Build robot lawn mower. Complete Guide to the Best Robot Lawn Mowers in 2023

Complete Guide to the Best Robot Lawn Mowers in 2023

Maintaining a perfectly manicured lawn can be a time-consuming and challenging task for homeowners. However, thanks to advances in technology, we now have a smarter and more efficient way to keep our lawns looking neat and pristine: the robot lawn mower.

Robotic lawn mowers have been gaining popularity in recent years due to their convenience, ease of use, and the fact that they can save homeowners both time and money.

In this article, we will take a closer look at exactly what robot lawnmowers are and what to look for when picking the right one for your lawn. We’ll also share our picks for the 5 best robot lawn mowers in 2023 and explore their features and benefits that make them stand out from the rest.

Whether you are a tech-savvy homeowner or just looking for an easier way to maintain your lawn, this guide will help you make an informed decision when it comes to choosing the right robot lawn mower for your needs.

What are Robot Lawn Mowers?

Robot lawn mowers are self-contained, autonomous machines that mow your lawn without the need for human involvement. They can cover the entire yard on their own thanks to self-learning programming.

These machines are equipped with sensors and mapping technology that allow them to navigate and mow lawns on their own while avoiding obstacles and following predetermined mowing patterns.

Most versions include dedicated smartphone apps that make it simple to change settings and mowing schedules. After being programmed, these robots require minimal human supervision.

Robotic lawn mowers are kind of like Roombas, but for your lawn. Both Roombas and robot lawnmowers are classified as ‘autonomous robots.’ These are intelligent devices that can do tasks on their own without continuous human control.

These robots will not require constant monitoring or remote control once they have been set up and programmed.

How Do Robotic Lawn Mowers Work?

To use a robot lawn mower, the owner must first place border perimeter wire around the area to be mowed. Think of it as the electric wire fence that some people use to keep their dogs in.

The border wire tells the robotic lawn mower where it can and can’t go. This keeps it from cutting your flower beds or getting out of your lawn. This wire has a low voltage, which means it is safe for people and pets to touch.

It will take roughly half a day to set up the wires, although this time frame is variable based on the size, shape, and landscape of your property.

After the robot’s task is done, it will follow the border wire back to the charging dock. Robotic lawn mowers are battery-operated, and most can cut an average-sized lawn on a single charge.

The robots will need a charging station to charge their batteries, which will need to be plugged into a power outlet outside the house.

How Much Do Robot Lawn Mowers Cost?

The price of most versions is between 1,000 and 4,000, though we’ve included a more budget-friendly option under 1,000 as well in this article. This may seem pricey, especially for such a compact device, but the robot’s advanced technology necessitates this high price.

You may get a model for as little as 500 if you’re willing to give up some of the more advanced capabilities. As mentioned above, we’ve included the best budget-friendly robotic lawn mower in this article as well.

Robotic lawn mowers are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which typically last 2–3 hours or around 300 to 500 charges. The battery life will differ from one model to the other and may also be affected by how well you maintain the robot.

The typical cost to replace a battery is around 50. The cost of batteries varies by manufacturer, but in general, they shouldn’t cost more than fifty bucks.

You can avoid frequently buying new batteries by investing in a docking station. While most docks will run you around 100, some robotic lawnmowers actually have charging stations that are included in the base price.

Even though you can leave your robotic lawn mower and charging station outside, many people prefer to buy or build a small shelter, like a dog house, to provide shelter. However, instead of building or purchasing a pricey shelter, you may just keep the robot and its docking station in your garage.

Also, you must include the indirect cost of the electricity needed to charge your robot. Charging will cause you to use more electricity, which will cause your monthly electricity bill to go up.

Given the wide range of electricity costs across the country, it would be hard to provide a universal estimate for this additional cost. However, the average rechargeable robotic lawn mower only requires 3.5 watts, so the cost will not be excessive.

When you include the cost of annual maintenance, a robotic lawn mower should only cost about 25 in additional charges per year following your initial investment.

What to Look for When Buying a Robot Lawn Mower

Here are the top things to look for when buying a robot lawn mower:

Cutting Area

Before you buy a robot mower, you should measure the size of your lawn. This is, by far, the most important factor to consider when buying one.

Mowers that are less expensive typically cover less ground. Their batteries are smaller, their blades are narrower, and their guidewires are shorter. You can quickly exclude models from consideration if you discover that your lawn is too large for them.

Battery Life

Most people don’t give robot lawnmowers’ battery life much thought because they can charge themselves.

But, if you want a mower that gets more done at a given time of day or night, you will need a battery that lasts for a longer period of time. This will allow you to consolidate the daily mowing into fewer active sessions.

Interface

When it comes to controlling your Smart home devices, nothing beats being able to do it from the comfort of wherever you happen to be. Some robot lawnmowers do exactly that.

You can use your phone’s Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular connection to connect to them and look at statistics or send new commands. This technique can also quickly alert you to problems, like a blade stoppage or a theft attempt.

