I only gave robot lawn mowers casual attention during my first years of reviewing smart home gear in 2020 and 2021. I’ve always resented having a grassy yard to deal with, and spending thousands of dollars on finicky, early-adopter robots that require a little (or a lot of) troubleshooting just to save some time and effort didn’t appeal to me. Having been back in the saddle of smart home reviews for the last year, though, I’ve been curious: are they good now? Can they handle trimming the lawns I hate?
My first attempt to answer that question has involved testing the $2,500 Segway Navimow X430 for most of the last month. It’s a honker of a machine that looks a little bit like a cross between a go-kart and an F1 race car. It features knobby, grippy tires, two spinning blades beneath it, and a little “head” poking up in the front that has front and side cameras. It also navigates using built-in Network Real-Time Kinematics (NRTK), a technology that combines an internet connection and satellite positioning for centimeter-level accuracy. As such, there’s no need for you to install guide wires.
Somewhat to my surprise, the Navimow X430 proved to be a capable and fairly consistent mower, with accurate NRTK navigation that let it tackle my small front and back yards. Both are fairly complex, featuring lots of patio furniture, a stone-paved patio, dog poop, sticks, trees, garden boxes, and more, yet it handled them with remarkable ease.
