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Top 26 Best Robotic lawn mowers of 2022

Elina Blom

Are you tired of cutting the grass every week and plan on getting a robotic lawn mower to do the job instead? We've tested several different robot mowers over a whole growing season.

Top 19 Best Robotic lawn mowers of 2022

How we did the test

Our tests are independently conducted and reflect the test editor's honest and objective opinions. Selection of products and test results are in no way influenced by manufacturers, retailers or other internal or external parties.

We carried out the test ourselves and tested all of the robot mowers as they are intended to be used in reality. To obtain test results that are as reliable as possible, we tested the robotic lawn mowers for several months on several different types of lawns and in different types of weather. This made it possible to judge longer-term effects and seasonal impact on their cutting ability.

For example, it's often wet in the autumn but dry in high summer. The grass grows mostly at the start of the summer and the lawn is most brittle during the dryness of high summer and the autumn rains. Testing robotic lawnmowers under all these conditions also gives a better overall picture than simply testing them for a couple of weeks in the early summer - something that is common in other robotic lawn mower tests.

In other tests it's also common to use only one grass area to test each model, on which the testing body artificially tries to include all types of difficulty. However, our experience tells us that it's extremely difficult to succeed with this. Primarily because it's so difficult to predict all of the types of difficulties that different lawns present. So we think that the more types of lawn that a robotic lawn mower is tested on, the better.

Images from testing robotic lawn mowers

In our assessment we have focused on the following characteristics:

  • Performance: How big an area of grass can the robotic lawn mower cope with? How good are the cutting results over the short and long term? How well does it cut long, coarse and wet grass? What about edge cutting?

  • Effectiveness: How effectively does it work in terms of time and cutting results? How long do you need to spend on the lawn? How often does it have to go out and cut? Can it really cope with the recommended cutting area?

  • Reliability: How intelligent is it? How reliable is it? How often does it stop and report an error message, and in what situations? How good are the robotic lawn mower's rough terrain-handling abilities? How flexible can the cable laying be for it still to cope? How does the robotic lawn mower avoid wheel tracks along the perimeter wire? How does it cope with narrow passages, sharp corners, areas full of obstacles or secondary areas?

  • Ease of use: Is the installation quick and straightforward or slow and fiddly? Are there clear instructions, such as detailed illustrations or YouTube videos? How easy is the robotic lawn mower to program? Is the menu system easy to navigate? How does the robotic lawn mower communicate with its owner? What type of information does it give? Can it work without disturbing the neighbours?

  • Design & build quality: How well designed is the robotic lawn mower? Do the wheels give a good grip while simultaneously being kind to the lawn? How much stress and wear does the construction tolerate? How tough are the blades? Do the blades give a neat cut or do they tear the grass? What guarantee does it have? Are there spare parts? Can the robot lawn mower be used without a guide wire?

  • Functionality: What settings are available? How much control does the user have of the cutting schedule? Does the robotic lawn mower have an app? Can the product be considered as an automatic lawn mower?

  • Safety: Does the robotic lawn mower use pivot blades or fixed blades? Does the signal from the boundary wire interfere with other robotic lawnmowers? Could children or pets get at the blades? How much damage do the blades do, for example to forgotten toys? How effective is the theft protection? What happens if you forget the PIN code, or somebody enters the wrong PIN code?

We have pushed each robotic lawn mower to the limits of what it can cope with to see what types of situations and environments it can handle. Each robotic lawn mower has been given a score according to its value for money; in other words how good it is in each area in relation to its price tag. An expensive model thus has higher expectations than a cheaper one, and vice versa. We noted how often, where and why each robotic lawn mower stopped, and what consequences that had on the cutting result.

1. Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II - BEST CHOICE ROBOTIC LAWN MOWER

Intelligent, easily programmed, and reliable robotic lawnmower

Recommended maximum area: 1000 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion Max. gradient: approx. 20° (35%) PIN code protection: Yes App support: Yes (Bluetooth)

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II is an upgraded version of last year’s 310. What's new is that it is now part of the same platform as e.g. Automower 305, and a clear advantage of this is that it is now splash-proof. In other words, you can take out your hose and flush grass cuttings and other objects from the robotic lawnmower.

We feel that the new platform is marginally worse when it comes to off-road capabilities. We already noticed this with the 305, and that impression remained when we tested 310 Mark II. It’s still an impressively reliable robotic lawnmower, but it gets stuck more regularly on e.g. soft or damp lawn on a slope. However, compared to a large majority of the competitors, its reliability is still incredibly good.

husqvarna-automower-markII-310

Solves problems on its own

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II has well-programmed software with user-friendly functions that optimise the mowing. Spiral cutting is one such example. If the random movement pattern has allowed an area to grow a bit, e.g. because you reduced the mowing time as much as possible, it senses this and cuts that area in a growing spiral pattern.

This robotic lawnmower is also extremely good at solving complex situations, such as getting stuck, finding its way in a confined space, finding its way through a corridor, or handling obstacles on its way to the dock. Above all, this is where you notice what you’re paying for.

The guide wire is also a plus, as you can use it to guide the robotic lawnmower straight out to a remote area. It also enables you to lay the boundary wire in more difficult-to-navigate areas, as you do not have to worry about the robotic lawnmower having a perfect edge limit when returning to the dock.

Another advantage of the Automower 310 is how easy it is to install. There is no need to calibrate or make other tedious adjustments, just plug in the docking station and start the robot. Of course, you should also schedule it and make minor adjustments afterwards, but you don't have to do a lot of things that other brands require.

One thing we missed was GSM connection, or Wi-Fi. This price class is becoming increasingly tough from a competitive point of view, and there are now a number of budget and mid-range models with the option of remote programming. You can buy a kit for the 310 to do this, but it is time for Husqvarna to consider Bluetooth as a standard choice if they want to be priced in line with the competitors that are becoming more reliable.

The app, on the other hand, is very easy to use and several family members can have their own accounts for the same robot – you don't need to share.

Programming via the display is also very user-friendly and convenient.

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II is suitable for those who have a normal size lawn and want a robotic lawnmower that takes care of itself. It solves problems that arise, can handle most types of surfaces, and is very easy to handle.

Great off-road capabilityeasy programmingsilent operationquick installationgood construction quality
Bluetooth only

Price Comparison

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Husqvarna Automower® 310 Mark II Robotic Lawn Mower

£1,463.49

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II

£1,499.00

Husqvarna Automower 310 Mark II

£1,699.00

2. Husqvarna Automower 430X - BEST PREMIUM ROBOTIC LAWN MOWER

Still the king among the better equipped models

Review year: 2022 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 6.4 Ah/18 V Operating time: approx. 135 mins/charge Rec. max. area: 3,200 m² Max. gradient: approx. 24° (45%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (electronic) Cutting width: 24 cm Weight: 13.2 kg Noise level: Low | Measured average value: approx. 57 dB Length: 72.1 cm Width: 55.8 cm Height: 30.8 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: Perimeter wire and staples can be purchased separately, 9 extra blades User instructions: PDF Video clip: Installation instructions

Husqvarna Automower 430X

The Husqvarna Automower 430X is a user-friendly and extremely competent robotic lawn mower with a large range of functions that mean it can cope with most things on its own. It's quite simply one of the most reliable, easy-to-use and good value for money premium robotic lawn mowers on the market.

But there are a few things we feel it's worth commenting on, now we're in 2022. For example, we think Husqvarna should embrace remote updates to the software on all of its premium models. There are budget brands that now have this functionality, so we think such a great mower really should have it too. Particularly as it's gone up almost £500 in price over the last year. Fortunately for Husqvarna, there's still no other competitor that can beat them when it comes to other test areas, but there are a couple getting close.

We also discovered something that seems to be a bug in the weather function that meant the robotic lawn mower went out and mowed in the middle of the night, despite not being scheduled to do so. This kind of bug could have been fixed via remote update of the software – but that's not possible.

You programme your 430X easily, via an app that's one of the easiest to use and most user-friendly on the market. The map on which you can see where the lawn mower has been – and where it is now, in real time – is excellent. As is the fact that you get notifications if your mower gets stuck or is moved without authorisation.

The Husqvarna 430x is Husqvarna’s premiummodell, with lights, connection and great software

Striking levels of reliability

The Automower 430X is a little way ahead of its competitors when it comes to reliability and intelligence. If we look at reliability, Honda are in the same class with Stihl almost there. But when we consider intelligence, Husqvarna are still pretty much alone in being able to deal with complicated gardens efficiently and without forgetting separate garden areas.

We've run the Automower 430X on our very toughest lawns, which have loads of problems, such as complex areas and uneven and loose surfaces.

Even if the 430X struggles in places, it copes much better than any other model. The only thing it has problems with are apples, and it gets stuck on these a few times during the autumn. The 430X can also cope with mowing about twice as big an area as the specification states. Because the 430X is very quiet, it can mow at night without disturbing sensitive neighbours – but you should really avoid doing this for the sake of animals such as hedgehogs. It supports IFTTT, so you can connect it to your smart home and also supports Gardena's Smart Garden system.

This robot lawnmower could have a higher construction quality, considering the price. For example, it is not splash proof, and a lot of grass gets stuck in the wheels, so Husqvarna should consider a denser chassis.

Husqvarna Automower 430X is best suited for those of you who have a challenging garden and want a well-trimmed lawn without having to make any effort. Someone who wants the robot lawnmower to work without having to interfere.

Extremely reliablevery intelligenteasy to install and programmelots of functions
No remote updates to softwarestruggles with large apples (!)low IP rating

3. GreenWorks Optimow 10 - BEST BUDGET CHOICE

Loads of robotic lawn mower for your money

Review year: 2022 Price class: Budget Recommended max. area: 1000 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion 24 V Operating time: approx. 70 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 20° (35%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 5 step (manual) Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 11 kg Noise level: 60 dB Length: 62 cm Width: 50 cm Height: 26 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protected: No (no display, theft protection via GPS) App support: Yes (GSM+GPS) Accessories included: 100 m cable, 9 cutting blades, 3 extra splice connectors, user manual Miscellaneous: 2-year prepaid SIM card, guide cable (1 pc, optional), automatic updates, IPX5 User manual: In the app, together with a paper copy in the box.

Greenworks OptiMow 10

GreenWorks Optimow 10 is an excellent budget choice for medium sized lawns. The margin is a very narrow one, because the competition in the budget class is extremely tough, but it’s faster, stronger and has more functions than all the other budget alternatives, so it’s worth spending the extra £100 this robot mower costs.

In the budget class, you often either get a connected and not as smart robot lawnmower that constantly gets stuck, or a reliable model with few functions and poor (or no) connectivity. The biggest advantage of Optimow 10 is that it is not the best at anything, but is instead very good at everything.

For example, it has everything you currently get in the median price class, such as notifications if it gets stuck, remote programming and a GSM module so you can see where the robot mower is on a map. It also gets automatic updates to the software without you having to do anything. But at the time of writing it doesn’t support voice assistants.

The GreenWorks Optimow 10 supports a guide cable that makes it easy for it to find its way out and home to the charging station even if you have complicated separate areas of lawn.

The Optimow 10 has a handy app. The app is essential because the robotic lawn mower itself has no display. There’s just a start button and an indicator showing whether the robot mower is OK or has run into a problem – if you want to know what’s gone wrong, you have to check the app. But this works well once you’ve installed it and got the app running. But if the mower gets stuck before this things become a bit more tricky.

Easy but time-consuming installation

It’s actually a bit frustrating – but at the same time very simple – to install the Optimow 10. The charging station makes it easy to see how everything should be connected and you actually don’t even need a manual for this part. Once everything is connected, you simply put the robot mower in the charging station.

And you probably think that you’d be able to connect it immediately, but you can’t. Instead, it has to sit there charging for a couple of hours while installing software. You don’t actually need to do anything but wait for 2-4 hours, but it’s a bit annoying because you obviously want to finish the installation immediately.

It’s only when the robot mower’s software has finished downloading that you can connect it to the app and only after that can you programme the cutting schedule, start points etc. Of course we’d have preferred it if you could connect it to the app straight away and then be able to complete the programming remotely after the software was updated.