Some mowers only use an onboard control unit to operate. Even though it isn’t always necessary, the convenience of a phone app is something to think about when making a purchase.

Other Features

The mowers on this list all work in essentially the same way, but they each have their own special features. The WORX mowers are equipped with an offset blade that allows them to mow right up to the perimeter, reducing or eliminating the need for extra trimming.

Models with cellular connectivity use GPS tracking to track down mower thieves. This can also be useful when trying to recover a robot mower if it manages to escape your lawn and drive into bushes.

So, keep an eye out for other special features that might be helpful for your lawn.

Best Robot Lawn Mowers in 2023

As technology advances, robotic lawn mowers are becoming increasingly popular and efficient. There are many models on the market today, all offering different features that can make a big impact on your lawn. Here is a list of the 5 best robot lawn mowers in 2023:

Best Overall Robot Lawn Mower: Worx WR155 Landroid L

Maximum Area: 0.5 acres Cutting Width: 8 inches

If you want a perfectly manicured lawn, look no further than the Worx Landroid. The Landroid series has various models, but the WR155 is the clear standout. This small robot is powered by Worx’s 20V Power Share battery, which is removable and may be used in any of Worx’s electric tools.

The WR155 can cover lawns up to half an acre in size, making it ideal for nearly any suburban property. It has an 8-inch cutting deck with an automated raising and lowering blade disc to provide uniform cutting, even on uneven ground and difficult terrain.

What’s best is that it can also cut closer to boundary lines, fences, and walls than other robotic mowers since the cutting disc is offset to one side.

The Worx Landroid AI tracks the mower’s motions and directs its labor toward regions that aren’t being mowed, ensuring that it keeps a uniform cut. A discrete ground wire keeps it within the boundaries of your property. It automatically goes back to its charging bay when its battery runs out or it detects rain.

A user-friendly mobile app allows you to monitor and adjust your Landroid’s settings. You can connect via either a direct Bluetooth connection or your home Wi-Fi. If the Landroid leaves its designated area, you will be notified instantly by an anti-theft system.

If theft is a significant concern for you, consider the WR153 which is a Landroid with GPS tracking built in. The WR155 was our top pick because of its versatile battery, rock-solid dependability, and feature-rich software.

Plus, you could save some money if you have a smaller lawn. The popular Worx Landroid line of robotic mowers includes the S, M, and L models, which can take care of yards up to 1/8 acre, 1/4 acre, and 1/2 acre, respectively.

Best for Medium to Large Lawns: Husqvarna 430XH Automower

Maximum Area: 0.8 acres Cutting Width: 9.45 inches

While being more expensive, the 430XH covers the largest ground of any robotic mower, with an incredible 0.8 acres of area coverage. This intelligent little robot is backed by the Husqvarna brand and contains cutting-edge mowing technology.

The adjustable deck can cut up to 3.6 inches high. Three extremely sharp blades on a 9.45-inch mower deck produce a cut of professional grade. Plus, the battery can power the mower for a maximum of 145 minutes on a single 60-minute charge.

Three guide wires guard your grass against streaks generated by repeating the same route. Five remote starting points can be set up to make sure the area closest to the dock doesn’t get cut too much and to reach areas that can only be reached by a narrow path.

Husqvarna’s unique technology uses GPS to create a digital map of your lawn, which it then uses to cover the entire area.

You may access and program your mower using the Automower Connect app from a nearby Bluetooth connection or from anywhere in the world using a cellular uplink. You can even use your Amazon Alexa or Google Home system to control the mower.

The anti-theft system comes with a GPS tracker, an alarm, and a custom PIN that stops the system from working outside the boundary wire. When the mower detects abnormal activity, sophisticated lift and tilt sensors rapidly disable the blades to prevent damage.

Overall, the Husqvarna 430XH is one of the best robot lawn mowers money can buy, and you won’t be disappointed by its cutting-edge technology, advanced features, and large coverage area.

Best Quick Charging Lawn Mower: Husqvarna 115H Automower

Maximum Area: 0.25 acres Cutting Width: 8.5 inches

Robotic mowers require frequent charging for the best runtimes because they use either interchangeable or built-in batteries. Sadly, it also means that you might be forced to wait while your mower charges before it can continue mowing the grass.

The Husqvarna 115H offers one of the quickest charging times, with a fully charged battery in under an hour. This means you won’t need to spread out your mowing across multiple days to account for charging times. Plus, you can FOCUS on other outside tasks like edge trimming and weed picking while it quickly charges!

It’s a great robot mower for small to medium-sized lawns. The 115H can mow up to a quarter acre with its 8.5-inch cutting deck, and its lift and tilt sensors will disable the blades if the mower is elevated. This prevents pets, children, and adults from being injured if the mower becomes trapped on an object or flips over.

To prevent theft, your robot mower has an anti-theft alarm that can only be disarmed by a specified personal identification number (PIN). This means that thieves can’t just turn the alarm off and take your robot mower.

