Two Years, No Regrets: My Robot Mower Experiment

Almost two years ago, when I tested my first robotic lawnmower, the Husqvarna Automower 430XH, I gained the ability to control the mowing time and still have a beautiful lawn.

OK, I don’t really control the time, but the robotic lawnmower takes over one of my biggest weekly chores and gives my family and me more time together. While Husqvarna Automower 430XH lawn mower opened my eyes to what a robot mower could offer in terms of saving time, and I’ve since tested more advanced, autonomous models with important new features like GPS navigation.

Your lawn serves many purposes: it provides a cooling effect, a gathering place, and more, including acting as a welcome mat to your home. Even as the temperatures rise and the summer heat begins to cook your grass, there are proper ways to mow your lawn to ensure it continues to thrive. But all of this takes time, and I don’t have it. Between running around with two kids, working, and moving, I’ve had to outsource my lawn care.

The result? A beautifully maintained – not just trimmed – lawn and even more time for summer fun.

If you are curious about adding a robotic lawnmower to your garden and outdoor area, here are my experiences with two new robotic lawnmowers, Segway Navimov i110N ($1,299) and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD ($4,099) and why they’ve become my secret weapon for the perfect summer.

I started with a robotic lawnmower without GPS and it was frustrating

Husqvarna offers more advanced options than the Automower 430XH, which was my first foray into robotic lawn care. Now it looks more like a budget robot vacuum cleaner.

Like less advanced robot vacuums that lack modern lidar (a type of laser mapping), the Automower 430XH lacked GPS navigation and mapping and required the installation of a physical boundary wire. This wire acts as a virtual wall that the mower can “bounce” off of, helping it find its charging station. While this ultimately does the trick, the mower often got stuck on objects, cut through items my kids left in the yard, or got lost trying to find its way home.

Not only did the randomness leave some weird mowing patterns in my yard, but it also left my lawn looking uneven. While that may sound like complaining, I’m still glad I wasn’t the one mowing. It also means I’m a lot happier now, because just like with robot vacuums, there have been a lot of improvements and new players in the robot mower category.

The best thing about modern robotic mowers is the integration of GPS technology, which allows the mowers to efficiently manage the entire lawn with almost no effort on my part, both during the initial set-up and during the mowing session. In addition to the time I save by not mowing the lawn myself, the time it takes to get up and running with the mowers is much shorter than with those that require a boundary wire.

GPS navigation makes using mowing robots a pleasure

These improvements include replacing annoying boundary wires with GPS-guided mowing, as well as advanced object recognition, increased efficiency, and ultimately, a nicer lawn with less work. The two robot mowers I am currently testing are Segway Navimov i110N and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000HBoth have strengths and weaknesses and are far from perfect, but they have become essential tools in lawn care and lifestyle.

This Dreame A1 Robot Lawnmoweryes, the same company that produces some of the best vacuum cleaners on the market, has released its first robotic lawnmower with features not available on any other option. Both the Mammotion and Segway mowers require an RTK antenna to help with GPS positioning. The A1 bypasses that and relies on Dreame’s experience in robot vacuums with its OmniSense 3D LiDAR Ultra-Sensing system.

As I walk the robotic lawnmower around the yard to establish boundaries, the Dreame A1 robotic lawnmower scans the surroundings to create a map. Once it’s done, you can view the 3D map in the Dreame app. The results are a bit unsettling, but impressive considering how much detail and information the robotic lawnmower collects in a short time. However, these details lead to a very efficient and thorough mowing of my lawn.

The Navimow lawnmower by Segway is perfect for smaller lawns

1300 dollars Segway Navimovnavigation is limited to a quarter-acre of mowing, thanks to some onboard storage restrictions. That’s not much of my 5-acre country estate. I found the perfect part of the lawn for it after driving it like a big, slow RC car, using my OnePlus Open phone as a remote control. I set the mowing schedule, and the Segway mowing robot does the rest. This Navimow saves me about 30-45 minutes of mowing twice a week.

Mammotion Luba 2 can handle 2.5 acres of yard

This means that the rest of my recovered time comes from Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H. This particular model will handle up to 2.5 acres. Again, no cables are needed, and while it’s slower than an RC car, the Luba 2 AWD can move at a surprisingly fast speed of up to 4 feet per second. The AWD part of the name means this robot mower has all-wheel drive, which helps it handle more challenging lawns. The Mammotion mower has two mowing decks, compared to the Navimow’s single deck, can mow from 4 inches to 2.2 inches, and has significantly more customization controls. This beefed-up model will cost you over $4,000.

Hands-free, perfect lawn

Perfectly manicured lawns with mown stripes and checkerboard patterns aren’t exactly common in rural Kansas homes, but this spring I have them. It’s not uncommon for my friends to call me a “high-tech redneck” for all my smart devicesand they may be right, but I don’t stress about mowing the lawn. I don’t have to work all day and then spend hours in the summer heat mowing the lawn. I can have weekends for family camping, ball games, and other things.

Even the most advanced mowing robots have bad days

The Segway Navimow i110N and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H have their quirks and sometimes require human interaction to continue driving. Sometimes a stick gets caught in the wheel or the mower housing, so the mower stops and I have to get it out. Sometimes the mowers forget how to return to the charger or get stuck high on a tuft of grass and have to be physically moved. These are not mechanical issues and have never required more than a few minutes to fix.

Whether you are considering purchasing a smaller entry-level robot mower to take care of your garden or a more advanced model, there are a few factors you should consider before making a purchase to ensure you are having the best possible experience.

Robotic lawnmowers are becoming more common. As technology improves—namely, advanced GPS guidance—and prices drop, it’s a good time to spend more than one. They’re extravagant, costing anywhere from $600 to more than $5,000. Do I still enjoy mowing my lawn? Sure, but only when I want to, not because I have to.