The app structure is OK although it’s a bit messy. A lot of the functions are embedded amongst large blocks of informative text, and there are definitely more attractive and comprehensible interfaces. There is no division into a useful menu system – most things are under Settings and you have to do a fair bit of scrolling. The app also takes quite a long time to reload between the different menu tabs, so perhaps that’s why most things are on one tab.

The GreenWorks Optimow 10 has no display, but you can undo the chassis and then wash off the robotic lawn mower

But there are a few useful functions here that many other budget models lack. For example, you can programme up to 5 start points, so if you have areas that are a long way away or complicated you can run a guide cable there and then say to the robot mower that it should drive X metres to reach the area and mow it, for example 33% of the time. Of course you can also determine the cutting schedule yourself, set rain sensors and change settings for the mower returning to the charging station. But unfortunately it’s lacking more advanced functions such as how far it can run over the cable, edge cutting etc.

Another good thing about this robotic lawn mower is that you can wash it off with a hose if the underside gets coated with grass residues. This is quite uncommon.

High accessibility despite a low price

The GreenWorks Optimow 10 copes with simple lawns without problems and is even good at accessing areas that are more difficult to reach. For example, it copes pretty well with steep slopes, sparse grass with softer ground, paving, uneven ground etc. Not as well as the very best models, but sufficiently well for us to say it has very good accessibility levels.

The GreenWorks Optimow 10 app

It can mow in tough terrain for just over an hour before it has to go back to the charging station and charge for the same time, which is more than acceptable. The cutting width is very good given the price class – most models in this price class are a couple of centimetres narrower. Despite this it can even cope with taller grass. However, you can tell from the motor noise that it’s working quite hard in grass up to about 10 cm tall. It slows and runs more slowly over it – and above this height it often backs away instead. But over time it manages to mow everything. For its price class and cutting width, the performance and results are very good.

The software can be a bit temperamental. For example, on two occasions during the mowing season the cutting schedule deletes itself and on one occasion we have to restart it. But apart from this and a rather sluggish app, you get a lot of robot mower for your money. And also a robot mower with a guide cable – something we’ve previously only found from Husqvarna, Gardena and McCulloch – with all the advantages that brings in the form of being able to create shortcuts to more inaccessible areas and to the charging station, the option of running the perimeter wire around areas where the robot mower couldn’t otherwise have reached because it wouldn’t have been able to get home etc. and the guide cable is essential if you have inaccessible areas or narrow passages, because in these areas the Optimow’s intelligence is a bit lacking. But overall this is a really good robot mower with a bright future.

High levels of accessibilitylots of machine for your moneyeasy to programmeefficient mowingautomatic free updates
Slow appsome minor bugs in the softwareinefficient installation process

4. Husqvarna Automower 310

Very reliable, easy to programme and well designed

Review year: 2021 Price class: Medium Recommended max. area: 1000 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium ion Operating time: approx. 70 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 22° (40%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (manual) Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 9.2 kg Noise level: 60 | Measured mean value: approx. 59 dB Length: 63 mm Width: 51 mm Height: 25 mm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes App support: Yes (Bluetooth) Accessories included: 9 x blades Miscellaneous: Support for 1 guide cable User manual: PDF

Husqvarna Automower 310

The Husqvarna Automower 310 is our best in test thanks to a winning combination of reliability, functionality and user-friendliness for a reasonable price.

The Automower 310 is great at keeping the grass short both on slopes and in narrow corridors. It's also very quick to install, even for a novice. You don't need to lay the cable in any special formations, or adapt the area to be mowed in any other way. You can pretty much just place the station down on the ground with the guide cable beneath it. You don't need to set the station in a particular direction or anything like that. This gives you great freedom to position it.

The inputs on the back of the charging station are clearly marked. When you've connected the guide cable and perimeter wire, you simply place the robotic lawn mower in the charging station and it's ready to go. You don't even really need to cut the grass before installation – unless it's unusually tall.

The Husqvarna Automower 310 has very good problem solving abilities

Programme your robotic lawn mower

The robotic lawn mower is also very easy to programme. Either via the display with the clear and easily navigated menu system, or via your mobile phone.

Unfortunately, the 310 only has Bluetooth connection. We would have liked it to come with Wi-Fi support in the charging station, or a GSM connection. You can buy the latter (Husqvarna Automower Connect) and we recommend you do so, as it significantly increases functionality. For example, you can see where it's mowed on a map, and get notifications from it even when you aren't at home. You also get support for changing the mowing schedule remotely, voice control via Alexa and Google Assistant, and connection to Apple Watch. And it’s this combination that makes it a real test winner.

Copes on its own without needing your input

Once the robotic lawn mower is installed, you can easily adjust the cutting height without needing a tool. Its movement patterns on the lawn mean that the robotic lawn mower doesn’t wear tracks in the grass. However, it can slip a little when running over damp slopes if it has cut grass stuck in its wheels.

In very tall grass, the 310 does a spiral mowing pattern to make sure the area is cut as quickly as possible, although it doesn't use this pattern as often as it perhaps needs to. The overall mowing result is excellent. It’s also so quiet that your neighbours won’t notice it.

When the Automotive 310 returns home to charge, it travels via the guide cable, which is a kind of short cut so the robotic lawn mower can get home more quickly. This means it avoids obstacles on the way home, which are often found around the perimeter wire – for example, if you have dense, low-hanging bushes or very uneven ground along the edges of the lawn.

The Husqvarna Automower 310 succeeds in maintaining the stated surface area of 1000 square metres without problems. As mentioned above, we recommend that you buy the Automower Connect kit, which means you can control the robotic lawn mower at a distance, as this gives a completely different level of convenience. Even without the kit, however, the 310 is a very good buy, because it’s so easy to install, and its excellent terrain-handling abilities and problem solving mean that it almost never gets stuck even on a bumpy lawn with pine cones, fallen fruit etc.

Info: Sorry, unfortunately we can't show all available merchants for the 2021 version right now. The version should however be widely available here. Make sure to ask if the merchants has the 2021 version. Sorry for the mess

Very good terrain handlingvery easy to programintelligentvery quiet
Only Bluetooth connection

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5. Husqvarna Automower 315

Intelligent, user-friendly robotic lawn mower that copes with tough terrain

Review year: 2018 Price class: Medium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 2.1 Ah/18 V Operating time: approx. 65 min/charge Rec. max. area: 1500 m² Max. gradient: approx. 14° (25%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (manual) Cutting width: 21 cm Weight: 9.2 kg Noise level: 60 | Measured mean value: approx. 52 dB Length: 63 cm Width: 51 cm Height: 21 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: None App support: Yes (Bluetooth) User manual: PDF **Video clip: ** Installation instructions

Husqvarna Automower 315

The Husqvarna Automower 315 is a very good robotic lawn mower that combines great terrain-handling abilities and high reliability with an easily programmed interface and intelligent solutions for navigation.

For example, the charging station sends out a signal that means that, within a 6-metre radius, the robotic lawn mower senses the station and navigates in from different angles each time. This means that it doesn't cause tracks by the entrance.

The guide cable is also a really great addition. If you have a garden with a complicated shape or multi zone work areas, the guide cable means that the robotic lawn mower can easily find its way out and back again. Instead of travelling along the wire right around the edge of the garden, it can take a shortcut. However, we do notice some track creation along the guide cable which doesn't occur when it runs along the perimeter wire.

A very reliable robotic lawn mower

Terrain-handling abilities are exemplary and the Automower 315 pretty much never gets stuck. It can also handle steep slopes, obstacles and paving on or around the lawn with ease.

From a reliability viewpoint, in this price class it's absolutely one of the best robotic lawn mowers on the market.

It's also very quiet and very strong. It can be out cutting for quite a long time. The only disadvantage when it comes to tough terrain is that the bodywork easily gets scratched.

Husqvarna Automower 315

The app is user friendly

The Automower 315 is supplied with app support and the app is very user-friendly. Through this, you can easily change settings such as start points, manual cutting height adjustment and new schedules.

You connect the telephone to the robotic lawn mower via a Bluetooth connection. If you buy the premium version of the lawn mower, the Automower 315X, you also get GPS and connection via the mobile network. Then you can see where the robotic lawn mower is located in real time on a map and change settings wherever you are, provided you have mobile coverage. With the Automower 315, however, you have to be content with changing settings when you're close to the lawn mower. Given the price tag and the app's general excellence, it's still really very good, but perhaps Wi-Fi would have been preferable instead?

The robotic lawn mower is very easy to program even when you're changing the settings directly via the display on the machine body. The display is large and easy to read, and the entire interface is clearly divided up so that even beginners can understand it.

A really good buy

Overall, the Husqvarna Automower 315 is a very good purchase for anyone who wants a reliable and easy to manage robotic lawn mower. It's suitable for everything from simple, landscaped lawns to the uneven, complicated multi zone variants with several different cutting areas. However, the Automower 315 is best value for money on trickier lawns where it can really show what it can do.

Intelligenttime efficientreliableexcellent terrain-handling abilitiesquieteasy to programmeexcellent app
Easily scratched bodywork

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6. Husqvarna Automower 415X

Premium robot for complex and fairly large lawns

Review year: 2022 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | 2 Ah 18 V Operating time: approx. 50 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. X° (40%) Cutting height: 20–50 mm (electronic) Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 9.7 kg Length: 61 cm Width: 45 cm Height: 24 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protection: Yes Accessories included: Blades, contacts

Husqvarna Automower 415X

Husqvarna Automower 415X is a variant of the manufacturer’s previously popular robotic Automower 315 lawnmower, but in a new and slightly more luxurious design. This robotic lawnmower borrows a lot from it older sibling, the 430X, but is intended for smaller lawns.

It should – on a reasonable mowing schedule – be able to mow 1,500 complex square metres of lawn, and we can confirm that it does, but it is without any major margin when the lawn becomes more complex. We would have liked to see that it had a slightly longer mowing time in view of the price.

A fun upside with the 415X, compared to its older sibling the 430X, is that it is splash-proof. This is good because it collects a lot of grass underneath it when mowing damp lawns.

However, we are a little bit unsure about the quality of the 415X, as we had it in for repair twice during the season. There was a problem with a circuit board. Moreover, a rubber plug had come loose underneath during mowing, which caused it to be damaged by moisture.

After two service visits, it worked flawlessly for three months. It also seems that the problem with the circuit boards was a factory flaw that was found in a number of these mowers when they were launched.

Delivers good off-road performance and cutting results

That said, we find that the 415X performs really well in terms of cutting results. Even on uneven surfaces and in tight spaces with many obstacles, it gets all the mowing work done with excellent results. For example, it mows narrow passages and larger areas of tall grass using a space-efficient cutting pattern – for the latter it uses a function called spiral cutting.

The 415X has no problem distributing its time evenly over the entire mowing area on its own, even if there are areas that it finds difficult to find on its own. Even though we laid the guide wire to one of these areas, we did not need to use it as the robot still found it. On the other hand, the guide wire is excellent for the robotic lawnmower to quickly find its way back to the docking station.

Automower 415X can tackle both steep slopes and uneven lawns. Steep slopes can sometimes be a problem when the lawn is damp and you have the wire close to the slope end, as on two occasions it did drive outside of the boundary and got stuck. Its off-road capabilities are a step below its older sibling, the 430X – which hardly ever gets stuck – but still excellent in terms of price and competition.

With the 400 series, you get both LED lighting at the front and a GSM-connected robot with app control, where you can see on a map where the robotic lawnmower has mowed and where it is located. Another major advantage of this, compared with its predecessor, is that the software can be updated remotely, giving the robotic lawnmower significantly longer durability and user-friendliness.

New for 2022 – the Automower Intelligent Mapping (AIM) update. This allows you to program virtual zones where you can set different cutting heights and control how often the zone should be mowed. You can also create no-go zones that the robotic lawnmower avoids altogether. While this update works well, the exact position of the zone’s boundaries is very difficult to see via the map. You really need to accompany the robotic lawnmower outdoors to see it move towards the zone and turn around before you can fine-tune in the app. So a test mode would have been greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, the robotic lawnmower does not move straight to the zone using GPS or similar – it uses the guide wire (provided this is in the zone to which it is heading) or the boundary loop. That being said, this is still a super-exciting new feature with a lot of future promise.