A rain sensor stops it from cutting grass when it’s wet, so it won’t get damaged. It comes with the same high-cut deck as the 450XH mentioned above and can make cuts up to 3.6 inches long. And it also works with the same Automower Connect app, making it simple and easy to use.

This Husqvarna Automower is different in a few key ways from its more expensive cousin. It lacks the cellular capability necessary for GPS-assisted mapping and theft tracking.

Best Robot Lawn Mower for Steep Hills: MowRo RM24 Robotic Lawn Mower

Maximum Area: 0.25 acres Cutting Width: 9.5 inches

The MowRo RM24 Robotic Lawn Mower is an easy choice for people with small to medium-sized yards and tight budgets. It has a 28V 4Ah lithium-ion battery that can run the efficient brushless motor for 2 hours on a single charge. The RM24 can mow up to a quarter acre, including steep slopes up to 30 degrees, on a set schedule every 48 hours or on demand.

It can work safely because it has sensors for rain, tilt, and impact. This means it can automatically avoid bad weather, steep slopes, and obstacles. The cutting height is manually adjustable between 1 and 2.5 inches.

The MowRo RM24 was one of the simplest robot mowers thanks to its intuitive onboard controls and dependable performance. It has a similar boundary wire and base station setup as the rest of the mowers on the list.

But it’s important to note that this robot lawn mower doesn’t come with Bluetooth connectivity and all operations are done using the onboard control panel, including setting up the schedules for mowing.

It’s a great robotic lawn mower that offers good value for money and is ideal for lawns with steep terrain.

Best Budget-Friendly Robot Lawn Mower: Gardena Sileno Minimo

Maximum Area: 5,400 sq. ft Cutting Width: 6.2 inches

A robot mower doesn’t have to cost a fortune for homeowners with smaller yards. The Gardena Sileno Minimo is intended for small suburban or urban lawns of up to 5,400 square feet.

The Sileno Minimo from Gardena is one of the quietest mowers on the market, and its compact size makes it ideal for tight places and intricate landscaping. Plus, the Bluetooth-enabled app makes it easy to set up and schedule.

The lithium-ion battery allows for 65 minutes of mowing time on a single charge. What’s best is that this mower is waterproof and will keep working regardless of the weather. A frost sensor checks the temperature of the ground, and when it gets cold enough, the robot goes to sleep for the winter.

If you have a lawn that’s under 2,700 square feet, it’s worth checking out this other Gardena model that’ll help save even more money!

Other Lawn Guides from Planet Natural:

I’m Building an Autonomous Lawn Mower and Cutting Grass Is Harder Than You Think

My overgrown lawn poses challenges that I’m sick of facing single-handedly. Time to get a robot involved.

Lawn is a curious thing, and the modern concept as we know it developed in such a broad and distributed way that covering its history here would be an article in itself. Regardless, it’s a part of virtually every suburban yard, and maintaining a neat lawn is key to keeping yard areas both pretty and usable. Australia’s brutal conditions have left me tired of the grind, however, and I have had enough; it is time to enlist robotic help.

Any sane person sick of mowing would just buy an off-the-shelf autonomous mower and be done with it. However, if you’ve had any experience with the hardware or their vacuuming cousins, you’ll know its performance often leaves something to be desired. Besides, I’m something of a roboticist myself, and I much prefer to build my own hardware. That way, when it sucks, I at least have someone to blame—as well as the opportunity to do something about it.

If you dig robot lawn mowers, watch along with the build below!

Rise of the Machines

It just so happens that I’ve been living with a recently unemployed robot who has been looking for a new mission in life. I created SOLARBOI over a period from 2016 to 2021. Originally designed with the goal of exploring the Australian outback, he is kitted out with a 4G cellular data connection, big antennas, and a solar panel for power. He’s capable of roaming for days, charging up from the sun, and driving onwards in the dead of night. That is, when he’s not getting stuck in ditches, rescued by publicans, or, during one unfortunate misadventure, having his gearbox fall to bits.

The SOLARBOI project was, in some ways, spawned from my imagination as a young child. I loved radio control cars and had once seen one controlled by a computer. However, the problem was that you couldn’t drive the car beyond your line of sight; once the car left the room, you had no idea where it was going. I figured at the time that a camera would solve that problem, letting you go exploring with the RC car. Of course, such a thing was difficult with the technology of the 1990s.

Fast forward several decades and I realized that with the benefit of a 4G data connection and a small camera, it was now possible to build a robot that could roam the world while you watched its progress via a streaming video feed over the internet. Add on a solar panel, and you now have a robot that can, in theory, roam endlessly wherever there’s a 4G data signal and sufficient sunlight.

