Robot lawn mowers are ideal for homeowners looking to free up time spent taking care of their yards, but many of these robots go for more than $1,000 for smaller lawns, and signifcantly more for larger areas.
The Worx Landroid M, designed for lawns up to a quarter of an acre, comes in at a relatively reasonable $999.96 and is fairly easy to install and program.
It does a great job cutting and is very quiet, but it lacks smart features like mobile app control, GPS tracking, and cellular connectivity that you get with the more expensive (and more powerful) Husqvarna 315X, our Editors' Choice.
Design and Features
Measuring 10.1 by 15.1 by 21.5 inches (HWD) and weighing 20 punds, the black-and-orange Landroid M is a bit smaller and lighter than the Husqvarna 315X and the Honda Miimo HRM310 mowers.
It uses a floating deck design that allows it to traverse hills and valleys without scalping your lawn, and can handle slopes of up to 20 degrees.
The Landroid M's 7-inch cutting width is the smallest of any mower we've reviewed, but that's because this mower is designed for smaller lawns (up to 0.25-acre).
It uses the same type of spinning-disk-with-three-pivoting-blades cutting mechanism as the Honda Miimo HRM310 and Husqvarna 315X mowers, only smaller.
Its 2,800rpm motor is powered by a 28-volt/2,500mAh lithium ion battery pack that provides 60 minutes of power and requires 90 minutes to charge.
The Landroid's 63dB sound rating is a tad louder than the Honda Miimo and the Husqvarna 315X, both of which run at 58dB, but it is still quiet enough to run at night without disturbing the neighbors.
The top of the mower has a big red Stop button and a hatch that opens to a dial that lets you adjust the cutting height (1.6 to 4.0 inches), as well as a control panel with a 17-button keypad and a 2.5-by-1.0-inch LCD.
The control panel uses a straightforward menu system with a General Settings menu that includes language, time format, date format, set time and date, and rain delay settings.
When the Landroid's rain sensors detect rain, the mower will return to the base and wait for the sensors to dry out.
It will then wait a predetermined time (zero to 180 minutes), or the rain delay time, before it goes out and resumes its cutting cycle.
The Working Time menu is where you go to create a cutting schedule.
The Auto Work Time setting creates a daily cutting schedule based on your lawn's square footage, and the Custom Work Time setting lets you select specific times and days of the week for cutting.
Here you can also input a custom work area for lawns that are divided by things like flower beds and narrow passage ways.
You can create up to four work areas with a start point for each to ensure equal mowing time.
The Security menu is where you go to change the PIN number (as with most robotic lawn mowers, you have to input a PIN number to restart the mower after it's been picked up or forced to stop) and to set the alarm volume for when the mower is lifted during a work cycle or from its base while charging.
The loudest the alarm gets is 70dB, which is barely noticeable unless you're in close proximity.
The Landroid comes with a charging base, 590 feet of perimeter wire, 200 wire stakes, four base stakes, nine extra blades, a manual, a programming guide, and an installation guide.
Installation and Performance
Since most robotic mowers use the same type of perimeter wire, I was spared the task of laying wire and driving stakes into the ground when I installed the Landroid M because I was able to use the wire from previous reviews.
That said, it took several hours to install wire for my 1,950-square-foot lawn when I reviewed the Robomow RS622, so plan on spending a good chunk of time crawling around on your hands and knees on installation day.
Once the wire is in place, it's very easy to connect both ends to the base station, but make sure you follow the excellent instructions in the installation guide when you choose a location for the base, as you'll need a good deal of clearance for the mower to dock correctly.
I used the included charging base spikes to hold the base in place, slid the mower into the dock, and powered up the base.
I tapped the On button on the mower's control panel and set the date, time, and rain start delay.
I then set the working time and hit the Start button.
When I closed the control panel cover, the Landroid backed out of the dock and went to work.
The Landroid M performed admirably in my tests.
Like the Honda Miimo HRM310 and the Husqvarna 315X, it provided a nice, even cut and handled edging duties with aplomb.
The mower was very quiet and navigated low spots and divots without issue, but it needed close to three hours of cutting time to cover my lawn.
The Robomow RS622 and Husqvarna 315X only needed a little more than an hour.
The Landroid always returned to its base when it was time for a charge and when it sensed significant rainfall, and it always stopped in its tracks when it hit an object.
As with the Honda Miimo and Husqvarna mowers, the Landroid is very easy to program using its intuitive onboard control panel, whereas the Robomow RS622 is somewhat confusing as it is programmed using downtime instead of runtime.
However, having the ability to control the Landroid using a mobile app like you can with the Husqvarna 315X and Robomow RSA622 would be a welcome addition here.
According to a Worx spokesperson, a new model will be announced later this year that promises multiple upgrades.
Conclusions
With the Landroid M Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower, you don't get all of the bells and whistles that you get with more expensive robot mowers, but you do get a workhorse that gets the job done quietly, and it's much more affordable than its more feature-rich counterparts.
Cutting performance was very good in my tests, and the mower always adhered to my schedule and returned to its base when it needed a charge or when it was raining.
At the time of this review, the Landroid M is the only robotic mower offered by Worx, so if your lawn is bigger than 0.25-acre, you'll have to look elsewhere.
The Husqvarna Automower 315X, on the other hand, will handle lawns of up to 0.40-acre and is loaded with features, including GPS, cellular, and Bluetooth technology.
It also has a mobile app that lets you track and control the mower form anywhere using your phone, and remains our Editors' Choice for robot lawn mowers.
Worx Landroid M Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower
The Bottom Line
The Worx Landroid M is a robotic mower designed for smaller lawns that does a great job of cutting quietly, though it lacks any sort of wireless connectivity.