Programming is easy both via the app and display, even for a layman. In addition, this robotic lawnmower mows very quietly so it does not disturb the neighbours.

Husqvarna Automower 415X is suitable for those of you who have a fairly advanced lawn with several inaccessible secondary areas and other challenges, that other robotic lawnmowers find it difficult to handle.

Very good off-road capabilityvery easy to programvery fast installationgood connectivity optionsrich functionalitylow noise level
Has moisture problem despite the flush-proof chassiscould have had a longer mowing time

7. Husqvarna Automower 450X

The king of robotic lawn mowers, with unbeatable functionality and performance

Review year: 2018 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 10.4 Ah/18 V Operating time: approx. 260 min/charge Rec. max. area: v 5000 m² Max. gradient: approx. 24° (45%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (electronic) Cutting width: 24 cm Weight: 13.9 kg Noise level: Low | Measured average value: approx. 58 dB Length: 72.1 cm Width: 55.8 cm Height: 30.8 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: Automower Connect, ultrasound sensor, headlight, perimeter wire and staples can be purchased separately, 9 pcs extra blades User manual: PDF Video clip:Installation instructions

Husqvarna Automower 450X

The Husqvarna Automower 450X is a quiet, strong and reliable premium lawn mower with an unusually high cutting capacity. It can cut for several hours at a time without having to go home and recharge.

When it does go home, or out again, it can run along the perimeter/boundary wire or guide cable. The guide cable is a kind of shortcut you lay across the garden so that the robotic lawn mower can easily find its way out to and back from specific places. In total, it can deal with three different guide wires, which means significant time savings in large, complicated areas.

It can also detect the charging station when it gets closer to it, by means of a built-in antenna. These features facilitate a quick and safe return home.

Doesn't get stuck. However, one of the 450X's foremost strengths is its terrain-handling abilities. It can cope with everything from simple, large and flat lawns with trees and bushes to smaller, multiple lawns which are divided with corridors between. Hollows in the lawn, undergrowth here and there and lots of fallen fruit pose no problem at all.

When it approaches larger obstacles, it reads these with an ultrasound sensor and slows down so that there are no sudden collisions. This reduces the risk of scratches on the otherwise easily scratched bodywork. It also means that it can keep up a higher speed on open areas than would otherwise have been possible.

The 450X can also cope going with steep slopes. It's a little weak at reversing on slopes with gradients above the stated specification, but in general the 450X is very strong. It's only when the slope gets so steep that it's rubbing on the underside of the bodywork that it can't move any further uphill, because it becomes physically impossible.

Keeps you informed

The Automower 450X works very quietly and can even cut the lawn at night. This is when the built-in headlights come in handy, so that you don't trip over the robotic lawn mower in the dark. You can also deactivate these.

The included app is very user-friendly and gives you almost complete control over your 450X wherever you are, provided you have mobile coverage. You can do everything from seeing where the robotic lawn mower is on the lawn in real time to adjusting cutting height and working time at a distance. The app also notifies you if the robotic lawn mower is stolen or gets stuck.

The robotic lawn mower is quite large but can squeeze through quite narrow corridors. For example, 60 cm is no problem.

Overall, this is a reliable, strong robotic lawn mower with lots of functions that's easy to programme both directly and at a distance. It also produces very good cutting results. But it's a luxury machine primarily intended for commercial use, and the price tag reflects this. If we ignore the price, it's quite clearly the best robotic lawn mower on the market.

Unbeatable for time efficiencyreliabilitycutting capacity quieteasy to program
Easily scratched bodywork

8. McCulloch Rob R600

Reliable and intelligent budget mower with relatively few functions but a good result

Review year: 2020 Price class: Budget Battery: Type: Lithium ion | Capacity 4.5 Ah/29 V Operating time: approx. 65 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 14° (25%) Cutting height: 30-50 mm, 3 step (manual) Cutting width: 17 cm Weight: 7 kg Noise level: 57 | Measured average value: approx. 58 dB Length: 59 mm Width: 44 mm Height: 26 mm Blade type: Fixed PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 150 m perimeter wire & 200 staples, 3 blades

McCulloch ROB R600

The McCulloch Rob R600 is our best budget choice for its combination of good terrain-handling abilities, high reliability and easily programmed interface. The first two of these characteristics are the most important ones for a robotic lawn mower, and are unfortunately sub-par on the majority of other budget models, which makes the R600 stand out.

For the budget class, it has unbeatable problem-solving abilities, while also being well-designed and constructed from sturdy materials. Just like many other smaller robotic lawn mowers, the R600 has three wheels, but here the paired wheels are at the front instead of it running with the single wheel at the front as on many other three-wheelers. This also gives it good stability even on more uneven terrain. It can also cope with paving along the perimeter wire without any problem.

The cutting width is narrow, so it works slowly, but it does produce a good result. The battery life is good for the price class, and on average, mows for 60 minutes every other hour during the set working hours. It's also quite quiet when it's out working in the garden so it won't disturb your neighbours.

mcculloch-rob-r600

Limited by mandatory guide cable

The R600 maybe simple, but it's reliable and can extract itself from tricky situations that other budget models can't cope with. It has no problems with obstacles on its way home, finding its way out of small, enclosed areas or handling obstacles on the lawn while it mows.

It can only find its way home via the guide cable, not via the perimeter wire. On models intended for large gardens, a guide cable is a good complement to a system, as it's important for the mower to be able to take shortcuts. But on a small, uncomplicated plot, it would often be easier not to have a guide cable, as it becomes something that increases the risk of cable breakage, while the installation also becomes slightly more time-consuming.

Overall, it's useful that it has the option of a guide cable, but we would have preferred it not to be mandatory.

Easy to get started

It's very easy to get set up and programme the Rob R600. The display is large and clear. There's a knob on the top to set the cutting height. The knob is protected by a cover and there's also a narrow display beneath it that shows the chosen setting. Otherwise, the functionality is quite pared-down, as is often the case in the budget price class.

McCulloch also include a generous amount of installation material with the mower.

The lawn mower doesn't detect its charging station like many more expensive models. This means in practice that it tends to collide with the station when it's out working. So make sure you anchor the charging station firmly into the ground and carefully conceal the cables.

The R600 is best on small to medium-size lawns – even complicated ones – but without steep slopes and with a relatively even underlying surface.

User-friendlyeasy to installgood terrain-handling abilitiesreliablegood design
Few functionsguide cable not optional

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9. Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD

Luxury four-wheel drive mower

Review year: 2021** Price class:** Premium Recommended max. area: 3,500 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium ion Operating time: approx. 100 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 35° (70%) Cutting height: 30-70 mm, 3 step (electronic) Cutting width: 22 cm Noise level: 62 dB Length: 93 mm Width: 55 mm Height: 29 mm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes App: Yes (GSM+GPS) Accessories included: 6 x blades Miscellaneous: Ultrasound sensor

Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD

The Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD is the first four-wheel drive robotic lawn mower. It's been built to deal with extreme gradients, so it should be really good in terms of accessing difficult areas. And we can confirm immediately that it manages fine with gradients. The same applies to pitted and uneven lawns. It doesn't matter what we subject it to, because it can always use front or rear-wheel drive, and also rotate the body via a centre point (the pivot chassis). So it pretty much never gets stuck.

The 435X AWD is large and its weight makes it difficult to carry. Unfortunately, like the other Automower models, it also has a chassis that's relatively easily scratched. The mower is quite powerful, but the front is rather sensitive to thicker weeds and it sometimes backs away from them; however, they get mowed down over time.

The 435X uses ultrasound to identify obstacles and slow down before it collides with them. This allows the mower to maintain a higher speed over open areas.

A modern athlete

Just like on other robotic lawn mowers from Husqvarna, installation is really simple. You simply connect the cables to the marked inputs and switch the robotic lawn mower on. You can either programme it via the large screen, or using an app on your phone. Regardless of which you choose, the interface is straightforward and easy to understand. However, there's still room for improvement. A wheel for entering the PIN code is fun but unfortunately very impractical as you can easily press it wrong and can't go back.

The 435X AWD supports smart watches and you can voice control it via Alexa or Google Assistant through your phone or smart speaker. The lawn mower also gets ongoing remote updates, so you don't have to do take it anywhere to get this done.

The result is reasonable, but sometimes it tends to push down some of the grass and drive over it instead of mowing it. On the other hand, the battery life is long and the charging time is short. This makes this robotic lawn mower very efficient on large open spaces, but also in more complicated gardens with several smaller areas.

The Husqvarna 435X in its charging station

Make your neighbours green with envy

The 435X AWD is innovative in many ways, but given the price we'd have preferred to see a stronger cutting motor, a bigger maximum cutting area and more functions. You can also find the ultrasound sensor and several of the other “luxury” details in the significantly cheaper 430X. So if you're buying this model, it should primarily be because you fall into its narrow target group, with a very uneven, sloping garden where normal models just can't cope.

In other words, the 435X AWD is best for anyone with a steeply sloping lawn where the 450X and 430X will struggle. It's also a lawn mower intended to make the neighbours green with envy.

Efficient on complicated areasgreat on gradientsongoing updateseasy to installcan adjust the speed
Fiddly wheel for the displayrather weak cutting motor

10. Husqvarna Automower 550

Reliable for public environments

Review year: 2019 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 10.4 Ah/18 V Operating time: approx. 260 mins/charge Rec. max. area: 5000 m² Max. gradient: approx. 24° (45%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm, 9 step (electronic) Cutting width: 24 cm Weight: 13.9 kg Noise level: Low | Measured average value: approx. 59 dB Length: 72 cm Width: 56 cm Height: 31 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: Automower Connect, 9 extra blades

Husqvarna Automower 550

The Husqvarna Automower 550 stands out from the crowd in that it lacks a display. The idea is that nobody without authorisation should be able to change settings. Instead, it’s completely controlled via an app on your mobile phone. If you have a whole fleet of 550s, you can keep track of them via Husqvarna Fleet Service, which is available for both computers and mobile phones.

In general, it’s very similar to its sibling, the Automower 450X. Pretty much everything we like about that luxury model is here too: The ultrasound sensor makes it possible for the lawn mower to run more quickly over open spaces and slow down when it approaches an obstacle, the GPS navigation that means it cuts evenly all over open spaces and doesn’t forget some areas, and three guide cables so that it can quickly find its way home.

The installation process is easy if you have dealt with robotic lawn mowers before. But if you’re a beginner, it isn’t entirely clear how to get started given that there’s no display. It is more difficult than it is on the 450X, for example. On the other hand, private individuals aren’t the intended target group for the Automower 550.

Husqvarna Automower 550

Minimal maintenance

The mower’s terrain handling capacities are excellent. It can cope with steep slopes, damp grass and uneven lawns. If you have a park-like lawn, you’ll also want it to be able to cope with pine cones, fallen fruit and so on – which it does with confidence. The mower is so reliable that it only gets stuck once during our several month long test period. And even then the circumstances were extreme – a fallen tree it got stuck beneath.

The Automower 550 is very quiet. The wheels stay clean of grass residues and dirt – you simply have to brush them off a few times a month.

Thanks to the very generous battery life, the Automower 550 has an enormous cutting capacity. Even if Husqvarna themselves don’t actually say as much, we estimate its actual maximum capacity as almost a whole hectare. But despite such an impressive cutting capacity, the Automower 550 has a very moderate weight. But it's still quite heavy to carry. To minimise the risk of theft, you can use Fleet Service to see exactly where your robotic lawn mower is at any time, and you get notifications via the app if it leaves its designated area.

This is a fantastically competent robotic lawn mower, but the price tag reflects this. But the Automower 550 is also intended for public environments such as parks. For the average homeowner with a very large lawn (around 5000 m2), the sibling model Automower 450X is a somewhat cheaper alternative. Above all, the 450X has a display, which makes it a bit easy for a private individual to understand.

For park keepers, however, this model is exemplary. As far as we know there are currently no other professional models that perform as well as this in terms of reliability. The commercial interface is also very good.

