Flying cars might still be a fantasy far in the future, but one futuristic gadget has quietly arrived in our gardens: the robot lawn mower. The best robot lawnmowers will cut your grass while you put your feet up. No sweat, no noise, and no need to wrestle with a traditional mower.
However, these clever garden gadgets have some big drawbacks. Many robot mowers work using a boundary wire placed around your lawn, but this is a lot of work to install. There are more and more robot machines that navigate by camera or GPS. This makes setup a lot simpler, as the machine only needs an antenna or reference (RTK) station to navigate.
But if you’ve ever shopped for a robot lawnmower, you’ll know that the biggest issue is the high price point. These robots are much more expensive than traditional mowers, and prices for the top models often start at £1500.
So, are they worth it? I put a range of models to the test to see which ones truly perform as promised, and which are actually worth the money.
How I tested
I tested a range of robot lawnmowers in my garden, as well as on other lawns to assess how they handled different conditions – gardens ranged in size from around 1/8th of an acre all the way up to large gardens of a couple of acres. Each had the usual obstacles to navigate – paths, ponds, and garden furniture.
I set up each mower per its instructions, laying metres of boundary wire and establishing satellite connections. After that, I paid close attention to the following:
- Ease of use: A robot lawnmower’s main purpose is to make your life easier, so I analysed how easy each one was to use. I also watched out for any quirks that might be off-putting, for example, the mower going off-piste and cutting through the boundary wire, meaning I’d have to lay it again.
- Navigation of each machine: I assessed how precise and organised its mowing patterns were, and how well each one navigated the different gardens.
- Quality and connectivity of apps: I considered whether they were easy to use and if they gave me total control over cutting heights, schedules, and cutting zones. All the mowers that made my final edit passed the test and enabled me to get them mowing even when I was miles away.
- Overall finish: Crucially, I compared the finish results. I compared photos of the lawns and assessed neatness and whether the robot lawnmowers missed any patches of grass.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Jon Axworthy has been a feature writer since 1996 and has been contributing reviews to IndyBest since 2017. With a particular focus on outdoor gear and garden tech, Jon has hands-on experience with everything from grass strimmers and traditional mowers, the latest generation of robot lawnmowers and the best gas BBQs for summer, solidifying his status as a garden tech expert.
The best robot lawnmowers for 2025 are:
- Best overall – LawnMaster OcuMow 18 MX: £499.99, Cleva.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Yard Force easymow 260B: £399.99, Yardforce.eu
- Best professional – Mammotion Luba mini AWD 800: £1,499, Amazon.co.uk
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LawnMaster ocumow 18 MX
Best: Robot lawn mower overall
Recommended lawn size: 800 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-80mm
Cutting width: 16cm
Max slope: 35%
Navigation: Camera
Why we love it
- Good versatility
- Value for money
- No boundary wire
Take note
- Charge time of 120 minutes
LawnMaster ocumow 18 MX is a wire- and app-free, drop-and-go mower. Like a robot vacuum cleaner, it uses a combination of an HD camera and sensors to figure out where your lawn ends. This is a game-changer, because it means there’s no faffing about with boundary wires or GPS antennae.
To get it working on my lawn, I just had to install and power up the base station, which took five minutes, and punch the cutting schedule into the LCD display.
This mower can recognise hard landscaping like gravel and paths, as well as organic obstacles like piles of mulch or raised edges.
Its randomised cutting pattern was very efficient for a medium-sized lawn, but it’s also good for lawn health. This mower can identify patchy grass and will steer clear, letting it grow back naturally. Over time, it makes for a much healthier lawn.
The only time the mower got into trouble was when it tried to mow a steep grassy drop-off on one side of the lawn, but this was easy to fix. I pegged the included 10m ‘no-go’ magnetic strip to act as a barrier, which solved the problem immediately.
At £500, it is hardly cheap, but this versatile mower offers incredible value for money compared with other options. Many of the robot mowers I’ve tested over the years cost three times as much.
Buy now £499.99, Cleva-uk.com
Yard Force easymow 260B
Best: Budget robot lawn mower
Recommended lawn size: 260 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-55mm
Cutting width: 16cm
Max slope: 30%
Navigation: Boundary wire
Why we love it
- Well-priced
- Great cut
Take note
- Charge time of 100 minutes
- Poor app
I’d recommend taking your time when laying the boundary wire for the Yard Force easymow 260B machine, as I had a few issues with breakages during operation, but I was satisfied with its performance. The machine will give you just over an hour of cutting time, which is more than adequate for the small lawn areas for which it’s designed.
To begin with, I experienced some problems adding the device to the third-party CloudHawk app, but I had no issues setting up the work schedule and sending commands to the mower, whether I was at home or away. However, I found it much easier to operate the mower from the control panel.
You’re limited to three cutting heights, but the navigation of the machine, cut efficiency, and edge trimming were good. The machine has a front grass comb that stands the blades up for cleaner cuts.
