The Best Robot Lawn Mowers for 2023
A robot lawn mower frees you from pushing a noisy, gas-powered mower around your yard every weekend. Here are the best models we’ve tested.
I’ve been working with computers for ages, starting with a multi-year stint in purchasing for a major IBM reseller in New York City before eventually landing at PCMag (back when it was still in print as PC Magazine). I spent more than 14 years on staff, most recently as the director of operations for PC Labs, before hitting the freelance circuit as a contributing editor.
OVERVIEW
Gardena Robotic Mower Sileno City
There’s nothing like the look and smell of freshly cut grass. But unless you’re paying for a professional landscaping service, you have to put in a lot of time to keep your lawn in tip-top shape. You can spend hours every week doing the work yourself the old-fashioned way or you can invest in a robot lawn mower.
Available for lawns of all shapes and sizes, robot lawn mowers are relatively easy to set up and program. And because they rely on rechargeable battery packs for power, they’re super quiet. That means you can run them at any hour of the day without bothering the neighbors. They aren’t cheap, however, and you pay more for features like rain and anti-theft sensors; Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity; a mobile companion app; and flexible scheduling capabilities. The same goes for models that can handle larger lawns with steep grades and obstructions such as flower beds, trees, and ornamental decorations.
Read on to see our top picks and find out which robotic lawn mower is best for you based on your lawn size and budget.
Husqvarna Automower 315X
Bottom Line:
The Husqvarna Automower 315X is a state-of-the-art robot lawn mower that is packed with features, including GPS, Bluetooth, and cellular technology.
Bottom Line:
The Greenworks Pro Optimow 50H is a moderately priced robotic lawn mower that offers cellular connectivity, GPS tracking, and a user-friendly mobile app.
Bottom Line:
Designed for rough terrain and steep hills, the Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD is loaded with features including all-wheel drive, Bluetooth, cellular, and GPS technologies, a pivoting rear end, and an ultra-quiet battery-powered motor.
PROS
Gardena Robotic Mower Sileno City
Bottom Line:
It’s not loaded with features, but the Gardena Sileno City robotic lawn mower provides good cutting performance and Bluetooth connectivity at a relatively affordable price.
CONS
Robot lawn mowers look similar to robot vacuums. In action, it’s almost like watching a Roomba darting around your lawn, tidying things up. When it comes to what’s inside, however, things couldn’t be more different.
All mowers use a battery-operated motor with cutting blades, an AC-powered base station, perimeter wire, and sensors that prevent them from wandering off your property or into the street. With one end of the perimeter wire connected to a terminal on the base station, you lay the wire along the border of your lawn and hold it in place with stakes. Then, you connect the wire to the second terminal on the base station. The base not only charges the mower but provides the wire with an electrical charge. Sensors on the mower use the charged wire to guide it along the boundaries and to return to the base when the lawn is cut or when the battery needs to recharge.
Speaking of the battery, robotic mowers use a rechargeable battery pack (usually lithium-ion) that can last anywhere from 30 minutes for an entry-level model up to four-plus hours for a high-end mower. Depending on the size of the mower and the battery capacity, expect charging times of anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours or more.
You typically handle programming via an onboard control panel with a power button and menus for setting seasonal timers, scheduling cutting times, creating zones, configuring edge-cutting settings, running diagnostics, and viewing the cutting history. Nearly all robotic mowers are very quiet and operate within the 55dB to 60dB range, but a few models put out up to 75dB of sound. Gas-powered mowers typically run between 85dB and 95dB. You can run the quieter mowers at night (some even have headlights), but you should probably run the louder models only in the daytime.
Consider Your Lawn Size and Cutting Deck
The cutting deck refers to the area underneath the mower where the blades spin. Most robotic mowers use a floating deck design that allows you to quickly adjust the cutting height, which is helpful for preventing it from scalping the grass in higher spots. Different mowers use different types of cutting blades. For example, some mowers use a single spinning blade configuration while others use multiple spinning blades or a spinning disc lined with multiple razor blades.
The mower’s cutting width determines how wide a swath it cuts on a single pass. Models for smaller lawns may only have a 7-inch cutting width, while mowers for big lawns offer cutting widths of around two feet. All robotic mowers cut the grass into a fine, almost sawdust-like state that works its way into the soil as mulch that fertilizes your lawn. Equally important, there’s no bagging involved.
How Much Does a Robot Lawn Mower Cost?
Robotic lawn mowers aren’t cheap, but, in most cases, light-duty mowers are significantly more affordable than their heavy-duty counterparts. Whatever you do, make sure you buy a mower that can handle your lawn. Most vendors have online calculators to help you choose the right model for your needs, and many of them can send a representative out to your house to do a site check. Expect to pay anywhere from 600 or more for a bare-bones model, to more than 5,000 for a mower with all the bells and whistles. Dealers that require professional installation may add hundreds of dollars to the total cost.
Once you narrow your choices based on lawn complexity and working capacity, it’s time to consider features. Look for a mower with flexible programming options that allow you to create schedules for multiple zones. For example, if you have a large lawn, you might want to split it into multiple zones and set the mower to concentrate on specific zones on specific days. With multi-zone schedules, the mower travels directly to the area you specify before it begins cutting, which saves battery life.