Very good terrain-handling abilitiesExtremely high reliability & cutting capacityGood speed control
Quite heavyNot as easy to install as other Husqvarna models

11. Honda Miimo 310

Reliable, strong robotic lawn mower in medium price class

Review year: 2021 Price class: Medium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 1.8 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: approx. 40 min/charge Rec. max. area: 1500 m² Max. gradient: 20° (37%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 11.6 kg Noise level: Average Length: 64.5 cm Width: 55 cm Height: 28.7 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 200 m perimeter wire, 200 staples, 9 extra blades App support: No User manual: Quick guides

Honda Miimo 310

The Honda Miimo 310 is an easy-to-use and reliable robotic lawn mower in the medium price class, with very good terrain-handling abilities and a reasonable mowing time. It's the terrain-handling abilities that really distinguish the Miimo 310. It copes easily with different types of surface, navigates unhindered through complicated areas and happily trundles over pits and up relatively steep slopes.

When it comes to tall grass, the Miimo 310 is a real star. The taller the grass, the slower it creeps along. It can pretty much stand completely still and cut until the grass reaches the desired length, which almost no other robotic lawn mowers can do. It's only under extreme circumstances that it has to give up and reverse out.

On the few occasions that it managed to get stuck, we discovered that it was prone to digging itself downwards in its attempts to get free, which can damage the lawn. This is a common problem with very strong robotic lawn mowers, so it's worth watching out for.

The Honda Miimo 310 copes extremely well with tough terrain

Clear interface and easy to programme

We clocked the mowing time as around 40 minutes, and after this it has to charge for about as long again before it can go back to work. We'd have preferred to see it mowing for a bit longer given the price, but on the other hand it has no problems keeping the stated recommended maximum area nicely trimmed without having to run for more than a couple of hours on weekdays.

The sound level is OK, but if we were being really fussy we'd say that the sound profile is a bit shrill. Particularly when it runs over pine cones, fallen fruit and so on.

The menu system is very clear and it's easy to change settings. However, the installation could be more straightforward. Cable connectors make it easy to connect the cable, but the space behind is very cramped and the connections aren't positioned in a user-friendly manner. It's not obvious which end of the perimeter wire should be connected to which terminal, and you can't really see what you're doing because of the cramped space.

Despite this minor inconvenience, the installation is still manageable for a beginner. If you find the right connection for the cables and manage to get them in place, the programming is easy.

Unfortunately the Miimo 310 has no app support or GPS – it doesn't even have a Bluetooth connection. Given the price and that many competitors have now introduced this as standard, we feel that the 310 is starting to feel a bit dated.

Finding its way home, and movement patterns

The Miimo 310 is – mostly – quite intelligent. It gets itself out of all the difficult situations we test it with, such as small, enclosed spaces and obstacles along the route home. However, once it gets near home it slavishly carries out a single movement pattern every time. And this is a bit of an Achilles' heel in terms of intelligence. During the spring, autumn and in rainy summers it can easily create tracks in the lawn right by the entrance. However, the mower produces no problems in the form of tracks along the perimeter wire.

The charging station can only be positioned in line with the perimeter wire, which makes it inflexible. It's also sensitive for how it's positioned. If the angle is off by just a few degrees, the robotic lawn mower can have problems docking. You have to do quite a lot of trial and error before you find a position that works 100% of the time.

When the charging station is correctly positioned, it never has any problems getting in, either when it comes directly towards the opening or from behind so it has to move around the station first.

With everything properly installed and tested, reliability is extremely high. The Miimo 310 almost never gets stuck, it's easy to adjust the cutting height and it always finds its way home. As it can also cope with tall grass with such panache, we can truly recommend this robotic lawn mower for simple, medium hard and difficult lawns of average size.

Very strongexcellent terrain-handling abilitiesvery high reliabilityclear interface
Rather fiddly connectionno app supportrepeated movement patterns at the charging station

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12. Cramer RM2000

Keenly priced model for relatively large gardens

Review year: 2022 Price class: Medium class Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | 24 V Lithium Operating time: 70 min/charge Rec. Max. area: 2000 m² Max. gradient: 20° (35%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 11 kg Blade type: Pivot PIN code protected: No (no display, theft protection via GPS) Length: 62 cm Width: 50 cm Height: 26 cm Accessories included: 300 m cable, 9 blades, 4 extra splice connectors, user manual App support: Yes (GSM+GPS) Miscellaneous: IPX5-classified, FOTA (automatic software updates), GSM subscription for 5 years included User manual: Paper version, and in the app

The Cramer RM2000 is something of a dark horse on the robotic lawn mower market. It’s almost identical to GreenWorks’ budget model in this year's test, but with a more powerful charger that means it can mow a larger area in a shorter time. It also includes more cable and a longer subscription for the GSM connection.

The RM2000 is very reliable. It copes well with uneven surfaces, and rarely gets stuck in tall, damp or sparse grass. It can’t cope with our tough gradient for medium class models, but it manages all of the more normal gradients fine.

It has hubcaps on its wheels, which easily fall off.

The cutting motor is reasonably powerful given the price, but it's not exactly a powerhouse like the ones in the top models in this price class. For example, it reverses fairly quickly out of situations where normally dense grass is more than ten or so centimetres tall. Over time it will mow everything anyway, but it's best to mow the lawn yourself before you start the RM2000 for the season, otherwise it’ll take a while before your grass looks nice.

The Cramer is available in three versions – we tested the RM2000

The lawn mower comes with excellent connection options. You have both GSM (pre-paid for 5 years, after which it costs about £20 a year) and built-in GPS. Generous and user-friendly. This means that, for example, you can see where the robot mower is, you can change settings and get notifications even if you aren't at home. It also provides free, automatic software updates.

The app is OK, but unfortunately the manufacturer mixes up functions with large sections of information. So the functions are spread out and you have to scroll a lot. The information is very good, of course, but there are easier ways to insert it without making the app so cluttered. It also takes rather a long time to load when you start it and when you navigate between the various tabs.

You can set up to five start points and there's a kind of rain sensor, which instead of working from a sensor on the robot keeps track of the weather forecast in your area. This works OK but a rain sensor would have been more reliable. There’s also a frost sensor together with the option of setting a new loop signal.

Given the lawn mower's price these are good functions, but unfortunately rather fewer than we'd have liked. For example, you can't set how long the robot mower should move over the perimeter wire when it turns, you can't set edge cutting, or a spiral mowing pattern either.

Close up of Cramer RM2000 wheel and chassis

The charger increases the cutting area

The Cramer RM2000 comes with a guide cable. This is an advantage because it otherwise has problems finding its way to separate areas delimited by narrow corridors. Using the guide cable and the option to set start points, you can avoid this problem. The cable also means that it goes home quickly because it doesn't have to run around the entire garden. Other than the difficulties of finding separate areas of lawn on its own (despite the built-in GPS), the robotic lawn mower does a very good job of keeping the lawn short.

The thing that loses the Cramer RM2000 points in this test is actually the price. Given that you don't get a huge number of functions, and a rather slow app, the price just doesn't feel fully justified. There’s a lot of competition in the medium price class, and there are other models with better autonomous problems solving for a lower price. On the other hand, this robotic lawn mower can mow a very large area given its price, and few others can beat it on this point. But it's primarily due to the charger, rather than a large battery, that the cutting time is increased.

Cramer RM2000 cutting height adjustment and docking

That said, this isn't a bad robotic lawn mower. It has a good cutting time, moves smoothly over the lawn and can cope with both bumpy lawns and quite steep slopes.

The fact that the robotic lawn mower has integrated GPS, a GSM connection and also gets around well even in medium difficulty gardens (largely thanks to the guide cable) still makes this robot mower a good buy.

Connected in all waysmany m2 per £the guide cable makes it easier to get home & programming in complicated gardensautomatic updates
Struggles when it comes to heavier mowingcould have more functionscluttered & rather slow app

13. Honda Miimo HRM 3000

A reliable powerhouse that can cope with tough conditions

Review year: 2018 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 5.4 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: approx.90 min/charge Rec. max. area: 4000 m² Max. gradient: 25° (47%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 13.8 kg Noise level: 59 dB | Measured average value: approx. 61 dB Length: 710 cm Width: 550 cm **Height:**301 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 9 extra blades App support: Yes (Bluetooth)

Honda Miimo 3000

The Honda Miimo HRM 3000 is a very competent and powerful robotic lawn mower. It takes itself up steep slopes without problems, navigates tight spaces and deals with undulating terrain perfectly.

One of its most positive characteristics is how well it deals with tall grass. It moves slowly but surely over the most densely grown parts where many other robotic lawn mowers wouldn't have a chance. It can pretty much stand completely still and cut if necessary when the grass is tall. The end result is even and neat.

Few reliability issues

The Miimo 3000 is also extremely reliable. Once it's got used to an area - in other words, after you've fixed any obstacles - it can run for months without problems.

However, if the Miimo 3000 does get stuck, it has a tendency to dig itself into the lawn. We would have preferred it to quickly realise the situation and shut itself down to save on batteries and protect the lawn. But perhaps it's also partly this function that means it so rarely gets stuck.

Too expensive for just Bluetooth

The Miimo 3000 has app support via Bluetooth connection. This means in practice that within a 10-metre radius of the robotic lawn mower, you can adjust things like its schedule. The interface is easy to navigate and the range of functions is very good.

However, we would have appreciated a GSM connection, given the price class. This would have given you the option to control the lawn mower at distance, for example providing information if it were to get stuck. It feels rather stingy that this is missing, given the price.

And in terms of noise, quieter cutting would have been nicer. The noise level isn't high exactly, but the noise profile when it cuts is quite shrill.

If the Miimo 3000 had been a bit cheaper, we'd have been more lenient, but our demands for premium class models are very high.

Easy to program

However, in terms of intelligence it's very good. It navigates easily through both small areas with obstacles and open spaces. A garden constantly changes with bushes growing, falling branches and fruit etc. The Miimo 3000 has no problem with any of this.

It's also very easy to program. The interface has plenty of functions but is also cleverly planned so that you can easily find what you're looking for. Text and buttons are large and clear. You can also adjust the cutting height electronically.

Compared to its smaller sibling, the 310, you have a relatively free hand in positioning the charging station. However, it's still quite sensitive to begin with, and you have to find the right position to avoid causing problems. Once you've done this, however, docking is problem-free.

The Miimo 3000 is a clearly premium lawn mower that's idea for large, difficult and complicated lawns with rough terrain, where it does an impressively good job.

Very strong and reliableuser-friendly interface intelligent
Rather shrilleasily digs itself into the lawn if it gets stuck

14. Honda Miimo 520

Reliable, accurate Japanese model for larger lawns

Review year: 2016 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Li | Capacity 3.6 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: approx. 90 mins/charge Rec. max. area: 3000 m² Max. gradient: 24° (45%) **Cutting height:**20-60 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 11.9 k Noise level: Very low Dimensions (WxHxD): 64.5x55x27.5 cm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 300 m perimeter wire, 300 pcs staples, 9 pcs extra blades

Honda Miimo 520

The Japanese manufacturer is a relatively late arrival to the robotic lawn mower industry, despite its well known love of robots. However, in just a few years Honda's premium robotic lawn mower, Miimo, has developed into one of the best on the market. There are two versions – designated 310 and 520 – which are practically identical except for the battery capacity and a couple of software details.

The Honda Miimo feels very Japanese in a number of ways, the most obvious – apart from the name – being the well conceived design. The build quality is very high and shock absorption means that the Miimo is extremely quiet and makes it appear to be floating discreetly above the grass. The noise level is so low that you can actually use it to cut the grass at night.

High levels of safety built in Programming is straightforward as the menu system is relatively easy to navigate, while still having many setting options. The display is illuminated, although unfortunately the keypad is not.

Safety is excellent, with well protected pivot blades and an easily accessible STOP button to prevent injury.

The Miimo is now one of the most reliable robotic lawn mowers on the market and rarely gets stuck even in more difficult gardens. Only the most challenging lawns will give it problems.

Often kind on lawns The cutting result is very even and neat, not least because the Miimo effectively adapts its speed to the resistance it encounters, slowing down for areas such as taller grass.

Installation of the base station has been simplified compared to earlier, but is still unnecessarily complicated. All installation is generally carried out by Honda's authorised dealers.

