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[00:02]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Welcome to the Vergecast, the flagship podcast of robot lawnmowers. I'm Jennifer Patterson Tuohy, the Verger's senior smart home reviewer. It's officially the dog days of summer, and if you've been spending the last few weeks watching your grass grow and wondering whether it's worth shelling out a few thousand dollars for a robot to cut it for you, then this is the Vergecast for you. I've been spending the last few months testing around a half a dozen of these robot lawn mowers to see if they've gotten any better than the last time I tried when I came away hot, sweaty, frustrated, and with a few scars. My husband's not mine. Today I'm going to be joined by Brandon Doyle, a smart home reviewer, podcaster, real estate agent and columnist for Realtor magazine, who has been going through a similar gauntlet, only with fewer scars. We're going to chat about our experiences with the latest crop of automowers to see if they're worth your money. But first, here's what's happening on the Verge today. This is 90 seconds on the Verge for Thursday, August 13, 2026. We may be one iPhone short at Apple's upcoming hardware event, which usually hits around the first week of September. According to statements from Apple supplier Pegatron during an earnings call, the base model iPhone 18 will skip the full launch and and instead arrive in early 2027. That's a bummer, as the entry model 17 was the best of the bunch last year. I know I gave my whole family one Foldable stands. However, fear not the rumored Ultra model, the foldable iPhone appears to still be on track for fall, as is the 18 Pro line popular tech company. Sorry, wrong company. Deeply unpopular surveillance tech company Flock has announced it's implementing new safeguards after officers were caught using the tech to do exactly what feared it would be used for stalking people. Reports of police officers abusing the tools to stalk ex partners and others have prompted the Flock CEO to admit they got this one wrong and roll out updates to prevent abuse of its license plate reader technology. The changes include shortening the default period. It keeps data from 30 to seven days, moving closer to the limits suggested by its critics like the aclu, who called the moves more focused on addressing a perceived PR problem than the significant harms its products create. And finally, a service outage for a popular pet tech company, Petlibro left several critters without their kibble. According to user reports on Reddit. The outage prevented the company's smart pet feeders from dispensing food on schedule, despite Petlibro claiming they should still work even offline. Petlibro says all services are now fully restored, but some pets are still reporting missing meals. You can read more on all these stories@theverge.com that's 90 seconds on the verge for Thursday, August 13th.
[02:58]
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[03:35]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[03:37]
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Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[03:52]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[04:04]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Bank NA hey brandon, thanks so much for joining me. I can't wait to dive into our robotic lawnmower experiences because I know we've both had some interesting ones.
[04:13]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, I'm really excited to get started. Thanks for having me.
[04:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
My first geotest in robot lawnmowers was two years ago and I had held off for a while because they for many years had a reputation of being very expensive, very fiddly, and they didn't really work well unless you had like a super expensive top of the line model.
[04:35]
Brandon Doyle
It was like the early days of robot vacuums, right?
[04:40]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Exactly. So would you say that's changed? Have we? Have we? What does, what are robot lawnmowers able to do for us today?
[04:47]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, you know, I think we're getting them to about 95% of what you're looking for.
[04:52]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Wow.
[04:52]
Brandon Doyle
There's still some areas where they struggle and you're still going to be some required maintenance and, you know, some babysitting. But it's really come a long way in the last, I would say two years.
[05:03]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
One of the big reasons I think is Technologies. And would you say, what's the biggest change we've seen since say three or four years ago to today in how these robot lawnmowers work in our yards?
[05:16]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, it's definitely going to be the navigation. Originally you would have that boundary wire. Then they had rtk, which is a GPS based system, often requiring you to put a post in your yard. But it needed good view of the sky and so you have to run power to that and in some cases also Ethernet for like the Yarbo. And so that can be kind of a challenge of where you get that positioned in your yard. And of course, most yards have trees and GPS isn't so good with that.
[05:46]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I know, I know. It's like, seriously, people, did you not realize it was crazy? It's like, oh, no, you need a. I spent hours in my backyard sticking these antennas, like walking around holding an antenna, like, where is the signal? And I live in the south and we have oak trees everywhere. I was like, I can't, I can't do this. Yeah, it was, it was so frustrating. And I was like, this is not something a regular user is going to want to go and spend 3,000 or $4,000 on one of these things and then have it not work because of satellites.
[06:22]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, we just have the one tree in our front yard. But I live in a suburban neighborhood and so, you know, the houses are 10ft apart from each other or whatever it is. And even in the side yard, the signal would bounce and it would get slightly off. But there's not a lot of room for error here. We can't have it mowing. My neighbor's like, landscaping. That would be a bad day. So they've definitely had advancements there. I think the best case is when we're combining technologies. So taking a page out of the robot vacuums, some of them are using LiDAR and then also either VSLAM or just cameras in general for that object recognition. And so if it gets in an area where a signal is weak, it can rely on those other technologies, which is nice. And then they've gotten rid of that base station requirement. A lot of the companies have switched to net rtk.
[07:14]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I've tried that on a couple this year and it was definitely better. So when I first tested mimotion, theirs just would not work. Refused to work in my yard, and it was very frustrating. And then I put it in my neighbor's yard and it worked fine. So, like, this is, you know, it's
[07:31]
Brandon Doyle
apparently you gotta cut down your trees.
[07:32]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
That's the solution, I know they don't let us do that here and yeah, it was very frustrating. And then this time they sent me the, their model for this year and
[07:43]
Brandon Doyle
they, I think right when the three all wheel drive.
[07:45]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
There we go. And then right when I got it, they launched this new Inavi, I think they call it, but it's Net RTK now. This is the key, I would say, to one of the reasons robot lawnmowers have got better. Can you explain a little bit what the Net RTK is versus the rtk GPS positioning that most of them were using? Priority.
[08:07]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah. So essentially instead of relying on an antenna that you put in your yard, it connects to one that is nearby and they're regionally located. There is a subscription cost associated with them. They include it for I think three years or something. But like that just is a sign of times to come. Like, okay, it's free now. And it kind of reminds me of like the early video doorbells or AI cameras where we have some of these features or it's like, okay, well that's really nice to have and that, that I want that. But then down the line, okay, the model has changed and so you're reliant on that. However, I will say the shelf life of some of these robots isn't actually that long. And so at some point we're going to be replacing them anyways.
[08:53]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I think subscriptions and longevity are definitely two areas to be concerned about when you're investing in a device like this. I mean they're out in the elements and they're doing hard work and a long like they're constantly going. It's not like your push mower that you maybe take out once a week or once a month just to keep on the navigation. Real quick, you mentioned combining these technologies. I'd noticed that this time around that a lot of these mowers will now do all of them. Do you think that's a good solution or is there one in there that's just better than the rest?
[09:29]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, I'm a big fan of lidar. Obviously if your yard is too big, you know, on a golf course, lidar is not going to work as it can't go that far. It relies on seeing things. That would be my go to the Net RTK is great. I do have concerns about subscription costs in the future. Obviously as reviewers they're including that for us. But we got to think about the consumer and would I go out and pay my hard earned money for this and knowing that I might have that Attached. And then I like the cameras for object avoidance. I think it does a really good job. It didn't kill any of my puppies. I still have all my toes, so I would say that it's been successful.
[10:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I have. I have a flock of chickens in my backyard. You know, we're talking, like, at least a dozen. And it's really fun to watch it kind of dodge them and go around them. And the chickens kind of, like, face it down.
[10:22]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, yeah. Our dogs, like, just grew up with robots. So, like, I have video of them riding a Roomba when they were first born. So they just don't even move for any of them anymore. They're just like, no, you go around me. This is my house. Even outside with the lawnmower.
[10:39]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
So do they ride the lawnmowers, though? Because that would be a video I would watch.
[10:43]
Brandon Doyle
That would be fun. But I haven't. We'll have to try. I'll have to see if they'll go up there. But, yeah, when they were little, they would go up on the robot vacuum, and that was a lot of fun. Now they're way too big.
[10:55]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, and that's the other thing about these devices is these are not small lawnmowers. I mean, these are big, hulking things that you have to find space for. And for some reason, I found myself carrying them a lot. I don't know why. I mean, they don't. Yeah.
[11:10]
Brandon Doyle
Cause they get stuck.
[11:11]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
They get stuck.
[11:11]
Brandon Doyle
We gotta babysit them.
[11:13]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
You really do. That was my biggest frustration with these when I first started testing them in 2024. Was I. I was picking them up because they were like, they dug themselves a hole in the sand in my backyard. I live in the south. I live near the coast. My soil is not designed for robot lawnmowers. In fact, I spoke before I started all my testing last year. I spoke with Husqvarna, who is that originally developed the first robot lawnmower. And they said, yeah, basically the original robots weren't really designed for American yards. They weren't designed for sandy soil. They weren't designed for much terrain or rough terrain. And what's changed now? And Husqvarna's newest models and many of the new models we tested, they have, like, all wheel drive and much better traction. Give us a little feel for how your yard is and whether this has helped, having all wheel drive versus how they worked before. Yeah.