Buy now £369.00, Yardforce.eu
Mammotion Luba mini AWD 800
Best: Robot lawn mower without boundary wire
Recommended lawn size: 800 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-65mm
Cutting width: 200cm
Max slope: 80%
Navigation: GPS
Why we love it
- Go-anywhere cutting
- Exceptional perfomance
Take note
- Charge time of 160 minutes
If you want a mower that can handle trickier terrain and obstacles, you need the Mammotion Luba mini AWD 800 mower. The auto-mapping was impressive – the Luba receives all the info it needs to navigate via 4G or wifi, so it doesn’t need a reference station or a boundary wire.
I found that I had more than two hours of mowing on a single charge, which is excellent for a robot mower, and the intelligent and efficient navigation means this machine could mow a 250m² lawn (about the size of a tennis court) in that time. It automatically cuts to the edge where possible, as it straddles the border between the grass and any hard landscaping.
The Luba is a true off-roader, with four-wheel drive and a suspension system that easily rolls over all terrains. It handled lawn ruts well and even a few larger holes dug out by my dogs, and the 4WD means it can work up huge slopes of up to 80 per cent.
Its app connectivity and control were excellent, and you can store up to 20 map zones. It’s almost overpowered. If you really want to get the neighbours talking, you can create what Mammotion calls lawn “tattoos”, mowing letters and shapes into your grass. The only real drawback is that this all comes at a very high price. The best part of £2000 is a lot to pay for a tidy lawn.
Buy now £1499.00, Amazon.co.uk
Stiga A8
Best: GPS robot lawn mower
Recommended lawn size: 800 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-60mm
Cutting width: 18cm
Max slope: 45%
Navigation: GPS
Why we love it
- Effortless setup
- Great results
Much like the Yard Force easymow 260B above, this Stiga A8 mower proved to be an excellent ‘drop and mow’ machine. There’s no boundary wire to set up, and all that’s required to get the machine on the move is to go online and draw in the Google Maps-based virtual perimeter, and the digital map is then uploaded to the robot. The software even suggests the optimal position for the GPS antenna.
The A8 mowed for just over an hour on a single charge, so most domestic lawns will be knocked into shape pretty quickly. When you first pair the machine to the excellent Stiga.GO app, the mower uses what Stiga calls its active guidance system. This means that the mower optimises its cutting route according to the GPS reception, so it can mow in an organised, linear way.
However, you can also choose to have the mower cut in parallel, chequerboard or grid cutting patterns. Through the app, you can also program in zonal cutting, so you can set different cutting treatments in terms of height and pattern. Finally, the machine is Quiet Mark certified – after testing it, I don’t think it’ll annoy the neighbours.
Buy now £1399.00, Stiga.com
Mammotion yuka mini
Best: Robot lawn mower for complex gardens
Recommended lawn size: 600 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-60mm
Cutting width: 190mm
Max slope: 50%
Navigation: GPS
Why we love it
- Innovative features
- Excellent value
All you need to do with the Mammotion yuka mini is set up the base station, charge the mower and then let it go to work. This is thanks to the onboard iNavi service, which means you don’t have to set up a GPS station, because iNavi receives the data over 4G (or wifi if your garden has sufficient coverage).
The yuka mini mows in an N-shaped pattern, with the onboard algorithm letting the machine resume cutting where it left off in between charges. I found the navigation faultless.
This model allows for up to 15 custom zones in which you can set up unique schedules and mowing patterns – this makes it a great fit for complicated garden setups. I had about 50 minutes of mowing time on one battery charge, and after setting the cutting height, the deck floats and adjusts automatically, which is good if your lawn is a little uneven. This model can also straddle the boundary of the lawn and any hard landscaping, if you have any, to produce a very neat finish.
Buy now £849.00, Amazon.co.uk
Gardena smart sileno city
Best: Smart robot lawn mower
Recommended lawn size: 500 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-50mm
Cutting width: 16cm
Max slope: 35%
Navigation: Boundary wire
Why we love it
- Smart home compatible
Take note
- Charge time of 70 minutes
The Gardena smart sileno city mowed for more than an hour on a single charge, and, when paired with the Gardena smart app, it gave me total control over the mower, no matter where I was.
It was easy to set the sileno city off to mow whether I was at home or away. The app lets you check on progress, set up no-mow zones or curate different settings for different areas of the garden.
Good GPS navigation ensured the mowing was optimised. The two cutting discs (with three pivoting blades) underneath mulched well and left a very well-maintained lawn behind.
The sileno city can also be added to your smart-home setup (Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit or Google Home), so you can operate it with voice commands – perfect for super-lazy Sundays.
Buy now £680.99, Amazon.co.uk
Husqvarna nera 310E
Best: Premium robot lawn mower
Recommended lawn size: 1,000 sq m
Cutting heights: 20mm-55mm
Cutting width: 22cm
Max slope: 30%
Navigation: GPS
Why we love it
- Good edging
- Perfect finish
Take note
- No headlight
- Expensive
Whether it’s the foolproof GPS mapping (via the Automower Connect app) or the excellent navigation, there’s a lot to recommend the Husqvarna nera 310E. On one charge, I managed to get almost an hour’s worth of mowing. Unlike some robot mowers, this machine can identify areas that have already been covered, so it won’t double up on tasks.