High build qualityhigh safety levelsquiet and discreetreliable
Slightly fiddly installation of the base station

15. McCulloch ROB R1000

Reliable, easy to program and quite intelligent

Review year: 2019 Price class: Budget Battery: Type: Lithium ion | Capacity 4.5 Ah/29 V Operating time: approx. 65 min/charge Rec. max. area: 1000 m² Max. gradient: approx. 14° (25%) Cutting height: 30-50 mm, 3 step (manual) Cutting width: 17 cm Weight: 7 kg Noise level: 57 | Measured average value: approx. 58 dB Length: 59 cm Width: 44 cm Height: 26 cm Blade type: Fixed PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 150 m perimeter wire & 200 staples, 3 blades

McCulloch ROB R1000

The McCulloch ROB R1000 is a reliable, budget class robotic lawn mower intended for medium-sized and relatively simple lawns. Like many budget models, it has few setting options and lacks app support. But more importantly, it’s intelligent and able to cope with challenges that many other budget models fail to overcome.

For example, the R1000 has no problems getting around obstacles on its way home or sparing toys that have been left out on the lawn. Nor are uneven lawns a problem. However, the R1000 does struggle with slopes when the grass is damp, and it often struggles to get a grip and slips about. In the worst case, it causes damage to the lawn. At the same time, the loan doesn’t weigh very much, so when it slips it very rarely causes visible damage. Unfortunately, it has no rain sensor which could have otherwise alleviated the problem by prompting it to seek shelter when the weather is bad.

The cutting width is minimal, given the recommended cutting area. This means that the R1000 has to be out cutting often if it is to cope with the stated 1000 m². The guide cable often reduces the time it takes for the robotic lawn mower to find its way home. But it’s a shame it can’t also go home along the perimeter wire, as the quickest way isn’t always via the guide cable.

The Rob R1000 is quiet and good at coping with normal length grass. It tends to protest in tall grass and try to cut somewhere else. In other words, it doesn’t understand that it needs to creep slowly forwards to graze the grass down before it grows even taller.

Very easy to install for the ordinary user

One advantage with the McCulloch Rob R1000 is that the package includes insulation material that means you don’t need to buy extra products to get the robotic lawn mower going with each new installation.

The installation process is pretty much the same as for every other robotic lawn mower with the difference that you also have to connect in a guide cable. This is very easy and the connections are clearly marked on the charging station. The programming process is very fast. The interface is clear and it’s very easy to understand the robotic lawn mower’s functions. However, the range of functions is rather minimal.

Could do more

The R1000’s little sister, the Rob R600, got a slightly higher score in our test. In this size class, the cutting width and operating time are enough for it to be able to keep the lawn in trim without having to be out cutting all day long. But the Rob R1000 needs to be beefed up a bit to be really good at dealing with the manufacturer’s recommended cutting area.

That said, this isn’t a bad robotic lawn mower. It produces a good cutting result, is easy to install and just as easy to program. It’s just a little too basic compared to its competition in this price class.

Very easy to use & installRelatively intelligentReliableGood cutting resultQuiet
Narrow cutting widthFew functionsStruggles with slopes on damp grass

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16. Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD

Luxury four-wheel drive mower

Review year: 2022 Price class: Premium Recommended max. area: 3500 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium ion Operating time: approx. 100 min/charge Cutting height: 30-70 mm, 3 step (manual) Cutting width: 22 cm Noise level: 62 | Measured mean value: approx. 63 dB Length: 63 mm Width: 55 mm Height: 29 mm Blade type: Pivoting PIN code protected: Yes

Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD

The Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD is the only four-wheel drive robotic lawn mower. It's been built to deal with extreme gradients, so it should be really good in terms of accessing difficult areas. And we can confirm immediately that it manages fine with gradients. The same applies to pitted and uneven lawns. It doesn't matter what we subject it to, as it can always drive on all wheels, and also rotate the body via a centre point (pivot chassis), it almost never gets stuck.

The 435X AWD is large and its weight makes it difficult to carry. Unfortunately, like the other Automower models, it also has a chassis that's relatively easily scratched. The mower is quite powerful, but the front is rather sensitive to thicker weeds and it sometimes backs away from them; however, they get mowed down over time.

The 435X uses ultrasound to identify obstacles and slow down before it collides with them. This allows the mower to maintain a higher speed over open areas.

A modern athlete

Just like on other robotic lawn mowers from Husqvarna, installation is really simple. You simply connect the cables to the marked inputs and switch the robotic lawn mower on. You can either programme it via the large, easy-to-use screen, or using an app on your phone. Regardless of which you choose, the interface is straightforward and easy to understand.

The 435X AWD supports smart watches and you can voice control it via Alexa or Google Assistant through your phone or smart speaker. The lawn mower also gets ongoing remote updates, so you don't have to do take it anywhere to get this done.

The result is reasonable, but sometimes it tends to push down some of the grass and drive over it instead of mowing it. On the other hand, the battery life is long and the charging time is short. This makes this robotic lawn mower very efficient on both large open spaces and also more complicated areas.

husqvarna-435x-i-laddstation

A few teething problems

The 435X AWD is innovative in several ways, but unfortunately also suffers from a number of teething problems. When it was released there were a lot of bugs in the software. Even if the majority of these have now been rectified, it sometimes still has problems with the connection between the lawn mower and the app or with settings not being saved. A wheel for entering the PIN code is fun but unfortunately very impractical as you can easily press it wrong and can't go back. As there are very few menu options on the robot lawnmower itself, you must make sure that always carry your phone with you.

The overall impression is that the 435X would have benefited from a bit more polishing before it was launched. Particularly given its price class. The 435X AWD is best suited to anyone with a steeply sloping lawn where the 450X will struggle. It's also a lawn mower intended to make the neighbours green with envy. It would take a lot, because the 430X can take on a whole host of challenges.

We tested this robotic lawnmower for a long-term period, from May-October 2021, and on several different lawns, to get a realistic test result. However, this year’s software update includes a completely new function called Intelligent Mapping. We have not been able to test this yet. This function allows you to program virtual no-go zones, see where the boundary wire is in your garden, and set different parameters for different virtual zones (e.g. different cutting heights). Our review will be updated with the test result for this function in late spring.

Efficient on complicated areasgreat on gradientsongoing updateseasy to install
Some teething problemsrather fiddly PIN code wheel

17. Grouw M800

Impressive ultra-budget mower for small areas

Recommended maximum area: 800 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion Max. gradient: approx. 20° (35%) PIN code protection: Yes App support: Yes (Bluetooth)

The Grouw M800 is a cheap robotic lawnmower, especially considering the size of the lawn it is said to mow. However, it moves quite slowly when mowing, so if you want a reasonable mowing time, we would say that 600 square metres is a more suitable lawn size.

The off-road properties are unusually good for the price class. It has no problems with soft lawns, uneven surfaces, areas with sparse grass growth, or lighter slopes. Grouw can even fix a sparsely-grown slope of approx. 20 degrees, which many other cheap models find difficult.

Impressive in many ways

Grouw's docking station can only be positioned in one direction, with the opening to the right. It needs two metres of free space in front of the opening. There is nothing to reduce the rating in this price class. However, what does lower the rating is that, despite a straight cable and level ground, it sometimes fails to dock and stays put in one spot. On several occasions, the robotic lawnmower also started its return to the dock too late to reach the docking station on time.

The boundary wire is connected using a stripped wire at the back of the dock. As a weather protection, you have a plastic cover that you press on, which is standard on budget mowers.

The Grouw M800 has a large, clear display with a good keypad for programming. The PIN code in the manual was clear, but it was easy to change it once you entered the robot’s interface.

Grouw M800 has app support and Bluetooth connectivity. The app connection is a breeze. We started the app and selected the Bluetooth symbol, and it found the robot right away.

The app contains the same setting options as the robot itself: language, date/time, mowing schedule, and whether it should edge cut when leaving or returning to the dock. And that's it. For example, you cannot set it to only edge-cut on certain days, or set how far it should go over the loop. It also does not seem to vary the distance to the cable when it returns to the dock, in order to avoid tracks forming.

That said, this is a very inexpensive robotic lawnmower with all the basic functions you could wish for, and with good enough off-road characteristics. It has a low noise when mowing, and does not have that characteristic buzz that many other mowers have. On the other hand, it has a low churning and humming sound that occurs when it turns, and that sound is actually quite charming.

It’s not particularly smart, as you have to make sure it can easily get to all the areas, and that the loop is open. For example, it cannot handle obstacles when returning to the dock, but rather drives into the obstacle repeatedly. After a handful of attempts, it reverses, stops, and issues a warning that it is stuck. After a while it switches off to save battery – which is great.

Grouw M800 is a simple robotic lawnmower that is extremely affordable for small lawns that are in a slightly poorer condition. You should not have a garden with a lot of secondary areas, and it should not have to think very much on its own in order to solve tasks. But overall, this is one of the better ultra-budget mowers we’ve tested.

Good off-road capabilityeasy programmingquiet
Sometimes fails to parkdoesn't always return to the dock in timetrack formations along the loopfew functions

18. Stihl iMOW RMI 632 PC

Suits medium-sized open areas

Review year: 2021 Price class: Premium Recommended max. area: 5000 m2 Battery: Type: Litium-ion Battery energy: 251 Wh Operating time: approx. 150 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 24° (45%) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 28 cm Weight: 14 kg Noise level: 59 | Measured mean value: approx. 61 dB Length: 73 cm Width: 54 cm Height: 27 cm Blade type: Fixed PIN code protected: Yes App support: Yes (GSM+GPS) Accessories included: - Miscellaneous: Alarm, geofence, protective housing around knives, mobile top housing User manual: [RMI 632 PC](https://static.stihl.com/api/BaOnline/Download/0000011978 /00281912.pdf?_gl=11hborvh_gaMTU4Mzg3NzQ0Ny4xNjAzMDk3NDY1_ga_G8ZD67Y14Z*MTYxMDM2NjQzMS40LjEuMTYxMDM2Nzk1My41NQ..&_ga=2.220148121.1612352811.1610366432-1583877447.1603097465)

Stihl RMI 632 PC

The Stihl iMOW RMI 632 PC is a connected premium model with a relatively compact design and user-friendly programming.

You programme the lawn mower via a display, or using a mobile phone app. Regardless of which you choose, both are easy to use. The display has a set of shortcut commands that we find useful, such as a command to send the lawn mower out on a mowing run outside the scheduled mowing times.

The iMOW RMI 632 PC has built in GPS so you can follow the robotic lawn mower’s position on a map. As we've mentioned above, the app is easy to use and you get notifications if the lawn mower gets stuck. In the app, you can even name the lawn mower and add an image, which is an entirely unnecessary but quite fun function.

The Stihl RMI 632 PC is a relatively low and compact robotic lawn mower

But when it comes to installation, the RMI 632 PC feels a bit old fashioned compared to other lawn mowers in the same price class. You still need to pare back the cable and run it in specific grooves in the station, which means you're locked into a position. You can place many other models’ charging stations on different angles. Nor are they sensitive to sloppy positioning, which this one is. Nor does it mow all the grass around the charging station because of how it's constructed. Instead, you have to run around it with the strimmer.

Can get in under obstacles

In terms of both size and performance, the Stihl 632 PC falls somewhere between a premium and medium class model. It's a bit too limited for anyone with a large, open garden, but simultaneously too bulky for smaller lawns. It does its best on relatively open lawns of around 1500-2000 m2.

If the lawn is bigger than 2000 m2 (or has several, more complicated areas), it needs to be out mowing often and for a long time to keep the lawn in check. On our relatively open 3000 m2 test lawn, for example, it had to run several hours every weekday to prevent tufty areas appearing, and this was a problem we hadn't had on the test lawn with other models in the same price class. Given the price and the fact that 5000 m2 is meant to be the maximum area, coping with less than half that feels like a major issue.

Something that would have resolved this problem at least partially is if the software was a bit more sophisticated and implemented more solutions to keep track of separate areas, or areas it hadn't visited for a while. As it stands, it does a reasonable job on this point, but it's far from good enough to cover the stated maximum cutting area in an acceptable time.