[12:08]
Brandon Doyle
Dare I say, too much traction in some people's cases might rip up your yard a little bit. But my yard Is a typical suburban yard. So I think we're like a third of an acre. But when you're picking out a robot mower, it's important to know that the size on the box is not the size of your lot, it's the size of the grass. And so since you have a house sitting in the middle and a driveway, you actually subtract that out. So you may need a smaller. Or you could get by with a smaller robot. And they base that off of like, how many times does it have to go out within a 24 hour period? You really would like to size up if you can, because it means that the mower might not have to go back as often. And with the way batteries work and how they degrade over time, you'll be able to use it a lot longer. So something to think about there. But our yard, you know, I'm in Minnesota, so I've got clay. And then we have a wetland behind us. We have longer grass, so we do require the high cut versions of these mowers. And some people might notice there's different ones. And it's not always intuitive which to get. But here we cut our grass to about two and a half to three inches. I have a slope on the side of our house because it's a walkout backyard. And again I mentioned earlier, it's about 10ft between the houses. So that can be a challenge not only because of the slope, but also with a signal bouncing. And then in our backyard, which I really called the gauntlet, We've got a wetland behind which that grass tries to get underneath the fence there. And then we have garden beds and landscaping. And so any of those robots with the caster mowers or caster wheels, those might get caught like on the landscaping edges, which is frustrating.
[14:03]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
And those are like more the smaller wheels that don't have as much traction.
[14:07]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, Think about like a shopping cart. Yeah, you would have on the front. So easy maneuverability. They use the big wheels in the back to turn as opposed to ones that have those omni wheels where they kind of turn on. Like the back wheels are still doing the turning, but the other ones kind of are able to turn the other way as well. And then a few of them have turning wheels in the front now, which I think is really the way to go. More like a car.
[14:34]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah.
[14:34]
Brandon Doyle
You've got the yarbo, which is a tank, tracks, which is just a recipe for ripping up your yard. If you have a smaller yard, not such a big deal. If it's a Big yard, but.
[14:44]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, we had a. Too big for the space we had. Yeah, that I. I have not tried the Yarbo we actually had. Sean Hollister of the Verge did get to have a run in with the Yarbo because it had some pretty poor security issues and he actually had one run him over. So although they have addressed those flaws. But this is one of the problems that you're going to notice going forward with robot lawnmowers is that they will fall under the new FCC ban on robotic mowers. So the ban is actually on all mobile robots that operate in and around a home or businesses in the US Companies are not going to be able to import new robot mowers new without a special waiver. So if you are interested in a robot mower, it's the ones that are currently available that you're going to own, you're going to be able to buy. But new ones coming. We're going to wait and see what happens here. But right now it looks like those we may see slowdown on innovation. Although some of the innovations we've seen already in the pipeline are quite exciting. So I hope they find some ways around this. But yes, security is one of the problems. These are outdoor, so in terms of privacy issues, somewhat less of a concern. But they have blades. They are remote control robots with blades. Is that you mentioned you didn't have any issues with that? Do you think that is something people should be concerned about?
[16:13]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, definitely. I mean, don't be picking them up when you're moving them. It's important to be careful because the blades are on the bottom and you lean it against yourself, you're going to get cut. I know you.
[16:25]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
My husband has some experience with that and I noticed that because I wrote about that in my review and I noticed that all of the ones I unpacked this time all came with polystyrene around the blades. It's like they all read my review.
[16:38]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, they're listening.
[16:39]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I mean, they are little tiny razor blades. So like this thing, it's not. This isn't like having an actual robot lawnmower. Like, if you're thinking about the lawnmower that you push around your garden, this is not that. These aren't big giant spinning blades. They're just actually little tiny razor blades that sit on a cutting disc. And this is one of the things that I actually really loved about lawnmowers this year because they worked, because they could get around my yard and they could connect. So they did actually do the job right and that is that because they only cut a tiny bit of grass, it actually really helps your lawn get better. And my lawn looks so much better this year than it has ever looked. And I put it all down to the robot lawnmowers. What about you? Have you seen an improvement in your yard since you started using them?
[17:27]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, definitely. And I am by no means a lawn care nut. Like, I just. It's there. I don't like mowing the yard. I want my time back. Kind of a set it, forget it type situation. And yeah, definitely improvements in the yard overall. And you could even see it in my videos, like if we look at older ones to newer ones. Yeah, much more green and fluffy looking, if you will.
[17:50]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
No, they do help.
[17:51]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, for sure. It still struggles around the garden beds and the fence. Of course, it's not, you know, getting all the way up to there, which really highlights my lack of trimming that I personally do. Because now that I'm not mowing weekly or whatever it was previously, I don't really feel the need to get out there with a trimmer, but I probably should.
[18:13]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, well. And so one of the things that I wasn't expecting, and this is only on a couple of the models, but that my husband is like, oh, my God, these are amazing. They can do the stripes. And I mean, that is something that you can't really. Well, if you're a professional or you're a real lawn geek, you can. You can get your own lines. But the idea of just being able to like, sit one of these robot mowers down in your backyard, press go, and then like, in two days, you've got these beautiful lawn stripes. It's like, that's. That's a good selling point, I think. Did you manage to get stripes in your yard?
[18:48]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, I'll take it one step further. They actually allow.
[18:51]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Did you do a Drew door?
[18:53]
Brandon Doyle
Yes. So you can put the different. Different shapes and things. And so I did one in our backyard and I just wanted to see, like, how long would it take for my wife to notice? It didn't take her long, actually. It's just like, is there. Is there a heart in our backyard? I was like, yes, there is.
[19:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Oh, you did a heart. How sweet.
[19:12]
Brandon Doyle
Then I removed it to see, like, how long it would take for it to disappear. Didn't take long.
[19:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
So how long was. I haven't tried that yet. How long was the process?
[19:20]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, so, I mean, it's the spring season here, so the grass is growing pretty, pretty darn quick. And we've had a lot of rain, so a couple weeks until it was very noticeable that it was there. And then it took probably a week until you didn't notice anymore and back to just being the strays.
[19:37]
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[20:51]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[20:52]
Brandon Doyle
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[21:01]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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Brandon Doyle
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Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[21:23]
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[22:44]
Gas Prices Segment Host
if there's anything we've heard about this entire summer, no matter where we go or who we talk to, it's about gas prices.
[22:52]
Brandon Doyle
Want to show you sign? Look at these gas prices. They're ridiculous. I don't drive as much. I think they're just skyrocketing day in, day out.
[23:00]
Gas Prices Segment Host
Gas prices are up since Donald Trump started his war with Iran. But how much does a little pain at the pump actually affect people's vote?
[23:08]
Brandon Doyle
Who is telling the truth and who is going to represent us and do something about it?
[23:14]
Gas Prices Segment Host
And if gas is still near $4 a gallon come November, is it game over for Donald Trump and the Republicans?
[23:21]
Horizon 3 Sponsor
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[23:30]
Brandon Doyle
what people are struggling with and then to ignore the severity of it is
[23:35]
Horizon 3 Sponsor
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[23:37]
Gas Prices Segment Host
That's this week on America. Actually catch us Every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
[23:47]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I've noticed this new batch that I've tested this year and we're going to, we'll go over quickly which ones we tested. I know we haven't mentioned them in detail yet, but is that they're much faster. They seem to complete the job a lot quicker. I think that's also because they've gotten bigger. To my point earlier about they've realized the manufacturers have realized for most American yards you need a bigger machine that's going to cover more space and have a longer work period. But yeah, I've definitely noticed that they work faster and also you can adjust the speed, which is for some of them, which is nice to have that sort of flexibility, you know, if you want it done quickly or if you want it much more methodical. What are some of the other things that you've liked about robot lawnmowers? And then we'll talk about some of your favorites and then we'll talk about some of the issues.
[24:36]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, definitely. So I think navigation's got to a point where I can actually recommend it for most people in most yards, which is not always true. So that's big. I'm not worried about them running things over. I think the obstacle avoidance is plenty with where it's at. I think you, for most people you should be able to mostly set it and Forget it. This year, the thing I was the most excited about was trimming. However, I feel like, for me, that fell short just because of our fence and our garden beds.
[25:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Lots of people have fences and garden beds.
[25:12]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah.