I thusly tasked SOLARBOI with the challenge of roaming through Australian country towns, where I figured he’d get plentiful solar power and would be less likely to be disturbed as compared to a heavily-trafficked pedestrian area in a city or the suburbs. I was able to run several missions over a period of a couple of years, often sending out SOLARBOI for a few days at a time and roaming as far as possible before we got stuck, broke something, or simply hit up against the edges of coverage of the mobile phone network.

It was great fun, and SOLARBOI quickly won himself many adoring fans, some of whom contributed their own technical expertise to the project. However, after a time, I had to end his missions for my own sanity. Developing and improving the robot was becoming a full-time job. Worse, leaving a robot unattended in the outback all day was incredibly stressful; missions would go on long until the wee hours, and I would then spend most of the next day panicking that it would be stolen, destroyed, or simply fail to wake up. We’d had fun, but after plenty of exciting missions, it was time to retire.

Over the course of the project, though, I developed SOLARBOI into a (relatively) reliable platform, capable of getting about on sealed surfaces and scrub with aplomb, even if he is built on the battered and tired shell of an old four-wheel-drive RadioShack RC car. One day, he’ll get a brother built on a far more capable chassis, but that would still leave me with a whole robot with nothing to do. But now that SOLARBOI has been retired from active outback duty, he will take on a new job—as Mowerboi.

SOLARBOI chilling in outback Australia after a long solo mission in the great outdoors Lewin Day

The idea is simple: Fit Mowerboi with a cutting blade and program him to follow GPS waypoints so he can trim the lawn more regularly than I care to. It’s an important job; letting the grass get too long tends to lead to a patchy, inconsistent lawn that leaves plenty of space for weeds to invade. In Australia, where weeds like bindi scatter incredibly painful thorns and grow at a furious pace, maintaining a strong lawn is vital to comfort at home. Those thorns get everywhere.

I’ve already coded basic autonomy into Mowerboi, so he’s capable of heading from one GPS waypoint to another. However, there’s no obstacle avoidance code, and for yard-scale operations, standard GPS isn’t quite good enough. With accuracy only down to a few meters, it’s virtually impossible to stop our robot friend from hitting fences on occasion. I’ve got some plans to tackle that problem though, and I think I can get him buzzing about the yard without too many problems.

Instead, my initial concern is with cutting the grass itself. Thus, I had to figure out how to build the mower part of my autonomous mower. In the meantime, I can drive the robot manually around on the lawn via a computer in a similar way to a radio-control car while I test my grass-cutting apparatus.

Time to Build

There are two ways to go about engineering something new. You can make a few guesses in your head, do a couple of sketches, and simply build what you think will work. Then, you find out what doesn’t work and iterate from there. Alternatively, you can spend a great deal of time getting scientific about things, running models and calculations, and trying to figure it all out on paper before you begin. For big projects that push the limits of engineering—like if you’re building the SR-71 Blackbird—this is a necessity. It’s simply not practical to just have a go at building it and see what happens. However, for a little mower project, the build it and see approach is perfect, and, most importantly, more fun.

When I thought of mowing on a small scale, my first thought went to whipper snippers—or line trimmers in American parlance. These manage to cut grass with a little bit of plastic line, spinning at some sufficiently great speed as to force the line to become rigid.

I presumed that I could achieve similarly good results by 3D-printing a simple plastic blade of five inches in diameter and popping it on a motor on the front of my robot. On the bench, this setup performed admirably, spinning at a healthy 11,000 rpm and chopping away at grass rather nicely.

However, when tested in the field, results were less positive. My grass is very thick and very tall, up to a foot high in the worst parts. Plus, Mowerboi moves forward fairly quickly, too fast for the blade to keep up with the grass-cutting. Obviously, having a robot mower regularly keeping the grass trimmed low will curb this problem, but I want a robot mower that can handle the tough jobs, too.

In any case, when confronted with lots of thick, tall, grass, the 80-turn brushed DC motor I used was simply overwhelmed and didn’t have the torque to push through. Thus, I set about 3D printing a sharper plastic blade that came to a finer point, and fitted it to a more powerful 35-turn 540-size motor and tried again. The lower turn count on the motor means that it draws a lot more current, but it’s also more powerful and better able to hack through the grass.

Finally, some success! The blade was able to hack away, sending the grass a-flying. The cutter head would still get snagged up and stop if I plowed head-on into the thickest stuff, but it was more than capable of trimming a lawn down to size. Sure, the five-inch blade would take a long time, and probably several passes, to actually cut the whole lawn. But when a robot’s doing the work, who cares if takes a little longer to finish?

I even experimented with a further upgrade, producing a mean-looking six-incher complete with metal carpet trimmer blades bolted on. It was even more capable of chopping away at the greenery, as expected. However, I was a little concerned about having metal blades and heavy bolts spinning at such high velocity near my own soft, fleshy self. Fearing for my own safety, I decided I should design a safety shroud to protect me should the blade disintegrate or come loose while in use.