The underside of the Stihl RMI 632 PC robotic lawn mower consists four wheels and a blade deck with fixed blades

But apart from this, this is a competent enough robotic lawn mower. Just a few years ago, this robotic lawn mower was rather poor at accessing tricky or uneven areas, but it's improved a lot in this regard. For example, the 632 PC now copes happily with uneven surfaces. What’s more, it's still just as strong as before, dealing with grass up to 20 cm high without noticeable complaint. If the grass is taller than this you can hear from the motor that it's working harder, but a robotic lawn mower should generally keep the grass well mown so in practice this isn't a problem.

It also has the advantage of being quite low, so it can even get in under normal-height trailers, low hanging branches and so on.

Rather noisy

On a handful of occasions during the several month long test period, we get fault codes that mean the lawn mower just comes to a stop. For example that it's left its temperature zone. However, it doesn't run the battery flat, simply switches off and when we find it again we can start it and ask it to go home and charge.

The 632 PC is quite noisy when it’s mowing compared to other models in the same price class. At the same time it's strong and, for instance, has no problems with pine cones, fallen fruit etc.

The installation process for the Stihl RMI 632 PC isn't particularly complicated, but it's also rather outdated

The Stihl RMI 632 PC is a good robotic lawn mower for relatively open lawns of around 1500-2000 m2. If the price had been a bit lower, it would have been better placed in terms of the competition, but as it stands it's struggling against tough challengers. That said, it isn't a bad robot mower. It isn't bothered by a bit of a gradient or uneven areas in the lawn, and does a much better job on these areas than it did a few years ago. It’s also easy to use even if you aren't technically minded.

Quite a lot of functionsstronggood accessibilityeasy to programme
Can’t cope with large or complicated areaslimited charging station

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19. Husqvarna Automower 305

Great on complicated lawns

Review year: 2022 Price class: Medium class Operating time: 60 min/charge Rec. max. area: 600 m² Max. gradient: 22° (40%) Cutting height: 20-50 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 9.4 kg Length: 57 cm Width: 45 cm Height: 23 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: None, but also sold as a plus kit with cable and staples App support: Yes (Bluetooth)

Husqvarna Automower 305

The Husqvarna Automower 305 is Husqvarna's very smallest robotic lawn mower, with very good problem solving abilities, making it suitable for anyone with a relatively small but complex garden. Perhaps you have lots of different separate areas of lawn, different types of surface, steep slopes etc. If so, this is an excellent choice, because few robotic lawnmowers of this size can cope so well with this type of challenge. It also has a guide cable, so if you have an area the mower tends to miss you can lay a guide cable to lead it straight there.

The insulation is very straightforward. You can position the charging station pretty much anywhere without the Automower 305 struggling to dock, providing the guide cable is straight underneath it. All of the connectors are clearly marked and there are cable connectors so you don’t have to strip the cable. And the connections are protected.

The Husqvarna Automower 305 is Husqvarna's smallest robotic lawn mower

Once you’ve connected everything, you essentially just press start – you don’t need to configure the robot mower for it to start working. But of course you’ll want to set a cutting schedule.

The display is clear and the interface user friendly. It’s an easy, quick process to make the necessary settings.

The Automower 305 has Bluetooth support, which allows you to control everything via Husqvarna's easy-to-use app. Given the fact that many competitors now offer Wi-Fi support – in some cases even with GSM connection and GPS – Bluetooth feels a bit minimal. But this is a much more feature-rich app than, for example, the equivalent for Gardena, who have a robot mower in the same price class.

The Husqvarna Automower 305 has a chassis that can be washed off

No problems keeping up

The Husqvarna Automower 305 is very reliable. For example, it copes easily with an uneven lawn, tall grass, damp grass, paving etc. It does struggle a bit if you have gravel paths separating different areas of lawn from each other, and tends to dig itself into them.

The cutting width of 22 cm is fine and the robot mower works for about 60 minutes at a time. It has no problems mowing the stated area if you give it a couple of hours of cutting time about three days a week. But we think that the price of this robotic lawn mower, combined with the fact that it’s only built to cope with 600 m² and only has Bluetooth connection, makes it less good value for money than a couple of other robot mowers in the lower medium price class – which reduces the score a little.

The Husqvarna Automower 305 from the side

On the other hand, it’s very reliable, has very good software and problem-solving abilities and good build quality. You can also wash it off using a hose – which is still quite uncommon. And it produces really good mowing results. So if you have a complicated but small garden, this is the obvious choice. But most people will be able to settle for a simpler model, because lawns of this size are generally straightforward and consists of a single area.

Very reliablegreat terrain-handling abilitiesintelligentcan be washed offeasy to programme
Only Bluetoothquite expensive per m2 mown

20. Solo by AL-KO Robolinho 450 W

Affordable connected robotic lawnmower for small lawns

Review year: 2022 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | 2.5 Ah 25.2 V Runtime: approx. 50 min/charge Cutting height: 25–55 mm (manual) Cutting width: 20 cm Weight: 7.5 kg Length: 60 cm Width: 40 cm Height: 29 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protection: Yes Accessories included: Blades

AL-KO Robolinho 450 W

Solo by AL-KO Robolinho 450 W is a fairly large but lightweight robotic lawnmower for areas of up to 450 m². While it has a rather boxy design, it has clear buttons and controls.

The construction quality is not hugely reassuring. The plastic is thin and the details bulge when we pull them. There’s no carrying handle on the back and you feel reluctant to lift the plastic. The Robolinho® looks as if it costs a couple of thousand SEK less than it actually does. However, it still qualifies in the budget class, where it absolutely challenges its rivals in terms of app support and Wi-Fi connection.

We definitely prefer Wi-Fi connection over Bluetooth, as it allows you to reach the robotic lawnmower even if you aren’t standing next to it. That being said, in this case the range could have been slightly better.

Additionally, the installation procedure could have involved fewer steps and the charging station could have had a more well thought-out design that made it more insensitive to the robot’s positioning.

You need to calibrate Robolinho before starting it for the first time, which is a step we feel they could have designed away. Furthermore, the robotic lawnmower docks in the charging station parallel to the plates on the station, which means that it risks continuing forwards if it doesn’t make good contact when it passes.

The display and menu system are user-friendly, and programming is simple.

Solo-by-AL-KO-Robolinho-450-W

Needs an even mowing area

The major disadvantage of this robotic lawnmower is that it easily gets stuck, and sometimes struggles to figure out when it should start going home in difficult conditions.

It also collects a lot of grass cuttings in its wheels in damp conditions, and requires cleaning before you use it again, as the grass cuttings further impair its ability to navigate the terrain. Nor can it mow in damp grass, as it skids a lot and ruins the surface of the lawn. But give it a hard, dry lawn with a fairly even surface and it performs well.

AL-KO Robolinho 450 W needs a lawn with an even surface and no more than a slight slope. It should not be out mowing when the grass is damp. But provided these conditions are met, it does a decent mowing job.

Convenient Wi-Fi connectioneasy to program
Poor build qualitystruggles on a damp lawndoesn’t do well on slopestricky charging station design

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21. Sømløs G1

A simple robotic lawnmower with good coverage

Review year: 2022 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | 2.6 Ah 22.2 V Operating time: approx. 60 min/charge Cutting height: 25–55 mm (manual) Weight: 18 kg Length: 50 cm Width: 35.5 cm Height: 24 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protection: Yes Accessories included: Blades

Sømløs G1 is a robotic lawnmower developed in Norway. It has perfectly fine off-road characteristics and can, for example, handle slopes within the range it specifies. The wheels have an approved profile and provide good grip, even on more varied surfaces. If it’s damp outside, a lot of grass accumulates in the tread pattern and, if you don't keep up with that, you will have accessibility issues.

This robotic lawnmower should be able to mow 800 square metres on a reasonable mowing schedule, and we feel that it does.

Installing G1

The blades are not placed under a disc like most other blade brands. Perhaps this is why grass gets entangled there, which in turn locks the blade so that it becomes less mobile. This reduces the mowing result to a certain extent, but also means that the blade risks being damaged in the event of a collision.

The installation process is a bit complicated. On the one hand, G1 is delivered without the blades pre-assembled and, for the uninitiated, it is not entirely clear how these should be fitted. Moreover, the manual is insufficient.

However, the actual connection of the robotic lawnmower and its positioning (counterclockwise is the only available choice) is smooth.

The PIN code you set is a combination of the letters A-D, which is sufficient to achieve acceptable child safety.

A fairly standard robotic lawnmower

SØMLØS G1 is generally OK on a number of points. It doesn't impress or disappoint us. There is nothing that stands out here. Design and choice of materials are simple. The building quality is approved, but parts and choice of materials are perceived to be somewhat cheap. The top covers are sluggish, as are the buttons, and the interface is poorly translated regardless of which language you choose – including English. This applies to both the app and the robot’s internal interface.

Otherwise, there are the most basic setting options you might want, such as being able to set several starting points to quickly reach more difficult areas, access to different mowing schedules for different days, and activation of a rain sensor. The latter is important because this robotic lawnmower easily gets stuck on a damp lawn and damages the surface.

The app is unnecessarily messy, but since G1 has very few functions, they can get away with it. Unfortunately, there are no advanced adjustment options, such as adjustable distance to the cable when it goes to the dock, how far it will run over the cable during mowing, etc.

The same goes for the intelligence of G1. It can handle what you expect from a standard robot and therefore works on the majority of the country’s lawns. However, it does not have any more advanced solutions, such as taking a shortcut to the dock, or solutions for concentrated cutting of missed areas – on the other hand, you can carry it out to such an area and select the point cutting option from the menu.

Sømløs G1 is a robotic lawnmower that performs well in all its simplicity. There is above all a lot of potential and good development opportunities for the manufacturer. At present, however, the robot is perceived to be a little incomplete, especially considering the price. That said, it doesn't really stand out negatively or positively from the competition among the slightly newer brands, but rather provides what the average garden owner needs.

Good off-road characteristics when the wheels are cleanit can solve simpler problemsand has a practical carrying handle
Sluggish hatches & buttonsfew functions & settings optionsperceived as somewhat incomplete

22. Bosch Indego M+ 700

Cuts the lawn in parallel lines

Review year: 2022 Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | 18 V Operating time: approx. 75 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 15° (27%) Cutting height: 30–50 mm, 3 steps (manual) Cutting width: 19 cm Weight: 7 kg Length: 44.5 mm Width: 36.4 mm Height: 20.2 mm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protection: Yes Accessories included: 175 m boundary wire, 240 staples, blades Manual: PDF

Bosch Indego M+ 700

The Bosch Indego M+ 700 is a small and flexible robotic lawnmower with a slightly unusual cutting pattern. The mowing pattern means that the robotic lawnmower runs in parallel lines. It thus mows the lawn in rectangular areas, similar to a robot vacuum cleaner.

Initially, it does not seem to work. It stops and turns before the lawn is finished, and also misses corners and other edges. But after a few weeks, these areas also get cut. The movement pattern thus seems to work excellently.

One consequence of how it moves is that there are visible streaks on the lawn, similar to when you have mowed it using a normal lawnmower. It’s not really ugly, but probably more a matter of taste. The result of the mowing is otherwise good.

Cuts our strawberry plants

The Bosch Indego M+ 700 is recommended for lawns up to 700 square metres. It manages to do this within a reasonable mowing schedule, as long as it does not get stuck. Unfortunately, it gets stuck or lost too often and then comes to a standstill. For example, it has a tendency to drive out into the strawberry garden next to one of our test lawns. It does not switch off the blades in time, even though it is outside the boundary wire, which means that the strawberry plants get cut.

There seems to be a few different reasons that it ends up outside the boundary wire. It is not that the cable is too close to the edge limit. On one occasion, for example, it was due to the fact that it started to drive in small circles that slowly passed the boundary wire, until it was finally completely outside and stuck in the garden.

It usually finds its way to the dock without any worries, but it sometimes gets stuck in unexpected places and turns itself off. Because it has fairly low ground clearance and a lot of weight for its compact body, it also has difficulty with holes in the lawn. Soft lawns with moss disappear completely. For this robotic lawnmower to work, a sandy soil with good grass growth and a smooth surface is required.