[25:12]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah.
[25:13]
Brandon Doyle
So if I didn't have that, though, I would say that the goat did the best job of the three that I tested with trimmers, because that one, it could do it on its own, so it didn't require supervision. And it did get a pretty good job of it. But with the fence, that's a little bit challenging.
[25:28]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
And that's the Ecovacs, right?
[25:29]
Brandon Doyle
Ecovacs goat, a 3000 Pro, right? Yeah. Yeah. It was one of my favorites from last year. So at cs, when I saw they added a trimmer on there, that made me really excited. That one also uses LiDAR for navigation, which I found was pretty good. Although I did Austin Powers itself in between our garden beds, and it managed to get stuck.
[25:50]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Austin Powers itself? What do you mean?
[25:52]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, people of my age might get the reference, but there was a movie where the main character was going through the tunnel, and he tried to turn around in this little cart, and then he managed to get parallel, and he was stuck. And so it's just him going back
[26:10]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
and forth trying to get out. Yeah, it is funny watching them get themselves stuck and trying to figure their way out. Also not. It's good if you see that happening, then you can stop it, because if you don't stop it, you can end up with a buried robot lawnmower that's dug its way into your garden.
[26:30]
Brandon Doyle
I was out of town, and last year I was testing so many robot mowers that I had to rely on my neighbors for some of the testing. And so this one had gone out and was working on my neighbor's yard. But somehow between when it went out and that time, something got in the way of its path. I think his son had came home and blocked the driveway. And so it would try to go back to the dock, but then realize it couldn't, and suddenly it would try to go back the other way. It was blocked. And so it was just in an endless loop going in circles in his front yard. And he's messaging me like, hey, man, you got to make this thing stop. It's just going back and forth. And I'm like, well, try moving the car. That didn't work. So I had to remotely stop it and then manually drive it back from another country using the camera, which was quite the feat, I might say. I couldn't get it to get it to dock. But when I got it back into my yard then it could figure it out on its own.
[27:31]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Robots are going to take over the world one day, but they currently can't figure out how to go along your driveway.
[27:37]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, there's a lot of AI references there where I'm not too worried.
[27:43]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
But what were your favorites after your testing, which ones would you buy for your if you were going to shell out the 3,000 or so dollars that most of these things cost, I mean
[27:56]
Brandon Doyle
definitely get it when it's on sale. There's always sales on these things. So I think $2,500 is probably about where you want to be. $2,000 if it's on sale. But the Mamotion Luba 3 all wheel drive is probably my favorite. I kept that one. And then The Ecovacs goat a 3000 Pro which has that trimmer attachment. That one was really impressive. I've got that in my. Because there's the fences and up there and so that one's nice because I don't have to worry about the edging. It can get right on that landscape line. It handles the hills perfectly. That one, I haven't had any intervention since I've installed it. So those are probably my two go to ones. If you are already invested in the works system, like you have a bunch of their batteries already. That one's kind of neat because it uses the same battery system so it comes with that and I thought that was kind of cool. But if you have a really big yard Yarbo. But my yard is way too small.
[28:55]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I'm still not sure about the Yarbo. I'm gonna. We'll wait for the next generation, I think. Yeah. No, I agree. The Mammotion I really liked the first time around I tested it. I just couldn't get it to work in my yard. And this new one, the Luba 3, now with the net RTK does work, but I do worry about that subscription. And also when you're reliant on anything that requires cloud to operate, that's a bit of a concern. I wish they could maybe get to the point where it could learn and keep your location in its memory so it doesn't have to constantly be pinging the GPS or the RTK system. I would say. I'm actually a big fan of the Dreame A3 All Wheel Drive Pro because these guys have great naming conventions.
[29:47]
Brandon Doyle
Is that you got the All Wheel drive?
[29:49]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yes. I know. I tested a one last time which doesn't have the All Wheel Drive and that one used to get stuck all the time. But the all wheel drive on this one is, is, is really good. And I also like that it acts as a security camera so you can have it patrol at night and patrol your backyard, which is, that's, I mean when you add the cost of not having to buy outdoor security cameras into that, that you've got a bit more of a value prop there. And it does a really good job. And it has an edge trimmer. It shifts its cutting blades out to cut along the edge. So that one's been really good. But the Navimo, the new Navimo X430, which is also an all wheel drive one, has the coolest way of like it can turn its front wheels entirely 90 degrees and just like spin on a dime. It's really fun to watch it go. And so that one I've found really worked very well in my backyard, although it does rely on GPS to start. And I had to spend a good 45 minutes finding a tiny sliver of my yard where it could catch a satellite. But once it got it, it didn't need it again. So that, that has been useful because it uses like four different types of navigation so it knows where it is. And now it can, can navigate. It hasn't got lost once. And my backyard has got, is full of trees. So yeah, that one's been, I've been impressed with that. There are also cheaper models. If you just have a small front yard or backyard, you can get that. So roborock has its new Rock Neo that I've just started testing. That's under 1100 dollars, $1200. I think Segway has a couple smaller ones. I think. You tested a sub 1001, right?
[31:33]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, anthbot was surprisingly good. If you have a smaller yard, I think it's perfectly adequate. Yeah, I like that one a lot.
[31:42]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
It's interesting that the robot vacuum manufacturers so dreame, Roborock Ecovacs have really come in and kind of taken over this space. There are a few specialized robot lawnmower companies like you mentioned, Worx and then Husqvarna. Momotion is sort of a general robotics company. But it's interesting to see how the robot vacuum companies are kind of taking over this space. I'm really interested if they're allowed to continue selling models here, new models here. What kind of innovations we're going to see in particular? There's one innovation I'm excited to bring or see. Come to the market and you've had some experience with this, which is, can they open my gate for me? So tell us about your experience there, and then we'll kind of wrap it up.
[32:35]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah. So Navimo actually has a gate. It recognizes the robot as it approaches, and it releases the tension on it, and so it's able to push its way through. So the robot, in theory, could work with other brands if you could turn off its sensing, because normally it wouldn't want to ram into a solid object. But for this one, it's going to tell the robot, okay, this is okay, and it can go through. So I have that available. I haven't installed it yet, just because it's a very permanent change. And I'm cycling through these. And if we move, like, you know, is this going to be a negative for the next person if they don't have it? And so we'll see. Maybe I'll set up a demo rig somewhere where we can test this out. But it's certainly going to get a lot of attention. And, you know, is it a solution? Or is it. Or is it better to just have two. I kind of compare this to, you know, in your house, if you have stairs. Yes. They're creating these robot vacuums that can climb stairs or an exoskeleton that can go upstairs. But, like, do we really need that? Is it more expensive, or would it be cheaper to just get two robots? And I think that we're still at the point where, like, probably just get another robot and it'd be easier and less permanent, so.
[33:54]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, we'll get to the point, I think, maybe where they have little arms and they can just reach out and open the gate, and that won't be terrifying at all. So we'll all be fine with our robots with limbs and blades roaming around our backyard so that we don't have to mow the lawn.
[34:10]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think it's happening anytime soon. I mean, we saw the Switchbot robot attempt to do laundry.
[34:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yes.
[34:18]
Brandon Doyle
I don't know if you tried the Yarbo or the Robo rock that has the arm of the vacuum. It's so limited in what it can do. It's like, well, if you perfectly place the sock or it's folded in a way that it could grab it, and then you only have a certain type of shoes that are incredibly lightweight. It can pick them and move them into a designated spot. But any other scenario. No, that's not gonna work.
[34:41]
Gas Prices Segment Host
Yes.
[34:42]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
No, I. So I think you'. I think it sounds like you agree with me that the robots are useful today, but currently still not at that level where we perhaps everyone needs one. And also you don't need to be worried. They're not taking over anytime soon.
[34:58]
Brandon Doyle
I do think we're going to see more purpose built robots. Yeah, I don't think that we're going to see a general use robot anytime soon in a household.
[35:06]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Agreed. Agreed. Excellent. Well, thank you so much much for spending time with us today, Brandon. It's been really useful and helpful to get your insights and appreciate your time. Is there anything you want to tell us about your what you're doing next or WhatsApp or where people can go find your work?
[35:23]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, you can find my articles on Realtor magazine. They're actually written for consumers so it's published every month. I pick a different category, something that's exciting to me. I share it there and then on social media. Social media, it's just randondoylemn. So you can find me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all that I share behind the scenes of testing. And yeah, really excited about all that.
[35:47]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Great. Well, thanks so much, Brandon for joining us and we'll talk to you soon.
[35:51]
Brandon Doyle
Thanks for having me. Take care.
[35:53]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
That's it for today. As always, we love to hear from you. Send your thoughts and questions to vergecasthe verge.com or call the hotline 866-verge11 to support everything we do and to get access to ad free episodes. Subscribe to the Verge. The show is produced by Josh Carhas, Eric Gomez, Brandon Keefer and Travis Larchuk. Thanks for listening.
[36:21]
Brandon Doyle
I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of F fixes the Bear. The restaurant is flooded. Everything's either gonna be okay.
[36:34]
Olivia Lanes
No, stop.
[36:36]
Brandon Doyle
Or not. We are outgunned and we are outmanned. But we have each other. FX's the Bear the final season. All episodes now streaming on Disney.