Mowerboi is by no means a lean, mean, lawn-eating machine just yet. The relatively narrow six-inch-wide blade doesn’t cut a huge swath through the grass, and it takes several passes to get the grass properly cut down to size. However, it does work; this is Mowerboi’s minimum viable product, having just enough capability to get a basic mowing job done. If I took this platform and added automation, it could probably keep the lawn cut down to size by making two or three passes a week, even if it can’t handle the overgrown jungle thicket I have now.

Going Too Far

Naturally, I wanted more. performance, more cutting power, more everything. My thinking was that if I had more power, cutting the lawn would take less time to complete. I set about procuring a much brawnier 14-turn, 550-size motor for the cutting head. I’d already found some gains by adding power to the cutter head, so I figured more is always better.

I also found that even if I drove at the robot’s slowest viable pace, Mowerboi was still moving too quickly for the cutting head and would end up being slowed and stopped by the excessively thick grass. I needed to get Mowerboi to crawl. Thus, I set about building a low-range crawler gearbox that would let the robot creep slowly through the yard, cutting away at the grass at a more leisurely pace.

Designing my first 3D-printed gearbox was great fun. The design of this old RadioShack RC car didn’t leave much room, but I managed to squeeze an extra 2.75:1 reduction in on top of the standard transfer case’s 10:1 step down, bringing the total ratio down to 27.5:1. The new gear train would reduce top speed by over half, but this robot is already way faster than it needs to be. Instead, the idea is to trade that speed for badly needed torque.

After a good 10 hours of disassembling and reassembling the robot with its new gearbox, not counting the good 15 to 20 hours of design and printing time, I was ready to test. I could barely contain my excitement, and in doing so, made rather a stupid error. I hadn’t had time to finish the protective shroud for the cutting head but figured a short little test wouldn’t be too risky.

In any case, as I fired up the robot, I was overjoyed to see it crawl at an absolutely glacial pace; my gearbox was working! Admittedly, it was loud as hell as my 3D prints were poor and my assembly even worse, but it was working! Then I fired up the mower motor.

It was less than a second before a whipcrack announced that the mower blade had undergone Rapid, unscheduled disassembly. I heard a ping a split second later as something hit the side of the shed. A quick scan and pat down of my vital areas seemed to indicate I wasn’t hemorrhaging blood, so I quickly shut down the robot and took a moment to appreciate my good fortune and chastise myself for not taking proper safety precautions. By taking a shortcut, I nearly ended up with a mower blade to the neck.

This is a good time to reiterate that I didn’t stick to my own rules and wasn’t prototyping in a safe manner. I got lucky, but it’s a mistake you shouldn’t make. Always take proper safety precautions! In my case, I should have waited until I’d finished building a safety shroud and upgraded my own PPE to include a full face shield rather than the simple safety glasses that left the rest of my face entirely unprotected.

It seems that the extra grunt of the new mower head was enough to shatter my 3D-printed blade design; somewhat unsurprising, given it was spinning somewhere close to 15,000 rpm with the bigger motor. The blades had been sheared off from the hub and flung out into the garden at great velocity. An intensive search turned up only a small chunk of the blade buried in the grass; no sign of the pieces that audibly hit the shed were found.

My new gearbox design similarly faced issues; after just a few meters of running, my multi-part compound geartrain fell apart as I’d foolishly forgotten to glue the gear together after a test fit. Reassembling the gearbox properly only saw it fail again, with the gears this time splitting along layer lines. Most frustrating! But for the 30 whole seconds that the gearbox held together, the mower was impressively slow with tons of wheel torque—just as I’d intended it to be.

Lessons Learned. Time to Rebuild

Regardless, I set about rebuilding Mowerboi’s gearbox and cutter head with haste, as I was very much addicted to the project by this point. I designed and 3D printed a more robust gearbox design, put together a safety shroud to protect myself, and returned to using a safer all-plastic cutting blade. With a stronger mount for the cutter head installed, I was still able to use the more powerful 14-turn motor without the assembly falling apart.

I realized, too, that Mowerboi wasn’t really served well by his outback camouflage paint scheme, intended to hide him from curious humans on his adventures. If anything, armed with a cutting blade, it was safer to have him be highly visible when working in the yard. I’d had also become keenly aware that grass from the cutter head was getting all over the chassis.

The way forward was obvious—Mowerboi needed a dope body kit. When it came to the design, I took heavy mining dump trucks as a guide, giving Mowerboi slant sides, a large logo panel, and large black stripes down the side. Why stripes, you ask? They’re easy to draw, that’s why! When it came to colors, however, the world of drift was my inspiration, and Mowerboi got a color-flipped palette inspired by Naoki Nakamura’s famous S13. Yes, we’re talking fluro yellow with searing hot pink wheels, and I could not be any more in love with the design.

Why spend weekends pushing a loud gas mower and breathing exhaust fumes? Let one of these autonomous electric mowers do the work cleanly and quietly.

