yard or get lost trying to find its way home.
Not only did the randomness leave strange mowing paths in my yard, but it also left my yard uneven. While this may sound like complaining, I’m still happy that I wasn’t the one doing the mowing. It also means I’m much happier now, because, like with robot vacuums, there have been a lot of advancements and new players in the robot lawn mower category.
The best thing about modern robot lawn mowers is the integration of GPS technology allowing mowers to deftly handle an entire lawn with almost no effort required from me, both in the initial setup and during mowing sessions. Aside from the time I save by not mowing the yard myself, the amount of time required to get started with the mowers is dramatically less than those that need a boundary wire.
GPS guidance makes robot lawn mowers a joy to use
These improvements include annoying boundary wires being replaced by GPS-guided mowing as well as advanced object recognition, improved efficiency and, in the end, a better-looking lawn for less work. Two robot mowers I’m currently testing are the Segway Navimow i110N and the Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H. Both have strengths and weaknesses and are nowhere near perfect, but they have become essential tools in my lawn care and lifestyle.
The Dreame A1 Robotic Mower, yes the same company that makes some of the best vacuum cleaners on the market, released its first robot lawn mower with features not seen on any other options. Both the Mammotion and Segway mowers need an RTK antenna to help with GPS positioning. The A1 skips that and puts Dreame’s experience in robot vacuums with the OmniSense 3D LiDAR Ultra-Sensing system.
When walking the robot lawn mower around the yard to establish the boundaries, the Dreame A1 Robotic Mower, is scanning the environment to create its map. When complete, you can view the 3D map in the Dreame app. The results are somewhat unnerving, yet impressive, at how much detail and information the robot lawn mower picks up in short amount of time. But, that detail leads to very efficient and accurate mowing of my lawn.
Segway’s Navimow is great for smaller lawns
The $1,300 Segway Navimow‘s navigation is limited to a quarter-acre of mowing, thanks to some onboard storage limitations. This isn’t much of my 5 acres of rural property. I found the perfect part of my lawn for it after driving it around like an oversized, very slow RC car using my OnePlus Open phone as the remote. I set up a mowing schedule, and the Segway robot mower does the rest. This Navimow saves me about 30-45 minutes of mowing twice weekly.
Mammotion Luba 2 can handle 2.5 acres of yard
This means the rest of my regained time has come from the Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H. This particular model can handle up to 2.5 acres. Again, no wires are needed, and while slower than an RC car, the Luba 2 AWD can move up to a surprisingly fast 4 feet per second. The AWD portion of the name means this robot mower has all-wheel drive, helping it to handle more demanding lawns. Mammotion’s mower has two mowing decks, compared to Navimow’s single deck, can cut from 4 inches down to 2.2 and has far more customization controls. This souped-up model will cost you more than $4K.
Hands-free, perfect lawn
Perfectly manicured lawns with mowing stripes and checkerboard patterns aren’t very common for Kansas country homes, but I have it this spring. It’s not uncommon for friends of mine to call me a “high-tech redneck” with all my smart devices, and they may be right, but I don’t stress over getting my grass cut. I don’t have to work all day and then spend hours in the summer heat mowing my yard. I can have my weekends to go on family camping trips, ball games and more.
Even high-end robot mowers have bad days
The Segway Navimow i110N and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H both have quirks and occasionally need human interaction to keep going. Sometimes a stick will get caught in the wheel or mower deck, so the mower stops and I have to remove it. Sometimes the mowers will forget how to get back to the charger or will get high-centered on a clump of grass and need to be physically moved. These issues are not mechanical and have never required more than a few minutes to clear up.
Regardless of whether you are considering a smaller, entry-level robot lawn mower to tend to your yard or a more advanced model, there are some factors you’ll want to consider before purchasing to ensure you have the best possible experience.
Robot lawn mowers are becoming increasingly common. As technology improves — namely, advanced GPS guidance — and prices decline, it’s as good a time as ever to splurge on one. They are a splurge, ranging anywhere from $600 to well over $5,000. Do I still enjoy mowing the lawn? Sure, but only when I want to, not because I have to.
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