Robot Lawn Mowers

How to read this table

Every value in the table above is the manufacturer's own published figure, copied from the maker's product page, spec sheet or manual. Lawn robots are sold on a rated lawn area, and that single figure carries more weight here than anywhere else in this database, because a mower rated below your lawn size will not finish. Where a maker states a rated area, it appears; where one does not, the cell reads Not published rather than being back-calculated from cutting width and runtime.

Slope ratings are published as a percentage or as degrees, and the two are not the same number. We record the unit the maker uses. If your garden has a bank, that figure and the drive type are the first two cells to read.

What actually decides which robot mower fits

Boundary method splits this category in two. Perimeter-wire models need a wire pinned around the lawn and around every bed, which is an afternoon of installation but is predictable afterwards. Wire-free models navigate with satellite positioning, vision, or both, and their published requirement is a clear view of the sky or a reference antenna position — under heavy tree cover that requirement is the constraint, not the grass.

Cutting height range and cutting width decide the finish and the time. A narrow deck on a large lawn simply means more passes, which is why rated area and runtime should be read together rather than separately. Most robot mowers are designed to cut little and often, so a short runtime with a fast recharge is not a weakness in the way it would be indoors.

Then the obstacles. Published detail on lift and tilt sensors, rain sensing and object detection tells you how the machine behaves around children, pets and garden furniture. Where a maker publishes a blade type — pivoting razor blades against a fixed bar — that affects both the cut and how often blades are replaced.

Multi-zone support is worth checking if the lawn is split by a path or a driveway. Some machines handle separate zones natively; others need a guide wire or a manual carry between them, and the spec sheet is the only honest guide to which.

If you want a shortlist rather than the full table, the data-ranked guide to the best robot lawn mower orders models on published maximum mowing area, slope rating and battery runtime, with every figure taken from the maker and models missing a figure placed last.

What the spec sheet will not tell you

Cut quality on rough, uneven or newly seeded grass is not a published figure, and neither is long-term reliability outdoors through a full season of weather. We do not test mowers, so we do not claim to know either. What this table does give you is every figure the makers are prepared to stand behind, in the same units, side by side.