ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Mowrator S1 remote control lawnmower is available for $3,999.
- This remote-controlled mower makes fun work of yard maintenance. It is perfect for anyone looking for more control to cover large areas or someone with mobility issues.
- Unfortunately, it is an expensive device, at $3,999, more expensive than a robot mower. It’s also not meant to perform completely hands-free cleaning like a robot mower can.
The household robot market is saturated with robot vacuums, robot mops, and, more recently, robot lawnmowers. I’ve tested several robot mowers on my lawn and enjoy watching them autonomously perform an otherwise tiring task that used to occupy part of my weekend. However, though my current robot mower<!–> has proven consistent and dependable, it still relies on a map and GPS boundary, giving me little control when it gets lost or randomly leaves a corner unmowed.
I don’t want to dig physical boundary wire along my property line, and I hate having to remap a robot the occasional time it gets lost. I also enjoy yard work, so the Mowrator S1 mower<!–> was more useful and fun than I expected.
Also: This robot mower looks like a racecar but mows a gorgeous lawn
The Mowrator S1 is a remote-controlled lawn mower, not your run-of-the-mill robot mower. While it doesn’t autonomously perform yard maintenance for you, it uses sensors to avoid obstacles intelligently and can almost gamify the yard work experience.
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What’s the case for a remote-controlled mower over a robot mower? The Mowrator S1 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It resembles a traditional push lawnmower, with a similar metal chassis and a 21-inch blade. It also includes a mulch bag with the same mechanism as a traditional mower. The biggest difference is that it’s remote-controlled, has sensors to avoid mowing down bushes, and it’s battery-powered.
In turn, robot mowers have a different blade mechanism than traditional mowers. They use small blades that each spin to trim the grass. These blades must be replaced every few weeks to maintain the mower’s usefulness. While effective, this system can’t always cut high grass or mulch small twigs or large leaves.
Also: I changed these 10 things to maximize my robot vacuum’s battery life
The Mowrator S1 works like a traditional mower but has a smart component. In addition to mowing the lawn from a chair, I can use it to mulch yard waste without hassle, for example. I recently did a big trim of some holly bushes around my yard, and after disposing of the large branches, it was easy to whip out the Mowrator S1’s remote control to mulch the remaining leaves and small twigs. This capability was a welcome reprieve after a long day of trimming and tiring yard work.
The mower features a set of sensors, including front bumper sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and a grass outlet cover sensor. The sensors detect obstacles, like bushes, so you don’t accidentally run the mower over bushes, though you can disable them when necessary.
Also: This robot lawn mower is so impressive my neighbors come to watch it mow
The mower has a removable battery on the top that you can carry inside to recharge. The battery is large enough to mow over an acre on a single charge, which seems accurate from my experience. The mower takes about 90 minutes to charge from depleted to 100%, and each charge has a run time of about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
I have a 0.3-acre lot and have used the mower as needed multiple times before recharging. I’ve mowed the entire lot, going over half of it twice because the grass was too high, used the mower to mulch yard waste multiple times, and had it go over the areas my robot mower missed a few times.
Also: I tried a robot vacuum that has a side-mounted handheld cleaner – and can’t go back
The Mowrator S1 remote-controlled lawnmower can handle up to 75% slopes. I tested it on a hill in my backyard that leads to a wooded area. The mower dealt with this area beautifully, giving me hope that it may be a solution to controlling the hill’s growth.
You can use the Mowrator S1 with a bag to hold the grass clippings, which can be automatically dumped with a touch of a button on the remote control, almost like a dump truck.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Before testing the Mowrator S1–>