By Mark Wolfe | Updated Jul 18, 2023 10:43 AM

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila

Improvements in rechargeable battery tech and intelligent software have dramatically changed the way we live. Smart televisions and lighting systems improve our sensory environment, while other automated home devices like vacuum cleaners, thermostats, and refrigerators minimize many more mundane tasks. Similarly, robotic lawn mowers can now keep the grass at just the right height, eliminating a time-consuming weekend chore.

These devices may even cost less to own and operate than gasoline-powered mowers while making very little noise and producing no exhaust emissions. They maintain up to an acre or more on most types of terrain, and they work automatically so folks with lawns have more time to relax and enjoy their green space.

No doubt, all of this sounds great—but how well do these robots actually perform? To find out, we put some popular models through their paces on real-life lawns. Read on to learn about the criteria we used to select these mowers, and then check out our product reviews to find out how each one did on our test turf. Anyone in the market for a new mower might just discover that a robot model can be a Smart, time-saving investment. R2-D2 would surely approve!

• BEST OVERALL:Worx Landroid M 20V Robotic Lawn Mower
• BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK:Gardena 15001-20 Sileno City Automatic Robotic Mower
• UPGRADE PICK:Husqvarna Automower 415X Robotic Lawn Mower
• BEST FOR STEEP HILLS:Redback MowRo 9.5-Inch Robot Lawn Mower
• BEST FOR LARGE LAWNS:Husqvarna Automower 115H Robotic Lawn Mower
• BEST FOR SMALL LAWNS:Gardena 15202-41 Sileno Minimo Robotic Mowe

Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila

How We Tested the Best Robotic Lawn Mowers

All of the robotic lawn mowers we tested use 14-gauge low-voltage wire to establish the barrier. We assembled two barriers around two 1,200-square-foot patches of lawn—one with Bermuda grass and a steep slope and one mostly flat area with centipede grass. Each test area included two large open spaces connected by a narrow bottleneck corridor, and all the mowers were tested on both test areas.

We established a daily mowing schedule for 7 days in each location. We observed the ease of programming and communication with the mower as well as its actual performance. Criteria to be included in this guide were as follows:

• Consistently reliable mowing on schedule and returning to the base station after initial setup and first-day adjustments
• Consistently navigating the narrow corridor to mow both large areas
• Avoiding random obstacles intentionally left within the boundaries
• Returning to the base station in the event of rain or sprinklers
• Avoiding excessively steep slopes without becoming stuck
• Complete coverage of the test area—no noticeable missed spots for the entire test week

Our Top Picks

We measured the following robotic lawn mowers against our shopping considerations (detailed below) and put each one to work for a 7-day home trial. Find out why we recommend them among the best robot lawn mowers available.

Worx Landroid M 20V Robotic Lawn Mower

The popular Worx Landroid robotic mower lineup includes models S, M, and L for yards up to 0.125 acre, 0.25 acre, and 0.5 acre, respectively. While they offer many similarities, we found that the Worx Landroid M offers the best combination of capability and affordability. It is powered by a 20-volt 4-amp-hour lithium-ion battery for 2 hours of runtime per 90-minute charge. It can mow on a 20-degree slope thanks to a pair of high-efficiency brushless wheel motors that provide extra traction. The Landroid’s 8-inch self-leveling mowing disc cuts closer to the edges of the yard than many competitors. The blade height manually adjusts from 1.5 to 3.5 inches.

Landroid connects to a home Wi-Fi network via Bluetooth and automatically keeps its own software up to date. You can easily set or adjust the custom mowing schedule or monitor the mower on the go via the Landroid mobile app. An integrated rain sensor stops the mower from cutting if rain starts and sends it back to its charging station.

The Landroid M performed at or near the top in most of our testing rubric categories. Assembly and programming were easy, mowing was reliable with excellent coverage, communication through the mobile app was intuitive, and runtime was superior—all for a very competitive price. Runtime was especially impressive: We clocked it at 2 hours 35 minutes, the longest of all the mowers we tested.

Unfortunately, we subtracted points for poor docking ability. Landroid was the only mower we tested with recharging contacts located on the side of the machine rather than the front or back. To recharge, it must be perfectly positioned in relation to two flexible contact points as it passes over the base station; otherwise, it continues tracking along the perimeter wire without stopping. After resetting the base station three times and ensuring it was absolutely level in all directions with a long, straight approach, we finally achieved satisfactory results.

Aside from that issue, the Landroid provides outstanding overall functionality for the price. Available upgrades include the ACS module that prevents collisions, Find My Landroid GPS cellular module, Radio Link module to extend Wi-Fi connectivity for improved artificial intelligence, an Off Limits module for wire-free no-mow zones within the main mowing area, and the Landroid Garage.

Product Specs

• Coverage area: 0.25 acre (10,890 square feet)
• Mowing height range: 1.5 to 3.5 inches
• Slope rating: 20 degrees
• Includes everything you need to get started and clear step-by-step instructions for easy installation
• User-friendly mobile app makes it simple to control the mower and check status remotely
• 2 hours of runtime per charge means more mowing and less time spent charging
• Competitive price point for a highly capable robotic lawn mower
• Base station must be installed perfectly or the mower may not align properly for charging
• Some desirable features are not included with the base kit

Get the Worx robot lawn mower at Amazon, Lowe’s, or The Home Depot.