Summary7 min read

Podcast Summary: The Vergecast

Episode Title: Should you let a robot mow your lawn?
Date: August 13, 2026
Host: Jennifer Patterson Tuohy (Senior Smart Home Reviewer, The Verge)
Guest: Brandon Doyle (Smart home tech reviewer, podcaster, Realtor magazine columnist)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the current state of robotic lawnmowers: their technological advancements, real-life performance, remaining challenges, and whether they are worth your money. Jennifer and Brandon, both seasoned testers and reviewers of smart home gadgets, share hands-on experiences, highlight the pros and cons of the latest automowers, and offer advice for anyone considering automating their lawn care.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolution of Robot Lawn Mowers

Early Struggles:
- Jennifer shares that two years ago, robot mowers were “very expensive, very fiddly, and they didn’t really work well unless you had a super expensive top of the line model.” (04:16)
- Brandon compares this stage to “the early days of robot vacuums.” (04:34)
Current Capabilities:
- Brandon: “We’re getting them to about 95% of what you’re looking for... still some areas where they struggle... but it’s really come a long way in the last... two years.” (04:47)

2. Advancements in Navigation Technology

From Boundary Wire to Advanced Navigation:
- Traditional systems relied on buried boundary wires.
- Introduction of RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) GPS—a hardware-based solution that often struggled with trees and required tricky placement and networking.
- Jennifer on GPS woes: “I spent hours in my backyard... walking around holding an antenna... I can’t do this... not something a regular user is going to want to go and spend $3,000 or $4,000 on and then have it not work because of satellites.” (05:45)
Net RTK Explained:
- Net RTK mowers get corrections from remote, regional stations over the internet, eliminating the need for backyard antennas, but often bundling a subscription cost after the initial free period. (08:07)
- Brandon notes the parallels with video doorbells and AI cams: nice features now, but a changing business model—“shelf life... isn’t actually that long... going to be replacing them anyways.” (08:15)
Combining Technologies:
- Many mowers now combine RTK, LiDAR, camera-based object recognition, and VSLAM for improved accuracy and resilience to signal issues. (06:21–07:14)
- Brandon: “I’m a big fan of lidar... Net RTK is great... the cameras for object avoidance... didn’t kill any of my puppies. I still have all my toes.” (09:28)

3. Real-World Performance: Yards, Pets, and Challenges

Different Yard Types:
- Jennifer's southern, sandy soil was a challenge for early mowers, but new models with all-wheel drive and better traction perform much better. (11:12)
- Brandon’s Minnesota yard has slopes, clay, wetlands, landscaping, and fences—requiring careful model selection and sometimes leading to stuck mowers. (12:07–14:02)
Pet Safety and Object Detection:
- Jennifer: “I have a flock of chickens... it’s fun to watch [the mower] dodge them and go around them.” (10:09)
- Brandon’s dogs “grew up with robots” and no longer bother moving out of the way. (10:21)
- Safety remains a concern—mower blades are sharp, injuries possible, especially when moving the units. (16:13)
Improvements in Lawn Health:
- Consistent mowing improves lawn appearance.
- Jennifer: “My lawn looks so much better this year than it has ever looked. And I put it all down to the robot lawnmowers.” (16:39)
- Brandon agrees: “Definitely improvements in the yard overall.” (17:26)

4. Remaining Limitations and Annoyances

Manual Intervention:
- Larger, heavier units can get stuck and sometimes need to be carried. (11:10)
- Still not perfect at trimming edges against garden beds, fences, or tight corners. (17:51, 25:08)
Security and Regulation Concerns:
- Some models had security pitfalls; in one case, a Verge colleague, Sean Hollister, was run over by a Yarbo mower. (14:44)
- New FCC rules may limit future robot mower innovations/imports, though existing models will remain available for now. (15:00)
Subscription Fatigue:
- Net RTK models are increasingly subscription-based, raising consumer concerns over long-term value. (08:52, 29:46)
- Jennifer: “I do worry about that subscription... wish they could maybe get to the point where it could learn and keep your location in its memory...” (28:55)

5. Fun and Unexpected Features

Lawn Striping and Patterns:
- Some models can mow stripes or even custom patterns like hearts. (18:12, 19:11)
- Brandon: “Did you do a heart?” Jennifer: “How sweet.” Brandon: “Then I removed it to see how long it would take for it to disappear.” (19:09)
Speed and Efficiency:
- Newer, bigger models cover lawns faster and more efficiently, often allowing customizable speeds. (23:47)
Edge Trimming and Security Camera Integration:
- Ecovacs Goat A3000 Pro includes trimming functionalities (25:29)
- Dreame A3 AWD Pro acts as a mobile security camera, allowing additional value. (29:46)
Gate Opening Innovation:
- Navimo is exploring automated gates that allow mowers to move between lawn segments—though Brandon notes it’s a big/permanent change and may not be practical for every household. (32:34)

