Although I’ve had the opportunity to test many of the best robot vacuums, I’ve always found myself missing out on their outdoor sibling: robotic lawn mowers. These robots are similar in every way, from size to scanning technology. It looks particularly familiar in the way they avoid obstacles and map your yard. Many robotic lawn mowers even share smart features found on the best Roombas, such as cleaning suggestions and automatically generating a weekly mowing schedule.
Sometimes when I tell people I like to review robot vacuums, they look at me like I just shot their dog. A friend of mine once compared the prospect of taking notes on how a robot walks back and forth to watching paint dry. But for me, there’s an ASMR-like aspect to seeing a machine clear out the mess and give it a cleaning score. The visual results of a robotic lawnmower could scratch that OCD itch to see how efficient a robot can be, and has always piqued my interest. My dilemma was never having any soil to test one with.
So you can only imagine the hype I got when the opportunity to move back to suburban Long Island – with a garden – presented itself. I immediately called in three robotic lawnmowers to test them out, with the Ecovacs GOAT GX-600 the first to arrive. This robot is completely different from the nearly two-decade-old Craftsman riding mower I grew up with. Read on to see how a robotic lawn mower compares to the traditional lawn mowing experience, and see how the experience differs from the expectations I had when I arrived.
Robotic lawnmowers are much smaller than I thought
I was surprised when my new robotic lawnmower arrived in a single rectangular box. Its compact packaging was on par with the robot vacuums I received for testing. Heavier, of course. But in terms of size, this robotic lawnmower is much smaller than your average push or ride model.
The picture below shows that the GOAT arrangement does not surpass a delicate decorative bird bath. My immediate impression was that there was no way this little robot could handle my 4,800 square foot yard. Next to our Craftsman, this robot is less than an eighth the size of the riding clipper I’m used to.
Ecovacs has equipped its robotic lawnmower with a 22-centimeter floating blade disc system that raises and lowers to avoid damage caused by small stones or uneven terrain. This blade is controlled by a manual dial located on the front of the GOAT robot and can be changed between lengths of 3 and 6 cm in 0.25 cm increments for a precise cut. It’s sharp and spins at a brisk 2,300 rpm, but the robot takes its sweet time cutting compared to the larger, sharper blades of an actual mower.
That said, this smaller size allows it to fit in tight corners like the crack around my hot tub or the window wells around my basement windows. The size of a traditional mower and tighter turning radius forces you to swing wide and attack at the right angle. Additionally, a robot model does not need to collect the clippings because they are so short that they end up as manure.
Really convenient activity without cleaning
The smaller overall size and smaller blades don’t have the power of my big old school gas clipper and take longer to handle string with less speed and coverage. Our gas Craftsman is a fast and thorough workhorse, but requires excessive maintenance. Now that I’ve got a robot lawnmower up and running with edge mapping and full cutting, it’s nice not having to do any maintenance or hunt for gas. I can just press an app button to send it and watch it work from my bedroom window.
While the Ecovac materials state that the GOAT is supposed to take a U-shaped path, I noticed that the GOAT starts mowing along the outside perimeter of the edges of my yard, then moves inward covering larger interior rows diagonally. Like a dull razor blade, it gets the job done with occasional mistakes. During two attempts, he once found himself on a bed of dandelions and clover with thicker, longer greens. This is not bad at all as I expected it to fail often in taller grass. A quick push allowed the robot to pass them and mow them down on its way back.
Most of the time, the GOAT leaves alone, unless you send it from the app before you have company. You don’t need to stand there and guard it. I set its dial to just 3.5cm for a nice short buzz. Its easy-to-use app and solid performance make it easy for anyone to use, even if you’re not a tech geek.
Newer models do not require a physical boundary wire
I didn’t have to make any adjustments to my outdoor living space. This means you literally assemble the base, plug it in and send the robot vacuuming in less than ten minutes after opening it. I simply dropped the GOAT into my fenced yard and made sure its base was perpendicular to the edge of my fence for detection.
ECOVACS SmartEdge technology utilizes the latest visual recognition technology to automatically detect turf boundaries based on elements such as color and texture, eliminating the need for manual setup. I could easily pick up and play this little landscaper between my front and garden by pressing the Start and OK buttons to launch the “Press and Mow” setting, which works much like a mopping and mopping robot.
GOAT’s AIVI 3D depth obstacle avoidance technology accurately detects boundaries and objects. He blew a hose handle and several branches into my yard. You do not need to move boundary wires or clean the yard before each cleaning (although this is recommended).
I was very impressed with the way it straddled the line between my flower beds and the grass. He knew how to avoid diving into beds and he did so for the most part. That’s not to say it was perfect, but it managed to climb its way out of some deep drops slowly but sharply approaching the flatter edges of the slopes to climb back up and out into my grass.
Battery life is limited, so big jobs take longer with multiple runs
The Ecovacs Home app suggests mowing times and automatically generates mowing schedules based on the size of your garden. This ensures that your yard always looks fresh with almost no time or energy on your part. Plus, it pays for itself over time when you consider the cost of hiring a landscaper.
Although robotic lawnmowers are smart enough to pick up where they left off when they need to recharge and – eliminating the need for petrol, which is a major advantage – this robot has to return to its base often and extend the time it takes to mow my garden. It’s fine when I’m working, but on average it only mows 10% of my yard at a time and then goes back to base. Complete garden trimming becomes an all-day affair.
Complete garden trimming becomes an all-day affair.
If you actively use your yard for activities, it can be annoying if the kids want to run around. On the other hand, this brings an advantage that I did not foresee. I can leave this machine running and cleaning after dark thanks to its silence. The overall noise is much lower than gas or electric models.
Poor theft prevention
For an expensive device, I’m a little surprised by the minimal security features these robots come with. You can easily walk on them and pick them up by their handles, so I would be wary of letting a robot lawnmower loose in an unfenced yard. The Ecovac GOAT loudly announces that it has been intercepted several times and that it only works with a PIN code system.
This won’t stop someone from taking it – it’ll just become a paperweight for them once it’s stolen. I think there would be some sort of built-in tracker, security mode or even a basic alarm siren. I would be wary of using it in an open area like my parents’ unfenced property on an avenue because anyone can see it from the street and grab it within seconds.
A robotic lawnmower absolutely saves you time and effort as long as you have a mostly flat yard with open space. In terms of price and performance, I think it may still be too niche for most homes and comes with some requirements. While it’s a good start that works well and requires no intervention, it charges constantly for runs and requires some manual tweaking if you’re a perfectionist.
Ideally, I’d like to see bigger, more powerful robotic lawnmowers, but I can understand why some people are wary of a large, automated blade machine roaming their yard. In fact, the GOAT tore part of the separator pipe between my grass and the rock surrounding my fish pond. It would be scary to imagine how much more power or bigger blades could destroy a meter.
If you have a lot of mowing to do, you would be better served by a traditional lawnmower to mow the entire large garden. A gas cutter packs more punch and cuts much faster while still providing extended runtime if you need it. But if you want to keep a clear lawn, the slow but steady operations of a robotic lawnmower are up to the task.