The cutting height can be set in three steps, by pressing a button on the top of the robotic lawnmower. It works well, but the usual steering wheel solution that many others have is clearer.

We also note that it stops very often to calibrate its map. If Bosch had solved this, the mowing time could have decreased further, which would have been a bonus.

Installation is quite simple, but you need to have a perfect plot boundary, because even the slightest unevenness makes the robot think it has arrived at its docking station. You must then enter that it has not arrived at the dock, so that it can resume calibration of the lawn.

The Bosch Indego M+ 700 is suitable for those with a high-quality lawn, who like the idea of a visible mowing pattern. It is quite time-efficient, as long as it can handle the lawn in question.

Mows the lawn quite time-efficientlyincludes generous cablesupports smart home
Does not handle holessoft or damp lawnoccasionally drives outside the boundary with the blade motor runningtime-consuming & sensitive installationrepeated breaks during mowing

23. McCulloch Rob S600

Strong budget lawn mower with a tendency to dig itself into the lawn

Review year: 2021 Price class: budget Recommended max. area: 600 m2 Battery: Type: Lithium ion | Capacity 2 Ah Operating time: approx. 65 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 19° (35%) Cutting height: 20-50 mm, 3 step (manual) Cutting width: 16 cm Weight: 7.8 kg Noise level: 57 dB Measured average value: approx. 55 dB Length: 55 mm Width: 38 mm Height: 23 mm Blade type: Fixed PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 150 m perimeter wire & 200 staples, 3 blades

McCulloch ROB S600

The McCulloch Rob S600 is a simple but efficient robotic lawn mower with its main advantages being reliability and intelligence. It's a competent robotic lawn mower, but isn't so good when it comes to communication and functions.

This is ultimately an updated R600, and it should perform better on gradients. At the same time, it has been pared down in terms of cutting width and battery.

Overall, it's a good budget robotic lawn mower, but it unexpectedly performs less well on gradients than its sibling. Even if it's stronger in some ways than the R600, it has problems in that it sometimes runs over the perimeter wire, coming to a halt half outside the area and digging into the ground with its wheels.

We've tested it on a number of lawns from medium to steep slopes, and it shows the same tendency to get stuck and dig itself into the ground on all of them, damaging the lawn and adjacent flowerbeds in the process. It doesn't happen every day – more like 1-2 times a month – but its sibling, the R600, had no problems with this.

On normal, relatively flat lawns however, it rarely gets stuck. But then again, the R600 doesn't either. So we don't really see any advantages of the S600 over the R600 despite it having benefits on paper.

The McCulloch Rob S600 is compact and light

Easy to get started

It has a good mowing time, but the cutting width is rather narrow which means that it covers the lawn slowly. The end result is still acceptable because of the generous mowing time for the price class, but there are competitors for the same price that can mow larger areas.

Unfortunately, it doesn't recognise its charging station and consequently runs into it quite hard, so it's important that you anchor the station well and keep an eye on the cable.

In terms of installation and programming, it's very easy to get started. The robotic lawn mower isn't particularly sensitive when it comes to positioning the charging station. it's also easy to see where the different ends of the perimeter wire and guide cable should be connected. The package includes the perimeter wire and staples.

Unfortunately, you have to run the S600 on a guide cable, as it can't find its way home only using the perimeter wire. Of course the guide cable is an advantage because you can lay out a shortcut for the lawn mower to come home and don't need to worry about difficult conditions in the grass at the edge of the lawn. But we'd have liked to see it being able to choose the perimeter wire instead of the guide cable.

As we've mentioned above, programming via the display is very straightforward. The S600 has few functions and a clear user interface, so it's easy to get started.

The Rob S600 also has app support. Unfortunately only in the form of Bluetooth, so you have to be within about 10 metres of the lawn mower. Competition in the budget class is tough, and a majority of mowers now have better connection options.

There are competing models in the same price class with Wi-Fi support that send notifications to your mobile phone if the lawn mower gets stuck, and there are even a few with GSM. At the time of writing, several of these have rather flaky AI, but not all of them. If we have to choose between reliable and well programmed software or user-friendly functions, we'll take the former. So we still think the S600 is a good buy in the budget class.

Reliable under simple conditionseasy to programmeincludes cablesupport for guide cable
Can dig itself into the lawnfew functionsguide cable mandatory

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24. Honda Miimo HRM 3000

Reliable and strong but outdated technology

Review year: 2021 Price class: Premium Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity 5.4 Ah/22.2 V Operating time: 90 min/charge Rec. max. area: 4000 m² Max. gradient: 25° (47 %) Cutting height: 20-60 mm Cutting width: 22 cm Weight: 13.8 kg Noise level: 59 dB | Measured mean value: approx. 61 dB Length: 55 cm Width: 30.1 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 9 extra blades App support: Yes (Bluetooth)

Honda Miimo 3000

The Honda Miimo HRM 3000 hasn’t been updated for a couple of years now, but it’s still a reliable and intelligent robotic lawn mower that can cope with both tall grass and complex lawns with uneven surfaces or steep slopes. It has excellent terrain-handling abilities and is very strong.

In its primary function as a lawnmower, it can cope with everything we ask of it – both tall grass and fallen fruit. It creeps nicely along when the resistance increases due to tall, thick grass, rather than giving up and backing away like many other robotic lawnmowers would have done.

Uneven lawns, slopes and damp grass don’t pose any problem either. The only disadvantage is that if it does happen to get stuck it tends to dig itself into the ground rather than realising what’s happened and switch itself off. And unfortunately this tends to damage the lawn where the wheels have rotated in place.

The Miimo 3000 is amongst the quietest robotic lawn mowers on the market. The only time the noise becomes irritating is if it rattles – which happens sometimes with all of Honda’s robotic lawn mower models. But this isn’t very loud.

The build quality is extremely good. This is a robotic lawn mower that will last for many years – our test sheen has now been running for four seasons without any problems.

The Honda Miimo 3000 is a strong robotic lawn mower

Not keeping up with progress

Unfortunately, Honda sometimes struggle to keep up with rapid technological developments. Certainly, the HRM 3000 can be controlled via a user-friendly app, but on a robotic lawn mower of this price class we’d now expect more than just a Bluetooth connection. It should be possible to instruct the robot mower from a distance, and there should be safety functions, notifications if it’s got stuck or leaves your lawn etc.

Nor does it have any built-in GPS, which would have been useful in helping the robot mower to find its way to inaccessible areas or so you could see where it was.

In other words, this is essentially a really good robotic lawn mower that unfortunately lacks a number of the refinements we now expect from models in the top segment. There are competitors that give significantly more for your money.

But if you get hold of the HRM 3000 for a very good price and don’t need to keep track of it using your mobile phone, it’s still a good buy. You don’t need to worry about having to run after it all the time, because it copes fine on its own – even in complex environments.

Very strong & reliableuser-friendly interfacegood AIeasy to programmehigh build quality
Rather shrilleasily digs itself into the lawn if it gets stuckno GSM or GPS

25. Worx Landroid M500

Cheap robotic lawn mower for DIY fans

Review year: 2021 Price class: Budget Recommended area: 500 m2 (10 hrs/day 5 days/week) Recommended maximum area: 900 m2 (24 hrs/day 7 days/week) ** Battery:** Type: Lithium ion | Capacity 2 Ah Operating time: approx. 60 min/charge Max. gradient: approx. 19° (35%) Cutting height: 30-60 mm, 4 step (manual) Cutting width: 18 cm Weight: 9.1 kg Noise level: 67 dB Length: 56 cm Width: 40 cm Height: 21 cm Blade type: Pivot PIN code protected: Yes Accessories included: 100 m perimeter wire, 130 staples, 9 blades Miscellaneous: Lots of options

Worx Landroid M500 WR141E

The Worx Landroid M500 is a relatively compact and heavy robotic lawn mower that's impressive in a number of ways. The things we like in this robotic lawn mower are, for example,how easy you can expand it with options such as GPS, the possibility of removing the battery and using it for other tools from the same manufacturer, and how many functions the robotic lawn mower has. It's clear that enthusiasts have developed this lawn mower.

One practical option we tested is Off Limits. This is a kit with a module for the robotic lawn mower and long magnetic strips that you place on your lawn. The idea is that you use it to temporarily delimit an area you don't want the robotic lawn mower to mow. When the lawn mower touches the magnetic strip with its nose, it backs away instead of moving into the area. This means you don't have to cut the perimeter wire and create “doors” in it.

The Worx Landroid M500 has substantial treads

The magnetic strip is very robust and is clearly visible on the lawn, but as it's only for temporary use that’s not a problem. The kit works extremely well and is a great example of how Worx think about options.

You easily connect the modules by unscrewing a hatch and inserting a cable.

Low reliability

Something else that's great about Worx’s robotic lawn mowers is that you get cost-free updates. The lawn mower is connected via Wi-Fi, so you get notifications about events and can set the cutting schedule even if you're not home.

It has no problems coping with mowing the stated size of lawn, and it supports edge cutting and can also measure how large your lawn is so you get a tailored cutting schedule.

The Worx Landroid M500 is a robotic lawn mower that you can expand with additional functions

But despite all of these advantages, the score is a lot lower than you'd expect, almost exclusively because of the lawn mower's terrain-handling abilities – or lack of them. Reliability is sub par. We tested the Worx M500 on four different lawns from our “simpler lawns for budget lawn mower” selection. And here we discovered that this robotic lawn mower requires very specific conditions if it’s to cope on its own for a longer period.

For example, it can't handle a soft lawn, nor a mossy lawn or one with tall or damp grass. Damp grass collects underneath it so the lawn mower can't move forwards, while it simply gets stuck in tall grass.

Essentially, you need a dry, well-trimmed lawn that’s firm and has no moss for this lawn mower to cope without problems. Compared with the competitors in the same price class, there's a fair way to go for the Worx M model.

At the same time it’s strong on gradients, and we give it a plus point for this.

But unfortunately the poor reliability means the score is disappointingly low. This robotic lawn mower has many things going for it. It has loads of functions, is easy to expand and is therefore fun for the DIY enthusiast – and kind on your wallet – has a good app and a reasonable display. But as long as it requires such very specific conditions to work, it's hard to recommend it. You rarely test drive a robotic lawn mower or evaluate your lawn before you buy one. You simply expect it to work. And in this case you may well be disappointed.

Expandableongoing software updatesWi-Fi provides remote controlthe battery can be shared with the manufacturer's other toolsgood cutting time
Very limited terrain-handling abilities

26. Bosch Indego 400 Connect

Neat model for small areas

Review year: 2018 Price class: Budget Battery: Type: Lithium-ion | Capacity X Ah/18 V Operating time: approx. 30 min/charge Rec. max. area: 400 m² Max. gradient: 27% Cutting height: 30-50 mm, 3 step (manual) Cutting width: 19 cm Weight: 7.5 kg Blade type: Fixed User manual: PDF Video clip: Installation instructions

Bosch Indego 400 Connect

The Bosch Indego 400 Connect is a small, neat robotic lawn mower with a compact docking station that makes it easy to position even in tight spaces.

However, the installation is quite fiddly because the manual leaves a lot to be desired. It's very poorly translated and the installation instructions are unclear even for someone used to installing lawn mowers. The robotic lawn mower itself is also very sensitive. Pretty much everything has to be positioned perfectly to avoid errors during docking or mowing. Even variations so small that they aren't visible with the naked eye can cause the robotic lawn mower to go on strike. This means it can take a long time before the Indego 400 Connect is actually out there mowing.

The software in the robotic lawn mower is also badly translated and buggy. And the tiny display means that menu choices often have to be abbreviated and that it's not always obvious to the user what's going on. This is particularly clear when we ask normal homeowners to try changing parameters under our supervision.

Gets stuck and skids

The Indego 400 Connect has a narrow cutting width, but as it's only intended for small lawns the cutting time is still normal. The cutting result is good, with an even, neat lawn as long as your garden doesn't slope.

If it does, the lawn mower tends to slip, particularly in damp grass. It also often misses areas on slopes so you end up with tufts of longer grass there. Where the mowing surface is near a slope, you should place the perimeter wire little way in from it because the robotic lawn mower is otherwise likely to slide over the wire and stop.

