Tired of pushing or driving around a lawn mower on a hot summer day? It might be time to let a robot handle your yard work to help you get a great-looking lawn. In just the last few years, the best robot mowers have improved significantly, and prices have fallen considerably.
Sure, $5,000 robot mowers still exist, but these robots do more than just mow your lawn (one even can snowblow your sidewalks), and most people don’t need such a high-end model. The typical robot mower now costs between $750 and $2,500, the cheapest powered by rear-wheel drive (RWD) and the most expensive offering all-wheel drive (AWD). Higher-end models will also offer more advanced navigation, such as AI-assisted cameras or real-time kinematic (RTK), a form of GPS.
The size of your property will determine the type of robot lawn mower you need. For most yards of a half-acre or so with flat or gently sloped terrain, rear-wheel-drive mowers will get the job done. But if you have a lot of uneven terrain and steep slopes, you may want all-wheel drive. My recommendation is to do a quick survey of your yard before shopping. That research may eliminate some models from consideration.
Regardless of your situation, the best robot lawn mowers take all the work out of yard maintenance–turning a chore that takes all afternoon into a problem you can solve with the push of a button.
I’ve been testing robot mowers for over five years, putting nearly a dozen mowers across a variety of price points through a series of tests. My yard is mostly flat, save for a single steep slope, which allowed me to evaluate these mowers against hilly terrain.
When selecting the best robot mowers, I look for two primary things: cut quality and functionality. Of course, cut quality is the most important. For example, how well do they cut across the full width of a pass; is any of the grass pushed over; or are any clippings left behind?
For functionality, I spend time making sure all the mower’s features truly work as advertised, not just if its core function is working properly. Robot mower manufacturers have a habit of including and even highlighting features well before they’re ready, so I evaluate those fully. I also look at app functionality and how often updates are sent.
A top name in yard maintenance equipment, Husqvarna also has a full line of Robot mowers, with this as the entry-level model. It features satellite based navigation, as well as onboard sensors for obstacle avoidance.
| Mowing area | .75 acre |
| Run time | 90 min |
| Cutting height | 0.8 to 4 in. |
| Navigation | RTK + VSLAM |
The Sunseeker Orion X7 is the cheapest (AWD) mower that I’ve tested, and also happens to be one of the best. This mower was one of the few that could traverse the steep slope from one section of my yard to another, and it rarely got stuck because of poor decision-making.
This may be due, in part, to Sunseeker’s development of its onboard machine learning, which adapts to the intricacies of your yard over time. While the AI can detect a variety of fixed and temporary obstacles on the fly, the machine learning “remembers” where obstructions are and places where it got stuck, preventing it from making the same mistake in future sessions.
Unlike most robot mowers, it features a dual cutting plate—two cutting plates side by side—that adjusts to uneven ground, and nighttime mowing that was some of the best that I’ve seen.
At the time of our review, the app was the Orion X7’s weak point, most notably a clunky user interface, but it has improved somewhat since then. But that’s really the only issue in an otherwise outstanding (and affordable) all-wheel drive robot mower.
The Segway i110N brings professional-grade GPS navigation to a price point where most mowers require boundary-wires to keep them in your yard or are feature-stripped budget models. We tested this extensively on flat sections of our yard, and it was shockingly good. The navigation is accurate, the cut is perfect, and the setup is more straightforward than we expected.
However, the AI on board isn’t as precise as others we have reviewed, and it didn’t seem to learn to avoid obstacles over time, getting stuck in the same spot repeatedly, or falling off the curb. But for the average flat yard, this mower has the right mix of functionality and value.
| Mowing area | Up to 6 acres |
| Run time | 210 minutes |
| Cutting height | 1.2 to 4 in. |
| Navigation | Vision and RTK satellite (GPS) |
The Yarbo should be our top pick because of its versatility, its 6-acre capacity, and its over 3-hour runtime. However, the company has a habit of underdelivering on its features, affecting the overall functionality of the mower. For example, some modules, like the blower module, have just become feature-complete in 2026, a year after release. That’s not acceptable when you’re spending this kind of money, and it’s one of Yarbo’s biggest downsides. When it works, it’s a lifesaver, and being able to use it in the warm months to mow and for debris and snow removal in the colder months is brilliant. Changing modules is not that difficult either.
The Yarbo runs on tank-like tracks instead of wheels. One thing to note if you plan to use this year-round: there are two types of tracks. There’s a studded version for snow, and a pair of standard tracks for use during the warmer months. This is probably the most aggravating maintenance task, as it’s not easy to get the tracks off. While the tracks will stretch just a tad over time, making removal easier, the first time you try to take them off will be quite difficult, so be prepared for that.
I’m a big fan of the snowblower module, which has shown significant improvement in autonomous operation this season. We don’t shovel anything but the pathway from our door anymore because it can’t climb steps—our garage area and about 300 feet of sidewalk is all handled by Yarbo. Mowing performance is also better than that of your average robot mower.
| Mowing area | .5 acres |
| Run time | 120 mins |
| Cutting height | 2-4 in. |
| Navigation | Vision and RTK (GPS) |
The Segway Navimow X350 is a beast of a mower, and I found its performance impressive. Most robot mowers take forever on large properties. The X350 is different—it mows fast, covers ground efficiently, and has the battery capacity to handle up to 1.5 acres on a single charge.
