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Maintaining a well-manicured lawn isn’t for the faint-hearted. It takes commitment, precision, and a whole lot of labour to achieve a flawless green rug. Well, it did. The emergence of robotic lawnmowers, like much of the latest AI, has made life in 2023 that little bit easier for humans.
You can now sit back, relax and boss your robotic friend around the garden, pre-prompting it to complete the trimming tasks you’d rather avoid. It’s brilliant. In this article, we’ve reviewed a few of our favourite models, putting their interface, price, features and cutting area to the sword.
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Bosch Indego XS 300 Connect
The Bosch Indego is a robotic lawn mower designed to compete with models like the Husqvarna 315 . It boasts a great quality of cut, a powerful power system, and the use of Logicut navigation technology.
One of the standout features of the Indego is its Logicut navigation system. This system allows the mower to work in parallel lines, which saves time and power and is 30% faster than random navigation. Additionally, the Indego has a built-in memory system that remembers every route it has used in the garden. Based on information gathered for slopes, obstacles, weather conditions, and the shape of your garden, the Indego will review each route after every mow and calculate how it can make improvements.
The Indego is powered by a 32V Lithium-ion battery and electric motor with a charging and running time of 50 minutes. This is more efficient than many competitors, which typically take anywhere between 50-90 minutes to charge and run. The engine is also programmed to use as little power as possible for each mow to keep charging costs low.
The Indego is also environmentally friendly, producing zero harmful emissions. It can handle slopes up to 20 degrees, but can have some trouble working on them. It’s not designed for use in wet or cold weather conditions.
In summary, coverage of 1000 square meters, noise level of 75dB, and a mowing time of 50 minutes is perfect for anyone dipping their toe in the robotic lawnmower market.
Gardena Smart SILENO Life 1000
This robotic lawnmower from Gardena is at the top of the market, offering a range of features and capabilities that are yet to be matched by competitors.
Its LONA intelligence is an AI technology that produces smart mapping, zone management, area protection, and location tracking for the ultimate automated lawnmower experience. You can use these features to map a precise grid of your garden, producing an accurate layout of the area that pinpoints your lawnmower in real-time.
Our favourite feature is the zone management setting, which specifies the mowing intensity and frequency for different areas. You can even add “stay away” zones. All the functions are customisable and, naturally, it links up to a smart app, as you’d imagine for the hefty price tag.
The robot mower itself is sleekly designed and measures 380 x 550 x 230mm, weighs 7.3kg and can handle lawns up to 300m² with a maximum incline of 35%. It has a cutting width of 16cm and a cutting height range of 20mm to 50mm, which can be adjusted using a dial on the top of the mower. The mower is also equipped with a four-digit PIN for security and can be controlled directly using buttons or through a companion app.
Husqvarna Automower 450X
The Husqvarna Automower 450X is a top-of-the-line robotic lawn mower designed for large lawns of up to 5000m² (1.25 acres). It’s a serious machine that comes with a host of advanced features, including GPS-assisted mapping, GSM networking, PIN-based security, ultrasonic obstacle detection, and even Alexa voice control (although it is not yet available at the time of this review).
At a few thousand pounds, the 450X is on par with other flagship robot mowers, but it offers a lot more than just mowing. For instance, the Automower’s random moving pattern ensures that it effectively covers every inch of your lawn, and it runs for over three hours on a single charge, at speeds of up to 3km/h.
The cutting width of 24cm is narrow, but the Automower makes up for it by covering a lot of ground in a day, up to 18 hours a day and seven days a week. The cutter system is also unique, using a two-part disc with three razor-like blades that rotate outwards through centrifugal force. The blades fold in immediately if they hit an obstacle, leaving a super-clean cut and reducing the need for maintenance.
The Automower 450X is also very quiet, with a noise output of only 58db, and it’s equipped with ultrasonic sensors that detect larger obstacles and slow the machine’s pace, ensuring it gently contacts anything in front of it. This also means that the 450X is not a collecting machine and will not chop up leaves or light debris, but it will give you a smooth and even cut all summer long that encourages greening and low growth.
Installing the Automower 450X requires professional installation, which adds about 10% to the cost, but it’s worth it for the long-term.
Flymo Easilife 400 GO
Looking for a budget-friendly robotic lawn mower? This little machine packs a punch with a range of top features and capabilities. One of the standouts of the Flymo EasiLife Go is its easy-to-use mobile app, which allows for complete control of the mower via your smartphone. Scheduling mow times and monitoring the mower’s progress is a breeze with this feature.
The EasiLife Go has a great navigation system and is equipped with a range of sensors to ensure safe operation. It’s also designed to handle small- to medium-sized lawns, with a maximum area of 500 square metres and a maximum slope of 14 degrees. The mower is powered by a 18V 2.0 Ah lithium-ion battery, which takes around an hour to charge and runs for the same amount of time.
The mowing system on the EasiLife Go is impressive as well. It comes with three pivot-mounted blades, which means that if the mower accidentally hits an object, it won’t cause any damage. You can also adjust the blade height with a small dial from a minimum of 2cm to a maximum of 4.5cm.
Safety features wise, there’s a lift sensor, a tilt sensor, and an emergency stop button. It also has a pin code security feature and an alarm for added protection. With its compact design, powerful battery, and slick features, the Flymo EasiLife Go is a great option for those looking for an affordable robotic lawn mower that can handle small to medium-sized lawns.
AYI DRM3-600I
The Ayi DRM3-600I is a solid option for those looking for a robotic lawn mower that won’t break the bank. Priced at around £500, it’s packed full of features, including a rain sensor, user-friendly mobile app, and a quiet electric motor. It performed well in our tests and is built like a tank. However, it does lack the GPS capabilities that more expensive models offer.
With a cutting width of 7 inches and a rotation speed of 3,500 rpm, it’s suitable for lawns up to 15,000 square feet and can handle inclines of up to 37%. The mower is a bit louder than some of its competitors, but its noise level of 70dB is still low enough to run at night without disturbing the neighbours. Overall, the Ayi DRM3-600I is great value for people wanting a robotic lawn mower from the mid-level market.
In summary
Robot lawn mowers have come a long way in recent years, offering powerful and efficient cutting systems, advanced navigation technology, and convenient features, such as smartphone control. The Gardena SILENO City and Husqvarna 450X are clear winners for functionality, but this does come at great cost — it will be a few years before we see prices drop to something more reasonable. So, it’s for that reason that our top pick is the Ayi DRM3-600I. It’s considerably cheaper, boasts many of the same features, and is intelligent enough to produce fantastic results while you put your feet up.