6. Favorite Tested Models & Buying Advice

Standouts Mentioned:

Mammotion Luba 3 All Wheel Drive
- Brandon’s favorite for reliability, performance, and ability to handle hills. (27:55)
- Concerns about cloud dependency and ongoing subscription costs flagged by Jennifer. (28:55)
Ecovacs Goat A3000 Pro
- Noted for its trimmer attachment and strong navigation. (25:29)
Dreame A3 All Wheel Drive Pro
- Jennifer’s top pick for all-wheel drive, security camera dual-use, and edge trimming. (29:46)
Navimo X430
- Impressive agility—wheels turn 90° for tight maneuvering; uses multiple navigation systems for reliability even in tree-heavy yards. (30:15)
Roborock Rock Neo & Segway Models
- More affordable options for smaller yards.
Anthbot
- Recommended by Brandon as a budget solution for small yards. (31:33)
Works & Husqvarna
- Works: appealing interoperable battery system across tools. Husqvarna: legacy in robot mowing but less discussed in this episode.

Advice:

Pay attention to the “size on the box”—it refers to grass area, not total lot size. (12:07)
Size up when possible for longevity and performance (battery wear matters).
Consider yard features (slopes, landscaping, pet presence) when choosing.
Always buy on sale—never pay full MSRP. (27:55)

Notable Quotes & Moments

On Navigation Frustration:

“I spent hours in my backyard... walking around holding an antenna... I can't do this.”
— Jennifer Patterson Tuohy (05:45)

On Progress:

“We’re getting them to about 95% of what you’re looking for... still some areas where they struggle...”
— Brandon Doyle (04:47)

On Subscription Models & Longevity:

“Shelf life... isn’t actually that long... at some point we’re going to be replacing them anyways.”
— Brandon Doyle (08:07)

On Object Avoidance:

“It didn’t kill any of my puppies. I still have all my toes…”
— Brandon Doyle (09:28)

On Lawn Quality:

“My lawn looks so much better this year than it has ever looked. And I put it all down to the robot lawnmowers.”
— Jennifer Patterson Tuohy (16:39)

On Custom Lawn Patterns:

“Is there a heart in our backyard? I was like, yes there is.”
— Brandon Doyle (19:09)

On Tech Limits:

“Robots are going to take over the world one day, but they currently can't figure out how to go along your driveway.”
— Jennifer Patterson Tuohy (27:31)

On Future Automation:

“We’ll get to the point where they have little arms and they can just reach out and open the gate... and that won’t be terrifying at all.”
— Jennifer Patterson Tuohy (33:53)

Timestamps for Key Segments

Intro & News Roundup: 00:02–02:57
Robot Mower Discussion Starts: 04:04
Advancements in Navigation: 05:02–07:30
Net RTK and Subscriptions: 07:42–09:28
Object Avoidance & Pet Stories: 10:09–11:10
All-Wheel Drive & Lawns: 11:12–14:44
Security/Regulation Concerns: 14:44–16:13
Blades, Safety, and Lawn Health: 16:13–18:12
Stripes & Fun Patterns: 18:12–19:16
Performance, Speed, and Trimming: 23:47–25:12
Favorite Models and Buying Advice: 27:55–32:34
Gate Opening Innovation: 32:34–34:10
Conclusions on Robot Mower Usefulness: 34:41–35:47

Conclusion & Takeaways

Robot mowers have matured to the point where they’re viable for many typical American yards, but quirks remain around navigation, pet safety, and edge trimming.
Technological advancements (Net RTK, LiDAR, cameras) have brought reliability—with the caveat of growing subscription models.
Model choice matters: Match the mower to your yard features, budget, and willingness to deal with future subscription costs.
New regulations may slow innovation, but quality options are available now.
Fun, unexpected features (patterns, security cameras) and improved lawn health are nice bonuses.
Don’t worry about the robot uprising—for now, they still get stuck on driveways and need some babysitting.

Where to Find More from the Guest

Brandon Doyle’s Articles: Realtor Magazine (monthly column for consumers)
Social Media: @brandondoylemn (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook – behind-the-scenes testing)

For questions or feedback, email vergecast@theverge.com or call the Vergecast hotline at 866-VERGE11.

