Robot mower tested by "Stiftung Warentest": Husqvarna mows best, Worx is on the wrong track
22.3.2024
Translation: machine translated
No "very good", not even a "good" - no robotic mower was able to fully convince Stiftung Warentest. The testers made deductions for all models in one category in particular.
A robot mower that could potentially injure children's arms or feet cannot be a good robot mower. This is the verdict of Stiftung Warentest, which scrutinised eight devices for its latest issue (click here for the paid test report). Important to know: There is actually a European safety standard for the issue of children's feet. Seven of the eight robotic lawn mowers passed this standard. However, Stiftung Warentest applied stricter standards, but then again did not devalue them quite so strictly. Where normally a "poor" is quickly awarded in the overall rating in the event of a safety failure, this time the testers only awarded a "sufficient" in the category.
If this all sounds too complicated for you or you don't let your children play in the lawn when the mower is running anyway, then the mowing performance is more interesting. Three models get a "good" here, with the Husqvarna Automower "Aspire R4" almost achieving a "very good" rating.
The "Sileno City" from Gardena missed out on a better rating because one of the test devices broke down during the procedure.
How good are robotic lawn mowers without a perimeter wire?
If you already have a robotic lawnmower in use, you will remember that the biggest effort is usually not assembling it or connecting it to the app and wifi, but working with the perimeter wire. It determines the area in which the robotic lawnmower works. If you want to cut as few tufts of grass as possible at the edge or around obstacles by hand, you have to work precisely here and readjust it every now and then.
Robotic mowers with camera navigation promise a remedy. They don't need a perimeter wire. In the description, they only promise to mow what is green. In theory, this should also work, because in reality a lawn is usually bordered by non-green material.
However, both the Einhell camera robotic mower (not in our range) and the Worx robot mower proved to be "blind in one eye", as it was put by Stiftung Warentest. There were always problems when the boundaries were not wide enough. It is also said that the robotic lawnmower would have preferred to drive onto the neighbour's lawn. However, the attempt to break through probably failed because of the fence - repeatedly.
The bottom line here is: To make good use of a camera robotic lawnmower, the garden must fulfil a few requirements. However, it may be an expensive trial and error process to find out whether your garden is suitable for the mower. After all, the Worx model costs significantly more than the mowers with the perimeter wire method.
Header image: Husqvarna
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.