I’ve had a robot lawn mower for 4 months—here are the real pros and cons

Published Oct 10, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT Cory Gunther is a senior author and Newsletter Editor at Valnet, covering cutting-edge tech, Android, and more for How-To Geek. He's covered Android, cars, and technology for over a decade. When he's not reviewing the latest gadget, you can find him off-roading in his Toyota truck, fixing said truck, or doing something outdoors with friends and family. He's covered CES, SEMA, and MWC and reviewed countless phones, TVs, speakers, EVs, e-bikes, and more. Before Valnet, Cory worked for GottaBeMobile. His writing has also appeared on SlashGear, InputMag, and AndroidCentral. He's written over 9,000 articles. After four months of letting a robot lawn mower manage my grass through crazy weather, hot summer months, objects in the yard, and daily wear, was it worth it? Is the grass really greener on the other side? The convenience is fantastic, but it's not without its quirks. While I absolutely love it, and it saves my weekend, I have thoughts. I love fiddling in the garage and doing yard work, but sometimes life gets in the way or more important things come up. In a location like Texas, keeping up with lawn care is pretty important. I turned to a robot lawn mower and haven't looked back, but there are growing pains. Lawn maintenance is still required But this is certainly the future Earlier this year, I got the Segway Navimow X430 robot mower and put it through its paces. I mentioned a few hiccups or pros and cons in my review, but after using it for a while longer, I have a few more thoughts. Obviously, your mileage may vary based on the brand or model you have, location, grass type, and several other factors. There are several things I didn't think about or consider initially that others will want to know about. First, I still love the decision, and it's doing a pretty solid job. There's nothing better than waking up Saturday morning and enjoying some coffee, hanging with the kids, and watching college football while the mower does all the hard work outside. Trust me, it's very satisfying. I enjoy being able to set a schedule or pull up the app to initiate a mow. Occasionally, I'll see it's going to rain the next day, and before cooking dinner or while grilling some steaks, I'll pull up the app, hit start, and go back to enjoying my life. Everything is highly configurable in the app, from start times to avoiding rain, and I can change the cut height at a moment's notice. I can't overstate the convenience. It's truly been a game-changer in my house. But it's not all autonomous; you still have to manage the yard, edges, weed-whack, and use a string trimmer. It doesn't do everything, at least not yet, although there are some models with edger attachments. No matter how many times I redraw the boundaries, enable "Edge Sense," or make software tweaks, I can't get it close enough to the edge in every area. It goes around the yard fine, and gets fairly close, but the fence line gets overgrown after a few weeks, and I have to bust out my trusty Ryobi string trimmer. For whatever reason, my particular model struggles even more near my raised patio. It always mows about 6–8 inches away, leaving that area to grow out of control. The main area around my patio is never mowed close enough and looks a little messy. And hitting it with the string trimmer every few weeks leaves a lot of grass-clipping buildups, and eventually I'll need a lawn dethatcher. If I try to force the mower closer, it either keeps mowing too far out or goes up onto the patio, scuffing my epoxy finish. It's a lose-lose, so I've just resorted to edging before I know the mower is going to start. Don't forget that you'll still have to do a little maintenance on the mower, just like a gas or electric model, such as replacing or sharpening the blades. It's been pretty hassle-free so far, but it's time to swap out the blades already, since they're much smaller than those on a regular mower. And finally, I've found that to get the yard to look the way I want, I have to let it mow the entire yard twice per session. See, most robot mowers use light, free-swinging razor blades instead of high-lift suction decks​​​​​​. As a result, it can look a little uneven after the first pass, but much cleaner after a second go. I'm not doing the work, so that's fine, but it's worth keeping in mind. Managing those weeds Robot mowers don't bag your clippings I live outside of Dallas, and the weeds are absolutely wild here. Naturally, any homeowner needs to keep up with pre- and post-emergent solutions, spot-treat weeds, and take other steps to keep that grass looking smooth and golf-course green. I've never lived in a state where lawn care is such a full-time job. Depending on where you live and the type of grass you have, weeds can quickly get out of control. To prevent the spread of seeds, I've always bagged my clippings until I get the weeds under control in the spring and late summer. This helps prevent weeds from rapidly spreading, but you can't do that with a robot mower. My yard is nice and cut, but there are far more weeds than I expected simply because my process and treatment needs to change. No matter what I tried, all the expensive solutions, I still have weeds everywhere. A big part of that is likely due to not bagging. Pre-emergent weed preventer is your friend. Tech isn't always meant to live outside I could really use a robot garage And last but not least, I didn't realize how important it would be to buy the optional robot lawn mower garage. I didn't want to spend $350 on the Segway garage, but I probably should have built some sort of shelter or cover. Heavy rain, humidity, morning dew, blazing hot heat, dirt, dust, grass clippings, and more all end up covering your lawn mower. Obviously, it's built to handle the elements, and mine is certainly water-resistant. I put it under the patio cover when it rains hard, but that's not enough. In just over four months, all the buttons, screens, and camera sensors are showing clear signs of exposure to the elements. The buttons are covered in limescale, hard water spots, and grime. The front cameras and sensors have water spots on the lenses that I can't seem to remove. I've tried several different cleaners. As a result, it'll occasionally fire off an error or stop mowing due to the 3D camera sensor struggling. I can ignore it or hit "start," and it continues, but it's one more thing to worry about. My bigger concern is how things look after only four months. How will those buttons or cameras be after a few years of sitting outside? We'll have to wait and see. Trust me, you'll want to buy or build a cover for your robot lawn mower. I still love it, and it's way more impactful than a robot vacuum At the end of the day, I still absolutely love this robot lawn mower, and I feel like it's a far better investment than a robot vacuum. Having one less thing to worry about all week long is hugely important, and being able to spend that time with my toddler, watching sports, or doing other things makes it worth the investment. Sure, there's a high initial cost, maintenance is still required, and it's not the fastest mower. However, the convenience, automation, quiet operation, and healthier grass from frequent, shorter cuts make this one of my favorite gadgets around the house. I have no regrets. Segway Navimow X430 Robot Lawn Mower Brand Segway Navimow X4 Cutting Width 17-inch The Segway Navimow X430 is a capable robot lawn mower built to keep your grass looking great. Able to mow an area up to 1 acre, 4WD for 84% slopes, and zero-turn technology for damage-free mowing. There's no need for an external antenna or boundary wires, and it supports EFLS tri-frequency Network RTK combined with 360° Vision for easy obstacle-avoidance mowing.