Loading summary

Transcript113 lines

[00:02]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Welcome to the Vergecast, the flagship podcast of robot lawnmowers. I'm Jennifer Patterson Tuohy, the Verger's senior smart home reviewer. It's officially the dog days of summer, and if you've been spending the last few weeks watching your grass grow and wondering whether it's worth shelling out a few thousand dollars for a robot to cut it for you, then this is the Vergecast for you. I've been spending the last few months testing around a half a dozen of these robot lawn mowers to see if they've gotten any better than the last time I tried when I came away hot, sweaty, frustrated, and with a few scars. My husband's not mine. Today I'm going to be joined by Brandon Doyle, a smart home reviewer, podcaster, real estate agent and columnist for Realtor magazine, who has been going through a similar gauntlet, only with fewer scars. We're going to chat about our experiences with the latest crop of automowers to see if they're worth your money. But first, here's what's happening on the Verge today. This is 90 seconds on the Verge for Thursday, August 13, 2026. We may be one iPhone short at Apple's upcoming hardware event, which usually hits around the first week of September. According to statements from Apple supplier Pegatron during an earnings call, the base model iPhone 18 will skip the full launch and and instead arrive in early 2027. That's a bummer, as the entry model 17 was the best of the bunch last year. I know I gave my whole family one Foldable stands. However, fear not the rumored Ultra model, the foldable iPhone appears to still be on track for fall, as is the 18 Pro line popular tech company. Sorry, wrong company. Deeply unpopular surveillance tech company Flock has announced it's implementing new safeguards after officers were caught using the tech to do exactly what feared it would be used for stalking people. Reports of police officers abusing the tools to stalk ex partners and others have prompted the Flock CEO to admit they got this one wrong and roll out updates to prevent abuse of its license plate reader technology. The changes include shortening the default period. It keeps data from 30 to seven days, moving closer to the limits suggested by its critics like the aclu, who called the moves more focused on addressing a perceived PR problem than the significant harms its products create. And finally, a service outage for a popular pet tech company, Petlibro left several critters without their kibble. According to user reports on Reddit. The outage prevented the company's smart pet feeders from dispensing food on schedule, despite Petlibro claiming they should still work even offline. Petlibro says all services are now fully restored, but some pets are still reporting missing meals. You can read more on all these stories@theverge.com that's 90 seconds on the verge for Thursday, August 13th.
[02:58]
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[03:35]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[03:37]
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[03:52]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[03:53]
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[03:55]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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[04:04]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Bank NA hey brandon, thanks so much for joining me. I can't wait to dive into our robotic lawnmower experiences because I know we've both had some interesting ones.
[04:13]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, I'm really excited to get started. Thanks for having me.
[04:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
My first geotest in robot lawnmowers was two years ago and I had held off for a while because they for many years had a reputation of being very expensive, very fiddly, and they didn't really work well unless you had like a super expensive top of the line model.
[04:35]
Brandon Doyle
It was like the early days of robot vacuums, right?
[04:40]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Exactly. So would you say that's changed? Have we? Have we? What does, what are robot lawnmowers able to do for us today?
[04:47]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, you know, I think we're getting them to about 95% of what you're looking for.
[04:52]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Wow.
[04:52]
Brandon Doyle
There's still some areas where they struggle and you're still going to be some required maintenance and, you know, some babysitting. But it's really come a long way in the last, I would say two years.
[05:03]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
One of the big reasons I think is Technologies. And would you say, what's the biggest change we've seen since say three or four years ago to today in how these robot lawnmowers work in our yards?
[05:16]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, it's definitely going to be the navigation. Originally you would have that boundary wire. Then they had rtk, which is a GPS based system, often requiring you to put a post in your yard. But it needed good view of the sky and so you have to run power to that and in some cases also Ethernet for like the Yarbo. And so that can be kind of a challenge of where you get that positioned in your yard. And of course, most yards have trees and GPS isn't so good with that.
[05:46]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I know, I know. It's like, seriously, people, did you not realize it was crazy? It's like, oh, no, you need a. I spent hours in my backyard sticking these antennas, like walking around holding an antenna, like, where is the signal? And I live in the south and we have oak trees everywhere. I was like, I can't, I can't do this. Yeah, it was, it was so frustrating. And I was like, this is not something a regular user is going to want to go and spend 3,000 or $4,000 on one of these things and then have it not work because of satellites.
[06:22]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, we just have the one tree in our front yard. But I live in a suburban neighborhood and so, you know, the houses are 10ft apart from each other or whatever it is. And even in the side yard, the signal would bounce and it would get slightly off. But there's not a lot of room for error here. We can't have it mowing. My neighbor's like, landscaping. That would be a bad day. So they've definitely had advancements there. I think the best case is when we're combining technologies. So taking a page out of the robot vacuums, some of them are using LiDAR and then also either VSLAM or just cameras in general for that object recognition. And so if it gets in an area where a signal is weak, it can rely on those other technologies, which is nice. And then they've gotten rid of that base station requirement. A lot of the companies have switched to net rtk.
[07:14]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I've tried that on a couple this year and it was definitely better. So when I first tested mimotion, theirs just would not work. Refused to work in my yard, and it was very frustrating. And then I put it in my neighbor's yard and it worked fine. So, like, this is, you know, it's
[07:31]
Brandon Doyle
apparently you gotta cut down your trees.
[07:32]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
That's the solution, I know they don't let us do that here and yeah, it was very frustrating. And then this time they sent me the, their model for this year and
[07:43]
Brandon Doyle
they, I think right when the three all wheel drive.
[07:45]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
There we go. And then right when I got it, they launched this new Inavi, I think they call it, but it's Net RTK now. This is the key, I would say, to one of the reasons robot lawnmowers have got better. Can you explain a little bit what the Net RTK is versus the rtk GPS positioning that most of them were using? Priority.
[08:07]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah. So essentially instead of relying on an antenna that you put in your yard, it connects to one that is nearby and they're regionally located. There is a subscription cost associated with them. They include it for I think three years or something. But like that just is a sign of times to come. Like, okay, it's free now. And it kind of reminds me of like the early video doorbells or AI cameras where we have some of these features or it's like, okay, well that's really nice to have and that, that I want that. But then down the line, okay, the model has changed and so you're reliant on that. However, I will say the shelf life of some of these robots isn't actually that long. And so at some point we're going to be replacing them anyways.
[08:53]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I think subscriptions and longevity are definitely two areas to be concerned about when you're investing in a device like this. I mean they're out in the elements and they're doing hard work and a long like they're constantly going. It's not like your push mower that you maybe take out once a week or once a month just to keep on the navigation. Real quick, you mentioned combining these technologies. I'd noticed that this time around that a lot of these mowers will now do all of them. Do you think that's a good solution or is there one in there that's just better than the rest?
[09:29]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, I'm a big fan of lidar. Obviously if your yard is too big, you know, on a golf course, lidar is not going to work as it can't go that far. It relies on seeing things. That would be my go to the Net RTK is great. I do have concerns about subscription costs in the future. Obviously as reviewers they're including that for us. But we got to think about the consumer and would I go out and pay my hard earned money for this and knowing that I might have that Attached. And then I like the cameras for object avoidance. I think it does a really good job. It didn't kill any of my puppies. I still have all my toes, so I would say that it's been successful.
[10:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I have. I have a flock of chickens in my backyard. You know, we're talking, like, at least a dozen. And it's really fun to watch it kind of dodge them and go around them. And the chickens kind of, like, face it down.
[10:22]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, yeah. Our dogs, like, just grew up with robots. So, like, I have video of them riding a Roomba when they were first born. So they just don't even move for any of them anymore. They're just like, no, you go around me. This is my house. Even outside with the lawnmower.
[10:39]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
So do they ride the lawnmowers, though? Because that would be a video I would watch.
[10:43]
Brandon Doyle
That would be fun. But I haven't. We'll have to try. I'll have to see if they'll go up there. But, yeah, when they were little, they would go up on the robot vacuum, and that was a lot of fun. Now they're way too big.
[10:55]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, and that's the other thing about these devices is these are not small lawnmowers. I mean, these are big, hulking things that you have to find space for. And for some reason, I found myself carrying them a lot. I don't know why. I mean, they don't. Yeah.
[11:10]
Brandon Doyle
Cause they get stuck.
[11:11]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
They get stuck.
[11:11]
Brandon Doyle
We gotta babysit them.
[11:13]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
