Robot mowers: do they actually work, or just get stuck?
Robot mowers are the gadget you want to love. The idea is perfect — a little robot trims your lawn while you do something better. The reality is messier. Some are genuinely excellent. Others get stuck on the first bump and beep at you until you rescue them.
We tested five robot mowers over a full growing season in a real UK garden — bumps, slopes, tree roots, the lot.
Handles slopes up to 40%, finds its way back to the dock every time, and cuts so finely you never see clippings. Expensive, but it actually works. Unlike the others.
How robot mowers work
All robot mowers use a boundary wire (or GPS/AI on the fancy ones) to know where your lawn ends. They wander randomly within that boundary, cutting a few millimetres of grass at a time. The clippings are so small they fall into the lawn as mulch — no clippings to collect.
The boundary wire is the make-or-break. It needs burying in the lawn or pinning to the surface, and it defines the area. Get it wrong and your mower will either escape into the flowerbeds or refuse to leave a corner.
The winner: Husqvarna Automower 315
Husqvarna invented the robot mower and it shows. The 315 handles lawns up to 1,000m², slopes up to 40%, and has a proper collision sensor that bounces it off obstacles without getting confused.
What sets it apart:
- It doesn't get stuck. The collision sensor plus the boundary wire means it just... works.
- The cut quality is excellent. Adjustable cutting height from 20–60mm.
- It handles slopes. 40% gradient is genuinely steep — most competitors tap out at 25%.
- Theft alarm and PIN lock. Because someone will try to nick it.
- Weather timer. It mows more in growing season, less when it's dry.
At £1,500–£2,000 it's not cheap. But it's the only one we tested that didn't need rescuing.
The runner-up: Worx Landroid M500
If your garden is flat and simple, the Worx Landroid at £600–£800 is brilliant value. It handles 500m², has a decent app, and the cut quality is good. It struggles on slopes over 20° and gets confused by tree roots, but for a flat suburban lawn it's a genuine bargain.
The one that disappointed: Flymo 1200R
We wanted to love the Flymo — it's cheap (£500) and Flymo is a trusted name. But it got stuck on a 15° slope, couldn't handle the edge of the lawn without scalping it, and the app crashed more than it worked. Save your money.
The wire-free future
The latest mowers (Husqvarna EPOS, Segway Navimow, Worx Landroid Vision) use GPS or cameras instead of boundary wire. They're the future, but they're early — the GPS models struggle near walls and trees, and the camera-based ones need a clear, well-lit lawn. For now, the wire-based Husqvarna 315 is still the best bet.
The honest verdict
Robot mowers aren't for everyone. If your lawn is small, flat, and simple — a push mower is cheaper and more satisfying. If your lawn is large, has multiple zones, or you genuinely hate mowing — the Husqvarna is worth every penny. Just don't cheap out. A bad robot mower is more annoying than no robot mower.