Should you buy a robot lawn mower with no boundary wire? My verdict after months of testing

The Eufy E15 is at present 39% off, obtainable for $1,400 ($900 off), whereas the E18 model is $1,600.

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Mowing the grass could be a bitter tablet for a lot of who might take pleasure in a manicured garden however not essentially the method main as much as it. I sometimes benefit from the time and train I get whereas mowing my garden, however after switching to a robot mower final 12 months, I can actually say it has been months since I’ve used a conventional mower.

And similar to there are several types of yards, there are several types of robotic mowers to take care of them. Mowers sometimes want a boundary wire alongside the perimeter of the grass to remain inside an space, whereas others include an RTK antenna for satellite tv for pc navigation.

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Nonetheless, I have been testing the Eufy E15 Robot Mower, which requires neither of those options, and I have been fairly impressed with the expertise powering it.

No boundary wire

I first noticed the Eufy E15 at CES in January, and as a fan of the model for safety and robotic vacuums, I used to be already trying ahead to testing it.

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However what impressed me essentially the most is that this mower does away with the necessities for boundary wire and antennas, as an alternative counting on a mix of superior sensors, cameras, and synthetic intelligence (AI) algorithms to navigate your yard.

The Eufy E15 robotic mower navigates very like a robotic vacuum. This, I consider, is the way forward for robotic mower expertise. Finally, we might like much less invasiveness and extra outcomes from our smart devices. So, having a robotic that autonomously mows your yard with out worrying about putting an antenna good or burying boundary wire alongside the sides of your property is right.

That stated, such an environment friendly expertise is neither superior nor inexpensive sufficient to change into the usual.

Struggled to mow my uneven garden

Whereas the Eufy E15’s mapping and impediment avoidance expertise is spectacular, the robotic struggled to mow my garden effectively. My yard is fenced in, however there may be a variety of uneven terrain, a few poorly outlined backyard beds, and a steep hill that results in a wooded space on the again. There’s additionally a big deck underneath which some robotic mowers have been trapped, and bushes alongside the edges of my home.

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My yard is like an impediment course for robotic mowers. Whereas the entrance yard is far easier, it is also unfenced, and I did not need to threat the Eufy E15 touring over to mow my neighbor’s yard, so I set it up out again.

Welp, my flowers

It took the Eufy E15 about two hours to map my total yard, primarily as a result of it maps by touring round and scanning the world. Robotic mowers with a buried wire use that to remain inside a fringe, whereas others that use RTK and GNSS require a well-placed antenna and so that you can remotely steer them round their boundary.

The Eufy E15 makes use of neither of those applied sciences. It makes use of Visible Fusion Sensing and Resolution (V-FSD), so it has to bodily journey round your yard to see which areas are grassy and which must be ‘no-go’ zones. Then, the Eufy app saves a map of your yard, and also you’re set to go, similar to a robotic vacuum.

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The Eufy app is similar app you employ for Eufy Safety cameras, which may be very handy, as I’ve a Eufy safety system at residence. Very like a robotic vacuum, you’ll be able to edit the app and set no-go zones, pathways, and grass-cutting zones.

Having the ability to set no-go zones makes it simpler for the robotic to keep away from areas of my yard that are not very properly outlined, just like the flower beds talked about above and the hill main as much as the woods. With out manually including these digital boundaries, the robotic mowed over the spring progress of my flowers and repeatedly received caught on the steep hill.

Good sufficient

My uneven yard does finest with an AWD mower just like the Mammotion Luba 2, however this Eufy robotic mower is sensible sufficient to seek out dips the place it might get caught to avoid wasting in your map and keep away from them every time it mows. I want not risking having to rescue it and with the ability to rely on my mower not forsaking bushy areas in my yard.

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The app means that you can customise a lot of the Eufy E15’s mowing talents. You possibly can set path instructions, grass peak, edge spacing, path spacing, journey and blade velocity, schedules, rain detection, and the quantity and language for the robotic’s prompts. The Eufy E15 may also be managed with the app like an RC automotive, and you’ll ring it to seek out it when you’ll be able to’t bodily see it.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Eufy E15 robotic mower is ideal for even-terrained, fenced-in yards. That is the right robotic mower you probably have a easy, comparatively small grassy yard with no steep slopes and a bodily perimeter round it. That is true even when your yard has a paved or concrete patio, timber, and well-defined backyard beds.

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This mower is sensible sufficient to keep away from these obstacles and autonomously mark them as no-go zones within the Eufy app. It is also able to navigating round altering environments, like a pet that crosses in entrance of it, or round toys that weren’t on the yard the day earlier than. It is also confirmed sensible sufficient to keep away from going into the bushes round my residence and even underneath the deck, which solely the Mammotion Luba 2 has successfully prevented.