When the sensors detect areas with longer grass, the machine’s spiral cutting function sends it into a spin while it cuts, so you don’t have a finish that looks patchy, and I had a medium-sized lawn looking great after just three sessions.
The app is very intuitive and enables you to set up ‘stay-out’ zones, which were particularly helpful when I was trying to establish some areas for rewilding. The mower also allows for the creation of areas that will trigger different cutting heights when the mower enters them. What stands out with this machine, though, is the efficiency of the mowing route and the superior quality of the final cut.
Buy now £1799.00, Husqvarna.com
Sunseeker X5
Best: For mixed-terrain gardens
Recommended lawn size: 2,000 sq m
Cutting height: 20mm-60mm
Cutting width: 22cm
Max slope: 60%
Navigation: GPS
Why we love it
- Handles slopes with ease
Take note
- Manual cutting height
This all-wheel drive mower uses GPS signalling (over 4G or wifi, so there’s no reference station to set up) to map the boundaries of your lawn in real time and navigate around them.
Its route planning was excellent, and its system of cameras and scanning software made for faultless obstacle avoidance, so the lawn doesn’t become a no-go area when it’s working.
The mower’s two large, rugged front wheels meant it never ran aground, and the all-wheel drive system coped well with the terrain. The floating cut system handled the undulating lawn and left clean edging behind it.
Meanwhile, the app was smooth and easy to navigate and puts you in control of no-go areas, eight different mowing zones and mowing schedules, which you can adjust according to the season.
Buy now £1699.00, Groundtech.co.uk
Flymo ultralife 600
Best: Boundary wire robot lawn mower
Recommended lawn size: 600 sq m
Cutting height: 25mm-45mm
Cutting width: 16cm
Max slope: 25%
Navigation: Boundary wire
Why we love it
- Quiet
Take note
- Charge time of 70 minutes
After installing the boundary, the Flymo ultralife 600 model cuts randomly, mapping the lawn every time it goes out. The machine was able to mow for 50 minutes on one charge, with the three pivoting blades taking care of the grass and leaving a very satisfying finish, with good mulching.
Even though the boundary wire has to be installed 35cm from the hard boundary, the design of the mower and cutting disc placement meant the 600 still did a good job of getting as close to the edge as possible, so I didn’t have to whip around the boundary with a grass trimmer once it had finished.
The onboard sensors navigated well and optimised the efficiency of the mow, and the machine paired smoothly with the app – I was able to start and stop the machine whether I was at home or away, making for an easy life.
Buy now £979.99, Screwfix.com
Ego RM2000E
Best: Robot lawn mower for large gardens
Recommended lawn size: 2,000 sq m
Cutting height: 22mm-90mm
Cutting width: 24cm
Max slope: 50%
Navigation: Boundary wire
Why we love it
- Good battery life
Take note
- Multi-zone cutting requires manual lifting
This boundary wire model is Ego’s first foray into robotic cutting, and it works in a randomised pattern.
Ego’s battery platform has always been excellent, and the mower managed more than two hours of cutting on a single charge during testing, which was pretty impressive, although this time was reduced if it had to deal with gradients. The RM2000E was at home in open spaces, leaving a smooth, even cut behind.
Pairing and connectivity through the Ego Connect app were solid, with the mower either cutting from the boundary wire in a spiral pattern if the grass is long, or systematically in parallel. Commands for the machine, from cutting schedule to height, can either be achieved through the control panel on the mower itself or the Ego app. It is possible to cut another area enclosed by wire, but you will have to move the mower by hand from one area to the other.
Buy now £1649.00, Egopowerplus.co.uk
Your questions about robot lawnmowers, answered
What is the best robot lawn mower?
In a market crowded with expensive machines bristling with tech, the LawnMaster OcuMow 18 MX has concentrated on sensors and software to create a machine for homeowners who crave the convenience of robotic mowing without having to splurge. It’s wire-free and uses a combination of an HD camera and sensor to navigate your garden, which makes it stand out as my favourite robot lawn mower.
However, if you’re on a tighter budget, you can try the Yard Force easymow 260B. Lawncare obsessives, however, will get a lot out of the Mammotion Luba mini AWD 800, an auto-mapping model that uses four-wheel drive and a suspension system to traverse even the roughest of terrain.
What safety measures do robot lawnmowers have?
While it’s always important to be cautious and teach kids about the dangers of gardening machinery, robot mowers are equipped with plenty of safety features to ensure pets and children are out of harm’s way. Blades are housed well under the unit to prevent accidental contact, and the mower will instantly stop the blade motor if it’s picked up or knocked. On-board cameras can spot obstacles near the mower and navigate around them, while some mowers can emit a loud beeping noise to warn off pets and wildlife in their path.
Do robot lawnmowers work on uneven lawns?
Robot mowers work on uneven and sloped lawns, but as with any mower, you’ll get the best results with a perfectly even lawn. Robot mowers allow you to set the cutting height, which helps compensate for any lumps and bumps in your lawn. With a bit of trial and error, you can find the ideal setting for your garden. Most robot mowers are powerful enough to deal with steep slopes, too.
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