Most robotic mowers operate in rainy conditions but that can get messy. Caked-up grass cuttings tend to stick to the deck, blades are likely to need frequent cleaning, and some mowers might struggle with wheel slippage. Look for a mower with a weather-sensing feature that tells it to return to the base in the event of a heavy downpour.
If you have a lawn with lots of hills and slopes, you need something with large wheels that can navigate the changing landscape. Most mowers can handle slopes of up to 20 degrees, but some can handle slopes of up to 30 degrees. Husqvarna’s 435X AWD can manage extreme slopes with an incline of up to 70%.
All robotic mowers let you adjust the cutting height using a dial on the mower, and some models let you make this adjustment electronically at the control panel or via a mobile app. Although all mowers use perimeter wires and advanced algorithms to ensure total lawn coverage, some models also utilize GPS technology that tells the mower where it’s been and where it needs to go. Some robotic mowers offer built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular circuitry that lets you program and control the mower using a mobile app and track mowing progress from anywhere.
Greenworks lawn mower costco
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Greenworks Pro 80V Trimmer Blower Kit
Found this deal at a store not listed above? Please add the store name (City State/Province) in the Комментарии и мнения владельцев below and we’ll add it to the Confirmed Locations list above. Your assistance will help other Costco bargain hunters in your area find this deal.
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I’m confused…yesterday in my local Costco, they had item #1397573, the Greenworks 80V trimmer/blower kit for sale for 349.97. The ones for sale featured TWO (2) 80V, 2 AH batteries. (It is the Greenworks Model #2415402) (BTW, to purchase an extra Greenworks 80V, 2 AH battery on AMZN is 150…) So…am I to understand Costco is selling two versions; one with a single battery and one with two batteries?
Costco97 says:
Sorry! Our bad. We missed the TWO quantity on the batteries. We’ve updated the post. Thank you for letting us know.
Thank you for taking the time to post this deal. Item purchased yesterday in the San Francisco, CA for a father day’s present. This was a good deal at regular price. Fantastic deal on clearance. My husband is going to be one happy guy!
For the lawn perfectionist
This reliable Honda gas mower’s dual blades manicure a lawn with precision, and its unique system can dial in the ratio of grass you’re bagging and mulching.
Buying Options
At the time of publishing, the price was 699.
If you’re not ready to go cordless just yet, we recommend the self-propelled Honda HRX217VKA Lawn Mower. In terms of cut quality and the ability to maintain turf health, it’s one of the best self-propelled mowers available, due mostly to a pair of features—a two-blade cutting system that offers golf-course-like results, and a unique way to dial in a precise mulching-to-bagging ratio to compensate for various grass conditions. Combine all of that with this mower’s other strong details, like a large 200 cc engine and rear-wheel drive to help traverse tall grass or hills, and you’re getting enough to justify the steep price.
A good version of a standard mower
This dependable, popular Toro performs as well as other decent self-propelled mowers and stands out for its ability to be stored upright (like the Egos), saving valuable garage space.
Buying Options
At the time of publishing, the price was 449.
If you want to pay the lowest price possible and still get a quality self-propelled mower, we recommend the Toro SmartStow Recycler 20340. At around 450, the Toro costs less than the Egos and the Honda, and, like other good options at this price level, it offers intuitive self-propulsion and excellent mulching performance. The Toro’s unusual feature—and the reason we recommend it over a lot of similar machines—is its space-saving ability to be stowed upright in a crowded garage or shed (the Egos can be stored this way as well). However, with the Toro, you don’t get the Ego’s gas-free convenience or the Honda’s cut quality.
The best lawn mower
The self-propelled Ego LM2135SP’s battery runs for an hour and easily mows down overgrown grass—and it spares you the noise, emissions, and maintenance of a typical gas mower.
Buying Options
With Ace Rewards membership (free to join)
For the lawn perfectionist
This reliable Honda gas mower’s dual blades manicure a lawn with precision, and its unique system can dial in the ratio of grass you’re bagging and mulching.
Buying Options
At the time of publishing, the price was 699.
The research
Over the past nine mowing seasons, we’ve spent more than 120 hours researching nearly 250 mowers, interviewing experts, and extensively testing some of our top picks.
An invaluable source has been Roy Berendsohn, a Popular Mechanics lawn mower guru who has more than 20 years of experience testing and writing about mowers. If Berendsohn isn’t writing about mowers, he’s often being interviewed about them (see here and here).
We’ve interviewed landscapers, including Chad Crosby of West Michigan Lawn Services and Paul Koehler of Koehler Landscape Construction Services. We’ve called people at lawn mower retail/service outlets, like Nick Ortiz at Kellam Lawn Mower in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, and Boston Lawnmower Company’s David (who asked that his last name be withheld). We’ve talked to product managers at Honda, Toro, Troy-Bilt, Ego, Cub Cadet, and other manufacturers.