You really do. That was my biggest frustration with these when I first started testing them in 2024. Was I. I was picking them up because they were like, they dug themselves a hole in the sand in my backyard. I live in the south. I live near the coast. My soil is not designed for robot lawnmowers. In fact, I spoke before I started all my testing last year. I spoke with Husqvarna, who is that originally developed the first robot lawnmower. And they said, yeah, basically the original robots weren't really designed for American yards. They weren't designed for sandy soil. They weren't designed for much terrain or rough terrain. And what's changed now? And Husqvarna's newest models and many of the new models we tested, they have, like, all wheel drive and much better traction. Give us a little feel for how your yard is and whether this has helped, having all wheel drive versus how they worked before. Yeah.
[12:08]
Brandon Doyle
Dare I say, too much traction in some people's cases might rip up your yard a little bit. But my yard Is a typical suburban yard. So I think we're like a third of an acre. But when you're picking out a robot mower, it's important to know that the size on the box is not the size of your lot, it's the size of the grass. And so since you have a house sitting in the middle and a driveway, you actually subtract that out. So you may need a smaller. Or you could get by with a smaller robot. And they base that off of like, how many times does it have to go out within a 24 hour period? You really would like to size up if you can, because it means that the mower might not have to go back as often. And with the way batteries work and how they degrade over time, you'll be able to use it a lot longer. So something to think about there. But our yard, you know, I'm in Minnesota, so I've got clay. And then we have a wetland behind us. We have longer grass, so we do require the high cut versions of these mowers. And some people might notice there's different ones. And it's not always intuitive which to get. But here we cut our grass to about two and a half to three inches. I have a slope on the side of our house because it's a walkout backyard. And again I mentioned earlier, it's about 10ft between the houses. So that can be a challenge not only because of the slope, but also with a signal bouncing. And then in our backyard, which I really called the gauntlet, We've got a wetland behind which that grass tries to get underneath the fence there. And then we have garden beds and landscaping. And so any of those robots with the caster mowers or caster wheels, those might get caught like on the landscaping edges, which is frustrating.
[14:03]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
And those are like more the smaller wheels that don't have as much traction.
[14:07]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, Think about like a shopping cart. Yeah, you would have on the front. So easy maneuverability. They use the big wheels in the back to turn as opposed to ones that have those omni wheels where they kind of turn on. Like the back wheels are still doing the turning, but the other ones kind of are able to turn the other way as well. And then a few of them have turning wheels in the front now, which I think is really the way to go. More like a car.
[14:34]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah.
[14:34]
Brandon Doyle
You've got the yarbo, which is a tank, tracks, which is just a recipe for ripping up your yard. If you have a smaller yard, not such a big deal. If it's a Big yard, but.
[14:44]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, we had a. Too big for the space we had. Yeah, that I. I have not tried the Yarbo we actually had. Sean Hollister of the Verge did get to have a run in with the Yarbo because it had some pretty poor security issues and he actually had one run him over. So although they have addressed those flaws. But this is one of the problems that you're going to notice going forward with robot lawnmowers is that they will fall under the new FCC ban on robotic mowers. So the ban is actually on all mobile robots that operate in and around a home or businesses in the US Companies are not going to be able to import new robot mowers new without a special waiver. So if you are interested in a robot mower, it's the ones that are currently available that you're going to own, you're going to be able to buy. But new ones coming. We're going to wait and see what happens here. But right now it looks like those we may see slowdown on innovation. Although some of the innovations we've seen already in the pipeline are quite exciting. So I hope they find some ways around this. But yes, security is one of the problems. These are outdoor, so in terms of privacy issues, somewhat less of a concern. But they have blades. They are remote control robots with blades. Is that you mentioned you didn't have any issues with that? Do you think that is something people should be concerned about?
[16:13]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, definitely. I mean, don't be picking them up when you're moving them. It's important to be careful because the blades are on the bottom and you lean it against yourself, you're going to get cut. I know you.
[16:25]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
My husband has some experience with that and I noticed that because I wrote about that in my review and I noticed that all of the ones I unpacked this time all came with polystyrene around the blades. It's like they all read my review.
[16:38]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, they're listening.
[16:39]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I mean, they are little tiny razor blades. So like this thing, it's not. This isn't like having an actual robot lawnmower. Like, if you're thinking about the lawnmower that you push around your garden, this is not that. These aren't big giant spinning blades. They're just actually little tiny razor blades that sit on a cutting disc. And this is one of the things that I actually really loved about lawnmowers this year because they worked, because they could get around my yard and they could connect. So they did actually do the job right and that is that because they only cut a tiny bit of grass, it actually really helps your lawn get better. And my lawn looks so much better this year than it has ever looked. And I put it all down to the robot lawnmowers. What about you? Have you seen an improvement in your yard since you started using them?
[17:27]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, definitely. And I am by no means a lawn care nut. Like, I just. It's there. I don't like mowing the yard. I want my time back. Kind of a set it, forget it type situation. And yeah, definitely improvements in the yard overall. And you could even see it in my videos, like if we look at older ones to newer ones. Yeah, much more green and fluffy looking, if you will.
[17:50]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
No, they do help.
[17:51]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, for sure. It still struggles around the garden beds and the fence. Of course, it's not, you know, getting all the way up to there, which really highlights my lack of trimming that I personally do. Because now that I'm not mowing weekly or whatever it was previously, I don't really feel the need to get out there with a trimmer, but I probably should.
[18:13]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, well. And so one of the things that I wasn't expecting, and this is only on a couple of the models, but that my husband is like, oh, my God, these are amazing. They can do the stripes. And I mean, that is something that you can't really. Well, if you're a professional or you're a real lawn geek, you can. You can get your own lines. But the idea of just being able to like, sit one of these robot mowers down in your backyard, press go, and then like, in two days, you've got these beautiful lawn stripes. It's like, that's. That's a good selling point, I think. Did you manage to get stripes in your yard?
[18:48]
Brandon Doyle
Oh, I'll take it one step further. They actually allow.
[18:51]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Did you do a Drew door?
[18:53]
Brandon Doyle
Yes. So you can put the different. Different shapes and things. And so I did one in our backyard and I just wanted to see, like, how long would it take for my wife to notice? It didn't take her long, actually. It's just like, is there. Is there a heart in our backyard? I was like, yes, there is.
[19:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Oh, you did a heart. How sweet.
[19:12]
Brandon Doyle
Then I removed it to see, like, how long it would take for it to disappear. Didn't take long.
[19:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
So how long was. I haven't tried that yet. How long was the process?
[19:20]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, so, I mean, it's the spring season here, so the grass is growing pretty, pretty darn quick. And we've had a lot of rain, so a couple weeks until it was very noticeable that it was there. And then it took probably a week until you didn't notice anymore and back to just being the strays.
[19:37]
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[20:51]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I've got a text.
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Brandon Doyle
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Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
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Brandon Doyle
Flux TTS has some real Persona that are ready to speak. You can interrupt, pause and keep talking without losing the plot.
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[21:23]
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[22:44]
Gas Prices Segment Host
if there's anything we've heard about this entire summer, no matter where we go or who we talk to, it's about gas prices.
[22:52]
Brandon Doyle
Want to show you sign? Look at these gas prices. They're ridiculous. I don't drive as much. I think they're just skyrocketing day in, day out.
[23:00]
Gas Prices Segment Host
Gas prices are up since Donald Trump started his war with Iran. But how much does a little pain at the pump actually affect people's vote?
[23:08]
Brandon Doyle
Who is telling the truth and who is going to represent us and do something about it?
[23:14]
Gas Prices Segment Host
And if gas is still near $4 a gallon come November, is it game over for Donald Trump and the Republicans?
[23:21]
Horizon 3 Sponsor
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[23:30]
Brandon Doyle
what people are struggling with and then to ignore the severity of it is
[23:35]
Horizon 3 Sponsor
just not a winning strategy.
[23:37]
Gas Prices Segment Host
That's this week on America. Actually catch us Every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
[23:47]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
I've noticed this new batch that I've tested this year and we're going to, we'll go over quickly which ones we tested. I know we haven't mentioned them in detail yet, but is that they're much faster. They seem to complete the job a lot quicker. I think that's also because they've gotten bigger. To my point earlier about they've realized the manufacturers have realized for most American yards you need a bigger machine that's going to cover more space and have a longer work period. But yeah, I've definitely noticed that they work faster and also you can adjust the speed, which is for some of them, which is nice to have that sort of flexibility, you know, if you want it done quickly or if you want it much more methodical. What are some of the other things that you've liked about robot lawnmowers? And then we'll talk about some of your favorites and then we'll talk about some of the issues.
[24:36]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, definitely. So I think navigation's got to a point where I can actually recommend it for most people in most yards, which is not always true. So that's big. I'm not worried about them running things over. I think the obstacle avoidance is plenty with where it's at. I think you, for most people you should be able to mostly set it and Forget it. This year, the thing I was the most excited about was trimming. However, I feel like, for me, that fell short just because of our fence and our garden beds.
[25:09]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Lots of people have fences and garden beds.