Gardena 15001-20 Sileno City Automatic Robotic Mower

Anyone shopping for an affordable and uncomplicated robotic lawn mower for a small yard would do well to consider the Gardena Sileno City. It navigates slopes up to 25 percent and corridors as narrow as 24 inches wide. Plus, it works rain or shine, day or night.

Available with either a 2,700-square-foot or 5,400-square-foot maximum mowing capacity, the Sileno City is a great option for most urban landscapes. It requires a flat, level area for the charging station and a nearby power source. A low-voltage perimeter wire keeps the mower inbounds and may be configured to mow a secondary area that is isolated from the primary lawn.

You can customize the mowing height between 0.8 inch and 2 inches high by means of a manual adjustment knob. The Gardena Bluetooth app makes it easy to operate the mower or customize the schedule and other settings from any mobile device, or use the onboard control panel to make adjustments.

It took about 1.5 hours to set up the Gardena Sileno City in our testing area. The kit included everything needed to get started, along with clear instructions. We plugged in the base station and allowed the mower to charge while we installed the perimeter wire and guide wire. The guide wire is an extra wire that bisects the lawn from the base station to the most distant portion of the perimeter wire. All Gardena (and parent company Husqvarna) robot mowers use it to navigate more efficiently.

After installation, we followed the instructions to calibrate the system and program the schedule. Starting with a pre-mowed lawn, we adjusted the mower height to mow 1.5 inches high, and the yard looked great throughout the test period.

One feature that shoppers should be aware of is the maximum daily runtime of about 3.5 hours per day (for the 2,700-square-foot version that we tested). Don’t bother scheduling the mower to run more than 3.5 hours total per day since after reaching the time limit, the device will simply return home until the following day. Since we mowed no more than 2.5 hours per day, we didn’t have a problem.

Product Specs

• Coverage area: 2,700 square feet
• Mowing height range: 0.8 to 2.0 inches
• Slope rating: 14.04 degrees
• Value-priced yet feature-rich robotic mower ideal for smaller lawn areas
• Kit includes everything needed for installation and easy-to-follow instructions
• Reliably and quietly mows all kinds of grass, day or night, rain or shine
• Navigates slopes up to 25 percent and passages as narrow as 24 inches
• Preprogrammed with a daily runtime limit that stops the mower regardless of battery status
• Not Wi-Fi or GPS enabled

Get the Gardena 15001-20 robot lawn mower at Amazon or Gardena.

Husqvarna Automower 415X Robotic Lawn Mower

Here is a well-equipped mower for warm-season grasses up to 0.4 acre, especially lawns with challenging obstacles, narrow passages, and sloped terrain. With a mowing height range of 0.8 to 2 inches, the Husqvarna Automower 415X is designed for maintaining low-mow grasses like zoysia, Bermuda, and centipede. It is powered by an 18-volt 2-amp-hour lithium-ion battery that delivers a runtime of 50 minutes per charge and recharges in 60 minutes. This premium mower features a high-resolution onboard display, rugged poly front bumper, LED headlights, and coarse-tread wheels that easily handle slopes up to 40 percent.

The Automower 415X is loaded with communication and control features, beginning with cellular and Bluetooth connectivity. It is easily controlled via the Automower Connect mobile app and is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home Smart devices. Husqvarna’s intelligent mapping technology uses GPS sensors to virtually map the lawn, enabling zone control with customized settings, and real-time tracking through the app. This high level of communication pairs nicely with precision control and automated features like electric height adjustment, automatic passage handling, remote location starting, spiral- and spot-cutting capabilities, wireless firmware updates, theft protection system with GPS tracking, and more.

The Automower 415X arrived for testing with everything we needed for a quick and easy DIY installation. The layout and setup were similar to the other models we tested but with the unique addition of a central guide wire running through the middle of the mowing area to assist with navigation back to the home base. Initial programming was fast and intuitive with the mower’s onboard controls. After downloading the app, we spent some time customizing mowing options, adding the targeted mowing height and spiral mowing options. Targeted mowing automatically lowered the cutting height each day until our preselected height was achieved. With spiral mowing engaged, the mower automatically detects extra-tall or dense growth and mows that isolated area in a spiral pattern. These two options were especially helpful in combination, as we needed to get our overgrown Bermuda grass under control.

Our testing lawn was an irregularly shaped area encompassing 1,200 square feet, with a tree isolated by the boundary wire near the middle and two larger lawn areas on either side. Part of the test area included a steep slope, close to 50 percent in one small area, and the 415X had no trouble. We noticed after the third or fourth mowing that the robot was making more efficient linear cuts and less frequently getting caught up in multipoint turns.

