If your idea of the good life is to sit back, relax, and enjoy your yard without putting in the work, a robotic lawn mower may be for you.
While they have yet to catch on in a big way, and many brands — including Honda and iRobot — have struggled to bring them to market effectively or at all, at least a few models are making an honest go of it.
A home expert got his hands on one and posted a video detailing its pros and cons to a YouTube channel dedicated to getting the lawn you want.
"They say you'll never have to mow the lawn again, but is that really true?" he asks as the video begins.
He goes on to say that he got his hands on the Landroid by Worx and tried it out to see if the grass is greener on the automated side of the fence. While the company offers many models of the mower, the video's caption specifies that this review is based on this model.
The user states that he ran the mower several times a day for two weeks, and this is what he took from the trial.
Pros
For any robotic mower, you need a boundary wire — which works like an invisible fence for your dog — to keep the mower in your yard. The wire for this mower was both reliable and easy to install.
Due to a feature that makes the cutting mechanism lift itself out of the mower, the Landroid can cut grass from 1.6 to 4 inches tall — something that is unusual for robotic mowers.
After two weeks of use, this mower had very little grass built up underneath it. Further, the blades are safe and easy to replace with just a Phillips head screwdriver.
Lastly, it's very safe. On top of the manual stop button, there is the more important automatic stop mechanism. When the front bumper touches something, the mower immediately stops and changes direction. You can also add a radar accessory that allows it to "see" obstacles and change direction before making contact.
Cons
Robotic mowers are expensive. However, the poster points out that if you're paying someone to cut your grass each week, a robotic mower could actually pay for itself. They also may not last as long as traditional mowers, and because of their cost, may be likely to get stolen.
Since all robotic mowers are bagless, there is sometimes more cleanup involved. But mulching grass clippings back into the lawn rather than bagging, raking, or blowing them away is considered better for the lawn and environment, so this con is easily waved away.
Also, some have batteries you must bring into a shop to be charged. However, this is not the case with Worx mowers.
Lastly, as the mower goes about the job randomly, you can't get the nice stripes on the lawn if that's what you're into. Future innovations in robotic mowing will likely be able to do this with AI even better than humans, though.
All in all, the user was impressed by the robotic mower, albeit unlikely to relinquish mowing duties.
"Personally I actually love mowing the lawn, I'd do it every single day if I could," he ends the video saying, "but for somebody who doesn't, this could be a great option."
"But can it spill gas all over the driveway and lawn?" sarcastically asked one viewer.
"Ok, now I'm sold," said another. "Always wondered how these worked."
If you're somewhere in between these two and are over the gas and other pollution caused by traditional lawnmowers but not quite sold on a robotic one, you may want to make the switch to electric tools.
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