I tested a robot mower with no boundary wire – here’s who it’s perfect for
131
with a $200 off coupon, making the total $1,600.
Mowing the grass can be a bitter pill for many who may enjoy a manicured lawn but not necessarily the process leading up to it. I typically enjoy the time and exercise I get while mowing my lawn, but after switching to a robot mower last year, I can honestly say it’s been months since I’ve used a traditional mower.
And just like there are different types of yards, there are different types of robot mowers to care for them. Mowers typically need a boundary wire along the perimeter of the grass to stay within an area, while others come with an RTK antenna for satellite navigation.
The Eufy E15 Robot Mower has a convenient handle on the back and is very lightweight, which makes it easy to clean the blades underneath.
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
The Eufy E15 robot mower navigates much like a robot vacuum. This, I believe, is the future of robot mower technology. Ultimately, we’d like less invasiveness and more results from our smart devices. So, having a robot that autonomously mows your yard without worrying about placing an antenna just right or burying boundary wire along the edges of your property is ideal.
That said, such an efficient technology is neither advanced nor affordable enough to become the standard.
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Welp, my flowers
It took the Eufy E15 about two hours to map my entire yard, mainly because it maps by traveling around and scanning the area. Robot mowers with a buried wire use that to stay within a perimeter, while others that use RTK and GNSS require a well-placed antenna and for you to remotely steer them around their boundary.
The Eufy E15 uses neither of these technologies. It uses Visual Fusion Sensing and Decision (V-FSD), so it has to physically travel around your yard to see which areas are grassy and which should be ‘no-go’ zones. Then, the Eufy app saves a map of your yard, and you’re set to go, just like a robot vacuum.
The Eufy app is the same app you use for Eufy Security cameras, which is very convenient, as I have a Eufy security system at home. Much like a robot vacuum, you can edit the app and set no-go zones, pathways, and grass-cutting zones.
, but this Eufy robot mower is smart enough to find dips where it may get stuck to save on your map and avoid them each time it mows. I prefer not risking having to rescue it and being able to count on my mower not leaving behind bushy areas in my yard.
The app allows you to customize most of the Eufy E15’s mowing abilities. You can set path directions, grass height, edge spacing, path spacing, travel and blade speed, schedules, rain detection, and the volume and language for the robot’s prompts. The Eufy E15 can also be controlled with the app like an RC car, and you can ring it to find it when you can’t physically see it.
ZDNET’s buying advice
robot mower is perfect for even-terrained, fenced-in yards. This is the perfect robot mower if you have a simple, relatively small grassy yard with no steep slopes and a physical perimeter around it. This is true even if your yard has a paved or concrete patio, trees, and well-defined garden beds.
This mower is smart enough to avoid those obstacles and autonomously mark them as no-go zones in the Eufy app. It’s also capable of navigating around changing environments, like a pet that crosses in front of it, or around toys that weren’t on the yard the day before. It’s also proven smart enough to avoid going into the bushes around my home and even under the deck, which only the Mammotion Luba 2 has effectively avoided.
The recent US tariffs on imports from countries like China, Vietnam, and India aim to boost domestic manufacturing but are likely to drive up prices on consumer electronics. Products like smartphones, laptops, and TVs may become more expensive as companies rethink global supply chains and weigh the cost of shifting production.
Consumers may also experience notable price increases on robot vacuums and smart home products, like robot mowers. Manufacturers are exploring options such as relocating production to countries with lower tariffs, but such transitions are complex and may not provide immediate relief. In the short term, shoppers should anticipate higher costs for robot vacuums due to these trade policies.