Our 0.28-acre test yard was mowed in 40 minutes with battery to spare. Scale that to a full 1.5 acres, and you should have your entire yard mowed in about three hours. We’re a little disappointed that it has no all-wheel drive, and its size makes it incompatible with narrow passageways, but the cut is top-notch, and operation is extremely quiet.
We should note that since this review, Segway has introduced larger models that will also suit properties more than 1.5 acres and feature many of the benefits we’ve found with the X350, but add four-wheel drive capability.
| Mowing area | .3 acres |
| Run time | 90 mins |
| Cutting height | 1-3 in. |
| Navigation | Vision |
Every other robot mower I’ve tested uses GPS (sometimes combined with vision). While GPS is very effective, it also means you need to deal with mounting antennas, finding satellites, and troubleshooting signal issues. The E18 only navigates using a set of front-facing on-board cameras, which simplifies things greatly, especially if you’re tech-shy.
I’m not lying when I say setup is as simple as placing it on your lawn, letting it spin in a circle to calibrate, and watching it automatically map your entire yard. I went from box to mowing in under 30 minutes on simple yard sections—that's unheard of for robot mowers. And the cut quality? That was as good as any other mower in its price range, although its maximum cutting height of 3 inches might not be suitable for some American yards, where cutting some types of grass too low can inhibit growth.
| Mowing area | ~0.5 acres per hour |
| Run time | ~150 mins |
| Cutting height | 1.5-4.3 in. (5 manually adjustable heights) |
| Navigation | Remote Control |
Okay, I may be stretching the concept of a robot mower a bit too far here, but I had a blast with the Mowrator S1 4WD. You don’t set it and forget it. You actively drive it with a remote control like an RC car. It has a large battery, so for large properties, this might be a better option than the traditional robot mower.
Mowrator’s cut quality is also far superior to any traditional robot mower. That’s because the blade itself is no different from a standard push or riding lawn mower with a 21-inch cutting radius; you’ll have your yard done in no time.
The one big downside to the Mowrator is that the obstacle avoidance is pretty bad for a mower of its price. Using camera sensors above the deck or sensors in the bumpers, this feature stops the mower automatically when it detects an obstacle in its path or hits one. While it has improved with firmware updates, it seems to stop dead in its tracks far sooner than it needs to when obstructions are in the way.
However, since Mowrator is expecting you to be driving this thing, it didn’t spend as much time on this functionality as other manufacturers have. It’s also really expensive, but it’s constructed of the same materials as riding mowers (and why it’s so heavy), so it’s more durable than most robot lawn mowers.
Most boundary-wire-free mowers require Wi-Fi availability outside your home. While this generally will not be a problem for most, as only the base station and any GPS antenna need network access. However, if you live in an older home with thick stone walls, it’s quite likely you will have trouble with your mower unless you figure out a way to get Wi-Fi outside, such as using an outdoor repeater.
Even a yard that appears flat to the naked eye might be hiding nasty divots and animal holes, and tall grass might hide uneven terrain. Ensure your yard is free of places where the robot could get stuck. This includes narrow passageways. While most suburban yards are fairly rectangular, some yards may feature narrow patches of grass between two main areas. Ensure your mower has enough clearance (I recommend at least a mower width on each side) to clear it. If not, your mower will likely have trouble reaching the other section of your yard, resulting in an uneven cut.
RWD robot mowers are best suited to simple flat yards; more complex and sloped yards require AWD propulsion. And while you may have a flat yard, a single slope can make a mower incompatible: our steep slope, where the property meets the sidewalk, makes it impossible to traverse to other areas without all-wheel drive.
The acreage on your deed will always be greater than what you need to actually mow. Our yard is a great example of this: while the property is .28 acres, the actual mowable area is less than half that, thanks in part to a large secondary building in the rear of our yard (a garage/small business). Take an approximate measurement of the area of your property that needs mowing to help you select the right size robot mower. Otherwise, you could end up spending hundreds, if not thousands, unnecessarily.
While I don’t have an issue recommending the Eufy E18 to just about anyone because of its ease of use, most other mowers do require at least a basic understanding of technology. If you’re not good at learning a new system of tech or fixing bugs, a robot mower might not be the best idea. Luckily, as the technology improves each year, robot mowers are becoming more user-friendly with improved user interfaces, easier programmability, and consistent performance.
Ed Oswald has been a weather enthusiast since childhood. As an adult, he combined his professional life–a technology journalist–with his passion for the weather to review weather stations and gadgets. Ed specifically covered weather tech at publications like TechHive and Digital Trends. He also runs The Weather Station Experts, a weather gadget reviews blog.
David is a Reviews Editor for Hearst’s Enthusiast Group, contributing to Popular Mechanics, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Best Products, and Biography. He has over 25 years of experience writing about and reviewing consumer electronics, kitchen appliances, DIY products, outdoor gear, and more. He also spent years covering the ever-changing world of online retail. To relax, he loves experimenting with new recipes, tweaking his smart home setup, and spending time outdoors on his bike or camping.
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