The software also seems to have been strangely constructed. The robotic lawn mower often stops during mowing to "update the map". This leads to annoying small interruptions during the very short time it's actually out mowing.

However, it's good at finding its way home and docking when you have set up the charging station perfectly. It looks after itself quite well as long as you don't have to make changes in the software.

Neat size
Struggles with slopessensitive installation processbugs in softwarefiddly interface

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Robotic lawn mower

Robotic lawnmowers have existed for more than 20 years, but it’s only in recent years that they’ve really taken off in popularity. This is at least partially due to falling prices, but also because the range of models has grown and robotic lawn mowers generally have improved significantly. Another important factor is probably that many people buy their own robotic lawn mower after seeing that the neighbour's model actually does the job and produces a satisfactory cutting result. This means that robotic lawnmowers spread in clusters, with one area of housing having considerably more than the next. But the trend is clear. The robotisation of lawn mowing is unstoppable. The traditional petrol or electric push lawn mower is still far from extinct, but the robotic lawn mower represents a constantly increasing share of new sales.

Major differences between different models

It’s hardly surprising that not all robotic lawnmowers are as good, and factors such as performance, efficiency, reliability, functionality and safety vary more than you might think between different models. With a correctly executed installation, the best robotic lawn mowers can get by for several weeks without stoppages, while the worst can have difficulties even finding their way home to charge. The best lawn mowers require little adaptation in terms of cable laying and surface for reliable cutting, while the worst ones have strict requirements in terms of surface, gradient and the design of the area to be cut. The safest robotic lawn mowers are so well designed that it's almost impossible to injure yourself on them, while the worst can constitute a safety hazard for things like feet or inquisitive small fingers. Some models can even escape from their enclosure and play havoc with the neighbour's flowerbeds

Our tests show that more expensive robotic lawn mowers generally perform better than cheaper ones, but that’s not always the case. Nor is it certain that a robotic lawn mower with a good theoretical performance in terms of surface capacity and gradient will live up to this in practice. In other words, you shouldn’t get too caught up in the specifications about how many square metres a robotic lawn mower can cut in theory. What’s much more important is the robotic lawn mower’s reliability and how much perimeter wire is supported by the base station, as these factors are more decisive in determining the cutting area it can cope with. Another factor to take into account is the type of signal used by the robotic lawn mower’s perimeter wire. Some models actually interfere with other robotic lawnmowers, which isn’t exactly desirable for a good relationship with your neighbours.

How much must I spend on a robotic lawn mower?

In our test of robotic lawn mowers, we have tested the market’s foremost models to find out how well they perform. The best robotic lawnmowers perform really well, but you get what you pay for and a model that can cope with a moderately tough to difficult lawn costs about £1500. However, this should be viewed in relation to the most expensive models that cost upwards of £5000. But if you have a flat, uncomplicated and not too large lawn you can get by with a significantly simpler model for around £1000. However, there's a big difference between a budget and premium robotic lawn mower, and a budget model isn't always enough to get the job done.

Because both price and performance vary so significantly between different models, we have divided the test candidates into three different price classes and named the winner in each price class as follows:

Budget: up to £1100 Robotic lawn mowers in this price class should be able to cope with smaller, uncomplicated lawns with a uniform surface. Both problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities are normally quite limited.

Medium: approx. £1100-£2000 In this price class you should be able to expect that the robotic lawn mower will be able to cope with relatively tough lawns of around 1000 m². Both the problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities should be sufficiently good to deal with the majority of lawns. Unfortunately, many medium priced models can’t cope with this.

Premium: more than £2000 Models in this price class should be able to cope with large, complicated lawns with many obstacles, narrow passages and complex cable laying. They should ideally also be able to cope with steep gradients and troublesome surfaces. Unfortunately a large proportion of premium models fall down on several of these points.

Useful information about robotic lawn mowers

AI

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. This technology is what gives robotic lawn mowers their problem-solving ability.

Just like people, the better they are at solving a variety of problems, the more intelligent robotic lawn mowers are considered to be. Working out how to make a robotic mower more intelligent is an extremely expensive process that involves a great deal of trial and error. For this reason, robotic lawn mowers from companies that have been manufacturing them for a long time tend to have a better AI technology than newcomers, whose models often demonstrate "teething troubles" in terms of problem-solving ability.

In practice, this is because some manufacturers have succeeded in creating more intelligent algorithms than others. An algorithm can be seen as a set of instructions that tell the robotic lawn mower what it should do in a range of different situations.

User-friendliness

Probably the major reason to buy a robotic lawn mower is to save time and effort. So it's obvious that you want it to be user-friendly.

To begin with, installation should be simple and straightforward, so that you can easily start using your robotic lawn mower. Some models are easier to install than others, and this difference can be particularly clear if you're doing the entire installation yourself for the first time.

When the installation is complete, the most important aspects that must be user-friendly are the robotic lawn mower's computer and control panel. The interface and menu system should be so intuitive that it's easy to navigate through the different functions. If the control panel has too few buttons, programming becomes time-consuming, while too many buttons can be confusing if the layout isn't sufficiently clear.

Build quality & durability

Robotic lawn mowers are expensive and complicated products, so it's important they don't break down. The factory guarantee covers the initial period, but after that you have to pay for repairs and maintenance yourself.

In general, a high build quality means a durable robotic lawn mower. To have a long lifespan, the robotic lawn mower should also be impact resistant and not sensitive to external influences. It should therefore be moisture-resistant; in a rainy and damp climate, moisture should be prevented from penetrating the many circuits that make up a robotic lawn mower.

It should also be heat-resistant so that it doesn't overheat from being out in the blazing sun for days on end. The blades should also be robust so that they don't bend or break when they hit hard objects such as stones, roots or forgotten toys.

Design

The design of the robotic lawn mower determines not only how attractive it is but also how reliable and durable it is - and how well it handles rough terrain. Robotic lawn mower designers must constantly manage conflicts between aesthetics, performance, functionality, manufacturing costs and safety.

For example, a bigger cutting width is almost always preferable from a purely technical perspective, as it makes the robotic lawn mower more stable and quicker at cutting the lawn. At the same time it's also more expensive to manufacture such a mower.

A smaller safety buffer around the inside of the housing makes possible a wider cutting width but simultaneously increases the risks of accidents. In the same way, a big red "STOP" button is useful from a safety viewpoint, but from an aesthetic perspective it's nicer if it's a bit less visible.

So in a well-designed robotic lawn mower, all of these factors are taken into account.

Reliability

Reliability is perhaps the single most important characteristic of a robotic lawn mower. The whole idea of a robotic lawn mower – like all other types of robot – is for it to look after itself and to require as little work from its operator as possible. When the robotic lawn mower has been installed and programmed, it should therefore require minimal effort from its owner. An extremely reliable robotic lawn mower won't necessarily be able to cut the grass everywhere, but at the same time it should never get stuck anywhere either. But of course you also want it to be able to cut the more tricky parts of the garden. In practice, this means that no robotic lawn mower is completely reliable, and that they all sooner or later get helplessly stuck somewhere. However, for the most reliable robotic lawn mowers this happens very rarely, while the least reliable get stuck very often. The characteristics that are most important for reliability are the robotic lawn mower's terrain-handling abilities and its AI.

Terrain-handling

A robotic lawn mower's terrain-handling is the decisive aspect of its functionality. Partly because it determines where the robotic lawn mower will be able to cut the grass, and partly because it indirectly determines how often the robotic lawn mower will get stuck.

The most common obstacles that we identified in our robotic lawn mower test are:

Lumps and bumps: The simplest lawn for a robotic lawn mower to cut is completely flat. However, this is an ideal that the majority of lawns simply don't meet. Particularly in Sweden, where lawns are often allowed to retain a slightly more wild character. So it's common to encounter lumps and bumps – particularly small ones – which you don't necessarily think about before they cause problems; for example for your robotic lawn mower.

Gradients: Lawns often extend over inclined ground such as slopes, banks etc. Sometimes the gradient is minimal, sometimes it's severe. It's primarily major gradients that cause problems for robotic lawn mowers, even if the slope itself is short. Sloping ground is a challenge for robotic lawn mowers, and the majority of them can cope with a maximum 15° gradient. The best models can cope with 20-25°, which means that they are able to handle the majority of garden gradients.

Obstacles: Obstacles can be found in practically all gardens tend to present the most common type of challenge for robotic lawn mowers. There are many common obstacles, which include trees, fences, fence doors, walls, posts, compost heaps, pots, bushes, roots, paths, patios, flower beds, flagpoles, statues, sandpits, raised vegetable beds, log piles, swings and trampolines. The challenges created by obstacles vary significantly in type and level of difficulty. The most common obstacles are also among the most easily managed and involve hard, uniform objects that stick straight up out of the lawn, such as trees and fences. All robotic lawnmowers should handle these with ease. More difficult obstacles are things like bushes, trampolines and swings if they are attached to the ground with planks. The roots of bushes can trap robotic lawn mowers, while they can easily get stuck in trampoline legs or any planks used to attach swings.

Surface: There are a number of different surfaces that provide major challenges for robotic lawnmowers, such as roots, gravel, loose earth/sand, newly planted grass, leaves, pine cones and clay. These all create a loose and/or slippery surface which it is easy for the robotic lawn mower's small wheels to get stuck in. To handle difficult surfaces efficiently therefore requires sufficiently large wheels with sufficiently effective patterns. Of course the width of the wheels also affects the terrain-handling capacity, but with the right pattern and a machine that's not too heavy the wheels can be kept surprisingly narrow.

Challenging cutting surfaces: There are a number of common cutting surfaces that are particularly demanding for robotic lawn mowers.

Narrow passages/bottlenecks are challenging for a robotic lawn mower as it doesn't have eyes and so can't see in which direction the passage goes. This means that the lawn mower finds it difficult to "find the right way" and instead moves from side to side in the passage. Intelligent robotic lawn mowers have been programmed to avoid this type of situation and to quickly escape. A common trick that many robotic lawn mowers use to guide themselves through narrow passages is to follow the perimeter wire for a certain distance from the base station or to follow a guide cable.

Sharp corners are often a problem as they risk causing the robotic lawn mower to "go off track" and cross the perimeter wire. A safe lawn mower stops by itself when it realises that it has left its "enclosure", but on the other hand it will remain stationary until the owner reactivates it.

Corner areas with lots of obstacles can represent challenges as the lawn mower risks becoming "trapped" if it constantly collides with either the perimeter wire or the obstacles surrounding the corner. To avoid the robotic lawn mower wasting time in a corner therefore requires a sufficiently intelligent robot that can quickly work out an escape route.

Secondary areas are areas that are separate from the primary area but which must also be cut. For example, a house could have two lawns with a secondary smaller lawn in front of a house with a bigger lawn (the primary cutting area) in the back garden. Often the secondary and primary areas are connected by a narrow passage.

Robotic lawn mowers are not intended or designed to cope with long, coarse or wet grass. An overgrown lawn may therefore need to be cut with a conventional lawn mower before it becomes manageable for a robotic lawn mower. This applies particularly to small lawn mowers. Even if the lawn mower manages to force its way through the long grass, it often has to drive over the area several times in order to gradually cut the grass short. The lawn mower's wheels press the grass down each time it passes, which often results in the long grass gradually lying down rather than being cut. This particularly applies to robotic lawn mowers with pivoting blades, which are designed to give if they encounter too much resistance. Long and coarse grass is therefore one of the few areas where fixed blades are preferable to pivoting blades.

Price classes in the test

Budget: up to £1100 Robotic lawn mowers in this price class should be able to cope with smaller, uncomplicated lawns with a uniform surface. Both problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities are normally quite limited.

Medium: approx. £1100-£2000 In this price class you should be able to expect that the robotic lawn mower will be able to cope with relatively tough lawns of around 1000 m². Both the problem-solving ability and terrain-handling abilities should be sufficiently good to deal with the majority of lawns. Unfortunately, many medium priced models can't cope with this.

Premium: more than £2000 Models in this price class should be able to cope with large, complicated lawns with many obstacles, narrow passages and complex cable laying. They should ideally also be able to cope with steep gradients and troublesome surfaces. Unfortunately a large proportion of premium models fall down on several of these points.

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