The weekends are mine again, the lawn looks fantastic: How robotic lawnmowers changed my life – CNET

I enjoy a well-kept lawn as much as anyone, but that requires more time than I’m willing to dedicate to it. Mainly because I have a nearly three-acre lawn and it takes me about two and a half hours to mow… in a hurry. But thanks to robotic lawnmowers, I don’t have to spend as much time mowing the grass and the grass looks much better than if I mowed it myself.

Almost two years ago, when I tested my first robotic lawnmower, the Husqvarna Automower 430XH, I gained the power to control the timing and still get a beautiful lawn.

Okay, I don’t really track the time, but the robotic lawnmower takes over one of my most important weekly tasks and gives my family and I more time together. While the Husqvarna 430XH Automatic Lawn Mower When I opened my eyes to what a robotic lawnmower can offer in terms of making up time, I have since tried more advanced autonomous models with important new features, such as GPS guidance.

The result? A beautifully manicured lawn, not just mowed, and even further time to dedicate to summer fun.

If you’re curious about adding a robotic lawnmower to your garden and outdoor arsenal, here’s my experience with two new robotic lawnmowers, the Segway Navimow i110N ($1,299) and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD ($4,099), and why they have become my secret weapon for a 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 like a cheaper model. Vacuum cleaner robot.

Like less advanced robotic vacuums that do not have modern lidar (a type of laser mapping), the Automower 430XH had no GPS guidance or mapping and required the installation of a physical boundary wire. This cable acts as a virtual wall for the mower to “bounce” on and help it find its charging base. While this eventually gets the job done, the mower frequently gets stuck on objects, cuts over items my kids left in the yard, or gets lost trying to find its way home.

Although the Segway Navimow 110i is small, it is powerful and capable of cutting a nice lawn.

Chris Wedel/CNET

Not only did the randomness leave strange cutting paths in my garden, it also left my garden uneven. While this may seem like a complaint, I’m still happy that I’m not the one mowing the lawn. It also means that I am now much happier because, as with robot vacuum cleaners, there have been many advancements and new players in the robot lawnmower category.

The best thing about modern robotic lawnmowers is the integration of GPS technology, which allows the mowers to deftly handle an entire lawn with almost no effort required on my part, both in the initial setup and during mowing sessions. Aside from the time I save by not mowing the grass myself, the amount of time required to get started with lawnmowers is considerably less than those that require a boundary wire.

GPS guidance makes robotic lawnmowers a pleasure to use

These improvements include replacing annoying boundary wires with GPS-guided mowing, as well as advanced object recognition, increased efficiency and, in the end, a more attractive lawn with less work. Two lawnmower robots I am currently testing are the Segway Navimow i110N and the Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H. Both have strengths and weaknesses and are not nearly perfect, but they have become essential tools in my lawn care and lifestyle.

Segway’s Navimow is ideal for smaller gardens

The $1,300 Segway NavimowNavigation is limited to a quarter-acre cut, thanks to some onboard storage limitations. This is not much of my 5 acres of rural property. I found the perfect part of my lawn and after driving it like a very slow, oversized RC car using my OnePlus open phone as remote control. I set a mowing schedule and the Segway robotic lawnmower does the rest. This Navimow saves me 30 to 45 minutes of mowing twice a week.

Mammotion Luba 2 can handle 2.5 acres of garden

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

Hands free, perfect lawn

Perfectly manicured lawns with stripes and checkerboard patterns aren’t very common in Kansas farmhouses, but I got them this spring. It’s not unusual for my friends to call me a “high-tech bum” with all my smart devices, and 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 my weekends to go camping as a family, play ball games, and more.

Even high-end robotic lawnmowers have bad days

The Segway Navimow i110N and Mammotion Luba 2 AWD 10000H have quirks and sometimes need human interaction to move forward. Sometimes a stick gets caught in the wheel or deck of the mower, so the mower stops and I have to remove it. Sometimes mowers forget how to return to the charger or get stuck in a clump of grass and need to be physically moved. These problems are not mechanical and have never taken more than a few minutes to fix.

Whether you’re considering a smaller, basic robotic lawnmower to care for your yard or a more advanced model, there are a few factors you’ll need to consider before purchasing to ensure you have the best experience possible.

Robotic lawnmowers are becoming more and more common. As technology improves (i.e. advanced GPS guidance) and prices drop, it’s a great time to splurge on one. They’re a splurge, ranging from $600 to over $5,000. Do I still enjoy mowing the lawn? Sure, but only when I want, not because it’s necessary.

See this: How to Prepare Your Lawn Mower for the Season

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