[25:12]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah.
[25:12]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah.
[25:13]
Brandon Doyle
So if I didn't have that, though, I would say that the goat did the best job of the three that I tested with trimmers, because that one, it could do it on its own, so it didn't require supervision. And it did get a pretty good job of it. But with the fence, that's a little bit challenging.
[25:28]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
And that's the Ecovacs, right?
[25:29]
Brandon Doyle
Ecovacs goat, a 3000 Pro, right? Yeah. Yeah. It was one of my favorites from last year. So at cs, when I saw they added a trimmer on there, that made me really excited. That one also uses LiDAR for navigation, which I found was pretty good. Although I did Austin Powers itself in between our garden beds, and it managed to get stuck.
[25:50]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Austin Powers itself? What do you mean?
[25:52]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, people of my age might get the reference, but there was a movie where the main character was going through the tunnel, and he tried to turn around in this little cart, and then he managed to get parallel, and he was stuck. And so it's just him going back
[26:10]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
and forth trying to get out. Yeah, it is funny watching them get themselves stuck and trying to figure their way out. Also not. It's good if you see that happening, then you can stop it, because if you don't stop it, you can end up with a buried robot lawnmower that's dug its way into your garden.
[26:30]
Brandon Doyle
I was out of town, and last year I was testing so many robot mowers that I had to rely on my neighbors for some of the testing. And so this one had gone out and was working on my neighbor's yard. But somehow between when it went out and that time, something got in the way of its path. I think his son had came home and blocked the driveway. And so it would try to go back to the dock, but then realize it couldn't, and suddenly it would try to go back the other way. It was blocked. And so it was just in an endless loop going in circles in his front yard. And he's messaging me like, hey, man, you got to make this thing stop. It's just going back and forth. And I'm like, well, try moving the car. That didn't work. So I had to remotely stop it and then manually drive it back from another country using the camera, which was quite the feat, I might say. I couldn't get it to get it to dock. But when I got it back into my yard then it could figure it out on its own.
[27:31]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Robots are going to take over the world one day, but they currently can't figure out how to go along your driveway.
[27:37]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, there's a lot of AI references there where I'm not too worried.
[27:43]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
But what were your favorites after your testing, which ones would you buy for your if you were going to shell out the 3,000 or so dollars that most of these things cost, I mean
[27:56]
Brandon Doyle
definitely get it when it's on sale. There's always sales on these things. So I think $2,500 is probably about where you want to be. $2,000 if it's on sale. But the Mamotion Luba 3 all wheel drive is probably my favorite. I kept that one. And then The Ecovacs goat a 3000 Pro which has that trimmer attachment. That one was really impressive. I've got that in my. Because there's the fences and up there and so that one's nice because I don't have to worry about the edging. It can get right on that landscape line. It handles the hills perfectly. That one, I haven't had any intervention since I've installed it. So those are probably my two go to ones. If you are already invested in the works system, like you have a bunch of their batteries already. That one's kind of neat because it uses the same battery system so it comes with that and I thought that was kind of cool. But if you have a really big yard Yarbo. But my yard is way too small.
[28:55]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yeah, I'm still not sure about the Yarbo. I'm gonna. We'll wait for the next generation, I think. Yeah. No, I agree. The Mammotion I really liked the first time around I tested it. I just couldn't get it to work in my yard. And this new one, the Luba 3, now with the net RTK does work, but I do worry about that subscription. And also when you're reliant on anything that requires cloud to operate, that's a bit of a concern. I wish they could maybe get to the point where it could learn and keep your location in its memory so it doesn't have to constantly be pinging the GPS or the RTK system. I would say. I'm actually a big fan of the Dreame A3 All Wheel Drive Pro because these guys have great naming conventions.
[29:47]
Brandon Doyle
Is that you got the All Wheel drive?
[29:49]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yes. I know. I tested a one last time which doesn't have the All Wheel Drive and that one used to get stuck all the time. But the all wheel drive on this one is, is, is really good. And I also like that it acts as a security camera so you can have it patrol at night and patrol your backyard, which is, that's, I mean when you add the cost of not having to buy outdoor security cameras into that, that you've got a bit more of a value prop there. And it does a really good job. And it has an edge trimmer. It shifts its cutting blades out to cut along the edge. So that one's been really good. But the Navimo, the new Navimo X430, which is also an all wheel drive one, has the coolest way of like it can turn its front wheels entirely 90 degrees and just like spin on a dime. It's really fun to watch it go. And so that one I've found really worked very well in my backyard, although it does rely on GPS to start. And I had to spend a good 45 minutes finding a tiny sliver of my yard where it could catch a satellite. But once it got it, it didn't need it again. So that, that has been useful because it uses like four different types of navigation so it knows where it is. And now it can, can navigate. It hasn't got lost once. And my backyard has got, is full of trees. So yeah, that one's been, I've been impressed with that. There are also cheaper models. If you just have a small front yard or backyard, you can get that. So roborock has its new Rock Neo that I've just started testing. That's under 1100 dollars, $1200. I think Segway has a couple smaller ones. I think. You tested a sub 1001, right?
[31:33]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, anthbot was surprisingly good. If you have a smaller yard, I think it's perfectly adequate. Yeah, I like that one a lot.
[31:42]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
It's interesting that the robot vacuum manufacturers so dreame, Roborock Ecovacs have really come in and kind of taken over this space. There are a few specialized robot lawnmower companies like you mentioned, Worx and then Husqvarna. Momotion is sort of a general robotics company. But it's interesting to see how the robot vacuum companies are kind of taking over this space. I'm really interested if they're allowed to continue selling models here, new models here. What kind of innovations we're going to see in particular? There's one innovation I'm excited to bring or see. Come to the market and you've had some experience with this, which is, can they open my gate for me? So tell us about your experience there, and then we'll kind of wrap it up.
[32:35]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah. So Navimo actually has a gate. It recognizes the robot as it approaches, and it releases the tension on it, and so it's able to push its way through. So the robot, in theory, could work with other brands if you could turn off its sensing, because normally it wouldn't want to ram into a solid object. But for this one, it's going to tell the robot, okay, this is okay, and it can go through. So I have that available. I haven't installed it yet, just because it's a very permanent change. And I'm cycling through these. And if we move, like, you know, is this going to be a negative for the next person if they don't have it? And so we'll see. Maybe I'll set up a demo rig somewhere where we can test this out. But it's certainly going to get a lot of attention. And, you know, is it a solution? Or is it. Or is it better to just have two. I kind of compare this to, you know, in your house, if you have stairs. Yes. They're creating these robot vacuums that can climb stairs or an exoskeleton that can go upstairs. But, like, do we really need that? Is it more expensive, or would it be cheaper to just get two robots? And I think that we're still at the point where, like, probably just get another robot and it'd be easier and less permanent, so.
[33:54]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Well, we'll get to the point, I think, maybe where they have little arms and they can just reach out and open the gate, and that won't be terrifying at all. So we'll all be fine with our robots with limbs and blades roaming around our backyard so that we don't have to mow the lawn.
[34:10]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think it's happening anytime soon. I mean, we saw the Switchbot robot attempt to do laundry.
[34:17]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Yes.
[34:18]
Brandon Doyle
I don't know if you tried the Yarbo or the Robo rock that has the arm of the vacuum. It's so limited in what it can do. It's like, well, if you perfectly place the sock or it's folded in a way that it could grab it, and then you only have a certain type of shoes that are incredibly lightweight. It can pick them and move them into a designated spot. But any other scenario. No, that's not gonna work.
[34:41]
Gas Prices Segment Host
Yes.
[34:42]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
No, I. So I think you'. I think it sounds like you agree with me that the robots are useful today, but currently still not at that level where we perhaps everyone needs one. And also you don't need to be worried. They're not taking over anytime soon.
[34:58]
Brandon Doyle
I do think we're going to see more purpose built robots. Yeah, I don't think that we're going to see a general use robot anytime soon in a household.
[35:06]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Agreed. Agreed. Excellent. Well, thank you so much much for spending time with us today, Brandon. It's been really useful and helpful to get your insights and appreciate your time. Is there anything you want to tell us about your what you're doing next or WhatsApp or where people can go find your work?
[35:23]
Brandon Doyle
Yeah, you can find my articles on Realtor magazine. They're actually written for consumers so it's published every month. I pick a different category, something that's exciting to me. I share it there and then on social media. Social media, it's just randondoylemn. So you can find me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all that I share behind the scenes of testing. And yeah, really excited about all that.
[35:47]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
Great. Well, thanks so much, Brandon for joining us and we'll talk to you soon.
[35:51]
Brandon Doyle
Thanks for having me. Take care.
[35:53]
Jennifer Patterson Tuohy
That's it for today. As always, we love to hear from you. Send your thoughts and questions to vergecasthe verge.com or call the hotline 866-verge11 to support everything we do and to get access to ad free episodes. Subscribe to the Verge. The show is produced by Josh Carhas, Eric Gomez, Brandon Keefer and Travis Larchuk. Thanks for listening.
[36:21]
Brandon Doyle
I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of F fixes the Bear. The restaurant is flooded. Everything's either gonna be okay.
[36:34]
Olivia Lanes
No, stop.
[36:36]
Brandon Doyle
Or not. We are outgunned and we are outmanned. But we have each other. FX's the Bear the final season. All episodes now streaming on Disney.