Personally, I maintain a rural property in New Hampshire that is far too large for a push mower to cover but that does provide ample room to test our recommendations. This guide’s editor, Harry Sawyers, assists with testing mowers on his LA property and draws from his previous experience as a professional landscaper.
Who this is for
If you want to be able to stand the sight of your yard this summer, you’re going to need a lawn mower. Anything larger than a half-acre gets into riding-mower territory, but a self-propelled push mower is perfect for a half-acre or less. Going at a pace of about 3 mph (roughly average walking speed), it will take about an hour to cut this amount of grass. (If you have a particularly small lawn, a reel mower is an option—but it’s quite hard work.)
If you already own a gas mower that’s less than a decade old, you will probably not notice a tremendous difference by upgrading to a newer gas mower. Upgrading to a cordless model is a more noticeable change you could immediately appreciate.
The Best Reel Mower for Your (Small) Lawn
After 30 hours researching and testing reel mowers, we think the Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower is the best pick for manual lawncare.
Greenworks PRO 80V 42 Inch CrossoverZ Zero Turn Lawn Mower Review
Greenworks PRO 80V 42 Inch CrossoverZ
Manufacturer: Greenworks Model number: CRZ 428 Price: 5,999 Power source: 80V Li-Ion
The expansion of electric outdoor power equipment continues and we’re getting our hands on more models to review. The most recent electric zero turn mower that we evaluated is the Greenworks PRO 80V 42″ model. This is a package offered exclusively at Costco and it’s packaged with extra batteries. There are a couple different packages for this 80V model available from Greenworks.
Last year we reviewed our first cordless zero turn mower from Ryboi so this is a great comparison for folks interested in ditching the gas! So in this review we’ll FOCUS on the Greenworks mower but also do some comparison at the end.
Greenworks is offering wide range of mowing options in their 80V lineup including two different riding mowers, several push mowers, and assorted accessory tools including blowers, string trimmers, hedge clippers and chainsaws. Buying into the battery platform allows users to get all the essential outdoor power equipment on the same battery platform.
Features and Specifications
- High-efficiency Brushless Motors Provide Power, Torque and Longer Life
- Mow up to 3 Acres on a Single Charge
- Handles Hills up to 15° Slope
- Built with a 42″ Reinforced Stamped 12-gauge Steel Deck
- Max Cutting Speed of 8 MPH
- Voltage: 80V Li-Ion
- Cutting Width: 42″
- Minimum Cutting Height: 1-1/2″
- Maximum Cutting Height: 4-1/2″
- Warranty: 4 Years Tool and Batteries
Getting To Know The Greenworks Zero Turn Mower
Our sample mower was dropped shipped via a freight company and dropped off in the hard on a pallet. This is typical of large mowers and also how we received another brands zero turn mower last year. There was some slight damage to the seat from shipping and Greenworks offered to replace the seat. The mower arrives fully assembled and ready to go. We simply cut the shipping straps and drove it right off the shipping pallet and started mowing immediately.
This particular model/package comes with 12 batteries so you can mow with six of them while you charge another six. This mower shipped with 4.0 Ah battery packs (5.0 Ah packs are also available which would increase run-time). As you can see above the mower has 6 slots of batteries located under the seat. It also ships with 3 dual port charges allowing users to charge all six batteries at once.
A side note to the battery chargers. I tried plugging all 3 chargers into the same circuit and the current draw was too much resulting in tripping the 20 amp circuit. So if you want to charge 6 batteries at once you’ll likely need to use two different circuits.
The controls on the Greenworks CRZ 428 are what you’d expect from a standard zero turn mower with a couple of unique differences. The CRZ 428 does not have a break pedal. When the control levers are pressed to their most outward position they engage the parking break instead of a pedal. One thing I really like about the control levers on this unit is the “spring” resistance as you push forward. Unlike some of the mowers I’ve driven this is a nice feature having some back pressure on the handle which makes for smoother changes in speed in my opinion.
The deck height adjustment is very typical of most mowers and easy to set. The deck raises and lowers with ease and the height adjustment seemed to be very accurate. All of the levers and controls on this unit felt robust and well made.
I found the seat to be extremely comfortable and it’s high back was a pleasant surprise for me especially because I’m over 6’3″ tall. The seat adjusts backward and forward for users of different heights. I will say the seat would be nicer if it could slide back a bit more for people with really long legs like myself. While that would be nice, the mower was still comfortable to mow with.
This mower allows the user to select both the drive and blade speeds to a slower setting. This is extremely useful for prolonging battery life and also to help with better drive control. When mowing hilly sections I found myself wanting to use the slower drive speed to help prevent spin outs. The control panel also has a nice battery gauge so you can tell how much run-time is left before swapping out the batteries. When the batteries are nearly exhausted the unit will show down the mower and allow you to ride back at a lower speed to change batteries and not get stranded in the yard.
Other notable features for this mower includes drink holders, a USB port to charge your phone, on-board material storage (up to 200 lbs), LED lights and an integrated deck cleaning nozzle to hook up a hose to. Overall the deck and other metal parts on the mower seem heavy gauge and robust.