During the target-height adjustment period, the mower seemed to FOCUS more time on a section after it had been sufficiently cut, then running out of battery before fully cutting the other section. Once the target was achieved, however, daily mowing at 1.25 inches kept the grass looking great. Docking at the base station went perfectly every time. Easy setup, reliable operation, Smart tech, and a lower mowing height range make this a good choice for most small to midsize yards with warm-season lawn grass.

Product Specs

• Coverage area: 0.4 acre (17,424 square feet)
• Mowing height range: 0.8 to 2 inches
• Slope rating: 22 degrees
• Precision control features allow you to target portions of the lawn that require more attention
• GPS-assisted navigation allows the robot to mow challenging areas more efficiently
• Easily navigates obstructions like toys and lawn furniture as well as difficult terrain
• Cellular and Bluetooth connectivity make it easy to connect and control the mower remotely
• Premium price point for top-of-the-line robotic mowing technology
• Highly efficient mowing capability is offset by a somewhat limited runtime per charge

Get the Husqvarna Automower 415X robot lawn mower at Amazon or Lowe’s.

The best robotic lawn mowers for 2023

Like the look of robotic lawn mowers? Browse our pick of the very best, for gardens of all shapes and sizes.

Increasingly popular with UK gardeners, robotic lawn mowers are a welcome, hands-free alternative to traditional petrol and electric lawn mowers. Because a robotic lawn mower is fully automatic, it can be a brilliant option for gardeners who have mobility concerns, are away from home a lot, or simply find mowing a chore. Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, most mowers are guided by a boundary cable laid around the edge of the lawn, which helps the robotic lawn mower identify where to mow and to avoid flower beds, trees and other obstacles.

While we tested models from a number of different brands, note that all of them offer a range of mowers with varying sizes, capabilities and features.

To compare these robotic models against other types of mowers, see our reviews of the best cordless lawn mowers, the best electric mowers and the best push mowers. And, if you’re looking to give your lawn a bit of TLC, our experts have tested a range of manual and powered aerators and scarifiers. check out the best scarifiers and best aerators reviews. You can also keep edges looking neat with our tests of the best strimmers or pick of the best lawn edging.

Best robotic lawn mowers at a glance

Our expertise

To help you find a robotic lawn mower suitable for your garden, we tested a range of mowers for different size gardens, including gardens with slopes and a complex shape. Each mower is in use for weeks at a time to allow us to assess its battery capacity and cutting proficiency as well as ease of use.

Each mower in our review has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to set up and ease of use, cutting performance, extra features and value for money. Every robotic mower in our round-up below has scored a minimum of four out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.

The robotic mower industry is constantly evolving, with new developemnts and advances, and we are currently testing a number of the latest models ready to update this review shortly. Please check back soon to see the results of our new review.

Best robotic lawn mowers

Husqvarna Automower 405X

RRP: From £1899.00

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

• Unobtrusive colour
• Easy connectivity
• Clever mowing features
• GPS theft tracking

Awarded a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for features, the Automower 405x boasts a huge range of features that help the mower cut well and make the experience easy for the user. These include, three different start points, switching mowing pattern according to where it’s mowing, such as through a narrow passage, frost guard and weather time that automatically adjusts the height according to the grass growth, and its new Rewilding Zone where you can leave 10% of the lawn aside to grow for pollinators.It’s available to buy as a bare mower, which is then installed by a dealer for an additional cost, or with the installation kit included and you install it yourself. Suitable for smaller gardens 600m2, the mower operates with both a boundary wire and a guide wire and unlike some other mowers, has a more flexible docking station, which doesn’t need a wide, clear space around it. ours was tucked neatly into the side of a hedge. It’s also easy to set up via the intuitive keypad or the impressive Automower Connect app, which allows you to change the schedule, adjust the height of cut, check on the mower’s progress and receive notifications, simply and quickly no matter where you are. As an X model, the mower also has a built in SIM so you have both remote and voice controlled control. Our only confusion with set up was working out the scheduling needed, which took a couple of weeks to establish, and that the height of cut on the app is listed as 1-9, when it cuts between 20mm and 50mm.The mower can cope with 40% slopes, which should suit most gardens. The slope in our test garden has a tendency to get muddy and slippery so at the installer’s advice, we used the spiked Terrain wheels which stop the wheels slipping. Only occasionally did the mower fail to get up the slope and when the weather was really wet we simply removed that zone from the work area. The mower cut consistently well and is very quiet, the only perceptible sound is the whirring of the blades as they cut. It occasionally missed spots on the lawn but overall this is a very easy to use and high performing mower.The Automower 405x is just one in a large range of Husqvarna mowers to suit different size lawns. A host of accessories are also available, including a cover for the docking station and wheel brushes, as well as spare parts, from batteries and blades to wheels. Both the mower and the battery come with a 2 year warranty.

Buy the Husqvarna 405X Automower from Sam Turner, Husqvarna and Red Band